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Post by Peaches Carington on Sept 3, 2009 16:54:58 GMT -5
"Vell, can I haff something that is not to strong? I am not use to vat the New Yorkers drink yet,"
Peaches smiled her sweetest smile at the kid, "Sure thing, darlin'. I'll see what I can find ya." She disappeared before returning with a mild drink and making her way around the rest of the room.
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Post by Snoddy King on Sept 3, 2009 21:00:30 GMT -5
"S'not my fault, Snoddy. Stupid big kids, no one was around ta bring me. What was I supposed to do?"
Snoddy picked up Half Pint under the arms and lifted him over his lap, setting him in the seat on the other side of him. He pulled out his handkerchief--a fresh one that'd he'd grabbed just before heading to the meeting, since he'd lost another one today--and started wiping up Half Pint's skinned knees.
"You gotta tell 'em, buddy," he admonished gently as he dabbed at the kid's knees. "Gotta make 'em listen to you. You're still little, so you gotta learn how to speak up for yourself. No one's gonna do it for you. Next time you got somewhere you need to go, you just find one of the others and you go up to 'em and say, 'Hey, I gotta go to this place, and Prince says we gotta go in pairs, so I need someone to come with me.' See, if you say it right, remind 'em that the pairs-thing is Prince's rule, they can't think you're just being a pain, and if they won't go with you, it's like they're breakin' their leader's rule, and no one wants to do that, see?"
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Post by Half-Pint Dantès on Sept 3, 2009 22:00:21 GMT -5
Half Pint watched as Snoddy cleaned off his knee. Normally, he wouldn't let anyone do that because he would look like a 'baby' but he looked up to the older boy as a big brother, for as long as he's known him, so he said nothing. He winced and sucked in a sharp breath when Snoddy touched a particularly sore spot on his knee. To take his focus away from the pain, he took his sling shot from his pocket and began to fiddle with it, hoping Snoddy hadn't noticed him wince. Half Pint was always trying to prove to the older boys that he could be tough like them too.
"... no one wants to do that, see?"
Half Pint crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned, "I know..." He always hated being reminded that he was just a little guy. "But, Snoddy, I couldn't find anyone ta bring me. What was I supposed ta do...? I had my slingshot with me and some marbles in my pocket in case something happened." Half Pint knew that if it came to it, a little guy wielding a slingshot wouldn't be able to deter a grown man with a knife or club, but he was hoping that adding that part wouldn't make Snoddy too upset about him walking to Medda's alone.
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Post by Snoddy King on Sept 4, 2009 1:53:20 GMT -5
"But, Snoddy, I couldn't find anyone ta bring me. What was I supposed ta do...? I had my slingshot with me and some marbles in my pocket in case something happened."
Finishing up with cleaning off the kid's knee, Snoddy straightened up again and made a face of deliberation for a few moments before raising his eyebrows. "You've got a point. You need yourself a selling partner. Didn't Prince tell you guys to pair off? Jack made us pick selling partners." Thinking about it, Snoddy couldn't imagine how Prince--who was well known for being exceptionally supportive of the younger kids in his borough--wouldn't think of pairing his kids up to make sure someone was looking after the little ones.
A few rows in front of them, Snoddy noticed Styx, from Queens. They'd crossed paths a few times in the past, and Snoddy was pretty familiar with him.
"How 'bout Styx?" Snoddy asked Half Pint, nudging him and indicating the boy in question. "He's a good kid. He probably needs a good sharpshooter to watch his back for him. You know how wild he can get. You can keep him covered with your slingshot, and he can make sure you don't get in trouble with Prince for breakin' his rules."
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Post by Half-Pint Dantès on Sept 4, 2009 21:53:20 GMT -5
Half Pint placed his foot on the chair and pulled his knee up to his chest and examined Snoddy's work. He touched the clean cut, winced, and then shrugged his shoulders. It was going to leave a nice scab. Nice, he thought to himself, I've gotta come up with a nice story for that one. He placed his foot back on the floor and went back to fiddling with his slingshot, pulling the empty pouch back and releasing it.
"Didn't Prince tell you guys to pair off?"
Half Pint stared intently at his slingshot pretending to examine it, trying to avoid eye contact with Snoddy. "Well, yeah. He did."
"How 'bout Styx?"
Half Pint looked down at the older boy sitting in the front who had first asked him if he was okay when he had fallen. He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I guess. He seems nice but I've never really talked ta him before."
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Post by matchstick on Sept 5, 2009 10:12:33 GMT -5
"Well...do you want something?"
Matchstick smiled up at her, "I'll have the same, thanks" Matchstick looked around the room which was suddenly filling up, he saw a couple people he recognized, like Peaches, Styx, Mittens, Half Pint-- Half Pint, he was about to go nock some sense into him but he saw that snoddy was taking care of it.
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Post by Snoddy King on Sept 5, 2009 16:10:56 GMT -5
Snoddy hadn't been a newsie when he was Half Pint's age, but he had been the son of a lady who worked at the only saloon in his Australian outback hometown, and he figured that was close enough. He knew what it was like to be small and surrounded by older boys who didn't include you in their groups and men who wouldn't spare you the time of day, just because you were little. Snoddy had been able to go off on his own, learn to make his own fun by himself, with the mantle of being Ned Kelly's son to protect him, but Half Pint had no where to go off to, no outlaw father whose name would keep him safe on his own. Which meant Snoddy had to teach Half Pint how to look out for himself in more conventional ways: making friends with people who could look out for him until he was old enough to look out for himself.
