Benches

[Administrator]

Relax..

[shiner]

"I always imagine my parents were a bit like that," Shiner's voice from behind said. Then she walked around, and sat down on the bench beside the girl, giving her a small smile, "Maybe not as much money though." The girl still had a few papers in her hands, "Paper?"

[jinx]

((new day))

Allena was sitting on the benches with a home-made, self-wrapped sandwich between her slender, pale fingers. One hand was holding the small package and the other was slowly and methodically unwrapping it, the cold cuts of beef on the Jewish rye bread from the Jewish-overrun marketspaces in Brooklyn paired with a thick, grimy yellow mustard and sparringly sliced tomatoes placed painstakingly upon the meat.

She sighed and leaned over the now unveiled parcel of food, taking a small, deliacte bite from the lefthand corner of the bread. Generally she would have eaten at home, or in the dance hall, but the other girls were irking her today and she was given a few hours off of practice. Technically she didn't have to go back that day at all, and depending on impending events she may or may not go back at all.

The wind was blowing through her hair, which was pulled back into a severe ballet bun and kept in place with ribbons and bobby pins. Her hair took the longest to make nice when she got ready--it alone took far more time than it was worth, perhaps more than several other preparatory chores did when combined. But she did not mind--she had little else to do with her days. The nights were her busiest hours.

She was not only a ballet dancer but also a woman of the night. A courtesan. A whore, in less fancy terms. Being a dancer was not enough to pay the bills while her sister was in school, and when bad turned to worst she put herself out. Her sister was aware but ignorant--she made a point to pretend that it didn't happen. That her sister just came in late from very good shows and had been demanded encore after encore until she could not perform any more.

Oh, the naivety of youth.

[mush]

((new Day))

Mush took a deep breath as he sat down on the bench. that night with alanna had been wonderful, but the conversation about the future? He... he had been caught so off gaurd. He had no plans for his future, and had made it his project for the day to come up with something. Anything. Just a start, a dream, an ambition, something beyond a pair of new shoes with matching laces. No matter what it was, it would be more than he had at that moment.

[Racetrack Higgins]

((I'll assume Race and Mush are friends?))

Central Park was a usual haunt for Racetrack, but it wasn't too often he came across someone he knew passing the time here. Sure, kids would be selling all the time, but usually newsies avoided it, because there would often be too many kids selling papes at one time and as a result no one really got anything done. But Race had just finished selling, a single paper left over and tucked under his arm. As he walked, he lit a match on the heel of his shoe and lit his cigar. As he waved the match out and took a drag, he noticed Mush sitting on a bench, looking pretty glum. This greatly contrasted how Race usually saw his friend, and it concerned him enough to stop him.

"Why so blue, Mush?" he asked around his cigar, his brow furrowed. "Somethin' eatin' ya?"

[mush]

((I'd say that's a fair assumption. ))

"Heya, Race," Mush said with a small wave. "Yeah," he said in response to his question. "My girl Alanna and I were talking the other night. She asked me what I wanted to after I stopped bein' a newsie. And... I didn't know. Here she is... knowin' what she wants ta do with her life, and here I is... without much of an idea about anything." He sighed again. "I don't wanna disappoint her, let her down and stuff ya know?" Mush sighed again. "It ain't good Race, just wish I could figure somethin' out."

[Racetrack Higgins]

Racetrack listened sympathetically to what Mush had to say. He knew that Mush, of all people, could get a little worked up when it came to girls, and he also knew that Alanna was something special to his friend. Racetrack could very rarely understand what his friends and the other newsboys were going through when they talked about their girls, but he wasn't dumb. He got a thing or to, and could tell people what he thought they should do. Mush told him, "It ain't good Race, just wish I could figure somethin' out."

