Pieces

Strike!

The next day at work, Morris pretended nothing happened the night before. He had to hide that he was now terrified of Wiesel, but he didn't try hiding the cuts. He didn't know how. When they got in, they were informed that the newsies would now be charged 60 cents per hundred rather than 50.

The newsies obviously weren't happy about the price change. They ended up refusing to work and went on strike.

Morris was scared. He didn't know what this would mean for him. If the newsies weren't working he wasn't working. If he wasn't working, they wouldn't get money. If they didn't get money, they couldn't buy food and he would starve.

Morris wanted to join the strike. The newsies were right, and Pulitzer was wrong. But he wasn't allowed to join. He had to stay with Oscar and Wiesel, and not be a newsie. And he didn't want to lose, but he wanted the newsies to win, and he couldn't support them.

After everyone else left, Morris stayed behind. Oscar and Wiesel didn't bother to get him. He curled up under the table, closed his eyes, and thought about everything. He opened his eyes and saw Henry sitting next to him. "Hey, bud, are you okay?"

"I wanna join the strike," Morris said.

Henry smiled. "You can. It's okay."

Morris shook his head. "I'm not allowed. Wiesel needs me to support him or else."

Henry moved closer "Or else...what?"

"Cellar."

"Cellar?"

Morris just nodded.

"Alright... Alright." He traced a cut on Morris's face. "What happened?"

"The glass. When he broke the bottle."

"Who's he?"

"Wiesel."

"Are you going home?"

Morris shook his head.

"Jacobi's?"

He nodded.

"Okay. How about this? How about...since we're not working...we go on an adventure, and then we go to Jacobi's together?"

Morris gasped. "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Henry smiled. "You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome."

"Let's go right now! Can we go right now?"

Henry took Morris's hand and ran outside. "Adventure!"

"Adventure!" Morris repeated.

They ran hand in hand, laughing. They finally arrived at their destination, an abandoned building. It looked like an old restaurant that had burned down. "This is... Well, was, my family's deli. Butler Family Deli, heard of it?"

"I went there!" Morris smiled and started jumping up and down. "I went there, I went there!"

Henry smiled and took his hands. "Yay!" He noticed Morris stopped smiling. "You okay?" Then he realized and let go of Morris's hands. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"So, um...you've been here?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes."

"Did you go a lot?"

"No. Special treat."

"You can look around, if you want."

Morris started looking. It was mostly just ashes, and a few items that survived the fire. At one point, something caught his eye. It was silver and shiny, standing out among the black and gray ash. He pointed to it.

"What is it?" Henry asked. He went over to look. "Oh... Oh my gosh, Morris... This..." He picked it up. "This necklace... It was my grandma's, my dad got it when she died..." He wiped the ashes off and showed it to Morris. It was a silver chain, with a silver heart charm and a small blue gem in the middle. Henry smiled and put it around Morris's neck. "For you."

Morris gasped and looked at the necklace. "For me?"

Henry nodded. "For you."

"But it's yours!"

Henry shook his head. "It's yours. It was never mine. It was my grandma's, then my dad's. And now yours."

"But...why mine?"

"Because... Because I love you, Mo."

Morris smiled. "I love you too!" He gave Henry a bit hug. "I love you, I love you!"

"Do you wanna go now, honey?"

Morris nodded. "Yes please."

Henry took Morris's hand and brought him back to Jacobi's. Jacobi gave them their snack - cookies - and they went into the back room. Morris leaned his head on Henry's shoulder while they ate.

Henry wasn't sure Morris understood what he meant. He loved Morris. More than a friend. He wanted to ask to be his boyfriend, but he was scared of rejection.

Morris loved Henry as well. He wanted to be boyfriends, and would have asked, but he didn't think it was allowed. When he was younger, he once asked Wiesel if he'd be allowed to have a husband instead of a wife. But Wiesel made it very clear, a husband would mean the death penalty.