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Post by Anthony Higgins on Oct 27, 2008 16:17:48 GMT -5
Racetrack's voice was uncharacteristically soft, but tinged with an edge. His eyes were downcast as he sat with Jack in the bunk room, on Racetrack's bed. The other boys were all outside: it was a Sunday, so there were no papers to sell, and everyone was enjoying the autumn afternoon. The bunk room rang with silence, except for Racetrack's heavy voice.
"He tells me Mitch called 'em in, him and Birdy. He just told 'em, the girl's dead, do something with the body and clean up the mess." Race gulped, bit his lip, and continued. "Well Birdy's a small kid. He cleaned up. And Frenchie was the one who had to carry her body outta there. He tells me he was cryin' a little, but he didn't want nobody to see. Cause Nellie was a swell girl, he said. Never did nothin' to nobody, he said. And he was one of them who heckled her all the time."
Silence stretched between them, tight. "Where is she?" Jack asked, his voice hardly above a whisper.
"Frenchie wouldn't say. I hit 'im, I did. But he still wouldn't say." Race looked ahead of him, his eyes beginning to shine. He couldn't stand girls in general, but Nellie had been one of the few he could tolerate, maybe even liked having around a little. "How we gonna tell Mush?" he mused to himself.
"We gotta. Get him up here." Jack stood up, his face grave. "And after this...spread the word. I'm forbidding the Bronx to the boys. No one goes there, for no reason. And soak any Bronx kid that comes through here." He paused. "Yell for Mush..."
Racetrack nodded once, crossed to the window, and opened it. "Mush!" His voice was hoarse. "Get up here. Quick..."
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Post by Mush on Oct 27, 2008 16:52:39 GMT -5
It was a nice Sunday afternoon, Mush was outside with some of his friends, and he had plans for that evening. He was going to go surprise Nellie in the Bronx. Mush cherished the times that he got to spend with Nellie, she was everything he wanted in a girl and more. He grinned just thinking about it. He glanced back down at the card game he was playing with Blink and Chance. Normally Racetrack would be playing with them, but he heard he was in the Lodging House talking to Jack about who knows what.
"Mush! Get up here. Quick..."
He looked up, why did he need to go upstairs? And why did Race's voice sound weird? He obeyed, and ran into the building, taking the steps to the bunk room two at a time. He wondered what they needed him for, and he hoped it would be quick. He had to get ready to go see Nellie.
When he entered the room he felt weird. Jack and Race both looked sad, they must've been talking about what was going on with Mike at the moment. But why would they want him? He hadn't done anything. "Hey fellas..." He said as he walked over to them. "What do you need me for?"
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Oct 27, 2008 18:18:37 GMT -5
"Hey fellas...What do you need me for?"
Jack and Race exchanged glances, both wearing the same deadly serious expression. Where did they start? Jack turned to Mush and said in a low voice, "Have a seat, Mush..." He nodded to Snipeshooter's bunk across from where they sat. They waited until he did. Jack looked at Race again, and a tacit question went between them. In reply, Jack gave Race a small, affirmative nod. Race turned slightly pale. Why was he the one who had to do it? He pleaded momentarily with his eyes, but Jack's expression was adamant. Racetrack sighed and turned to Mush, the expression grave as well as sympathetic.
"Mush..." he started. "A fella from the Bronx...Frenchie, a gambling partner of mine. He tol' me somethin' the other day. It's...bad news, Mush. About Nellie..." Race paused for a moment, knowing that all kinds of terrible things were probably rushing through his friend's head. He wished like crazy he could say real quick that everything was fine and it was nothing to worry about, but how could he? Race didn't want to keep Mush in suspense, but couldn't bring himself to say what he had to say next. "She...she's dead, Mush. Mitch killed her two nights ago." He stopped there, his fists clenched. He didn't know how Mush would react. But his own eyes began to brim with tears. They weren't just for Nellie: Race hadn't known her well enough, although he was sort of wishing he had. It was for Mush, too. And it was for Manhattan. And everyone else. Mostly because Race knew that with Nellie's death, there was no denying it was a war. A real, true-blue war. And now there wasn't anything to be done except to fight it.
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Post by Mush on Oct 27, 2008 18:38:00 GMT -5
"Have a seat, Mush..."
Mush nodded slowly and obeyed, he sat down on Snipeshooter's bunk. Jack and Racetrack both looked serious, this didn't look good. Mush's stomach flip flopped, he was scared for what they had to say. His heart began to beat faster, and his palms began to sweat. He was scared.