Race was about to reply, but the question made him think for a moment. No one he really knew had their future planned out ahead of them. Personally, Race didn't think ahead much farther than next week. Now he could see that some kind of direction might be of importance. He set himself down on the bench next to Mush and said thoughtfully, "Ya know you ain't the only one. Ask a lot of these fellas, and they won't even be able t'tell ya where they're sleepin' tomorrow. But is it a thing with girls? Ya know...direction in life?" He had to made sure he understood before he went around giving advice.

[mush]

He nodded. "I'm pretty sure she wants a plan beyond tomorrow, next week, next month! I got no plans. Alanna already knows she wants to be a teacher. She's in school and everything. She's gettin' a start, she's got a future ahead of her, and one of these days she's gonna take a look at me an' realize that she dun want me no more." He didn't even want to think about it, it would break his heart to see Alanna disappear over night.

"I needs a goal in live, a job, a future. Somethin' beyond tomorrow's bread." He shook his head as he hung it again. "She... she's so... so great, and she seemed so disappointed when I told her I didn't really have an ambition in life." He never wanted her to be disappointed in him again. Ever.

[Racetrack Higgins]

"...and one of these days she's gonna take a look at me an' realize that she dun want me no more."

Race knew that Mush was all broken up about all this. He wished he could offer a little more help, but he also knew that he and Mush were sort of in the same boat. Neither of them had much of a father figure to teach them a trade or something like that, and both of their schooling was very limited. As hard as Race thought he couldn't think of anything he would want to do once he stopped being a newsboy. Once you hit eighteen, you were on your last legs. That was when you were expected to go out and do something with yourself...but who knew what that would be?

Race shook his head. "Well...you don't gotta decide on nothin' yet, do ya? Ya still got a couple years 'fore you're a real adult and all. So you don't gotta know yet..." It wasn't an answer. He knew it. He knew that Mush needed something more than that, because Alanna would need something more than that. Race took a drag on his cigar and exhaled slowly, thinking.

"She... she's so... so great..."

Racetrack rolled his eyes a little, and attempted to hide it. He hated when the fellas got all lovey about their girls, especially around him. Not everyone wanted to hear them fall over themselves gushing about their girls. But try telling them that...

"...and she seemed so disappointed when I told her I didn't really have an ambition in life."

"Well, sure, she's disappointed. Girls love to hear ya wanna be President or Mayor or whatever. It makes ya seem like a somebody. When you'se bein' honest and say ya don't know what ya wanna do, any little illusion they got is gone, and the wind's outta their sails." He stopped talking with he realized his little speech wouldn't do much to make Mush feel any better. "But hey. You just gotta...I dunno, Mush, whaddya do when ya got time? I mean, aside from sellin' papes, and your girl, and...sleepin'."

[mush]

He shook his head. "Nothin' I don't do much with my extra time, b'sides hang out with othah newsies, play cards, dice, just relax and stuff... I nevah really thought about the future much."

When you'se bein' honest and say ya don't know what ya wanna do, any little illusion they got is gone, and the wind's outta their sails."

"No, Race," Mush said solemnly. "You're wrong. Ya couldn't be more wrong. Lanna ain't nothin' like that. She's a great girl..." Mush sighed. "I know... I know... ya dun wanna sit here and listen ta me talk... but I can't act 'til I got a idea to act on! And for now, I'm stumped."

Mush looked up and saw a squirrel run across the meadow. A golden retriever dog came over the hill barking at the squirrel. He chased it all the way up a tree until a man came along and calmed the dog and putting it back on a leash. And it was as though all of a sudden Mush had a revelation.

[Racetrack Higgins]

"... I nevah really thought about the future much."

Race didn't blame him. Not many boys he knew thought about their future. In fact, some of them, like Racetrack himself, cringed at the thought and got a sour feeling in the pit of their stomachs. They were all street rats, more or less, and with so little formal schooling (some newsies could hardly read and write, much less to arithmetic and things like that) their future looked very much like their present...living in quarters with a bunch of other down-and-out fellas, working day in and day out for just enough to get yourself fed for the day. Families? Not something Race wanted too badly. But he felt bad for those who did. The family of a fella who used to be a newsboy didn't have a chance.

