It's amazing how a girl who had seemed to be so tired could talk so much. It was sort of amazing. She just sort of, talked about stuff. The newsies, the Lodging House, the streets of New York, the weather... just sort of anything and everything. I felt a certain amount of power, being the only one who knew where we were going. I don't think that had ever happened since I'd become a newsie. It had never happened before I became a newsie either, I guess. I stopped in front of Tibby's.
"Dis is da place," I said, smiling. Powder peered in the window, and Nicole pulled open the door. I smiled at Powder and we followed Nicole into the restaurant. It had a certain comfort in that it was still the same old place, even though so many different things had been going on lately.
"So where do we sit?" Nicole asked me, without turning around. She was sweeping her eyes around the restaurant, trying to take everything in. There wasn't a whole lot there, but I guess she can do what she wants.
"Anywhea' we wanna," I said shrugging. Nicole walked over to a table near the far side of Tibby's. Powder and I followed her.
"So..." Nicole began looking around. "What's good to eat?" I shrugged.
"Anythin' ya want," I said again. Sometimes I just felt like thinking and not talking... Powder looked up.
"Dis place is kinda like da Dew Drop in Brooklyn," she said, gesturing towards the menu on the wall. "Dey soyves da same stuff, an' it's sorta da same style. Same prices too." I nodded and looked over at the wall.
"What are you going to get?" Nicole asked.
"Me? I's gonna get da macaroni," I said, smiling.
Powder looked at the menu. "Yeah, dat sounds good. I thinks I'll get dat too."
Nicole shrugged. "Then I might as well get the same..." she said. We ordered and then we sat around for a while, waiting for our food. "So Lynn, been a newsie long?" Nicole asked.
"'Bout two yea's," I said. To my surprise Powder said the same thing at the time. "Ya knows me betta' den I knows myself..." I joked.
Nicole smiled, "so, you two been friends for a long time?" I smiled and looked at Powder.
"Actually, we jus' met each udda when Lynn found ya all beat up in da alley. I came ta help 'er take care 'a youse." Powder said, raising her eyebrows. I exchanged a humored look with her.
"Well, 'ere's oua' macaroni..." Powder said, laughing slightly. We ate our food pretty quietly.
"I don't suppose..." Nicole began, "that Mush has a girl..." I nearly choked to keep from laughing. Her eyes grew wide, waiting for an answer.
"Um.. no." I said. Somehow I'd known the conversation would turn to this.
"Oh, he is such a doll!" She said, tipping her head back. I bit my lip when I saw Mush standing only a few feet behind her. I didn't say anything to Nicole, afraid that if Mush hadn't noticed her yet he would then. Powder smiled at Nicole. "Isn't he though?" Nicole asked, smiling. Powder nodded. I stopped everything and stared blankly just behind Nicole. Powder followed my eyes and bit her lip when she saw Mush standing there. Nicole turned around. She froze. She turned back towards us. She opened her mouth, but said nothing, and an embarrassed red crept over her cheeks. She sat there, silently, for a few minutes.
"Eat ya macaroni," I told her. She obediently began to spoon up some noodles.
"Well," she said, flushing, "that was embarrassing."
Powder and I laughed.
Part Six
Powder
Lynn and I had just walked Nicole back to the Lodging House. "We’re goin’ ta Brooklyn so I can tell me goyls where I’se been," I told her. "We prob’ly won’t be back until later tonight."
"Da guys’ll be comin’ in a couple at a time all afta’noon, though," Lynn added. "So ya won’t be alone."
"But what if Mush comes in before you get back! I’d just DIE!" Nicole said. "PLEASE don’t leave me!"
"I’m afraid ya couldn’t make da walk ta Brooklyn right now," Lynn said, half smiling. "But Mush is really nice, besides bein’ a 'doll', so ya don’t need ta worry ‘bout ‘im talkin’ about it or anythin’. He won’t act all weird on ya."
"But... fine..." Nicole consented. "I’ll see you later, then."
"Bye," we both answered, and waved as we walked out the door.
"I’m so excited ta have ya meet me goyls," I told her.
