The Rose of Manhattan

The Truth Comes Out

Rose's POV

I woke up to voices whispering not so quietly. I kept my eyes closed, wanting to avoid the conversation that I knew was yet to come.

"Will you boys shut up!" I heard Jack whisper/yell.

"Calm down. We just wanna know who hurt her." Davey said trying to calm Jack down.

"Well, so do I, but she's sleeping. So let's just leave her alone and when she wakes up we'll ask her what happened. And who I should kill."

When Jack got murdery I decided it was time for me to wake up. I groaned as I pretended to wake up. "Rose," Jack said gently as he reached forward and carefully brushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Hiya, Jack." I smiled causing him to smile.

"How ya feelin' there, Rose?" Romeo asked.

"Oh, well. Ya know," I gasped as I slowly stood up. I let out a small laugh when I noticed all the boys lunge towards me when I gasped. "I feel like I could run a marathon."

"Ya? It looks more like you just got ran over by a trolley," Race snickered. I laughed when Jack turned around and hit him on the back of the head.

"Hey Rose?" Les asked, looking down at his shoes before finally looking up at me.

"Yes, little man?"

"What. . . Who. . . What happened?" He hesitated to ask.

I bit my lip as I looked around at all the news boys, eagerly waiting for me to answer Les's question. "Come here," I whispered, gesturing for him to come sit next to me. Davey was about to stop his little brother, but I shook my head letting him know it was okay.

I took a deep breath before clearing my throat. "Look," I started but was cut off by Jack.

"If you say anything about this not being a big deal, I think Snyder hit ya harder than ya think."

"Okay," I dragged out. "Snyder found out about. . . He found out that Crutchie got rescued and that. . . I was the reason you were able to get him out."

"Wait," Crutchie gasped. "This is because of me?"

"No! No no no no no no. Crutchie this. . . This is because of me. It's because I. . . Snyder. . . He. . . I. . ."

"Rose, you aren't making any sense." Davey said with a slight laugh.

"Alright," I sighed. "Snyder runs the Refuge terribly, I mean that's no secret. He doesn't want me making food for the boys. He doesn't want me washing their blankets or their clothes. Hell, he doesn't want me showing them any kind of affection. He wants. . . He wants every boy who steps into that Refuge to feel like a street rat. And I can't just sit back and watch him treat these poor boys like they are nothing. So. . . I had to do something! So I steal medicine from him, I sneak them food and I wash their clothes when he's not looking. I just. . . I can't help it. I have to help those boys. Even if it means I get pushed around."

"But, you weren't just pushed around, Rose. You were pushed out the building, into the alleyway and continually pushed until you couldn't stand." I bit my lip as his voice broke. "Rose, Snyder hit you. He. . . He abused you," Jack said slowly.

"What am I suppose to do?" I asked as tears started forming.

"Get away from him," Jack urged as he knelt in front of me and took my hands in his.

"Jack," I sighed.

"No! Rose, ya gotta get away from him. You deserve better. You can't stay there. Why should ya spend your whole life living, trapped where there ain't no future? Even at 17?"

"Because. . . I have no where else to go," I shrugged as the tears finally started streaming down my cheeks.

"What do you mean you have nowhere else to go?" Davey asked.

I wiped the tears as I avoided eye contact. I smiled when Les wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a hug. I looked down at the smiling boy and took a deep breath.

"I was born is Texas," I said finally looking up. "My daddy and I, we moved here after my momma. . . After my momma died. She had gotten real sick about three years ago. They thought it was a cold, but three months later we were burying her. My daddy didn't handle her death real well. So, he packed us up and moved us to Brooklyn."

I laughed when the boys groaned at the mention of Brooklyn. "I know, I know. Don't worry, I didn't like living there." I paused before continuing, "When we moved there, my daddy started drinking. He drank so much, he started to forget everything. He started to forget about his work, who he was, who my momma was. . . He started to forget me. Then one night, I was woken around 2 am, there was a pounding at our front door. It was two police officers, there to tell me that my father had stolen a car and crashed it. He. . . He didn't survive, but what's worse is the fact that he killed a young family."

"Oh Rose," Race sighed.

"After I lost him, I didn't. . . I got a job at a sewing company to try and keep paying the rent, but I. . . I lost the apartment. I lived on the streets for 2 months before I ran into Snyder. He started chasing me. He chased me for two weeks before the Delancys caught me. Instead of throwing me in the Refuge, he made me a deal. If I worked for him, I could live in the Refuge. I only said yes because I was hungry and scared and homeless. I didn't know what a terrible man he was. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Jack, you have to believe me. If I had known. . . I never would've said yes."

"I understand, Rose. Really I do." He said softly.

"I'm sorry, boys," I said quietly. "I am so sorry that I have anything to do with that awful place."

"You shouldn't be sorry," Davey said with a smile on his face as he picked up his brother.

"He's right!" Cruthcie said excitedly. "You've helped! You made that unbearable place, bearable!"

"You protected those boys," Jack added. "Now it's time we return the favor."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a slight laugh.

"You're not going back there. I. . . We won't let you," he said with such a serious expression on his face it almost scared me.

"But. . . But I have nowhere else to go, Jack." I said, shaking my head.

"Here," he shrugged like it was obvious.

"Jack," I sighed.

"I mean it. You can stay here. There's a whole other room, completely private. And we can protect you from Snyder and the Delancys. You just have to let us take care of you for change," Jack said softly.

"Really?" I said as tears started forming again. I let out a soft laugh as he brought my hand up to his lips and kissed the top of my hand.

"So? What do you say, Rose? Wanna join the News Boy Union?" Davey asked with a playful smile. I bit my lip and looked at all the smiling, jumpy boys.

"Do I get a hat and a badge?" I looked over to see Jack laugh.

"We don't need no hats or badges. We're a union just by sayin' so."