Dear you by Bridget Kathleen (best short novels TXT) 📖

hands in the air, he shouted, "Or else it's time that we STRIKE!"

Evelyn and Bianca were taken back by Racetracks booming voice that reached out to the crowd and it especially impressed Bianca. She blushed at the fact how good he was speaking in front of a crowd like this. And all around them the rest of the Newsies picked up the chant: "STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!" Finally, the chanting stopped as Finn raised his paddle again. A man by the name of Morris Cohen spoke next. He cleared his throat before speaking. "We need to elect officers and plan our strike strategy." he told everyone.

Bianca nominated Racetrack and everyone shouted for the approval. Then another shouted: "Finn Reardon!" and someone in the crowd shouted back, "Who?" "The guy with the paddle." Racetrack and Finn won so easily it was almost silly and so did other boys: Kid Blink, Barney Peters, Crutchy Morris, Abe Newman, and Dave Simons. Kid Blink stood up from the crowd and said, "I'm sending Pulitzer and Hearst a message! Our union will give them twenty-four hours to roll back the wholesale price of their newspapers. If they refuse, we will strike!" Kid Blink then appointed a tough-looking fella as a leader. The boy stood and said, " We can do in any scab newsboy that shows his face. We'se here for our rights and we'se will die defendin' them." The newsies clapped and howleld.

After that meeting adjourned. Racetrack got down from where he stood, laughing. "What's so funny?" asked Finn. With a big smile on his face, Racetrack said, "This was a great day." "You did really well speaking." Complimented Bianca, walking ever closer to him. Evelyn noticed this and held a hand up to her face as she grinned for a few seconds. "Haha! C'mon, Bianca. Let's head back. Thomas and Sybelle will want us home soon." Bianca nodded to this. "Right," she then glanced back over at the boys. "See you tomorrow." she told them.

Thursday, July 20th, 1899

It was still hot the next day and Evelyn and Bianca sipped on some lemonade while walking down the street. Their clothes stuck to their skin and their skirts felt heavier than usual. "I wonder how everything went with the boys." started Evelyn. "Yeah," Bianca agreed. "...I keep trying to remember how the strike actually ends." she suddenly said. Evelyn looked about herself. "Shh! No one is supposed to know. I think the heat is getting to your head." she grinned a little and took another sip from her cup.

Just then they spotted Racetrack walking with Spot. They were across the street talking. From the looks of it the conversation seemed a bit edgy. The girls ran over, calling out the boy's names. As Spot saw Evelyn running to him he thought, "Oh Gods...She actually running towards me." he snapped back to reality and looked back at racetrack who was obviously grinning at Bianca. "Have you heard any word yet?" asked Evelyn. Racetrack shook his head and sighed. "I jus' got done tellin' Spot here what happened. I went to get my papes this mornin' and laid down fifty cents, askin' for a hundred papes...and you know what happens?" The girls stayed quiet. "He gave me back my money and pretty much told me to get outa here."

Spot spoke up then. "We'se thinkin' theres gonna be a strike happenin' real soon. You goils better get on home before things get messy." But it was already too late. There was chanting of "STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!" rolling down the street. "See what I tell's ya? Get home!" said Spot.

There were wagons loaded with newspapers for the uptown, Harlem, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Jersey City Newsies. "Stop the scabs!" Yelled Kid Blink, walking up with a bunch of other newsies following close behind him. The newsies that filled the street charged at the wagons. Evelyn and Bianca watched as the newsies over-ran the wagons, tearing the papers apart. The wagon drivers and scabbers abandond the wagons and started making a run for it, seeing that they were outnumbered. "Nobody's selling these scab sheets!" Racetrack yelled as he ran to help with the tearing and beating. Spot looked to Evelyn and brushed back some of her hair behind her ear. "Go home, Eve." and kissed her on the forehead.

Just as Bianca and Evelyn were stepping back, ready to leave and do as Spot had said, tomatoes started flying. The girls looked to see who had made the first throw and it was Mush, laughing his butt off. Just then policed whistles were shrilled through the air. "Cheese it! Yelled Kid Blink. "It's the cops!" All the newsies ran for it then, including those scabs. Evelyn kept watching right alongside Bianca. She would see Spot from time to time, Watching him swing a fist at a cop to protect either himself or another news boy younger than him. He whipped out his cane and bashed a police right on the knee, making him cry out in pain and fall to the ground. "C'mon, Eve! We gotta go!" cried Bianca, tugging her along. "Right, right!" she said and the two of them hurried back to the house.

