CHAPTER ONE: EVERYTHING STARTS

"Come on blink, gimme my hat!" yelled race as he chased after his Irish friend, who had mysteriously gotten hold of race's hat during a poker game at Tibby's.

"Nevah!" blink yelled as he maneuvered through crowded New York with racetrack close at his heels. "Ill soak ya blink! Jus youse wait, ill get ya!" race yelled. Of course he really wouldn't hurt him, they were too good of friends. But, race happened to be having a bad day and blink took advantage.

Blink turned his head, and, satisfied with race's scowl, grinned and turned his head back around. Then, all of a sudden a girl ran in front of blink at full speed. He tried to turn but was too slow, and they crashed into each other, hard. They found themselves sprawled out on the cold New York cobblestones. Blink picked himself up off the ground. "Ouch!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his backside. "Oh, hey youse all right?" he asked; now noticing the girl.

She was very much Italian, with dark hair and eyes. Her curly hair was up in a bun under her hat. She had on a dirty white shirt and baggy, gray plaid pants. And, something curious. She had a thin, light scar running from her ear down to her lip. "Blink!" yelled race as he ran up behind him. Blink cringed. "Shoot." Race approached blink, grabbed his hat and firmly placed it on his head. "Hows many times ise gotta tell ya blink, nevah steal me hat!" then he shoved blink in the shoulder. "Hey! Youse only mad cause youse had a lousy day at the tracks!" blink said, grinning. He was obviously amused by race's anger. Race grabbed blink by the shirt and held a fist in front of his face. "You evah steel me hat again and youse'll need a patch fer de othah eye!" as they argued, the girl, (still on the ground by the way) observed them. 'Gotta be newsies' she thought, 'de Italian ones dressed nicer. Must gamble.' Her thoughts and the boy's arguing was interrupted by a girl in newsie garb, with jet-black hair, big brown eyes and a pale completion, except for a few freckles on her nose.

"Blink! Blink!" she yelled. All three turned to see her. Blink smiled. "hiya flare! Gotta go race." He ran to Flare, linked arms and walked away. Race, annoyed, took a cigar from his pocket, lit it and took a puff. He held out his hand to help her up, and she accepted. "Name's race." He told her. She mumbled, "Maria." "So um, Maria." Ho took another puff of his cigar. "What youse runnin' from? Ya almost took blink dere." He smirked. "Uh….jus' runnin' from de bulls. Stole some bread." She told him quietly. "Not much fer talkin', huh?" race asked. She shook her head no. He smirked. "How bout youse come to de lodgin' house, become a newsie. Believe me, ids a lot betta dan runnin' from de bulls all de time."

'Well,' she thought, 'I do need a job…' "Ok." She accepted. Race started walking and motioned for Maria to follow him. "Now, we need to find youse a nick name." He told her. "Why do ise need a nickname?" "Comes in handy when you're runnin' from de bulls. Can't jus' yell, hey Maria! Den dey'ed know ya name." "Oh." Race smiled. "How bout gamberetto? [Italian for shrimp]" she smiled a bit and blushed. "Ise not dat small." [She's around 5/1] "Oh yes youse are. Youse shorta dan me an dats d sayin' somthin'." He laughed. "You speak Italian?" He inquired. She nodded. "Yup. My family came from Sicily." Race nodded. "Youse should jus call me Maria. Its not my real name anyway." Race took another puff of his cigar. "Well den, whads ya real name?" Maria looked downward with a bit of shame and painful memories.

"It doesn't matter." They turned a corner. "Well, heah it is. Home sweet home." She followed Race into the lodging house. "Heya Kloppman." Race said as he greeted the elderly man at the desk. Kloppman smiled. "Heya Race. Let me guess, can't pay room and board but you promise you'll get to it next time." Race smirked. "As always." He stepped up to the desk and signed his name in the record book. Maria walked up behind him. Race looked back at her. "Oh, uhh, Kloppman dis is Maria. She's gonna try de newspaper business." Kloppman gave her a warm smile as she signed her name. She followed Racetrack up the staircase.

"Dis is de bunkroom. In dere is de washroom." The room had rows of beds, stacked two by two. None of them were made. Newspapers, poker chips, and clothes were everywhere. "Weah do I sleep?" She asked. "De goils sleep on de left side of de room. "Dey'll be back any time now. We were jus eaten at Tibby's." He shot a glance at Maria, then his expression turned serious. "Weah did youse get dat?" He pointed to her scar. Her eyes grew big. "Ise…I…umm..f-fell." Her nervous eyes darted back and forth. There was a pause. Judging by the confused expression in his eyes, she knew he didn't believe her. Her soft brown eyes looked up to meet his boyish ones, and she silently pleaded for him to not ask any more questions. Race opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, but then a bunch of rowdy newsies stormed into the room. "Dere back." Race whispered into her ear.

