"DAAAAAAMMMMIIIIT!"
Sarah Kathryn winced at the call of the angry wildebeest, otherwise
known as Madame Meccant. Sarah took a deep breath and braced herself for the assault of the senses she knew was coming. Suddenly, a large bright red blob of a woman barged into the room, preceded by a cloud of smoke mixed with awful French perfume. The girls had become quite adept at blocking out both sight and smell of the workhouse supervisor.
"Who, I say, WHO left the ashes by my bed again?? I want an answer and I want it now!" was the belted order. Madame Meccant scoured the bunkroom with her eyes, looking at each of the 25 girls in turn, nostrils flaring almost comically. Utter silence was the reply.
"AhhhhhhgggggAAAAAAR!!!!" she grunted with fury. She composed
herself as well as could be called 'composed' for that frightful mess of a person, and said, "Fine. No supper for a week for the lot of yeh, and the next time it happens it means whippin's for each and ev'ry one of yeh dirty wenches! And if yeh think there'll be any free time this week, yeh've got another thin' comin'!!" She snarled the last phrase through gritted teeth and waddled back to her chambers.
The girls relaxed, but whipped into position when she whirled around and barked, "Elyse! Sarah! Jane! You can clean up the mess caused by the carelessness of one of your fellow wenches!"
The three named girls looked at each other and followed Madam into
her quarters. "Why does she hate US so much?" Sarah mumbled. There were 3 Sarah's in the group of workers, but when it was combined with the other two everybody knew which one it was. They followed the massive woman, picking through the masses of dirty skirts and fancy dresses crumpled on the short hallway floor. "I wonder if she'll be able to find the mess she got into a fit about under all this trash!" Jane whispered to Sarah Kathryn. She barely suppressed a giggle, but needn't have worried about that as soon as she walked into the bedroom; it was a veritable disaster area. The smells alone prevented her from inhaling enough to actually laugh - a mixture of cigarette smoke, rotting food, and cheap French imitation perfume.
"There, do you see that?!? What kind of wretch would leave a can o' ashes right next to a bloomin' bed?? You'd betta have this spotless before work hours. I'll be in m'office, let me know when yer finished!" She rushed out of the room. Meanwhile, all three girls were trying to discern just which mess she was pointing at. Elyse gingerly picked up a gray bodice by the corner and tossed it aside. Sarah just stared at the supposed ash mess. Jane was snooping around the vanity.
"Hey! Look at what I found!! It almost looks like LOVE letters!" Though not the youngest of the trio, Jane was certainly the most childish. "Listen to this: 'My pet, c/o Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Asch Building, blah blah blah - Wow, Meccant's been here ages..... Goodness, they're dated 1874! I suppose she might have been less of a w.... er, she must have been more attractive then." She was also blessed with the misfortune of occasionally missing the filter between her brain and her mouth.
The other girls snickered as Jane dug deeper in to the pile, covering her reddish hair with dust as she did. "What's this?" Elyse, glad for a distraction, looked at the papers in her hands. A devious look crossed her face.
"Do you know what this is?! It's the guidelines for running State Underage Worker Lodgings!!!" Her excitement was met with a blank stare from Jane.
"US, dummy! Lesse what that fake Frenchie's been skimpin' us on." They rifled through the list, noticing several small things that could be fixed. "Hmmm... we're supposed to get two and ½ cups of gruel a day, instead of just two. Oh joy! More vomity goodness for us!" She mock gagged and sent Jane into peals of laughter.
Sarah Kathryn, finally fed up with having to clean up all the ashes herself, wandered over to see what they were so excited about. "Hey, you wanna help me with the real mess before Meccant erases our bread crumb trail to the bunkroom and tries to eat us alive?" She took a section of her curly hair, shaking out the ashes until the original strawberry blonde color was recognizable. "What is so blessed interesting??" She gave in and looked over their shoulders. 'The boarding house must not be more than two (2) city blocks away from the collective place of employment.' Ha, that's a laugh - we have to walk five blocks!
She skimmed the page in slight amazement and anticipation of how important this could be when something on the paper that caught her eye stopped all other thoughts. Her ideas whirling on a whole new tangent now, she read it again, and then again.
