Backstage

[south]

New Day

South decided to wander away from Harlem for the day. He liked the atmosphere of Manhattan, the hustle and bustle and excitement of it all. Of course he was on the close lookout for Bulls. He adjusted his top hat as it fell in his eyes and when he looked up he saw the amazingly large sign for Irving Hall. His brown eyes widened and he tipped his head to the side. He could hear the music drifting out of the hall.

He started walking towards it as if the theatre was pulling him. South loved acting. It was his favorite thing. He loved doing impressions, and cracking jokes, and just doing silly things to try to make people laugh. He looked around very cautiously. He wouldn't be able to get in the front, he was sure. No, he would have to sneak through the backdoor. He did just that, and looked around him in amazement. He hid behind the big ropes and curtain, watching from his hiding spot the people dancing and singing on stage. He had a dazed, happy, content look on his little dirt smudged face.

[Prince]

**New Day**

Prince wandered into the backstage of Irving Hall. She and Medda had a fairly good relationship. Prince had been known to hie out in Irving Hall whenever she got in trouble, just like all the newsies.

Prince and Medda formed a bond however because Prince was a girl. Prince shared her secret with her, one of the very VERY few adults she trusted was Medda, and now she needed a little bit of her help.

In her boyish voice she called into the what she figured was fairly empty theater. "Medda! You Here?!" she looked around to see if ,the fair woman was present. Prince's mood wasn't foul really, she was just thoughtful. She was coming to some realizations and conclusions.

[Medda]

Medda appeared from behind a rack of costumes to see who was calling her name, when she saw Prince she quickly pushed the rack into a room and shut the door before answering Prince. "My dear, what are you doing here?" She walked forward to grab Prince up in a tight hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you last. How have you been?"

[Prince]

Prince shrugged slightly. "I've had bettah days," she said with a small smile. Prince had to fight back her sadness. She was at a state where... emotions are held up for so long as soon as someone asks the genuine question, "how have you been?" All you want to do is answer them honestly. All Prince wanted to do was cry and complain and die all at the same time. She wanted to snap her fingers and turn back into a girl, but that wasn't why she was here.

"Let's just say I've had a rough time recently," she said tilting her head towards the light so that Medda could see the shiner that Joe had given her that morning. Of course that wasn't all she meant, she meant that life in general had been progressively getting more difficult recently it seemed... she wasn't a fan. But she had a smile on her face all the same, a defiant smile showing that she wasn't going to let herself get the better of her.

[Medda]

Medda grabbed Prince's cheek gently with the tips of her fingers and looked at the bruise on her cheek. "What happened? Who did this?" Usually so calm and composed, Medda had a hard time shielding her anger from Prince over the bruise on her face. She didn't like to see anyone taken advantage of and she hated seeing her newsies hurt. "What is going on, Prince?"


Linking her arm with Prince's she steered her towards her dressing room. "Come, sit and you can tell me what has been going on."

[Prince]

Prince was not prepared for the sudden burst of care! So she simply followed after Medda without much of a choice. "Medda," she said getting herself sat down in a dressing room chair. "I'm alright... listen..."

She told the story how she had been down in Brooklyn and met a Brooklyn newsie by the name of Joe. Joe was being really nice to her, but spotted some bit of trouble. Now... Prince often told people that she was being looked for... that the police wanted her, but she never told them why. So Medda knew Prince was a wanted girl, but she always reassured people, that she was innocent, which she was. Joe lead Prince into a near by tavern and punched her right in the eye to get it to start a bar fight.

"But he did it to get the cop distracted to get me outta there... he saved my butt taday Medda," she explained. He had been all too sweet about it too. "But I realized somethin' today... I can't go around bein' a girl in anyway anymore. I gotta start... lookin' different, actin' different all the time, I really gotta become a boy... almost all the time. But that means I can't look anything like a girl... which is where I need... some help."

She looked at herself over in the mirror in the dressing room. She reached up and took her hat off of her head, and let her nearly 2 feet of hair fall down her back. "I need it gone Medda..." she said saddly looking into the mirror. "It's gotta get cut..."

She quickly looked back to the female mentor. "Also... you know those things you wear... that make ya stomach small... whatcha call 'em... corsets? or somethin? Wull I want one, but not for my stomach." She very awkwardly motioned to her chest. "For... here... to hide anything that might show... to maybe make it... well about as flat as it'll get..." all still said rather awkwardly. She wasn't used to talking about girly things like hair and clothes and... body shape. It was all strange for her, but that was all the more reason she needed to be a boy, and needed Medda's help to do it.

[Medda]

Medda listened to Prince without interupting, she'd never once asked her who she was running from it hadn't been her place but she was worried about the girl. She worried more about Prince than a lot of others because Prince had worked her way into Medda's heart just like Jack had. Medda wished she could do more for the girl but she knew that it was hard for Prince to even ask her for this. "Don't worry, dear, no one will think twice about your gender when I'm through."

