The Challenge By: Sunny Chapter One As I stepped out of the train station I could feel my jaw hit the ground. I could also hear my brother say "Lily your eyes are shimmering" , but I wasn’t listening. I was too busy looking around. Manhattan. Wow! It was so big but not as magnificent as I thought it would be. My brothers and I had decided to move to Manhattan after living in Savannah for four years. My brothers are both older than me. My oldest brother’s name is Nat (short for Nathaniel) he was 18. My other brother’s name is Eric, he was 16. My name is Lillian, but everyone calls me Lily. I was 14. The year was 1896 and it was April. Our parents died when I was 8. We lived on a small farm in rural Georgia. My brothers and I did the best we could keeping the farm running but there was a drought . So we sold every thing and went to Savannah. We ended up selling fliers(newspapers) and I guess that’s what we planned on doing in Manhattan. As we gathered all of our stuff together I heard someone behind me shout "EXTRA, EXTRA TROLLEY PRICES ARE RAISED!! ARE YOU BEING ROBBED? READ ALL ABOUT IT!!" I turned to see a boy who looked my age selling fliers. I went up to him and said "Your good, mind if I try?" He looked kind of confused but gave me a paper anyway. I flipped through and found an article about alley cats and how bad they were getting in the city. I held up the paper and shouted "ALLEY CATS SPREAD DEADLY DISEASES!" A man stopped and paid me a nickel for the flier. I handed the nickel to the boy. He stood in awe and said "I’ve never gotten that much for a pape. How did you do that?" My brothers started to walk over as I replied " A lot of practice." He smiled and introduced himself. " My name is Anthony Higgins but you can call me Racetrack, everyone else does besides da bulls." He laughed at his own remark and my brothers and I smiled. Nat spoke up and said " We’re the Harrels. I’m Nat, he’s Eric, and that’s Lily." We all shook hands and Nat ask Racetrack where he got his newspapers. " At the distribution office. It’s too late to go and get papes now, but I’ll take you to the place that all the Manhattan Newsies hang out after "Carryin’ the Banner " " Racetrack replied, "I just have to finish sellin’ my papes" My brothers and I looked at each other and smiled. We took the 15 papers he had left and split them up among the three of us. Then we set to work and within five minutes we were all back and all together had earned 35 cents. We handed the money back to Race track. He seemed impressed, of course we love to show off anyway. He led the way to a small restaurant called Tibby’s. He opened the door and the entire room went silent. There were at least 20 boys surrounding a table in the middle of the room. One boy stood up. Racetrack said "Boys, these here are da Harrels theys from Georgia and trust me Jack, they can sell papes." The one that he called Jack was the one that stood up. He walked over to us and looked at all three of us from head to toe. Then he spit in his hand and stuck it out at us to shake. "My name is Jack Kelly" he said. I looked up at my brothers . They didn’t to know what to do so I stepped in. I spit in my hand and I shook his hand. "My name is Lily," I said "and these are my brothers Nat and Eric." Jack Kelly looked surprised but seemed satisfied. He replied to Racetrack "I like em". We stayed for a little while and we were introduced to every Newsie in the entire place. I was getting really tired so I yawned to hint to Nat that it was time to start heading out or else I was probably going to just go to sleep right then and there. He got the point and said "Well it’s about time that we start to head out." Jack asked "Do yous guys have a place to sleep tonight?" "Yes." Nat lied. And after a long goodbye and a see yall later, which they laugh at, we left Tibby’s knowing that we had been accepted and could start selling fliers whenever we wanted to. That night we slept in a cheap hotel that we had found. "Tomorrow, while yall are selling papers I’ll go looking for an apartment to live in" Nat said. "We’re not going to be able to pay for an apartment just selling papers." Eric said very worriedly. " Well, it’s going to be a challenge," Nat said, " and we all know that we love a challenge." "Why can’t we live with the Newsies?" I asked. "Because I’m not comfortable with you living with all of them. I’m not saying that they’re the kind of guys that would do anything stupid but I just wouldn’t feel right about." Nat said. "Same here." Eric pitched in. It made me laugh the way that he said it and that question was answered. We all fell asleep as soon as we hit our pillows but we slept knowing that what lied ahead of us for tomorrow and however long we were going to stay in Manhattan would be hard, but we were ready. Chapter Two Well, we found an apartment and for a good price. We all sold papers in the morning and in the afternoon/ evening. Nat and Eric had another job each. Nat was an usher at the Met and Eric was a waiter at a fancy restaurant. Soon after we had settled in the Newsies gave us nicknames as they did to everyone who became a Newsie. I was called Sunny because I always smile and I was very happy to be so fortunate. Nat was called Flash because he could sell 200 papes in less than two hours, trust me that’s fast. Eric was called Waiter because he made the mistake of wearing his waiter uniform into Tibby’s one time and everyone gave him a hard time about and it just kind of stuck with him. Time past fast and a year and a half went by. It was now winter and it was much colder than the last winter we had encountered. Everyone did their best to keep warm. One day Eric came down with a fever , a very bad fever. I stayed home to try to nurse him back to health, but nothing I did brought the fever down. After a week of trying to bring down the fever Nat called for a doctor. The doctor took a while to examined Eric. Nat and I waited outside the room. The doctor finally came out. "He’s bad, real bad. The fever is too high and strong. There’s nothing I can do besides give him some medicine to make him feel a little better. I’m sorry." the doctor said. We thanked him for coming and he left. My eyes filled with tears. So much had already been taken away from us. Now our brother. We did everything we could to make him comfortable. Eric was at peace. "I’m not afraid," he would say "I know where I’m going. I’m going to be with Mama and Papa." The Newsies did what they could which wasn’t much. Every once and a while they would have some extra money to give us. I had become very close to Racetrack, Jack, and two other Newsies named Kid Blink and Mush during the time we had been in Manhattan and they did their best to comfort me. Racetrack would