Pieces

New Kid

Morris ran into Henry on the way back to the lodging house. He grabbed Henry's hand and tugged on it to get his attention. Henry turned to Morris. "Oh, hey, Mo! Did I miss the strike?"

"Yeah. But it's okay! I saw my daddy!"

"Aw, that's nice!"

"Yeah! I beat him up!" Morris's tone still seemed happy, but Henry wasn't sure that he actually was happy.

"Oh... Why did you do that?"

"Because daddy was bad." His tone got a bit more serious. "He left me all alone. But Ossie and Wiesel found me. They paid me." He handed Henry the money.

"Oh, Moey, I'm so sorry..."

"Moey?" Morris tilted his head.

"Yeah. It's a nickname. Do you like it?"

Morris nodded and started happy flapping. "I like it!"

"Okay." Henry wanted to know more about Morris's family. He'd always had questions, even before they'd started talking. But Morris seemed happier at the subject change. Henry decided to hold he questions for now. "Do you wanna go back to Jacobi's?"

Morris quickly nodded, then wrapped his arms around Henry. "Carry me, please."

Henry picked Morris up. He was lighter than Henry had expected. When they got to Jacobi's, Morris ran over to the counter as soon as Henry put him down. He started whispering to him, too quiet for Henry to hear.

"Um... Mr. Jacobi, Uncle Wiesel said no dinner yesterday, and I'm really hungry..." Morris whispered.

"Alright, sweetie. I'll make you a sandwich, okay? Don't worry about paying, I'll take care of it," Jacobi said.

"Can Henry have one too?"

"Yes, Henry can have one too. Do you know what he likes?"

Morris shook his head and gestured for Henry to join him. He came over and stood by Morris's side.

"Mo wants to get sandwiches for you. What kind do want?" Jacobi asked.

"Oh, he doesn't have to pay. I'll do it," Henry replied, taking his money out.

"No, no. I've got it. What do you want?"

Henry sighed and put the money away. "Pastrami on rye with a sour pickle."

Jacobi went to get Henry's sandwich, as well as a ham and cheese one for Morris. Henry noticed that Morris was no longer next to him. He knew that there was almost no chance something happened, but immediately went into panic mode anyway. He looked around. He wasn't at any of the tables. Henry didn't hear the door, so he couldn't have gone outside. He knocked on the door to the small bedroom Morris had shown him.

"Who is it?" Henry recognized the voice as Morris's, but noticed that he sounded more nervous than usual.

"It's Henry. Can I come in?"

"Yes, please."

Henry opened the door and joined Morris on the neatly made pile. He made sure to close the door behind him. Neither of them spoke for a while. Henry didn't want to force Morris, he knew he wasn't very comfortable speaking. And Morris just didn't have anything to say.

The next morning at the lodging house, there were two new kids. Morris was specifically told not to talk to them. He was told to sit and stay before he even did anything. He was sad that he wasn't even giving a chance, but he knew better than to fight.

Oscar wasn't the best at counting. He never got a good education, everything he knew was taught to him by Wiesel. The papers were already divided into piles of fifty, both to save time and minimize the risk of him miscounting. Most of the newsies bought either fifty or a hundred papers. One of the new kids asked for twenty. Oscar counted the papers, then handed him over.

It wasn't long before the new kid said that he only had nineteen papers.

Wiesel tried to defend Oscar at first, blaming the kid for miscounting. But Jack checked, and sure enough, there were only nineteen. So they gave the kid the missing paper.

Morris didn't know what happened. He hadn't been paying attention. When he looked up, Wiesel looked angry, and Oscar looked scared. Oscar was never scared. Something was wrong.

Oscar wasn't scared for himself, he knew he wouldn't get in trouble. He was scared for Morris, who was blamed for everything, even if he had nothing to do with it.

Morris tugged on Oscar's arm. "Hey, Ossie?"

Oscar ignored him.

"Oscar!"

Wiesel turned to Morris. "Shut up."

He looked up at Wiesel. "I just wanna ask Oscar a question..."

"No!" He swung at Morris, hitting him in the face. "Now go."

Morris ran out of the room. He sat outside the gates, waiting for Oscar and Wiesel to come out. He knew the newsies would come out first, and really hoped they'd leave him alone.

They ignored him, at first. Then the two new kids came out, followed by Henry. The three of them stopped in front of him. The younger kid was hiding behind the older one. Henry was in front of both.

"Hey, Mo. Are you okay?" Henry asked. He was trying to sound as gentle as possible.

Morris nodded. He was fine. This was nothing out of the ordinary for him.

"Okay..." Henry took a deep breath. "Morris, this is Davey and Les."

Morris looked up at them, then quickly waved.

"He's quiet," Henry said.

"Hey, my brother's quiet too!" Les said. "Except for when I'm in trouble. Then he doesn't shut up! But he's not as bad as Sarah. That's my sister."

"Les, enough." Davey said, pulling him back.

Morris had actually liked hearing Les talk. He smiled at him.

Henry turned around. "Oscar and Wiesel are coming. We have to go."

"We should be getting home anyway," Davey said. He grabbed Les's hand and pulled him away. Les waved at Morris over his shoulder. The truth is, Davey was a little afraid of Morris, based on how Oscar and Wiesel acted.

"Bye, Mo. I'll see you later." Henry smiled and waved before running off.

Morris waved back and watched everyone go. When Wiesel came back, he grabbed Morris's arm and pulled him towards home.