The Name's Crutchie

Chapter 8a - A Brawl in the Square

"Jack!" Yelled a voice, Jack turned to see Crutchie's hand reaching out to him as he was being pulled away into an all-consuming darkness until Jack couldn't see him at all. He tried to run but some invisible force was holding him back. From the darkness all Jack could hear were ear-piercing screams and what sounded like the crunch of bones. He turned away to run from the horrific noises but instead saw the faces of the Delancey twins grinning at him from above. He tried to yell but nothing came out, his throat felt like glass.

" Looks like this little queer is missing his boyfriend." Snarled Oscar. Jack felt the hot breath of Morris Delancey on his neck.

"Let's teach this homo a lesson he'll never forget." Cruel laughter filled his ears as he looked around to see the faces of all the newsies laughing at him as he struggled against the stone grip of the Delancey brothers.

Jack sat bolt upright, dripping with sweat, his heart pounding fast. He couldn't go back to sleep after that, thoughts of Crutchie filled his mind. He kept replaying the same moment over and over; he could see Crutchie look at him with such fear in his eyes. He felt empty and cold; for once Jack was at a loss he had no plan to break Crutchie out. All he had was the crippling feeling that he had failed the one person who cared about him. Jack watched as the sun slowly rose above the streets of Manhattan, he didn't feel the usual pull to the street to sell papers or the spark of excitement from starting the strike. A small voice pulled Jack from his thoughts.

"Jack?" Jack looked over to see Specs clinging to the fire escape on the side of the building. "All the boys are going down to the distribution centre to try to get more boys to join the strike if you wanted to come." Offered Specs. Jack slowly got to his feet, stumbling a bit before clutching onto the ladder for support. Specs slowly started climbing back down, watching intently as Jack slowly lowered himself down. Jack finally jumped off the final steps of the ladder, only to stagger backwards into Specs' waiting arms. "You okay Jack?" Specs asked meekly.

"I'm fine." He replied gruffly, shrugging Specs off.

"Are you sure because I know you haven't been eatin' much since Crutchie's been-"

"I said I'm fine." Snapped Jack as he started the mundane trudge to the distribution centre with Specs at his heels. They walked in silence; the regret of snapping at Specs was weighing on Jack. "Hey, I just...you and Romeo...stay safe, stay away from them Delancy boys they won't react well if they find out you're a..." The unspoken word hung in the air – queer – both boys had retreated back into silence.

"Thanks, Jack." Muttered Specs, not wanted to provoke him more on the subject he knew that Crutchie's absence was tearing him up inside. Jack turned back to him, most of the coloured had returned to his face and he looked almost like his old self except for the bags under his eyes that made him look like he had been in a fight, which wouldn't be uncommon knowing Jack.

"Anytime kid." Jack replied half-heartedly before seeing the crowd of newsies they were walking toward. He took a deep breath and sprung into action greeting all the boys and making sure everyone was there. A smile that couldn't have been genuine was plastered to his face. Specs watched Jack as Romeo slowly joined his side.

"So I guess you convinced him to join us." Said Romeo, watching Jack joking around with the younger boys.

"Yeah, he doesn't look too good though, I don't know how much longer he can keep going like this before he cracks." Replied Specs. Jack put on a brave face for the younger newsies but it was clear that he wasn't eating or sleeping very much.

"I think today may be the day he might." Romeo replied motioning to two people approaching in the distance.

"Delancey brothers." Breathed Specs, before setting off to warn Jack but before he could get to him the new boy - David – was already at his side.

"Jack now is not the time to get in a fight." Warned David with a hand firmly on his arm, Jack felt like he was ready to burst.

"Down boy." Came the mocking voice of Oscar in a sickeningly sweet tone as he sauntered up to the newsboys. "We're just here to buy papes.

"Bite me." Growled Jack through gritted teeth as Davey tried to pull Jack away from the boys.

"I see you replaced your boyfriend quite quickly." Remarked Morris looking Davey up and down, flicking the hand that was resting on Jack's arm, Davey instinctually flinching away; his hand dropping from Kelly's shoulder. "Upgraded to a better model, one that still has all his working limbs." He sneered, a snide smile curling the side of his face. Jack burst into action grabbing the shoulders of Morris Delancey and landing a knee square in his stomach. But before he could turn to the other Delancey brother Jack was met with hard knuckles against his jaw as his hands were quickly restrained behind his back.
He could feel the hot breath of Oscar on his neck, his skin prickled with adrenaline and embarrassment. All around Jack could hear the panicked whispers of all the young newsboys; he didn't want them to see him like this.
A sharp pain shot up his arm as Oscar twisted it behind his back. Jack bit down on his lip so he didn't yell out in pain. Morris leaned forward and snarled in his ear, "You don't look much like a leader anymore, Kelly." Before his fist connected with the side of Jack's face, he didn't know when Morris has put on the brass knuckles but he sure as hell could feel them. Jack stumbled back against Oscar grappling with his consciousness; Oscar retaliated by twisting his arm further. The pain brought Jack back to the present eventually focusing on Morris' sickeningly sweet smiling face in front of him.
The rest of the newsies watched on in horror as Jack was being tossed and beaten like a ragdoll in front of their eyes.
David had a tight grip on Les who was trying to get away from him and intervene but the Delancey would show no mercy, not even to a little kid.
Jack felt his own blood trickle down his cheek from a cut on his face as Morris continued to beat him senseless.
Jack's legs were shaking under him, he felt so weak. He was suddenly aware of how little he has eaten over the past days. Bright lights flickered in the corner of his vision; Jack gladly accepted a reprieve from the pain as the world slowly faded from view. The boys looked on in horror as Jack went limp in Oscar's arms. As Jack collapsed in his arms Oscar threw his lifeless body onto the uneven stones with a sickening thud. The boys all looked on; no one daring to move but each and every one of them ready to pounce.

"Some leader he turned out to be." Oscar sneered to the rest of the onlooking crowd. "Go on then, see if your boyfriend is okay." He spat at the extremely pale David before nudging Morris' shoulder and making their way toward the distribution centre. David stood frozen in shock as Les yanked himself out of his grasp and ran towards the unconscious Jack however he was beaten by Kid Blink who had already begun wiping the blood from Jack's face. Les got one look at the mess before Specs pulled him away.

"You're too young for this kid, go make sure your brother doesn't faint also." Reassured Specs, trying to push the boy away from Jack he was far too young to see things like this. As he turned around however, it seemed as though everyone else had sprung into action and Specs could no longer see Jack for he was crowded by newsboys trying to get a look at what had happened.

"Everyone take a step back, he's not dead but there is a good chance his nose is broken." Came the voice of Blink somewhere in the crowd. But more and more people kept pressing in towards Jack until a shrill whistle cut through all of the noise. Everyone turned to see the silhouette of Spot Conlon; leader of the Brooklyn newsies, closely followed by Racetrack. Silently the sea of boys parted as Spot strolled through the middle towards the still unconscious Kelly; unwillingly Blink stood up and took a step back from Jack. Jack blinked a few times slowly becoming aware of the crowd around him and realising the shape in front of him was the famous and feared Spot Conlon, looking down on him with a look of distaste.

"This is the leader of your strike? Well of course you're going to need help."

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Guess what guys?! I'm not dead! what a surprise to us all I apologise but I haven't edited this properly which I will be doing in the next few days but I just wanted to get this up and published because some of you have been waiting quite a long time for it 

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