This Ain't Just Newsies No More ~ Sprace & Javid

40 | Normal Again | Spot

I wouldn't blame you for calling it good at the last chapter. It pretty much ended it. But there's something more I have to write, you know? To rest my conscience and this story for good. This one's gonna be a short one. But all the action, the main reason WHY this story is continuing, happens in the next chapter. Anyway. Enjoy! :)

Things have definitely quieted down around here. Spot's happy about that. That means that they can live their lives now.

It's been two days since the newspaper article came out.

For the first time in forever...there's absolutely nothing going on.

Well, except for one thing.

Race.

Spot and Race continue to grow closer.

They've seen each other every day since the day neither of them wants to talk about. Since Spot found Race in a hidden room in the Refuge.

At the moment, Race is at Sheepshead. As everything should be.

A permanent box at Sheepshead Races. If you're in the papes, you're famous. When you're famous, you get anything you want.

Maybe Spot's just going to have to find a way to make that possible.

But at the moment, he has other stuff to do.

He doesn't just call himself the King of Brooklyn for nothing.

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By now, the races would have ended. Spot makes his way back to Sheepshead. He hears Race talking to someone.

"Say...buon giorno in English and Sicilian."

"Good morning. Bon giornu."

"That's real cool, ya know that, right?"

"Ask another!"

"What about pane in Sicilian?"

"Pani."

"'Kay, how 'bout English?"

"I don't know?"

"Bread."

"Oh."

"You're all good, kid."

Spot sees that it's Race and Bartolomeo. He smiles. He knew that they would get along well. "What's happenin' here?"

"The kid knows three languages!" Race exclaims.

Spot raises his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Mhm!" Bartolomeo nods enthusiastically.

"You're smart. Real smart. You know that, right?"

Bartolomeo beams.

"What languages were you guys speaking just now?" Spot asks.

"English, Italian, Sicilian," Race explains. "We'se benefitting both of us!"

"How do you know three languages?" Spot asks. "That's a lot for one little kid."

"I grew up speaking Italian and Sicilian," Bartolomeo explains. "We lived in Sicily. My father's family was from Southern Italy. We learned English for when we came here."

"Kid, you are really rare," Race grins and messes Bartolomeo's hair. Bartolomeo giggles at that.

Spot is just glad to see that the two of them are happy.  They both need it. 

"You need to meet my family!" Bartolomeo exclaims to Race.

Race's grin grows. "I'd love to!"

"And all the others, too!"

"What others?"

"Other Italian families of course! There's the Cesana family, and Letteria and María--they're sisters, and then Salvatore and his family--they have a lot of kids--even more than my family..." he goes on naming more specific people and families, all with names that Spot can tell makes Race happy.

"And you all live in one place?" Race asks, disbelieving.

Bartolomeo nods. "All in one place. There's no where else, and houses here are expensive!"

Race and Spot know that really well.

"Did you name all the families there?" Race asks.

Bartolomeo thinks for a second. "Well actually, there are a couple of other people. There's Rosario, and Franco, and Antonia...and then there's an old couple, Giovanni and Francesca Gazzetta-"

"-Giovanni and Francesca Gazzetta?" Race repeats, his whole demeanor taking on something else.

Bartolomeo falters a little, surprised by the change, then nods. 

"Do you know them?" Spot asks gently.

"They're my grandparents," Race answers. He looks Spot in the eye. "The ones I haven't seen since I left their house five years ago."

And there it is.

The reason why I continued this story is. Right. There.

The thing is, is that the real Racetrack Higgins lived in Brooklyn with his grandparents. They made him go to school. But, instead, he would skip school to sell newspapers and gamble at Sheepshead. And he gave a super cool speech at the Irving Hall rally. And was the actual king of sass. He was a really cool person.

All Italian brought to you by my prior knowledge, and all Sicilian brought to you by Sicilian Phrasebook: Greetings, Time, and Travel on Thoughtco.com. If you see any glaring language and/or cultural errors, tell me.

What do you guys think? Is it worth it? Is it worth continuing on this story?

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!!! :)     <3

Tired of me saying that it's June? That it's Pride Month? I hope not.

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who just finished rewatching The Birdcage for the I don't know how many time-th)