"Elyse, you said these were state guidelines, right? That makes them law, right?!?"
"Um yeah, not like they've been guiding much, I mean look at the curfew-"
"Forget the curfew! According to this, we can leave this hellhole!" The jaws of Elyse and Jane gaped at her. "Look," Sarah elaborated, "It says here that any laborers above 14 years of age, that's us, who have worked three or more years, check!, and have no family to speak of which would prefer that they remain in the labor institute," she snorted at this point. She excitedly continued, her voice gathering volume, "ahem, ARE FREE TO MAKE FOR THEMSELVES A SUITABLE LIFE OUTSIDE THE STATE ORPHAN INSTITUTE!" She coughed due to the large amount of putrid air yelling had required her to inhale. "That stupid whale was telling us we had to wait 'til we were 18 to leave, with supervision! Surely it makes her more money the longer we're here.... what say we take this up with the board?" The squeals the other two had been emitting stopped.
"There's no way we could do that!" cried Jane. "They never see workers!"
"So? It's the only way outta here. Today's our lucky day, girls, the board's meeting at 8. I'm gonna go put us in the public adgenda... I'd better write up some arguments..." She dreamily walked though the mess to the bunkroom excitedly mumbling to herself.
Elyse and Jane stood amongst the mess, staring at the door she had disappeared through. "Tell me I didn't just imagine that we have a chance outta here," Jane said in disbelief.
"No... but it'll get worse for us if whatever she's cookin' up backfires." Elyse said with a sigh, thinking of her friend's sometimes hopeless unreliability. "Let's hope, and pray!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Blinking in the harsh sunlight, Sarah took a deep breath and looked at the city around her, realizing its potential for the first time. In the orphanage they had just been meaningless names, going nowhere and
serving no purpose. When they chose to work in the orphanage-affiliated factory nothing changed save that they now had the small purpose of sewing mass amounts of clothing which they could never wear. Now that they were free, they had identities.
Sarah came to be know herself as a artistic, intelligent and slighty mysterious dreamer. Her curly blonde hair was unruly, and her mostly gray-green eyes were open windows to emotions, easily clouded over when the need arose. Jane, on the other hand, was the tall and easily excitable procrastinator, had untapped creativity and often bit off more than she could chew. Her nearly red hair was not quite head turning but her light blue eyes could keep anyone attentive with hopes of glimpsing the enigma inside. The third newly freed girl was more reluctant in embracing her new life: The oldest yet smallest, Elyse kept her clothes and short light blonde hair well kempt, but there was always an air of hidden erraticness about her. She could let herself be smart, or fun, or the taskmaster - her usual choice was a combination of all three. The girls had finally found themselves; the question was, What were they to do NOW?
After Sarah had waltzed into the board meeting waving her paper of revelations around, the boardmembers agreed to gradually enforce the rules and to let the girls go free on the grounds that they didn't let it leak that the big bad NY State Orphanage Association wasn't keeping things up to par. The very next day Sarah, Elyse, and Jane packed their few belongings and found themselves asking the aforementioned question.
All three were still brainstorming and wandering the city from early morning, and were still doing the same near noon. Elyse was beginning to explain an almost decent plan, when a voice from the alley behind them called, "Uh, hey goils, if ya don' mind me askin' but what da hell are ya doin right smack in front of an alleyway?" Unbeknownst to themselves the girls had drifted into the exactly wrong place for anyone to pass by them in or out of the alley.
Their heads snapped up at the sound of the male voice. Sarah, feeling whimsical, said, "Baring our souls to the world! What's it to you?"
The boy emerged from the alley but hung in the cool shadows, away from the late spring sun. "Well, see, I'se a newsie and dis is where I do most a' my sellin'. All me regulahs come by heah, and widout them I don' sell enough ta keep woiking. Therefoah," he added with mock politeness, "I'se askin ya ta kindly 'bare ya souls' somewheah else, thankeeverymuch!" Jane looked at Elyse and Elyse looked at Sarah, and they all turned and stuck out their tongues simultaneously then stalked away together.
