brooklyn nights

chapter four

Strike;

3rd person POV

Joan was quickly walking back to the lodging house, race following after her with his hands behind his back and a grin placed on his lips. He didn't only catch Spot and Joan kissing, he also just won 2 Dollar. "Why's ya runnin' so fast?" He had to hide the fact, that he was close to bursting into laughter. "Nothin' of your business." She stopped and turned around to face him. "As well as me kissing Conlon isn't." Her finger was pressed against his chest, watching him closely. Race put his hands up in the air, shaking his head. "I'm not goin ta ask yous." She turned back around and continued walking down an alley. "Just funney dat yous chose da king of Brooklyn. You afta his crown?" A laugh left his mouth. He knew that Joan never wanted to date any of the Newsies. Of course, being the only girl they see every day, the Manhattan Newsies sometimes enjoyed flirting with her. And it's no secret that her and Blink were especially close for most of 1898. But for the majority of them; Joan was their sister.

"Shut it or get soaked."

Joan quietly made her way through the front door, locking it after race passed her. The lights were already turned off, meaning everyone was in bed. "What was ya doin' out, anyway?" They walked up the stairs, which made them creak. "Went to da racetrack. Met Peppa." There it was. The name of the unknown girl Race met at the Tracks every time. Joan had a grin on her lips and placed her back against her door. "Peppa." She said in a dreamy voice, holding her hands over her heart. Race rolled his eyes at her and tipped his hat towards her. "G'night Joan." She smiled and turned to her room.

It was dark and she already felt alone. It was weird. She was living with nearly 30 boys next to her, but still felt alone whenever she entered her room. After changing into her night gown, she opened her window again, looking at the place Spot was sitting on earlier. Deep down inside her, she was hoping that he followed after them, just to say goodnight to her. After he saw Race standing on the bridge, he pushed her away, scratching his neck. Joan had followed his gaze just to see Race with a cigar between his teeth. "Thought I knew yous." He came closer and spat in his hand. "Spot." He copied his action and they greeted each other. The girl stood next to them, awkwardly crossing her arms over her chest. "Let's get yous home." And with that, the boys tipped their hats at each other, Race and Joan leaving.

After replaying the scene in her head, Joan closed the window and sat down on her bed. It was quiet, no sound from outside nor the room across from her. She slowly got up and made her way outside her room. She stood there in front of the Newsies room, thinking if this was a good idea. She's never been one for thinking too long about stuff, which was why she quietly opened the door to be greeted by snoring, soft breathing and even someone muttering quiet words. Mush. He sometimes talked in his sleep, mostly about girls or food. She tiptoed to the end of the room, slowly crawling on top of a bunk. She cuddled next to Kid Blink, laying her head onto his chest. As if it was a reflex, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. A smile was on her lips as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

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"Tell me, Is seein things?!"

"If yous seein' things, Is blind."

"Not again..."

A groan left many mouths, causing Joan to slowly open her eyes. Met by many pair of eyes, she pulled the cover above her head, snuggling back into Kid, who pulled her closer. "Go away." She quietly groaned, her sore voice barely making a sound. A few laughs went through the room, before heavy footsteps came towards them. "Get up yous lot! The papes ain't going to sell themselves!" A knock against the bed made Joan jump up, being met by her grandfathers face. "Morning.." She gave her grandfather a shy smile. He shook his head and continued his walk around the room to get the boys out of their beds. "Fuck." She tried hiding her face inside her palms before someone pulled her hair back. "Yous know that's your fault." She grinned and turned around to see Blink putting on his eye patch. His hair was all over the place and the shirt he was wearing barely hid his chest. "Be quiet." She slapped his shoulder and quickly jumped off the bunk. She looked around the room, seeing the boys smirking at her while getting ready for work.

As she was making her way towards the bathroom, an arm was wrapped around her shoulder. Both of them continuing walking towards the sinks. "You know, Is always have a place in me bunk." She slightly shoved Bumlets away and turned on the water to splash some water in her face. "Just sayin'!" He started shaving and gave her a smile, which she returned. Like you know, Joan and Kid Blink have some history together, which most of the boys knew of. So joking around about it was pretty normal for them. "You better sell some papes today or yous won't get any fresh laundry." She skipped back to Blink, pulling away his blanket, under which he hid again. "Get your bum outta bed and clean up. Yous smell foul." Race started laughing and clapped into his hands. "That's ain't me!" Kid jumped out of bed and pulled up his shirt to smell at it. "Alright, yous got me." While everyone was laughing, Joan got out of the room, leaving everyone to get ready for work. She, on the other hand, was done with school for this week and promised Kloppman to get some food from the market which was just down at the Newsies Square.

After brushing through her hair, Joan put on a wine red blouse. She put the end of it inside her gray skirt, which ended just above her ankles. She grabbed her black shoes, which made her about an inch taller. It was always a good feeling to doll up a little. Joan was a young adult and enjoyed looking like it. With 18 she was nearly a so-called grown up, so she started to act like one. Still, playing around with the boys was still her favorite thing to do. Joan taught them a game which she used to play with her father. It's called football, the Americans gave it the name soccer. They went to Central Park and just played it for hours, or till the bulls came. Joan grabbed her basket and placed it around her right arm. One last gaze into the mirror before she got out of her room and downstairs to her grandfather. "Good Morning." Acting like she hadn't seen him before today, she jumped onto the counter and gave him a tired smiled. "I wont ask." He gave her some money, Joan giving him a kiss on the cheek before jumping off the counter and walking outside. The sun just came up, and the air still had a wet touch. Knowing it would be gone soon and the smoke from the fabrics will take over the air, she enjoyed every single breath she took.

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"Four apples please and... what's that?" She pointed at a hairy, brown ball. The woman picked it up and cut it open, showing a bright green color, which made Joan stare in awe. "It's called a kiwi. My son brought some home." She cut the hairy skin off and gave the girl a small piece of the green flesh. After tasting it, Joan just stood there enjoying the sweetness. "Wow." She smiled and held her basket towards the woman, who placed four apples and one kiwi inside it. "A dime please." The girl gave her the coin and said goodbye before walking off to the bakery. After buying a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk, she passed a new store, out of which an amazing smell came. She looked through the window to see a dark haired man trowing around some sort of doe. When he saw her, he gave her a big smile and waved her inside. "Buongiorno! How's yous doin'?" She smiled and took in another breath. "It's called Pizza. Right from Italy." Again, the girl was in awe. She knew that some ships from Europe came over last week, but never did she think that so many new things would await her. "It smells beautiful." She smiled and took a look around the store. "Yous more than welcome to come by one day." She nodded and said goodbye to the man before walking down the road again. After getting the last things she needed, she walked past the Newsies Square, wanting to tell the boys about the new food she found out about.

As she passed the statue in front of the world building, she could already hear Jack screaming at a crowd of newsies. Walking closer to hear something, she bumped into a person. "What's goin' on?" The boy looked down at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Pulitzer raised da prices for da papes." Shocked, Joan pushed herself through the masses and stopped in front of the door which led inside the building. She saw Jack, Davey and a little boy standing in front of his. Jack was shaking his head and the boy stood there screaming at the closed door. "Joan!" She was pulled into a hug by Race, who was now pulling her towards Jack and the other ones. "What are yous lot doin'?!" She was screaming over the loud voices which echoed from the walls surrounding them. "We're on Strike!"