Part Two: Gloom and Shadows
"Are ya sure ya know what yer doin’?" Swifty asked, lathering his face with shaving cream.
"’Course I do!" Seven answered, cleaning a razor off. "I shaved my dad once when I was nine!"
"When you were nine! Dat was nine years ago!"
Seven turned around and held up the razor. "I still know how ta do it. Deny it an’ I’ll make sure dat you was right."
"Oh, okay. Let’s just get dis over wit, da sooner, da bedder."
"Den sit down an’ lean yer head back."
Swifty did as he was told and braced himself. He knew Seven like the back of his hand, but when it came to shaving, he didn’t have all his trust in her. He closed his eyes as Seven got started. When one side of his face was done, Swifty was stunned to see that Seven had done a perfect job so far.
"Not bad." He said.
"Told ya I’se good at dis."
"But ya ain’t done yet."
"Just shuddup an’ it’ll get done."
Seven began shaving again. When she was halfway done, Swifty interrupted her again.
"Hey," he said, "if ya do a perfect job, why don’t we go out an’ have some fun tomorrah, jus’ you an’ me?"
"Keep quiet, I ain’t done yet. I dunno about dat cuz tomorrah’s Christmas Eve."
"I know. It’ll jus’ be us tomorrah, an’ we’ll have a lotta fun."
"Like what?"
"Well, I know dat der’s a special play dat’s only in town on Christmas Eve."
"A play?" Seven asked, continuing her job. "Won’t dat be a liddle expensive? An’ we ain’t got nuttin’ nice ta wear, eidder."
"Don’t worry! I know a place where we can get in fer free, an’ where we’ll be, no one’ll see us!"
Seven grinned a little bit. "Really? Sounds nice."
"I told ya, only if ya get dis done perfectly." Swifty said smugly.
"Well guess what? I’m done, even wit yer gums flappin’ the whole time."
"Yer done?" Swifty asked in disbelief.
"Test it an’ see."
Swifty rubbed the sides of his face and a surprised look took over. "Holy mackerel, it’s smoother than a baby’s bottom!"
Seven shook her head and chuckled. "I guess yer takin’ me tomorrah, den?"
Swifty took a towel and dried his face off. "Guess so. An’ afta dat, how ‘bout dinner at Tibby’s?"
Seven smiled and put her arms around Swifty. "I’d love it. It’s the perfect Christmas present."
"I know. I was hopin’ ya’d say yes."
Seven smiled some more and the two kissed. When they drew back, Swifty looked a little worried.
"Dat one wasn’t yucky, was it?" he asked.
Seven shook her head. "Nope. No hair ta get in da way!"
The two laughed and sank into another kiss.
* * *
Seven peered around the tree and saw a ball of white flying toward her. She ducked back behind the tree as it whizzed past, just barely missing her. Seven quickly grabbed some snow and formed it into a ball. She quickly threw it and she heard it hit something.
"Hey!" Swifty shouted.
Seven crawled out from behind her tree to another, dodging snowballs as they flew past her. When she was in the safety of another tree, she made a dozen snowballs and chucked them at Swifty. Half of them hit him, so he ducked for cover behind another tree.
Seven saw him waiting, and an idea popped into her head. She ducked down and slowly crawled toward Swifty. He had no clue that she was coming, and Seven couldn’t help but chuckle. She gathered up a huge pile of snow and formed it into a snowball half the size of Les and walked toward Swifty.
When she saw that he didn’t notice her, she dropped it on his head. She turned to run, but Swifty grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. Seven tried to get up, but Swifty had beaten her.
"You shouldn’ta done dat." He said.
Seven shrugged. "Okay, ya beat me."
Swifty smiled. "Well, ya did a good job. Heck, I didn’t see dat snowman coming toward me."
"I’m a pro at dat. So, when do we go to dat play?"
"Think we’d bedder head der now cuz it’s gonna start in a half-hour."
Swifty helped Seven up and they walked toward the theater.
* * *
Seven pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders. "Oh, that play was so sad!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know." Swifty said.
"It was sad, but it was good an’ I liked it."
"Me too. Let’s head ta Tibby’s an’ get some dinner."
"Sounds good to me."
The two held hands as they strolled down the street to Tibby’s. When they arrived, they both ordered hot dogs and sarsaparillas.
"Remembah when we foist met?" Swifty asked after swallowing his food.
Seven nodded. "How could I forget? Da second I saw ya I knew dat you was someone special."
"Four years ago taday. Seems like so much longa den dat."
"I know. Devin was only twelve at da time, an’ remembah how she clung ta my grandma da whole tome?"
Swifty chuckled a little bit. "Yeah. She looked so pale an’ scared. Glad she ain’t like dat anymore."
Seven smiled, and then she coughed a little bit. Swifty didn’t like her cough and he took her hand.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I’se fine, don’t worry."
Swifty still couldn’t help but feel a little worried about her.
* * *
"WAKE UP EVERYBODY! IT’S CHRISTMAS!"
Snipeshooter rushed to the girls’ room and pounded his fist against their door. "HEY! IT’S CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP!"
Seven rolled over. "Oh man. I still din’t get a whole lotta sleep las’ night."
"Chase? Are you okay?" Tweetheart asked.
Seven rubbed her eyes. "I’m fine, except I din’t get a lot a sleep an’ I got a headache."
"Ya don’t look too good."
"I’ll bet, but what the heck? It’s Christmas! Let’s head out ta see what we got."
The two newsgirls got up and left their room. When they were in the bunkroom, they saw a tiny Christmas tree in the corner with some packages underneath.