"Hiya Race!"

"Whose up for a game a poker?"

"Me!"

"I'm in"

"Can anyone spot me two bits?"

Race looked over at Maria. She looked overwhelmed at the number and demeanor of the boys. "It's ok, dey'll calm down." He reassured her. "Hey guys!" he yelled, trying to get their attention. Nobody heard him, so this time he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Hey bummahs!" They all instantly stopped what they were doing and turned to race.

"Hey Race, whose de goil?" Mush yelled. "Everyone, dis is Maria. She's new." There was a mixture of waves and hellos. "Maria, dat is Jack. Es' de leadah. An ovah dere is Blink, Mush, and Crutchy." He leaned over and whispered on her ear, "They're kinda crazy." He smiled; but that didn't last long because poker chips came flying at him. "We hoid dat Higgins!" Mush yelled, but good-natured as always he laughed. "Anyways," He continued, "ova dere playing poker is Skittery, Bumlets, Dutchy, Specs, and Snoddy. De little kids ovah dere are Boots, Snipeshooter, Les and Itey. An dats Pie Eater, Snitch an' Swifty. Oh an ovah dere is David, he's standin' by Jack. We call him de walkin mouth. He's new." Maria nodded, trying to take it all in. Race took a breath.

"Now de goils." He pointed to a red head that was sitting on Jack's lap. "Dats Frecks. She's Jack's goil. Bit stubborn though, so watch out. Dose two are Flare and Spades. Flare is Blink's goil. She has one nasty tempah; dats why we call her Flare. An' Spades is Snitch's goil. Nevah, evah play her in poker." Maria took a deep breath and sighed. Race noticed and reassured her. "It'll take some time but ya gonna get used ta it." She let a small smile slip. "T'anks" Race smiled back, showing his crooked teeth.

"Attention all a youse!" The whole room turned to see Jack, who was standing on a table. "Dis heah is Sparks. She's anuddah new goil. Make her feel at home!" He pointed to the brunette at his side. She had big hazel eyes and looked innocent and a bit afraid. Mush swaggered up to her and said, "Welcome to de lodgin house. If youse needs anythin' let me know. Ise Mush." He lifted up her hand and kissed it, smiling. Jack stepped down from the table and without looking, walked by and shoved him in the chest. "Quit it lovah boy." Race took Maria's hand and walked her over to the new girl. "Dis is Maria. She's new too. Youse guys can get ta know each oddah while I join de pokah game." He smiled at Maria again then made his way to the poker table.

Maria and Sparks went and sat on a bed on the girl's side of the room. "So, what's your name again?" Sparks asked. "Maria." She looked down at her hands, then lifted up her brown eyes and asked, "Why youse here? Youse seem to talk bettah dan de rest." She smiled. "I grew up on park avenue. I ran away because I was sick of the life. I wanted to be on my own, have responsibilities. How about you?" Maria's eyes darted around the room. "Nuthin special." She could see Sparks staring at her scar, which she expected, of course. Sparks noticed her glance, and apologized. "Sorry." "Ids alright, everybody stares." Sparks tried to show a smile in order to lighten the mood, but Maria didn't smile back.

"Hiya newbys!" Maria turned to see Frecks, Spades, and Flare. They sat down on the next bunk. It was getting late and almost time for everyone to turn in, so Flare was brushing her hair. "Youse seem shy. Wads ya name?" Flare asked Maria. "Maria." She nodded. "Ise Flare, Blink's goil." Then she leaned very close to Maria and just stared, while keeping a perfect straight face. Maria was a bit confused; her dark brown eyes darted between the newsie girls. "Whads she doin?" She asked in a hushed whisper. Spades leaned close and whispered, "She's searchin ya soul!" "Oh shud up Spades!" Frecks yelled as she shoved the laughing girl. Maria looked a little worried. Flare backed off and smirked as she continued to brush her hair. "Ise just examanin your eyes, and dat scar ya got. Ise can tell a lot about a person by lookin at dere eyes." "Oh." Maria nodded. "So, weah did youse get dat scar?" Frecks asked. Maria sighed with the frustration of having to answer the same question twelve times a day. "Ise fell." Nobody said anything, because it was obvious that a mere fall hadn't caused the scar.

