The Story of a News Girl

Albert

October 1892

"Watch the goil. It'll only be for a couple of hours. It won't be for too long. Just until Mush starts feelin' better, then she'll be outta yer cap. Make sure she stays in yer sight. An' blah, blah, blah," Albert thought as he rubbed his hands together. He didn't have anything against the little news girl. In fact, she was a hoot. He just didn't want to babysit her. Why him you may ask? Well, as long as they're on Manhattan soil all the newsies have to sell in pairs. Mush and Feister were obviously a team. But ever since Mush came down with a cough, Wolf put him on bed rest and temporarily paired her with Albert. The redheaded newsie didn't really have a partner he's stuck with all the time. It was usually with whoever was willing to go with him. Albert never really cared. He just wanted to make ends meet.

"Hey Albert, I's been meanin' ta ask how come you'se don't have a nickname like everyone else," Feister said as she walked beside the older newsie. "Racer says that a nickname is what makes a newsie. An' since you'se don't have one..." she asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"I's been sellin' papes fore you'se ever showed up," Albert replied bluntly. "As for the nickname thing, I's never liked 'em much," he added with a shrug.

"Well, I's gonna give ya one now. An' yer gonna like it," Feister replied firmly. She started to think of something that made Albert stick out from the rest of the newsies. Though, it didn't take very long for her to figure something out. For it was an obvious feature the older boy had. "How bout Red?" she exclaimed happily.

"How bout, no."

"Why not?" Feister asked. "It is the color of yer hair. Well, actually it's more of a dark-ish orange, but Red sounds better. An' Race seems ta call ya that a lot." it puzzled her why "Red" wasn't the older boy's nickname yet. Or that she was the one who had to point it out. She was still considered the new kid, and surely the other boys were smart enough to take such the chance to nickname Albert.

"Race needs ta keep his mouth shut," Albert replied simply.

"Ok...what'd bout Maple Leaf? she suggested innocently.

Albert stopped walking in his tracks and turned to see if Feister was actually being serious. Did she really just say "Maple Leaf?" what in the world went on in this girl's head? That's the worst nickname Albert ever heard. Not only that, but it was dumb. Who would want to be called Maple Leaf anyways? In all his years as a newsie, never has Albert ever heard such a dumb nickname. "What kind of a name is that?! Do I's look like a tree?" he asked loudly.

"From where I's standin', yes," Feister replied without batting an eyelash. If you ask her, it's a unique name. One that will surely stand out in a crowd.

"Don't ever say that in front of the others. Ya hear?" Albert replied before he began to walk again.

"No need ta be a grump bout it," Feister sassed as she caught up with the redhead. "If ya don't like Red, or Maple Leaf, then how bout Gingerbread?"

"Ain't in season," Albert sighed. He really wished someone else was on babysitting duty. Or at the very least Feister would keep quiet for a few minutes. Which brought Albert to his next question, had she always been this chatty and he never noticed until now?

Feister grumbled. Why couldn't Albert just pick one and get it over with? She was starting to run out of ideas, it's not like there was anything very interesting about the older boy. She didn't have a clue what he liked to do besides pulling pranks and stealing Race's cigar. Of course there were also the sarcastic remarks and his sense of humor...more or less. But nothing seemed to really jump out to her. So after a while she gave up trying to come up with a nickname for the redheaded newsie and quietly walked alongside him until they reached the selling spot. To which he told her what everyone has told her when selling, "go on ta work, but stay within eyesight or Wolf will have a heart attack". Whatever that meant.