Newsies: On the frontier.

Chapter 2: I'm to blame.

Enjoy!

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Chapter 2: I'm to blame.

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New York always looked so peaceful from a far. It has this quaint look. The women who walked the street were dressed up nice and fancy. And the men looked dashing in their business suits. And the horse and carriages were always so charming as the clipped down the street. It was almost like a dream.

But out on the streets. It wasn't how I imagined it. Corners were filled with screaming boys. The sidewalk overflowed with pedestrians. Homeless people begged for food in abandoned doorways. Policeman patrolled the street. Horses pooped as they trotted.

It smelt disgusting, and looked disgusting. A man came toppling down the alleyway I was in. He could hardly put his left foot in front of another. His hat was askew, and a bottle of cloudy liquid that smelt strongly of liquor was held in his right hand.

He wobbled past me, grumbling something that vaguely sounded like 'Good afternoon Miss.' When it was clearly only 8 o'clock in the morning.

I sucked in my stomach, and pulled up my pinafore straps. I was doing this. I don't know how, but I did know why. If I was put on this earth for anything, it would be to prove my point and rebel.

I marched into the street. And all the smells hit me at once. It was a mixture of horse poop, fresh bread, meat and smelly old men.

I glanced up the street, a fat woman was coming towards me. She had a white poodle on a gold chain, and the dog had a diamond collar, that matched the woman's necklace. Her coat jiggled on her shoulders as she trotted down the street. She looked like a pig.

He nose was turned up, and she wore far to much makeup. He skin was pinkish. And her hair fell in spirals around her fat face. I was told not to judge, but this was one ugly woman.

A newsboy stepped in front of her, heckling her for the paper.

'Ma'am? Would you like a paper? Great headlines!!' He shouted. The woman looked horrified, and pushed him out of the way. The dog let out a round of high pitched barks.

The newsboy fled the scene, and shot up another alleyway. I watched as newspapers fluttered out of his bag.

I sucked in my stomach and passed her. She smiled brightly at me with her stained yellow teeth. Ewugh.

I leant down to the paper, and tucked it into my bag. I chased after the boy. He was going to need this paper. And I was also curious of were he'd go.

He turned down a lot of alleyways, and I could feel my heart tightening in my chest. But I kept going. Finally we stopped. The boy took off his hat as he moved behind a group of newsboys.

'HELP!' A scream shot out. It was blood curdling. Full of pain and fear. 'HELP!' The voice was so familiar, I'd heard it this morning.

I pushed through the boys, I could feel their eyes on me. They muttered and mumbled, some moved out of the way. Some pushed back. I finally made it past the crowd.

Ollie's bottom half was stuck underneath a carriage. Blood pooled everywhere. But Ollie wasn't screaming. Will was.

'Ollie!' I cried, I rushed over to his side. My knees sank into his blood, and that's when the tears started to roll.

Will was shaking as he held Ollie's white face. He rocked back and forth, mumbling to himself. 'No.. No.. No.'
I turned around to the band of boys.

'Someone pull this off him!' I cried. The boys looked like stunned mullets. They look hypnotised. 'SOMEONE!' I screamed. One boy stepped forward, removing his hat from his head. He wore black shorts with blue checkered socks. 'No use. It's too late.' I furrowed my eye brows at him.

'SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!' I screamed. Just then, two boys broke through the crowd. One was tall, and beef, one of the biggest newsies I'd ever seen. He was just wearing shorts, a vest and a hat. His chest was bear. He had a flat nose, and dark black skin. He was one of the only African American newsies. The other boy, was small and was holding a white bag. I could just see what was inside, a bunch of hard boiled candy.

'Someone help me lift it!' The black boy yelled. The smaller boy, with thick black hair, nodded.

'SOMONE HELP ISAAC LIFT!' He shouted. Isaac was joined by a bunch of nameless newsies. The managed to lift the carriage off Ollie's bottom half. His legs were a mess. They were broken, and blood had soaked into his pants.

I bit my lip, tears flowed from my eyes. He was so beautiful. How could this happen to something so beautiful?

I learnt down to check his pulse, but Will slapped my hand away.

'Don' touch 'em you SLUT!' He yelled. The words hit me like a bag of bricks. I stood up, my whole body shook. I took a half step back. I realised that now over 50 newsies were staring straight at me.

'DIS' IS YOUR FAULT!' He screamed. Will was on his feet, his right arm pointing straight at my, his hands trembling with anger.

'IF YOU DIDN'T DISTRACT HIM WITH YA' PRETTY FACE, HE WOULDA' LIVED!' He howled.

My heart was pounding against my chest. I could feel the colour draining from my face. My lip quivered as silent tears streaked my red face.

'ITS ALL YOUR FAULT!' And that's when he pounced. He took a jump forward and took a swipe at my left cheek. It knocked me straight to the grounded, splashing in Ollie's blood. I let out a scream, and my eye lids felt heavy. I could make out the other boys restraining him, and someone else grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me back. His hands were soft, but they were big. He heaved me off as the police began to pour in from the outside.

My vision was blurry, but I remember seeing all the newsies run, and the boy who carried me was whispering in my ear, telling me.

'It's gonna' be alright.'

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