The Disgraced Newsie( Tommy Boy Alternate)

CHAPTER X

RACETRACK HIGGINS' POV

The entire dining room erupted into chaos. Two sides were divided: those supporting Tommy Boy and wanting him to come back home no matter the cost, and those wishing to leave Tommy Boy in Harlem and not surrender Manhattan or their livelihoods.

For obvious reasons, I am on the side that supported Tommy, but just like some of the others, I never publicly chose a side because regardless of which side I picked, the other side would hate me, so it would be better if I remained neutral. Especially since there would be so much for me to risk if I openly chose a side, just like the future leadership of the Manhattan Newsies, but that is precisely the main reason that I never defended Tommy as much as I wanted; because I was too afraid that if I stood up for him too much, then everyone wouldn't trust me to be the new leader of Manhattan after Jack left if I was too sympathetic to a traitor, so I just stayed in the background; only ever defending him if the others went too far, but even then, since it was an almost everyday occurrence that the others went too far with him, I still never defended him as much as I wanted.

What kind of future leader would I be if I couldn't even be brave enough to defend one of the boys I am supposed to protect? Anyways, back to the chaos that was currently happening in the dining room. Jack informed everyone that Slingshot offered to release Tommy from captivity if we provided him sixty dollars. Still, if we don't give him sixty dollars by the end of the two weeks, he will want Manhattan to be surrendered to him, and if we don't do that, Tommy will be drowned in the East River.

"Everyone, calm down! We are going to get Tommy back no matter what!" Jack shouted.

"Why should we have to do that?! It was his fault that he got captured by them, so he should face the punishment for his actions!" One of the boys argued. I don't know who it specifically was, but it was clear enough that it was someone who didn't want Tommy to come back.

"Do you even hear yourself?! He is our brother, for crying out loud! We can't just leave him to be killed by Harlem!"

"Why should we lose our home over him?!"

"Maybe because he is worth it! I don't care what he has done! No one deserves to be tortured by the Harlem Newsies! Especially Tommy. You heard what Jack said! He was chained up in the basement, blindfolded, and gagged! Are we seriously going to abandon him like that?!" Specs proclaimed.

All of it was a mess. Crutchie, Jojo, and I mostly stayed out of it. A few others also stayed out of it, but surprisingly, Finch never intervened in the conversation once. He just stood there in the corner, silently watching the argument unfold in front of everyone. For once, it confused me why he acted like that. If anyone hated Tommy the most, it was him. He always made it clear that he had never forgiven Tommy for his betrayal and thought he was a traitor. He even pushed him down the stairs, so he made it clear that he didn't care or wanted him to return to the lodging house. Why would he choose this moment to stay silent on his hatred of Tommy? It doesn't matter. I shouldn't care about him or what he thinks about right now. He made his position on Tommy very clear to everyone, and Finch was never the type of person who would change his opinion on anything or anyone very quickly, so he wasn't going to start right now.

FINCH CORTES' POV

Were the Harlem Newsies treating Tommy that badly? What would they even want with him anyways? He was a traitor, so he is the last person that would be worth anything to any Newsie in New York, especially Manhattan. But it makes sense; Jack always cared about everyone, especially traitors like Tommy, for some reason, so the Harlem Newsies would find some value in him, even though there was very little value to be found in him.

Do I even care enough about him anymore? In my head, I hate him with every fiber of my life, but in my heart, I could never hate him. He is still my younger brother, so I care about him. I always protected him since he was born, but now, I couldn't even defend him when he needed me the most. I shouldn't have chased him away like that. He may have caused anyone to be grounded because he decided to run away from the lodging house, but he would never have run away if I hadn't pushed him down the stairs. And he wouldn't have been captured by the Harlem Newsies if I hadn't overreacted and chased him away.

What is the point? I hate to admit it, but I have to admit it. This whole mess was my fault. Tommy running away from the lodging house was my fault. Tommy being captured by the Harlem Newsies was my fault. He would not have been in this situation if I hadn't blamed him and scared him like that. I never wanted to admit it, but I acted like Dad whenever I treated him horribly. Dad always treated me the same way that I treated Tommy, and I hated how I inflicted the same pain on Tommy that Dad inflicted on me. I promised myself I would always protect Tommy no matter what he did and never treat him like Dad, but I had broken those two promises multiple times. And now, because of me, Tommy was in danger of being killed if we didn't help him by saving up sixty dollars to set him free or if we didn't give up Manhattan in return for his safety.

Silently shedding tears because of the realization of how much of a terrible brother I am, I quietly walked away from the chaotic dining room, went upstairs, and went into my room, where I stayed for the rest of the night.