A Way Home

Epilogue: Dear Theodosia- Hamilton

"But then what happened? You couldn't have just gone from being newsies to living here!"

"Well, lets see, it was a month after the strike had ended...."

It had been a warm September day when they had left the lodging house. The day that they had taken away their 'newsie names', and started being proper adults.

Spot's title as the king of Brooklyn had been passed on to HotShot, and every penny that he'd been saving had gone into renting an apartment, only a few blocks away.

Joy had gone with him, even as she was still a week shy of being 18, insisting that it would be fine, because she already had a job lined up, working at a diner down the street.

It wasn't perfect, the apartment was cramped, especially when one of their friends found their way to be staying on the couch, but they made it work.

Juliette thought that it might stay that way forever, until one wintery day. She'd been working in the kitchen, rushing to clean up, hoping to get home and get started on her own dinner.

Putting away the last dish, she pulled on her coat, and the old worn gloves she'd had since her second winter as a newsie, taking a breath before bustling out of the kitchen, "Well, Mr. Driscoll, that's the last of it, I should be off now."

"Right, thank you my dear." The old man smiled.

Juliette hurried out the door, and down the street, shriving as the cold hit her.

"Wait! Excuse me! Wait!"

Juliette froze, "Can I help you?"

"Juliette?"

She turned, nearly surprised to see Adam, the boy her family had taken in oh so long ago, standing there.

"Adam. Look at you, a grown adult. Come to drag me back into mother and father?" She asked quickly.

"What? No! Your parents- they uh, passed," He frowned, "I'm here to give you these, and to tell you that you're required to come to the meetings on Saturday."

She looked down at the stack of papers he'd handed her, "What's this?"

"Well, the things Aunt Beatrice told me tried to send you, but there was no post, and technically were not part of the will, the papers you should go over before the meeting, and an address slip, for where to go." He explained.

"Seriously? What the hell would they want to leave to me? They fucking hated me."

Adam sighed, "I know- it's just, There are moment that the words don't reach, you saw suffering too terrible to name. They tried to hold you as tight as they could, and push away the unimaginable."

Juliette repeated all of this to Sean later, "That is such bullshit! They did not care what happened to me!"

He shuffled through the papers, "Uhhh, apparently you were still heavily mentioned in the will."

"It had to be a trick right? They hated me! I left for christs sake! Why would I still be in there? And why a meeting outside the city?"

"It's hardly farther than the old neighborhood." He commented.

"Exactly! Why do I need to go out there!? When we left we left for good! I haven't been back once!"

Sean frowned, "I did go back actually. Twice, once when I heard you were back, and one when the house burned..."

Juliette stopped in her ranting, moving to plop down beside him on the couch, "Sorry..."

"'S alright," He sighed, "Anyway, this seems pretty real to me. I'll go with you though, if you want."