I woke up, and didn't want to get up. I finally did get up, got dressed, and went outside. It was 9:30 in the morning. I sat on our front steps, and shivered. It was cold outside this morning. I decided to take a walk, and hoped it wouldn't start to rain. The clouds threatened. I walked along the road, and I found a frog! It was missing a front foot, those dumb boys probably took it off. Poor thing! It couldn't live here, in the middle of New York. I picked it up, something most girls would never do. It was still alive! Good. "Oh, you poor thing." I told it. Stupid Marie, frogs don't understand that. I walked a little while longer, and looked up. I was lost! I had no idea where I was! I looked around, and suddenly 3 newsies appeared. Wow, I'd never, ever, before yesterday thought about newsies and now I was always running into them. I recognized one as Race, who'd listened to me at Tibby's yesterday. The other two I didn't recognize, and one had a patch on one eye. "Wow, Race, ain't it yoa' lucky day." whispered the one without an eye patch to Race. I guess he didn't know I had very good ears. "Ya need a paper?" asked the one with an eye patch. "Sure." "Well, buy it from me buddy Racetrack hea'. He'd be happy to sell it to ya." he said. I handed Racetrack a penny and he gave me a newspaper. "What the heck is that?" asked Race, pointing to the frog in my hand. "It's a frog. What did you think?" "Gross, it's missing a foot!" cried the one with the eye patch. I felt a raindrop on my head, and then it started to pour. "Oh no!" I cried. I put the newspaper I just bought on my head, but it didn't really matter. I was soaking wet, and scared. Where was I?
How nice it was to get out of the rain! But I was still wet, and I was still scared, and I still didn't know where I was. I was in the newsboys lodging house! Yes, I followed Racetrack and the two others, (who I later learned were named Kid Blink and Jack) and ended up here. I was talking to the newsgirl, Lynn, and she really did have a lot to say. "I thought 'e was mine! But den dat little Angela DeLanci came along, and she, and she..." She was talking about the newsboy Jack. I looked at Jack, and wondered if he was worthy of a fight over him. No, not really. He was very cute and all, very cute, but he was a NEWSBOY! Hey, Marie, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for newsboys. Your dad was a newsboy! Oh yeah. (Sorry, I talk to myself a lot.) "And anyways, Angela ain't dat pretty! And she ain't dat nice! She's just rich. I neva' knew Jack was so shallow as to go for a rich girl!" "Ya talkin' bout me Lynn?" asked Jack, "I thought I heard me name." Lynn blushed. "What else did ya hea' me say?" "Nuttin. Why, Lynn, were you makin' fun 'a me?" "No! Why would I make fun of you?" she asked indignantly, but then smiled. "Oh Mar-iee... look over in dat direction. Somebody's starin' at you." whispered Lynn. I turned quickly and saw Race looking at me. Then, very ashamed, he looked away and saw a laughing Kid Blink. "Who you laughin' at, cyclopse?" said Race. Kid Blink kept laughing. "It ain't dat funny, stupid." whined Racetrack. "Yes it is!" I laughed. I think Race wanted to fall into the floor where nobody could see him. Poor Racetrack! I laughed in spite of myself. "Anybody for a game 'a dice?" he quickly changed the subject, pulling some dice out of his pocket. "How 'bout cards?" He had a deck of cards, too. Jack, the nice guy he is, understood Race's situation and played cards with him. Race looked very relieved. Suddenly, the door burst open. It was my dad. "Have any of you seen my daughter Mar- There you are. Get over here, young lady." I guess my dad working for the newspaper was a disadvantage to me.
Pacing. That's how I spent an hour of my prison-time. Pacing around my room. Watching
people go by out my window. My window! Aha! I opened up my window. "Hi Lynn!" I
cried. Lynn was out there! "Hi Marie. Why don't ya come outside?" "Because I'm stuck
in here for a whole stupid week! A whole week!" I grumbled. "A week! Whatija do?"
