a purposeful past | s.s

Chapter Eight

Domino gritted her teeth as she hurled yet another pine cone at the tree that was behaving as her target.

She'd messed up. Terribly. She'd done the worst thing you could ever do to a group of newsies. She'd separated one away from the rest, and now they wouldn't rest until their lost, beloved news-sheep was found.

"It's all yer fault!" she roared, chucking her next pine cone, which merely bounced off the tree mockingly. "You did dis! Ya ruin things everytime ya try ta help! Failure!"

"I ain't an expert, but I don't think dat's gonna help."

Domino sighed and turned around to see Specs. "You'd be surprised."

He took a few steps towards her. "It ain't yer fault."

"It was my idea," Domino retorted. "I think dat says enough 'bout whose fault it was."

"So yer tellin' me ya brought up tha idea, hopin', knowin', dat a newsie was gonna be left behind?"

Domino shook her head and stepped back. "Ise goin' back ta Flushin'. I've done enough damage he-ah."

"Nah-ah-ah," Specs protested, blocking her path. "I don't think so."

She huffed.

"Look, I know ya feel bad," Specs said, which was the understatement of the century, "but you was helpin' us get somewhere. We was stuck in tha mud, nowhere ta go, but you was tryna find a way ta talk down those kids. It was worth tha shot."

"Was it?" she questioned bitterly.

"How's about ya put all dat self hatred into helpin' us get him back?" he proposed.

"Dey don't wanna see me," Domino countered, referring to the newsies. "Can't blame 'em, either."

"Well, dey's blamin' tha wrong person," Specs snapped impatiently. "C'mon. Whether dey know it or not, we need ya."

"I take it yer not gonna let me leave?" Domino asked, crossing her arms.

"I know you don't really wanna go," Specs replied, smiling at her slightly.

Of course, he was right. She wanted nothing more than to finish what she came to do, but she worried she was only a burden to the newsboys she had come to know. "Fine. But if I ev-ah decide ta leave again, you can't stop me."

Specs reluctantly agreed, and so they began their journey back to the lodging house, making small conversation as they walked.

"Yer back!" Romeo shouted as they approached. "Thank goodness. I thought we was done for when ya left. We really need ya he-ah."

"Thanks, kid," Domino said, ignoring the way Specs nudged her. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of admitting he was right. It made her worry, though, that even Romeo was insisting that they needed her. Meaning he was well aware of the threat hanging over their heads.

The boy was hardly fifteen- he shouldn't have had those things on his mind. Yet something told her that he and Amy had their own book of secrets and mysteries. Clearly, whatever had happened to the girl had made her look at the world much more skeptically, seeing as she'd been such a livelier girl before, as she'd been told by some of the other newises.

Before they had the chance to enter the lodge, Jack stalked over to them, the door swinging wildly behind him. "Domino."

"Jack," Domino said back, just as stiffly.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but just as soon shut it and clenched his jaw, going to storm past her before she caught him by his shoulder.

"Little known fact," she began in a low voice. "No one's capable 'a makin' me feel bad 'bout me-self, but me. Rememb-ah dat."