~ Eleven ~

Jack dragged Davey and I to the Brooklyn Bridge to see the King of Brooklyn, Spot Conlon. It was obvious that Davey was nervous to see him, but Jack, you would never guess.

We took a seat on some crates of beer on the dock after a Brooklyn Newsie went to tell Spot that we were here to see him.

"You nervous?" I teased Davey.

"Hush up." He playfully slapped my arm.

"What about you, Cowboy?"

"Huh?" I broke him out of his gaze.

"Are you nervous?"

"No way! Meeting the King of Brooklyn, would scare away ev'ry Newsie in tha world. But me? No." Both Davey and I gave him a look and he cracked. "Okay, maybe just a little nervous."

"Well, you'se lots better at hiding it than Davey here," I pointed to our trembling friend.

The scrawny Brooklyn orphan came back and led us to the end of the dock. Boys jumping into the water one by one, but Spot sat on his throne of crates with his tiny cepter and "faded red" suspender straps.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. Haven't seen you in a while, Cowboy. Where you been?" Spot crossed his arms and looked straight at Jack.

"Not sittin' and orderin' my Newsies 'round that's fer sure." Jack teased.

"And, Cory. Look at you! I hasn't seen you in a few years." Spot looked me up and down. "Man, you look pretty da-"

"OKAY. Listen, Mr. Conlon-" Davey began, but Spot interuppted.

"'Mr. Conlon?' Who's dis guy?" Spot chuckled at Davey.

"Oh, I'm David Jacobs. You can call me Davey if you'd like," Davey shrugged, and Spot just couldn't stop laughing. Okay, to be honest, Dave can be pretty pathetic at times, but we still love him. We gotta keep him around, he's the brains of the strike. "We've come to ask you for a favor. We really need your help."

"Help? Wit' what?"

"Well, our strike," I began. "It's not goin' so well."

"Right, I've been hearin' 'bout it. Snyder came and captured the cripp?" Jack was furious. You can't talk about Crutchie like that around him. I was standing right next to him. He was huffing and puffing. "Dem cripps just too dang slow."

That was it.

"You don't go talkin' 'bout Crutchie that way, you-you-" He yelled at him and Davey and I tried to stop him from saying anything that he would regret. We shoved him in back of us.

"So... Who else is comin' tah help?" Spot rested his chin on his hand.

"No one. They wouldn't come if you wasn't." I explained.

"They wouldn't come with us unless Brooklyn was on our side." Davey told him.

"They ain't comin', huh?" Spot laughed.

"Spot. You've got to help us. We gotta get Crutchie out of the Refuge. He won't survive another day in there." I pleaded pathetically.

After a while of talking with him, he sent us out of his "territory" and we made our way back to Manhattan.

~*~

"He said 'no'?" Katherine asked unbelievably. That was probably the eleventh time she's asked.

"So what are ya gunna do now?" Race asked.

"To be honest, I don't really know." Davey remarked.

"We ain't got any allies, how we'se gonna get Crutchie back?" Jack was obviously frustrated. I would go over to him, but Katherine was already pretty much hanging around his neck. Better not.

"We're gonna have to find a way to get Crutchie out ourselves," Davey began. "I don't think we'll ever get Brooklyn on our side."

"Anyone got any ideas?" Boots asked.

"Maybe we can sneak in at night," Kid Blink started. "And we'll get them through tha window."

"Yeah, and we'll make a chain for him to climb down!" Les exclaimed.

"With his leg? I don't think so," Katherine pointed out.

"Ya think he's got chores tah do?" Race wondered.

"Well, when Jack an' I were in the refuge-" I started, but was interrupted by Davey.

"Wait, you were in the refuge?"

"Yeah, that's where we met," Jack explained.

"Anyway, I had to serve Snyder," I began to laugh, "and Jack--"

"DON'T say it." Jack frowned and pointed his finger at me.

"What? What did he do?" Katherine unwrapped her arms from Jack's neck and stood up straight.

"He cooked, he cleaned, and he did the gardening." I finished and all the boys laughed.

"What's wrong with that?" Katherine asked, confused.

"Well, nothin'... If you're a woman..." He mumbled.

"Oh, come on!" Katherine slapped his arm with the back of her hand.

"So is it possible that Crutchie has one of those jobs?" Davey asked.

"Depends," I shrugged. "We don't know how many kids Snyder's got in there."

"Or what kind of kids he's got in there." Jack said.

"All we know is we gotta get him back." I said with a firm grip on the chair in front of me.

~*~

Davey and I sat on the roof and listened to the faint sound of the Trolley Strike members down the street from the lodging house. He had to be back home in an hour or so, but I didn't care. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. His dad is almost all the way healed. That meant I wouldn't be able to see him every day like I have been lately. Hopefully I can, though.

We're going to have his sister's birthday dinner in a few days. I really don't want to go. Les and I were trying to come up with excuses to get out of it, for he and I both, but I know that Davey'll make me go, no matter what I say.

"C'mon, Cory. I really want you two to get along." He pleaded.

"Well, it's kinda hard when she doesn't want anything to do with me," I started. "I mean, it's her birthday, and she shouldn't have anyone she doesn't want there. So that means I can't go!" I looked at him and he shook his head.

"Cory, she doesn't even want me to go!" He laughed. "All her friends from school are going to be crowding the table. That includes Lillian, Violet, Winifred, and even this guy she likes, Jonathon Greene. Gosh, that guy's annoying."

"But you have to go." I told him.

"And so do you!" He exclaimed. "I don't care if she doesn't like you. She'll have to get used to you being around all the time. 'Cause when we get married an-"

I had to stop him.

"Wait... You think we'll get married?" I asked him, unbelievably.

"Well, yes. You don't think about the future?"

"I do! I think about how I'm going to get some food tomorrow, or how I'll escape if I'm captured by Snyder! Not what our childrens' names are going to be!" I got really stressed all of a sudden, I stood up, and my voice got all high and scared.

"Woah, woah. Cory, calm down. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Davey took my by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "I think about those things sometimes. The only other time I mentioned future plans with someone was with--" He stopped.

"Wit-with who?"

"Laura."

I remember Laura. His girlfriend from school. They had been together for two years, and she and her father moved to Massachusetts. Davey was heartbroken. He loved her an-

He loved her. He shared his plans with her. Because he loved her.

This could only mean...

He loves me.

📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵

-Hey guys!

-I really liked writing this chapter because A) I love Spot Conlon. and B) That dialogue between Cory and Davey kinda ended up being like a scene with Ross and Rachel from Friends. ☺️

-I'm still stuck in a car... 😐

-QOTD: Who is a celebrity you would like to see (back?) on Broadway?

-AOTD: Hugh Jackman. I love him. And not just in a Broadway play, no. In a musical. OOH. And Josh Groban. He was in Chess, and he was phenomenal. PUT HIM BACK ON BROADWAY OR SO HELP ME.

-Well, that's pretty much it. I love you guys! Have an amazing day. 😘

Stay Musical. Hayden Beth 👺🍪