"So, where do Maria and I sleep?" Asked Sparks. Frecks replied with, "Well, Maria can sleep on de bunk she's sittin on, and Spar…." She was interrupted by the strange silence in the room. Everyone turned towards the doorway. Click… step…click…step. Spot Conlon. He appeared in the doorway. The picture of a leader, a higher authority figure that had an air about him that seemed to say you needed to prove yourself and do it fast. You did not want to make him angry. He carried himself like he was the king of all New York. Jack got up from his cards and walked over to him. Spot nodded towards Jack and his mouth tightened in a business like manner.

"Jacky-boy."

"Spot."

They spit shook and both gave a little smirk. "So, Spot, we got some newbys today."

"Oh ya."

"Yup."

Jack said, "Dere ovah dere. Maria and Sparks."

He turned to the girls and nodded in their direction. But, he locked his eyes on Sparks. He turned to follow Jack to the poker table, but kept stealing glances at Sparks over the top of his cards. Maria leaned forward and asked, "Whose dis Spot guy?"

Frecks gaped in surprise. "Youse don't know?!"

Maria shook her head. "He's de leadah a Brooklyn! Da most feahd newsie in all a New Yawk! An a real playah… an ise think dat he has eyes fah sparks." She smiled, but Sparks looked very annoyed and her hazel eyes turned dark brown. "Naw. I've heard of him. He just goes around to every slut in the city and sleeps with them to build his reputation. Not interested."

All the girls smiled. "Come on Sparks. Maybe your de one dat'll change 'em." Spades said. Sparks just shook her head. "Hey Spades, do youse know weah Sage is?" Flare asked.

Spades shook her head. "De last time ise saw ha was aftah Tibby's. She said dat she was gonna finish sellin de rest of ha papes." Frecks green eyes grew big. "Ya don't think that the Delancy's got her?" She asked, concerned. The girls all shrugged. "Shoah hope not." Spades replied.

Sparks lay down on her bunk, which was the one above Maria. "Whose Sage?"

Flare answered, " She's Crutchy's goil. She's real nice, you'll like her. Oh an she's Spot's sistah. Don't get on ha bad side." She laughed. Then there was a knock at the door, and a girl with dirty blonde hair and freckles all over her walked in. She smiled.

"Hiya bummahs!"

"Speak a de devil!" Yelled Flare as she jumped up and ran to hug Sage. "Sorry ise late, ise stopped by de book store an spent my sellin money." She walked over to Crutchy and kissed him on the cheek. During all of this Maria was just sitting on her bunk and keeping quiet. She wasn't used to this many people around her. She was looking around the room at all the newsies. They all looked so happy, like they didn't have a care in the world. Except for Spot who was staring intently at Sparks. She yawned and decided that it was time to turn in. She started to untie her shoes when she looked up and saw Racetrack walking to her.

"Hiya Maria. Youse doin ok?" He asked as he sat down on the empty bunk across from her.

"Ya, ise fine."

"Umm, youse wanna sell wid me, Blink and Flare tomorrow? We'll show ya de ropes."

She nodded. Race smiled at her and pushed the brim of her hat over her eyes. "See ya." He got up and walked over to his own bunk. Sage came and sat next to her. "Hi. Ise Sage. Youse must be Maria" Maria shook her head and noticed she had a big smile. Sage leaned close and whispered in her ear, "I think dat Race likes ya."

Maria shook her head and looked down at her hands. "Whads wrong?" Sage asked, her green eyes riddled with concern. "Ise just tired, dats all." She nervously bit her bottom lip. "Ok. If youse need anythin den just yell fa me."

Maria turned and nodded to Sage as she smiled. Then she got under the covers and tried to sleep. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same thing, except for the people at the poker table. Then Kloppman made his presence known as he walked through the door, yelling, "Time ta turn in! Get ta bed!" Then he turned and walked downstairs. The poker game ended and Spot stood up to spit-shake with the other players. He nodded towards Jack and made his way to the door. He turned to scan the room for Sparks. His blue eyes met her hazel ones and he nodded in a very gentleman like manner, then left.

Maria curled up on her bed and so did Sparks above her. Blink came over to kiss Flare goodnight, Crutchy came over to kiss Sage, and Snitch came over to kiss Spades. Race waved and smiled to Maria and she sheepishly waved back.

HERES A GAME.... Submit a Review guessing how Maria got her scar. Get it right, and I put your name into the story.