Spot tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair as he waited for Dimples' brother. Night had already found the boy and was expected to be back any minute. Dimples was bouncing excitedly from where he stood behind Spot.

"Calm down kid! Youse very distractin' when you do that. I'm tryin' to think."

Dimples stopped and stared at the doorway, willing it to open and reveal his brother.

"He ain't gonna get here faster just cause youse lookin' at the door."

"It's worth a try," Dimples said, staring even harder.

"That's not how it works kid!"

Dimples shrugged but he grinned as the door swung open to reveal Night and another boy.

"I told you!" Dimples bragged.

"That's not why it happened! It was just a-" Spot sputtered as Dimples ran over to the door, throwing his arms around the other boy.

"Charlie!" The older boy cried, hugging Dimples tightly. "Youse alright! I've been lookin' for youse ever since I heard that Hook threw ya out! Why didn't ya tell me ya didn't make dues?"

Spot watched silently, giving Night a small nod. Night turned and left quietly. Dimples and his brother continued to speak as the older boy frantically checked his brother for more injuries.

"You ain't hurt right?"

"He's fine," Spot said, drawing their attention back to him. The boy pulled Dimples behind him as he sent Spot a cautious glance. "I ain't gonna hurt him," Spot groaned.

"Yeah, he's been helpin' me!" Dimples said happily.

"So youse Spot Conlon?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Ise gotta admit, when your boy told me that the famous Spot Conlon had to speak to me, Ise didn't believe it."

"Well it's true. Got anything else to say?"

The boy looked Spot over and nodded. "Yeah, youse shorter than I thought you'd be."

"Do you wanna die?" Spot growled. "Ise can have that arranged."

"I was bein' honest!" The boy responded, hands raised in surrender as Dimples giggled.

"What are you laughin' at? Get outta here."

"What? He doesn't have to leave! Charlie, get back here!"

"Sorry, I gotta go," Dimples said as he left the room.

"Now sit down," Spot glared. Dimples' brother still stared at the door incredulously, but he slowly sank into a chair.

"Now tell me your name, ginger."

"It's Will."

"Alright Will, why don't you tell me what exactly is goin' on in your home sweet home?"

"Do you mean the Bronx?"

Spot sighed, his hand coming to rest on the side of his face in annoyance. "Course Ise mean the Bronx. Who else is causin' problems?"

"I was just wonderin'," Will mumbled. "What do ya wants to know?"

"Why are you guys beatin' up kids in the streets? That's a good one to start with!" Spot hissed as he pictured Lip, who was still unable to walk on his own.

Will shrugged, "I ain't been hurtin' people."

"Youse a Bronx newsie."

"Yeah."

"Bronx newsies have been soakin' my newsies and the boys in Manhattan."

Will nodded and Spot slammed his hand on the table. Will didn't flinch, he continued to stare at Spot, unimpressed.

"I try to keep out of Hook's business, he ain't a considerate boss, ya know."

"So youse do work for Hook?"

"Of course I does!" Will chuckled. If youse a Bronx newsie, you works for Hook."

"What kind of work did you do?" Spot cracked his knuckles as he waited for a response.

"None of what youse thinkin'. I told ya, I tries to keep outta Hook's business. I pays my dues and if he has a job for me, I do it."

"Without question?"

This time Will hesitated, clenching his fist before nodding. "I tries to. If ya ask questions ya get punished."

"Youse been punished before, ain't ya?"

"More lately. Hook's been gettin' madder and crazier. Lately I ain't been listnein' so good," Will admitted quietly.

"You know why he's been gettin' madder?" Spot leaned towards Will, his interest in the conversation growing.

"Sure, most of the older boys do."

Spot tapped his fingers against the desk impatiently as he waited for Will to continue. "Well?"

"What?"

Spot groaned. "Youse jokin', right?" Will's eyes crinkled in confusion and Spot let out an exasperated sigh. "Why's he doin' this?"

"Oh, that's what you was waitin' for!" Spot rolled his eyes. "If youse wanna know that, than wese gonna make a deal."

