The Newsies
Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
The more days went by, the more boring headlines got. The same deal:
Kids found out for stealing Bread
Trolley Strike Drags On
The Newspaper Company Almost Out Of Business
That sorta thing. Of course, the Newsies had to make money, and knew people would NOT buy boring old newspapers with the same headline. So, either they made them up or they tried to "Improve The Truth". Davey Jacobs and his little brother Les Jacobs were the first to get out on the streets and sell. You may think that Davey and Les were Orphans, runaways or thieves just as the other ones. But, you are wrong. Davey and Les were decent young boys raised in a moderately funded family. They had a house with a mom and pa. But, ever since their sister, Sarah's disappearance, the family was just a bit unstable. Pa could barely work, due to depression while ma could barely run the house since she constantly worried about the present children she still had.
"Come on, Les. I told you! No lying!" Davey was a proud and decent boy. He listened to his Pa's commands and taught them to his little brother, Les.
"But..But we'll neva sell enough papes to help our family one bit, if we go at this pace." Les stated. Pointing to one of the headlines he said, "I mean, look! This headline has been here all week long." Les was right. Even though Jack stated in the past that "Headlines don't sell Papes. Newsies Do." Les, who was a very bright kid for a boy his age, knew that without "Improving the truth" the papes would never get sold.
"Yeah, thanks, Weasel!" Jack said to Mr. Wiesel, the paper seller. Nodding his head in obvious disagreement, Wiesel said,
"How many times do I have to point it out to get it through that thick SKULL of yours, Kelly!? Its WIESEL! Mr. Wiesel!" At this Jack chuckled. He hopped down each step and began to read what he was about to sell.
"Mhmmm.... No... Yes! Yes...." Jack said aloud. Really, what he was doing, was determining how he could make it sound better. Finally, he shot up from the step, and jogged towards a crowd of people, waiting for the opening of the NEW bakery.
"Extra Extra! Trolley Strike Drags on for a whole two years! Civilians burnt and killed!" Of course, the part about "Civilians burnt and killed" was a lie. You see, a man named Thomas Garret had died that morning of a bad drug the doctors gave him. That was the KILLED part. And, during a bonfire, a little boy stuck his hand in the flames and got burnt a bit. And, the trolley strike was a true statement. So really, he was not lying at all... He said nothing the guys who wrote it didn't say.
"Wha-- Where does it say that?" Davey asked Jack.
"Look at page 2 and skip to page 54 then page 87." Jack said, smiling. Suddenly, (As Davey was looking for the article) the two boys heard a clanking noise in the alleyway. Of course, Jack dashed towards it, but Davey stayed behind, his little brother at his side. Jack began to run as fast as he could after hearing the cry for "Help" in very familiar voices. It was Crutchy, Mush and Kid blink. All of Jack's friends. I'm guessing you know why Crutchy has that name, and barely anyone knows why Mush has that name but Kid Blink, also known as patchy by the mean kids, has a different story. His eye had been burnt from a very bad poisoning in the river under the Brooklyn bridge. It had been polluted by many things, and was made up of acids that were very strong. The "Bullies" from Brooklyn had been playing around when one cupped some water up in a tin cup and splashed it on him as he went by. They had not known it was acidic of course, they would not have done such a cruel thing if they had. Anyway, Kid blink had a brown eye patch on his eye now, and had already graciously forgiven the kids who had done it. As Jack kept running he saw that Skittery, a boy named after the way his personality came out, was pushed up against the brick wall by a large fist.
"Hey, Jack!!" Shouted Crutchy. The Delancey brothers, Oscar and Morris, had been beating them up again. Of course, Mush tried fighting back, but backed down once Oscar punched Blink in the face.
"'Ey, fellas! What is the matta here? You got a problem?" Jack said, shoving Oscar away from his friends.
"Shows how tough you are, beating up kids with problems!" He shouted. He began to point at each one of his friends as he talked.
"First off.." He explained, "Cructhy 'ere has only one good leg!" By now, all the newsies kids surrounded around and said "OOohh!" Whenever Jack made a point,
"And Blink... Look at his eye patch! Only one good eye." Just then, Morris made a come back,
"What about Mush? He only has one good half of a brain." The Delancey brothers laughed at his mean (but true) joke.
"No... He is just allergic to wimps like you." Many oohs and aahs came from the crowd. Jack then pointed to Skittery, "And Skit here can't even talk or think straight! You gotta choose our messed up ones or you'll be beat!" Jack smiled as he said this. He then began to make a "Brawling" face. This meant that they would begin to fight. Just as they lifted their fists, someone called in the distance,
"Come on, boys! Whats the use?" Davey called to them from afar.
"This won't get any papes sold." Being a moral young man, Davey almost always knew what to say.
"He's right..." Said Oscar, trying to back out.
"Oh really? I'd like to see, 'Jack Kelly, a slayer of all Delanceys' right there on the front page. Sounds interesting to me!" He laughed and began to make a "You're on" face. Just then Jack saw an unfamiliar face. What Jack saw was 17 year old Elizabeth Precille Howard (Soon to be Elizabeth Precille Howard Jacobs, being adopted into their family). Her face was as bright as the sun and her eyes were like a beautiful caramel river swirling in circles. Her hair was this bright vanilla blonde with beautiful drawn out locks. She walked daintily with both hands together and most always walked straight. (Unlike most girls, who usually wanted to be like boys) She was so different from the girls in New York and Jack caught himself in a trance from confusion while he stared. Suddenly, Oscar jabbed his fist into Jack's jaw. Jack bounced a bit, and fell hard to the ground.
"Oh my!" Elizabeth shouted and she ran home. Jack quickly shot his eyes in her direction to see where she lived. He saw her go into the girls Lodging House just before he passed out.
