Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 7

ALEX'S POV:

"You ready to meet the newsies?" Jack asks. I nod, taking a deep breath. "You promise they won't eat me alive?" I joke. "Probably not." I can't tell if he's joking. He holds open the door and I walk through.

The room is the definition of chaos. Boys are running and screaming. A boy runs into me, and I stumble back. "Sorry, J- wait a second. I don't know you." he studies me for a second, trying to figure out who I am. Jack comes in behind me, and I see his eyes go wide.

A blonde boy with a cigar in his mouth runs by, missing his pants. An older boy in a blue and white checkered shirt chases after him, pants in hand. "Race! Put your pants on!" he shouts. "Make me!" the boy calls out. I stand there, taking in the pure craziness of the room.

"Guys! Guys! Pants on, we have a guest!" Jack yells. The room goes silent and everyone stops moving, turning to face him like a herd of meerkats. Their eyes shift from Jack to me and brows furrow as they start to realize that I'm a stranger. "Everybody, this is my girlfriend, Alex." I give a small wave and smile. "How'd you bag a girl like her? She's way outta your league!"

"Oh, shut up Finch." Jack says, playfully glaring at him. "Hi. I'm Romeo. What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" The guy is short and he stands with a hand on his hip. He has a flirty expression on his face. "Back off, Romeo. She's mine. Also you live here too, so you just insulted your own house." Jack argues. Romeo rolls his eyes overdramatically and moves back into the crowd of boys.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. That's Tommy Boy, Racetrack, Elmer, Mike, Ike, Buttons, Specs, Les, you just met Romeo, Smalls, Albert, Jojo, Mush, Henry, Finch, Spot, Crutchie, and Davey."

"Nice to meet you all." Jack leads me over to a worn wooden chair, one of the legs cracked and haphazardly reattached. I gently sit down on it, worried that the leg will snap off. The boys gather around and look at me with expectant faces. "Come play cards with us! Winner gets to avoid Davey's mom glare for a day." Ike says. "I don't 'mom glare'." Davey argues, glaring. "You're literally doing it right now." Jojo points out. Davey drops his glare, straightening his shirt. "I don't mom glare." he mumbles.

I sit down in the circle. Smalls shuffles and deals the cards. The cards are bent and dusty, the colors faded. I sweep the boys in poker, but Crutchie beats us all in bluff. That kid is a great liar, which is very disconcerting. He looks completely innocent the whole time.

While we play, we chat. I feel really comfortable around these boys. I don't have many friends in general, but the majority of my friends are boys. Mothers don't like me hanging out with their daughters. They think that I'll corrupt them, turn them into feminists who wear boys clothes. Which I probably would, to be fair. Boys don't seem to care about all that stuff. They treat me like an equal, which is nice.

I get along great with the boys, and I lose track of time. When I finally look at a clock, it's almost ten. It's dark out and the buses have stopped running. "Shit! I have to call my parents, they'll be worried." Jack walks me to the phone box down the street. My parents pick up on the first ring. I explain to my mom where I am and who I'm with.

"It's too late to walk home. See if you can stay with Jack for the night? I don't want you walking home alone." My mom says. I turn to Jack, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with my hand. "Do you mind if I stay here for the night? It's too late to walk home." Jack nods his head yes. "Sure. It's not very comfy here though,"

After I hang up the phone, Jack and I walk back to the building. We climb up the fire escape to the roof. He helps me up and continues holding my hand even after I've gotten off the ladder. We sit on the edge of the roof together, staring up at the sky. The smog is thinner up here, and I can just barely see the stars twinkling in the sky. The moon shines bright above us, a glowing crescent.

"The boys really like you." Jack says. "I'm glad. I like hanging out with them too." Jack smiles gently at me. We sit on that roof and talk, watching the moon fall below the buildings. Once it starts getting too late, we grab a blanket and lay down. I fall asleep wrapped in Jack's arms, the night sky watching over us.