Alleyways- a JackCrutchie Story

Crutchie-Illegal

hey guys, this is basically just the beginning. most of the stories will be around the strike, or after it. thx for reading and plz comment, i love it when you do...

Charlie sat in an alley, his crutch beside him, as the newsboys streamed past. It was a beautiful day, with no clouds in the sky at all. He wished he could run. Even walking without a crutch would be great. 

"Hey you!" a man shouted. Charlie looked up. Two men stood at the entrance to the alley, glaring at him. Charlie gulped. 

"What?" be asked nervously,  grabbing his crutch and standing up.

The men advanced.

"You little cripple, " one growled. "Good for nothing."

Charlie froze. He hated that word. Too many people had called him it and then hurt him. This probably wasn't going to be any different. He got ready to back away. 

The other man's eyebrows bunched together in anger. 

"You dumb, too?"

"N-no." Charlie answered, limping away. Thoughts playing through his head. Would he get away? And more importantly, where was the first man? 

The second man smiled sinisterly.

Charlie felt his crutch knocked out from under him. He wobbled on one foot for a second, then it was kicked and he went down, hitting the cobblestone ground hard. He bit his lip to keep from yelling as the second man grabbed his crutch and threw it into the street so hard it broke in two. The first man leaned down, leering at Charlie, who braced himself for the pain that was bound to come. And come it did. 

The man bent down and grabbed Charlie's bad leg, twisting it so hard that Charlie, who had trained himself his whole life to keep his pain inside him, howled. A sharp kick to Charlie's head set his ears ringing, and then the men were gone, slapping eachother on the back. 

Charlie grit his teeth, pulling himself to a sitting position against the alley wall. He titlted his head back and sighed. Everything hurt, and his crutch was too far away for him to get. And it was broken. His head throbbed. He closed his eyes. 

Footsteps pounded on the ground, but they were lighter. The footsteps of a boy. Charlie opened his eyes and looked up anxiously. He expected to find an older newsboy, laughing at him. Instead, he found a boy about his age, maybe a year or so older, with a black cap on, holding the pieces of Charlie's crutch. His jaw clenched. Who was this? Were they going to hurt him even more?

"I saw the Delanceys come in here, so I thought I'd check see if you'se okay. You okay?" 

Charlie nodded, grimacing. Even nodding  hurt. 

"I'm Jack. By the way was this you'se? The crutch, I mean. And, what's ya name?" 

Charlie swallowed. "Yeah, name's Charlie." he said in a hoarse voice. "And yeah, the crutch is- was- mine."

The boy, Jack, nodded. He seemed to think about this for a second or two. 

"So, I knows a place. Me an' a couple other newsies can carry ya, and then-"

"No." Charlie interrupted, "Wait. Nobody carries me, ya got that?" Wincing, he grabbed hold of the wall and pushed himself up so he was standing on a leg that was threatening to give out beneath him. But he was standing. 

"Nobody  carries me." he repeated, "I ain't weak."

A slow smile spread across Jack's face. It made him look much friendlier. "Okay, I'll stay with you. I can skip a day anyway. I'se tired."

Jack moved, sitting down next to where Charlie was standing, and looked up at him.

"Sit down, Crutchie boy."

Painfully, Charlie sat. Then Jack's words registered. He looked at the boy, totally at ease. The handsome cute boy who's dark hair made him look even cuter, and- Charlie cut himself off. Boys weren't cute? What was he thinking?

He narrowed his eyes. "What did ya just call me?" he asked, untrusting. 

Jack smiled. "Crutchie." he said simply.

Charlie looked at him and smiled, trying not to get distracted by the feelings that he knew were wrong swirling in his stomach. "Crutchie." he whispered. "I like it."

They sat in silence for a little while, as the city moved on without them. Charlie's leg ached, and he reached to wipe a dirty hand across his already bruised and smudged face. He couldn't stop thinking about his feelings for Jack, but he tried to push them away. Boys weren't allowed to like boys, it was illegal. And plus, that didn't happen in the real world. Did it?