“You mean to say, you thought your own brudda didn’t love ya?” he asked.
“He left me when I was six. I was too young to understand anything. For eight years I didn’t have a brother, what was I supposed to thing?” I buried my face in my knees and cried. he put his arm around me and pulls me close, all of the sudden I don’t’ feel so alone in the world.
“I’m sorry.” he waits a while, “so tell me about where all you went when you were traveling.”
“I learned things; endurance, patients, how to fight.” I stood up “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” I ran inside and grabbed a leather portfolio from behind a cedar chest. I returned to the patient young man out side.
“I drew these, the are all the pictures of the places I have been.” I handed him my pictures and he starts to look through them. I sat down beside him and watched as he saw each of them. There are pictures of places like India, Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and even Japan and Russia.
“Looks like you’ve been all the way around the world.” he say’s as he continues to flip through the pages.
“Ya, and it sucked. For seven years I...” I started, but he interrupted me.
“Ya said eight earlier.”
“I traveled for seven and spent the last year on Prince Edward’s Island while my father finally died of a broken heart. That had to be the worst year of my life. I hate it when people treat you with sympathy when the don’t even know you. That is when I decided to come to New York to find Mark.
I continued all night telling about my seven years I had traveled all over the world by myself. I showed him all of the pictures I had drawn from everywhere I had ever been. I told him everything I had learned and never bothered to tell anyone. I had planned to tell my brother someday, but now that someday would never come.
I also learned from this young man that my brother had trusted this same young man with his story about his life. I found out that he did regret leaving me and how he came back four months after he had left to find no one at home. Many times he returned there. Then he decided that we were not coming back he put everything he wanted to remember me by in a trunk and haled it down here. I passed it everyday and even kept my pictures behind it and didn’t even know it once belonged to my mother. I felt that by telling the same person that my brother had once talked to that it was as close as I could ever get to telling my brother all I had longed too tell him but never did because of the hate I had kept inside.
Sometime during the night I fell asleep, but awoke in the next morning in the same busted chair as the day before. I study the room about me and the silence lead me to believe that all the others had already left. I stood up and stretched my arms up as far as they could go.
“Afternoon bright eyes.” I heard from across the room. I jumped at the element of surprise and saw that it was the young man from the night before.
“I thought I was alone.” I sat back down in the chair.
‘Nope, I’ve been sittin’ here watchin’’ youse sleep.” He smiles over at me to let my know I’m in good hands. “I’s wonderin’ if youse wants to go look in that chest down stares, I knows were the key is stashed.”
“Sure, why not.” I said as I followed him down to the chest. “Were are my pictures?” I ask when I realized that I had gottin them out and hadn’t put them up.
“Right ova’ here.” he picks them up off of a chair and hands them to me. “Youse know, youse pretty good at that drawing stuff.” He reached up over the door facing and pulls down a small key.
“I remember this chest. It was my mothers. Dad had a hared time leaving it behind when he took me to England. “I said as he handed me the key. I place it in the delicate lock and turn the key and open the top. We both gaze at what lies inside.
“I’s never introduced myself yestaday. I’m Spot Colons, from Brooklyn.”
“My name is Ray.” I respond without thought.
“I know, Scrapes often talked about you.” he said as he watched me look over the contents of the chest.
“Ya know, um, I haven’t eatin in two or three days, can we go for lunch or somethin.” I said when I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes and a queasy sick feeling in my stomach.
“Sure kid.” He escorts me out of the lodging house and down to the Hang Out for some food. After one look in the window I see all the guys.
“Can we go somewhere else, I don’t want to be around too many people right now.”
“Sure kid, I’s knows this place jus’ ‘round the corner.” we walked around the corner and came practically face to face with Mike and Liam bragging about what they had done the day before.
“Ahh, look at poor old Ray, maybe she needs some one to cheer her up after her tragic loss yesterday.” Mike said sarcastically
“Maybe we could take you to Wesley, he could make you feel all better.” Liam teased. Without thinking, I gave him a solid kick on his right check bone.
“Ya like that, I learned that little trick in Japan, want to see some more?” I said with hate running through my veins like wild fire. Spot tried to stop me only to be pushed back by Mike.
“This is our fight, you stay out of it.” He said to Spot, he looked at me and I nodded at him to let him know I was all right. Liam circles around me.
“I’ll get you for that.” He yells as I jump up and give them a hard split kick in their jaw bone. They don’t fall so I continue with them. Soon Liam falls and Mike shakes his head trying to see straight.
“You’ll pay for that, you little brut.” he said as he tries to throw a punch at me. I take off down the street and he follows me and Spot follow him. After two blocks I stopped. I wanted to make him pay for what he did the day before.
“What you stop for?” Mike yells at me once he finally catches up. “You’ll pay for what you did to me cousin.” He throws another punch at me, but I catch his fist before it even comes relatively close to me. He throws another punch with the other hand, and again I catch it.
“That was a vary bad move.” I say as I twist his arms out and he falls to his knees. I throw a hook kick that hits him on the right side of the head and he falls all the way to the ground. I start to drop kick him out of anger and find that I can’t stop, I was determined to make him pay for killing my brother.
“That’s enough.” I feel some one grab on of my shoulders. “It’s OK.” tears fill my eyes, but I just can’t stop, there is so much hate in me.