Cute an' feisty, the newsboy thought with a smile. Jack'd prolly like 'em. He noticed a regular buyer come up to him with a penny. "'Ere, miss, have a good day!" And with that the selling for the day commenced and he thought no more of the odd girls.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The girls were now actually at a loss. They had very little money, no food, and not a clue under which roof they might sleep that night. The state had let them out on the grounds that they provide their own shelter. Since it was past noon, they figured it was now or never, so they all walked to the nearest dining establishment, a small joint with chipped lettering reading "Tibby's" on the window. Jane took their pooled money and ordered salads for all of them, remarking that this was already harder than they thought it would be. When they finished thay sat there dejectedly waiting for something to happen.
It did.
After about an hour of getting little to no inspiration from the dim restaurant they gathered up their bags and prepared to leave. Sarah was looking at the empty plates thinking the girls had no hope, when the newsboy who had previously run into them entered. He groaned good naturedly at the sight of them, and suantered up to the table.
"Heya goils, have any luck wi'dat soul barin' stuff?" Elyse glared at him.
"As a matter of fact, we did not," she almely retorted as she slumped back into her chair. He smiled arrogantly despite the insult.
"I t'ink we got off on da wrong foot. I never interduced meself - da boys call me Snoddy" he said, extending his hand. Sarah, the nearest to him, stared at it as if it were a deformed hedgehog recently dipped in cow dung.
"Sorry buddy boy but I don't think any of us cares what 'the boys' call you. We'll be leaving now" she said as she grabbed her shawl from her chair. Jane stopped her with an apologetic tone towards Snoddy.
"She's a little frustrated at the moment. Hi! My name's Jane, the little blonde one's Elyse and the overly rude one is Sarah. Actually, we're kinda in a jam right now so we should be going. Nice meeting you!"
"What kinda jam?" Jane didn't hesitate with her reply. "We don't know the city too well, we've no place to sleep tonight, as of half an hour ago we're flat broke, and overall we have no idea where we're going. Any suggestions?"
Sarah slapped her hand to her forehead. "Jane," she hissed, "thanks for telling a strange boy how street stupid and vulnerable we are. Pardon me while I nip off and get raped and murdered now!"
Snoddy wisely ignored her and brightened up towards Jane. "Hey! I'se lived in New Yawk me whole life! I can prolly find ya a place ta stay. Coise, that would involve me lendin ya money which would require ya payin me back, and in most cases ya'd need jobs ta be able ta do that. Uh, Maybe if I take ya ta find Jack he'll know what ta do." He looked at the wall clock and headed for the door. "Let's get goin', he might still be at his 57th st. spot."
Sarah stared at him. Jane smiled. Elyse exploded. "Whoa whoa whoa, what just happened here? I must have missed something. I'm not going anywhere with a guy I just met." She crossed her arms over her chest and assumed a body stance that clearly said 'No way.' Jane, always the adventurous one, told her to lighten up.
"We don't have much else choice, babe" she said gently. Elyse thought hard, then turned to Sarah for an answer. Sarah rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation. "What the hell! Let's go put our lives in the hands of some random guy! Show us the way to this Jerk guy, then."
"Jack."
"Whatever."
They set off walking the streets quietly. In the sunlight the girls could see much more clearly what their companion looked like - tall and vaguely handsome. His strong jawline and transparent eyes were a pleasant surprise, neither was suppressed by the drab brown-tone clothes he wore. He was suprised that he'd managed to surround himself with three pretty girls as it was.
Sarah was angry that he'd been so rude to him and was trying to figure out how to apologize with some shred of pride when Snoddy suddenly yelled, "Hey, Jack! Cowboy, ovah heah!"
"Cowboys?? In New York??? Ugh! Boys are so... UGH!" Elyse exclaimed.
"Hey watch it blondie, he's a much repected newsie in dese parts. He could make ya or break ya... let's hope he ain't in the breakin' mood." Sarah snorted. Great, our fate depends on a displaced temperamental rodeo clown. I could kick myself! she thought. Snoddy gave her a look before spitshaking with Jack. "Heya Cowboy. How's da headline taday?"