"I don't know. I guess. He seems nice but I've never really talked ta him before."
"No time like the present, then. S'always good to make friends, you know. Nothing destroys an enemy more completely than making him your friend. Lincoln said that, and he was a really smart guy."
Raising his voice, he called out to Styx. "Styx! Hey, Styx! Come back here for a second, huh?"
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Post by Bumlets Russo on Sept 5, 2009 17:09:22 GMT -5
Bumlets came into the meeting and dropped into the first available chair, tugging his hat over his eyes as he leaned back into one of the chairs lifting a brow when he heard Snoddy calling for people. Where was Specs and Skitts at? He straightened and looked around at the masses of kids and didn't see Blink or Brook either. He opened his mouth then just shut it as he settled back down, leaning his broomstick next to his leg and snorting.
Great... he should have just stayed home with Sweets or something. He didn't even see Race.
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Post by Half-Pint Dantès on Sept 5, 2009 18:45:23 GMT -5
Half Pint crossed his arms and pouted. He knew Snoddy was just trying to help but it made him feel like a baby when he just wanted to be a big kid. Before Snoddy could see him pouting and proving just how much a little kid he really was, Half Pint relaxed his face and watched Styx to see if he would join them.
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Post by elifreeman on Sept 5, 2009 19:49:57 GMT -5
Eli entered the room. He had heard their was going to be a meeting here. He knew it was for Newsies, he thought it was about the kidnappings. Even though he was a shoeshiner, he sometimes sold papes. He was also a kid. He figured that if there was a meeting about kidnapping, he had better be there. He had explained this explictly to his mother, she hadn't wanted him to go.
Eli stood by some of the seats, not sure where to sit. He saw lots of faces, but they were all paired up. He didn't want to intrude... Especially not on any of the Brooklynites, if they were there. He didn't see any Harlem kids either, if there were Harlem kids, he had never seen them in his neighborhood. Lots of Manhattan, Queens, and Bronx kids, though.
Eli bit his lip, removing his hat when he finally noticed that there were in fact girls in the room. He lowered his eyes, trying to blend in with his surroundings.
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Post by Styx Kennedy on Sept 5, 2009 20:57:10 GMT -5
Styx looked up suddenly as he heard his name being called. He saw Snoddy motioning to him and casually walked over after reciving his drink. Spitting in his free hand, he offered it to the Manhattaner, "Snoddy! It's been too long, mucker. How's the form?"
Styx had met Snoddy during one of his and Nike's excursions around New York. He seemed to be an alright bloke and Styx rembers they had got along pretty well.
(Today's lession in irish slang, to take a page out of Ali's book:
How's the form? (phr): how are you?
Mucker (n): a friend i.e. someone you muck around with.)
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Post by Fighter Mallory on Sept 6, 2009 18:00:12 GMT -5
Fighter walked into the meeting and shoo'd away the guy she'd gotten to walk with her before glancing around a smirk on her face. She hadn't wanted to come but figured she might as well here what everyone had to say about what was going on. Then she could tell them what dumbasses they were. Fighter had her mind set on what she wanted to do and if they didn't agree then she didn't care she was going to do things her way. She didn't see anyone else from Brooklyn but hadn't thought she would when she got here. She was a little early and Brooklyn wasn't known for it's punctuality. Shrugging Fighter stopped Sonkai as she walked by to get the drinks that had been ordered and asked her to get her a glass of whiskey. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night. Rolling her shoulder to get rid of some of the tenseness that occupied them she walked over and took a seat at an empty table.
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Post by mittens on Sept 6, 2009 19:17:46 GMT -5
((Mittens and Fighter already know each other if thats okay :-)))
As Mittens saw Fighter walk through the door she grinned, she hadn't seen Fighter in awhile it had been a couple months since she moved so she decided to go say hi. Mittens let go of Flip's hand, not bothering to say bye, and started to walk toward the table. As she got to the table she pulled up a chair to the table and sat on it backwards, "Hey Fighta! May I join ya?" She grinned and spit into her gloved hands and stuck out her hand for a shake.
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Post by Lord Byron Hastings on Sept 6, 2009 23:01:31 GMT -5
Lord Byron walked into the meeting at Irving Hall, his arm around Pallet and a hand on Shamrock's shoulder urging the boy forward. He stopped and looked around to see if any of the Bronx kids had arrived yet. He caught sight of Flip Chance and nodded, to say hello. Noticing a few seats just behind Flip, Byron gently nudged Shamrock forward to make their way to the empty seats. The three of them sat down and waited for the meeting to start.
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Post by Snoddy King on Sept 6, 2009 23:20:04 GMT -5
Snoddy spat into his palm and accepted Styx's spitshake. "You know Half Pint, right?" Snoddy asked, tilting his head in Half Pint's direction while gesturing for Styx to take a seat with them. "He's a Queenser, too."
He glanced around the hall, taking note of everyone who'd gathered so far, before turning back to Styx. "So, Styx... You come with Matchstick?" he asked, his eyebrows up in amusement, knowing that that was quite unlikely.
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