Pieces

Jack Kelly

Morris managed to make it outside. Nobody stopped him, since they had recognized him. Besides Snyder, nobody knew he was a prisoner. Oscar and Morris were former workers at the refuge. Morris had hated working there, but Oscar didn't mind it so much. It wasn't fun, but he didn't complain. 

When he was finally out, Morris ran in the direction he believed Jacobi's was in. He didn't care to reunite with Oscar right now, for all he knew Oscar was against him as well and had helped with his arrest. He only really trusted Henry and Crutchie.

He felt a bit bad for leaving Crutchie behind, but he knew Crutchie had a plan. It wasn't a big deal.

On the walk to the deli, Morris ran into Oscar. At first, Morris backed up and get ready to run. Then he noticed Oscar wasn't trying to grab him, so he probably wouldn't bring him back to the refuge.

Oscar wasn't involved in Morris's arrest. He hadn't even known about it. He suspected it after seeing the bull carry him off and him not returning that night, but couldn't figure out why he'd been arrested. He didn't deserve to be. Oscar was just relieved to have Morris back without any noticeable injuries. He did notice Morris was angry though. Luckily Oscar knew how to calm Morris down, and he managed to do that eventually. 

Once Morris was calm, Oscar told him about their current job. "Okay, so... We have to do something to Jack. I don't know what. Pulitzer just said we have to handle him. So I was thinking brass knuckles, we could-"

"No," Morris interrupted.

"Huh?" Oscar hadn't expected Morris to object, he never did. Even when Morris hated the plan, which was usually the case, he would agree to it. Oscar assumed that he had objected this time because he trusted that Oscar wouldn't hurt him, unlike Wiesel.

"I don't want to. No brass knuckles."

Oscar sighed. "Alright. What should we do then? And you can't say nothing."

"Cellar." That was one of Morris's least favorite punishments, but he was usually okay once he was let out. 

"Cellar? Okay... Well, I don't know about bringing him to our house. But I know Pulitzer has a cellar, and we're meeting Jack in his office. So... I guess that works." Oscar was a bit disappointed that it was their chance to do whatever they wanted and Morris chose such a boring punishment, but he'd rather miss out on having fun with the punishment than upset Morris, especially since he'd just gotten out of the refuge.

Morris was happy that this would be Pulitzer's cellar. He'd been locked in there a few times, and knew there was a printing press in there. He wasn't sure how, but he hoped Jack could use it somehow.

Oscar led Morris to Pulitzer's office. When they arrived, Oscar let go of Morris and grabbed Jack. Morris followed his brother's lead. They led him downstairs.

Morris hadn't realized he'd have to go into the cellar. When Oscar started walking downstairs, Morris let go of Jack and waited at the top. Oscar stopped walking and turned to Morris. "Coming?" Morris nodded and followed them down. 

As soon as he stepped into the cellar, Morris felt numb. His chest tightened. He closed his eyes, then almost tripped down the stairs and had to open them again. He bit his lip as hard as he could. He wanted to scream. He heard Oscar talking, but couldn't make out what he was saying. He was terrified, but why? This was Jack's punishment, not his. There was no reason for him to be scared. But he wanted out right now.

He slowly walked up to the printing press and removed the sheet covering it, then turned to Oscar. He couldn't speak right now and hoped Oscar would take over, which he did. As soon as Oscar started talking, Morris threw the sheet and ran back upstairs, then out of the building.

Jack noticed something was wrong. He didn't know what though. He wanted to help Morris, but there was nothing he could do right now. He'd have to wait until after this punishment was over, and he'd have to get Morris alone.

When Morris had gotten outside, he did what he could to calm himself down. He remembered what he was supposed to do. He was extremely grateful for everything his mother taught him.

After he'd calmed down enough, Morris continued his walk to Jacobi's. When he arrived, he went into his room in the back of the deli. He froze when he noticed there was someone else in the room, but relaxed when he realized it was Henry.

Henry smiled when he saw Morris. "Hey! I've been waiting for you! I hope you're not mad I'm in here... Jacobi let me in, he said it'd be alright for me to wait here. Where have you been?"

Morris didn't want to tell Henry exactly what had happened to him for a few reasons. He didn't want Henry to worry, or to think he was a criminal. But he didn't want to lie either, he knew that was bad. "Crutchie is in the refuge. Can you get him out?"

Henry frowned. He knew that, and he thought Morris had some involvement. The thought of that had scared him. He wondered if Morris had lied about everything at first, if he never was on the side of the newsies and was trying to take them down from the inside. He never suspected Morris would do something like that, but he couldn't help but worry. "I can't get him out. But thank you for telling me. We'll figure something out." 

"Jack is in the cellar." 

"Huh? What cellar?" Henry didn't think any cellar was a big deal, but he knew Morris was telling him for a reason.

"Pulitzer..."

"Pulitzer's cellar? Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." 

"Okay. I just have one question, but you don't have to answer it if you don't want to. Do we have to get Jack out?"

"No."

"Okay." Henry noticed Morris was upset about something, but he wasn't sure what it was or what he could do about it. He decided to change the subject. "Hey, Mo, we're gonna have another rally tomorrow. In Medda Larkin's theatre. Wanna come?"

Morris looked up at Henry and smiled. "Yes please! I promise I won't hurt anyone this time."

"I know you won't." Henry put an arm around Morris and gave him a small squeeze.

The next morning, Henry brought Morris to the rally. Henry joined the rest of the newsies onstage, and Morris sat in the audience. Morris was smiling throughout the speeches that Davey and Brooklyn's Spot Conlon gave. He was actually very happy that Spot came. Although they'd never met, Morris had heard a lot about Spot and wanted to be just like him. 

When Jack came, Morris felt a mix of excitement and relief. He was happy that Jack didn't look injured or traumatized from his time in the cellar.

However, Morris's excitement didn't last long. He got very angry as soon as Jack mentioned disbanding the union, and that anger only got worse when he noticed Jack taking money from someone. 

Morris usually tried very hard to hold his anger in. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He'd usually wait until he could take his anger out on a wall or some other inanimate object, or he'd punch his hand or stamp his feet. But this time, he couldn't hold it in. He ran up to Jack and pushed him against the wall, then started punching him. Eventually, Spot and Henry pulled him away and Jack ran. Morris wanted to follow, but Spot had a very tight grip that he didn't want to try fighting. Instead, he just screamed until Henry covered his mouth.

When Morris had calmed down enough, Spot let go of him and Henry led him outside. "I know you're angry at Jack, but there's no reason to hit him."

"There is! He destroyed the whole strike!" 

"No, he suggested we disband. We're not gonna. We have Davey and Spot."

Morris crossed his arms and turned away. He wasn't going to argue. He hated arguments, and it seemed he was always wrong. After a moment of silence, Morris left. Henry decided it was best not to follow, so he returned to the lodging house.