Memories
by: Seven of Nine



“Travis!”

Dutchy turned around and saw a girl with strawberry blonde hair waving to him. Dutchy rubbed his eyes and looked at the girl again.

“Marty?” he asked in disbelief.

The girl smiled. “It’s me, Travis!”

Dutchy ran over to the girl and gave her a big hug. “What’re ya doin’ here, Marty? I though youse stayin’ at Aunt Meg’s!”

Marty shook her head. “I was, but now I’m here with four of my friends an’ we’s stayin’ here.”

Four girls appeared behind Marty. Marty pulled one up with pale blonde hair.

“Travis, dis ‘ere is Stripe,” she pointed to a girl with black hair. “Dat’s Cleopatra.” She pointed to another girl with soft, light brown hair. “She’s Virginia, an’ she,” pointing to a girl with red hair, “is Grace. We’s decided ta stay ‘ere, but we ain’t gotta job or a place ta stay. Does yer newsies got room fer a few more?”

Dutchy smiled. “We got plenty a room. Come on, I’ll introduce ya ta Jack an’ da other newsies.”

Dutchy led his sister and her friends to the lodging house. He introduced them to Jack and the other newsies, but something happened that he wasn’t expecting. Each of the girls attached themselves to another newsie. Stripe was hanging around him the entire time, and he was surprised that Marty was going for Kid Blink. Virginia was over with Mush, Cleopatra was hanging around with Bumlets and Grace had attached herself to Swifty. Dutchy shook his head. I’m real glad Marty’s here, he thought, but I get da feelin’ dat dey just might be a little problem wit da newsies without goyls.

* * *


“Hey, look over there!”

Swifty looked over where Grace was pointing in the alley. She was pointing to what looked like a rat, but as he looked closer, he saw that it was a kitten that was only about a week old. Grace walked over to the little kitten and picked it up.

“Ain’t it cute?”

Swifty nodded. “Adorable.”

Grace looked at the little kitten. It was mewing for it’s mother, but it would be hard to find its mother in the alley. It had soft, orange and white fur and it clung to Grace’s sleeve. Grace stroked the kitten’s fur, and it stopped mewing as loud.

“Hey, Swifty, do you think Kloppman’s gonna let me keep this?”

Swifty shook his head. “I don’t know. You’ll hafta ask him.”

Grace scratched the kitten’s head. “I had a cat that had kittens once. She had five, and there was one gray-and-white one that was just the sweetest thing. But one day I was playing in the fields with it and a hawk came down and took it away.”

“I’m sorry, Grace.”

Grace shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I think I’ll just head back and ask Kloppman if I can keep this kitten.”

Grace walked out of the alley, Swifty right behind her. She walked quickly yet carefully because she didn’t want to hurt the little kitten. When she arrived, she found Kloppman sitting behind his desk, his feet were on the desk and he was reading a paper that someone sold to him earlier.

“Hi Kloppman.” Grace said.

Kloppman looked up from his paper. “Hi Grace. What’s that you’re holding?”

Grace held up the little kitten. “Can I keep it?”

Kloppman looked at the little kitten. It was adorable, and Grace could tell that he was trying to find some reason to say no.

“All right, you can keep it, but when it’s full grown and can take care of itself you hafta let it go.”

Grace felt a little sad, but she nodded. She took it upstairs and brought it over to the water pump. She filled the little tin cup with water and sat down on a chair. She stuck her finger in the water and got the kitten to suck the water off her finger. Grace could remember when her cat died and she had to feed the kittens like so. She smiled, but then there was a memory that she didn’t want to see. As soon as the kitten stopped eating, Grace took it over to her bunk, took a big piece of cloth and rolled it up and put it under her bunk. She set the kitten down on it, then it laid down and fell asleep. Grace sat down on her own bunk and thought for a minute when she saw Swifty stand in front of her.

“So, what is it?”

Grace looked confused. “Huh?”

Swifty sighed. “The kitten. Is it a boy or a girl?”

“Boy.”

“What’re ya gonna name it?”

Grace thought for a minute. “Well, I can’t call it Kitten cuz someone’s already got that name, but I guess I can call it ‘Fluffy’. What do you think?”

Swifty chuckled a little bit. “I guess that’s kinda cute.”

Grace nodded. “You also think it’s kinda stupid, don’t ya?”

“Yeah, but I think it’s a good name for ‘im.”

“Thanks.”

* * *


“Extry, extry! Train derails with no survivors!”

