Brooklyn *Spot Conlon Love Story*

Chapter 7: Once and For All

I wake up early. I see Spot resting peacefully in the bed and I know I can't wake him. He's been working hard with the strike and everything else. I have to let him rest.

I kiss his cheek and leave. On the way out, I run into Squints.

"Where are ya goin', Miss Kelly?" he asks me.

"I have ta tell the boys the truth about Jack. Will ya let Spot know where I went?" I ask. Squints nods. "Thanks, Squints. I owe ya one."

I rush back to the lodging house outside where I find David already waiting for me.

"Ready?" David asks me, wincing. Then, he brushes a tear off my cheek that I didn't know what was there.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I respond. We head in, tears spilling down my cheeks.

"Hey, where's Jack?" Racetrack asks as David and I run back into the lodging house. David sends him a glare as I hide my face from the other boys so that they can't see the tears streaming down each time I hear the name Jack, think of Jack, anything that has to do with Jack. I sit down on the bottom bunk with my back to the group of boys. David comes and stands at the foot of the bed, facing the boys.

Racetrack's comment causes riot in the lodging house, each boy crowding around David and me like we have money or something.

"Yeah, where is Jack?''

"How come Jack ain't wit you?"

"Didja guys get caught er somethin'?"

Finally, I can't take it anymore. The tears, the stress, the strike, the trial, which was unfair because Snyder had no paperwork, no evidence, no nothing, the rally, the starvation, Pulitzer, Hearst, everything. I lose it.

"He didn't wanna come wit us!" I scream, whipping around, my hair sticking to my wet face. You can hear a pin drop in the place. I never scream...ever. The boys know that and I hope the boys know that I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to scream, but I did. I stand up shakily. "I'm so sorry, guys."

Then, I run out of the room, out of the lodging house. I hear the boys arguing about who is going to go after me. I can't blame them that none of them want to. I mean, I just screamed at them. I can't believe I just did that.

I walk into an alley way and lean back against a brick wall. Then, I allow my back to slide down the wall and my body go into a crouching position. I cling to my key around my neck, thinking of Jack's and my mother, and look up at the sky.

"Mama? I dunno if you can hear me right now, but, uh..." I trail off, wiping a tear from my cheek. "Please, help Jack. I dunno what he's doin' er why he wouldn't leave the refuge, but I know he has a plan. He always has a plan. An' if ya could jus...jus make sure that Jack's plan is a good one. I jus want him ta be--."

"Well, lookie here!" a voice calls out in a mocking tone. My head snaps to the alley way to find that I'm no longer alone. A big, bulking guy stands there with a friend not far behind. "Ya talkin' ta your mommy?"

Back up against the wall of the alley, studying the fire escape above me. If I could just find the stairwell.... I'm pretty quick. I could probably beat them.

"Ya ain't gonna talk, tootsie?" The other guy asks. I gulp and shake my head. What do these two goons want from me anyway? "Oh, we'll make ya talk."

Then, to my own pleasant surprise, my fist comes up on instinct and clocks him in the nose, hard. His nose bleeds on contact and my fist comes in contact with his face again and again until his friend grabs my wrists and pins them up against the brick wall, only using one hand. I try to let out a cry, but it's muffled because he covers my mouth with the other hand.