"No," Spot immediately disagreed. "Ise done makin' deals."

"I ain't askin' much! 'Sides, I can't tell ya if you don't agree."

"Yes you can. Youse gonna tell me right now or-"

"If I tells you, ya gotta promise that you'll let me and Dimples stay in Brooklyn."

"Dimples can stay, but youse is gonna leave." Spot crossed his arms and glared at Will.

"Conlon, I ain't askin' for you to help or protect me. Ise just wanna lay low in Brooklyn for a bit, sell some papes."

"Tell me and I'll think about it."

"Okay," Will breathed, knowing that was as much as he'd get. "Hook's not from Bronx."

"Does it matter?" Spot asked.

"Yeah, it actually does. Hook is from 'Hattan. I think he's from the Five Points area, it ain't a great place to live. Youse meet the wrong kind of people there. All kinds of criminals and-"

"I know what Five Points is!" Spot exclaimed.

"Okay! Well that's where he's from."

"And?"

"He showed up in Bronx about a year ago. Wese had some trouble with him and his friends, but they mostly left us alone. He didn't work, and I guess he thought that takin' over Bronx would be an easy way for him to get money, y'know, 'cause of the dues."

"So he's runnin' you guys and he's chargin' ya?" Spot asked.

"Yeah, wese gotta pay forty cents to sell in the Bronx, thirty to stay in the lodgin' house, and thirty for protection."

"Protection from what? He's the only one hurtin' youse."

"It's so he doesn't send his boys after you, 'without good cause'," Will said mockingly. Spot's nose wrinkled in disgust. Though he was tough on his boys, he would never do anything to harm them.

"So you pays this due every week?" Will nodded and Spot continued. "Where's Smalls? He never said anythin' to us. That ain't like him."

Will shrugged. "We ain't seen 'im in awhile."

Spot tensed, his eyes shooting down to search Will's. "Youse ain't seen him in awhile! How long is that?"

"Maybe a month, I don't know. A week or two after the strike."

"No one's heard from 'im?"

"No, he just kinda disappeared. We pretended we didn't notice."

Spot leaned forward, his hands resting on the table. "And youse didn't think to ask about it? Ya just ignored it?"

"When youse in the new Bronx, ya learn real quick that ya ain't s'posed to ask questions. C'mon Conlon, he's the one who brought me and Dimples to the lodge in the first place! I'm worried too!"

"So he mighta just left?" Spot asked, masking the hopefulness that he felt.

"Maybe, but it ain't likely. He was pretty rebellious when Hook took over. He said lots of things that he probably shouldn't have. It's more realistic to think that Hook had 'im taken out."

Spot nodded and folded his hands. "I think Ise heard enough. You can go."

Will slowly stood up and made his way to the door.

"Ginger!" Will turned around to face Spot, confusion clouding his face.

"Yeah?"

"Wese got an open bunk. Ask Cards about it. Rent is seven cents a night."

"Youse serious?" Will asked, a relieved grin splitting his face.

"Calm down, it ain't 'cause I like ya or that your story made me feel somethin', it's so I can keep an eye on youse. If Kelly didn't want to talk to youse, I'd throw ya out onto the streets so fast that it'd leave your head spinnin'."

Will's smile dropped a bit, but he nodded and hurried out the door.

Spot groaned as he leaned back in the chair. What had he and Kelly gotten themselves involved in?

***

This is one of my shorter chapters and I feel awful! This is only the second update since my trip started and I feel terrible that this is all I'm giving you after you all waited so patiently!

I just got back 48 hours ago and am super jet lagged and might be coming down with something, so it's not my best work, but it'll do.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back and posting again.

I took more pictures in Paris, Barcelona, and Rome. I now have no storage left on my phone, because Newsies Live takes up almost half of it, but I couldn't delete that!

(That's from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful, but kinda terrifying and super windy.)

(The Gardens of Versailles, aka Harry Potter 3rd task hedges maze.)

(Eiffel Tower again. The only decent picture of me from the entire 13 day trip, and I've got hair in my mouth! Why??? 😫)

Anyway, thanks for reading!
-Anna