The Only Girl Newsie

Chapter 9: Spot

"Oh, look at that. Miss Madie has come crawling back to us."

"Ugh, hush. Ise didn't come crawling back to youse," I say, looking up at the Brooklyn newsie standing in front of us.

"Where's Spot at? We need to talk to him," Jack asks, getting straight to the point.

"Right here," Spot says as he joins our group on the bridge. "Why have you come here and with Miss Madie?"

I step forward to speak. "For one, I would like to say I'm," I pause, thinking over my words, before saying, "SorryforhowIbehavedlasttime."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Spot asks me, leaning forward with his hand on his ear. "I didn't catch what you said. You're what?" He asks, trying to get me to say it one more time.

"I'm sorry!" I yell so he can hear me clearly.

He smiles a little before saying, "you're forgiven."

"Okay, now to the real matter of business," Jack says, getting the attention off of me. He then explains our whole situation to Spot.

Once he's done, Spot asks us, "if we help you, how do we know you won't run at the first sign of trouble?"

"Okay, why does his opinion matter? Isn't he just a Newsie, but from Brooklynn?" Davey asks. I immediately prepare for a fight, knowing that Spot doesn't like being insulted.

"Davey, Spot is," Jack starts to apologize for Davey, but he is interrupted by Spot.

"I am Spot Collins, leader of the Brooklynn Newsies. One of the toughest newsies out there. Without Brooklynn, you boys don't stand a chance." Once he's done speaking, he turns and walks away, leaving us alone.

I quickly run after him. "Oh, come on, Spot, he's new around. He's never been a Newsie before this week. Give us a chance," I say, walking towards him. I stop on the side of the bridge next to the railing where Spot is leaning.

"How do I know you won't turn on me if I help?" He asks me quietly, so only I hear.

"I guess you'll have to trust me," I say, turning to look at him.

He smiles a little. "Oh really?" He asks.

I respond by nodding my head. He smiles mischievously, and before I knew it, he pushed me off the bridge and into the water. I fall back first into the cold water and feel it soak every piece of my clothing. I rise above the water and try to keep my cool, knowing that Spot wants to test me to see if I'll get mad at him. Jack helps me back onto the bridge, and I look at Spot.

"Nice try, Spot. I told you a long time ago. I'm not gonna hurt you," I turn around and start walking back home, thinking Spot will not help us.

"Ise knows. I just wanted to make sure youse would keep your promise," Spot calls out to me.

Jack runs up to me and smiles a little. "Didn't know youse could control your temper like that," he says.

"Honestly, neither did I." And with that, we set off toward home, back to the Lodging house to talk with the other boys and get a night's rest.