walk with me to a church every day and stayed with me when he could. Nat worked three jobs now. He sold 300 papes, ushered people to their seats at the Met and took Eric’s place as a waiter. I stayed at home with Eric most of the time and just sat with him. One morning I was bringing him his grits, which were the only thing he would eat, when I all of a sudden dropped the bowl. Eric wasn’t breathing. A slight smile was on his face. He was dead. He looked so peaceful. I, on the other hand, went into hysterics. I ran out of the apartment building and ran as fast as I could to what I thought was the direction of the distribution center. My eyes were so full of tears that I could barely see. I bumped into someone and fell down. "Sunny!," it was Kid Blink " what’s the matter?" "Eric is dead." I stuttered. He helped me up and led me to the nearest bench. "Stay here." he said. He was soon out of sight. I sat there with my head in my hands for what seemed eternity. He returned with Racetrack and Jack. Racetrack ran to me and embraced me and allowed me to sobbed. " We’ve sent some of the guys to find Nat." Jack informed me. We walked to the apartment. Jack and Kid Blink went for the doctor and Race stayed with me. We sat there and he just tried to comfort me. Jack and Kid came back with the doctor much faster then I thought it was going to take. Mush was with them. "We can’t find Nat anywhere." Mush said. Just then there was a knock on the door. I got up to answer it. Right there at my door was the famous Spot Colons. His hat was in his hand. "Um. . . Miss Sunny . . . I know where you’re your broddar is." he said. He almost seemed afraid of me. "Ya see, I guess he was trying to find a new sellin spot and well he kind of wandered into my territory and I didn’t know who he was so I had my boys soak him and we kind of broke his leg but besides that he’s ok. One of my guys recognized him and well I’m so sorry." He was really sorry. I had known that Spot was a "piece of lead" type of guy who had no emotions. "It’s okay Spot," I said some what relieved that Nat wasn’t dead. "Where is he?" I asked. "He’s at a hospital in Brooklyn, but we can get him transferred over to a hospital here in Manhattan." Spot replied. Nat was okay and was soon with me in our apartment. The undertaker came to prepare Eric’s body. We were going to go back to Georgia and bury him with our mama and papa. When everything was ready we found a ourselves at the train station saying good bye to our close and only friends we had made. Most of the Newsies weren’t there. They couldn’t afford not to sell for one day. Jack, Racetrack, Kid, Mush, and Spot Colons saw Nat and I off. I shook hands with Spot and gave Kid, Mush , and Jack a hug. I couldn’t bare to leave Racetrack. He was my closest friend. I hugged him and said " I’ll miss you." "I’ll miss you more." he said. "I promise I’ll find a way to come back." I said. " You better." Jack said. I helped Nat get onto the train. As the train left the station I said " I don’t know how I’m going to get back." Nat sighed and said "Well, it’s going to be a challenge and you and I know that you love a good challenge." And with that we watched Manhattan disappear over the horizon. Chapter 3 As I stepped off the train I could almost hear my brother say "Lily your eyes are shimmering!" as he had 4 years ago. I was now 18 and had gone form being a scrawny tom- boy to a slender, tall young lady. I had come back to Manhattan because I had been offered an acting job. I was pretty good. I had performed down in Savannah and now I was back to the city I use to know so well. It was just me so I got all my luggage and my purse. My hair pin decided to fall out at that moment so I put down every thing to adjust it. I was fixing it when I heard someone yell, " Mayor visit Brooklyn!!! Read about it!!!" I turned around and there was a boy selling newspapers. I had never met him or seen him but I knew he had to know Racetrack and Jack. I went over to him and said, "Your really bad at that. Mind if I help you out?" He looked really embarrassed by what I said, but he agreed. I whispered what I wanted him to say in his ear. He then yelled "MAYOR GOES TO BROOKLYN MOBS MAKE SECURITY COME IN. THREE IN THE HOSPITAL AFTER RIOT!!!!!" A woman stopped and bought the newspaper from him for 4 cents. He looked more surprised than Race did the time I had helped him. "Wow," he said, " you do that often?" "Not for a long time," I said, " Do you know where I can find a Mr. Jack Kelly?"( I knew he had to know who Jack was if he sold in Manhattan) I began to act very snobbish. "Sure I do. May I ask who wants to know?" He asked. "You’ll find out soon enough." I said trying very hard not smile. "That was my last pape so I’ll take to him." He didn’t sound like a Newsie but I trusted him. He introduced himself as David Jacobs and that was the extent of our conversation. He picked my luggage up and led the way. I knew exactly where we were going, Tibby’s. When we got there it was all still the same. As we walked in the entire room fell silent. A tall handsome young man stood up and walked over to me. It took me a second but I realized that it was Jack. He came up to me and took my hand and asked " To what do we owe the honor of such a beautiful woman joining us here in this wonderful establishment?" with that he kissed my hand. I yanked my hand away very snobbishly and said "If you are going to address a lady please do it right." I took of my glove, spit in my hand and stuck it out for Jack to shake. He shook my hand and than realized who I was. He picked me up and twirled me around. "OH MY GOD IT’S SUNNY!!" he said. There was a rush and I was soon surrounded by every Newsie asking me all kinds of questions. "Why are you here?" "I got a job acting." "Where’s Nat?" "He got married and moved to Colorado." "How are you?" "I’m doing great." "Awlright, awlright give her some room." Kid Blink was taking charge. He leaned in and gave me a hug. " Where’s Racetrack?" I asked. "He’s at the track. He had a good sellin day." Jack said. I stayed and chatted with all of them for almost an two hours. I was beyond the point of tired and was leaning on the line of exhaustion. " Well yall, I better get going I have a bit of a walk to make to get to my apartment." I said. " Not with out saying hello to me first." It was Racetrack. He was taller but still very much the boy I grew so fond of. I ran over to him and he embraced me like he had done so many times before. It was still the same strong embrace. He said he would help me with my luggage and escort me to my apartment. So I said goodbye to all the Newsies and Racetrack and I walked out of Tibby’s with his arm around me and both of us carrying luggage (a girl has to be