Newskids

Chapter 1: As Always

The daylight was shining through the small windows in the ceiling that peered into the alleyway. The rest of the room was pitch black due to our placement underground. The light wasn't even on. I looked across the room once my eyes adjusted to the light, and saw the empty twin-sized bed parallel to the bottom bunk of my bed. I peered over the room, and it was clear that Arcturus had left, and once I looked under my bed at the lower one, I could see that Shade was gone as well. Paper routes, I presumed.

After placing my bottlecap lens glasses with their thin frames upon my face, I climbed down from the bed, with a satisfying thud onto the cold floor. I got up on my toes and reached as high as I could, managing to reach the pull string for the lightbulb. It buzzed to life and I could see the room far better. It was the same room I'd had for longer than I could possibly remember. It wasn't particularly beautiful, or even nice. It only had our beds and bags of clothing, as well as my newsbag hanging off the bed frame and a few things on the walls, including a bloodstain from the time that I got a bloody nose, and forgot there was blood on my hand.

I looked down at my clothing, the same thing I wore yesterday- the same thing I wear every day. Good enough. I pulled my flat cap from off of my bed where I left it. I always wore that flat cap. I'd had it all my life and never wanted to let go of it. So I always wore it and it became my name. It sat next to me as I slept, and placed it atop my head, over my messed up brown hair. I looked in the old mirror above Arcturus' bed. It's you. It's ol' Flatcap Kesley. I thought to myself.

My attention turned to the white door, with the paint chipping, that led to the rest of the home. I walked over, grabbed the fake golden door handle and pushed it down, like normal. With a click and a tug, the door opened. The room before me; the hallway, was simply that. Nothing interesting, aside from a picture frame that contained an old photo of Arcturus, Splint, Gold, my older sister and I. The photo seemed to have not been taken long after we brought Splint in. She moved in around 1927 or 1928, so she was nine or ten at the time, as was I, Gold and Arcturus.

I stared at the look of my sister. I hadn't seen or spoken to her in two years, and I wondered how she was doing. I wished that I could write to her more, but that simply was not possible. I couldn't afford to write to California, and this depression wasn't making it any better. In the photo's black and white, you couldn't see that even then- I had a few grey hairs here and there. Back then, it was just two or three, and while they weren't extremely obvious in 1934, there were still more of them.

I heard the door to my left, the door next to mine, open very fast. I knew immediately who it was. I whipped around quickly and felt a gust of wind as Gold and Blue raced past me. Gold was holding something, and it looked like Blue was trying to get it. Gold hopped up onto the dining table in the kitchen nearby, and I could see that he was holding Blue's shoe.

Blue stopped for a moment since Gold had kinda slowed himself down, by being up there, so Blue was easily able to retrieve his boot, thanks to his height. He was taller than any of the rest of us, standing at almost six feet tall, while the majority of us don't even hit 5'5. Gold is one of the taller of us, at around 5'6, but I'm 5'4. I'm the shortest of the boys here, though Shade isn't far ahead, only an inch taller. Blue was tall, thin and dark-skinned, being one of the two black newskids, the other being Cat. Gold was average height, a little round, but healthy, and had light pink skin.

Blue snatched his shoe out of Gold's hand, and whacked Gold over the head with it as if to say "don't be dumb".

"Mornin' you two," I said. I don't think either of them much remembered that I was in the room. I sat on top of the counter and watched the two.

"Mornin', Flatcap. How'd you sleep?" Gold asked, as Blue silently put his shoe on.

"The beds never get more comfortable, so same as always," I replied, as I bent my back to make the bones in it pop. "I'm heading out on a news route soon. When are you two going out?"