Grace heard Swifty call out that headline. “Hey, what page is that on?”

“Page four.”

Grace pulled a newspaper off her shoulder and opened it up to page four. Sure enough, there was the story. It said that a train derailed, killing everyone on board.

“How sad.” Grace said. “I’d hate to have any family members on that.”

She held the paper up in the air and called out the headline, but that story was still in her head. When she forgot about the story, a memory popped up in her head that she didn’t want to see. It was what happened the day before she left with Marty and all her other friends and came to New York. She just shook her head and tried to think of something nice. In a few hours, she and Swifty sold all their papers and headed back for the boarding house. They were almost there when Grace felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a police officer standing there.

“Are you miss Grace Mitchell?” he asked.

Grace nodded. “Yes, I am.”

The officer nodded. “Did you hear about the train that got derailed yesterday?” he asked.

Grace could feel nervousness begin to churn in her stomach. “Yes, why?”

The officer sighed. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.” Grace saw Swifty stand next to her as the officer continued. “There were one hundred and forty-eight people on that train, and two of them were named Alice and Ben Mitchell.”

Grace gasped. Her parents’ names were Alice and Ben, but Mitchell was a common name, and Grace hoped that it was someone else.

“Are you telling me it was my parents?” she asked with a worried tone of voice.

The officer nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Grace felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes, but she blinked them back as the officer continued.

“This was around your mother’s neck when we found her.” He said, and he handed her a gold locket. Grace opened it and found a picture of her father and a picture of her. “Since this was the only thing that survived the crash we thought you should have it.”

Grace could feel a stray tear roll down her cheek. “Thanks, officer.”

The officer nodded and went back to his work. Grace let the hot tears roll down her cheeks when he disappeared. She started to cry and then felt Swifty’s arm wrap around her. She felt his arm, then she turned around and hugged him back. Swifty felt awful too, for he was always there when someone got a death notification. Grace cried even harder when that memory popped up in her head again. She hid her face in Swifty’s shoulder and tried to think of happier times, but it was that memory that was haunting her. All of the sudden, she said something that only made the memory even worse.

“And the last thing I said to them was that I hated them.” She said quietly.

Swifty looked at her gently. “What was that?” he asked.

Grace pulled away from him; her eyes were filled with grief and hate. Her teeth were clenched, but tears of sadness still rolled down her cheeks.

“Just leave me alone!” She snapped, then she turned and ran into the noisy streets.

Swifty was puzzled when Grace told him to leave her alone, and when she took off he followed her because some sixth sense told him that the first thing she needed was somebody who would listen to her. As he ran after her, he called her name, but she never listened. She surprised him when she took a turn into an alley, but he still followed her. He was glad when she went down the alley because he didn’t have to look out for other people.

“Grace, stop!” he shouted, but Grace still didn’t listen.

He picked up speed, and he finally caught up with Grace. When he was close enough, he reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her to a dead stop.

“Let go of me!” she shouted.

Swifty only grabbed her other arm. “Grace, just calm down. I know you’re upset an’ all, and I’m upset that you’re acting like this. Just tell me your problem and I’ll listen.”

Grace pulled one arm out of his grip. “You wouldn’t understand, no one will!”

Swifty held tightly to her other arm. “Grace, please. I’m your friend, just calm down and tell me what your problem is.”

Hot tears of anger, grief and hate rolled down her cheeks, and her red hair seemed to be flaming with anger at herself.

“No! No one will understand! I know it!”

Swifty pulled Grace closer to him. “I will understand, just…”

Grace cut him off. “Just let go of me and shut up!” she shouted.

Swifty shook his head. “Grace, just calm down and…”

“Just shut up!” Grace screamed, then with her free hand, she balled up her fist and punched Swifty in the face. He fell to the ground and released her arm. Blood trickled from lower lip, and he looked at Grace with a surprised frown on his face. Grace just stood there, frozen with an even more surprised look on her face. Then, with a sudden gasp, she realized what was going on.

“What have I done?” she exclaimed, then she got on the ground next to Swifty, threw her arms around him, hid her face in his shoulder and cried harder than she had ever cried in her life. Swifty wiped some blood off his lower lip and put his arms around Grace.

“It’s okay, Grace. Just tell me what’s bothering you.”

Grace sniffled. “When I came here with Marty and the others I was running away from my parents. My mom was sick at the time, my dad lost his job and I came home one day and started to complain. Finally, my dad just tired of my complaining and started to yell at me. My mom tried to stop him, but he yelled at her, too. Then my mom started to yell at my dad, then they…” she cut herself off.