"Nothing too horrible. I left one morning and took a walk and came to your lodging
house and talked 'cause it was raining and they LOCKED ME IN HERE FOR A WHOLE
WEEK! I can't leave the house!" For a fleeting second I wished I were like Lynn. Being
able to come and go when I please, nobody caring about me or what I do. "well, Marie,
I's got papes to sell, m'sorry but I gotta go. Good luck!" Lynn walked away. I
considered screaming "No! Come back! I'll die in here!" but I figured somebody might
take me seriously. About dying. Maybe they'd be happy.... nah. I dragged a chair over to
my window and watched people go by. I watched for people I knew. "Brooke!" I cried,
as I saw her. She was a friend who lives around here. "Brooke! Come over here!" She
came. "Brooke, my parents won't let me out of the house." "Why?" "I went to the
newsboys lodging house when it was pouring rain, and my parents got mad." "You went
WHERE?" Brooke looked shocked. "The place where the newsboys live." "You went to
a big room full of BOYS with no money, parents, or anything else for that matter?"
"Well, kinda. Yeah I did." "Gross!!!! Umm... I hear Lindsay calling me. See ya around
Marie!" Brooke walked away. I sat again, looking out my window. Boy, I would die if it
wasn't for that window. A paper airplane flew by my head. It was made from a sheet of
newspaper. I picked it up and unfolded it.
"Por yo. Al loked up in yer rom! Race is so sad sinse yo mad fun of him
ystrday. He likes yo. Wel, tok latr. From Lynn."
I took out a pen and wrote a note back to Lynn.
"Tell Race that I am sorry. I know he likes me. I'm not as ignorant as you
think! Thank you for writing me a note. I think I'd die in here if I didn't have someone to
talk to. From Marie."
I looked out the window for Lynn but she wasn't there anymore. I saw Racetrack, Mush,
and Pie Eater walking along. "Hey, guys! Give this to Lynn! Don't read it!" "We'll give
it ta 'er. We won't read it." said Mush. I handed it to Mush, and they walked away. Then
Race snatched it from Mush and... oh no! He read it out loud! "Tell Race I am sorry?
Apology accepted, Marie! What are you sorry for?" He and the other two laughed. "'I
know he likes me. I'm'- WHAT?'' Mush and Pie Eater laughed really, really hard. Pie
Eater fell over. "Hey, Pie Eata', I'll tell Lynn about you likin' her! She doesn't like you ya
know!" Pie Eater laughed at this. "She already knows, and maybe she does like me." he
informed Race. He and Mush continued to laugh at him. He turned around and ran back
to my window. He scribbled a note on the one Lynn and I had been talking on. He threw
it into my window.
"Yo cant sa I like you. Yo dont no if its tru or not. I nevr sed that. Lyn is dumb
if she thinks she nos anethin about stuf like that."
I laughed. Race never DID tell me if he liked me or not in that note. Well, even if he did I
wouldn't really care. He's just a newsboy.
"And then I wrote a letter back to you. I don't really remember what it said, just like 'tell Race I'm sorry, I know he likes me, thanks for writing the note, from Marie'. Well, not those exact words, but you know." I was talking to Lynn again out my window. Explaining the whole funny story. "I told Mush, Pie Eater and Race to bring the note back to you and CERTAINLY NOT to read it. But, of course, Race started reading it- out loud!" Lynn and I cracked up. "When he got to the part about 'I know he likes me' I thought he would die! Mush and Pie Eater laughed their heads off." "DEY DID?" "No, their heads didn't fall of but they laughed really hard. And then Race threatened Pie Eater. Did you know that he likes you and he thinks you like him?" Lynn's eyes popped out. " 'e thinks I's likin' him? Well, he's ok but but but but-" "Lynn it's fine. It doesn't matter." I heard foot steps coming to my room. "Lynn....umm... leave!" "Why?" I racked my brain for something to tell her that meant "leave right now." "Umm....cheese it!" I said to her. Lynn cheesed it. My mother walked into my room. I put my most ashamed, depressed, lonely look on my face as I could. Tried to look as if I had been sitting in my chair all day, depressed and bored. It worked. "I thought I heard you talking to somebody, Marie!" Ooh, tough one. "No, mom, I wasn't talking. I was.... singing." My mother rolled her eyes and left my room.
Second day. Oh my was I ever bored! People rarely walked by. My mother yelled at me
when she discovered that I'd been talking to NEWSBOYS out of my window! Oh my,
how horrible! I sat on the floor, drawing pictures of things. The first was a self portrait,
and then a drawing of Lynn selling a newspaper. It really looked like her! I added her
newsie-hat, and then filled in the headline on her paper. "Marie's locked up for life!"
When I looked up, Lynn had dropped a note in my window.