"Snod, headlines don' sell papes... hey hey, what have we heah?"
He immediately put on he charm for his female audience. They regarded him with suspicion, as they had every person they'd come in contact with since they left the orphanage. Still looking them over, Jack said, "Interductions, Snoddy?"
"Uh, o'coise Jack, da tall one's Jane, da shoit blonde one's, um... Elsie, was it?"
"Elyse."
"Oh yeah, dat's it. An' da curlytop's Sarah."
Sarah was getting impatient. "So, um, you're the famous Jack, great, but can we do something productive for a moment? I'd like to know where we're sleeping tonight. Do we have any plans? " she asked with a pointed look at Snoddy.
"Yeah so, see, dese goils don't have a place to stay tanight. Do ya know where dey can crash for da night? I was thinkin' da goil's house might have room... dey don't got any dough an' everywheah else is pretty
'spensive."
Jack thought for a moment, shaking his head. "Da Goil's Lodgin' House is full up, plus some. Do ya mind sleepin in da boy's house?" he directed towards the girls."It ain't real unusual fer goil newsies ta stay at da Duane street one since dere's is about 3 times too small." He noticed Elyse's gaping mouth."Y'ain't lookin' too openminded right 'bout now... I imagine yer appearance would improve if yeh were," he stated with a teasing smile.
I've known him for two minutes and already he's made a ridiculous offer and insulted us. Unreal! Sarah said out loud, "Are you serious?!" Jack gave her a questioning look. "We can't possibly lodge with a bunch of boys. It's not the way we were brought up. There's no way, not our first night in the city. Nuh uh."
"Well, toots, I'se thinkin you ain't got much choice. 'Sides, you'd have yer own room, it aint like dere ain't seperate rooms... da only dang'rous place is da bunkroom an' I keep watch on da boys in dere anyhow."
Still miffed at his initial behavior and reeling from being cornered into something twice in one day, Sarah was reluctant to follow his advice. Drowinees irked at her and added to the exhausted looks her two friends had, she decided they might as well go if only to rest one night.
"Alright, we'll stay at the Newsboys' lodging house. Just don't expect us to be perfect social butterflies, okay?" The boys nodded their approval.
Jack nodded to Snoddy. "Got da time?"
"Bout two o'clock."
"It's been grand goils, but I gotta talk ta Mush 'fore da evenin' edition comes out. See ya at da lodgin' house! Oh, wait, what're dey gonna do for suppa?"
Snoddy looked at the three. "Prolly Tibby's 'gain. I got enough extry dough for dem."
"See ya at Tibb's, den!" Jack called as he rounded the corner.
"Mush?" Elyse asked.
"Yeh, you'll meet 'im latah... what?" he stopped at the puzzled look on her face.
"Your parents sure were cruel when they named you guys..."
Snoddy openly laughed at her, but halted when she cuffed him upside his head. "Sheesh, aintcha ever hoid of using nicknames fer protection? Listen, a lot of times da bulls are after newsies for some reason er other, an' whether we did it er not we gotta watch out. Changin yer name keeps ya outta jail sometimes, and nicknames stick when dey need ta do that. Den some kids don't got names anyway. Can ya handle dat?" He informed them with an almost patronizing politeness.
Elyse looked almost, but not quite, hurt at being confused earlier. "Lead the way, sir." she sneered at him. And so Snoddy led them to the lodging house.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The moment they walked in, the girls felt strangely comforted. Aside from this subconscious detection, they had scarcely been able to pull together their first impressions when a loud CRASH resounded from the back of the building.
Snoddy cringed and ran towards a pair of swinging doors. "Aw, Snipeshootah, not again!" Glances of a chubby boy surrounded by large pots and pans were caught as the doors swung back and forth. Jane rushed
forward to help while the other two clung to the door, still unsure.
The dazed boy was explaining, "I missed breakfast agin, I'se hungry..."
"Yeah, but remember how Kloppman said he'd be glad ta getcha somethin', s'long as it kept ya from messin' up his kitchen? Yeah, ya fergot, I know." He chuckled as ruffled Snipeshooter's curly brown hair. "We can clean it up 'fore Kloppman gets back, kay?" It took them only a few minutes to get the pots in general order.