prepared for anything and must have the right outfit to match it). We walked uptown to the apartment building I was going to live in with a fellow actress that I had met once named Tessera Bone’ (pronounced: bon- neh). We got to the apartment and I opened the door. Tessera, Tessie, wasn’t there so I told Racetrack to set down the luggage. He walked over to me while I was taking down my hair from the hat it was pinned in. "I missed you." he said. He put his hand on my cheek. "I missed you more." I said. Before I could laugh at my own joke he kissed me. When we finished he said, "Sorry, but I’ve been wanting to do the for the past 4 years." "It’s okay," I said, "I didn’t try to stop you." "Sunny, will you be my girl?" he asked. He looked so sweet and loving. "Not yet Racetrack. Let me get settled in first. I mean I haven’t even seen the theater I’m going to work at and I have to move in here and Ugh!! Now I know how Nat felt when we first came here." I said. He looked hurt but he smiled. "As long as I know that yous my girl." he said. "I’m all yours. Just give me two weeks." I replied. We kissed goodnight and he left. Chapter 4 I was walking to the theater that I was working at. It had been two weeks after I came. I was in a wonderful play and I had the lead. It is set right as the Civil War is starting and two lovers that live in the north must be separated because boy has to go to war and the girl is stuck at home. She misses him so much that she dresses up as a soldier and goes to war with him though no one knows that she is a girl. The two lovers end up dying in each others arms in a battle everyone else finds out that she was a girl after she dies. It’s kind of sad but it’s a wonderful script. I play the girl. Anyway I was walking to the theater when I saw Crutchy selling newspapers. "Hey Crutchy what are you doing so far uptown?" I asked. " I needed to find a new selling spot" he said. " Oh well here let me buy your last two papers for me and my friend." I said. I didn’t want him to wait to late before starting to over for Tibby’s. "Gees tanks a lot Miss. Sunny." he said. "No problem Crutchy, now get on down to Tibby’s." I said and I watched him turn the corner. As I walked into the theater Tessie came running up to me. "Lily, Mr. Koggins wants to see you," she said, she sounded very frightened, " and just to let you know the only reason that people go to see Mr. Koggins is because there are going to get fired or something in that nature." " Well, I better go and see him then." I said trying very hard not to tremble as much as Tessie was. I went up to his office and knocked on the door. "Come in." a commanding voice called from the other side. I opened the door and there sat my employer. He was a chubby man in a gray suit. " Please sit down Miss Harrel." he said and I did as I was told. "Is there something wrong Mr. Koggins?" I asked. Instead of answering my question he explained something that I never thought I would hear. "It has come to my attention that you have been seen in public with the (he cleared his throat) Newsies. Now a young woman of such excellent acting ability should know better than to hang around scum as low as Newsies." he made a gestured for me to answer him. " Um well, sir I don’t quite get what you mean." I said. " Alright, let me try a different approach. You are an amazing actress, I’ve seen you rehearse. Now a lady with such stature as yours, on a scale 1-10, is about a 9,"he said, " Are you following so far?" I nodded. " Now Newsies are , like I said earlier, scum, street rats, dirt, lower than dirt even. On a scale they’re about a -2. Do you see? A young lady with a rating of 9 should not be associating with boys with a rating of -2." he finished. " I think I get it sir." I said. " Now Miss Harrel, I will warn you that if I hear or see that you are hanging around them then I will be sure to fire you. I will not have my actors hanging civilizing with people like Newsies. Do I make my self clear?" he asked. "As clear as glass sir." I said. " Good, now, go on did they forget to mention we aren’t having a rehearsal today? You can leave if you want." He said and hinted me out. " Thank you sir." I said and I got up and left. Tessie met up with me. I told her that I needed to get some fresh air. I told her that he hadn’t fired me or anything, but I couldn’t bring to myself to tell her what he had told me or else I would cry. As we were walking someone came up to behind us and said, somewhat softly, " Extra, extra read all about it! The most beautiful girl in the entire city is walking in front of me." Tessie and I turned around to see Racetrack smiling at me. " Hiya Sunny." he said and lend in to kiss me. I thought about the conversation that I had just had with Mr. Koggins and I pulled away. Racetrack was surprised I then continued by saying, " Leave me alone you , you , you, street rat!!" I ran as fast as I could leaving Racetrack confused, hurt, and humiliated. Tessie caught up with me and said "Who was that?". I told her about everything. About Racetrack, about the Newsies, about what Mr. Koggins had said, everything. By the time I finished we were at a café sipping coffee and I was crying. " There has to be ways around this," Tessie began, " during the news boys strike there was a man who worked for "The Sun" and he seemed to have an interest in a lot of the stuff that the Newsies did. I was watching some of it and I read the article he wrote and the paper about the Newsies. I think his name was Denton. Maybe he’ll be able to help you . Mr. Koggins said nothing about you not talking to newspaper writers." " Maybe I’ll try that." I said. I got up waved a horse and buggy and set out for the "The New York Sun" building. Chapter 5 I walked as fast as I could to "The Sun" building. When I got there I went up to what seemed to be the front desk. "Excuse me," I said, " is Mr. Denton in?" The man looked up from his desk, " Yes he is."he said "Can you tell me where his office is? I really need to talk to him." I said. " His office is on the twelfth floor. The second door on the right." he responded. I began to walk up the stairs. When I finally got to the twelfth floor I was exhausted. That’s a lot of stairs, trust me. I went to the second door on the right and knocked. A young man opened it. "Are you Mr. Denton?" I asked. He looked kind of confused and then said " No I’m not. Denton’s office is the second door to the right of the elevator ." " Oh my gosh I’m so sorry," then I started to laugh, " I can’t believe that I walked twelve sets of stairs." He smiled and escorted me to Mr. Denton’s office. He opened the door and yelled " Hey Bryan you got a visitor." A man in a tan colored suit walked from behind a shelf. " Thanks Andrew." I