AN: So just a little background on this one. The gang that is mentioned was a real gang that existed in Manhattan. They disbanded in the mid-1890's, and their one main rule was that you had to commit a murder in order to get in, and I have no idea why I decided to have made our poor Romeo traumatized by them. Also, off topic but can we just talk for a moment about how AMAZING the Newsies movie is? Okay, that's it, enjoy!
The Newsboy's Lodging House was quiet. It was already around 2:00 in the morning, and it had been turning out to be one of the rare nights without any nightmares. Unfortunately, that did not continue, and Race was woken up by whimpering coming from Romeo in the bunk below. He lay still for a few minutes, hoping the younger boy would calm down and he could fall back asleep, but that wasn't the case. The whimpering turned into muttering, which was gradually getting louder. Race sighed, got out from under the thin blanket that had been covering him, and climbed down the ladder, careful not to wake anyone up. He looked at Romeo, and there was no doubt that he was having a nightmare. Normally it was Jack's job to handle situations like this, but he had been spending more and more nights on the roof lately, leaving Race to comfort any of the boys if they woke him up. And really, they always woke him up. He sat on the edge of the bed and shook Romeo's shoulder firmly.
"Hey, Romeo. C'mon kid, wake up." He was expecting it to be difficult to wake him up, but Romeo's eyes flew open as soon as Race began to shake him awake. He sat up, confused, until he met the older boy's gaze.
"Race... Race? Oh, I had a... sorry." He apologized as he realized what was happening.
"No, it's fine. Do you wanna talk about it?" Romeo hesitated.
"Would you mind?"
"If I minded, I wouldn't have asked." Race motioned for him to move over, and he sat beside him. "Talk."
"I... I was in a gang, Race. When I was ten." Race desperately wanted to interject, even just at that, but he could tell Romeo needed someone to listen. "I didn't want to, but my folks threw me out, and I needed money. And the Whyos... well I earned money from them." Romeo attempted a smile, that looked more like a grimace, at Race's expression. "That was what they called themselves. The Whyos. The name sounds stupid, I know." Race let out a tentative laugh.
"Hold on, you said you earned money from them?"
"They had a list." Romeo nodded. "A list of... jobs, and depending on the job you were willing to do, they'd give you money for it. Like, if you broke someone's nose, they'd give you $7. Stuff like that."
"...Oh."
"Sometimes they'd give you more than $100 if you were willing to kill someone." There was a long, tense pause. "Not for the first time though."
"W-what do you mean?" Race had always been pretty close to the younger newsie, and he was fairly surprised that there had been this whole other part of his life that he'd never known about.
"They..." Romeo took a deep breath. "They didn't let you in the gang unless you killed someone."
"Romeo – "
"I had to do it, Race! I was starving, and I didn't know any other way to get money, and I just had to."
"Whoa, hey, it's okay." Race comforted his younger brother, and put an arm around his shoulders. They both knew it really wasn't, but what else was he supposed to say? "Is that what the nightmare was about?" Romeo nodded, and took the arm on his shoulder as an invitation to lean into the embrace.
"I got away, after about a year." That was around the same time that he had come to the Lodging House. "But I'm scared, Race."
"About what? You got away, didn't you?"
"Yeah but... I couldn't tell them that I wanted to leave or they'd kill me. So one day I just took off, without saying anything. They disbanded a few years ago, but those boys didn't mess around. Some of them might still be looking for the guys that got away from them."
"Hey, that's not gonna happen."
"Who's gonna stop it, if they decide to come after me, they're gonna find me, and Race, I don't even want to think about what they might do if that happens."
"Are you kidding me? Have you ever met any of these boys?" Race gestured to the room full of sleeping newsies. They'd never let anything that bad happen to you, no matter how tough these Whyos are."
"But – "
"Hell, Jack would kill them before they hurt any of his boys. As for me, I won't let anyone hurt you, kid. Alright?"
"Okay." Romeo nodded slowly.
"You good?"
"Yeah, I think so." Race stood up and gave him a small smile before climbing back up the ladder to his bunk. He kept his eyes open though, deciding to stay awake until he was certain Romeo had fallen asleep. Once he was almost certain he would be asleep, he heard his brother whisper, so quietly he barely heard it.
"Thanks for listening, Race." Race grinned. Even if he wasn't exactly thrilled to have been woken up at 2:00 AM, he couldn't deny that he loved his brother, and the fact that he trusted him enough to tell him secrets he'd never told anyone else.
"No problem, Romeo."
