The Distribution Center -- Ramp

[oscar]

Oscar grinned like the devil he was, the little devil at any rate. Well they always said the smaller the imp the more deadly they were and Oscar had that in spades. "What ya gonna do kid?" He lifted his brow at Prince, neither one of them had ever bothered witht he Queens leader. Why would they?

He got a good kick in on Les, now it was a matter of pride. Someone was telling them not to so they were going to do the exact opposite.

[les]

Les had gotten kicked in the stomach many times by Oscar and Morris. He was finally getting sick of it. " Hey Oscar, stop kicking me, and pay attention to he- him! I ain't a toy here! Go play with Uncle Weasel and leave me alone!" Les had screamed, he was finally annoyed enough with the Delancey brothers.

[Prince]

"Ya ain't got no reason ta mess with either of us if ya look at it logically," Prince said just trying to keep her cool, though she had gotten rather upset when they kicked at the poor defenseless kid. "So, again..." she said as she stared into the brothers' eyes, "let us go." Prince had this final chance tone to her. It seemed that they had two choices, let them go or pay. Though Prince figured the price wouldn't be high since she wasn't the most outstanding fighter in New York.

[les]

Les had listened to what Prince said, and he thought of what to say to the Delancey's. " Yeah, I'se just a little kid, and we can both kick your butts! So, just go away, and go finish your cleanin'! " Les screamed that at them, and tried to grab Prince's shirt and run.

[Racetrack Higgins]

((New Day))

With his stack of papers beside him, Racetrack took a seat on the ramp and struck a match on the heel of his shoe. As he lit his cigar and fanned out the match, he looked to the bold headline on the front page of today's paper. "Colorado Miners Strike Leaves State Without Coal." Racetracks scoffed at the headline. What did the stuck-up people in this city care about the folks in Colorado, half a country away? It was easy to think that nobody had much of anything worth writing about anymore.

[aqua]

Aqua bought her papers, and decided to tuck some of them under her arm and read one. As she sat down on the ramp, there was also a short Italian boy there. He looked around her age, with brown hair and big brown eyes.

"Colorado Miners Strike Leaves State Without Coal."

She heard him say a headline, which she thought was very dumb. Aqua looked through the paper to find a different headline. " Massachusetts Has Fire Near Immigration System." She said under her breath. Then she thought about changing it. "Massachusetts Has Fire Killing Mayor." She said and laughed.

[Racetrack Higgins]

"Massachusetts Has Fire Near Immigration System."

Racetrack looked up to see a girl standing nearby; Queens, by the looks of her. He realized this was the one they called Aqua (whatever that meant) because of her eye color. Apparently she was doing what he had done, mocking the out-of-state news. He mumbled loud enough for her to hear, "Good for Massachusettes..." He wondered if he could pass any of this stuff off as happening in New York.

"Massachusetts Has Fire Killing Mayor."

At her improved headline, Race shook his head. Amateur. "No, no, kid! You gotta put who was killed first in the headline. An' make it someone more important than a mayor. Make it a senator or somethin'." He felt it was a charity, educating other newsies about hawking phony headlines. He was a professional.

[aqua]

"Good for Massachusettes..."

Aqua smiled at Racetrack and said, "Thanks. " She kept looking through the paper, but today was really crappy for headlines.

"No, no, kid! You gotta put who was killed first in the headline. An' make it someone more important than a mayor. Make it a senator or somethin'."

Eyes widening at his raised voice, Aqua rolled her eyes and glared at him. "Well, sorry. I doubt it was dat easy foah ya when you first started sellin' papes." Standing up, she went and sat on the other side of the ramp, trying to ignoe Racetrack.