thanked the young man and he left. " How can I help you my dear?" he asked beckoning to a chair. " My name is Lily Harrel and I need your help." I said almost breaking out into tears. " The Lily Harrel, boy, the Newsies talked about you a lot." he said. " That’s what I need your help with, you see I’m an actress and my boss isn’t letting me associate with the Newsies it’s not that I don’t want to in fact Racetrack and I were planning on dating, maybe even getting married ,but I’m so confused and if I don’t listen to my boss I’ll get fired. I’m an actress, I have to have a theater to perform in. It’s my life, but so are my friends." I was crying by now and he handed me his handkerchief. " What do you need me to do?" he asked very seriously. " I need you to tell them what’s going on. I kind of ignored Racetrack today, well, I was so confused and I guess I slipped out something I know I shouldn’t have said because, truth be told, I’m just as much of a street rat as he is." I felt so low for saying what I said. Knowing Race he probably would never forgive me. " I’m sure you didn’t mean what you said. I’ll go and see them tomorrow. For now I think you should just calm down and do what your boss said for you to do. I know what you mean when you said you have to have a theater to perform in. I was saying the same thing a year ago about newspapers." he was very kind and seemed sincere so I felt better. " Thank you so much , now I think I’m going to take the elevator this time." I was in a much better mood. I got up and shook his hand. I left the building feeling like it was going to all turn out right. Little did I know that I had done something that would change my life and the life of my friends. Chapter 6 I was nervous two days later as I stood in front of Denton’s office. I knocked on the door. "Come in." I heard Denton yell. I walked in and said " Hello Mr. Denton. Did you go and see them? Did they say anything?" " Yes I went to see them, Miss. Harrel. Please sit down and let me tell you all about it. I walked in, it’s been a while since I’ve seen them all anyway, I walked in and I said hello. They all greeted and shook my hand except for Racetrack. I went up to him and said ‘What’s wrong with the King of New York?’ He didn’t even look at me. Jack walked over and said ‘His girl denied that she knew him and then called him a street rat’ I looked at Race and said ‘ Her name wouldn’t happen to be Lily Harrel would it?’ Race looked up at me now and said ‘Yeah so .’ ‘Well she came to me yesterday and asked me to come and talk to you guys. She needs to have something explained to you, especially you Racetrack.’ Then Racetrack stood up and said ‘ Yeah well if she has something to say then she should tell it to our faces.’ ‘That’s the entire point Race, she can’t. Look her boss at the theater saw her talking to Crutchy, called her to his office and basically told her that if she was seen with any of you again she would be fired.’ I said. ‘That doesn’t mean she should tear us down and pretend like we aren’t there, I mean, she’s going to have to buy a newspaper sooner or later.’ Racetrack was upset, really upset, he stormed out of Tibby’s and I turned to Jack because he was the only other person listening to me. I said ‘She is really sorry Jack, you need to help her somehow. An 18 -year old girl can’t quit her job and just start to sell newspapers. I’ve already written and article about her play. She’s big already. There has to be a way to help her.’ Jack was frowning ‘Let Race cool down and we’ll see what we can do, but don’t expect anything.’ Then they all left and I was the only in there." "So they all hate me they couldn’t care less. Every friend I have in Manhattan thinks I’m the scum of the earth. I shouldn’t have taken the job, I should have taken the other job I was offered, but it’s too late for anything. Thank you for all you’ve done, Mr. Denton. I don’t think there’s anything else to do. Well I better get to the theater. If there is one thing I still have it’s acting and that will help a little." I shook Denton’s hand and left his office. I walked down the stairs and out of the building. The sun was really bright and I was trying very hard not to cry. I was feeling very air heady so I sat down. I looked up and I saw a couple of Newsies walking . They were out of papers except one boy. I got up, walked up to them and said "Excuse me, can I buy that paper please?" I recognized the Newsies. It was David, the nice boy who had taken me to Tibby’s, Kid Blink and a small boy who I think was David’s little brother. "Sorry miss I bought this one for my father." He said. Kid Blink interrupted and said " and besides we only sell to people on the street rat level." They briskly walked away. I don’t remember what happened next, I think I fainted because I woke up in a lounge of some big lobby of some sort. I sat up and there was a couple of my acting friends. Tessie was there. She looked worried. "O my gosh Lily, we were walking and we saw you trying to buy that paper and then you passed out and what happen? Are you okay?" Tessie asked. "I’m fine I didn’t have anything for lunch or breakfast and I just got some family news about something and . . . and I think I need to go home." I wanted to cry and I knew I shouldn’t. "I’ll get a cab(horse and carriage) and I’ll go home with you." Tessie said, "Jeffery will you help her outside?" The other lead of the play, Jeffery, helped me to my feet and helped me walk outside. Lily had a cab in no time and we were soon in our apartment. I laid down on the couch we had in the living room. I knew it was safe to cry know and I did. I cried and cried. Lily came over to comfort me. "It wasn’t about your family was it? It was about those boys and what happened at Denton’s today wasn’t it?" She asked. "He said that they won’t forgive me and those boys were some of my friends. One was one of my best friends." I was sobbing now and I got up and went to my room. I needed to be alone. I had screwed up and knew I had to pay for it, then I thought about something that had helped me get back to New York and to get an acting job. Something my brother had told me many times "It’s going to be a challenge ,Lily, but we all know how you love a good challenge." I was filled with some hope and was able to get some rest. Not knowing what would await me the next few months. Chapter 7 A few months went by and my play was almost ready to open. If it did well it would show a month more than expected so I was in a pretty good mood. One day I was in my dressing room getting ready to go home after a full dress rehearsal. There was a knock on my door, it was Tessie. "Hey Lily, great job today. I’m going to go out with Jeffery tonight so I probably won’t be home