"Hi times, hard times
sumtimes the livin is swet
and somtims thers nuthin to ete
but I alwas land on mi fet
Jack taut me that. His frend sings it as a song, but I coudnt rite musick on papr, so I rote
it as a poem. I think rite now yo ar havin a hard time. It aint so hard, tho. Thay coud
hav thron yo on the stret to liv thare. Race toled me yo wer a good artist. I dont no how
he nos that. Maybee yo can draw a pichure so you aint so bord. From Lynn."
I smiled. Lynn, you read my mind. I picked up the picture of her and folded it in half.
Jack walked by my window. "Hey, Jack, you want to give this to Lynn? It doesn't really
matter if you read it or not." Jack smiled. "Ok. I won't read it though. Race read one 'a
dese befoa' and he was real embarassed. Not dat you'd write anythin' like dat about me,
but- oh, there's Lynn." He went and handed the picture to her. I sighed. Nobody to talk
to, nothing to do.
Well, I won't bore you with my entire week of punishment. Lets just say I came out barely alive. I ran outside. "Wow! It's so bright out here! Ah, the sun! I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! Yahoo!!!! The air is so fresh out here! I can breathe!" I cried, running around in circles. It was so nice to be outside. "Marie, quit it!" called my mother to me. But I didn't care. I noticed a basket of cherry-tomatoes by the side of the road. Tomatoes? Maybe it was from someone's garden. I had a little argument with myself, and then grabbed one. I threw it into the air and caught it in my mouth. "Hey, you'd better pay for that!" cried the person who obviously grew them. "Sorry! Got no money!" I cried as I ran from her. I was in a really strange mood, if you couldn't tell. I did a cartwheel, but suddenly I fell and landed on my head. I blacked out.
I woke up to a splash of cold water on my face. "Graughhh!" I screamed as I sat up abruptly. "Told ya it would work!" cried Lynn with a look of pride on her face. I looked around and noticed Lynn, my brother, Racetrack, Mush, and Brooke crowding around me. "Phew!" said my brother, "she's not dead!" Everybody laughed. "What happened?" I asked. "I don't know. We found you here on the sidewalk. I thought you were asleep." said Lynn. Yeah, Lynn, I was sleeping on the sidewalk in New York. I didn't SAY that, but I thought it. I stood up slowly, but I was very dizzy and fell over. I smashed into Racetrack. If I ever wanted to disappear, it was now. He was getting the wrong idea. I didn't like him that way. Not the faint-into-his-arms way. He blushed red. I blushed redder. Lynn laughed at me. "Gosh I'm sorry Racetrack! I think I need to sit down." I walked dizzily over to a bench and sat down. Lynn laughed hysterically. She came and sat down next to me. The crowd left. She kept laughing. "Oh, Marie, dat was so sweet. You fell into his arms." "Lynn, say one more word and die. I didn't mean to do that! I really, really didn't. It wasn't his arms, I just.... I just... I smashed into him!" I wanted to melt into the city streets, and live there forever. I didn't though. Nope, I was still on the bench with Lynn. Racetrack walked over to us. NOW I wanted to melt. "You okay, Marie?" he asked. Lynn exploded with laughter. "I'm fine. Sorry for smashing into you." He blushed and mumbled out a "dat's ok." He walked away. Lynn kept laughing. I wanted to smash her to bits. Quit laughing at me! After a while, she did. We talked a little while longer. "Dat was a good pictcha' dat you drew when you was trapped in your room. It looked like me." "Thanks."
