"Damn that goil," he finally said, stopping. "Not only had she made every othah goil seem bad in bad, now she’s attached to me!" He sighed in frustration and started pacing again.

"I mean, I could just take her back," he said, "but I really don’t wanna hafta go through all that lovey stuff again. It was bad enough da foist time."

Spot sat down in his chair and started thinking, but was soon up pacing again.

"I’ll just… I’ll just tell her-"

"What are you doing," he heard Katie say from the bed.

"Nothin’ doll," he answered. He walked back over to the bed and got under the blanket with her. ‘I’ll just tell Maggie it’s not gonna happen,’ he thought as he fell asleep.

"So what’s up," Alex asked, a smile playing on her soft lips. She looked across the bed at Maggie curled up next to Mush. "What do you want to tell me?"

"Well, it’s about today. It’s about my…" Maggie suddenly remembered the rest of what her mother had said about her dad, and things started to fit together. "Two days… my dad… the daughter. Please no, don’t let it be true."

Alex’s hopes crumbled. "So it’s not about… well what’s wrong Maggie?"

"It’s about your dad," Maggie said softly. "Do you mind if Mush hears?"

Alex was practically speechless. "No I… um, whatever."

Mush, oblivious to everything he was about to find out, was thoroughly surprised at Alex’s inability to speak. "Hear what?" he asked.

"Well," Maggie started, "two days before Spot found me, Alex’s dad was murdered."

Now, Mush too was speechless, and for once, Maggie was the only one thinking rationally and talking. "Now Alex, this is really important, what I’m gonna ask you." Alex nodded and Maggie continued. "The man who killed you father. What did he look like?"

"Well... he…" Alex swallowed. "He had short black hair and dark brown eyes and… and he was tall. Oh yeah! He had this scar on his forehead over his eye," Alex said triumphantly.

Maggie slumped back against Mush’s chest. "You have no idea how sad I am to hear that."

"Why? What’s wrong Maggie?" Alex asked.

"The man who killed your father… that was my dad." Maggie stared down at her hands, ashamed at what her father had done. She couldn’t look Alex in the eye for fear she might start crying.

"Maggie? Look at me," Alex said firmly.

Maggie looked up, her eyes bright from held back tears. But then one tear slowly dropped down her cheek. "I’m sorry Alex."

"No, its not your fault," Alex insisted. She leaned over and wiped the tear off Maggie’s face. "I don’t care if it was your dad who did it. I still want you to be my friend."

"I am, but-"

"But nothing. It had nothing to do with you and you couldn’t have stopped it, and that’s all that matters, okay?"

"Okay," Maggie whispered. "Thank you Alex."

Alex leaned over to hug Maggie, a slightly difficult task, since Maggie was still leaning against Mush, but, she did so and pulled away looking sternly at Maggie.

"Now you get some sleep Maggie," Alex ordered. "You have to get up early to sell papers tomorrow… and you too Mush."

Mush’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Wow. She’s worried about me. Maybe she likes me after all.’

"Okay," Maggie said smiling. "G’night Alex."

"Good night." Alex got off the bed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"So are we gonna go to bed," Mush asked after the door closed.

"Well, um, I still wanna talk to you," Maggie said softly. "I have to explain what happened today."

"Can I at least lie down," he asked smiling at her. "You may’ve had a nice rest today, but I’m a little tired."

"Well, just don’t fall asleep," Maggie giggled.

"Okay, I won’t." Mush lay down with his head on the pillow, and Maggie curled up on his right side. "So what ‘appened," Mush asked when they were settled in.

"Well, the reason I knew what happened to Alex’s dad is because I had a dream. The day you guys found me… well, I told you that I had dreams about my mom, right?"

"Yeah, ya told me," Mush answered.

"Okay, well, I don’t remember everything she told me, but I do remember that she told me my dad killed someone. The reason I didn’t remember until today is because he was the person we were running away from. I saw him and I remembered everything from the dreams. Well, some things."

"So you ran away because… well, why?"

"The same reason I ran away the first time. I’m afraid of him. Even more now that I know all the things he’s done. He and one of his friends, Eric, kept trying to make me… make me do things," she finished, and as hard as she tried, Maggie couldn’t keep from crying again. She buried her face in Mush’s shirt and cried, harder than she ever had.