"I’m excited, too," Lynn told me. "Before I met you, I’d neva’ met any udda’ goyl newsies. Now I’m about ta meet a whole group a’ dem."
I smiled at her. "I think dey’se gonna love ya."
"Thanks," she smiled back.
It didn’t take us too long to walk to Brooklyn. "Dis is whea’ I lives," I said, waving my arm at the Lodging House. We walked up the steps, and I pulled the door open. "Come on," I said, grabbing Lynn by the hand and pulling her up the stairs.
The girls looked up as we came into the room. "Powda’! It’s about time!" Swany exclaimed, jumping up and hurrying over to me.
"Goyls, dis here’s Lynn," I said. "Lynn, dis is Swany, Chaser, Nickels, Karmel, Ernie, and Strawberry," I gestured around the room.
"Nice ta meetcha," Lynn said, and the rest of the girls echoed her.
I explained the whole story to them.
"We was worried ‘boutcha!" Strawberry told me.
"I’m sure glad you’se safe!" Chaser added.
I smiled at them. "I can take care a’ myself," I said, even though we all knew that despite the fact that we were all tough, there were some big, tough guys out there, and no matter how tough we were, they were tougher. They had good reason to be worried about me.
We all sat down and started to talk. We laughed until tears were streaming down our faces. We were having so much fun that we totally lost track of the time. All of a sudden Lynn got a startled look on her face, and said, "Powda’, we been here a long time! We betta’ get back ta Nicole!"
"You’re right!" I told her, standing up. "Goyls, I’ll prob’ly be back tomorrow evenin’. Nicole should be well enough by den dat you’se can take care a’ her, don’tcha think, Lynn?"
"I’m sure," Lynn said. "Da main reason we need ta get back ta her now is ta rescue Mush. Knowing Nicole, she will ‘ave forgotten she’s embarrassed."
We were all still laughing as Lynn and I left. We had told them about the Nicole and Mush situation, because if she had been there she wouldn’t have been bashful about telling them about it. That was just the atmosphere of the Girls’ Lodging House in Brooklyn. It was easy to feel comfortable there.
It was kind of dim out, but we would have enough light for our walk home. We walked along in a companionable silence, until Lynn said, "Your friends are really nice, Powda’."
"Thanks," I said, and smiled at her. "I thought you’d fit in perfectly wit’ dem." Lynn smiled back at me. We started talking about how we would have to get together a lot. We were really getting to be good friends, even for only knowing each other a couple days. I knew I would miss her a lot when I went back to Brooklyn.
"Hey, da next time ya come ta Brooklyn, I’se gonna hafta take ya ta meet Spot an’ da rest a’ da guys," I told her.
"Sure!" she said. "It might be nice ta meet some guys I don’t hafta live with."
"Well, whateva’ ya do, don’t break poor Pie Eata’s heart!" I had to struggle really hard to keep from laughing until I finished speaking.
She gave me a playful shove. "I don’t wanna break his heart. It’s just... I don’t like ‘im like dat."
"I know," I said.
"We betta’ get back an’ see what’s goin’ on," Lynn said, changing the subject. "If Race was ‘ere, he’d be placing bets on whether Mush an’ Nicole are talkin’ when we get dere."
I laughed. "I’m bettin’ dey are. I wanna see Nicole happy. I hope Mush likes ‘er."
As we were talking, we had arrived at the Lodging House. Lynn pulled the door open, and held it for me.
"Well, we’ll see," she said, and we headed up the stairs.
Part Seven
Lynn
Powder and her friends had taken me by surprise, and I sped up the stairs with my mind in a cloud. It had been really strange to be with other girls my age. Other girls at all, really. Before I'd become a newsie, I'd been alone. When I'd become a newsie, I'd been surrounded by, and had hung out with guys. The guys weren't really my age, either. Some were older, some were younger, there were no other boys my age, however. So stepping into the Brooklyn Girls' Lodging House had been a shock, to say the least. Still, I'd enjoyed myself thoroughly. Powder's girls were very nice, and fun to be around.
When we stepped into the bunkroom to see how Nicole was doing, we stopped short. She was sitting up, propped against a pillow and the wall, and talking to Mush. He was sitting on the edge of her bed. I bit my lip and motioned for Powder to follow me quietly down the stairs to the parlor. When we got there, I laughed.