"Hi Marie!" said Lynn. It was the day after the little fainting-thing, and I was a little bit scared to go outside. My brother had told my parents about finding me "dead", and they weren't happy. "Be more careful, Marie!" So now I was being careful. I was not going to faint and smash into the guy who likes me. No I would not. "Feelin' betta'?" asked Lynn with a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, feeling better but still embarrassed. Did Racetrack say anything?" "He thought it was funny." Lynn tried to keep a straight face but she could not. I groaned. Pie Eater walked over to us. Mush was not far behind. "Hi Lynn," said Pie Eater, "Hi... umm... what's yoa' name again?" "Marie." "Oh, so YOU'RE Marie! I've hoid a lot about ya!" He had? "I've neva met ya. Just remember that whole thing with the letter to Lynn about Race. Dat was pretty funny!" That WAS pretty funny, but I didn't say anything. Pie Eater stood by Lynn. Hmm... Mush walked over, "Hi Lynn and Marie." Pie Eater laughed. "Ya didn't say 'hi' to ME, Mush." "I already said 'hi' ta ya... I think." We all laughed at that. I felt like I was with old friends or something. Something about the newsies... I don't really know what it was. They were just so... nice! And my parents completely disapproved of me being friends with them. Even though my dad was a newsie. Weird. "Do you want to hear something weird?" I asked them. I didn't wait for an answer. "My dad used to be a newsie! And he really doesn't want me to be friends with you guys!" "Why not?" asked Lynn. "I don't know!" I cried. "What don't you know?" asked Kid Blink, who was walking with Racetrack. Gosh, these newsies certainly liked listening to other people's conversations. "Oh, nothing." I told them. We talked for a little while longer, and then Pie Eater and Mush had to go get lunch. I wasn't hungry. Lynn was too tired. Kid Blink and Racetrack had already eaten. The four of us were deep in conversation, when suddenly we looked up and saw horses running very quickly, straight at us. They were pulling a cart, and running to a fire to put it out. "MOVE!" screamed Kid Blink, and Race shoved Lynn and I over to the curb. He didn't need to do that. I think we could have moved ourselves. I fell over onto the sidewalk, crashing into a food vendor's cart and scraped my knees. Lynn fell too. When the horses had passed, I looked around. Things were spilled everywhere. And when I looked at my arm, which was in great pain, I knew for certain that it was broken. Lynn stood up. The knees of her pants were ripped, and she was bleeding. Race looked at her. "Oh my gosh, Lynn, I am SO sorry! I was just trying to not let the horses kill you." "It's fine, Race. Ouch..." she looked down at her knees. I lay there, not moving. "Marie, are you okay?" asked Lynn, as she stooped over me. I was not okay. I had a broken arm and was scraped all over. "No." I answered. "Oh, gross, look at her arm!" cried Lynn. Thanks a million, Lynn. You always know the perfect thing to say. My arm did look weird though, there was an enormous bump on it. Racetrack looked at me, lying on the ground with my funny- looking arm and the scrapes all over my legs. "Marie... I didn't mean ta... break your arm." "Of course you didn't mean to. I would have either gotten a broken arm, or a horse's foot inside of me."
I was now on Lynn's bunk in the newsies lodging house. I could hardly move. Lynn, Racetrack, and Kid Blink had carried me all the way here. Not that it was very far. "I'm so sorry...." said Racetrack for about the tenth time. He looked like he might cry. "It's not your fault." I told him. "Oh, who's fault is it den? Lynn's?" said Racetrack. "It AIN'T my fault!" cried Lynn. We all sat in silence. Lynn and Blink feeling bad for Racetrack and I. Racetrack feeling bad for me. Me feeling bad for myself. I didn't want to move. Jack walked in. "Hey dere Race and Lynn and Blink, and- oh my. What happened to you?" "I hurt myself." I told him. "I could tell." "You're dad is gonna be pretty mad when he finds you hea', Marie!" said Lynn. Lynn, you are a good friend. I feel so much better now. Race walked over to Jack and they started talking. "Uh, Marie, where do you live? Ya need ta get home before your parents find ya here. Oh man am I sorry. I didn't know you'd break your arm!" Race said. "I don't know where my house is from here. Race, you and Lynn have been there before, though." I told him. Jack raised an eyebrow at Race. "Ya have?" he asked. Race glared. Lynn and Blink laughed. I would have, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to move. "Umm... Marie? Can you walk?" "I guess I could. Maybe." I tried getting up. "Owww." my legs were so scraped and sore. My arm was killing me. I made no progress in getting up. Lynn and Jack helped me up, and I stood in a ton of pain. My arm was throbbing. I could not bend my knees. I walked slowly over to the door, not bending my knees. I tripped on an elevated board, and I fell over. I screamed something