Chapter Ten
When I was "well" enough to get out of bed and actually walk places, the place where Jack helped me bury Markas was the first place I went. Spot went with me just in case.
I kneeled down and closed my eyes. I pictured my favorite memory of Markas. We were riding our horses with my friend John and his brother Max. John was my age and Max was Markas's age. We were the Four Musketeers. Inseparable. Anyway, we were riding, and Max's horse got spooked and darted off. Before John and I could react, Markas shot after him. After about thirty seconds, he had gotten faster than Max's horse and stopped it. He was only eight. I was so proud of him.
"You ok, Max?" He asked.
"Yeah. Thankth, Markath!" Max replied. He had the most adorable lisp (lithp).
"Juliana! He's OK!" He shouted as John and I rode up.
"OK. We'd better get home. Samantha has a cake for you at their house." I said. Samantha was John and Max's older sister. It was Markas's eighth birthday that day. And consequently a week before we escaped to New York.
"Spot, what's the date?" I asked.
"Uhh, I... July 10th." He replied, kinda unsure. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears in. If Spot was correct, today was Markas's birthday. He would be 10 today.
"You ok, Arch?" Spot asked.
"No." I choked out. "Can we go back to Brooklyn as soon as possible please?"
"Yeah, let's go say goodbye," He said helping raise me from my knees. He put his arm around me and we walked back to the Lodging House before going back to Brooklyn. We said goodbye and returned home.
-
We were heartily welcomed when we got back to Brooklyn. I couldn't take very many hugs, so there were a lot of spitshakes. I ate a few bites of an apple and went to bed early. I dreamt about my life so far and what it would have been like without New York and the guys and Spot. It wasn't pretty.
-
I woke up the next day, just glad to be alive. I looked over and saw Spot, who was still asleep. He looked so happy. I got up, got dressed, and left the Lodging House. I walked around. The warm July morning air flooded over me and I walked over the the Brooklyn bakery. I got a roll and left to the crate tower. I ate the roll and took in the view.
After about a half hour, I returned to the Lodging House and got properly ready to sell. I walked in as Spot was yelling at everyone, "Look for her, guys! We gotta find her!"
"Spot?" I asked, confused. He ran to me and hugged me. "Damn, I thought the Delanceys got you again."
"No, I'm fine, Spot." I reassured before kissing him.
"Let's get to sellin'?" he asked me.
"Yessir," I replied.
-
We got our papes, sold all of them before 1:00, then just walked around and ended up on the crate tower. We were holding hands and I was leaning on his shoulder. Before we knew it, it was time for supper. We went to McGarrity's with Checkers. I had a sandwich, so did Spot. Checkers only got a bowl of soup. Once we were finished, we walked some more. When it got dark, we went back to the Lodging House and went to bed.
-
Most days ended up that way, those days became weeks, months, and finally, years. Spot and I passed our roles as leader and second on to younger newsies and retired. We bought a tenement together I got a job as a reporter, as did Spot. A year or two later, Spot led me up to the crate tower, knelt down, and pulled out a ring. He looked and me and I nodded. He didn't need to ask. I held my hand out and he slipped it on. It was beautiful. I was overjoyed.