The more days went by, the more boring headlines got. The same deal:
Kids found out for stealing Bread
Trolley Strike Drags On
The Newspaper Company Almost Out Of Business
That sorta thing. Of course, the Newsies had to make money, and knew people would NOT buy boring old newspapers with the same headline. So, either they made them up or they tried to "Improve The Truth". Davey Jacobs and his little brother Les Jacobs were the first to get out on the streets and sell. You may think that Davey and Les were Orphans, runaways or thieves just as the other ones. But, you are wrong. Davey and Les were decent young boys raised in a moderately funded family. They had a house with a mom and pa. But, ever since their sister, Sarah's disappearance, the family was just a bit unstable. Pa could barely work, due to depression while ma could barely run the house since she constantly worried about the present children she still had.
"Come on, Les. I told you! No lying!" Davey was a proud and decent boy. He listened to his Pa's commands and taught them to his little brother, Les.
"But..But we'll neva sell enough papes to help our family one bit, if we go at this pace." Les stated. Pointing to one of the headlines he said, "I mean, look! This headline has been here all week long." Les was right. Even though Jack stated in the past that "Headlines don't sell Papes. Newsies Do." Les, who was a very bright kid for a boy his age, knew that without "Improving the truth" the papes would never get sold.
"Yeah, thanks, Weasel!" Jack said to Mr. Wiesel, the paper seller. Nodding his head in obvious disagreement, Wiesel said,
"How many times do I have to point it out to get it through that thick SKULL of yours, Kelly!? Its WIESEL! Mr. Wiesel!" At this Jack chuckled. He hopped down each step and began to read what he was about to sell.
"Mhmmm.... No... Yes! Yes...." Jack said aloud. Really, what he was doing, was determining how he could make it sound better. Finally, he shot up from the step, and jogged towards a crowd of people, waiting for the opening of the NEW bakery.
"Extra Extra! Trolley Strike Drags on for a whole two years! Civilians burnt and killed!" Of course, the part about "Civilians burnt and killed" was a lie. You see, a man named Thomas Garret had died that morning of a bad drug the doctors gave him. That was the KILLED part. And, during a bonfire, a little boy stuck his hand in the flames and got burnt a bit. And, the trolley strike was a true statement. So really, he was not lying at all... He said nothing the guys who wrote it didn't say.
"Wha-- Where does it say that?" Davey asked Jack.
"Look at page 2 and skip to page 54 then page 87." Jack said, smiling. Suddenly, (As Davey was looking for the article) the two boys heard a clanking noise in the alleyway. Of course, Jack dashed towards it, but Davey stayed behind, his little brother at his side. Jack began to run as fast as he could after hearing the cry for "Help" in very familiar voices. It was Crutchy, Mush and Kid blink. All of Jack's friends. I'm guessing you know why Crutchy has that name, and barely anyone knows why Mush has that name but Kid Blink, also known as patchy by the mean kids, has a different story. His eye had been burnt from a very bad poisoning in the river under the Brooklyn bridge. It had been polluted by many things, and was made up of acids that were very strong. The "Bullies" from Brooklyn had been playing around when one cupped some water up in a tin cup and splashed it on him as he went by. They had not known it was acidic of course, they would not have done such a cruel thing if they had. Anyway, Kid blink had a brown eye patch on his eye now, and had already graciously forgiven the kids who had done it. As Jack kept running he saw that Skittery, a boy named after the way his personality came out, was pushed up against the brick wall by a large fist.
"Hey, Jack!!" Shouted Crutchy. The Delancey brothers, Oscar and Morris, had been beating them up again. Of course, Mush tried fighting back, but backed down once Oscar punched Blink in the face.
"'Ey, fellas! What is the matta here? You got a problem?" Jack said, shoving Oscar away from his friends.
"Shows how tough you are, beating up kids with problems!" He shouted. He began to point at each one of his friends as he talked.
"First off.." He explained, "Cructhy 'ere has only one good leg!" By now, all the newsies kids surrounded around and said "OOohh!" Whenever Jack made a point,
"And Blink... Look at his eye patch! Only one good eye." Just then, Morris made a come back,
"What about Mush? He only has one good half of a brain." The Delancey brothers laughed at his mean (but true) joke.
"No... He is just allergic to wimps like you." Many oohs and aahs came from the crowd. Jack then pointed to Skittery, "And Skit here can't even talk or think straight! You gotta choose our messed up ones or you'll be beat!" Jack smiled as he said this. He then began to make a "Brawling" face. This meant that they would begin to fight. Just as they lifted their fists, someone called in the distance,
"Come on, boys! Whats the use?" Davey called to them from afar.
"This won't get any papes sold." Being a moral young man, Davey almost always knew what to say.
"He's right..." Said Oscar, trying to back out.
"Oh really? I'd like to see, 'Jack Kelly, a slayer of all Delanceys' right there on the front page. Sounds interesting to me!" He laughed and began to make a "You're on" face. Just then Jack saw an unfamiliar face. What Jack saw was 17 year old Elizabeth Precille Howard (Soon to be Elizabeth Precille Howard Jacobs, being adopted into their family). Her face was as bright as the sun and her eyes were like a beautiful caramel river swirling in circles. Her hair was this bright vanilla blonde with beautiful drawn out locks. She walked daintily with both hands together and most always walked straight. (Unlike most girls, who usually wanted to be like boys) She was so different from the girls in New York and Jack caught himself in a trance from confusion while he stared. Suddenly, Oscar jabbed his fist into Jack's jaw. Jack bounced a bit, and fell hard to the ground.
"Oh my!" Elizabeth shouted and she ran home. Jack quickly shot his eyes in her direction to see where she lived. He saw her go into the girls Lodging House just before he passed out.