"Merry Christmas!" the newsboys called out.
Jack came over to Tweetheart and kissed her cheek. He led her over to the tree and Seven trailed behind. As she looked around, she noticed that a few more newsies also looked like they hadn’t had a whole lot of sleep lately. She couldn’t help but feel confused. She smiled when she saw Swifty coming toward her.
"Merry Christmas," he said, handing her a rose.
Seven smiled and buried her nose in the rose’s fragrance. "Thank you."
"You okay? Ya don’t look too good."
Seven sighed. "I didn’t get a lotta sleep las’ night, and I got a headache."
"You gonna be okay?"
"I’ll be just fine."
Jack had made the newsies draw names to see who would buy another newsie a present for Christmas. Seven had drawn Boots, and Swifty had drawn Mush. When they reached the tree, Swifty found Seven’s gift and handed it to her. She opened it up and found a brand new book, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed.
"What’d ya get?" Swifty inquired.
"A book! It’s called ‘Little Women’."
"Way ta go! I think I’ll open mine now."
Swifty tore the newspaper away from his package to see what he got. His eyes also widened when he opened his.
"Holy cow!" he exclaimed.
"What?" Seven asked. "What’d ya get?"
"I got my own tin cup! An’ it’s red, me favorite color!"
Swifty showed Seven his brand new cup and she smiled. "Those things come in handy." She said.
"They sure do. So, ya wanna head down fer some breakfast?"
"Actually, I ain’t hungry."
Swifty gave Seven a puzzled look. "Ya sure yer okay?"
"I’m jus’ fine, Derek."
Swifty placed his hand on Seven’s forehead. "Ya feel a liddle feverish."
"It’ll pass. I’ll be fine."
"No ya won’t. Let’s go downstairs an’ get some food inta yer stomach."
Swifty led Seven down the stairs and to the lobby where Kloppman was serving breakfast and hot drinks. Swifty was surprised to see that a good number of newsies weren’t looking to good themselves. He led Seven over to the desk and gave her a mug of hot chocolate.
"Here, drink dis." He told her.
Seven nodded and forced the sweet concoction down. When she swallowed it, she pulled the mug away from her face and looked up at Swifty.
"It hurt my throat." She said.
Swifty took the mug and gave it to Kloppman. "Den ‘ave some tea."
"I don’t like tea."
"Just take it, awright?"
Seven shrugged but took the cup from Swifty and grimaced as she drank it. Swifty took a roll to munch on and sat down next to Seven. Swifty could hear some newsies coughing a little bit, most of which were also drinking tea.
All of the sudden, on the other side of the room, Mush dropped his cup, which shattered into a million porcelain pieces and spilling liquid all over the floor. Jack carefully stood up and walked over to Mush to see what was wrong, but Tweetheart beat him to it.
"Mush, are you okay?" Tweetheart asked.
Mush blinked. "Make da room stop spinnin’."
Tweetheart placed a hand on Mush’s forehead. "Mush, ya got a fevah. Ya’d bedder head upstairs."
Mush coughed harshly as he lagged up the stairs. Tweetheart looked around the room when something suddenly hit her. A whole bunch of newsies looked sick, including her sister, and she began to wonder if they were all sick.
"Kloppman," Tweetheart said as she walked toward him, "I think we have a problem."
Kloppman nodded. "I think so too. Check all the newsies an’ if they ain’t feelin’ good, send them upstairs. I’ll phone the doctor."
Tweetheart did as she was told and checked the newsies. Out of all of them, Kid Blink, Jack, Jake, Crutchy, Pie Eater, Snoddy and Seven all had fevers. She sent them upstairs and told them to lie down. Tweetheart made sure that Seven took the bunk underneath Jack’s so the doctor wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble with going through the bunkroom to the girls’ room.
All the newsies who weren’t sick and were around Jack’s bunk moved so the doctor could work easier with the sick newsies in their bunks. When everyone was settled in, Swifty walked over to Seven and took her hand in his.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." Seven said, smiling weakly.
"How’re ya feelin’?"
"Not too good."
"Ah, you’ll be okay when da doc gets ‘ere. Ya’ll be fine in a few days, ya hear?"
Seven nodded. "I hear ya, but ya don’t hafta be so upset about it. I’se just a liddle sick, an’ I’ll be well in a few days, like ya said."
Swifty smiled a little bit. "Ya want me ta read ta ya a liddle bit?"
"I’d like dat."
"How ‘bout I read ya dat new book ya got taday?"
"Fine wit me. It’s in my room on my bed."
Swifty got up and fetched her book. When he returned, he pulled up a chair next to the bunk and opened up the book.
"Chapter one. Playing Pilgrims." Swifty cleared his throat and tried to make it sound higher. "’Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug."
Seven chuckled a little bit. "Ya know, Derek, ya’ll hafta read like dat through most of the book."
Swifty kept his thumb in the place and shut the book. "Why’s dat?"
"Cuz most a da characters is girls."
Swifty’s eyes widened. "Well, I’ll just stick wit Jo fer now."
"Nope, dat’s not da right one."
"Why not?"
"Cuz Jo’s a tomboy. Ya should be doin’ dat with Amy."
"Why do I get da feelin’ dat you’ve read dis before?"
"I read da foist few chapters, an’ I neva got ta finish it."
"Want me ta go on?"
"Sure."
"Hey Swifty," said Jack, "would ya speak up? I wanna hear dis too."
Swifty chuckled and shook his head. "Okay. ‘It’s so dreadful to be poor!’ sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress…"
* * *