𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙰𝚆𝙰𝚈 ° racetrack higgins

A New Scabber

The following morning, everyone got up with the clock tower. As the boys changed and got ready for the day, I pulled on my boots. I've already been up for hours; I barely slept a wink last night. I'd be lucky to have gotten an hour.

After I was fully ready, I took a deep breath and stood up, going to the center of the room. "Hey! Listen up!" I yelled, causing all the boys to stop what they were doing and look at me. "I just wanted to say that...I'm sorry for what happened last night. I just didn't know what to do anymore, and I guess I took it out on the wrong guys. After a lot of thought, I have decided that this isn't something we can just drop. We can't. Not if we want them to treat us fairly."

"What are you sayin, Pockets?" Mush asked, a sly smile on his face.

I smiled back. "I say let go win dis thing."

The lodging house erupted with applause and cheers. Tatum was back in action, baby. And now there was absolutely nothing stopping me.

•~•

Hundred of newsies were gathered outside the circulation gate. So many of us were there that the bulls had to make a barricade to block us from actually charging into the center.

I was standing near the front, scanning the scene. There were dozens of scabs standing by the open gates, large stacks of paper in their hands.

Two younger boys next to me started to fight. Just as I was about to break them up, however, Spot appeared from the crowd. He pushed the boys apart gently. "Hey, hey, hey! Break it up." The two boys scampered off before Spot nodded to me politely. I gave him a smile as he turned to the gate. His face fell as he locked eyes with something. "Hey, Race, come here."

The curly haired blonde boy appeared from the crowd, standing on the other side of me. I looked at Spot confused as he spoke again.

"Tell me I'm seein things. Just tell me I'm seein things."

Both Race and I, finally, looked to where Spot was looking. My jaw dropped open as I spotted a familiar boy walked out of the distribution center, dressed in a well tailored suit, a stack of papers under his arm.

Race tensed up beside me. "No, you ain't seein things. That's Jack. What's he doin?"

"He's dressed like a scabber!" Spot yelled, causing other newsies to turn and look. When everyone saw Jack, they started to get angry; you could just feel the tension in the arm.

Mush seemed like he didn't want to believe what was happening. "Jack? Jack, look at me, will ya? Come on, it's me, Mush. Look at me. What are ya doin, Jack?"

Kid Blink just shook his head, disappointed. "This ain't happenin. This can't be happenin. What are ya doing, Jack? Come on, what are ya doing?!"

Boot pushed through the crowd, standing next to Race. "Come on. What is this? Where'd you get them clothes?"

Weasel stepped forwards with a wide smile on his face. "Mr. Pulitzer picked them out himself. A special gift to a special new employee."

"He sold us out!" The Brooklyn leader shouted.

"I'll give you a new suit! Ya bum!" Race shouted, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet, debating whether or not to lunge at Jack. "I'll soak ya!"

Spot, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to throw himself towards the new scab. He didn't get very far; the bulls held him back immediately as Spot swung his cane around. "Hey, hey, hey! Let me get my hands dirty! Come here you dirty rotten scabber! Traitor!" His yelling faded as other newsies pulled Spot to the back of the crowd, trying to get him to calm down.

I just stood there, a look of shock and betrayal on my face. Weasel seemed to notice. "Aww. You wanna talk to him? Come on, come on. Sure. Go right ahead."

The bulls parted slightly and allowed me to get through before blocking the crowd again. Slowly, I walked towards my brother.

"So, this is why you didn't escape with Davey last night." I said bitterly. David has told me what happened with Jack last night. The entire story. At the time, it didn't make any sense why Jack wouldn't just run, but now it was all clear. "You're a liar! You lied about everything! You lied about mom and dad being out west, cause they sure as hell are not out west! You didn't even tell me your real name! My real name!"

"So?" My brother said, shrugged as if it were nothing. "What you wanna do about it, Tate?"

I shook my head, disgust covering my features. This wasn't Jack; my brother would never EVER do this to us. "I don't understand you."

"Oh, so let me spell it out for ya. You see, I ain't got nobody tucking me in at night. It's just me. I gotta look out for myself."

"You had the newsies....and you had me!"

"Oh, what'd being a newsies ever give me but a dime a day and a few black eyes? And what have you ever done but slow me down? I'm not a babysitter! You know, I can't afford to be a kid no more, Tatum. For the first time in my life, I got money in my pockets. Real money. Money, you understand? I got more on the way and as soon as I collect, I'm gone. I'm away. Alright?"

"Well, that's good." I said flatly. I could see the hint of regret and shock behind Jack's eyes at my words. I just ignored it, knowing that I wouldn't regret a single word that was about to leave my mouth. "That's good because we don't need you. You hear that, we don't need you! All those words you said weren't even yours, they were Davey's!"

"Yeah, but you never had the guts to put them across yourself, didja?"

"You never gave me a chance!" I screamed, knowing full well all the boys could hear me. "Well, I do now."

I turned away from my brother and faced the newsies, breathing heavily as I fought back the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.

"What'sa matter?" Jack said from behind me. "Got a problem?"

That was the final straw. Wasting no time, I turned and lunged myself at Jack, only to be caught by two bulls. They pulled me a few feet away, making sure Jack was out of my reach.

"Maybe you'd like some new clothes of your own, huh?" Weasel said with a sadistic smile.

"Never!" I screamed. "Never!"

"Get outta here!"

I was shoved back into the crowd as a group of cops surrounded Jack, staring to push through the crowd. The bulls acted as a barrier between us and my brother.

"Traitor!" Spot yelled.

Kid Blink spat towards Jack. "You make me sick!"

"I trusted you!" Boots said.

"Seize the day, huh, Jack?" Race yelled.

Les stood next to me, Davey by his side. "He's foolin em, so he can spy on em or something." The younger boy said softly. "Yeah, yeah. That's it. He's foolin em."

"Yeah, he's spying on dem, kid." Race said softly.

Word Count: 1227