Today was the day of the rally. We were hosting it in Medda's theater. Newsies from every part of the city were invited, which meant that infortunately, Spot was bound to show up. I was wandering the streets of Manhattan with Race since we didn't have work.
"So is you plannin' on keeping that there stick?" Race asked me, gesturing to the pimp stick.
"Yeah." I said, "unless Spot can steal it back, an' he's tried many times."
"Well he ain't gonna be able to steal it anyways." Race concluded.
We walked past the opening of an alley. Suddenly, a hand clamped over my mouth and I was dragged in and slammed into the hard brick wall. I looked into the face of my attacker.
It was the guy from the alley a couple days ago. He smelled of stale whiskey and a lifetime of regret. (Lol) I saw that Race had climbed onto the roof opposite me and was watching. He knew I could handle this by myself.
"Now you are going to give me what I paid for." He said.
"You paid for a newspaper." I said.
He growled and started choking me with one hand. I knew him in the groin and once he doubled over I kicked him in the face. I stepped over his body and climbed up to the roof where Race was.
"What is he talkin' about 'What he paid for'?" Race asked.
"Don't worry yourself." I said. "We should go get ready for the rally."
______________________________________
The sun had set and it was time for the rally. Race and I left the lodging house and were walking down the dark street to the Irving theater. I didn't put makeup on the hickey because my hair would cover it up anyways. We arrived at the theater and as we walked in the doors the sound of hundreds of voices grew louder. I mase eye contact wuth Jack who gestured to Spot and raised his eyebrows. Jack was standing on the stage next to Spot who...
oh my gosh.
Overnight the hickeys I had given him had turned a deep reddish purple and were quite noticeable. I almost felt bad for him. We made eye contact and I raised my eyebrows.
Race and I made our way up to the stage. I sat down on a chair behind Jack. Race sat on my lap.
I may have forgotten to mention that Fox and Race are best friends.
"Carryin' the banner!!!" Jack yelled. Everyone started cheering. Once things had quieted down I wrapped my arms around Race and rested my chin on his shoulder.
"So we've come a long way, and we ain't there yet and maybe it's only gonna get tougher from now on!" Jack yelled to the crowd of newsies. "But that's fine we'll just get tougher with it! But also we gotta get smart and start listenin' to my pal David."
Everyone cheered again.
"...who says stop soakin' the scabs!" He continued.
"What are supposed ta do ta the bums?" Race asked from his place on my lap. "Kiss em'?"
Spot and I made eye contact again. He gave me a look I couldn't quite interpret.
"Ay look." Spot protested. "Any scab I see, I soak em'. Period."
"No! No! No!" Davey yelled. "That's what they want us to do! If we get violent that's just playing onto their hands!"
"Ay look." Spot yelled, "they're gonna be playin' with my hands, alright? It ain't what they say, it's what we say! And nobody gonna listen unless we make em'!"
"Got no brains!" Jack yelled. "If we're gonna fight each other, that just what the big shots wanna see! If we start fightin' each other we're just street rats with no brains! So here's how it is, if we don't act together we're nothin'! If we don't stick together we're nothin'! And if we can't even trust each other, then we're nothin'!"
"Tell em, Jack!" Blink shouted from the balcony.
"So what's it gonna be?" Jack asked the crowd.
"Yeah we're with you, Jack" Race said.
"So whadda you say, Spot?" Jack asked.
"I say..." Spot began, "That want you say...is what I say." Spot smirked.
They spit shook. Everyone cheered. Piano music started playing in the background. Race and I both got up and joined the crowd. I saw Medda emerge from the curtain wearing a purple dress. Soon the entire hall was filled with the singing and dancing of excited newsboys. The boys were a little too eager to get near Medda...
Somebody grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.
"So you and Spot?" Jack asked.
"Oh no." I chuckled, "definitely not."
"Then who..." He asked, pushing back my hair to reveal my neck. I frantically put it back in place and glanced around I saw Spot looking at us, a smirk playing on his lips.
That little son of a...
"It was Spot." I said plainly.
"I'LL SOAK HIM!" Jack yelled, attempting to run towards Spot. I held him back.
"Do you see what I did to him?" I asked.
"Good point." He said, putting his hands on his hips. "So what happened?"
"Nothin' that concerns you." I said.
I looked back over at Spot, who was talking to Race. Luckily, I could read lips.
"So how did ya get those?" I saw Race ask, "A goil?"
"Yep." Spot said.
"Wow, Spot." Race marveled. "I didn't know you was such a playa."