Hurrying from the room Medda went to get a pair of sheers and some wraps that would help Prince hide her female parts. Walking back towards her dressing room she grabbed a few extra button ups she had lying around that would be a bit big on Prince and would conceal her even more. "Okay, let's get started." Medda thought that it would be easiest to get it over with quickly, she didn't think that Prince would grow her hair so long and not be hurt by the fact that she was cutting it all off. Leading Prince over to a chair in front of a mirror where Medda usually got ready she set down the sheers, shirts, and wraps. "Before I cut your hair, are you sure you want me to?"

[Prince]

Prince caught sight of herself in the mirror and wasn't sure what to think. Did she look like her mom? What did her mom look like anymore? Was she like her father? ...was she someone else all together? That’s what she wanted to be… that’s what she needed to be, someone different, someone people wouldn’t recognize. She needed to be a new person.

“Not all of it,” she said quietly. “Here…” she indicated a little above her shoulders. It would then be a little more Jack’s length. Then she wasn’t getting rid of all the beautiful long hair that her mother had loved playing with all those years ago. She didn’t want it cut short like Dodger’s and looked like it was styled daily, but the last thing she wanted was for it to be cut like a normal boy’s, like Blink or Joe, that was a step too far.

She took a deep breath. “I’m sure Medda… this is somethin’ that shoulda been done years ago…” it was about time she forgot all that she had been, and needed to focus on who she was, and what she was going to be. For now, she can still pull off a boy, but someday she’ll grow her hair back again… hopefully. She took another deep breath, and then closed her eyes like a kid who gets their first hair cut and is expecting it to hurt. But no matter if it did hurt or not… it needed to be done.

[Medda]

Medda nodded as Prince showed her where she wanted her to cut. "Alright dear." Starting in on Prince's hair, Medda worked as quickly and efficiently as she could. She knew from other girls she'd helped that usually the worst part was seeing your hair falling to the floor around you which is why she made quick work of it. "Once I'm done here I'll show you what you'll need to do with the wraps."

Although the wraps were easy enough she had to show Prince how to secure them properly or they'd begin to come undone throughout the day. "You know if you need to, you can stay here for a few days or weeks." Medda loved having Prince around and wouldn't mind her staying in the least but if she knew one thing about these newsies it was that they had a hard time staying away especially if they were in charge.

[Prince]

Prince was shocked as her head got instantly lighter. She had heard... but forgotten that it would do that. She made sure that she listened to Medda carefully when she learned how to tie things, the last thing she needed was for them to come off... ever. She figured after a while she'd need to make more, because these would stretch out. But all the same she made sure that she was paying close attention.

Prince would have loved the escape. "I can't Medda... too many kids in Queens are expectin' me ta come home..." she explained quietly. "...but maybe someday I'll take ya up on the offer..." some day she might need the place to stay, and some day she might need to learn how to become a girl all together, but not right now. It just didn't feel like the right time, then again, would it ever? "But thank you," she quickly gave Miss Medda a hug. "Ya heaven sent medda, I owe ya," she reassured her good friend. "Thank ya so much." She looked and felt a completely different person.

[Medda]

Medda smiled sadly as she hugged Prince back, she felt for the girl. Not only did she have to deal with all of the problems of hiding away from someone but she had so many others relying on her. Prince had a strong, compassionate heart and it touched Medda deeply. "I hope you will dear, one day when your ready to move on I hope you will come to me. I admire you greatly, you are truly one of a kind."

Medda pulled Prince in for another hug. She wished so deeply that she could do something more for her. That she could erase her past and ease her present for her. "I'll always be here for you. Anytime day or night all you have to do walk in the door."

[Prince]

"I'll remember," Prince promised. "And you can bet one day I'll be back." She looked down at her hair on the floor. "Maybe when some of that grows back..." she said as she reached up and felt her short hair. She slipped her hat onto her head without tucking up her hair. It made her tense, but... she felt like a guy. Short hair, baggy shirts, no chest... she was a guy. She wasn't sure what to think. She was getting to an age... shouldn't she have a boyfriend? Or getting engaged? Or married even? Shouldn't she be doing other things? Instead she was a leader... she couldn't decide who was right, her mind or her heart. So she made a quick choice.

"Thanks again Medda... I'll see ya later," she said with a tip of her hat, before she headed towards the door. She appreciated that woman more than she would ever know.

[Styx Kennedy]

((New Day - for DA and Medda. oh and dialogue with < > around them are spoken in Dutch ;D ))

The walk to Irving Hall was nice, despite the dire situation that swirled around them. Styx and DA got along well and talked like could be old friends. Arriving at Medda’s, Styx opened the back door and held it as DA tied Horseshoe outside. They stood in the gloom of Irving Hall’s backstage as their eyes adjusted from the brightness of the hot summer day on the streets. “Medda <should be somewhere around here,>” he stated confidently. “<The first show hasn’t started yet. Now all he have to do is find her,>” he laughed.

[Medda]

Medda, having just finished her hair and make up, stepped out of her dressing room and into the main part of the backstage. She called out for one the girls to come help her find her white and green, lace and ribbon umbrella. It would match her dress perfectly and the show called for just that sort of prop.

[Don't Ask]

Seeing a very well put-together woman emerge from the dressing area, Don't Ask nudged Styx pointed in her direction.

"<That her?>" he asked, suddenly aware that he'd never actually seen Medda in person.