until late." "Ok," I responded, " Have a good time." "Alright see ya." she started to close the door then she reopened it, "Oh yeah there a Mr. Francis Kelly who says he is an old friend from Savannah. I have just one question, Do a lot of the actors there have New York accents because he does." I had no idea who it was. I quickly finished getting ready and went out to the front lobby of the theater. A tall young man in a dark gray suit was standing right in the middle of the lobby. It took me a second but I realized that it was Jack. He walked up to me and gave me a hug, " Lillian, it’s so good to see you again. It’s been, oh, two years right?" Then in a whisper he said, "Call me Frank ok?" I was a little confused but I played along. "Frank wow it’s been a while. How have you been?" I was starting to get a jiff of what was going on. "I’ll tell you everything if you will give me the honor of going out to eat with me." he said. " It would be a pleasure, let’s get out of here." I said, "Bye yall." and we left. As we walked along Jack explained why he was impersonating a friend of mine from Savannah. " At first, I was just as mad as Race was, then I started to think of the situation you were in and I remember that I had a conflict similar to dis one. I tried to talk to Race but he wouldn’t listen, man, he is as stubborn as the horses he bets on. I decided to do something so I went to Denton and he let me borrow this suit and told me how to act the part a bit." "Jack, I don’t think you understand how much this means to me. For the last few months I have been trying really hard to cope with all of this but it hasn’t been that easy and by the way, I am so sorry for anything that I did. There’s barley been a day where I didn’t think of quitting and coming back to you guys because your all I have besides Tessie." I was so happy that Jack was there. It didn’t really even bother me that Racetrack was still mad. I was just glad that one of them wasn’t. We got to my favorite café and I told him everything that I could think of about the entire episode. By the time I had finished we had both gone through several cups of coffee. He walked me to my apartment. I gave him a hug and thanked him again. "Please keep trying with Racetrack, just to let you know I do really love him." I said. " Then why did you say no to him when he asked you to be his girl?" Jack asked. I thought about it and I couldn’t think of a good excuse so I just said "Because I wasn’t ready to have a boyfriend." Jack seemed to be content with my response. He said goodbye and then turned around. "Let’s keep that I’m a newsie on the down low ok?" I responded, "Sure thing Frank." He smiled and walked down the stairs. I walked into my apartment. Tessie wasn’t home because the lights were off and she wasn’t in her room. I fixed myself some tea and I sat down at my desk. I had just realized that I hadn’t written Nat in a while so I decided I would tell him what had been going on. As I was writing Tessie came in and sat down on my bed. " Wow!", she said, "That went better than I had hoped for. How did your date go with that friend from Savannah?" "Oh, it wasn’t a date or anything. It was just a get together he got a job working somewhere he didn’t say where, but it wasn’t a date." I said. "I don’t know Lily, he’s pretty cute and he seemed to be a decent guy." She said. I couldn’t picture myself with Jack. It was a little weird he was the only that came to see me. If any one I was expecting Crutchy or Kid Blink, but that didn’t matter to me. The only thing that matter was to start to get all the Newsies to forgive and if the very last one was Racetrack so be it. Chapter 8 Every day, for the next two weeks, Jack would come and visit me. I was so happy to have one of my best friends there to help me through everything that was happening in my life. I had never done such a big production before and it was very strenuous. Jack always found a way to cheer me up. One Wednesday evening he didn’t come. I was worried and I didn’t know where he was. I decided to be patient and see if he came around later but he didn’t. The next day he came though, with a black eye and one of his arms on a sling. When everyone at the theater ask him what happened he said that a couple of kids jumped him and had taken his wallet. We left pretty rapidly so he wouldn’t have to explain himself more. When we got to my apartment I found that he had twisted his wrist pretty badly and had cracked one rib. He started to explain. "Every night after I come back from seeing you I go to Tibby’s. On Tuesday night I got back and the entire place gots real quiet. Racetrack stood up and said that Boots had seen me with you that night at a restaurant. A while ago we had all said that we were not going to let you buy a pape from any Manhattan Newsie and to not try to talk to you and stuff like that. That’s why they were so angry. Then Race started to call you things that I don’t want to repeat. I let him for a little while but I couldn’t take it and so I punched him. Then they all jumped me, almost all of them! I couldn’t believe it. When I was able to get out of Tibby’s I ran and got my stuff from the lodgin’ house and I stayed with Medda last night. Yesterday I went to Denton and he’s giving me a place to stay and a job as his assistant." He was almost in tears. "Frank, I mean Jack," I was getting use to calling him Frank all the time. "I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault." I was really mad. I got up and said I would be right back. I didn’t care if someone saw me or if they tried to beat me up. I was going to go and see the Newsies I had loved for such a long time. I went into Tibby’s and saw Racetrack. The entire place got really quite. I walked over to him and he stood up. With all the force I had in me I punched him in the eye. It probably hurt me as much as it hurt him. Once he had recovered from the blow I said "How could you do that to him Race? He’s been your best friend for as long as I can remember. All he’s been trying to do was to help me through a hard time that I know I created. Jack didn’t do anything to you guys. You know, we use to hold each other up and stick together but I guess that’s my fault but it doesn’t matter. More reason for yall to help me and to be there for me. Now you’ve made this into a bigger mess." They were all listening and I knew I was getting to some of them. So I kept on going. "So I’m going to start making it up to you guys. The last night of my play is more of a family night. I will reserve as many tickets as I can under the my name. I’m inviting every single one of you and I hope that this will start you guys forgiving me. Tickets are free that’s why it’s only family night. That’s what you