Jack and I had sold our last papes long before Davey and Les, but they're still learning. Davey approaches a person walking by. "Paper. Paper. Buy an evenin' pape here."

Jack groans. "Sing 'em to sleep, why don't ya?" He takes the pape from Davey. "Extra! Extra! Terrified flight from burnin' inferno! You heard the story right here!" A man hurriedly walks up, hands Jack a coin, and takes the pape. Jack smiles. "Thanks, mister." As the man leaves, Jack hands the coin to Davey.

"You just made that up," Davey accuses.

"Did not," Jack argues lightly. "I said he heard it right here, and he did."

"My father taught us not to lie."

"And mine taught me not to starve."

Les walks up, nothing in his hand. "Hey! Just sold my last paper!" he says excitedly.

"I got one more," Davey says.

I shrug. "You gotta sell it or pay for it."

"Give it here." Les takes the pape, walks up to a woman, and gives her his puppy dog eyes. "Buy a pape from a poor orphan boy?" He adds a few coughs for extra measure.

"Oh, you dear thing. Of course I'll take a newspaper. Here's a dime." She gives him a shiny coin, and he triumphantly walks back over to us.

"Born to the breed," Jack comments.

"This is so much better than school!" Les says, making me laugh.

"Don't even think it!" Davey warns his brother. "When Pop goes back to work, we go back to school."

Jack, Davey, and Les begin talking, but I look around. I spot Race standing a ways off, reading a pape. He tries to sell it to someone as they walk by. I consider going to talk to him, but I don't.

"Thanks for the invite," Jack is saying. "But I got plans with a fella. He's probably waitin' on me now."

Les turns. "Is that the guy you're meeting?" We turn to where he points, and see Snyder.

"Kelly!" The man growls.

"Run for it!" Jack shouts. In the chaos, I glance to see if Race is still on his corner, but he's gone. I manage to split up from Jack and the others. Snyder's not out for me, and I know where I'm going.

"Get somewhere safe," I manage to tell Jack before darting back to the lodging house. I make it back before dark, and as I'm nearing the entrance, I see Race slip inside. I want to ask him why he ran from Snyder, but I decide to ask another time.

~ * ~ * ~

The next morning, I arrive at the gate just as the circulation bell begins to toll. Most of the other boys are already there.

"Them fire sirens kept me awake all night," Race complains tiredly.

"Sirens is like lullabies to me," Mush replies. "The louder they wail, the better the headline. And the better the headline, the better I eat. And the better I eat-"

"The further away from you I sleep!" Race cuts him off.

Just then, Davey and Les arrive. "'Morning, everybody," Davey says. "Sorry we're late. We had to help our mom with something."

Race raises an eyebrow at the two. "They got a mudder? I was gonna get me one." He grins, sticking his cigar in his mouth.

"What'd you do to the one you had?" Romeo speaks up.

Buttons answers his question. "He traded 'er for a box of cigars," he jokes.

"Hey, they was Coronas!" Race defends, playfully pushing Buttons away from him.

"We have a father, too," Les adds, earning a reaction from the boys.

"A mudda' and a fodda'!" Buttons exclaims, smiling.

"Hey, ain't we the hoi polloi?" Race lightly hits Buttons on the shoulder.

"So, how's it going today?" Les asks, cheerful as always. I'm beginning to think there's nothing that can sink that kid's attitude.

"Ask me after they put up the headline," I say, shaking my head a bit.

"Here it comes now," Les announces, watching as the headline is written.

"New Newsie Price: Sixty Cents Per Hundred," Albert reads aloud, confusion in his voice. This draws the attention of the rest of the newsies.

"What'd you say?" Mush asks, turning around and walking over, the other boys tailing him.

"Is that news?" Davey asks, confused at our alarm.

"It is to me!" I answer.

"They jacked up the price of papes!" Albert exclaims. "Ten cents more a hundred!"

"I could eat two days on a dime!" Elmer says, his voice getting louder.

Crutchie looks at the headline, shocked. "I'll be sleepin' on the street."

"You already sleep on the street," Jojo points out.

Crutchie turns to look at him. "In a worse neighborhood," he adds, as if it were obvious.

Finally, Jack arrives at the gate. He looks at us, and asks, "All right, what're you all waitin' around here for?"

Crutchie gestures to the headline. "Get a load'a this, Jack."

Romeo comes up and stands with Jack. "Like Pulitzer doesn't make enough already," he states.

"Papes for the newsies!" Wiesel calls out, going to stand behind the stacks of papers.

"Relax," Jack says, a smile on his face. "It's gotta be a gag." He walks up to the man. "Hey, good joke, Weasel. You really had the fellas goin'. I'll take a hundred. Be on my way." He places down his coins as the rest of us fall in line behind him.

"A hundred will cost you sixty," Wiesel says, as if he's having too much fun. The boys shout in indignation.

Jack shakes his head. "I ain't payin' no sixty."

"Well, then, make way for someone who will," Wiesel replies.

"You bet," Jack says, leaving the line. "Me and the fellas'll take a hike over to The Journal."

We begin to follow Jack when Specs finally shows up. "I'll save ya the walk. They upped their price, too."

Jack looks back at Wiesel. "Then we'll take our business to The Sun."

"It's the same all around town," Wiesel announces, stopping us from leaving. "New day. New price." His tone makes me want to walk right over and slap the grin off his face.

Jack marches back over. "Hey, hey, why the jack up?" He's beginning to get angry.

"Well," Wiesel begins, "for them kind'a answers, you gotta ask further up the food chain. So, you buyin' or movin' on?"

~~~~~
sorry this is a long chapter, and it's a bad place to stop. but I couldn't find a better place to stop. anyway! thanks for reading! please comment on my story, it makes me happy haha.
stay safe and stay healthy, friends!