PART TWO


The Dark Secret

part two of a (death of an unknown)


Location - Queens

Setting - a dark alley, a girl is tossed out a door wearing only a torn shirt and pants on her shivering body. " Its so cold" she said as she looked up at the starry sky, she starts to walk out of the alley and down the street she walked for about ten minutes then she stopped in front of an old run down building then she whispered " home sweet home! ."She then walked in the building and into a room where it was filled with boys' and girls that she called friends. She walked over to a counter and dropped five pennies and signed the permanent guest book, then slowly walked up stares up to the bunk room. She walked over to her bunk and jumped up and laid down and stared at the ceiling until her thoughts were broken by her best friend Mouse. She hopped up to the bunk and sat next to the freezing body

" Hey ash how are you doing?"

"Horrible, Mouse." Ash said holding her pelvic bone "I hurt all over" mouse looked at her friend sympathetically then said "Jack stopped by to day, he asked if I knew where you were."

"What did you tell him!?" mouse hesitated for a moment then said

" I told him you were still selling papers he said he'd stop by later tonight."

"Whew! Thanks mouse I appreciate what you're doing but I've almost got all the money I need to pay off Zander!

" You, know what you never did tell me the rest of that story about you and Zander. ?"

"I'll tell you some day, but not right now I'm too tired"

"What I have to say may hurt you, but I'm saying it as a friend what your doing is wrong how will Jack Feel if he ever found out?"

"Jack won't find out, you won't tell him will you?"

mouse hesitated and then said with a sigh " no, I won't." Mouse then jumped off the bed and started toward the door but before she shut it behind her she said " I'll see yeah down their later ash."

" Yeah, see yeah" mouse closed the door and ash resumed staring at the ceiling like she had before.


It was only then that she realized that what mouse had said was true she had to tell jack she was frightened but that didn't matter what mattered was telling the man she loved the truth or did she really love him that much she had so many different feelings she didn't have time to sort them all out it was time to tell jack the truth. She jumped down from her bunk and walked out the door and down the stairs " Hi ash, how are yah doin?" Ash looked up from the stairs and saw her friend Jessie playin poker with some other guys from the lodging house, Jessie was the leader of the queens newsies he took her in when nobody else would and it was amazing that she and jack were to gather again after what they had been through, kira made that possable. Kira had been dead for all most a year, ash missed her so much some times when she felt down and jack wasn't around she would go up onto the roof and start to talk to the air as if kira was right there listening to every word she said and making ash feel like everything was going to be all right.

"Oh! , Hi Jessie how you doin? Win anything good? ."

Jessie turned around again and picked up a hand full of change then looked at ash with a big grin on his face then said " I think Vectra is going to go hungry to night."

Vectra all of a sudden popped his head and said in a sarcastic voice "you just wait, I'll win back my money!" but Vectra new that he would be going hungry because Jessie was the best poker player in queens he just said that because it gave him a little confidence

" yeah right, you can only dream buddy!"

" well I'll see you guys' later I Gotta go do some thing" Jessie and Vectra waved goodbye but not looking up from their game Ash walked out the door and down the street to wards' Brooklyn, the bad thing about living in Queens is that it takes a whole lot longer to get to Manhattan, you had to go through Brooklyn to get there.

She got half way across the city then bumped into a short blue eyed boy she recognized him to be the famous spot Conlon " hey ash how's it rollen?" spot looked at her suspiciously he looked up and down her body then said " you don't look so good, you all right?"

Ash looked down at her shoes then back up at spot and said " yeah I just had a rough night that's all." Spot just stared at her concerned but not showing it but ASH new what he was thinking (she's been sleeping around no one looks' that badly for saying that they haven't.)

"Well I Gotta go see yah later spot!" spot sighed and said

"yeah see yah." Spot walked off as, Ash watched she knew what he must be thinking of her he's handled this kind of thing before he can tell when someone was selling them self 's out, he knew that Ash was selling her body in the back of alleys' but what he didn't know is that why she was doing it and that it how it was going to stay. She continued walking to Manhattan she walked a fast steady pace witch proved to get her to Manhattan quicker, plus using a couple short cuts helped her along as well she had finally got to the Manhattan lodging house which became a boy's and girls boarding house now that almost ten girls were living there she walked in and found the place to be empty except the owner, who was busily wiping down the counter and sweeping the dirt into a pile and putting it in the garbage can. Ash walked up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder he jumped then turned around and said

" oh, Ash! It's only you. You nearly scared the live out of me."