Swifty hugged Grace a little more. “Just be quiet now, and think about what happened. When you’re ready you can tell me what happened next.”

Grace nodded and went along with the memory. It was the one that she didn’t want to remember, but she had to live it. She watched it as it rolled through her mind as if it were happening right then and there. When it came to the part where she had left off, she shut her eyes and stopped thinking of it.

“Swifty, I can’t do this, it hurts me too much.” She said.

Swifty kissed the top of her head. “Yes you can. It may be painful, but it’ll help you. Sometimes you have to make things hurt more to make them hurt less.”

Grace nodded and watched her memory roll again. When it came to the part again, she closed her eyes again and couldn’t go through with it.

“No, I can’t do this.”

Swifty nodded. “Yes you can.”

Grace shook her head and stood up. “No, I can’t do this!” she shouted.

Swifty stood up and looked at Grace with compassion in his eyes. “Grace, you can. You’re a strong girl and you can go through with this. I know you can!”

Tears rolled down Grace’s cheeks as she shook her head again. “No. No, I can’t do this!”

Grace whirled around and ran down the alley. She could hear Swifty calling her and telling her to stop, but she didn’t listen. She ran out of the alley and across the noisy street. The next thing she heard was Swifty, but his voice was filled with fright.

“GRACE! LOOK OUT!”

The next thing she knew, something hard hit her, she slumped to the ground, then something even harder hit her head. There was a stabbing pain, and she heard many frightened and surprised voices, then there was nothing.

* * *


Spot walked through the park as he headed for Tibby’s. It was such a beautiful day that he couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the sunlight reflecting off the lake like many diamonds. He walked out of the park and onto the street when he heard someone scream for someone else to look out. Spot froze when he saw people rushing over by a trolley. He walked over to investigate, then he saw a face that he knew. It was Swifty, and he had a split lip and he looked like he had just seen a murder. Spot quickened his pace as he came closer, and when he finally made it he pushed people aside to see what happened. He saw Swifty kneeling on the ground, trying to wake someone. Spot looked closer at the person, and saw that it was Grace.

“Swifty!” he shouted.

Swifty looked up and saw Spot making his way over to them.

“Swifty, what happened?”

“She was hit by the trolley, and there’s a doctor on the way.” Swifty turned back to Grace and grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You’re gonna be okay, Grace.” He said, and he hoped that she would respond, but she didn’t.

* * *


Jack and Davey sat in Tibby’s, waiting patiently for Spot to arrive. When the door opened, they saw Marty come in instead of Spot, and she was very worried about something.

“Marty? Is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Jack said.

Marty breathed hard. “Grace just got hit by a trolley.”

“What?” Davey exclaimed.

“How?” Jack demanded.

Marty shook her head. “She’s been taken to the hospital, and Swifty feels like he’s responsible.”

Jack stood up. “We need to get there. Let’s go!”

* * *


Jack rushed into the hospital waiting room with Davey and Marty behind him. He rushed to the front desk and the nurse looked at him in surprise.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“A girl named Grace was brought in earlier. Can we see her?”

The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry, but the doctor is still in with her, trying to determine her condition. You’ll have to wait with the others.”

Jack sighed, but turned around and walked towards the chairs. He found Swifty, Spot and Kid Blink sitting down, and Swifty was hiding his face in his hands. Jack sat next to Swifty.

“Swifty, you okay?”

Swifty pulled his hands away from his face. His eyes were red, but he face wasn’t tear stained, and his lower lip was split.

“No. There’s a long story behind this, and I was there when Grace was hurt. First of all, when we was done sellin’ our papes a police officer came to us an’ told Grace dat ‘er parents were killed cuz dey were on da train dat got derailed. I tried ta get ‘er ta tell me what was wrong cuz she ran out on me, but she punched me in da face instead.” And he pointed to the cut on his lip. “An’ trust me, ya don’t want ‘er punchin’ you when she’s in a bad mood. Anyway, she calmed down an’ tried to tell me what was botherin’ ‘er, den she came ta somethin’ dat was real botherin’ ‘er, an’ she couldn’t tell me. Den she got real mad, an’ den she ran into da streets an’ got hit by dat trolley.”

Jack sighed. “Woise dan I thought. She must’ve done somethin’ real bad to bother ‘er like dat.”

The door opened, and the doctor came out. He saw Jack and walked over to him.

