𝖇𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖐𝖑𝖞𝖓 𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖌𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 (spot colon)

chapter four

        ⇏ The next day Racetrack and I decided to get up early. He had lost a race yesterday so he needed to make the money back. I was planning on giving him a third of my pay to help him get back on his feet, so I had to make more so I can live off what I'll have left. As Race thanked me, I shot him an annoyed look.

When we got to the World gate we saw a crowd forming. I turned to Race with an eyebrow raised.

"They jacked up the price! You hear that Jack? Ten cents a hundred! You know, it's bad enough that we gotta eat what we don't sell, now they jack up the price! Can you believe that?" Blink barked out, hounding Jack. Several others also started to circle Jack and me. Voices shouted over one another and I could just barely make out the complaints.

"This'll bust me, I'm barely making a living right now!" Skittery moaned.

Boots added, "I'll be back sleeping on the streets." He said with a head shake and a disappointed look.

Specs grabbed my shoulder and turned me to look at him, "What'll we gonna do Frenchy? We already paying him enough for our papes." I shrugged and muttered reassurances to him.

"It don't make no sense. I mean, all the money Pulitzer's making, why would he gouge us?" Mush yelled.

"Because he's a tightwad, that's why!" Race growled. He bounced on the balls of his feet, moving around me. Jack, fed up with the hysterics, swatted at the group to quiet them.

"Pipe down, it's just a gag." He slowly approached Weasel, casually leaning on the counter, like he would do any other day. He picked at his nails as he asked, "So, why the jack-up Weasel?"

"Why not? It's a nice day." Jack stared at him with a deadpan expression. "Why don'tcha ask Mr. Pulitzer?" Weasel said, with a barely concealed grin.

I moved forward, adjusting my cap to fit tighter on my head and tightening my ponytail. "So yous wouldn't be enjoying this at all, wouldja Weasel," I asked, a sarcastic smile stretched across my face.

Weasel grinned, "Now why would you think that, boy?"

"They can't do this to me, Jack." Kid Blink said.

Race rolled his eyes, already defeated. "They can do whatever they want. It's their stinkin' paper." I moved to stand next to him and Blink, a hand on Blink's shoulder. I heard the murmurs through the crowd.

"It ain't fair. We got no rights at all!" Boots remarked.

"Come on, it's a rigged deck. They got all the marbles." Racetrack grumbled. Pushing through the group I moved towards Jack, muttering to myself. I went through all of the options in my head, tuning out the complaints around me.

"No! Nobody's going anywhere. They can't get away with this!" Jack yelled. Yeah, but how?

"Give him some room, give them some room. Let them think." Les called, shooing away the guys. Jack plucked Race's cigar out of his fingers and took a puff.

"Jack, you done thinkin' yet?" Race asked, growing impatient. Jack and Les shot him identical dirty looks. Shrugging it off I went back to brainstorming. Well we can't just ignore this, we can't sell these papes. That's giving in, we cant do that.

Suddenly loud banging rang through the circulation center, with Weasel's yells joining it. "Hey! Hey! Hey! World employees only on this side of the gate!"

"World employees," I repeated, struck with an idea.

Jack, apparently having a similar one, voiced, "Well, listen. One thing for sure, if we don't sell papes, then nobody sells papes. Nobody comes through those gates until they put the price back to where it was."