" Sorry Kloppman, but do you know where jack is?"

" no . . . no can't say's I do, you know how those boys are dey's leave 'ta sell dere papes an dey don't come back till dark he could be any where's but yah could try da. usual spots like Tibby's, Medda's, or yah know out wid da guys just hangen around."

" Yeah, all right I'll see yeah later, by the way I might be sleeping here to night all right?"

" that's fine, oh if you find racetrack tell 'em that he ow's me for three nights."

" Okey, see yeah" ash walked out the door and down the steps to wards Tibby's she looked through the windows no sign of jack any where. She walked and walked all around the city looking for jack she finally found him at the race club where anyone can play any illegal game without getting caught because the chief of police organized it, there was only one catch you had to personally know the chief to enter and in jacks' case he knew the chief like a brother, he had been caught by him so many times.

Ash tried to walk past the guard but was pushed back by the tall man, then in a ruff voice he said " youse ain't supposed ta go in dere, da. chief don't know's yah!"

Ash looked up at the man and glared at him for a second then said " can you tell a jack Kelly that I's want's ta see 'im?" the man looked at the small girl and sighed in pity for her, she finally noticed that she looked horrible and the man was probably thinking that he was her older brother just when she looked up she saw jack standing in front of her smiling.

He grabbed her and pulled her into a giant hug then said " Ash I's so glad ta see yah I's missed yah."

Ash tried to loosen the grip jack had her in before she said anything. "I... I missed yah to jack more than you'll ever know!"

jack undid his hold on the small girl, then looked into her tear filled eyes' and said " wad yah mean more than you'll ever know, did something happen in queens?"

" you could say that! I think we need to go somewhere private so we can talk." Ash stood up and took hold of jacks' quivering hand and led him down the street into an old abandon ware house where she knew that they would have some privacy or so she thought! She and jack sat on two boxes right across from each other and sat in silence for a minute and then Ash started to talk.

" Jack, you remember when I first came to New York?"

" yeah"

" do you remember the reason why?"

" yeah you said you were trying to escape a guy named Zander!"

" that's right, jack but that's not the whole story I was living in Boston Massachusetts and I was making a living as a whore and I was borrowing money from Zander to buy a ticket away from my home, and I left before I could ever repay him and now he's found me, he found me in queens a couple months ago and he's making me sell my self out that's why I'm never around any more, he said if I didn't do what he told me he would kill someone that I love and that's you jack I don't want you to get hurt." Jack just sat there in total surprise, he couldn't believe what he had heard and before he could say any thing they were startled by a voice that came from the shadows.

" Tell him ash, tell him everything, tell him how you use to come home happy from you latest victims!" the man walked out from behind the crates and walked toward the two figures standing side by side then in a sudden stroke of fear ash whispered the word Zander across her lips then in a inquiring voice she said

" Zander . . . what are you doing here!?" the man reached jack and ash and standing in front of them he said

"I've come for my pay ash, you owe me a lot you know!"

jack looked deep into Zander's face then said "she doesn't owe you nutten Zander!"

jack and ash start to walk away then Zander starts to say

"why don't you tell him how you came to me to start to sell your self ash!"

"It's true I did come to you, but I only wanted to get a way from my past but now I know that my past has come out of the black waters only to swallow me up like a monster that will never stop till every thing that I've come to love is destroyed. (Ash turns to jack and says) and I can't let that happen I have to leave with Zander it is the only way to keep every thing I love safe, and I love you jack I'm sorry.

Zander puts his arms around ashes' shoulder than called over his shoulder "now she knows who her real friends are."

The two new reunited figures walk out of the ware house and down the street then they stopped in front of the news boy lodging house Zander told her to get her stuff and meet him at the train yards in two hours and if she wasn't there he would hunt her down and kill jack and her friends she sighed then said

"don't worry I'll be there" and with that she was up the step and in the door nobody was there they were all at medda's for snipes birthday she went up the stair case and into the bunk room she walked over to her bunk and gathered up every thing she owned and walked down stairs and out the building and down the street she walked through the park and sat on a bench then started to sing

Ash Sanders- who am' I, where am' I going, here I sit all alone not knowing why. Brace me up I'm so discouraged, help I think I'm gonna die. How it hurts to be a no one, how I wish that I were someone really loved brace me up I'm such a failure, heaven help me up above. . . Isn't there a someone with the hand to spare, who can share what they have for my hunger, isn't there someone who will take me as I AM, brace me up not put me down make me fell like I'm as good as another. . . doubts and fear's keep coming faster, boy I'm headen for disaster that's for sure, brace me up I'm going under, Help somebody find a cure. . .

