Trashcan of Newsies

Ice Nights

POV: JoJo

You would think that on a cold night like this, one that's so cold it keeps you inside. You would be inside. But here I am, inside my small white car, bags of food covering the floor. Outside of Specs' house. I grab hold of the bags, lightly kicking the car door open, and smile in the bitter weather as I take myself to where my brothers are. Carefully stepping towards the house.

"Hey guys! JoJo is here!" Mush yells to everyone,  a smell of... something greets me inside the house. I look to everyone, some trashy music is keeping them in place. I have no idea what they were doing, but they seem so in vibe with the music they didn't realize I'm here. I take off my shoes by the door and try not to cave under the heavy bags. "JoJo, do you got the goods?" Mush asks, leading me to the fresh and bright kitchen. "Yeah, I got everyone's favorites. Almost took me an hour finding them all." Mush does finger guns at me to show his thanks. One by one, I take out everything. Putting them away in the freezer. Almost every flavor of Ben & Jerry's you could think of. You don't wanna know how much this cost. "What did you bring to movie night Mush?" He steps aside from me, grabbing something off the floor. A giant bag of popcorn, holding it like it's his newborn baby. I wouldn't be surprised if that bag is taller than Romeo. Snorting, I close the freezer. "Where did you'se even get that?"

"Mike and Ike knew some circus lady, and she had popcorn. I asked nicely enough. And got it." I shake my head, grinning, and stuffing the plastic bags in my pockets. "Where are we even gonna put it?"

"Well, I mean, it could take Jack's spot-"

"Ay there's my ice cream boy!" Specs walks in, light growing in his glasses. I remember as kids there was always a fight about who's taller. Specs or me. We were both growing so fast. And everyone wanted to know who the tallest newsie was gonna be. Even after more bets on Specs. I won it. I spit shake with him, and ask. "Why is Billie eyelash playing?"

"Ellish." Specs corrected. Patting Mush's popcorn. "I have no clue, I'm blaming Race cause he started to sing Bad Guy."

"Isn't that song like, old?" Mush raises his eyebrows. "Mushy, it came out like, last year."

"IT DID?!" Mush and I screamed at the same time. Specs simply shrugs and leads us back to the living room. Weirdly enough it was the darkest room in the house. Dim lights and weird green wallpaper. I could see on the carpeted floor. Albert and Buttons walking on their knees. In a circle. While music is still playing. "What kind of cult is this?!" I said, loud enough to be heard. Everyone turns to me, and screams/greetings of "JOJO!" Echo from everyone. Henry goes to me, like a dog begging for a treat. "Joey, did you get my favorite?"

"Well its hard to forget it when you were reminding me of it every 10 minutes Henry." He fakes a frown, and punches my shoulder. I join everyone else by the couches and chairs. It's packed in tight for everyone, but we're not really people who care about space. "Let's play a fun game!" Romeo calls out, turning off the music. Some groans of protest heard. "I'm gonna quiz everyone about the history test. Cause I sure didn't study and I may as well do something about it."

"So you're forcing us to give you answers?" Finch questioned. "Yeah!" Before anyone objects, Romeo continues to talk. "First question," Romeo takes Specs' glasses, and starts to pace back and forth like a strict teacher. "When did the war of 1812 start?"

"Not 1812!" Albert shouted. "Alright," Romeo pushes Specs' glasses back up. "What was it about?"

"About how much 1812 sucked," Finch replied. "Now, can we get-"

"NOT YET! One more-"

"Let's start the movie." Specs said, getting up. "But my history," Romeo whined.

"This isn't school Romeo." Specs answered. Grabbing back his glasses, and pointing towards the kitchen. "Besides, we got food to eat."

"FOOD!" Everyone cheered. I help out, grabbing mountains of ice cream and spoons. Personally, I think with how many of us there are. We could easily start a war ourselves. I get back to the living room. Mush getting popcorn everywhere, trying to get some in Elmer's mouth. "Ice cream call!" I yelled, "S'mores for Crutchie!" I chuck the ice cream at him. "Coffee high for Katherine!" She catches it perfectly. Finally, I get down to the last ice cream. "And monkey for Mike!"

The ice cream hits Mike, right in his face. "Oh sorry Mike!"

"I'm not Mike, I'm Ike." I hand him his spoon, doing a fake laugh. "Nice try, but Ike hates Chunky Monkey." Everyone settles in with their Bennie's. Spoons being played and people chatting. We gather even closer together, fitting in tightly. Some lying on the floor, some squished on chairs or couches. Or just standing under the lamp, which Mike and Ike are doing. "Someone play the damn movie or I'm stuffing Romeo into the popcorn." Kid Blink said, while eating some ice cream. "Blink, I worked too hard to get this popcorn for you to just waste it away." Mush replied, "So shut your mouth, or I'm taking your food." Kid Blink gasps. "You wouldn't dare!"

"I would!"

"Hey Blush, shut up." Specs gets up, going towards the TV. "I got the movie, so if we're able to be quiet for..." Specs looks at the movie. "An hour, then, we won't waste any food."

"What are we even watching?" Crutchie asks, rocking back in his chair. "The masterpiece that is Ratatouille." Cheers are heard from just about every newsie.  And just like that, we're switched to silent mode. Like a light switch. Lost away in the rat of all our dreams. For a couple of times that I look out of the corner of my eye, I see a group of people, that I'm way too lucky to be with.