The Disgraced Newsie( Tommy Boy Alternate)

CHAPTER VII

FINCH CORTES' POV

I can't believe this. This wasn't fair in the slightest. Tommy should be the one in trouble, not the rest of us. It was even worse when Jack grounded us until Tommy came back to the lodging house, but I doubted that he would ever come back, and I didn't even want him to come back. He was a traitor, and traitors like him shouldn't be allowed in the lodging house.

Although I can admit that I may have gone too far when I pushed him away from me before I closed the door, I heard him fall down the stairs, but I was too angry to help or check on him. Even a traitor like him didn't deserve something like that, especially when his brother pushed him down the stairs. Wait! What am I even saying to myself?! He had it coming; he deserved everything that happened to him! He was smart enough to leave the lodging house before we eventually kicked him out. If he were any more competent, he would stay away from everyone else, especially from me.

As I was heading toward my selling spot, I noticed someone familiar walking toward me. He didn't seem to see me, but I knew who he was. He has a lot of nerve to show his face around here, especially since he knew well that this was my selling spot. Regardless of how I felt about him, I reluctantly had to bring him back to the lodging house so that Jack could get off our cases and unground us.

"Tommy Boy!" Tommy finally noticed me, looked at me with realization and nervousness, but turned around and ran in that direction. "Tommy, get back here!" After chasing him for a while, I caught up and dragged him into the nearest alleyway. Holding him tightly by the arm, I pushed him against the wall, and he looked at me fearfully and painfully. He desperately tried getting out of my grip, but I wasn't going to let him run away from me again.

"Leave me alone! Let me go!" If I wasn't furious with him, I would have felt pity for him and would have lessened my grip on him, but he made me so angry these past few days that I didn't care anymore because he didn't have any pity for me after he just messed everything from everyone.

"Not a chance! You are coming back to the lodging house right now!"

"Why would you care?! You hate me!"

"Because thanks to you and your stupid actions, Jack grounded everyone, except for a few, and he won't unground us until someone brings you back to the lodging house, so you are coming with me right now!"

"I am not going back there! I am never going back there!"

"Yes, you are coming back with me! Whether you come with me willingly or I must drag you back myself!"

"I won't let you do that to me! You can't force me back there!" Before I could even react, Tommy punched me in the face and ran out of the alleyway as soon as I released him.

"Tommy!" I ran out of the alleyway, but he was already gone when I stepped out into the streets. For crying out loud, how is he that fast? It doesn't matter; he will be someone else's problem. Eventually, someone else will find him, and we will all be ungrounded. As long as he stays away from me whenever he is brought back to the lodging house, there will be no more issues between him and me.

TOMMY BOY'S POV

How could I have been so stupid?! I should have known better than to wander into Finch's selling spot. But at least now I know to be extra careful about avoiding the others since they are looking for me because Jack grounded them, but they would never have been grounded if I hadn't run away from the lodging house in the first place. But I don't want to go back there. Nothing will change. I will still be a traitor, and everyone will probably treat me even more poorly than before. I can't do that anymore.

I ran away from Finch as far as I possibly could and didn't even know where I ended up, but all I cared was that Finch or any others weren't anywhere near me or found me anywhere. I ducked into an alleyway, then just sat there and cried. None of this would have happened if I hadn't become a scab. If I had just listened to Jack, none of this would have happened.

"Well, look what we have here," some random person from the streets said. I didn't want to face them because I wasn't in the mood to be messed with right now.

"Just leave me alone."

"I don't think so. After all, it wouldn't be fair to Slingshot if you missed out on his special invitation." Slingshot? Isn't that the leader of the Harlem newsies? So does that mean...? I looked up at the person, then backed away from him.

"What do you want from me? Leave me alone!" It was Bullseye, Slingshot's second in command, and he was just as bad as Slingshot. No one can compare how ruthless Slingshot can be, but Bullseye was a close second.

"Slingshot will be happy to see you, and you will be an excellent asset to our plan."

"I am not going anywhere with you!"

"That choice is not up to you." He grabbed me roughly by the hair, then forced me to stand up from the ground. I struggled to get away from him, but his grip on me was too tight to move in the direction he wanted me to go. He dragged me to an area that people pretty much abandoned, and where some of the Harlem newsies were standing in, then he pushed me toward the ground, and the others proceeded to tie me up. I would have called out for help, but they gagged me before I could scream. "Don't worry. I am sure that Slingshot will take extra care of you." This wasn't going to end well for me. Who knows what Slingshot will do to me once I am taken to Harlem? Knowing what he is like, he will kill me. This was not going to end well for me. Please, someone, help me.