"You’ve had a tough week, haven’t you, Princess," Mush said. He felt the rage boil up inside himself again, wanting to hurt Spot, Maggie’s dad… anyone that had every hurt Maggie, but especially her dad. ‘Man, that guy hurt Maggie and Alex. Poor Maggie, I can’t believe what all these guys have done to her.’

Mush looked down at Maggie, and she had cried herself to sleep.

Maggie awoke the next morning, not remembering anything that had happened; she believed she was still in Brooklyn with Spot. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around Mush, thinking he was Spot, and she started leaning up to kiss him when she finally opened her eyes.

"Oh my god, you… um, g’morning," she said blushing.

"Um, did I miss something?" Mush’s eyes had been closed and he didn’t realize what had almost happened.

"Oh, well when I woke up, I thought you were Spot and I was gonna… well, never mind."

"Okay. Well on that topic, are we gonna go see ’im soon, or d’ya wanna wait for a bit?"

Maggie thought about it for a few seconds. "I wanna wait s’more, I’m not ready yet." She sat up and stretched. "So are you gonna teach me to sell newspapers today?"

"If you want. You wouldn’t rather have Alex teach ya?"

"Well now I seem to remember a promise about Italian food, so I think it’s gonna have to be you. And besides, you can probably protect me better than Alex if my dad did see me."

Mush laughed. "Man, an’ I was hopin’ you’d forget that promise."

"Not a chance."

"Okay, so da foist thing ya gotta learn is Jack’s motto: Headlines don’t sell papes, newsies sell papes," Mush said. "So basically, a bad headline don’t matta, just make up somethin' bettah." Mush looked at one of the headlines.

"See heah, it says ‘Mayor’s daughter getting married.’ Now I just change things around to make it more interesting." He took a deep breath and raised the newspaper up in the air.

"Mayor’s daughta caught in scandal with factory owner," he shouted.

People crowded around them, buying newspapers, and when they had all left, Mush took Maggie’s hand and dragged her to another street corner about a block away. She looked up at him, confused.

"Some people start lookin' for da article," Mush explained, "and if dey find out you lied, they’ll sometimes tell da bulls. Okay, so now you try."

Maggie picked up a newspaper and stammered: "Mayor’s daughter caught in a scandal with a marriage… I mean, a factory of a, uh…" She looked up at Mush and started laughing.

"I don’t think that worked right," she gasped.

"Not at all," he laughed.

They finally calmed down and looked at each other. "Man, that was horrible," Mush said smiling. "I think maybe I’d better do the sellin’ if we’re gonna make any money today."

"Fine with me," Maggie giggled. "You never know though, I might get better."

"Well, I don’t think you can get any worse," Mush said. He started walking down the street, pretending not to notice the stunned look on Maggie’s face, but eventually turned back and looked at her. "I’m sorry, I couldn’t pass it up," he said laughing. "And you did set yourself up for it."

"Okay, you’re right… but you didn’t have to rub it in." She said, though she was laughing right along with him.

Mush want back to selling newspapers, but he talked to her between the crowds of people. "So how’r you gonna make money if ya can’t hawk da headlines?" he asked teasingly. "I mean, you could just sit there an look cute, but I don’t think dat’ll work too well."

But Maggie didn’t want to turn down a dare, even if it was only implied. "Oh yeah? Bet I could." She took one of the newspapers and pushed Mush back into a doorway. "If people see you they won’t buy it," she explained. Maggie looked around the street and spotted her victim.

He was a young man in his mid-twenties. Obviously rich from the neatly pressed suit he was wearing, but he had a look of vulnerability about him, scared of the New York streets he was walking.

‘He probably hasn’t worked a real day’s work in his life,’ Maggie thought, looking at the soft pale hands he ran nervously through his brown hair. She whistled, and the man turned around and looked at her. Her green eyes met his, and she flirtingly winked at him. He looked around, confused, thinking she was winking at someone else, but there was no one else on the street, so he looked back at Maggie. She brought her finger up and gestured for him to come over to her.

The man walked jerkily over to Maggie and stopped inches away from her.