guys are to me, family, and maybe I’m hoping that you guys will start to figure out that maybe family screws up sometimes." I had said what I wanted to say. I didn’t wait for any of them to respond. I walked out and I started home. On the way home Jack ran up to me. "I followed you to Tibby’s and hid so none of them could see me. Thanks for that. If that didn’t touch some of them then they’re more cold hearted than I ever thought they were." "I just said what I wanted to, that I’ve been wanting to make it up to them." I responded. I leaned over and kissed Jack’s cheek. I almost missed what I did. He looked a little surprised but he smiled. We walked for a little while then he stopped and before I knew it we were both kissing. We finished and he walked with me up to my apartment we held hands and then we said goodbye. I never felt so content with myself in my entire life. It had been one of the happiest moments I had ever had. I was hoping that my little speech would make them all realize how sorry I was and how all I wanted was to be friends again. That was now their decision to make. All I had left to do was to hope that it would turn out the way I wanted it to, though nothing ever had,. . . happily ever after. Chapter 9 The premiere of the show was drawing near. We had all been working hard on it for the past seven months. Our director and Mr. Koggins wanted everything to be perfect and precise to the last stitch in a costume. It was three days until the big day when all our work would pay off. Nothing else seemed to matter to any of us. My acting friends and I met during every break we had to practice singing songs and going over lines. Jack, a.k.a. Frank was waiting for me every day to take me for a walk or to surprise me with a rose or two. The job Denton had given him had broaden his horizons and he was now trying to convince the editor to let him have his own article. He was trying very hard to fine good stories to write about. "I’m determined to make it easier for Newsies to sell papes, I’m mean papers." ( He was working on his grammar so that he could write better.) Sometimes if his story was good enough Denton would put Jack’s article in but he would use his name so not to get in trouble with their editor or the owner of "the Sun", but Denton always gave Jack a bonus if he did use Jack’s article. It was hard not to call Jack, Jack when we were out in public. Ever so often I would let it slip but no one seemed to notice. I got some what use to calling him Frank so I just started to call him Frank most of the time. The day before the big premiere Mr. Koggins gave us the day off so we could relax for a day before the premiere when we would have to get up extra early. We all went to a afternoon showing of "The Magic Flute" composed by Mozart. It was beautiful. Frank met us at a café (we loved coffee and cappuccinos) where we joked and laughed for a long time. The entire time, Frank or I would notice a Newsie trying to sell papers, but we didn’t dare try to buy one. We had decided together that it would be a good idea to lay low for a little while and let them all think it out. That night we all broke apart into couples and went our merry way, our goodbyes consisting of "Get some sleep" and "Don’t be nervous". When we had said our goodbyes Frank and I went for a walk. I was considering the fact that I had fallen in love with him. I couldn’t help it. Love has a mind of it’s own. We were walking through Central Park holding hands and talking softly to one another. I soon realized what time it was and told him we should head back. So we did, but not until we had kissed a few times. He walked me to my apartment and he promised that he would wake me up the next morning. I told him not to worry about it. Tessie had gone to bed so we said goodnight. The next day he did come to wake me up. We walked to the theater and I had to say goodbye to him because I needed to get ready. As I was getting ready a note slid under my door. I picked it up. It was of course from Frank. It read Good or bad you are the one for me. Do good and I’ll take you out tonight. Do bad and I’ll still take it you out. It’s a win- win situation. You’ll be wonderful. Love your dear, almost reporter, friend, Frank. He had made my day. I was ready no matter what happened. I was scrounging through a drawer for some lipstick when I found a picture. It was a picture that "The Sun" had printed. It was a picture of all the Newsies during the strike. Racetrack had sent it along with a sweet note. I also found a picture of Jack, Racetrack, Kid Blink, Mush, Bumlets, and myself. Nat had taken it with a camera he had bought after a few months of living in Manhattan. I found some more pictures of all of us doing things like selling papers and singing. I found a picture of Nat, Eric and I. I wished so hard that Eric would come back for just one night and watch me perform. I knew he was always watching me and was always there, but it wasn’t the same. Nat would be there and so would Harper, his wife, she was expecting a child anytime now. I thought of my past and where I was now. I thought about my future and then I found myself in tears. They were just tears. Tears of happiness and sadness. I knew I was going to do the right thing with some of the decisions I was going to make and I knew I was going to screw up some more, but I kept thinking of what my brother said when I was young, again, "It’s going to be a challenge, Lily, but we both know you love a good challenge." I kept on thinking that. I finally found my lipstick and finished getting ready. I was ready for anything and I felt like something was going to happen, but it didn’t bother me one bit. I stepped out of my dressing room ready to perform. Chapter 10 I took my final bow at the end of what I thought was one of the best performances I had ever had. I saw Frank/ Jack sitting next to Nat and Harper, she was crying. I saw Mr. Denton there with a pad a paper in his chair. They were all beaming. I felt good with everything. Jeffery did exceptionally good and Tessie played her part as if she was that character. They finally closed the curtains. I was soon hugging all of my friends and telling them they did a wonderful job. We had done a perfect show. We got into our evening wear and met our fans outside. Tessie was swept away by her huge family and Jeffery was being overwhelmed by young ladies congratulating him. I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around. A couple with their little girl confronted me. " You did wonderfully Miss. Harrel. I want to be an actress like you when I grow up." the little girl said. The man put his hand on the little girl’s shoulder then said" Miss Harrel, you were beautiful up there. I have never seen such a wonderful performance. I own a theater in Chicago. I would be delighted if you would come and work for me. I can guarantee you the lead in our next big production. I would really appreciate it if you would take my card and come on the date on the back. Once again, you did a stunning performance." The man, his wife and child walked off. I was confronted many times that night with offers from all over. I took the cards they all gave me and told them all I would think about it. It was a while until I was able to reach Nat and Frank. Denton was talking to Frank. I went up to him first. " A wonderful performance Miss Lily. You can bet that Frank’s article will be in the paper tomorrow. I can make sure of that." Denton said. I gave Denton a hug which was not what he was expecting. "Thank you so much for all you have done Denton. I don’t think I could have done what I did if it weren’t for you." I said. He smiled and tipped his hat to us. He walked off and left the theater. Frank and I knew he was going straight to "The Sun" to get the article printed. " It was a brilliant article, I can say that. One of my best. Of course I have you to thank, Lily." Frank said. "Thank you Frank, it means a lot to me that you were able to come." I said. We kissed and laughed at each other. Whether we wanted to or not, we were turning into proper people. "Alright yall let me hug my sister. For goodness sake." Nat shoved in between Frank and I. He pick me up in a big bear hug and spun me around. He set me down and hug me again. " Eric would have been so proud of you. He’s probably up there right now with Mama and Papa crying like we were all doing." Nat whispered into my ear. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." I said. I was trying very hard not to cry. Harper congratulated me and declared that it was time for her to head on back to my apartment, where they were staying. Nat and Harper left and Frank and I headed out. " Well, let’s see I said I would take you out if you did good and since you were brilliant I guess I should take you some where really great." Jack said and he led the way to a cabby waiting for us. Jack took me a to dinner theater. We had a blast as the performers were doing a bunch of Shakespeare in a very American, comic way. I was really happy with everything . Chapter 11 The rest of the performances went just as well as the premiere. The show wasn’t one of the shows that performed for an entire year. It had a limited time for showing . The last performance was nearing. I started to remember the request that I had asked the Newsies to do. I kept on hoping that they would show up. By the day of the last performance I was more nervous than ever. Not even Frank could calm my nerves. The only thing I could do was to count down the hours and wait. The performance started and as always I was blinded by the lights. I thought I saw a group of boys sitting in the balcony. When I got off stage I saw that it wasn’t them. I went on stage again and again and every time I looked when I could to see if I could see them. By the end of the show I was in a nervous panic. I took my bows and left the stage. I quickly got dressed into my favorite evening dress. It was a coral gown with black beads sewn into the collar and on the edges and a few other places. I walked out into the lobby to see if I could find any of the Newsies. I was confronted by many people , but none were the Newsies. I walked out of the theater that night with Frank almost in tears. None of them had showed up. We turned a corner and someone said. "Excuse me miss, you did a very good job tonight." I looked and there was Kid Blink in a nice suit . "Kid!!" I said, "Did you come and see me? Did any of the others come?" I hugged him. He hugged me back and responded " Yeah, David, Bumlets, Crutchy, and Mush came. Look Lily, I’m so sorry that I acted the way I did. I saw you faint when we walked off and I didn’t stop to help and when you came in that one night I realized how stupid we all had been. Racetrack wasn’t at the show, before you ask, but I did talk to him and I think he is started to soften up. You were so good tonight. I realize why you were so stressed about which choice to make." " Enough apologies Kid, my room mate and I are having a party kind of thing to celebrate such a good show. It would be an honor if you and the others would come and join us. I don’t care anymore about what these actors and actresses think of me. They probably wouldn’t even care now that we know each other, but I’m not embarrassed by you, I never was, but anyway would you do me the honors?" I was so excited. " No, it would be my honor. Please direct the way. The boys are waiting for us around the block." He said. We met up with the other Newsies. They all apologized and we all hugged. Frank got to talk to them all too. We then headed for my apartment. It was one of the happiest moments of my life to see my Newsie friends and my acting friends talking and having a good time together. At one point I had to go and powder myself in my room. When I turned on the light of my room I saw someone outside my window on the fire escape. They knocked on the window. I pulled back the curtain and there in the window was Racetrack. I opened my window and let him in. He had not changed much from the last time I had seen him. There was a little scar underneath his eye. I guessedit was from when I had punched him. Then I remembered that when I punched him in the eye it had started bleeding. Besides that nothing had changed about him. "Hiya Lily!" He said smiling from ear to ear as if this entire time he had been playing this humongous joke on me. "Hello Racetrack." I said very calmly. He reached in to hug me but I backed up. It just wasn’t the same. " What are you doing here?" I asked. "I came to tell you that I am sorry and that I’ve been acting really stupid for the past ten months. I should have known better and I should have been more mature about it." He was now looking down at the floor. "It’s alright Racetrack, you have no reason to apologize, well, ok you do , but it doesn’t matter anymore." I was happy that he had apologized but I wasn’t ready for what he did next. "So can I take you out to eat or something. Maybe we could get to know each other all over again." He was walking toward me and I was backing away. "Uh, Racetrack, there’s something I need to tell you." I said. Just then Frank knocked on the door and says "Where’s my beautiful bride -to-be? Your guests await you." He walked in and then stopped in shock. "Racetrack? What are you doing here? Kid said you weren’t going to come." Racetrack had a look of horror on his face. "What is he talking about Lily?" He asked. Tears were swelling up in his eyes. I walked over