"Kloppman'd keep a cleanah kitchen if the leftovers woin't stored next ta the pans." Snoddy sighed. "Goils, I'se got ta go finish sellin, so Snipes heah will help ya out. Show em wheah the sign-in ledger is when Klopps gets back, a'right?" he directed Snipeshooter as he walked out the door.
Elyse almost had to stop Jane from following him. "You need to concentrate on the task at hand, dear."
Snipes snorted at her. "So wheah'd you goils meet Snoddy, huh?"
"Nowhere special. So, Snipeshooter, is it? Anything we need to know about this place?"
He smiled, glad to know something for once. He quickly showed them around the main floor; from the lobby to the common area to the kitchen to the small dining hall and through the first hall of small divided rooms. "Dey's all kinda da same, all o' upstairs is like dis 'cept for da bunkroom. Boys usually sleep dere when da sellin' ain't too good, or da rooms are full up." He told them the price for a room (8 cents a night) dinner and
breakfast (5 cents a meal) and bunkroom charges (5 cents a night).
By 5 o'clock, when Kloppman came in with the dinner supplies, Snipes was pointing out the more concise and altogether important details of the lodging house. "Da second, fift, and sixt steps creak so ya knows not ta step on dem when you'se gettin' in late. Da fire escape from da bunkroom, Kloppman can see it from 'is office so so if guys is sneakin' in goils dey use da one from da hall. Coise, den da one from da third floor bat'room is best for when guys is sweet talkin' goils 'cause it ain't in front o' no otha windows..."
"Ahem."
He instantly shrunk from his boastful posture as a deep blush crept up his cheeks. "Er, hiya Mr. Kloppman, sir, how are ya dis fine day?" He laughed awkwardly.
Kloppman gave him a stern look before dumping a canvas bag at his feet. "Carry those to the kitchen an' I'll pretend I don' know what Blink an' his goil do on the fire escape," he said in a voice that almost entirely failed to sound harsh. The boy grinned and dutifully followed his orders.
When they all reached the kitchen, the old man was nowhere to be seen. "Um, Mr. Kloppman?"
"Yeeees?" they heard from somewhere behind the vegetable crate. His aged head popped up at length, staring maniacally at the potato in his hand. "Got ya!" He laughed at their confused and nearly scared expressions. "Stray potata. Hate when that happens." he explained as he wiped off his hands.
"Now I understand yeh'll be needin rooms, an' that Snoddy'll pay fer tonight. The goil's house is full again, then? Well, if yeh still can't find anotha place tomorra yer welcome here. Alright then! Would you kindly help me set up for supper?"
For the first time in hours they smiled sincerely; Kloppman had a way of making things seem on the up-side.
The girls retired to their rooms soon after the potato soup began to cook properly. Minutes after they closed the door, a slight rumble grew to a dull thunder resounding from the dining area. Glad to have avoided the crowd of boys, drowsiness overcame them once more despite the early hour. Jane flopped on the bed fully clothed while Elyse and Sarah prepared themselves for a long night's rest after an exhausting day.
"For God's sake, Jane, at least take off your shoes!" Sarah said as she took the extra blanket and laid it out on the floor.
"Mmmmmmfffffgh."
Elyse hit her with a pillow. "It's alright, Jane, I'll just shove you off the bed if you kick me. Now move over!" she said, flipping the light switch. The room was plunged into darkness as the electric hum of the relatively new overhead light died down.
After ten minutes of silence, Sarah rolled over. "Elyse? Jane? You awake?"
"No!" and "Mmmmffffnk!" were the responses. She continued anyway.
"What do you think life'll be like now?"
Elyse partially sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Hun, compared to that hellhole, life out in the city will be first-rate no matter WHAT we do. We always have each other to fall back on if it isn't, anyway. Go to sleep already!"
And so Sarah sank into her pillow with dreams of what the city might bring them.
And that's Sugar Plum's luverly story so far. Should she finish it?... OF COURSE SHE SHOULD! E-mail her and tell her that! ~Penny
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