Hard Knock Life Matinee (Open)

[Amionette Chevalier]

Amionette lifted her arms over her head and stretched her back, she hadn't seen the boys in a little while. The french girl tilted her head and put her wrist to her forehead, now weren't they trying too--

She sighed and bent back down the the floor to continue sweeping. When she'd been given this job to help keep the lodging house clean at first she was a bit unnerved but the boys had made her feel welcomed and surprisingly most of them treated her as an older sister then as an annoyance. Smiling she pulled her hair back in her handkerchief and let out another breath.

"Mon Deiu," she chuckled to herself and leaned back on her foot, she was getting tired but that was alright. Smiling to herself she closed her eyes, she loved her work and it wasn't taxing as most assumed it would be. No she enjoyed spending time with the boys.

Ami wondered where they were-- they should be flooding in at any time..

[Kid Blink]

Kid Blink finished selling the morning edition early and decided to wait for either Mush or Jack to finish selling so they could decide whether to head back to the lodging house or to grab a bite to eat at Tibby's. He wandered over to Market Street in the hopes that he might encounter something interesting there. And so, for a while, he amused himself by simply observing people as they went about their shopping, shouting and pushing their way through the crowded street. However, he soon became bored and opted to return to the lodging house for a bit. Maybe he'd take a nap... or maybe he would set a prank....

He hopped off his perch on an overturned, wooden apple crate and made his was down Market Street in the direction of the Duane Street lodging house (home to the Manhattan newsies), deciding that he was in the mood for mischief more so than a nap. His only problem was that he was out of prank ideas. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at his feet. He needed something new, something fresh. But what sort of prank could he pull that was new and fresh, and could earn a laugh out of Mush, Race, and maybe even Jack? What kind of prank could he pull that might actually lighten the Manhattan newsies spirits rather than increase the tension?

He rounded the corner onto Madison Avenue and was struck with what he considered one of his most impressive ideas for a prank in a long while. The idea came in the form of a polished wood door carried by an employee of

'Avery's Carpentry! est. 1895,'

(as was advertised on a flimsy sign that leaned against a cart stationed along the curb, filled with wood boards of various lengths and two wood doors that were tied down with rope.) As Blink turned the corner, head down, deep in thought, he collided with the polished, wood door (carried by the aforementioned employee of 'Avery's Carpentry!'). Blink grunted in surprise and pain as his head connected with the door. He staggered backward, clutching a hand to his injured head. The heel of his shoe hit a section of uneven pavement, causing him to lose his balance and forcing him to drop his hands from his head and throw his weight forward in an attempt to regain his balance. He succeeded, and sank to one knee, breathing heavily.

The force of the collision between Kid Blink and the wood door had been felt by the door-carrying employee as well; the startled man had somehow managed to retain his grip on the sides of the door. The man peered around his burden to determine with whom or what he had collided. Upon seeing Blink kneeling dazedly on the cement, the man chuckled. Blink looked up at the sound and spotted the amused expression on the face of the door-carrying employee. Blink stared at him, wondering what could possibly be funny about the situation.

The man stared back at Blink, taking in the sight of the leather eye-patch across his left eye and the bump above his left brow where Blink's head had connected with the door. The man coughed and said, "Better be careful, boy. Looks like yer gonna have a nasty bump on yer forehead. Any lower and you might actually have use of that eye-patch!" Blink glared at man, "I wear the patch for a reason." he retorted as he stood up and walked around the man to continue on his way. "Yah? Well, y'ought t'find somewhere else to play 'pirate' then laddie!" the door-carrying man called after him. Blink scowled at the comment but chose to continue walking rather than waste his time trading words with, "A door-carrying muttonhead," Blink muttered under his breath.

It wasn't long before he reached the lodging house. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushed open the door and nodded to Kloppman before striding over to the stairs and taking them two at a time. The sound of a broom against the wood floor caught Blink's attention. "Ami!" he called out, a sense of relief sweeping through him at the sight of the young woman. "Boy, am I glad to see you!" He grinned, momentarily forgetting about his "altercation" with the door.