"Mush...A fella from the Bronx...Frenchie, a gambling partner of mine. He tol' me somethin' the other day. It's...bad news, Mush. About Nellie..."
His heart began to Race, and he could've sworn it dropped into his stomach. No...not Nellie, he yearned to hear what had happened. What happened to his Nellie? He swallowed, hard. Thoughts flew through his mind, possible ideas. What happened to his Nellie? He wanted to yell at them, what happened?! He tried to take a deep breath, his lungs only got filled up half way with air because of what Racetrack said next.
"She...she's dead, Mush. Mitch killed her two nights ago."
Numb. Mush felt numb, no thoughts went through his head, he didn't breathe, his heart probably stopped beating for a split second. His words set in. Dead, she's dead, dead, Nellie's dead. No, that couldn't be! Mush was with her three nights ago. She couldn't be dead, how was that possible? She wasn't dead, it must've been another Nellie. "Wha-what?" He said, trying to hold back the sobs. "My Nellie..?" He asked, his voice quavered. It wasn't possible. She couldn't be dead, he refused to accept it!
He had to accept it. He knew she was dead, but a part of him refused to let her die. Mush realized that he would never see her again, he would never see her smile, he would never hear her laugh. Tears were almost pouring down his face, he buried his face in his hands. "No..." He moaned, why Nellie?! Why did Nellie have to die? She didn't do anything, she was innocent, why did Mitch kill her? She didn't live at the Lodging House, she lived with her mother. He knew she was considered a scab, but Mitch wasn't that cruel. He wouldn't kill her for having a family, or would he? Mush shook his head, "She can't be dead." He mumbled. Sobs shook his body, "She's not dead!" He said, "She's not dead..."
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Oct 27, 2008 19:09:37 GMT -5
"Wha-what? My Nellie..?"
Racetrack bit his lip, and nodded slowly. "Frenchie told me today. I knew--I knew I had to tell you." Racetrack faltered for words, a new occurrence for him. He always had something to say, but now he didn't know what he could say now. What did you say to someone who just found out the only person they had in the world had just been murdered? Race knew Mush almost as well as he knew himself; Mush usually went from girl to girl like a bee to flowers. As soon as Race had been told Mush had a steady girl, Race knew she had to be something else. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Mush had loved Nellie as much as it was possible for him to love her. Race didn't know enough about love to truly empathize, but he knew about loss. And it was possibly the worst thing that could happen to you.
"We don't know why," he said at last. "That fink Frenchie wouldn't tell me why, even after I held 'im down and gave 'im what-for. But you know everythin' I know, Mush. I had to tell ya, buddy. Jesus, I'm sorry..."
"No...She can't be dead. She's not dead! She's not dead..."
As agony gripped Mush and he sat there sobbing, Race immediately rose to his feet and took a seat next to him, placing an arm around his shoulders. Jack stood as well, and gestured away, out of the bunk room. Race nodded; Jack should let the others know what happened. Tell them about the ban on the Bronx. Tell them not to bother Mush for a while. Jack left, and Race searched for words again. "I'm sorry, Mush..." Race said, his voice thick. And then, he couldn't think of any more words.
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Post by Mush on Oct 27, 2008 19:27:09 GMT -5
"Frenchie told me today. I knew--I knew I had to tell you."
Mush sat there in disbelief, shaking his head. She wasn't dead, no she couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible, Nellie had to stay home and take care of her mother. How could she be dead? This Frenchie kid must've been lying or something. Nellie wasn't dead, she wasn't. She couldn't be, his Nellie wasn't dead. He kept repeating that over and over. Even though he knew it was true.
"We don't know why, That fink Frenchie wouldn't tell me why, even after I held 'im down and gave 'im what-for. But you know everythin' I know, Mush. I had to tell ya, buddy. Jesus, I'm sorry..."
"No..." He said, that's all he could say. The rest of his vocabulary was wiped out. No, she's, and dead were the only words he could form. He could barely say her name. Her name reminded him of her, and her innocence. Why did she have to die? She did nothing wrong! She was a poor girl who lived with her mother, she had a hard life and died with a hard life. He sobbed.
"I'm sorry, Mush..."
Mush sobbed again, "It should've been me!" He cried, he had a feeling he was the reason for this. It was all his fault. Why wasn't it him? Why was it her? Questions raced through his mind like a horse as he was overcome with tears, and sobs. "Why wasn't it me?" He moaned, "She didn't deserve it!" He sobbed again, "She was innocent!" He exclaimed. "She was innocent!"
