All is fair in Love and Strikes (Sprace)

Chapter 19 | Race

at this point imma stop adding homophobia trigger warnings at the top of these chapters unless yall actually want em. i feel like yall just know there's gonna be homophobia so what's the point

RACE'S POV

I walked down the street towards Brooklyn bridge. I had finished selling papers hours before, and Jack told me I could go down to Sheepshead for the evening races. I liked crossing the bridge. The view of the river was beautiful, watching the late afternoon sun cause the water to sparkle. It would go down soon. The wind also picked up here, as there weren't any buildings in the way to stop it. It was nice letting the wind mess my hair up more than it already was. It was refreshing, especially because it must've been a hundred degrees outside all day. I took a moment to lean on the railing and look over the river. The boats floating along their merry way, the buzz of activity down by the wharf before work hours were over. Literally the only thing wrong with today was the boiling temperature. I smiled and continued to walk across the bridge, ready to bet my day's savings on horses

"Fa***ts!"

"Qu**rs!"

"Co****ckas!"

"What the fuck?" I whispered to myself as I listened to slurs being passed around carry down to where I was. I hurried up to see what the commotion was about but I stopped in my tracks. Two naked boys, clearly beaten, were being paraded down the street and onto the bridge by who I thought were the Brooklyn newsies. I wasn't sure but I felt I could make a safe assumption by the abundance of red in their clothing.

I quickly pulled myself over the railing and under the bridge, hiding in the support beams and scaffolding. I could hear the noise getting closer and closer until it was right above me. I poked my head out a little to figure out what was happening. The group was crowded around the two stripped newsies, pinning their arms behind their back and pressing the side of the boys' faces to the rail. I made eye contact with one of them. He had dark curly hair, a pointy nose, and dark eyes. Kinda similar to me. But I was younger. I was barely twelve. He must've been about fifteen maybe? Sixteen? He looked really skinny and badly malnutritioned. His eyes were pleading for help, but I was too scared. I retreated back under the bridge. I couldn't take on the whole of the Brooklyn army by myself, I could barely take one. I heard someone yell something along the lines of "This is what we do", before there were screams from both boys as they were pushed over the rail, and laughs from their former friends.

I woke up shivering. I hated that memory with a burning passion. I was only twelve when it happened, and no one should have been forced to watch it. Prime example as to why I was so scared to come out. In this day and age people like me are "public enemies". Only one person knows I was there that day, and I haven't seen him in years.

I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to go wash my face. I threw cold water on me and scrubbed, taking much longer than needed as I dwelled over the memory of the two boys. I had already known at that point that I was gay, and it had pushed me farther in the closet, if that was even possible. I reached over to grab the towel, but couldn't find it. "Skittery, I swear ta god if you don't pass me da towel I'se gonna toss ya to da Bronx and see how you'se can handle, and no you'se ain't profitin' from it!"

"Thank you miss," I said as I tipped my hat to a pretty girl who had just bought my last pape. She smiled and walked off to do whatever more important things she had other than talking to a dirty street rat like myself. I sighed and leaned against a building, not taking my eyes off her as she walked down the street. My life would be so much easier if I could just force myself to like girls like her, I thought. I squinted my eyes, trying to look as hard at her as possible. "Nope still gay," I mumbled to myself. I mean what's it matter, the guy I love loves me. Doesn't cancel out the fact that I could be pushed over the fucking Brooklyn Bridge though.

"Hey!" I heard someone call out behind me. I spun around to see two Brooklyn newsies coming my way.

Shit, I thought. This can't be good.

"You'se Racetrack, yes?

I nodded my head. "Indeed but may I ask how that concerns you'se?" Instead of answering me, the taller of the duo socked me in the eye. "Damn, I thought Brooklyn of all places would understand an attitude," I retorted, clutching my face. "Imagine what Spot would do if he found out you'se treatin' me like this?"

The other guy took the front of my shirt in his fist. "And that is why ya name concerns us. You've toined our leada soft."

I raised an eyebrow and sighed. So that's what this is about. "Oh yeah? How exactly has 'e turned "soft"? Has 'e started telling bedtime stories to the lil kids? Or maybe he's just being a decent human being? Or has he done nothing and you think liking a guy over a girl isn't tough? 'Cause i'se gotta say, if guys are supposed to like "manly things", then liking men shouldn't be an issue."

They glared at me and I got a punch square in the jaw, then another in the stomach. I managed to land a couple fists, but they had the obvious upper hand. I took punch after punch, kick after kick, slur after slur until they finally decided they had enough. "Fa**ot," the taller guy sneered as he shoved me into a pile of crates at the entrance of a back alley. The both spit at my face before laughing and running off to Brooklyn. Well fuck. I gingerly touched my nose. Blood. I sighed. Why do humans suck? I gathered myself together, groaning from my aching body. I guess fuck my plans for sheepshead this afternoon. Limping, I made my way back to the lodging house.

I'm back bitches 😎 okay so this took a damn long time but i promised myself i'd get at least one chapter done and published tonight for all of yall... and here we are at 3 am while i have to get my grades up in all my classes, specifically 2 because if i don't then my teacher has to call my parents saying that i'm failing in 2 classes, aint that fun 😃😁 

imma be honest i have so many ideas for this story but so little motivation it isn't even funny. plus i've been slowly drifting from this fandom for a lil while now, but props to me cause i listened to the soundtrack for the first time in forever today. 

thank you all for you support, it really means a lot, especially coming from people i don't even know and cause this book isn't all that great. long story short yall mean alot to me <3

get some rest, get some food, stay hydrated just enough so you don't die, etc. etc.

have a good week ma dudes

as always constructive criticism, general thoughts, and any ideas you may want me to incorporate into the story are welcome and encouraged

~ your favorite homo <3