The Disgraced Newsie( Tommy Boy Alternate)

CHAPTER IV

TOMMY BOY'S POV

I woke up the following day to find that Jack and Crutchie weren't on the rooftop anymore. Why did I have to oversleep? Of course, I just had to oversleep, and now that I am going to be late, maybe it wasn't too late. Perhaps they are all at breakfast now, and I could still make it in time to collect my newspapers and sell them.

Before I walked toward the penthouse entrance, I noticed a note in Jack's handwriting. I picked it up and read it to myself.

Good morning Tommy Boy,

By the time you wake up, we will have left to sell our newspapers for the day. I would apologize for not waking you up in time to pick up your papers and sell them if it weren't for the fact that I wanted you to stay at the lodging house for the rest of the day.

After what happened last night, I thought you needed a break from the rest of the boys and had some time to yourself. I knew that you wouldn't agree with me or take it that well if I told you to stay home, so Crutchie and I woke up earlier than everyone else and snuck out of the penthouse to ensure we wouldn't wake you up. Although I have to admit that it was difficult to do that because you fell asleep on top of me, you are a deep sleeper, so it wasn't that hard.

Anyways, enjoy the rest of your day by yourself for a while. I am more than sure that you will be able to find some way to pass the time until Crutchie and I come back.

Have fun.

From,

Jack.

I can't believe that Jack would do something like that to me, and he did me dirty by doing something like that, but even I have to admit that I appreciated his gesture, and I have to thank him for that. Anyways, seeing how I will be by myself for a while, I should probably eat some breakfast, then decide what else I will do for the rest of the day.

I went downstairs into the dining room to grab some breakfast, then ate in the dining room all by myself. It was kind of lonely, but I would rather be by myself than be beaten up by my newsie brothers. I spent the rest of the day in the living room reading one of the books in the lodging house until I heard someone come up the stairs. At first, I thought it was Jack or Crutchie, so I walked out of the living room to meet up with them, but surprisingly, it was Finch.

Finch looked at me angrily and then continued walking to his room.

"Finch, wait! I want to talk to you.". I was desperate to talk to him. Desperate for him to hear out my side of what happened. After all, he was my older brother, so I thought he would be the first person to hear me out, but then again, he never protected me when others tried to beat me up. He always saved me whenever Dad would come home drunk or lose his temper and explode in rage. At least until we finally decided to leave that house and became newsies, but now he doesn't seem to care about me anymore.

"I don't want to talk to you, Tommy, so just leave me alone."

"Look, I know that you are angry with me, but if you just let me explain, then- -"

"Explain what? That you are a traitor?"

"Look, it wasn't supposed to be like that. I didn't know- -"

"No! You knew exactly what you were doing! And I don't want to hear any excuses from you!"

"But you were willing to listen to Jack when he explained why he betrayed us! And you were willing to listen to Buttons and Henry when they explained their side, so why can't you hear me out and let me explain what happened?!"

"Because those instances were different than yours. Jack betrayed us because he was protecting us from the Spider. Buttons and Henry were manipulated by you and lied to by you. On the other hand, you had no reason to betray us, and you just did that for selfish reasons."

"That is not the whole truth, and if you would just let me explain, then you would see that- -"

"No, I don't want to hear anything from you. Just stay out of my sight and leave me alone!"

"Finch- -"

"I said, 'leave me alone!'"He roughly pushed me away from him, but he made me fall down the staircase. Whether it was on accident or purpose, I didn't care. Falling down the stairs hurt a lot. I heard Finch slam the bedroom door shut as I lay down on the ground.

That is it. I can't take it anymore. It was bad enough that my newsie brothers would treat me that badly, but it is even worse to see that my actual brother had no problem doing the same thing to me. I know when I am not wanted anymore, and everyone has made it clear that they don't want me anymore, so I will spare everyone the heartache and stress of having me around. I will disappear from the lodging house forever and ensure that no one will ever find me. No one will miss me anyways, so why does it even matter?

I didn't even bother going back upstairs to get my stuff because I didn't want to run into Finch again. I just walked out the front door, looked around to make sure that no one would see me leaving the lodging house, then ran away from the lodging house and never looked back. Well, I will be on my own for a while or forever. But I don't care anymore. The others will be free from me, and I will be free from the others. Everyone wins in the end.