The Disgraced Newsie( Tommy Boy Alternate)

CHAPTER XIII

TOMMY BOY'S POV

"So, Tommy. Where are your brothers this time?" Slingshot taunted me.

"Give him some more time. I know that he will come for me." I do not understand why I have that much confidence in Jack coming to save me. For all I know, the others could have prevented Jack from coming to the Brooklyn Bridge, and then that would be the end of me. However, Jack would never allow them to discourage him from rescuing me.

"We will give him a couple more minutes; then, you better pray that you know how to swim with your hands bound behind your back." That is the last thing that I ever want to experience. A couple of minutes later, Bullseye prepared to drop me into the East River until Jack came running down the bridge with Crutchie in tow. Is that also Finch sprinting down the path?

"Stop! Put the kid back onto the ground!" Jack angrily demanded.

"Jack Kelly, I am surprised that you frankly came. I guess that means you have my money." Jack walked over to Slingshot, looked him straight in the eyes, then roughly shoved the money bag into his chest.

"There! You have your money. Now, hand over Tommy!"

"Alright, I am a man of my word. Bullseye, hand the kid back over to Jack Kelly." Bullseye pulled me back to the safe side of the bridge, then harshly pushed me into Jack's chest.

"Are you alright, Tommy?"

"Yeah, I will be fine." Jack carefully removed the bounds from my hands and ankles, then picked me up and carried me. Even though I argued that I could walk alone, he never put me back down.

"I think that our business is done here."

"Until next time, Jack Kelly."

"I will ensure that there will never be another time. If you mess with any of my other boys again, then there will be war."

"And I cannot wait for that to happen. Maybe I should kidnap your Newsies more often." Deciding that he had had enough before he punched the stupid grin off of Slingshot's face, he walked away with a single word.

"Jack, this is not necessary. I am more than capable of walking by myself."

"Well, you have been through a lot, so you should not need to walk alone. You need to relax."

"Thank you for coming for me."

"Why wouldn't I come for you?"

"How did you make enough money to save me? Didn't Slingshot demand sixty dollars?"

"Well, we originally had five dollars, but if it weren't for Finch, then we would not have had enough money." I scowled at that statement. There is no way that Finch would ever care enough to help me out. Why would he even care about the traitor who happened to be his brother? If anything, he would rather have Slingshot kill me than waste his hard-earned money on rescuing me. 

"What did he do that was so helpful?" I asked bitterly. Even though I did not look at Finch directly, I could tell that he looked disappointed and unhappy about my question. Was he legitimately surprised? After how badly he treated me and pushed me down the stairs, does he assume I will suddenly forgive him because he contributed to my rescue mission? I do not think so at all.

"He sold your mother's necklace and ring to have enough money." Did he truthfully do that for me? He mourned for Mom the most when she passed away, so why would he care enough about me to sell the only items he possessed of her?

"I seriously doubt that," I whispered to Jack.

"Tommy- -," Jack whispered back at me, but I did not want to hear it.

"After the strike, he made it clear to me that he did not care about me anymore, so what changed?"

"He is still your brother."

"What kind of brother shoves their younger brother down the stairs? I do not care if he unexpectedly traded away Mom's items or if he came to the Brooklyn Bridge to help me. Regardless, you can defend him all you want, Jack, but nothing will ever change my mind about giving him a second chance. As long as I am still alive, it will never happen." Jack nodded in understanding but still looked at me with sadness. I could not care less. I betrayed Finch, and he betrayed me, so we are even, but that doesn't mean I am comfortable about it.

We arrived at the lodging house, and I could feel everyone staring at me. I buried my head into Jack's chest as we passed everyone, and Jack carried me on top of the penthouse. He laid me down on the floor of the penthouse.

"How are you feeling, Tommy?"

"I have been better. It is weird to be back here, even though I haven't been gone for that long."

"I understand. You can take the day off tomorrow if you want."

"I think that would be nice."

"Alright. You should probably get some sleep. You had a very long couple of weeks."

"Tell me something that I don't know. Thank you for coming to save me, Jack. You too, Crutchie."

"No problem, Tommy."

"Why wouldn't I come to rescue you? You are one of my brothers, so of course, I would come and save you no matter what."

"Thank you." While I still believe I should have left the lodging house, I am still disappointed with my actions as I left behind the people who still cared about me; people like Jack, Crutchie, Specs, and even Race and Jojo.

I doubt I will ever want to make up with the other boys, especially Finch, but regardless of how I feel about the rest of them, at least I know that I still have a few of my brothers on my side, and all of that will be fine with me. Even after a horrible couple of weeks, I peacefully went to sleep, ready for the next day to happen.