Group one/ Zander and his friends appear next to the bench ash sits on.-

"come on sand's lets go" . . .

Group two/Kira then appear's standing right in front of ash

" don't for get you're promise"

Group three/ jack and all the other newsies appear on the on the other side of the bench and sing-

"Ashley please"

1) "hey sanders, no sanders, come on we got to go sanders, you'll never find it here sanders, believe me I'm you're friend."

2) "Ashley, oh Ashley, don't listen to them how can they say they're you're friends, if they take you away from you're family and home they'll leave you alone in the end."

ash) "isn't there someone with the hand to spare who can share what they have for my hunger, isn't there some one who will take me as IAM brace me up not put me down make me fell like I'm as good as another ". . .

Repeat three times>

3) Ashley . . . we love you that's all we have to offer, Ashley we need you please don't turn us a way. . .

1) hey sanders, no sander come on we got to go sanders . . .

2) Ashley ,oh Ashley don't listen to them . . .

Ashley) Isn't there someone with the hand to spare. . .

3) Ashley we love you .

1) come on ash! . . .

All silence except jack's group

3) Please don't turn us . . a way. . .

Ash then look's at the sky and see's Kira then she smiles and runs back to the ware house knowing jack would be there she bursts in to the door and finds him on his knees crying but stops as he hears ashes voice

" I thought you were gone!" Jack stands up and wraps his arm's around ash, in a big bear hug she then say's

" I'm never leaving again, but Zander is waiting at the train yards what are we going to do?" Jack grab's her had and they both ran down to medda's place and when they got there the boy's were just coming out of the building both Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queen's newsies were there and saw the two running up to them, spot then looked at Jessie and racetrack and then at ash and jack then said.

"Okey, someone want ta tell me what da heck is goin on heah?" jack took a deep breath but was interrupted by ash

"we're going to scare somebody in to leaving New York and never coming back."

" yeah what she said"

"now hold on what's the reason? I mean yah don't just go round telling people ta leave dere homes!"

" he's gonna kill every body if I don't show up at da train yards in ten minutes! please guys, just scare him in to leaving me alone. . . Please! . . .

" alright, alright but how are we gonna do this?"

They all huddled to gather and discussed there plan and then Jessie said

" lets do it"!! They walked down the street and down to the train yards the anger was building in their eyes as ash explained why Zander had to leave New York. jack held onto ashes had as tight as he could reassuring him self that nothing could take her away and all ash could think about, was the promises that she made to kira so long ago

** the past **

"you promises you'll never leave jack no matter how bad the situation is". . ?

"I. . I Promises Kira I promises"

kira's life is draining in ashes arms then she's gone.

** back to present time**

" bout time yah showed up and look at this you brought you're friends so you could say good bye. . . well come on let's go we got to get back to boston by tomorrow"

"I'm not going Zander, I 'm staying here with my family"

" WHAT! you owe me, you're coming with me or I kill every body here"!

" like she said she ain't going no where and you'll have to go through me"

" all right let's go"

the two walked to ward each other Zander took a swing at jack and hit him on in the face and knocked him on the ground and started to kick him then by some force Zander was thrown back and on the ground every body was in amazement then they saw Kira she walked over to where jack is lying on the ground wincing in pain she grabs his arm and help's him up and helped him walk over to the group of newsies she then turned back to face Zander and said

" run Zander, run away and never ever come back for if you do I'll be waiting."

Just then the train pulled up and Zander ran up the train stairs and in the caboose ash then turned to ward the newsies and said

" I'm a person of my word call when you have need of me and ask what you will of me my hands my friendship our yours and ash don't for get what I say to you know concentrate on this moment feel don't think and may the newsies all ways be with you.

After that she was gone the newsies all went back to the lodging house

months later jack and Ash had mutually decided that it was time for them to see other people that's when jack met Sarah Jacobs and ash was with race all four of them lived happily ever after.


The end

Back