No Matter What

Chapter 4

Davey stood on a statue just outside the gates of Newsies Square. He was giving another one of his empowering speeches to the newsies to lift their spirits before the gates opened. Amanda leaned against the gates, smiling. "I love watching him talk" she thought affectionately as she watched him. He was just so passionate and put emphasis on just the right words and phrased things so correctly.
Davey, meanwhile, was terrified. On the outside, he appeared calm, as always, but inside he was shaking with fear. He knew that if anything, ANYTHING went wrong today, him or Jack or Crutchie or anyone might get hurt. Even Amanda. The thought of anyone even touching her was so morbid to Davey, it almost made him want to call off the whole strike. Almost.
Then, the bell rang out for all to hear, and the gates opened. There was already a group of about a dozen well-dressed boys, who were payed to sell papers no matter what, waiting in line. Slowly, the striking newsies entered the square. Jack walked right up to the first boy in line and looked him in the eyes, and that was all it took. The boy threw down his papers and joined the group of strikers. In a matter of seconds, all the boys had thrown down their papers and joined the newsies. Their fear of Jack and the mob behind him was greater than their fear of the Delanceys or the desire for money. A cheer rose throughout the crowd as they realized that they had achieved what they wanted to from that day. Boys jumped up and down, hugging and laughing and celebrating. Amanda ran over to Davey and hugged him.
"Now we just need to stop the wagons tomorrow!" Davey said.
"With the support of EVERYONE, how hard can that really be?" she responded. Slowly, the cheers began to hush. Davey and Amanda exchanged a glance of confusion, then began to push their way towards the gates to see what had happened.
Approaching them was a group of police, armed with nightsticks and guns. The celebratory air became hushed and tense. "Amanda, go now." Davey whispered.
"Absolutely not, I'm staying until we win, and that's final."
Jack also pushed his way to the front, and stood in front of everyone else. The head cop of the group of them walked right up to Jack until they were nose to nose.
"Surrender now, Kelly, and make everyone's life easier." The cop said.
"Over my dead body." Jack hissed back at him.
The cop stepped back, and with a condescending smirk, he ordered, "Soak 'em."
Davey stepped protectively in front of Amanda as the police ran towards them.
"Please go!" he said to her frantically.
"No!"
"Amanda, now!"
"I want you to be safe!"
"So help me god, I'm less safe with you here, please go home NOW!" he yelled. This took her by surprise. He never yelled at her, or spoke an unkind word at all.
"Fine..." She said, trying to hide how hurt she was as she ran away from the brutal scene. The last thing Amanda wanted was to abandon the boys... But Davey wanted her to go, so she left them to fend for themselves.