New Wings

Chapter 16

"Most a' youse don't know me. The few day do call me Click. Ma leada, Cinda, found me an' my sis when wese were hidin under da Brooklyn Bridge. Oua parents died in a factory fia dat the owna walked away from without a scratch. We was in danga of bein sent to da orphanage, where dey make little kids grow up too fast.

"A lot of youse have a similar story. We've all spent oua lives losin an' fightin, instead of learnin ta smile or read. We neva had da gift of innocence, cause someone decided dey had da right to take it away from us. An' we let'em! Wese jus' sat an' let them beat us to da ground, takin oua families an' ripping dem apart. Takin oua lives an' makin them miserable. They've been livin fa years gettin fat and wealthy while we starve and scrape ta give dem what they want. These few weeks somethin's changed. Wese, changed. Youse have been fightin, speaking up for da foist time in a while. But wese need ta band togetha to be any good at it!

"So what Ise is tryin to say is; we've come too fa- an lost too much- to jus' give up now. Tonight, turn ya weapons, an ya fists, to da Capital. Tonight, turn ya weapons- on Levana!"

The room erupted into cheers and shouts, people yelling at the tops of their lungs to show that they agreed, that they too were tired of being sent scrambling onto the streets. No longer would they accept being the street rats of Brooklyn.

Meanwhile, near the back of the crowd sat our little leader, fresh out of her tattered dress and back into her familiar overalls, and new sling wrapped around her lame arm(her hair perfectly hidden once more, of course.). Cinder let out a sigh of satisfaction as she leaned against the bar counter, a nearly cold whiskey swirling about in her glass. These few weeks had been the worst in a while, and yet at the moment, Cinder was close to finding peace. She was a paradox that way. Here she was, surrounded by bloodthirsty children and wild adults, and she was completely relaxed.

Why?

Because for the first time, instead of dealing with losing a loved one and moving on, she was being allowed to get revenge. Cinder usually kept to good morals, but all promises went out the window after Peony got involved. As long as she had the newsies and factory workers beside her, she was going to fight back until Levana broke. Until she could see fear reflecting. Until the rich finally understood what real pain felt like.

This was gonna be one heck of a party.

Click speaking up again knocked her out of her alcoholic thoughts.

"So, now wese needs a plan!"

Almost instantly the room was silent, the crowd hunkering low over their tables. No one seemed to be able to make eye contact anymore. Click furrowed his little brow.

"Seriously? No one's got any ideas?" Cinder took one last gulp of her whiskey before slamming it onto the table, gaining attention. The walk from her seat to the center of the room seemed to be the longest of her life. She might be the leader, but speeches had never been her thing, so the nerves were already tangling up inside her intoxicated stomach.

"Listen up. Da kid makes a good point, an' three second's ago youse all was making like you were ready ta fight fa what you believe in. But youse gotta prove it. How are we supposed ta trust y'all if youse haven't got no backbone?" The jab caused an uproar, people standing up to prove they weren't all talk.

"Alright, alright, just prove youse got what it takes ta win by tellin us where ta start. What could we hit that would actually affect them enough ta take us seriously?"

One of the work leaders, a brawny twenty year old from the back stood up.

"Well ain't it obvious? We can't just hit the rich. We have ta hit the queen." He was smart, she had to admit. Cinder could easily see where this was going, but some of the younger kids looked a little confused.