Throughout It All

1 | The Letter | July 18, 1914

Okay, so now we're actually starting the story, this is a little freaky.

I can't wait to figure out all the details haha.

Enjoy! :)

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It's been nearly a year since Jack Kelly visited the Calvary Cemetery in Queens. He was here nearly a year ago for the funeral of one of his friends from his newsie days, Kid Blink. 

A year ago from today was the day that Kid Blink died.

It says it right there on the tombstone:

LOUIS BALETTI
DIED JULY 18, 1913
AGED 32 YEARS.

He died so young. Especially compared to his father's name above his, which says Bartolomeo Baletti lived to be 56 years old. 

He did better than Crutchy did, though, Jack thinks to himself. Poor Crutch never made it to see the year 1911.

It's been four years since Crutchy Morris died of pneumonia. Jack thinks about him every day.

Just like he thinks about Kid Blink everyday.

He came here simply wanting to pay his respects for Kid Blink, but now that he's here, staring at the grave ... he really isn't sure what he wants to do.

"I can't believe it's been a year," Jack murmurs for himself, and possibly for Kid Blink. He's met with silence. He is alone in a cemetery. "Can't believe you only lived 32 years." 

Jack turns 32 this year. He can't imagine Kid Blink, not even at 32 years old, learning that he was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do about it, then passing away a couple months later on his birthday. Jack can't even begin to imagine what that would be like.

But there's nothing that any of them can do about it; they have no say in whether they'll live another day or pass away tomorrow. Death just comes, and they can't stop it.

Jack holds his fingers up to the engraved letters of Kid Blink's name on the tombstone, but stops before he actually touches it. "You know, Mush hasn't been the same since you left us."

Jack cringes. He makes it sound like Blink walked out on them, when in reality he was taken from them.

But what he said about Mush is true. To his knowledge, no newsie has seen Mush since the funeral. He was distraught then. Because while all the relationships everyone had had when they were newsies, only Kid Blink's and Mush's lasted into adulthood, and even ultimately until the bitter end.

"And the thing is, it was your death that brought everyone together again. Not many of us really saw each other before that." Or after that. It had been surreal seeing everyone's faces, all grown up, most people who hadn't seen Kid Blink in over a decade. And then they had all parted ways once again.

This isn't the first time that the newsies were brought together by a funeral. There was Crutchy Morris' death in 1910.

Jack also remembers nearly ten years ago, 1905, when he was the one who took up a collection to give Dutchy a proper funeral when he passed away. And they did. Everyone contributed. They rasied enough money to buy a grave plot for him and a gravestone. That was when many newsies were still at the lodging house--including him; that was when many newsies still cared.

Jack only wishes that the newsies would actually gather again to celebrate life, and not just death.

But the job of newsies is dying, too. Newstands are popping up. The newsies strikes of modern times are not successful. Jack doesn't know how much longer he'll see young newsies scampering around the city, hawking headlines, eyes gleaming as they manage to score a nickel.