“Are you with Grace Mitchell?” he asked.

Jack nodded. “Yeah, is she gonna be okay?”

“Well, we aren’t exactly sure yet. There’s a fifty-fifty chance she’ll have amnesia since she hit her head.”

Swifty stood up. “Excuse me, but this girl just found out her parents died. Is that gonna affect her in any way?”

“That all depends. If she isn’t thinking about it since she’s having a concussion, then it won’t.”

Swifty sat back down. It was quiet for a while, then Marty popped in.

“Doctor, Grace is one of my best friends, so do you think that I could see her?”

The doctor nodded. “She’s unconscious right now, but if she had a friend there it might do her some good.”

Marty nodded and walked with the doctor to Grace’s room. Jack turned to everyone in the waiting room.

“All right, let’s all head back to the lodging house and give Grace some space.” He said.

Everyone, except Swifty, got up and left. He decided to wait for Marty to come back so he could see Grace.

* * *


Marty entered Grace’s room and looked around. She thought it was kind of scary to see one of her best friends in a hospital bed and unconscious. She sat down in a chair next to Grace’s bed and looked at her friend.

“Grace, can you hear me?”

Grace didn’t move at all. Marty sighed and tried again.

“Grace, Swifty told us about your parents, and I want to tell you that I’m sorry.” She sniffled a little bit. “You’re one of my best friends, and I want you to know that I’ll be here for you when you’re well.” If you get well, she added mentally. She just sat there, staring at her friend. All Grace could do is just lay there, not knowing that her best friend was there. Marty sighed, then stood up.

“I’m sorry Grace, but I have to leave now. If Stripe or any of the other girls are out there I’ll send them in.”

Marty sat there for a while, just staring at her friend. After a few minutes, she gave up.

“Good bye, Grace.” She said, then she ran out of the room, tears blurred her vision. She ran to the waiting room and looked around to see if any of her friends were there, but there was only Swifty. He stood up when he saw her come out. Marty walked over to him.

“Can I see Grace?” he asked.

Marty just sniffled, then she threw her arms around him and cried. Swifty was very surprised, but he listened to what she had to say.

“Oh, Swifty, it’s so scary in there!” she said, her voice was choked up with tears. “It’s scary to look at her and she doesn’t even know you’re there. It just makes me so sad!”

Swifty nodded. “I’ll go in and see her for myself. I know you’re real sad, but I think that the right shoulder to cry on is back at the lodging house.”

Marty released Swifty and smiled. “Thanks.” She whispered, then she ran towards the door and disappeared. Swifty turned around and headed for Grace’s room. When he opened the door, it was just as Marty said it was. It was a sad sight to see her lying there. Her red hair hung loosely on her pillow, her mouth was just a thin line and the left side of her face was scraped and bruised. Swifty sat down in the chair next to her bed and sat there. He reached up and took her hand in his.

“Grace, can you hear me?”

Grace didn’t move an inch. Swifty sighed and tried again.

“Grace, I’m real sorry about your parents, and I’m sorry I tried to pull the truth out of you so soon. I thought it would make you feel better, but I didn’t know that it would hurt you that much. I guess I should’ve waited till you felt better.” He paused. “Cheese, Grace, I can’t bear ta see ya here like this. I’m yer friend, and as yer friend I care about you, and since I care about you I don’t like to see you like this.”

He still held her hand, put he held his face in his other hand. He just sat there and breathed.

“Come on, Grace, you get through this! I know you can!”

When he finished speaking, something happened that he wasn’t expecting. Grace’s hand closed over his. When he saw what she did, hope began to flicker in him.

“Hey! Somebody get a doctor in here!” he shouted.

A nurse came running into the room. “What’s wrong?”

Swifty shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong, Grace just showed me that she’s gonna come outa it!”

The doctor came rushing in the room. “What’s the emergency?” he demanded.

Swifty shook his head. “She’s gonna make it. I told her that she was gonna make it, then she squeezed my hand!”

The doctor looked at Swifty’s hand and saw that Grace had his hand in hers. He raised his eyebrows.

“Young man, I’m afraid we need you to leave now. If she’s responded like that I want to examine her right away, so I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”

Swifty sighed, but listened to the doctor. As he walked out the door, he knew that everyone needed to know that she was gonna be all right. He broke into a run and didn’t stop till he arrived at the lodging house.

