�I don�t want you sellin� papes today.� I just about jump out of my skin. I look up and find Scrapes standing infront of me.

�Youse got no say in what I will and won�t do.� I warn my brother. He looks at me sharply and can tell he must still be mad at me for going off the night before without anyone with me.

�I know youse wants to do what youse wants to, but till things get cleared up, youse stayin� here.� I�ve never seen my brother so persistent.

�I ain�t stayin� noweres that you tell me, what right do you have.� I say on the verge of yelling at him.

�What do you mean, I made a promise and I�m going to keep it. You�re stayin� here!� he states. His eyes are full of pain, I�ve never seen him so serious in my life.

�Some promise keeper you are, you let me down.� I screamed on the verge of tears.

�What do I have to do to make that up to you, can�t you see I care.� he yells back.

�No, no you don�t. You would have come back for me, you would have come back.� I cried. tears wanted to stream down my face but I held them back with the hate that had built up in me.

�Pet, listen to me!� he demanded as he took me by the shoulders and backed me into a wall slowly as to keep me from running from the truth.

�You called me Pet.� my tension left me. Maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he does care.

As if he hadn�t heard me, he continued on. �I care, I want you to know that...� he started.

I closed my eyes, I couldn�t allow my self to believe him. He left me and he broke his promise. Images ran through my mind of all the heartake he caused me. I couldn�t let him make me think that he cared. �I don�t care!� I screamed. �You left and you didn�t come back. I spent my life alone because you didn�t care.� Tears sprung from my eyes.

He rammed me into the wall and I turned silent. Pain ran through me; I wanted to run but found my self being held back by his firm grasp on my shoulders. He then through me down on an empty bunk. I tried to get up and run but he pinned me down.

�Shut up and listen to me.� He screamed at me as I helplessly lay on the bunk.

�Your hurting me Scrapes, let go!� I cried trying to peal his hands off my shoulders that are pinning me down with all the strength in them.

�I said Shut Up and Listen to me!� he screamed as loud as he could. � If you won�t let me be nice then I won�t be! You�re staying here! You�re not going anywhere! I don�t want you to leave this building!� He stood up leaving me in pain and tears on the bunk. I looked around the room only to find every last newsie staring at me and my brother. I closed my eyes, rolled over on my side so no one could see my face and cried. I don�t know how long I laid there in tears but it seemed like an eternity. �I�m sorry.� I finally heard my brother say. �Pet, please try and understand. I don�t want you to get hurt.� his voice was much calmer and his touch was much softer.

�You called me Pet,� I said again, still not turning so I could see him �why?� I asked.

�Youse me sista� and I want what is best for you. Please try and understand that. I have my reason�s for you stayin� here today and they are in your best interest. If you stay here today, I�ll promise I�ll make it up to ya. Race said that he would stay with youse today so you won�t be alone. Promise you�ll stay.� He said. I turned and looked him in the eye. They were soft, I could see pain in them, almost tears.

�I�ll stay.� I said as I wiped away a tear. He took me in his arms. I closed my eyes and the comfort I felt was that like when he held me when Momma died. I knew I had my brother back. He already made it up to me, there was nothing more in the world that he could do. I saw in him that he was truly sorry and that is all I had wanted.

�Good, I promise I�ll come back right after I take care of some business.� He said. He stood up and all but one newsie followed him out of the room. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched him walk out the door. The sight was all to familiar. Last time he left and promise he would come back, I didn�t see him for eight years.

�So, Ray, what was that all about?� I look across the room and see Race sitting at table with a deck of cards infront of him. I give him a warning look. �I know, I know. I should know better than to ask.� I smile at him and make sure I wipe away every last tear.

�What business is it that Scrapes went to take care of that is so important that I have to stay here?� I ask as stand and head to the table were he is playing with the cards.

�Oh nothin�. Do you want to play poker.� he asks trying to avoid the subject I wouldn�t let go.

�Not until you tell me what it is that I want to know.� I say as I stop infront of him.

�He said not to tell you, you�ll find out if he comes back.� he said beginning to get a little nervous.

�I don�t think you understand,� I say as calmly as I can. I then reach up and carefully place my index finger and thumb under the joint of his jaw bone. I lift my hand up and he rises with it inorder to keep it from hurting too much. �I would like to know were it is my brother is going.�

�Let go, I�ll tell you, just let go.� he pleads as I continue to lift my hand farther that he can stand. I let him go and he falls into a heap on the floor rubbing his sour jaw. �Why do you always do that to me?�

�Well, because you have info I want.� I say leaning down playing like I�m about to put my hand back under his law.

�Wesley.� he says desperately trying to think of what he can say to keep me back.

�What?� I ask stepping back in confusion.