When they got back to the house they were so tired from running they plopped their butts right on the front steps, breathing heavily. "I sure hope those boys will be ok." Evelyn said. Bianca snickered. "Hah! They have Racetrackl and Spot to hold them up. They'll be JUST fine." The two girls giggled. Just then a familiar voice said hello, their footsteps getting closer. The two girls looked up and felt their energy drain even more. It was Charles. "What on earth are you girls doing outside on such a hot day? You should be in, taking it easy and drinking lots of water." Bianca stood up and brushed off her skirt. "As a matter of fact, we were just about to do that. C'mon Evelyn." Evelyn stood up soon after and pushed her hair back behind her ears. "Good to see you, Charles." she said rather plainly. Charles smiled. "Yes. The same to you, Miss Evelyn." he looked to Bianca. "And Bianca; mind showing me in?" he asked. "Sure." said Bianca and she walked up the rest of the steps and opened the door. Evelyn walked in first and then Bianca; Charles held the door open for Bianca and went in after her. "Would you like me to get Thomas?" she asked. Charles nodded. "Yes, that would be great." he told her; as Evelyn was walking away Charles called out to her. She slowly turned, waiting. He walked up to her and whispered in her ear. "This is the last time I will warn you about Spot, Evelyn. He's dangerous and poor. You have no future with him...not a good one at least. I beg that you reconsider my offer for your hand." with that he walked away in the direction Bianca had gone to find Thomas. Evelyn scoffed at him and glared after he left. He didn't know a damn thing about Spot and nor was she going to leave him for a creep like Charles. Suddenly, her heart started to hurt; was it because it was possibly true...or for another reason?

Chapter 27: Love me or leave me

 

Spot leaned over the Brooklyn Bridge and took off his hat, running his fingers through his hair. It was a hot Sunday and he had a splitting head ach. There was a cool wind though and it brought him some release from the abusive sun. "Oh wow. Didn't think I'd run into you here." Spot turned and saw a smiling Evelyn, but when she saw his black eye he suddenly realized what she was staring at by the shocked look on her face. "What happened?" she said, coming closer to him. Spot was a bit touchy and stepped back a little but he backed into the bridge. He didn't want Evelyn to worry or touch his eye. "Ah, it's fine, Eve. Really, I'm jus' fine." "Doesn't look like it." she put her hands on her hips, pouting a bit. "I couldn't find you anywhere after the strike. What happened? I mean, I read about it in the paper, but you can never really trust the paper. You're a newsie. What happened?" Spot sighed and put his hat back on. "Well...we certainly made a scene. Hearst has agreed to speek with us newsies. I don't know how well he will listen to us, but a bunch of us are going tomorrow to see him You want to come?" Evelyn was happy that he was asking but that didn't change the fact about his black eye. "I'd like to go, yeah. Bianca will want to also. And I'm sure Racetrack won't mind that at all." the two laughed a little about that. They both knew that Racetrack had a thing for Bianca.

Evelyn's face went back to serious and stepped even closer to Spot. "Charles keeps asking." she told him, taking hold of his suspenders and resting her head on his chest. Spot put his hands on her back, huging her a bit. "What empty promises is he telling you now?" Evelyn leaned away a bit and looked up at him. "The usual. Telling me he can give me a happy life and a well secured one and a good family. Truth is though, I only want you. I want to live with you someday and have a family." Spot took in an even bigger sigh and brushed some of her hair back with his fingers. "I need to show you something." he told her suddenly. He took her hand before she could even say anything. He led her further into Brooklyn. They took a lot of back alleys and less busy streets and even a group of men were gambling with dices, placing money down on the ground. Soon, Evelyn had no idea where they were going but she was trusting Spot every step of the way.

They walked for a good twenty minutes before Spot finally gave in and told Evelyn where they going after the fifth time of her asking. "It's not a pretty place, it's a sad place. I need to tell you the truth." He took her down on finally alley before they walked into a small open area. Patches of tall grass sprawled out about the place, but most of all it was just dirt. There were head stones, some where still intact while others laid practically crumbled. Evelyn looked to Spot, her face looking puzzled. "What...what is this?" "It's exactly what it looks like." he told her. "The truth of what could beome of you." Now she was scared. Spot turned her to face him completely. "You say you want only me. You want to live a life with me and have a family, but I've been doing a lot of thinking and maybe Charles is the better choice for you." Evelyn was shocked to hear this come out of his mouth and she slapped him a little and even more surprised at what she did. Spot ignored the little slap and figured he deserved it for saking this to her. "I cannot promise you a happy future Evelyn.