Chpt. 8

Over the next couple months I didn’t learn what strike meant, but that wasn’t what bothered me. What bothered me was that I started seeing less and less of Jesse and more and more of Mr. Kid Blink. Secretly I hated that tiny little b*****d who took Jesse from me. I’d never admit it to him, ever, but whenever Jesse spent more time with that little jerk, the more it hurt… I came home from selling one sunny July afternoon, Belle clinging to my hand, to huge signs filling the halls and rooms of my new home. I paused to read one, Our Cause is Just it proclaimed. Others read the same things, some words spelled wrong, some just said Don’t Buy The World or Journal. I swung Belle up in my arms and stalked down the hall to the door half way down that Mr. Blink and Fiction had been using to keep our boys "prisoner". The door was closed as usual so I set Belle down on the floor and banged hard on the door with my closed fist.

"Jesse!" I yelled, "Print, Spit!" there was silence on the other side of the door. "BLINK! OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR BEFORE I SOAK YA!" I screamed, and I saw Belle clap her hands playfully over her ears and grin up at me. Still there was no answer on the other side of the worn wood; I was pretty upset by now. Now all the annoyance, sadness and rage I’d been bottling up for months, ever since this short little, one-eyed b*****d had barged his way into our lives. So I decided to play dirty, I pounded my whole weight centered on my shoulder, against the door while I yelled, "Jesse! If you don’t open this damn door I swear to God ya’ll never see me er Belle again!" honestly I had very little intention of leaving my new home, I liked it here, but there were ways that Jesse would see very little of either of us.

But it worked, the door clicked open, Jesse looked nervous and guilty as he appeared from behind the wood. The other four boys I knew were sitting at a rickety table in the middle of the dingy room, another three boys sat there too. Eight pairs of eyes were staring right at me, it cooled just a little of my anger, but not too much.

"Boys, dis is Vel, our resident mouth." Fiction was sitting back, smiling smartly, "as you may have heard, I believe she’s gettin a little annoyed wit our secrets."

"Annoyed hell! I wanna know what’s goin’ on." I glared right into each pair of eyes individually, "Now." My gaze settled on Jesse’s amber colored eyes especially, he looked away. Everyone did, everyone but Blink, he glared back at me with that one brown eye. "Well, Ms. Velvet. ‘t seems we got some thin’s ta discuss wit ya’s."

"Ya bet ya do, Mr. Blink, ‘nd ya best be quick ‘bout it. Er ‘m liable ta lose me temper." I snarled, not missing the fact that he gave my true sex away, even while I still had my long hair bound up under my cap and my breasts flattened under my vest. Next to me Jesse lifted Belle into his arms and rested his head on her tiny shoulder.

"What’s goin on Miss. Velvet is that we, as newsies, are goin’ on strike. We ain’t gonna sell papers fer Hearst er Pulitzer anymore, at least not ‘til they lower the price of um. When dare was a war on, ‘nd dey were puttin’ out three editions a day, da extra dime-on-a-dollar was fine. But no more; we’re barely scrappin’ by as it is." Blink stated, Fic nodded in agreement,

"So we ain’t gonna sell their papers, until they do somethin’ ‘bout it…"

"Nobody’s gonna sell um ‘til dey do somethin’ ‘bout it." One of the other boys cried, interrupting Fiction’s gently amused voice,

"Easy Race." Fiction cautioned, my entire being felt hollow, were they serious?

"Yer not gonna sell papes no more?" I asked dumbly,

"Nobody is gonna." This Race repeated grimly, "’nd we’ll have words wit ‘nybody who does." I gulped,

"‘Nd if day don’t listen?"

"Den we’ll soak um." In that instant I was afraid of the scrappy little eleven-year-old in front of me. My eyes searched those of Spit and Print, who looked excited, to Fiction who looked as amused at this as he did with everything else, finally I looked at Jesse. He looked tired, tired but cautiously as excited as Print or Spit. My gaze traveled down to my little girl, who was just smiling up at all of us from her father’s arms; I knew what was going to happen. They would ask me if I would be with them or against them, I would have to lie. I couldn’t be with them. I agreed that the papers weren’t selling as quickly or in as abundance as they had in the past, but I couldn’t stop selling. I refused to let those little cheeks hollow from starvation, those curls to lose what little sheen they had. I had to keep working to keep my little girl alive. Fiction gave me half a smile,

"Come to the main room tonight, we’ll explain in more detail." I nodded mutely, my head spinning; I felt dizzy, I had to lie down. I turned and tried to get out the door, the knob didn’t seem to want to turn under my fingers. Jesse’s hand appeared around mine, together we managed to open the door and walk out it.

Jesse followed me to the foot of the stairs, where I numbly took Belle from his arms,

"I won’t be there tonight." I murmured flatly, Jesse nodded,

"I know. Dey gotta point thought ain’t they?" I felt a bitterly hysterical laugh start to bubble up from my chest; I gave him a wane, emotionless smile,

"Yeah...a point…" without another word, I walked up the three flights of stairs to the room I’d slept in the past few months with Jesse; Belle waved merrily to him all the way up.

I lay awake after Belle had fallen asleep, listening to Kid Blink’s small voice echo through the building. When I heard the cry of approval from the other kids, I found myself crying.

Reviews

[Corey Lunare-]

Poor girl...so afraid to lose her daughter that she won't even do the right thing. I can understand her stndpoint thugh and it is very commemerable of her to do this. I am in love with your main charecter who has an immense ammount of well...charecter lol. She is a diamond in a field of ash. A rare gem that brings out the best in the tale you are writing. Good job Dream! Don't stop your pen now!