Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 15

JACK'S POV:

"You ready for your second day?" I ask. "Yup. But I'm even more ready to punch the Delancey's." to emphasize, she cracks her knuckles. We join the crowd of boys waiting in line. They ask Alex how her first day is, and she tells them all about the rich lady and her meeting Katharine. They all laugh as she recounts how she got people to buy her papers by making up outlandish lies. It's like she's been working with us forever.

"Hey! Girlie! You back to apologize?" Oscar shouts out. His brother laughs, slapping him on the back. Alex makes her way to the front and I follow behind her. She has a flirty smile on her face and she bats her eyelashes. The boys come forward, pulled in by her charm. "Yeah. I guess I owe one of you a date." they look at each other smugly.

"A date with my fist." she punches Oscar and he falls back, blood streaming down his face. She grabs Morris's collar and pulls him down. "You're an asshole." with that, she punches him square in the face and he stumbles back, a bruise already forming on his jaw. The boys are all laughing and cheering and Alex has a proud look on her face.

"That was... wow." I say. I swear, this girl gets more and more amazing as I get to know her. "Take that, Delancy!" Albert shouts, mocking the two brothers. "You just got taken down by a girl!" Jojo yells, high fiving Romeo.Wiesel watches from a distance, frowning and shaking his head. The brothers stand up, wiping the blood from their mouths and noses.

"Stupid bitch." Oscar mutters. I walk forward, my fists clenched. "You aiming to get punched again, Delancey?" I growl. "Call my girlfriend a bitch again and I'll make sure your mug looks uglier than it already does."

Alex pulls me back, preventing me from starting a fight with them. "I took you down once. I'll take you down again. So be nice or I'll sic Jack on you, and when he's angry he's one hell of a fighter. Understood?" she grabs her papes and stomps off with me in tow.

"You better not start a fight with them, Jack. I can tell you want to."

"Of course I want to! They just insulted you," I shout.

"I've been called worse. Plus, they're not worth the effort. As satisfying as it is to sock 'em, it'll only end in trouble." I know she's right, but I really want to give those boys a black eye or two. It might even make them look better.

"C'mon, let's get to sellin'. I promised Crutchie I would teach him how to sew. He's planning to make some christmas gifts for you guys." she grabs my hand, squeezing it once. We walk off together into the cold, papers in hand. Hopefully we'll be able to get home before dark.

"So, how's your mom?" I ask. "Better. She's recovering from the surgery. It'll be awhile until she can go back to work though. Dad's been stuck at home taking care of her a lot since she can barely walk. He's only been able to work a couple shifts a week."

"That sounds hard. Tell her I say hi, will ya?" Alex nods, smiling at me. "She says that you should come over for hanukkah dinner. She said she'll make some extra latkes."

"Sure. But I don't know much about hanukkah an' all." I say abashedly. "It's fine, don't worry about it. It's not much about religion as it is about tradition for us. My parents came here to escape the pogroms. They make sure to keep the traditions they had back home. It's one of the only things they have left from there."

I take a moment to let that sink in. I knew her parents were immigrants, but I never really thought about why they came here. New York is full of immigrants, from all over the world. All escaping from one thing or another. They all want a better life for themselves and their families. You can hear so many different languages as you walk down the streets. You see so many different cultures and traditions, smell the food that they make. People who would never have met live right next to each other. In New York, it doesn't really matter where you come from. Once you step foot onto New York soil, you're a new yorker.

New York is a land of opportunity, where everyone can get a fresh start. Hundreds of people arrive each day. Each boat brings more stories, more culture, more traditions. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing.