Lavenders green, lavenders blue (spot conlon love story)

Chapter 1- Mornin

The crack of dawn. New York smells different at the ungodly hour of 6 am than it does at other times a day.  Before all the smoke stacks fill the air, before the shouting and the hot breath entering our atmosphere.   July mornings have a nice cool breeze blowing in the morning actually.  But it doesn't mean I ain't tired like everyone else in this lodging house.  I'm woken by Kloppman coming in and yellin like he does every morning.  He isn't mean, Kloppman, he just knows if he's gonna get a whole house a Newsies up by six he's gonna have ta yell.  

I'm already in the washroom when I hear race and Snipeshooter bickering about a cigar or something.  

"Hey jack howdya sleep?" Mush askes. Mush is one of my best friends. I've known him since the beginning of what I thought was the end for me. He was always there.

"On me back mush" jack responds, unamused. I've known him my whole life and jack has never been a morning person

Mush starts to crack up. "DIDJA HEAR DAT FELLAS! I asked jack how he slept and he said on my back mush!" Gotta love mush. Anything could make that kid laugh. I laugh along with him and the boys start getting ready. Shaving an all. I shove my hair in a Newsie cap. It's getting harder and harder now that my hair is longer. It used to be cut into a bob and it was easy for me to disguise as a boy. But now that it was a good three inches past my shoulder my brown wavy locks were tough to stuff in the small hat. 

"Jack can I pleeeease wear me hair down today?" I ask. I hate having it up there 

"Addy you know why ya can't do dat." He says, hardly flinching at the question and brushing it off. I ask everyday. I'm surprised he hasn't given in yet.

"But jack the goils in Harlem is doin it" I whine. I'm not usually a whiner but it's not fair that they get to be girls and I don't.

"Yeah well the goils in Harlem is gonna get caught and sent ta da orphanage"

"Yeah but dey 'avent yet. And I can be sneaky if I wanta" I cant tell that jack is tired of the usual routine of me asking 

"Ya know what addy fine do it but if you'se is caught by you-know-who again don't expect me to come rescuin ya again" he says, but I can tell he don't mean it. If anything ever happened to I know jack would be the first the be there. Then mush, then race. There ain't much more I got. 

"Thanks jack!" I yell then I run off the the circulation center, not far behind the boys.

When I get there I expect to see them all buying there papes. Instead they were all sitting around. Wasting time if you ask me. Any good Newsie wants to be the first to buy the papes. Not the last. What were they all sitting around for? 

"Ayy what's goin on heah? Whatta ya all sitting around for?"

"They jacked up the price! Can ya belee dat?" Mush tells me

"We're barely making a living on our own. And now Dey jacked up da price!" 

"It's probably a gag" someone chimes in. And jack goes up to talk to weasel

"Why the jack up weasle?" He askes

"Why not?" Weasle askes, sticking his finger in his mouth and up at the sky. Disgusting. "It's a nice day"

I fake gag and jack comes back to the mob and sits down. Everyone crowds him asking him what they is gonna do. He is the leader after all. A kid we met earlier named les somehow clears em out giving jack some room to think.  Les is 9 but my brother taught him to say he's seven. Probably sells 30 more papes that way. His older brother David is here too. Definitely reals of new kid. I gotta give him some sympathy though. I was the new kid once too.  

"Hey listen if we don't sell papes nobody sells papes" jack pipes up finally.

"What do you mean? Like a strike?" Davey asks 

"Yeah like a strike!" Jack decides. To which the mob of newsies responds with dissaproval. With the trolley strike and all that's going on now  it sounds like a stupid idea. But we let him explain himself and David chimes in about a Union. Why can't we be a union anyway? The Newsie Union! Pulitzer doesn't own us. And we're gonna let the world know. We march up to Pulitzer's building.  I really think this strike could work after all.

I hear jack whisper to David "Hey we need...whatta ya call em davey?"

"Um ambassadors?" Davey says 

"That's right! HEY LISTEN!" He helps to the group "were gonna need ambastards and go tell de oddahs that we is goin on strike!"  

"Hey I'll take Harlem!"

"I got midtown!"

"I'll take da Bronx"

Jack barks out orders to the other boys in where to go, they all happily accept and head off. This is gonna work.

"Alright Brooklyn who's got Brooklyn?" Jack askes. Everyone looks away or down. "Hey whatsa matta? Ya scared a Brooklyn?"

"Hey we ain't scared a Brooklyn!" Boots comes to everyone's defense "Spot Conlon...makes us... a little noivus" 

"Well he don't make me noivous. So you an me boots we'll go ya Brooklyn" 

"I'll go ya Brooklyn too" I say

"Um no, addy why dontcha go wit mush ta midtown"

"Cuz I been ya midtown a million times. You've never taken me ta Brooklyn once, why? Don't tell me ya don't think I'm ready for Brooklyn cuz-" he cuts me off

"Nah kid, Brooklyn ain't ready for you." He says with a bit of a smile and I knew he was just lookin out for me. But I'm not a baby.

"Well I'm goin! And Dave here and keep up company" I say. And jack knows there's nothing he can do to change my mind. 

"Sure." David says "as soon as we take our demands to Pulitzer."

"Me to Pulitzer?" Jack asks. He sounds unsure of himself. Something I don't see often

"Well you're the leader jack" David says. After a minute to let jack mull it over in his head a finally decides 

"Well maybe a kid'll soften me up" the crown cheers and in the go

While they are no doubt fighting the Pulitzer's secretary. And man approaches me and David. He's wearing a fancy brown suit and I can tell that he's important

"Hey what is this? What is the strike?" He asks 

"We're taking our demands to Pulitzer" David explains. The man says something about Brian Dentyn. And the New York sun. I get distracted in my own thoughts and stop listening. What's so special about Brooklyn that jack needed to keep me from it? And who is this Spot Conlon?