�Wesley, he is Mike and Liam�s cousin. One day, he say you and started saying things he shouldn�t have. Scrapes found out and told him to stop and he wouldn�t. Then Wesley started to try and act on his proposal. We all had to work hard to keep him away from you.�

�What did he say?� I asked not sure how this could lead to something as important as what Scrapes seemed to be worried about.

�He said that he wanted to ...�he paused almost as if ashamed to say what I wanted to know, � to make you his Whore. OK. That�s why Tracks and you�se brudda� was fightin�. Scrapes said he had to help and Tracks said that he only took orders from Spot, so you�se brudda� fought him and then the others chimed in and he got soaked. After you left the Hang out last night, Spot came by and there is gonna� be a big fight this morning and Scrapes said you have to stay far away. He said he was doing it to make it up to you for leaving. Now I don�t know what that means but last night when he said, he ment it. So if he comes back, the least you could do is act like you�re grateful.�

�What do you mean by if he comes back. He is coming back, right.?� I feel my body go numb. I sit back in a chair behind me.

�I don�t know if he will be able to or not Ray.� Race says. He stands up and walk toward the door.

He looks at me waiting for a response, I just sat there, appalled at what I have just heard. �I have to tell him.� I stand up and head for the door. Race stops me with a strong grasp on my are. �Let me go, I have to tell him.� I pull my arm back to punch him, but someone grabs it. I turn to find Hea`ro standing behind me.

�Its ova� kid, he�s gone.� Hea`ro says as Race lets go of my arm and turns away. Hea`ro lets go and I bolt down the stares jumping over the railing, skipping the last four steps. I ran as fast as I could to Greeley square by the distribution office.

�Mark!� I scream as I run up to my brother�s now lifeless body. �Mark, you have to get up! Somebody help my brother, please help us!� I collapse down beside him as tears flow down my cheeks. �I cried when you left, I did miss you. Every place I ever went, I wished you were there with me. Don�t leave me again, I need you, please wake up. Mark Cutstone, I demand you get up. Scrapes, please this isn�t funny any more.� I look up to the many people passing by. �Will someone please help me.� I screamed at the top of my lungs, but no one stopped.

�Come on, lets get youse outa� here.� I hear Hea`ro behind me. �You don�t need to see this.� he tries to help me up but I just push him away.

�Get outa here, leave me alone.� he steps back and soon I hear a voice, a demanding voice.

�Hey Hea`ro, he said nine, so weres da fight, me and my boys came ready to fight.� it said as if ready to jump into action at any moment.

�Its ova.� Beam says as he turns to leave along with most of the other newsies. Soon, only Hea`ro and the owner of this mesmerizing voice remain. I stand up and turn away from my brother�s now lifeless body.

�Whats youse lookin� at, ain�t ya eva� seen a dead guy before?� My heart broke, the fact that I knew my brother was gone was enough to make me want to go with him. I took off down the street at a dead sprint, faster than I had ever had any reason to go before. Not caring were I wound up, I let my feet take me were ever they wanted to go; surprisingly I found my self in the lodging house.

I sat down on the bunk were he had last talked to me. I tuned out the world and think on all I had ever wanted to tell my brother, but now will never get a chance to. I stayed there all day with no expression on my face and to tears in my eyes, I won�t let them. I refuse to let this get to me even though I know it already has.

I�m jolted out of my trance when some one shakes my shoulder. �Youse been there all day, it�s time for youse to get some rest.� I look up, into Hea`ro�s face.

�I need some time to my self.� I start to head for the door, �I�ll be out back.� I head down the stares and out the door to the alley.

�Let me talk to her.� I hear from behind me as I sink into a heap next to the wall still with no way to express the pain I feel. �Youse can�t hold it in forever ya know.� the mysterious young man with a demanding voice says as he pulls me to my feet. I can�t hold back the tears any longer. I let it all out, because I knew he was right; I had tried before. He took me in his arms and let me cry. I hadn�t even seen this young man�s face, but I didn�t care, right now all I needed was someone to let me cry.

�I need to show you some thing.� he says softly. I let go and follow him to the east end of the alley. �I knew youse brudda� vary well. �bout three years age, he was in me territory and was talkin�. He told me about his old man and how he treated him and his sista�. He said he regretted leaving, and he�d do anything to go back and bring you with him. He said if I eva� get a chance to, to tell youse that his mudda� told him �bout those stars. He said with the three in a row, it�s the third one on the right.� he points it out in the vast sky, and I can feel tears coming to my eyes again. �He said that if I eva� gets a chance to, to tell youse that and now I has.� He turns back and starts to head back inside.

�Hey, thanks� he turns back toward me. My chin starts to quiver, and my eyes start to fill up with rears.

�Come�er kid,� he takes a few steps toward me and I back against the wall; he stops. �Want to talk about it?� I sank back into a heap on the ground, and he sits down beside me. I nod my head and work up the gumption to start my story.

Part 3
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