𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

A New Name

Jack and I easily spent an hour or two on the roof, catching up with one another, before we headed back down to the boys. They seemed to have calmed down since we've been down here last. Most of them were sitting in the ground, playing a giant game of cards, while only a few others were on their beds, doing their own thing. I saw Race on the far end of the room, lying on one of the beds with his cap over his eyes and a cigar in his mouth.

A few looked up as we got into the room. "Welcome back, Kellys." One boy said. This caused almost a ripple like effect. As they heard their friend speak, the boys all looked up and towards us.

"Tatum, come play." Jojo said politely, scooting over slightly. I gave him a small smile and went over, sitting between him and Albert. "Deal her in, Specs."

After I got my cards, Jojo quickly explained the game to me and we started. While we played, the boys asked me a bunch of questions, which I answered. They asked me mostly about my past; where Jack and I had stayed when we left our home; how we got by; how we ended up in the Refuge.

"Well, I was young when we left home. About seven, I think. Dad had got laid off, so Jack and I thought it would be best if we left and started caring our ourselves, seeing as we didn't have enough money to get by. To get money, Jack would do little jobs around town while I usually pickpocketed some people whose back were turned; got pretty good at that. We were on the street for a little over a year before we got caught the first time; they said me and Jack were trespassing, when we were just standing under an awning to get out of the rain. We were in there six months before they let us out. We were out for a couple of years before Jack got caught trying to steal a loaf of bread. I followed him a few weeks later."

"What'd you do that time?" Mush asked curiously, laying down a card.

I smiled to myself, remembering. "I tried to pickpocket some guy in a fancy suit. I would've gotten away, but the ground was slick with water and I fell right at his feet. Kinda hard to explain to the bulls why you're holding a man's wallet that was in his jacket a few minutes beforehand."

The game grew quiet as the boys seemed to had processes what I told them. I glanced around the circle and saw everyone had their eyes on their cards. After a few minutes of silence, Finch spoke up.

"So, Jack?" The boy asked, causing my brother to look up from his spot on his bed. He had been sitting down looking at one of today's newspapers when his friend called him. "Is Tatum gonna be sellin papes with us now?"

A few murmurs ripples through our circle until all eyes were on Jack, waiting for his reply. I was pretty interested in being a newsies. Even though there wasn't much to it, I was curious to see how the fellas got their money. What they did to survive.

"Well, I don't see the harm in that." Jack said with a smile as he looked over at me. "Whatcha say, Tate? Wanna be a newsie?"

I quickly nodded and all the boys had smiles on their faces. A few others clapped as I laughed softly. I had only known these boys for a few hours and they were already becoming my family. And I couldn't be happier about it.

"We need to give her a nickname, boys." Elmer said, grabbing all the boys' attention. "Think."

The group fell silent as all the boys seemed to be lost in thought while I just sat there awkwardly. I didn't know what they were doing and when I looked over at Jack for clarification, he just shrugged and gave me a smile.

"Ok." Elmer said again. "Any ideas?"

The newsies all started hollering out names at once. I wasn't able to pick out a single one, seeing as all of their words got jumbled together.

"Aye! One at a time peoples." I heard someone call behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Race standing there. He gave me a smile and sat down between me and Albert. He glanced around the circle. "Mike. Whatcha got?"

"Skip." He said. "She always seems to be happy, like she should skip instead of walk."

"Good name, lousy reasoning." He said seriously, causing me to crack a smile. "Smalls?"

The boy seemed unsure before he spoke. "Speckles. Cause of her freckles, ya know?"

"Not too bad, not too bad. Buttons, what about you?"

"Pip. Cause she's smaller than most of us." He said.

"Fair point, but we already got Smalls." He said, snapping his fingers and pointing to his friend. "Tommy?"

"Pockets." Tommy Boy said proudly. "Cause she said she's a pickpocket, so I thought it could work."

A few of the boys nodded their agreement and Race smiled his cheeky smirk again. "Now, I like that. What do you say boys?!" He hollered, earning applause and excited cheers from the newsies. When they quieted down, Racetrack spoke again. "Then I guess we have a winner."

The boys started passing something around the circle. It ended up down at Race and he lifted it up slightly. It was a grey newsboy cap. With a smile, Race lifted it up and smacked it down on my head. It was a little too big on me, causing it to fall over my eyes. I pushed it up and saw all the boys smiling at me.

Race nudged my shoulder, giving me a bright smile. "Welcome to the newsies, Pockets."

Word Count: 987