"You wanna buy a newspaper," she asked in a husky voice. The man reached into his pocket, and with trembling fingers, dropped a coin into Maggie’s hand. She gave him the newspaper, turned, and sauntered away.

Mush could stand it no longer, and he burst out laughing. The man’s head whipped around, and finding that someone had seen the encounter, furrowed his brow and turned around, stalking away.

"Oh man, dat was funny," Mush said when Maggie walked back up to him. "So how much did ‘e give ya?" Maggie opened her hand and Mush looked down and gasped. "A quartah? Wow, you ain’t half bad!"

"Yeah, but don’t expect that too often," Maggie said. "I don’t like acting like that very much."

"Oh don’t worry, I’m shoa we’ll think of somethin’ bettah," Mush answered. "…So does dis mean you’se gonna pay for lunch today?" He looked down at Maggie with innocent puppy-eyes and his lower lip quivering.

"Oh, okay," Maggie said. "But finish selling first." She walked over to the doorway she’d hid Mush in, and sat down on the stairs.

"I used ta go here all da time with my parents," Mush said as they walked down the streets. "Once a week we used ta go to this restaurant. I guess dat’s why I like Italian so much, cause I used to have it all da time."

"So what happened to your family?" Maggie asked. "I mean, you’re a newsie, and you’ve never talked about them or seen them… well, since I’ve been here at least."

"I’ll tell ya tonight, since it seems to be kind of a pattern for us. Oh, here we are." Mush opened the door to a quaint little restaurant and they stepped inside.

A dumpy little man walked up to them. He smiled, but mostly with his eyes, since his curled mustache covered most of his mouth. He wore a white apron, covered in grease and tomato stains.

"Ah, benvenuto Mush. It has been awhile," he said in a think Italian accent. He looked at Maggie and then smiled at Mush. "È questa vostra ragazza?"

"No, this it my friend Maggie. Maggie, this is Guido."

Maggie raised her arm to shake hands with Guido, but he took her hand and kissed it. "It is a pleasure to meet you Maggie," he said.

Maggie smiled, immediately taken with him. "It’s nice to meet you too."

Guido took a menu and led them over to a private booth. Maggie sat down and sighed, feeling as though she was sitting on red velvet clouds.

"Um, are you gonna move over so I can sit down?" Mush asked.

Maggie snapped back to reality. "Oh yeah, sorry," she said smiling. "The seats are just so comfortable."

"Yeah, I know." Mush sat down next to her and opened the menu. "So whadda ya want?"

"I’m not sure. Everything looks so good. What are you having?"

"This one." Maggie looked to where Mush’s finger was pointing and read ‘Linguini with Chicken and Broccoli.’

"What’s linguini?" she asked.

"Oh, it’s a long pasta," he said, "like spaghetti, but flat."

"Okay, that sounds good."

"Hey Guido," Mush said, "we’re ready."

Guido came back over to the table and took their orders, then left, bringing the menu with him.

"He seems really nice," Maggie said.

"Yeah, he is. After my fam- well, I’ll tell you about dat latah, but yeah, he’s always been real nice ta me."

They sat in silence for awhile, not sure what to talk about, but Mush finally spoke.

"So, how’re we gonna make money if you can't um… if you’re not good at… uh."

Maggie looked at him slyly. "You mean if I’m bad at selling?"

"Well, I didn’t want ta say it dat way, but yeah. So ya got any othah talents we could use?"

"I dunno. I’ll think about it," Maggie said. "Oh look, our food’s here." She reached onto the table and carefully placed the napkin on her lap. The plate of steaming food was put in front of her and she inhaled deeply. "Wow, this smells good."

"Yeah, and dis isn’t even da best they have," Mush grinned.

"I think I’m gonna like it here," Maggie said smiling back at him. She picked up the fork and twirled a bite onto it, then put it in her mouth.

"So whadda ya think," Mush asked when she swallowed the bite of pasta.

"I think I must have died and gone to heaven," she sighed. "The food, the seat… just wow." But there was one thing missing. ‘I just wish Spot was here with me.’

They continued eating in silence until Maggie suddenly blurted out: "Oh, I have an idea to sell… uh, never mind, forget I said anything."

"What, you have an idea to sell papes? What is it?"