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Oct 27, 2008 20:48:35 GMT -5
"It should've been me! Why wasn't it me? She didn't deserve it! She was innocent! She was innocent!"
"Aaron!" Race cried, suddenly concerned. He never called Mush by his first name, only when something was very serious. And if this wasn't serious, he didn't know what was. He had tried to be understanding, but now Mush was just scaring him. "Get a hold of yourself! There wasn't nothin' you could do, you got me? And don't go sayin' that, don't never say that! Cause you don't deserve it either. You're just as innocent as her." His expression darkened. "Mitch is workin' for Mike. I'd warrant he's the main man behind all this. I'll bet you anything..."
For a long moment, he paused. "You're not doin' anythin' by beatin' yourself up here, Mush. Ain't nothin' can be done now." He shook his head. "I hate to slap ya in the face with it, buddy, but you gotta wake up to it. She...she's gone. It ain't your fault, and it ain't hers, and she's more innocent than all the rest of us put together." He knew he wasn't helping. He could offer no more comfort. He didn't know what it was to lose someone like Mush had lost Nellie. His nonna had been old, and her death had come like a slow realization. He had cried, but he couldn't pretend it wasn't expected. For Mush, it was as if Nellie's death had come like the blow of a hammer...everything at once.
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Post by Mush on Oct 29, 2008 20:43:45 GMT -5
"Aaron! Get a hold of yourself! There wasn't nothin' you could do, you got me? And don't go sayin' that, don't never say that! Cause you don't deserve it either. You're just as innocent as her."
Mush said nothing, Racetrack never called him by his first name. If he did it was on a serious occasion, well this was a serious occasion, but Mush saw no wrong in what he said. What was the point of life if Nellie wasn't there? She was the one who brought a smile to his face, what would he do without her? She was the only girl for him, and now what was he supposed to do now that she was dead?
"Mitch is workin' for Mike. I'd warrant he's the main man behind all this. I'll bet you anything..."
Mitch. Mike. Mush didn't like them before, but now he hated them. Why Nellie? She was the last person he could think of that they would kill, if they were to kill anyone he suspected Jack, or someone from Manhattan. Chance maybe, Blink, him, Race, anyone but Nellie. He didn't know that Nellie knew them, she knew Mitch because she was a Bronx newsie, but she didn't know him well. "Why did they kill her, Race?" He wailed, "Its not fair..." He sobbed.
"You're not doin' anythin' by beatin' yourself up here, Mush. Ain't nothin' can be done now. I hate to slap ya in the face with it, buddy, but you gotta wake up to it. She...she's gone. It ain't your fault, and it ain't hers, and she's more innocent than all the rest of us put together."
He sobbed, he felt mixed emotions. This was the last thing he would expect Jack and Race to tell him, he thought they were going to tell him that her mother died and she needed him. Not that Nellie herself had died. He hated Mike for doing this, how could he stoop this low? This was just like last time, he hated this.
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Post by Anthony Higgins on Nov 1, 2008 8:01:51 GMT -5
"Why did they kill her, Race? Its not fair..."
No, it wasn't fair. But Race knew that Mike never played by the rules, and neither did the people who worked for him. To work for Mike you had to be willing to do anything, and anything included killing a girl. Race couldn't do anything, and it drove him nuts. All he could do was keep his arm around his friend and let him cry it out. Hopefully Jack would keep the other boys downstairs for a while...the last thing Mush needed was to be surrounded by a bunch of fellows pelting him with questions. He was half-certain that this would be the first time anyone in the lodging house had been crying for a very long time.
"It ain't fair," Race affirmed soberly. "But it coulda been anyone. Nellie was just in the wrong place. She was just...there. And some moron didn't want her to be. So they got rid of her in the only way anyone of Mike's knows how." He knew that he was giving Mush some harsh realities, and wish he knew what to say that wouldn't make him sound insensitive. But the fact was, Race wasn't very sensitive, and he didn't know what it was like to love someone as much as Mush had loved Nellie. And Mush would have to face the harsh reality of what happened at some point. Race wasn't one to soften things for him. He knew what had to be said eventually. Best not cushion anything.
The only thing that really unnerved him was that if it hadn't been Nellie, who would it have been? Why did Mitch kill Nellie in the first place, when Race and Mush and many of the Manhattan boys knew that the Bronx newsies regarded her as a scabber and didn't associate with her? Race had the feeling the Nellie's life was insignificant to Mitch, so why would he waste his time? "It don't make no sense..." he said quietly, echoing Mush's feelings.
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