I Can Never Be Good Enough For You

Chapter 12

What am I going to do? I can't live with this mistake. Going away won't solve anything. Even if I do end up running away the guilt will travel along with me. I was planning to tell Jack about what I did and maybe try to connect and be a family again. "So I heard you're back at the strike again. Are you ready?" I asked nervously. "More than ever. This time we're gonna do it for Crutchie. We'll find a way to get him back." said Jack. He's still hiding out in Medda's theater. I feel like he'll come back to the lodging house sometime later this day. "Yeah that's the thing about Crutchie." Jack looked at me as if I told him I committed a murder. "What about Crutchie?"

"If I tell you. You have to promise that you won't freak out." I said. "I promise." he said. "I... I... I'm in love with him." That wasn't what I wanted to say but I panicked. "You're in what?" said Jack in a surprising tone. "I should've told you this sooner but I'm in love with Crutchie. My feelings for him came in a little late. That's all I have to say about him I just want to know what you're going to do to move this strike along." I said. "Well I feel like it's time to let good ol' Pulitzer know about this so I'm going to to talk to him today." I gasped out loud to myself.

I swear if he goes to Pulitzer now then I have a bad feeling that he has something bad planned for him and possibly the boys. I ran over to the Delanceys again. I really don't like being there spy but my friends will be killed if I don't continue the services. Strangely when I got there the door was open. I slowly went in and saw that the lights were off. The door slammed shut behind me and locked. I looked back and I was suddenly turned around aggressively. Someone's hands covered my mouth. "You should've been a good girl earlier but now I'm afraid the rules have changed." A voice that's very familiar to me. It's not Oscar's but it was Morris's.

He led me down a basement and pushed me down. I tumbled down across the stairs and everything went black after the collision. "Hey. Wake up. Wake up." I slowly opened my eyes and I saw Scarlet in front of me and boy was I glad to see her again. "This was your secret. This was what you held back from me." I said. "I guess you know now. I wanted to tell you but I was scared. I was scared that you would look at me different like everyone else." she said. "What do you mean like everyone else?" I asked.

"They probably already told you the story by now but when our parents abandoned us at a very young age we lived with our Uncle Wiesel but my brothers decided to be the boss of me. When I used to live with Oscar and Morris I was judged very quickly because of my brothers. Everyone was scared of me and I'm the only nice kid in the family. Kids would just run and hide from me because they heard about the rough and tough Delancey Brothers. I ran away seeking a better life. The newsies were the only ones that knew my secret and they're the only friends I got along with you. I just thought that if I never brought up the past no one would ever know that I'm a Delancey."

Listening to Scarlet's side of the story I can see why she hid her past from me. She as just doing it to get some friends. I know how that feels like. To come from a terrible past and become a nobody in society. You would be lucky if one person talk to you. "I didn't know. I mean Oscar only told me the story in a dark and negative way. Well it's Oscar what can you expect but I thought my life was hard but hearing your story from your mouth it turns out I'm not the only one." Oscar and Morris came in and Scarlet pushed me behind her. "No harm will come we just want the girl."

"Not on my life. No need to tell me. I figured it out on my own. It's bad enough that you would trick her into getting information but trying to get rid of her crossed the line." Scarlet can't protect me. I remembered what Oscar told me yesterday. I can't be the one to put her life on the line. "No stop. Just let them." I slowly walked over to the Delanceys. "Eliza you don't have to do this." she said. "Yes I do." If Scarlet would only understand I'm doing this to protect her life.

They dragged me over to Pulitzer's office where I was presented with Pulitzer himself. I saw Katherine in the room too. I was confused what has he set up for Jack. "So this is the rebellious girl who ran away from the refuge and now has a deep hatred for the strike leader?" said Pulitzer. "That's right and it turns out she's the little spy that we deployed to keep feeding us with information about the strike." I saw the surprised look on Katherine's face. "Katherine I didn't want you to know this but I'm not like this. I didn't know at that time." I said. I don't think she can look at me with the same eyes anymore.

"What can you tell me about Jack Kelly?" he asked. "I'm not going to tell you anything. You may spread fear around the newsies but there's no way to scare me. I've changed now. I'm no longer that scared, weak girl anymore. I've grown stronger since the strike started. You may control most people here but there are some that can't be pushed down." I said. Pulitzer doesn't scare me and neither does the Delanceys. "Rebellious attitude. I can see why you had a strong will to break out of the refuge. Isn't that right Mr. Snyder?" Snyder came out from the back and there he was the hideous man that ruined my life. "Hello Eliza." I almost fainted but the Delanceys caught me and held me in place.

"I'll make sure you get back in the refuge and this time it won't be easy for you to get out. I'm sure you'll be happy to be reunited with your little crippled boy. Unless Jack agrees to my terms then I can see both of your criminal records erased and enough cash to send both of you to New Mexico or wherever you would like to go." The terms seems tempting but this time I don't care if Jack doesn't agrees to his terms. This strike must go on I don't care if they send me to refuge again. I've lived in New York for a long time and faced the harshness that it gives me. They can't break me.

"Gentleman why don't you take this young girl in a place where she can't be seen but she can hear all of this going. And after you've taken him to the cellar make sure he knows the truth about our little spy." My eyes got wide-eyed. This is not good. I knew something like this was going to happen. It would've been less worse if I told him when I had the chance. I was taken to a closet in the back. I've tried resisting but the strength of mine cannot match with the Delanceys. "This strike will go on. We will have our rights. There can never be a way to break us down Pulitzer. You'll just see!"