"Nothing." She blushed. "It’s just really weird and embarrassing and you probably wouldn’t want to do it anyhow, so just forget I mentioned it."

"Aww, c’mon. Just tell me… please?" He looked at her with the sad puppy-eyes again, and Maggie couldn’t resist.

"Okay, fine," Maggie sighed. "Well, you said people sometimes buy papers if you make them feel sorry for you. Like being crippled or blind. So what if I stuffed some clothes in my shirt so that I look pregnant, and…" She looked up at Mush and started giggling. "Isn’t that the stupidest idea you’ve ever heard?!"

"Well, it’s kinda strange, but it ain’t stupid," he said grinning back at her. "But I don’t think we’ll use it unless nothin’ else works."

"You’re serious," she asked, disbelievingly.

"I’m not shoa, actually. But don’t worry, we’ll figuah it out latah."

Blink wandered aimlessly around Manhattan, having nothing to do after he’d finished selling his newspapers, his thoughts running one way, then another, sometimes completely opposite from what he’d just been thinking.

"Man, I wish Mush would spend more time with me again," he said to himself. "I mean, we are selling partners. Why’s ‘e spending all his time with Maggie instead of me?"

He suddenly realized what he’d been saying. "Wait. Dis is good. If he keeps doing it, he’ll end up liking Maggie instead of Alex… all da same, I wish he’d still talk ta me."

Blink looked up in time to see Mush and Maggie walking out of a restaurant across the street. He ducked into a doorway so they couldn’t see him without even thinking about it.

‘What are you doing,’ he scolded himself. ‘You ain’t supposed ta spy on your best friend, it ain’t right.’ But he still wanted to know if anything was happening between Mush and Maggie, so when they’d walked far enough, Blink ran to the other side of the street and started following them.

"So ya got any othah good ideas for sellin’?" Mush asked Maggie, a grin on his face.

"You’re making fun of me, aren’t you,’ Maggie asked.

"Maybe. But if you’se dat creative, we can sell a different way every time." he looked at Maggie. She looked back at him and raised her eyebrow, in an expression that clearly said: ‘you have got to be kidding.’ Mush sighed, "Well, if we don’t think of anythin’, we’se tryin' your idea tomorra."

Maggie sighed. "Okay, fine. Just as long as Alex doesn’t see."

"All right," Mush promised. "So ya wanna go get da afternoon edition?"

Blink stopped following them after they went back to the distribution office. He walked off into Central Park and sat down on the same bench where they’d found Maggie.

"I think dis is gonna work," he said, thinking back to the conversation he’d watched in the street. "They don’t know it, but dey’re gonna be togethah. I just hope Mush forgets about Alex soon."

Blink stood up and walked back out of Central Park again and toward the Lodging House. ‘I’m not in the mood to sell anymore,’ he thought, heading back.

Maggie sat down on the stairway leading up to a tall brick house. She was afraid to try selling newspapers again, after her previous attempt had failed so miserably, so she sat there and just watched Mush sell them.

When Mush was down to his last paper, he walked over to Maggie and sat down next to her.

"So ya wanna keep da last pape an’ den we can read it latah today?" he asked.

"That sounds good," Maggie replied. "…Not like there’s much day left."

"Good point," Mush laughed. "Ya wanna go back to da Lodging house?"

"That’s another good idea," Maggie said. They stood up and started heading back to the Lodging House. When they got there and walked inside, Maggie skipped into the bunkroom, smiling brightly. She walked over and plopped down on the floor across from Race.

"Uh, hi Maggie. Why’re you so happy?" he asked, seeing the excited grin on her face.

"I dunno, I’m just in a good mood," Maggie answered smiling. "So can you teach me how to play poker," she asked. "I’ve never learned, and I wanna know how."

Mush walked into the bunkroom as she was saying this, and he grinned. "Hopefully you’ll do bettah at that than ya did at hawkin’ da headlines," he said across the room.

Maggie turned and glared at him, but burst out laughing seconds later.

"Do I even wanna know how bad she did," Alex said, as she came out of the washroom.

"Probably not," Maggie giggled. "But don’t worry, I’m gonna do much better tomorrow," she said. She turned around and winked, extremely obviously, at Mush.

