Wahoo! An update that didn't take me a two weeks to complete! Yay! Haha. Anway. I would like to thank everyone, well, TheRedBandit and softballgurl9203 for reviewing on the last chapter. You guys are so amazing. And of course I would like to thank all of my readers. You have no idea how excited I get when I see how many hits a new chapter gets. You guys are my motivation to keep writing this! You keep me alive! (Cause I'm pretty sure I'd get slaughtered by Spin, Sketch, and Curls if I discontinued this.) Anyway. Thank you again! Enjoy this next chapter.
Disclaimer: Newsies equal love. But sadly, Newsies do not equal mine. All original characters equal ours, though. Stealing equals not cool. Yeah!
A slew of greetings bombarded Spinner and Blink. As Jack turned with his back towards the group and wrapped his arms around himself, the shouts turned to whistles and wolf calls. Spinner immediately attacked the boy as Blink slipped off to join Snitch and Dutchy who were standing around a table watching Racetrack deal cards. Blink could hear Race's voice ending some sort of explanation. As he neared the poker game, he noticed the newsie sitting next to Race had a curly ponytail.
"You dirty liar!" the ponytail newsie jumped up and pointed at Race after a few rounds. To Blink's surprise, it was Curly, the rich girl Racetrack introduced to them that afternoon.
Race jumped up as Curly had, accusing her with his own finger. "Who ya callin' a liar, you cheat!"
She puffed out her chest and stuck one hand on her hip, "How could I cheat when I just learned how to play?" The two kept at each other and the beginning excitement died down as the other players began talking amongst themselves or dozing off. Blink felt a hand pat his shoulder. He had to almost fully turn his body, thanks to the patch that covered his left eye.
Mush stood there with a huge smile on his face. The excitement must've gotten to him. Sketch and Spinner accompanied the tan newsie. "What's happenin'?" Mush asked, ready for some more action.
"Just Race an' Curly fightin'. Ya know, I always thought Racetrack was da wittiest newsie in Manhattan. But, I think Curly's got him beat. She's pretty cocky for a goil." Blink smiled, as he watched the two fight, "Not in a bad way. It's good for Race, I'm sure."
Sketch was grinning also, "But for some reason, I think they like torturing each otha, ya know?" Blink and Mush nodded in agreement.
A disapproving yell for Spinner ended Curly and Race's battle. "'Ey! Race! Curly! What're ya doin'?"
"CHEATER!" they both shouted simultaneously as both their fingers flew up, condemning the other. At this time, Jack had moved on over to the beat-up poker table and was examining the cards Curly and Racetrack had set down.
"Race," he held up both their hands, "From what I'se can tell, these cards don't look like they'se been cheated an' I'se pretty suh dis richie ain't got 'er cheatin' skills perfected on account dat she's nevah played before." He laughed, "Admit it, Race. You'se just don't wanna face da fact you'se got beat by a goil." Jack flashed a toothy smile. In return, Race shot his meanest glare.
A small squeak of a board turned the heads of the most of the orphans in the room. When it was evident that Spot Conlons, King of Brooklyn stood in the door frame all conversations ended. "Heya, Jacky-boy. I heard you'se havin' a celebration." He found Sketch in the crowd, "I'd thought I'd mosey on ovah. Dat fine wit chu?"
Sketch smiled. To her, that didn't seem like a question. It was more like a, "If you have a problem with me stayin', you better say it to my face." She connected her gaze with Spot's as he strolled over to the poker table after the loudness of the room grew once more. Race and Curly still stood, Curly grinning smugly and Race looking like he was about to jump the girl.
"You'se still in a game, Race?" Spot questioned. They both remained still before Racetrack sighed.
"Naw, Spot. Just congratulatin' a new arrival." He spat in his hand and held it out. "Welcome to da street life, Curls."
Curly's smile grew. She spat in her own hand, gladly returning.
Spot sighed, "Great. Now that we're all friends, you wanna deal another game, Race? Hurry up. I ain't got all my life to waste."
"Rematch?" Curly sat back down.
Race plopped down and went to shuffling the beat up deck, "Foist time's always luck." he grinned.