* * *


Marty rushed up the stairs in the lodging house. Everyone was waiting to hear how Grace was doing, so she was mobbed with questions when she entered. She told everyone that she didn’t know how Grace would be doing, and that they’d have to wait for Swifty for details. She walked out to the lobby and sat down on the bench. She leaned back and sighed. All she could see was the image of her best friend lying on the hospital bed. She didn’t see Kid Blink sit next to her.

“Marty, how’re ya doin’?”

Marty turned and looked at him. “Not so good. My best friend is laying in a hospital bed and there’s a fifty-fifty chance she won’t ‘ave ‘er complete memory.”

Since Blink only had one eye, he looked at her closely. He could see that she was hurting badly, and she was fighting back tears.

“Marty, do ya need a shoulder?” he asked.

Marty looked at him softly and nodded. She leaned over and cried on Blink’s shoulder. He held her as she cried and tried to calm her down. When Marty stopped crying, she drew back, looked into Blink’s eye and smiled.

“Blink, I’m real lucky to have a friend like you.”

Kid Blink smiled back at her. “Hey, you can count on me if yer feelin’ down. I’ll always be here.”

Marty smiled even bigger, and she got closer to Blink. He moved in too, but before their lips could touch, Swifty came barging through the door. When Marty noticed it was him she jumped up.

“Is Grace gonna be okay?” she asked.

Swifty smiled. “I know she will! She squeezed my hand!”

He rushed up the stairs, leaving Marty with a smile on her on her face. “Blink! Did you hear? Grace’s gonna make it!”

Blink sat up and smiled. “Of course I heard. I’m so happy for you!”

Marty smiled even bigger. “I’m gonna head upstairs for details. You comin’?”

Blink nodded and they ran upstairs.

* * *


As soon as Swifty was done selling his papers he ran back to the lodging house and grabbed Fluffy, Grace’s kitten. He carried it to the hospital and asked the nurse how Grace was doing.

“Grace is doing fine. She woke up last night, but she seemed very frightened. If you want to see her, maybe you should find out what’s bothering her.”

Swifty nodded, then he walked over to Grace’s room. She was sleeping, so Swifty sat in the chair next to her bed and stroked the little kitten.

“Grace, are you awake?”

Grace rolled over and opened her eyes. When she saw Swifty she smiled.

“You brought Fluffy?”

Swifty nodded and handed her the little kitten. Grace held it and stroked its tiny head. Swifty watched her closely. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were sad.

“Grace, the nurse told me that something was bothering you when you woke up last night. If you want to tell me, I’ll listen.”

Grace looked at Swifty and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Last night, when I was unconscious, all I could see was the last thing I did with my parents. It seemed like torture to my mind, then, all of the sudden it changed for one second. I dreamed that you were here, and I reached out and squeezed your hand, but then it changed back to my memory.”

Swifty nodded. “Grace, maybe it would be best if you told me what happened after you parents began to fight.”

Grace sniffled a little bit, and a few more stray tears rolled down her cheeks. “When they started to fight I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t stop. Finally, I lost my temper and I told them to shut up and then I…” she cut herself off with tears.

Swifty took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay Grace. I’m here, an’ I’m gonna listen. If you tell me, maybe it won’t torture your mind so much.”

Grace wiped the tears off her face. “When I lost my temper I told them to shut up, and then I…and then…I…”

“Grace, don’t fight it.”

Hot tears flowed from Grace’s eyes like waterfalls. Now or never, she told herself. Without hesitation, she poured out what happened next as fast as she could.

“I told them that I hated them.”

Swifty looked very surprised. “Oh, Grace. Why did you do that?”

“Because I was angry, then I just blurted it out. I really didn’t mean it, but I ran to my room after I said it, and I packed my bags and rushed over to Marty’s house. I slept outside that night, then the next morning I told Marty that my parents said I could go with her.”

Grace sniffled. After she finished talking, she felt a little bit better that she had told it to someone. She stopped crying and looked Swifty straight in the eye.

“Swifty, you were right! Now that I’ve told you the memory is gone!”

Swifty smiled. “I told you that sometimes you hafta make things hurt more to make them hurt less.”

Grace put her kitten on her bed, then she sat up and hugged Swifty. “Thanks so much. I’m real glad you’re my friend.”

Swifty hugged her back. “I’m glad too, but I think that you need to tell Marty the truth when you leave. I think she really needs to know.”

Grace nodded and pulled away. “Thanks again. Now, why don’t you get the doctor and tell ‘im I want outa here?”

Swifty laughed, but he turned got up and went for the doctor.