the next days were spent with the younger newsies selling with us, i loved selling with Pip, every time he sold a pape his face lit up and he looked over to me to see if i was proud, i'd give him a smile and a pat on the back
"good job kid" i'd say and his smile would grow and a light blush would spread over his freckled face. he's skip away happily to cell his papes. we finished early one day 'cause the headline was a good one, something about a bloody corpse in an alley way, we decided to go down to the river with Jack and Skippy because it was the middle of summer and we were dying of heatstroke, i wore a pair of shorts under my trousers, we got down to the little beach bit next to the east river, i took off my trousers and my shoes and socks, then i took off my suspenders and unbuttoned the last few buttons on my white shirt tying the bottom in a not, i put my hat on the pile of clothes and walked towards the water, i walked in until the water rose to my waist, i looked over and saw jack, skippy and Pip all wearing shorts and splashing each other, jack splashed me and i charged towards him, we splashed and laughed for about a half an hour, and then i felt big hands push me under the water, i held my breath and shut my eyes letting myself be submerged, when i resurfaced i turn and shoved jack over, he whaled his arms frantically and i laughed, then i heard laughing from the shore
"race said i'd find youse here" said a familiar voice, i spun around with wide eyes
"SPOT!!" i screamed running out of the river, i engulfed him in a wet hug
"eww" spot moaned, i pull away and laugh
"i missed youse spotty" i said smiling
"ise missed you too" he said hugging me again "so who's the kids den?" he asked looking behind me
"oh, that's pip, and that's skippy" i say pointing to the boys who were now standing at the shore line staring at spot, a terrified look in their eyes "boys come ere" i call and they walk towards us reluctantly
"nice to meet you sir" pip says to spot, skippy just stares, spot spits in his hand and holds it out to skippy, who spits in his hand and returns it, spot them shakes pips hand, spot turns back to me and pulls me away
"so there's been a total of 5 kills so far" he says
"wait 5? i've only heard of 2" i said shocked
"well the other three just happened, in brooklyn, three on my boys were waiting at the train yards for their fatha, the guy got all three" he said looking down, "they are my boys, and i didn't protect them, i left my boys in a time of need, what kind of leader am i?" he says kicking the sand
"hey spot, you're a great leader, you couldn't have known, and anyway there wouldn't have been anything you could do, they went alone so you couldn't have stopped it even if you were here, please don't blame yourself" i say and he looks up at me smiling "so what did the riddle say?" i asked turning to look at the river
"something about the final destination, the great prize, no one understands it" he says
"this guys good, wait does that mean that the next kill will be the last?" i ask turning back to him, a shed of hope appearing
"maybe, who knows" he replies
"well come have fun with us, relax, cool off" i say pouting, he looks hesitant but says
"ok fine" i grab his arm and pull him to the water "hey hold on" he says pulling me back, he takes off his shoes and socks and his hat and suspenders "ok i'm ready" he says grabbing my hand, i run into the water pulling him behind me, i pull him out further than me and just push him over into the water, i laugh as he emerges, his hair sticking to his face, he glared at me before grabbing my wrist and pulling me down with him, we laugh and splash each other, i can hear pip and skippy talking to jack
"so that's the famous spot conlon, he don't seem so scary" pip says to jack
"oh trust me, he's scary, just not with Caz, she's his soft spot" jack says
"so erm would he hurt us?" skippy asked worriedly
"prolly not, youse are only young" jack replies and i can hear skippy sigh with relief, they keep talking but i focus more on spot. we both stand up laughing and soaking, he grabs my waist and pulls me towards him
"ise missed youse so much Tiger" Spot tells me looking into my eyes
"ise missed you too spotty" i say, he pulls me closer and kisses me, he moves one hand to my cheek and i put my arms around his neck, with one hand in his wet hair, we spent another few hours in the river with the other boys, joking and laughing, i love seeing spot loosen up, being the leader of brooklyn puts a lot of pressure on him and he's only a kid, he deserves to let loose once in a while.
that night i go to brooklyn with spot, i guess he came straight to find me as all the boys were shouting welcome homes and Ace came running towards us, spot let go of my hand as he appeared
"spot youse back early" he shouted clapping spot on the back
"ise missed you too Ace" spot laughs before hugging ace, ace was his best friend and one of the only newsies he hugged, apart from me of course, we walk with ace down the docks
"so why's youse two all wet?" ace asked
"wese went swimming" i say smiling, spot just nods, as soon as we got back to brooklyn, he plastered his scowl back on his face, which made me laugh at him, we walked over to spots 'throne' and Ace left to leave us alone, we climbed up and sat looking over the river, he pulled me towards him and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, i leant my head against his shoulder and closed my arms "ise scared spot" i admit, he rests his head on top of mine "i mean, the next logical borough is 'hattan, what if it's one of my boys" i say feeling my eyes start to water
"ise more worried about you, so youse are staying her wit me until this is over" he says and i sit up looking at him
"what about pip, who's gonna look afta him?" i ask
"ise sure one ah the otha boys can do it" he says
"but i needs to be there-" i start but he cuts me off
"no! ise need ta know youse safe, this ain't up for discussion" he says and i'm too tired to argue, the sun is setting and the light is reflecting on the river, it's beautiful, i just nod "wese should go ta bed" spot says
"i wanna watch the sun set" i say and he laughs "what?" i ask
"you're such a romantic" he laughs, i punch his arm
"youse can leave, then it won't be so romantic" i say looking at the beautiful, purple/pink sky
"ise wanna stay" he says softly, i put my head on his shoulder again and watch the sun set, then we walk to the lodging house, we go up to spots private room and i go into the bathroom, i come out wearing just my shorts and my shirt which, when it's not tucked in, reaches my knees, i walk over to the bed and get in next to spot, who's already in bed with just a pair of shorts, he pulls me closer to him and i turn around so my back is facing his body, he wraps his arms around me and puts his chin on my shoulder, his face buried in my hair "i love youse" he says quietly
"i love youse too" i say smiling, i fall asleep in his arms, not thinking about the horrible things that are about to happen.
YOU ARE READING
you can't outrun it
Fanfictiontrying to escape her past, Cameron kelly becomes a newsie with her brother jack, life's finally great and she's in love, but eventually her past will come back to haunt her, and no matter how hard she tries to run, she will never outrun the pain. (...
