Crack the whip|| Newsies

Chapter 10

"I'm gonna sell!" Jack yelled angry at Crutchie.
"Ya can't even stand without leaning against somethin'!" Crutchie yelled back. They were fighting for over half an hour now.
"Yeah, but neither can you!" Jack yelled back, but as soon as it came out of his mouth he shut up. His eyes grew wider as he stared at Crutchie. "I'm sorry! i didn't mean..."
"No, it is exactly what you meant!" Crutchie stormed out of the room. Jack wanted to go after him, but didn't have the energy. The fight had drained him though he didn't want to admit it. He leaned against the bunks to keep himself upright.
"JACK DAMMIT!" Race came in yelling. "You is staying here and lay on the bed!" Jack got pushed down by Race. He wanted to resist, but wasn't strong enough. It made Jack angry again. Not at his boys, but at himself. Yet he know subconsciously that the person nearest, this being Race, would get the yelling thrown at him.
"I ain't staying!" Jack did something he knew he shouldn't have done. He hit Race in the face. It wasn't a forceful one, but it was enough to piss him off even more.
"Now ya listen to me." Race snarled after a second of being in shock. "You is goin' to stay here or I'll get ya right back into the refuge!"It was now Race's turn to think about what he had said.
"GO AWAY!" Jack screamed while tears of fear started slipping down.
"Jack, I'm sorry..." Race was shoved out of the room by Jack and was shut up by the door closing in his face. Jack set one of the chairs in front of the door to keep it from opening. He walked over to another and threw it against the wall opposite from the door. He could hear Race leave. He fell to his knees. Dizziness starting to make the world spin.

{...}

Crutchie came storming into the room where the boys were all gathered. They had all heard the yelling, but couldn't make out what was said. When Crutchie came storming in they looked with shocked expressions at how angry he was. While Race went to go up and yell at Jack, Davey sat next to Crutchie.
"He isn't in his right mind yet." Davey said. A look of concern was his face.
"That doesn't give him the right to say what he said." Crutchie answered him. They could all hear more yelling coming from the bedroom, but then there was silence. Everyone flinched when a loud bang sounded through the Lodging house.
"I'll go see what has happened." Ike said before walking out. A few seconds later he came back in with a Race. He looked like a mixture of shock and anger, but they couldn't decide what was the main emotion.
"What happened?" Davey asked. All the boys looked up to Race.
"He locked himself in the room and won't talk to me anymore. He's actin' like a nine year old. No offence." He looked at Les at the last sentence.
"None taken." Les replied happily. He hadn't paid much attention.
"Why don't ya all go sell papes and I'll stay here. See if I can get 'im talkin' and eatin'. He hasn't had anything yet." Albert said. They all nodded and headed out. They were going to be late.
Albert headed up the stairs with a plate of food in his hand. He wasn't really the most caring type normally, but Jack was like his big brother. Jack was like everyone's big brother.
"Jack. I have food for you." He said. The door was still shut. When he tried to open it he found that it was still closed of.
"Jack, you need to open the door so I can give you the food." There didn't come an answer. The only sounds from the other side was the shuffling of feed, but in the wrong direction. Jack had walked away from the door instead towards it to unlock the door.
"DAMMIT JACK! OPEN THE DOOR!" There was still no reaction. Albert has given up. He hadn't even been there for that long, but he knew that if Jack didn't want to do something he wouldn't do it. Than suddenly he thought of someone. The one person he would listen to. He ran down the stairs and grabbed a paper and started to write.
When he finished he wrote down the adres and name of the receiver and walked out of the door, though not far away. When he saw a mailman cross the street he ran up to him.
"Can you bring this for me? And please hurry." The mailman nodded and walked towards the adres.

Katherine walked in half an hour later.
"I got your letter. What wrong?" She asked when she saw Albert sitting against a door.
"Jack's in there and he won't open this damn door. He won't talk to us either. He needs to eat and drink, but I can't give it to him that ain't happenin'." Katherine began to understand the situation. Believe it or not, but her father had had some anxiety attacks when she grew up. They were scars from the battle. though everyone seemed to handle them differently.
"Jack. You need to open the door for me." She said softly. When she didn't get a reply she began to knock.
"Jack can you please talk to me?" She held her voice soft. She'd learned that from her mother. Whenever her father had one of his anxiety attacks she would do the same.
"Go away, Katherine." Jack sounded from the other side of the room. At least he was talking to her. Both her and Albert looked up with a small smile from relief.
"Jack you need to eat and drink." Katherine continued. There was no sound from the other side of the door. She sighed before continuing.
"Can you tell me what's wrong, please?"

Jack felt like a toddler, but he couldn't talk to anyone. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He really did, but after what he had said to Crutchie and then what Race had said to him... he was afraid that he would hurt more people. He hadn't ment to say those things, but they just came out of his mouth. He should probably just finish what Snyder had started. Starving himself. It was only fair that he did it this way.
"Can you tell me what's wrong, please?" Katherine's beautiful voice rang through his head. He wanted to just open the door and kiss her. Stay where you are. You are a filthy little rat that doesn't deserve love. Snyder's voice rang through his had. Tears escaped his eyes. STOP CRYING. YOU LOOK PATHETIC! He screamed at himself in his thoughts. He wiped away the tears with one move.
"I can't." Jack replied Katherine's question after what seemed like an eternity.