Mush took one look at Maggie’s silly grin, and he too was laughing. "You actually wanna do it?" he asked, thinking back to her idea from lunch.

"Sure, it’s worth a try," she said. "And besides, it’ll probably get a laugh out of everyone.

"Oh dat’s for shoa," Mush said. "So then you don’t mind Alex seeing?"

"Nope, I’ve changed my mind, it’s okay now."

Race sighed loudly and Maggie turned back to look at him. "So ya want me ta teach you, or are ya just gonna sit dere laughin’," he asked, trying to be serious.

"Oh, if you insist," Maggie answered.

"I do," he said. "Okay, so basically…"

Maggie looked down at her hand. Race had spent 20 minutes explaining the game, and then they’d started playing. In her hands, Maggie held a 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King, all hearts. She watched as Race put his hand down; it was two threes, two sevens, and a six.

"So, um, do I win," Maggie asked as she put the cards down on the floor.

"Good lord, ya beat me again," Race said in frustration. "No one’s evah beaten me dis badly."

Maggie giggled at the exasperated expression on his face. "Okay, we’ll stop now so you don’t lose any more of your manly dignity," she said.

"Thank you," Race sighed. He pulled out his pocket watch. "Oh jeez, it’s eleven o’clock already. I don’t know ‘bout you guys," he said to everyone in the room, "but I’m goin' ta bed so I can get some sleep."

"Aww, does Race need his beauty sleep," Jack teased from another corner of the room.

"Oh, shuddup Kelly," Race grumbled. "You might find something unpleasant in your bed if you ain’t careful."

"So you wanna go to bed," Maggie said to Mush. They heard a whistle and a cat call from opposite ends of the room, and both blushed a deep crimson.

"Oh be quiet," Alex said defending them. "Nothing’s happening."

"Thanks Alex," Maggie said. She turned back to Mush and whispered, "let’s go."

He nodded and they walked out of the bunkroom and down the hall to Maggie’s room.

Mush sat on top of the bed waiting for Maggie to come out of the bathroom. He absentmindedly ran his hands along the blanket, thinking about Alex.

‘I’m so happy she knows nothing’s happening,’ he thought, remembering how she’d defended them. Suddenly, he got excited, thinking, ‘what if she’s jealous I’m spending so much time with Maggie. Oh that would be so great.’

Just then the door opened and Maggie walked out of the bathroom. Her black hair was up in a white towel on top of her head, but a few little waves of hair peeked out. She walked over, sat down next to Mush and looked up at him. "You gonna take a bath," she asked.

"Naw, I’ll do it in the morning," he replied. "So now what?"

"Aren’t you gonna tell me about your family," Maggie said.

"I guess, if you wanna heah about it."

"Yeah, I do," she answered, snuggling into his arms.

"So I came home from da market an’ when I walked in, dey were all on da ground," he said, finishing his story. "Dey were murdered, but da bulls nevah figured out what ‘appened. I ran away an’ stayed with Guido for a couple years, den I came ta be a newsie… an’ I’se been heah ever since."

"Oh wow," Maggie finally said. "So is that why you can speak Italian?"

"Oh, dat," Mush said, thinking back to that afternoon. ‘Well, I can understand a little bit, but I can only say a few things."

"So what did Guido say to you?"

"Oh, um, he just said welcome," Mush said, blushing a little bit. ‘I can’t tell her that Guido asked if she was my girl,’ he thought.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, but finally Mush lay down saying, "well, we bettah go ta bed. We have a big day tomorrow, remembah?"

"How could I forget? It’s not every day a girl wakes up eight months pregnant." She smiled, then lay down next to him, her head on his chest, and was asleep in seconds.

Mush, unable to sleep, looked down at Maggie and decided to go up to the roof to cool off. He got off the bed, but Maggie immediately started tossing around and whimpering.

‘God, I wonder what happened to her that was so bad. I know ‘bout her dad, but I don’t know everything about Spot. It must have been something he did…’

Mush decided against leaving Maggie alone, and he got back into bed with her, wrapping her in his arms. "Shh, it’s okay Maggie."

She stopped tossing and turning, so Mush put his head on the pillow and eventually fell asleep.