My Girl ~Racetrack~

fourteen

Viper brought me to the Queens news boy lodging house. "I don't sell anymore, but I stay here sometimes." He talked for the first time since he let go of Race. I simply nod.

I will leave this place. As we were walking through the building I see some faces I knew and some I don't. My eyes caught a boy I knew very well. "Bubbles!" I exclaim as I look at him. "Kat!" He jumps over and hugs me.

We call him Bubbles because he is so bubbly. Whenever I came to see Viper, I would play cards with Bubbles. He was my only friend here in Queens. Viper gave me a look to say part from the boy.

I wasn't dating Viper, but he was acting like we were. I'm not leaving Race. "Miss?" I heard a child ask. I look down and see a girl smiling at me.

"Smalls! How you doin? Not explorin all the way to 'Hattan, right?" I joke as I pinch her cheek. She giggles and Viper pulls me aside to a dark corner.

He looked me up and down. "I missed you." He said.

RACE'S POV

We all sat in the common area of the lodging house, silent. Who was that guy? Why did he want Kat. Why did he act like they had been together? Kat hasn't been in a relationship before me...right? She would tell me if she was.

But the boy slapped her. She couldn't have been with him. He looked like he had a load of money. She couldn't have been with him.

Jack disappeared somewhere. Davey and Les are on a trip. Kat's trapped with someone who had slapped her earlier. God knows what else he will do. No leader. Just us. Clueless on what to do.

"We have to help her." Albert finally spoke. "No. There was a tone in her voice before she left. A tone screaming 'don't follow me'" I commented. "Then what do we do?" Romeo asked. "We can't leave her with him. We don't know anything about him. He could hurt her." Elmer commented

"He already hurt her." Mush said. "Yeah! Didn't you see? He slapped her!" Finch said, waving his slingshot in the air. "Can you not remind me?" I snapped, throwing the nearest thing at Finch, which was a deck of cards.

"Did you guys hear him say that Race stole Kat from him?" Buttons asked. I bit my cheek so I wouldn't completely lose it in front of the boys. "Yeah! But he couldn't have been with Kat." Crutchie commented

"Anything's possible!" Specs said. "He had a damn suit on! Man's got money. A lot of it. Why would Kat be with someone like that?" Albert said as he leaned back in his chair.

"He seemed like a snob! Kat hates people like that." Elmer exclaimed. "Even if she was with him, why wouldn't she tell us?" JoJo asked. "Well, I mean look at us. We are so protective over her. I don't blame her." Specs defended.

"Jack seemed to know him." Mush commented.

"Right! As JoJo asked who he is, Jack pulled him aside" Tommy Boy recalled

"Like I said, what do we do?" Romeo asked again. I stayed silent the whole time because I know that if I opened my mouth, I would go off.

"Nothing. Viper. A Queens Newsies. That boy is dangerous. We can't just burst in there. He'd sent all the Queens newsies on us and there are a lot more Queens newsies then Manhattan." Jack came into the room, talking with no emotion.

"I can't do this." I said as I banged the table and left the room.

KAT'S POV

"I missed you." He said as he licked his lips. "I'm not doing this, Viper." I spat. "I came with you. That's what you wanted, right?" I asked as I pushed him away.

"No!" He banged the wall behind me. "I wanted you. As in mine. You're my girl. Katrina." Viper came closer.

"Viper." I said. "No." I built up enough strength to push him off. I stormed off and sat next to Bubbles. "What are you doing here, Kat?" Bubbles asked as he turned to me.