Characters:
Race:
Spot:
Jack
Skittery
Mush:
Blink:
Brooklyn:
....
Introduction
The year was 1898. I still was living on the streets Weehawken, New Jersey- Lemme get you some background before I start...
My dad was a factory worker and my mom did the best she could to keep our family together. They died when I was younger to TB. Ever since I could remember, it was just me and my siblings.
I had an older brother Pat and younger sister called Nella. Pat was good to Nella and me. He took care of us and always put us before his own needs. I haven't seen the two of them since maybe seven months ago.
I had just been fired from my work. The three of us were working on a Manor near the Hudson river. Nella and I were maids, Pat was the Master's apprentice.
You see, I was always a trouble maker and I liked having fun. Some of the adults just can't seem to understand that. I was messing around one day and not paying attention to the soup I was supposed to be cooking.
Long story short I caused a kitchen fire. I'd never seen my master and his wife so angry and shocked. That night, they made me sleep in the stable. But I got up halfway through the night and wandered back inside.
I overheard them talking. Saying how intelligent of a boy Pat was and how disciplined and behaved Nella was. But they said I was a handful. And they said they were gonna fire me and give me up to an all girls orphanage in the morning.
I absolutely was mortified. So I ran. I never looked back. I ran until I made it to Weehawken. I lived on the dangerous streets of the small city. I lived with my own bad decisions and guilt.
I used to sit in an alley behind a bakery. I would wait for 11 o'clock for each night to eat the scraps of whatever they didn't sell. It was a horrible way of living. It was boring and I lived in such sorrow. I missed Pat and Nella. And I felt awful for leaving without even a goodbye
One day, I snuck onto a small ferry boat. The boat was delivering goods to Manhattan, New York. I needed a change of scenery. Maybe even try to find work and make a living for myself.
Little did I know getting on that boat would be the best decision of my life.Which leads me to my story about my life as a newsie.