Buttoning the third and final button on my gray vest, I straightened my collar on my blue button up and slipped my shoes on. I managed to snags Specs's glasses to looks at my reflection, so I dabbed my fingers in water from a nearby cup and rans them through my curly blonde hair, trying to get it just right. A knock on the metal beam behind me turned my attention away from my appearance.
"Well ain't you's lookin' spiffy," Mush commented. I scoffed.
"What can I say? I cares about my image," I threw back, holding up the glasses again and scrutinizing my hair in the reflection. Giving up, I let out a groan of frustration and threw my cap on my head.
"Wow, Race. You really care about dis guy, don't you's?"
I let my hands fall to my sides and looked Mush in his eyes as he leaned against a hollow iron girder.
"Yeah, I do. He ain't just some fling, and he said we's going to a nice place tonight, so I gotta looks my best."
As if on cue, from down below, I heard the familiar voice of the boy I could always picks out of a crowd.
"Oh boys! Knock knock! I brought gifts!" he called. The sound of a dozen newsies pounding down the stairs of the scaffolding echoed into my ears along with multiple shouts of "Ayyy!" and "Maxie!"
"Mush!" I whisper-yelled to the boy next to me. "Keeps him busy! I'm almost ready! And here! Give Specs back his glasses."
After I tossed him the round glass on frames, he headed down towards the source of the voice while I fixed my hat and snatched the couple of flowers I picked, which were wrapped in a pape I kept from today's run.
Taking in a couple deep breaths and wiping offs any grease or dirt on my face, I tried to accumulate any sort of confidence I could. I tooks a puff of my cigar before sticking it between my teeth, readying my emotions. I slowly crept down the stairs, listening to Max's words as I tried to be as quiet as possible. I was hoping to surprise him with the flowers.
"For you, Finch, I got a new pair of shoes, 'cause I heard you complaining about the ones you had," he said as I encroached him into my field of view. And what a view, indeed.
He dawned an almost-black green tailed overcoat to counter the cold winter's night. The collar was folded out, revealing the lighter, but still a bit dark, green inside. The overcoat was buttoned over a simple tan button-up shirt, which was tucked into loose white pants and then folded over, exposing the shirt's color just below the coat's bottom. He held a medium-sized brown leather bag at his hip, and brown, rectangular glasses rested on the bridge of his nose just below his chestnut brown quiffed up hair. He looked great.
He reached into his bag and pulled out a small book.
"A book on manners and being charming for Romeo, so he can be just as suave as his namesake," he said, handing the leaflet of a story to the short, tan boy. He then extended his arm and presented the bag in his hand. "And for Jack, a bag to hold whatever supplies he needs for whatever schemes he dreams."
The group laughed as Jack grasped the back in his large hands and pulled Max close for a platonic hug.
"Thank ya, Maxie. Is dere anythin' we can gives ya?" Jack offered. I took the opportunity to sneaks behind Max and try to surprise him.
"Actually," he said, but quickly stopped himself, waving the topic off. "Never mind. I don't think you could help, so I guess I'll just be on my way." He turned around, making me slightly panic and side-step to avoid being caught.