to Frank and said to Racetrack, "Race, Frank, I mean Jack and I are engaged. I was about to tell you and. . ." Race put his hand out, telling me that he wanted me to stop. Frank had asked me to marry him on the night of the premiere. We were going to get married within the next few weeks and were then going to move to Chicago. I was going to take a acting job and Frank was going to take a job for a newspaper that Denton had recommended him to. "But you said yous was my girl. My girl not Jack’s girl. How did this happen? How could you? I loved you and I thought you loved me." He was crying now. I went over to try to calm him down but he jerked away, climbed back out the window, and ran down the fire escape. I tried to remain calm. I had forgotten that I had said that. I t had been so long ago and so much had happen that I totally forgot. Frank put his arm around me . "You okay?" He asked. I tried to smile, " Yes, I’ll be fine. I just hope he’ll be okay." "I think it’s okay that we tell everyone else now. We have nothing to lose. We just got done telling the hardest person." Frank said trying to make me feel better. " Yeah, our best friend." I was really upset, but I had an apartment full of people and I decided to calm down and go tell everyone else. I took Frank’s hand and together we walked into my living room. " Excuse me everyone! Frank and I have something to say. We are getting married." Chapter 12 There were tears and a lot of happiness. I stayed pretty occupied but my mind kept on wondering. I couldn’t stop thinking about how upset Race was. When all my acting friends had gone home. The Newsies and I talked for a really long time. They gradually left until all that was left was Kid. He and I went out to the fire escape and looked at the sky. " So, Race didn’t take the news as well as the rest of us did." Kid said. I sighed, "No, he was really upset. I can’t blame him. Then again I can’t blame myself either. It just happened." He hugged me. Kid was like a brother to me. "Well don’t worry about ol’ Racetrack. He’ll be fine after a little while." Kid left very tired and very happy. Frank came out with a blanket and we sat out for a little while. Everyone had done a good job trying to cheer me up, but I still felt kind of guilty. I had never expected for him to still love me. I figured he hated me. Frank had his arm around and brought me a little closer to him. We kissed and then he asked " You gonna be okay?" "Yeah," I said, " I’ll be fine. Tomorrow is a big day so we better get some sleep." He agreed and I walked him to the door. We kissed and he left. I went to sleep ready to tell Mr. Koggins that I had found a new job, ready to walk down the isle, ready to talk to Racetrack and see if I could get the entire mess settled out. Chapter 13 Well the day of my wedding came too soon. All of my acting friends were there. So were all the Newsies, except Racetrack. Nat, Harper and there new baby boy named Eric. Denton was also there. I had asked him to give me away. Nat, Kid, Mush and David were the groom’s men and Tessie and a few of my other acting girlfriends were my bride’s maids (Tessie was my maid of honor, she and Jeffery had just gotten engaged.) Two little Newsies were our ring barer and flower girl. It was a pretty big wedding and a lot of people showed up. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the Newsies and my acting friends had all mingled together and that they all were beaming, some crying of happiness. I also noticed a certain young man enter the church as the pastor pronounced Jack/ Frank and I man and wife. It was Racetrack. He was gone when we ran down the isle. I looked at Frank and he looked back at me. We both knew that Racetrack had been there. It didn’t seem to bother me as much as I thought it would, I was too happy. We all danced and sang the night away. It was perfect. I had everything that I needed. Frank and I did not leave each other’s side the entire night. We had an even stronger bond than ever. The kind of bond that you can only get from being married. We both at one point shed a few tears of joy. We went for few nights to the Plaza for our honey moon. Then right after that we packed everything and got ready to go to Chicago. Jack got his name legally changed to Francis Kelly and I became Lillian Harrel Kelly. Every thing was going as planned and everyone was still very happy, except me. I still was a little upset about Racetrack. I didn’t feel guilty just, well, almost sorry for him. I knew I had screwed up , but I had tried very hard to make up for it. He made no effort at all and he hadn’t tried to win me back. I was upset with myself a little. Then I looked over and saw Frank lying next to me. He hadn’t gone to sleep and he looked as if he knew what was on mine mind. I realized that nothing in the world matter to him but me and I realized that nothing in the world matter to me but Frank. Chapter 14 We were at the train station the next week. Tessie and Jeffery , Kid, David, Mush and Denton were there to see us off. I hugged and Kissed Tessie and Jeffery. Tessie and I were the best of friends and I could hardly bear to leave her, but I knew she was going to be well taken care of by Jeffery. I said my good byes to all of my dear Newsies. I told Kid to tell the rest of the Newsies that I said goodbye. I looked around anxiously for Racetrack. Frank put his hand around me to comfort me. I pulled myself together. We were just about to get on the train. When I heard, "WAIT!! WAIT!!!" It was Racetrack. He came running up to me. He hugged me and began to lightly cry. "I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry." was all he could get out. I started to cry also. "It’s okay Race, I’m sorry too. I never meant to hurt you. You will always have a spot in my heart." He smiled and looked at Frank and stuck out his hand for Frank to shake. Frank spit in his hand and shook back. They gave each other a very big hug. Racetrack stepped back and said "I’ll miss youse guys." "We’ll miss you more." I joked. Final hugs were given and Frank and I got on the train. We watched all of our dear friends waves us goodbye. Frank took my hand. "Are you fully content now Mrs. Kelly?" he laughed. "Quite, Mr. Kelly." I said back. We kissed. As New York disappeared I remember something that my brother had said a long time ago. Something that had kept me going for as long as I could remember. "It’s going to be a challenge, but we all know that you love a good challenge." I had done it. I had finally defeated one of the hardest challenges of my life. I clasped Frank’s hand and he put his arm around me. When I looked back out the window New York had already disappeared and I knew that someday I would return. THE END and CARPE DIEM!!!!!