Stray on Strike

"Newsies crushed as Bulls Attack"

Jack runs the back of his neck. I can tell when he is worried. This can't be good. He looks over at Specs. " Hey, Specs, any sign of reinforcements?" Specs shakes his head and makes a thumbs down towards us. Jack calls over Davey to give the boys hope. Like I told him to do earlier. "Davey, alright Davey..."

Davey walks in and through the clumps of Manhattan newsies. He speaks like he has waiting to say this his whole life. "Courage doesn't erase over fears, it's the opposite. Courage is when we face our fears. To all those bigwigs in their tower, we won't obey." He looks over to me and waves his hand for me to say something.

I breathe in and breathe out. "Look at us. The brave battalion. We are standing side by side. I know we are small in number, but we are not afraid to hide." Jack runs up to Me and Davey.

Jack yells that the newsies. "To all those boys who didn't come. We will fight for you, because it's the right thing." Everyone starts listening and becomes animated for the cause. "The Strike starts right damn now!" Jack shouts extremely loud that I know Delanceys and Weasel heard him from the paper stand.

Weasel walks up to us with Morris and Oscar right behind him. Not gonna lie. It's getting scary. Weasel booms. "The sun is up, the birds is signin', it's a beautiful day to crack some heads. Step right up and get your papes." Is he mocking us? Uh- huh not today.

Morris disgustingly cracks his knuckles and tilts his head. "Hey, you're workin' or trespassing. What's your pleasure?" He says to us. You don't know how much I want to spit in his eye right now.

Just then a group of kids just like us burst through and line up to get paper. Weasel walks back to his post and devilishly grins at us.

Davey grabs my shoulder and leans down to my ear and says. "Who are they?"

I get angry and say. "Scabs, what do you think?" I get so angry my voice gets raspy.

Skittery jumps up to the front of the crowd. "They think they can just waltz in here and take our jobs." Crutchie goes over to Jack and shouts so everyone can hear him. "We can handle 'em!" Not very threating coming from the one with a messed up leg. And I couldn't place the voice but someone yells, "Let's Soak em!" That's followed by a bunch of "Yeah!" s.

Davey freaks out and yells, which isn't something he usually does. "Hold it, hold it! We all stand together or we don't have a chance. Jack!"

"No. I hear ya." He says to Davey. Jack hearing his cue walks to the center of the space between the scabs and the striking newsies.

He stands up as straight as he can and talks like I have never heard him talk before. "Listen, fellas, I know someone put you's up to this. They're probably payin' you some extra money too, yeah? Well it ain't right! Pulitzer thinks we are gutter rats with no respect for nothin', including each other. Is that what we are, huh? Well, we stab each other in the back and yeah, that's who we are. But if we stand together, we change the whole game. It ain't just about us. All across this city, there are boys and girls who should be out playin', or goin' to school but instead they are slavin' to support themselves and their folks. Ain't no problem in being poor, and not a one of us complains if the work we do is hard. All we ask is a square deal. Fellas, for the sake of all the kids in every sweatshop, factory, and slaughterhouse in this town, I beg you. Throw down your papers and join the strike."

Suprisingly I see Katherine out of the corner of my eye. She is standing under the gates out of trouble. She is writing every word that came out of Jack Kelly's mouth.

One scab walks up to Jack. "I'm with ya." He throws his papers on the ground and shakes Davey and Jack's hand. All of us cheer. I smile and turn to see Katherine giving me a thumbs up.