Daughter of the Refuge

Chapter Twenty-One

Warning: dead body, blood, gunshot 

Jojo made his way back to the Lodging House after an unyielding search for answers. And after learning that Samantha had left the nunnery earlier that morning.

Entering the Lodging House and listening to the rest of the newsies' laughter and conversations gave Jojo a feeling of peace that he hadn't felt for a long time.

It had been a stressful few days, and all he needed was his family.

But the peace also made him wish he could wrap Samantha in it and wipe away all of her sadness and pain.

He made his way up the stairs and forced a smile on his face as Mush and Kid Blink rushed up to him and began exclaiming how many papers they had been able to sell, both trying to one-up the other. He gave a small chuckle at Romeo who was sitting in the corner drowning Elmer in tales of a beautiful maiden he had met that day. Jojo was fairly certain that Elmer was asleep, but this did nothing to distill the gushing Romeo.

His forced smile very quickly became genuine. 

And then Tommy Boy approached him.

"Did you'se find anythin'?" He whispered.

"Nothin'," Jojo answered. "And Samantha left da nunnery dis mornin'. I'se worried about 'er."

"She knows dis city betta than anyone. I'm sure she's fine."

"Jojo!" Caz called out from the other side of the room where she stood in conversation with Race and Albert. Both boys turned to face her and she gestured for the brown-haired boy. He quickly made his way through the swarms of chaos that followed each newsie, eventually reaching the trio, unscathed.

"Caz, can I help you?"

"Um, yeah. We need ta chat." He raised an eyebrow, but the words her eyes whispered immediately flooded him with concern.

"Da porch is quiet," he said and the two walked back the way they came, ignoring the looks that both Albert and Race gave them.

When they finally made it outside, Jojo began spewing out questions.

"Jojo, calm down," she demanded, shutting off the flood. "Yes it's about Samantha."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. But she asked me ta give dis ta you." Jojo looked at Caz in confusion until she forced the single envelope into his hands.

"Why didn't she give dis ta me 'erself?"

"She asked me ta tell you dat she wanted ta say goodbye herself."

"Caz, where is she?" Jojo questioned, panic slowly filling his chest. Caz bowed her head and shuffled her feet before gesturing to the letter. 

"Just read da letter."

"Do ya know what it-"

"No." 

Hesitating for a less than a moment, Jojo hurriedly opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. Had he not been so tense and worried about the words the letter held, Jojo would have smiled at how much Samantha's handwriting matched her personality. Simple, yet with a composed hint of style. But he was more concerned about the few sentences that had been penned onto the scrap piece of paper Samantha had used. 

Jojo, 

By now Caz has probably told you that I'm leaving New York. I would have said goodbye but I knew you would have tried to stop me. Please don't try to find me. Everyone is much safer if I'm gone so just leave it that way. I'll be gone by tomorrow morning .