Boys, Meet Twitch

Chapter 4

That night, Twitch couldn't sleep. Her jerks of her head kept her up for half the night. She did shut her eyes for a little bit, but woke up to her nerves of the strike tossing her head and hands every which way. Eventually, she just sat up. "You ok?" Jack whispered
"Can't sleep." She explained
Jack looked around. "Crutchie." He whispered and nodded for him to follow them, "Follow me." He said
He took the two up to the roof. His penthouse. "Look around, kid. Take in the view from my penthouse." Jack said
"Do you come up here often?" Twitch asked
"Yup." Jack sighed

"Geeze, Jack, how long have you had that dream?" Twitch asked
"A long time, goil. A long time." He said
"I had a dream once." Twitch said
"Yeah?" Crutchie asked
"Yup. I was gonna be a reporter. I met people, got a sad excuse for a printing press, it does work, by the way, and I even met... the man who ruined my life."
"Your ex?" Jack asked
"Yup."
"Who exactly is that?" Crutchie asked
Twitch hesitated. "It's uh- I- I'll tell you later." She said
"Come on, you can trust us." Jack said
"I really don't wanna say it." She said
"Ok."
"Do you like writin', Twitch?" Crutchie asked
"I love it. My grammar might sound atrocious when I talk, but it's better when I write."
"Atrocious. Fancy." Jack said
Crutchie yawned. "Well, I'm gonna try to sleep up here. Y'all?"
"Might as well." Jack said
The three laid down on the roof. It was harder than the mattress, but it was still nice. The air felt good and the weather was decent. Twitch got cold and got closer to Jack. They slept for about ten minutes, then the morning bell rang.
The newsies didn't go to get papes, instead they went to a restaurant. They all sat in chairs or on the table. "A water for you, and for you, and you, and who's the big spender with the seltzer?" The owner asked
"That would be me." Said Race
"That'll be two cents."
"Two cents for seltzer? Just give me normal." He said
"How did I not see that coming?" He said sarcastically while giving him a normal water
     Twitch's head was still jerking around. "Keep your head still." Jack put his hand on her shoulder
David raised his glass. "I say we raised our strike in a most auspicious manner."
Everyone looked at him like he just spoke a different language. "I don't know about that." Said Finch, "But we did scare the bejezzes out of 'em!"
     "The Delancies won't know what hit 'em." Said Crutchie
     "So what now?" Twitch asked
     "We spread the word." Said Davey, "Let the rest of New York's newsies know about the strike!"
     "Or better yet, let's split up and spread the word!" Jack suggested
     "I'll take Harlem."
     "I'll take Midtown."
     "I got the Bronx!"
     "I'll take Flushing."
     "Specs, you take Queens. Sniper, you take the east side." Jack said, "Who wants Brooklyn?"
     Everyone looked away immediately. "C'mon, Brooklyn, Spot Conlon's turf." Jack said "Ay, Finch, you tellin' me you're scared of Brooklyn?"
     "I ain't scared of Brooklyn!" Finch said, "But that Spot Conlon kid gets me a little jittery."
     "Me and Twitch'll take Brooklyn." Jack said
     "Me?"
     "Yeah."
     "Well, why is everyone so scared of Brooklyn?" Twitch asked
     "Brooklyn is the sixth largest city in the world. You got Brooklyn, you got the muddaload." Jack explained
     "I wonder why the press ain't tried to follow this." Albert said
     "They are in my head." Twitch mumbled to herself
     "Twitch, what's the last news story you wrote?" Jack asked
     "What's the last strike you organized?" She asked
"Do you really think we stands a chance gettin' in the paper?" Les asked
"If you stop a paper like The World, we could make the front page." Twitch said
"You got a camera, Twitch?" Jack asked
She thought for a second and then remembered. "I do, actually. It's at my mom's though. Chances of getting it back are slim ta none." She said
"Well, I'll help you get it and we could take a picture!" Jack said
The owner of the restaurant came back in. "Boys, I gotta set up for dinner. I got paying customers, I need the tables." He said
"C'mon, we got newsies to visit." Said Albert
"You won't be shooin' us off when we get our mugs in the pape!" Race enthused
The newsies went and collected the other parts of New York. After Jack and Twitch talked to Spot Conlon, the two went to her old apartment. "She shouldn't be home, she works late." Twitch said while opening the door
She poked her head in and looked around. She was gone! "Come on!" She said
They went into what some may call an "office". It was just a table, chair, typewriter, and Twitch's camera. Twitch took the camera and Jack took the stand. Just then, they heard the creak of the door opening. They went white. "Hide." She whispered
They listened to the footsteps of her mother. From her hiding spot under the table, she could see her walk into her room. They slowly got out of hiding and ran out the door, slamming it behind themselves. They sprinted back to the newsie boarding house. Jack was so far ahead of her and she struggled to keep up.
"You ok?" He asked while trying to catch his breath
"Yeah." She said also panting, "We got it!"
They went upstairs to meet the rest of the newsies. "You got the camera?" Asked Henry
"No, we got a thousand dollars." Twitch said sarcastically
All the newsies went to sleep. They had spent all day talking to every other newsie in New York.