Cynical? Maybe. But it was what it was.

"You're wrong. Ya couldn't be more wrong. Lanna ain't nothin' like that. She's a great girl..."

Racetrack spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Just sayin', Mush. I ain't sayin' nothin' bad about your girl. Thing is I don't know too many ladies too personal. So I gotta go with what I know." He leaned back in his seat and began puffing on his cigar again. "No kiddin', though, wish I could help ya out a little more that I am..." But it was hard for him to give advice about girls, when he didn't say much more than a hello to any of them.

"I know... I know... ya dun wanna sit here and listen ta me talk..."

"Contrarity," Race said smartly (he had meant to say contrarily but often used big words wrong to sound like he was smart). "I got nothin' better to do, and when I ain't runnin' off at the mouth there's nothin' I like better than to listen to someone else do it. Plus...I like to help out a friend. Gush away, kiddo..."

[mush]

"That's it," he said quietly. "Race, I think I got it... I dunno how I'm gonna do it, but I think I got it."

He had to think about it for a moment, about how he was gonna say it. "Animals," he finally burst out. "I like animals, a lot." Which made sense. Mush was a rather sensitive guy, so it made sense that he would like animals. "I think I could figure out somethin' to do with animals. Walk 'em, take care of 'em... maybe even be like... an animal doctor or somethin'." True, that was a bit of a big dream, but it was somethin' more than he had now. And personally he thought it was a great idea! It was obvious. Animals... He smiled again and chuckled slightly. "Dunno why I didn't see it before."

[Racetrack Higgins]

"Race, I think I got it... I dunno how I'm gonna do it, but I think I got it."

It was apparent to Race that something he had said helped. He looked at Mush applaudingly. "Good going, kiddo." Apparently it wasn't as hard as Mush had been making it out to be. If he could think of something that easily, then it wasn't something to have been fretting over in the first place. Race asked Mush, "Kill the suspence, buddy, and spill. What's your sudden apostraphe...er, epiphany?"

"Animals, I like animals, a lot."

Race's brow furrowed. He didn't understand right away. "Thanks for sharin', kid, good to know. But how in the hell is that gonna--" It came to him, and right away he felt like a moron. "Jeez! Of course! Right, right...so whaddya gonna do about it, eh?"

"I think I could figure out somethin' to do with animals. Walk 'em, take care of 'em... maybe even be like... an animal doctor or somethin'."

Race nodded. "There ya go!" he exclaimed. "Animal doctor. Whaddyacallem. Vetinarians, I dunno. I ain't never seen one before..." Racetrack had never known the joy of having a pet, and he would rather keep it that way. "But there ya go, Mush. Tell her ya wanna be that. That's good as anythin', right?"

"Dunno why I didn't see it before."

"Cause you ain't never thought before," Race said matter-of-factly. "If you don't think of stuff none, ya don't see it even when it's right there, do ya?"

[mush]

Mush had to laugh, Racetrack had a pretty good point. "Well I nevah had ta know b'fore now," he said as a matter of fact. "I really oughta go find 'er, and tell 'er."

But in all honesty he was just glad to stop thinking about it. He took a deep breath, and leaned back on the picnic table and took a deep breath. It felt like a great weight off of his shoulders. "Race, man, thanks," he said. "I think I just needed someone to talk to. So... thanks, I appreciate it."

Even though Racetrack wasn't known for his relationships... he still meant well. B'sides, Mush had to give the guy some credit. After all, he'd come here, talked to him, and helped him out. So, he didn't mind him all that much. Mush thought he needed more good friends like this guy. With more guys like Race around... he wouldn't have any problems ever again!

...maybe that was a bit optimistic. Still he was grateful.

[sally]

"Oi, get off the bench." A kick came from behind the bench, the voice trying to sound a bit annoyed. She had seen the bench before the newsie had; she should be able to sit there if she wanted to. Sally walked around the front putting her hands on her hips. "Get up!"