unrepeatable. Race, Blink, and Jack turned to stare. I guess girls shouldn't have foul mouths. But I don't! Lynn pulled me onto my feet again, pulling my uninjured arm. So now they both hurt. I took two steps. "Guys, this is gonna take forever. Can I just stay here until... my dad comes? I know he'll come here to look for me." I frowned as I pictured the look on his face. "If ya want." I walked slowly back to Lynn's bunk and sat on it, with my legs straight out in front of me. Pie Eater walked into the lodging house. "Hey guys! Didja here about dat fire? I hoid it killed a ton 'a people. The firefighters just couldn't come fast enough!" "Oh Pie Eater! They came plenty fast!" I cried. "Yeah..." agreed the other newsies. Pie Eater then noticed me. "Oh disgusting! What happened to your arm?" "You are just like Lynn!" I told him. "I AM?" he asked, with a strange look on his face. Lynn smiled. "No you're not, Pie Eater." she said to him. Race, Blink and I exchanged a glance. Lynn and Pie Eater just laughed, although Pie Eater looked a little bit puzzled. Racetrack stared into space. For a little while there, I forgot about my broken arm, but then it reminded me it was still broken. "Ouch..." I said, looking down. "What did happen?" asked Pie Eater. "Oh, those firefighters who just couldn't come fast enough? They have really fast horses. And.. I got shoved out of the way so the horses wouldn't kill me. No names." "Oh please tell names!" Pie Eater looked tortured. So did Racetrack. I didn't tell names. Pie Eater would live, I guess. But Lynn told names. She whispered it to him. "YOU DID?" he cried, staring at Racetrack. "I.... I moved both of them, Lynn and Marie." "You moved them, did you?" Pie Eater looked at Lynn, who's pants were torn, and her knees were scraped. He looked at me. "Poor both of you." he said to us.
I waited for my parents to look for me here. For an hour. 2 hours. Certainly they must be worried about me by now! "Hey, Lynn, you know where my house is, right?" "Yeah." "Could you go tell my parents where I am?" "Sure." Lynn walked away, leaving me alone with Pie Eater and Racetrack. (Jack and Blink had left.) Pie Eater watched her leave. "Quit starin' at her, ya moron!" Racetrack told Pie Eater. "I wasn't starin'!" We all sat for a while, not talking. After a while, a pale, scared Lynn returned followed by my angry mother. "Marie!!!! What happened to you?" "I broke my arm." She glared at the newsies, who 'must have hurt her precious daughter'. Lynn still looked scared. Racetrack looked terrified. Pie Eater looked about as scared as Lynn. Lynn and Pie Eater helped me up, and I stood, scared of what might happen. Would she yell at the newsies? No, she just kept glaring at them. "Mom.... they're my friends." I thought she would scream. I followed her out of the lodging house, slowly of course. By the time we got home, after a long time, I thought she would explode. Once we were inside, she started The Long Talk. "Marie, these newsboy friends-" "They're NEWSIES! Not newsBOYS!" "These newsboy friends are putting bad ideas into your head." "Yeah, mom, they told me how wonderful it was to have a broken arm." "A doctor costs money, Marie. If you had made the right decision about who are your friends and who are not, this wouldn't have happened." Ooh, I didn't really know what to say to that. "If it wasn't for the newsies I would be dead on the road, trampled by a horse. Would you like that? Umm.... mom? My arm really really hurts. And so do my legs." "We'll take you to a doctor, Marie. But please, don't spend so much of your time with those newsboys." "You spent YOUR time with newsboys! You married one!" She rolled her eyes. "Marie, you can NOT marry a newsboy." "Maybe I will! You did! No, really, they're just my friends."
There I was, lying in bed. I'd gone to that 'oh-so-expensive doctor' and he'd put some funny splint on my arm. I learned that my legs weren't only scraped, but BURNED! It was kind of like a rope-burn, but it was a road-burn. So I was bedridden until I healed. I spent my time doing some strange things. I tried drawing with my right hand, the arm that was not broken, but I'm left handed. The pictures looked kinda funny. When my parents were not there, I could talk to the newsies through that wonderful window. It was Lynn most of the time.
My arm was still broken. My legs still hurt. So why was I dancing around like a maniac,
looking pretty stupid with my injuries? Because my parents had finally let me have a party
with my friends for my birthday! I'd never had one before. They laid down the law,
though- no boys. I'm sure they felt pretty special, giving me a rule that said "no boys" but
REALLY meant "no newsboys." As soon as they gave me that rule, a thought popped
into my head. What about Lynn? I mean, what the heck, she IS kind of a newsboy but
she is not a boy. All I'd have to do was.... get her some decent clothes to wear. Fix her
hair. Then they'd never recognize her as "Lynn, that newsgirl".
**To part 2!**