"Well you should see the goil." Spot lied, "she's much worse off than me."
That fucking fuck...
I quickly walked up to them. And put my arm around Race.
"What are we talkin' about, fellas?" I asked.
"Just them bruises that Spot's got." Race said, placing his cigar in his mouth.
"Oh," I said, shooting Spot a look, "really?"
"He says that they're from some goil." Race said. Spot looked like he wanted to die.
"Ooooh." I said, "who?" I asked, taking the pimp stick out of my belt loop and rested the end of it on my shoulder.
"Nobody..." Spot said, practically squirming.
"Well, she's one lucky girl." I said, winking.
Well someone has to shoot their shot.
Suddenly the doors of the theater doors burst open and police men poured in. Everybody started yelling and scattered. I grabbed Race and dragged him backstage to a storage closet. I shut the door behind us. It was pitch black.
"You know how Spot said that it was a goil who gave him them bruises?" I whispered.
"Yeah." He whispered back.
"Well..." I continued. "It might've been me."
"What?!?!" He whisper-yelled.
"Yeah." I said. "If it wasn't so dark in here I would show you what he did to me."
"So are you and Spot..." he asked.
"Oh heck no!" I said. "It was just payback. He was trying to get me in trouble with Jack. He wanted revenge on me for stealin' his pimp stick."
We sat in silence for a while.
"I think it's safe to go out now." I finally said.
I pushed the door open and we went out the back door onto the street.
"You go home." I said, "I'll be home later." I watched him disappear around the corner.
Out of nowhere, a figure dropped in front of me.
"So is'e confused." Spot said.
"What is it with you and making dramatic enterances?" I said, punching him in the shoulder.
"So you and Racer?" He asked.
I laughed.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"Nothin" I said.
"You didn't answer my first question." He said.
"Well maybe we are, maybe we aren't." I said.
"And about you and Jacky boy?" He asked. "He seemed quite upset when he saw that." He reached out and pulled my hair back, his fingers lightly brushing the tender area on my neck.
"Like I said, maybe we are, maybe we aren't." I said, "what's it to ya?"
"I just can't seem to figure you out." He said.
"What's there to figure out?" I asked.
He didn't respond. He just stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I felt his face get closer to the exposed part of my neck.
"Why would you want to hide that hickey from Jacky Boy, huh?" He whispered. "Unless you two..."
"Why do you even care?" I asked.
"Just curious..." He said, kissing the tender spot on my neck, sending shivers up my spine.
"I am so glad I gave you them hickies." I said.
"Why?" He asked.
"Cause you're embarrassed." I said.
"I am not!" He retorted.
"You definitely are." I smirked.
His face got red. There was a moment of silence.
"So if you and Race is together, then why has we kissed twice?" He asked.
"I never said that Racer and I was together." I argued.
"Well that's not what it looked like." He said.
"Whatta you mean?" I asked.
"You two cozying up during the rally." He said.
"Well, when you say it like that..." I trailed off, "I guess we are."
Let's just see where this goes.
"Well." He said, "Look at me." I looked up at his eyes, which were focused on mine. Too focused. I reached down for the pimp stick at my waist and my hand covered his, which as on the end of the stick.
"Nice try." I chuckled, maintaining eye contact. His gaze flickered down lower on my face for a second. Our hands still hadn't moved.
"So both those times we kissed..." Spot said, "you was the one that kissed me."
"Well hey the first time was a distraction and second time was... I don't know." I said.
"What does 'I don't know' mean?" He asked.
"I don't know..." I trailed off.
"Well let's consider this an 'I don't know' then." He said.
"Wha-" I tried to say before he pressed his lips against mine. I didn't know what to do. At first I just went with it, then I snapped back my senses. I bit down hard on his bottom lip.
"Mhrrph!" He said, holding his lip.
"What was that for?" He asked. "So when I kiss you for a change it's not okay?"
"No." I said, "it's not."
"Why not?" He asked.
"Because I am not giving you power." I said forcefully.
"So what is this?" He asked angrily.
"I don't know!" I yelled.
"Well you had better figure it out." He said, starting to walk away. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.
I didn't know what was going on in my head, but I grabbed his face and lightly pressed my lips against his for a few seconds. I pulled away and looked him in his eyes, which looked angry.
"I need some time." I said. I quickly ran and climbed up to the roof of the theater.
Well my life's a mess.
I was feeling really sentimental cause I was watching newsies on Netflix and seize the day came on towards the end.