The Grave Digger

Chapter 20: Stories

   Trigger Warning

   As summer came, it seemed as if The World had a new headline writer, because their headlines improved a lot. They had more evenings where they could sit up in the lodging house, and either read, or talk about things. All the Newsies had pitched in, and they had bought Bones a sketchbook, so when they were reading, she could draw. Sometimes, she would yell across the room, "don' move," to one of them, and they knew she was drawing.
   But more than anything, Bones liked when they were all talking, so she could tell stories about some of them. Especially about Race. "An' he was all like, 'you cheated!' An' I was like, 'no, I didn'!' He kept insisting that I cheated, bu' he was da one not payin' attention." Everyone laughed as she recounted one of the stories about playing poker with Race. They each took turns telling different stories about each other, and Race had told one about when she first became King, and he had been "accidentally" thrown into the bridge by Blaze. Bones laughed the hardest, remembering how he had woken up minutes after, screaming.
   It was her turn to tell another story, and she told them how she met Boots. "An' he was like, 'can I shine ya shoes fo' ya?' An' I looked at him, den he looked at my feet, den back at me, an' he said sorry, bu' I's tol' him it didn' matta, an' I's gave 'im my las' quarta, an' he came wit me down ta Sheepshead, an' somehow, Race had won a bet. Bu' anyways, I's make sure he gets home okay, an' I's tell 'im if he needs anythin', ta fin' me. Well, afta I totally bluffed my way through pok-ah wit Race, he wakes me up," Boots laughed really hard, "he wakes me up, an' he says, 'my gramma died,' an' I feel real bad fo' him, an' he cries in my arms fo' like, an ow-ah," Boots stopped her. "I didn' cry!" She giggled, "yeah, you did, fo' such a long time." "Not an ow-ah!" He smiled, and laughed. She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, you really did, I ru-membah, 'cause Race was real mad I beat him tha' day, bu' I'll cut ya some slack, ya were eight. Anyways, so's I wakes up my frien's, Rebel, Chuckles, an' Spot, an' the five o' us go an' bury her." She finished her story, and everyone laughed at Boots, teasing him about his crying.
   They kept telling stories, and it got back to Bones for a third time, this time she told the story about how she met Spot. Everyone thought it was really funny, and they couldn't believe that was Spot she had run into on the bridge. He was so different. But this caused Jack to tell the story about how he had met Bones, when he had been with Mud, walking back from selling. Everyone thought it was great, and liked hearing how she had gotten her nickname. Eventually, though, it had gotten late, and they needed to get sleep.
Bones woke up early again the next morning. She went back up to her spot, but Jack had woken up, too, and he followed her. "Hey," she jumped, whipping her head around to see Jack. "Hey," she replied. "Can I sit here?" He pointed at the spot next to her, and she shrugged. He sat down. "Dis is a nice spot, ya come up here often?" She nodded, "yeah, sometimes I wake up too oily, an' I like ta watch tha sunrise." He nodded, and they were both silent.
   As soon as the sun started to come up, he knew why Bones loved to watch it. It was beautiful, all the colors changing and dancing in the sky. He was speechless, and Bones seemed to be as well. But she looked, almost longingly at the sky, as if she belonged up there, but was placed down on earth, and she wanted to go back. If that were true, Jack would believe it. She always had this graceful air around her, one that was always somewhat depressed, but was also bubbly, like she could jump off a building and fly. Actually fly. She would somehow sprout wings, and just take off. And he would never doubt it for a second that she could.
   Bones did want to fly. She wanted to fly into the sunrise, and surround herself in all the colors, in the light. She would give anything to get out of there and have a family, not have to worry about whether she'll be able to afford to eat the next day, to not have a care in the world. That's why she wanted to be a bird, but she didn't want to be a lonely bird. She didn't realize the sunrise was over, until she saw Jack start to stand up. She shook herself out of her stupor, and got ready.
   Bones was out selling really late. People wouldn't buy from her, and her self-esteem really took a blow. If she couldn't even sell newspapers, how could she do anything? She walked by the bridge in the dark, and ran her hands along the railing, as she had done two months before. She climbed it again, and she felt she held power over something, for once. She held power over whether she lived or died. She laughed, her head turned up to the sky, until tears started streaming down her face. She could end it right there, and nobody would care. But she hesitated. Hadn't Jack just sat up on the roof with her that morning, respecting her wishes to be quiet? Hadn't Race always listened to her and held her when she was upset? Hadn't Blink tried to teach her how to read? Crutchy, just tried to be her friend? Hadn't they all pitched in, and bought her a sketchbook? But did it matter? said another voice in her head. She turned her head, as if to face it. Do they really care? Would they notice if she was gone? And hadn't so many grown men told her she was worthless? Surely they knew more than a bunch of kids? She cried, as she stepped forward. It would all be over soon. She closed her eyes.
   But she felt something grab her, and she didn't fall. More tears streamed down her face. Why hadn't she fallen? Why was she still alive? She screamed through her teeth, and cried even harder. She broke down, and whoever had stopped her pulled her in closer and rocked her. Those hands... they seemed so familiar. They had held her before. She looked up, and her eyes met Race's. Why? Why was it always Race? She balled her hands into fists, and tried to punch him. She hit his chest, but he still held on. Eventually, she was too tired. Too tired to keep hitting him, too tired to cry, too tired to even think, and she fell asleep in his arms again.
   Race was glad he went to play poker with Spot. He had been thinking of turning down the offer, but he would have woken up, and Bones wouldn't have been there. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. But why? Why did she want to jump off the bridge? Why would she want to leave them? To leave him? Why was she so sad? He wasn't even sure she knew, but he knew he didn't want her to go. But when she tried to punch him, her little hands balled into tight fists, that's when he started to cry. Usually, she could hit you so hard, you would probably break something, and Race was a pretty small person. But her punches hardly even hurt. He hardly felt them. It was as if she didn't have the energy anymore. And when she stopped, he realized that. Eventually, she became so tired she fell asleep, again. But this time, he didn't bring her back to the lodging house. He leaned his back against the bridge, her in his lap, and fell asleep.