Spot dropped into a chair beside Curly and looked back at Sketch. He showed the slightest sings of a smile before turning his attention to the cards in his hand.
"My money's on Spot." Sketch turned to see the newsie with glasses—Specs was it?—with his arms crossed, focused on the game. "Race's a great player, but Spot has the best poker face on this side a New York City."
"I guess that'd make sense." Sketch laughed, thinking about how expressionless Spot acted around the newsies.
As Racetrack examined his hand, he glanced over the cards and saw another girl hop down the stairs. Her blonde hair was in a single braid down her back and she wore baggy boy clothes. Race wouldn't have been able to tell if she was a girl if she didn't have her hair out of her hat. "Geez. Spinner musta been getting' lonely up there." he muttered to himself. Race's eyes wondered to Spinner who was standing with Blink and Mush. She looked utterly confused as she stared at the girl who excited the attic. "Wait a second." He moved his eyes to the girl again. It couldn't be, but that girl looked exactly like the orphan Spinner had introduced to them earlier that day when they met in front of the Lodging House. What was it? Flashshot? No. Snap… Snapshot! By now, Racetrack had set down his hand and was standing up, "Snapshot?" The girl turned her head, "You'se a… goil?"
For what seemed like the umpteenth time tonight, the room fell silent. Snapshot scanned over the room, only to see confused and puzzled faces staring back at her.
"Well, yeah!" she coughed nervously and headed over to the poker game. Most newsies seemed unconcerned about the confusion and returned to their own activities. But those who had met Snapshot before at Tibby's crowded around the table.
Snapshot began slowly, "So I'm guessin' Skittery didn't tell ya?" Lies. She took a few steps forward, as if thinking about what to say. The girl stole a peek at Skittery's confused expression before spewing out an explanation. "Well, I'se an escapee from da Refuge. An' I ain't da cleanest record in Snyder's office, so I'se usually got da bulls on my tail." Snapshot gulped, almost loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Dressin' like a boy's my disguise. I thought there'd might be a cop or sumthin' in Tibby's, so I had Skittery cover for me. Right?" More lies.
The newsie uttered an answer of some sort and the crowd remained silent before the older newsies shrugged and returned to their conversations. The younger ones began to make up daring tales of running from the bulls disguised as anything from animals to the wealthy class. Snapshot laughed as three boys ran by her, shouting and chasing each other.
Skittery started stalking towards her, but was topped by a small boy in an orange shirt. He bent over to listen to the child.
Spinner was the first to bound up to the pickpocket. "What are you doin', Snapshot?" she looked her in the eye, "Are you'se stayin'?" Now Blink, Mush, Sketch, and Skittery had appeared behind Spinner.
Snapshot flashed a looked of confusion, "Who ever said I was stayin'?" The poker game had stopped and Spot took his place behind Sketch. Curly and Race twisted around in their seats to hear.
"Well, you wouldn't have bothered telling us if you weren't gonna stay." Curly threw out.
Snapshot sighed, "Look, dis hopitaility is great an' everythin', but I ain't da goil to settle down. This night is it, den I'm gone."
The rest of the night was full of talk and poker. Snapshot could tell Skittery was trying to get to her, but every time he approached, someone beat him to her or the kid in the orange shirt—Snapshot learned he was called Tumbler—stopped Skittery from getting too close. Spinner hung around Blink and Mush at the poker table where Race, Spot, and occasionally Curly traded wins. Spot tried to get Sketch to play one round, but just ended up playing for her. She won that round, well, Spot won it for her.
In what seemed like a short time, Kloppman stalked upstairs and complained about the noise jokingly, sending the girls to the attic and the boys to bed. When the girls had said their goodnights, Snapshot planned out the next morning. She knew she would dread saying goodbye, so she told herself that she'd leave without note. She'd wake before the others and sneak out the fire exit. Snapshot knew she had to leave, but the reason kept escaping her mind. Finally, her drowsiness pulled her eyelids shut and they refused to open until her ears picked up a loud yell from Kloppman, "Boots!"
End Chapter
Yay! I hope it wasn't too corny for you. I had issues with that. Oh well. I'm a perfectionist. Anyway. Feed my motivation! You don't want me to die!... Right?... Haha. Review please. Love!