"Dat's pretty darn funny..." I said, my eyes wide as I plopped down on the sofa.
"Neva' woulda' guessed, although it's an awfully good thing dat it happened." Powder said, taking off her hat and pushing her hair back as she smiled.
"I s'pose Nicole's jus' per'suasive 'nough ta make it happen. Well, I s'pose she's pretty happy..." I looked around the room. The guys were talking to each other, and Race got up and walked over to us.
"Hey goyls," he said, smiling.
"Hey Race," I said. Powder nodded a greeting.
"So, ya think Mush is, uh, a litta' sweet on ya friend up dere?" He asked, his eyes laughing as he pointed toward the staircase. I laughed.
"She's sure sweet on 'im," Powder said quietly. I smiled and Race laughed.
"Well dey're poyfect for each udda'." Race said, and then walked over to talk with Jack. I was very tired. I'd hardly gotten any sleep the night before and today had been a pretty busy day. The sun was just beginning to set, and I looked over at Powder.
"Tired?" she asked.
"Yeah... you?" I said.
"Yeah. Hardly got any sleep last night, ya know." Powder smiled and raised her eyebrows.
"We can't go ta bed jus' yet. 'Ere, let's see..." I thought about the different stuff we could do. Then I smiled to myself. "Hey, wanna see somethin' cool?"
"Sure," Powder said.
"Look at me." I looked straight in her eyes and shook my eyes back and forth.
"Oh that's weird lookin'!" Powder said, jumping back. I laughed.
"Isn't dat cool? To me da whole woyld looks like it's shakin'." I said, smiling. She laughed.
"Dat's really, really strange lookin'," she breathed. "Do ya think I can do it?"
"Hmm... prob'ly not. I didn't know I could do it 'til, um, 'bout a year ago. Neva' met anyone else who can do it, but ya can try." Powder looked at my eyes and I could see her stare intensify as she tried to shake her eyes, but nothing happened. I smiled.
"Don't think I can do it," she muttered.
"Don't matta'. I couldn't do it for a long time an' I can now. Maybe someday you'll be able to, an' maybe ya won't. It ain't as if it's gonna help me in dis woyld, afta' all..." I laughed. Powder smiled. I stared at the wall and let my eyes half-close.
"I's tired too." Powder said, leaning back in the couch and sighing. "Can't go ta bed 'cause we don't wanna botha' Nicole an' Mush." A funny expression came across her face and I started laughing. "What's so funny?" Powder asked quietly.
"Ya jus' looked real funny." I smiled tiredly and we sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Tomarra' ya wanna come meet da guys?" Powder asked after a few minutes.
"Sounds great," I said softly.
"Ya know, we's gonna fall asleep if we sit hea' much longa'." Powder said, opening her eyes very wide and sitting up.
"Yeah, youse right..." I murmured, and sat up slowly. I shook my head back and forth. "Let's go sit out front." I stood up and walked towards the door, rubbing my eyes. We stepped outside into the summer air.
Part Eight
Powder
It was really dark before we decided to risk going upstairs. We were thumping up the stairs and in the hallway outside the bunkroom, when Lynn whispered, "Shh." She held her hand out to keep me from entering the room. We stood just outside the doorway and watched. Nicole was yawning, and she leaned forward, and Mush laid her pillow flat behind her. She laid down, and all in one motion, Mush pulled the covers up around her neck, and planted a kiss on her cheek. Nicole smiled up at him, and he turned away to join a group of guys on the other side of the room.
"I can’t believe he did that in front of ALL DA UDDA’ GUYS!" Lynn whispered to me, smiling incredulously.
"Hey, look," I said, pointing to where Nicole was laying. She had rolled over so she was facing the doorway, and Mush couldn’t see her face. She had her eyes closed, but we knew she was awake, because she was grinning from ear to ear.
The next morning we woke up feeling refreshed. The fact that we had slept on the floor didn’t matter much.
Nicole was sitting up in bed already, and apparently she hadn’t stopped beaming all night.