“Do you want to know were I learned that, Uh, Uh... I can’t here you. Comon’ Mike, don’t you want to fight some more. Cry mercy, I dare ya!” I scream as I give him one last drop kick.
“Comon Ray.” I start to cry. I turn to find Spot, Hea`ro, Blink, Race, Beam, and many more Newsies just watching in surprise. He opens his arms and I let him take me in them once again.
“I hate him Spot, I hate him. I want to kill him for what he done yesterday.” Tears flows with ease down my checks.
“Let’s get outa’ here.” He leads me out of the alley and over to the Hang Out followed by all of the other newsies. We all sat down in a booth and they order me a sandwich. I manage to eat a couple of bites before I don’t have the will to eat any more.
“The scabs ganna’ be afta ya for a while, we need to youse outa’ here.” Hea`ro starts.
“I know how I can beat them.” the wheels in my head start to turn.
“What are youse talkin’ about.” Race asks as Hea`ro stops talking in mid-sentence.
“The dress in the chest. The chest, remember Spot, in the chest is that dress.” half a smile comes over my face.
“What about it?” he confusingly asks.
“The bulls will never believe a newsie but they will believe a Lady.” I crawl over the table and take off in a full sprint ever to the lodging house, with the boys following far behind me.
By the time they arrived at the lodging house I had already opened the chest, though nothing inside it had been touched.
“What’s this about a dress?” I heard as Hea`ro and the rest of the guys walked into the room. His jaw drops to the floor as he gets a glimpse of what lies in the chest. I pull out a gorgeous dress that once belonged to my mother and hold it up. “I could turn in Mike and Liam and then they are in big trouble because the bulls always believe the first class citizens.
“Great idea but you must remember what you did to Mike and Liam. They can hold that against you.” Race warns as he gets a closer look at the dress.
“Not really, I’ll be dressed as a lady. What harm could a Lady do to two boys that are both twice her size?” I laid the dress down, just thinking about my mother, what little I could remember.
“Hea`ro, Spot, the scabs are comin’! I’s headed hea’ an’ they comin’.” a small boy who was out of breath came running in yelling.
“I’se gonna’ soakem’ if they trys anything.” Spot growled as he headed down stares to get the rest of the Brooklyn gang for the fight they had come to Manhattan for. “Me boys came ta fight and that’s what we’s ganna do.”
“Spot, wait, let them look for me. I promise that they won’t find me then they’ll be gone and they wont’ look for me here anymore.” I said as I headed to a fairly narrow hall.
“Whats if they find ya? Then what.” he said trying to get me to change my mind about the whole matter.
“Then you and you boys can soak em’.” I smiled. “Now go tell them I’m not here and let have a look around.” They turned and went down the stares with hesitation and I jumped up and grabbed the door facing. I swung my feet back and pushed them against the side walls, then I carefully placed my hands on the walls and walked my self up till my back was against the ceiling, then I listened.
“No, she’s not here.” I heard Hea`ro say
“Bull, we saw her walk in here and she hasn’t come out, I know she is here so you better hand her over.” A strange voice said
“I told you she ain’t here, I don’t see why you don’t believe me.” Hea`ro said. “If I see her who should I say came looking?” He sarcastically asked.
“Wesley, and I’ll tell her my self, let me by.” Wesley said. You could tell the was ready to fight.
“Ok, you can look but you’se ain’t gonna’ find her, cause she ain’t here.” Hea`ro said, letting them in and Wesley sounded disappointed that he wasn’t gonna fight. The scabs came in with allot rucus and started tearing everything up looking for me. I watch several of them walk straight under me. They looked for almost an hour before the decided that I was not there and left. I grabbed the door facing and swung down into the bunk room.
“Hey guys, told you they wouldn’t find me.” I said as they all turned around. They all seemed concerned and once they saw me they seemed relieved.
“Where were you, I even looked for you and couldn’t find you.. Every inch of this place was searched and you wasn’t here.” Race said as he gave me a hug, glad to see that I was all right.
“Where was I?” I asked repeating the question. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.” I said with a smile as I climbed up to my bunk.
“They said that they’ll be back tomorrow to look for youse again, youse gatta leave. Spot said you will be safe in Brooklyn, Ya leavin’ tonight.” Hea`ro said as he lifted me off my bunk and set me on the floor.
“I know that you didn’t just give me an order. I’m going to stay right here!” I said determinedly as I started to climb to my bunk again. Once again I started to climb to my bunk and once again I was lifted down, this time by Race.
“Youse like a sista ta me, and I’m sayin’ youse goin’! Don’t argue, it’s said and done, Spot is waiting down stares.” Then he escorted me down the stares where Spot was waiting.
“Ya ready, its late and it takes a while to get there.” Along with most of the Brooklyn newsies, we ran all the way to the lodging house in Brooklyn by the harbor.
“Youse get some rest.” Spot pointed to an empty room that appeared to be a former office. “you’ll be better off in there till the boys get use ta ya.” he said as I walked in to the room. It had a bed that seemed to have recently been slept in.
“Whose room is this?” I asked turning to Spot.
“It don’t matta’, it’s youse tonight.” he turned to the bunk room and I laid down and went to sleep, only to have the worst dream of my life.