"Heya, Nicole. Doesn’t your face hoyt from grinnin’ so much?" I asked her, walking up to her bed.
That just made her smile wider, which I hadn’t thought would be possible. It was infectious, because when you looked at her, you couldn’t help but smile back.
Lynn came to stand next to me. "How ya feelin’?" she asked. At Nicole’s insistence that she felt great, she continued, "Well, I was thinkin’. Maybe ya could come wit’ us today. If ya started feelin’ tired, we could bring ya back here real quick. That way ya could start gettin’ used ta bein’ a newsie."
Nicole hopped out of bed. "Ready for action, and reporting for duty, sir!" she said, giving a salute. Then she hurried to the washroom and, seeing that there were no guys in there anymore, she pulled on the clothes Lynn had lent her. She had put her white dress back on to sleep. She probably hadn’t wanted to get Lynn’s clothes too dirty, or else just wasn’t used to pants. It wouldn’t be long before she got past the strange feeling of it being visible that she had limbs, and realized that pants are very comfortable and that you can do a lot of things more easily in pants than you can with a big long skirt. I should know. If I had been allowed to wear pants when I was working around the cabin in Minnesota with my parents, life would have been much easier.
I was pulled back from my train of thought when Nicole came out of the washroom looking like she had yesterday, only there was more color in her face. She looked... vibrant.
As we headed out the door, I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, and asked slyly, "So... what did you an’ Mush talk ‘bout all dat time yesta’day?" "Oh, just everything! He said he was really glad I was going to become a newsie, and that he wished I could stay in Manhattan. I just don’t see how I could, though. There aren’t any extra beds, and I’ve already put you out of yours two nights, Lynn. As soon as I can walk to Brooklyn, I want you to talk me, Powder. Besides, wouldn’t it be absolutely WEIRD to live in the same Lodging House as your boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend?" Lynn choked.
"Mm-hmm," Nicole nodded vigorously. "Last night he... he asked if he could call me his girl." She was beaming again.
This time Lynn and I were beaming, too. We arrived at the selling stand. As we stood in line, Lynn told us the guy’s name was Weasel. "Weisel, really. But Jack started callin’ ‘im Weasel a while ago, an’ it stuck." She explained to us how horrible he had been to her when she first became a newsie. "But now he’s used ta seein’ me," she told us.
I had noticed him looking at me a little strangely yesterday. He probably was wondering where the extra girl came from. He gave us a magnified version of that look again today. I could tell he still wasn’t thrilled with female newsies in his selling district, but chances are he wouldn’t have to deal with Nicole and I too much longer.
We taught Nicole how to sell, and taught her the 'Golden Rule of Newsiedom'. "Headlines don’t sell papes; newsies sell papes," Lynn told her. We started hawking headlines to demonstrate the kind of stuff to say.
She caught on pretty quickly, as we figured she would. We sold all morning, and then we headed to Tibby’s for lunch.
When we got there, Nicole sat down at a chair Mush had obviously been saving for her. They way he looked at her reminded me I hadn’t seen Spot in a couple days, and suddenly I realized how much I missed him. I also realized how much I was looking forward to seeing him later in the day.
Lynn and I sat down at a table with Race, Jack, and Crutchy.
"Heya, ladies," Crutchy greeted us. Ladies? This guy was great. He seemed like a guy who would be easy to talk to, and would make a really good friend.
"Hey," Jack and Race both said at the same time.
"You goyls up for a game a’ poker?" Race said, pulling out a deck of cards.
"No, thanks, Race," Lynn said, laughing. "Everyone knows ya could slaughter da likes a’ us in a game a’ poker. Ya done it before."
I was laughing, too. I realized how comfortable I felt here. It was good to know I had friends in other parts of New York. When you have our kind of lifestyle, you learn to appreciate how helpful a friend or two that are close at hand can be.
Then a newsie I had never seen before walked in. He was dressed like the others, but not exactly the same. He had a younger newsie with him.
"Hey, guys, it’s Davy!" Crutchy said.
"Well, Dave! Long time no see!" Race greeted him.
"Hi," the newsie, whose name was apparently Davy, said. "Huh. I’ve met you, Lynn, but I didn’t know there were any other girl newsies around here."
"Dis here’s Powda’. She’s from Brooklyn," Lynn explained.
"Oh... Spot Conlon’s territory," Davy said, a smile playing over his face.
"Yeah," Lynn said, smiling back. "Anyway, she’s hea’ because she’s been helpin’ me take care a’ her." Lynn jerked her thumb toward the table that Nicole was sitting at.
"Heh," Davy let out an amused laugh. "She and Mush seem to be sort of friendly already."
I turned, and sure enough, Nicole and Mush were sitting pretty close, which seemed to be rather awkward, since their chairs were sort of bumping together. I smiled. "Yeah. She’s ‘is goyl!" I told him.
"Really!?" Davy said, in an interested tone. "Well... I think I should go talk to the happy new couple!" He walked away.
"Congratulations!" we heard him say to Mush.
"He’s nice," I said.
"Yeah," Jack said. "He helped us through some tough times wit’ da strike. If it hadn’t been for ‘im, we neva’ woulda’ made it."
We spent the rest of our lunch break talking about the strike. I had heard about it before. I’d heard the Brooklyn part of the story. I had never heard the Manhattan version, where the strike had started in the first place.
When we had finished eating, we stood up. Lynn and I went to drag Nicole away from Mush. It wasn’t easy. We finally got her away, and we went out and sold the rest of our papes, on Nicole’s insistence. We had to take her back to the Lodging House before we headed out to Brooklyn. She didn’t argue, since Mush was there.
Lynn and I talked about a lot of things on the way to Brooklyn. We talked about how close we had gotten in just a couple days. She was planning on staying overnight with us in Brooklyn. It would be getting dark by the time we were done talking to the guys, and she didn’t know her way back to Manhattan from Brooklyn very well. She had made sure Nicole was all right, and that the guys knew she would be gone.
When we got to the Newsboys’ Lodging House, most of the guys were already there. I made my introductions.
"Guys, dis here’s Lynn," I said. She smiled.
"This is Mac, Dusty, Howie, Black-Eye, Half-Pint, Red, and you’ve met Spot," I said, gesturing around the room. Each of the guys nodded a greeting.
Lynn and I walked over to Spot, who hugged me. "Geez, Powda’. I was beginnin’ ta think ya disappea’d!" I talked to Spot for a few minutes, and then looked around to see where Lynn was. I didn’t want her feeling awkward. I didn’t need to worry. She was already talking to a couple of the guys, Howie and Mac. From what I could hear of their conversation, they were saying the usual, "I didn’t know dere were any goyls in Manhattan!" type stuff.
"Oh. Ya don’t wanna leave ya friend alone too long, huh?" Spot said, slipping his arm around my waist. We walked over to where Lynn, Howie, and Mac were talking. Lynn seemed to be doing fine on her own. She was telling them how Jack found her in an alley and took her in.
"So, Lynn. Ya stayin’ in Brooklyn for a while?" Howie asked. He tried to be sort of casual, but it wasn’t really working. Spot and I looked at each other and smiled, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
"Jus’ for tonight," Lynn was saying. Mac seemed to see what was going on, because his eyes were sparkling, and he drifted away from us toward the rest of the guys. I knew he was whispering something like, "I think Howie’s fallin’ for Powda’s friend ova’ dere!" because each one of them glanced over at us. Fortunately Lynn and Howie had their backs to them. I didn’t know how I was going to keep a straight face.
"Hey, you goyls hungry?" Spot asked.
"Actually, yeah!" Lynn said.
"Howie, ya wanna come wit’?" I asked.
"Sure!" he said. The four of us headed down the street toward the Dew Drop. We had a nice, fairly quiet supper. Lynn and Howie had an exclusive conversation for most of the time we were there. After we finished, we stood on the sidewalk and watched Spot and Howie walk back towards the Newsboys’ Lodging House. We stood there until they were no longer visible.
"So, Powda’..." Lynn said. "Is Howie... um... unattached?"
The laughter that had been welling up inside me all evening finally let loose, and I managed
to gasp, "Yes." Lynn grinned sheepishly.
**To part 3!**