It was quiet for a moment. Than finally the great Brooklyn Leader spoke.
" Naw, I ain't gonna say anything," Spot got up and headed for his cane in the corner and his hat on the hat stand, " I am however, gonna do somethin' about it." He started to leave.
" You mean we Spot," Action had pulled herself up to the bed and was wobbling trying to stand on her own, " We are gonna do somethin' about it."
" Yeah, " Spot grinned slightly and looked down at his cane. He didn't need it so he tossed it to Action, " We are."
*****
" Hey give that back, " Baby doll Blue demanded. She was caught in a game of monkey in the middle with two of the boys from Julio's gang. They tossed her last paper back in forth in the alley, " I said give it back!"
" Hey you heard her, " Mush said entering the alley form the opposite side, " now give it back." The two boys looked at each other than at the size of Mush and took off.
" Thanks Mush, " Baby Doll Blue said picking up her pape.
" Oh it was nothing, " Mush smiled.
" Any sign of Action?"
" Nope, " Mush sighed , " I've looked everywhere, but I ain't found her yet."
" This is so weird, first Julio and his goons show back up, kick us out of the lodging house than Action disappears along with a certain leader of Brooklyn." Baby took a deep breath.
" Don't worry doll," Mush said putting an arm around her shoulders, " We'll get to da bottom of this. We got everybody out there lookin' fer Action."
" I know," Baby leaned her head against Mush's chest and the two headed off towards Newsie Square.
******
" Ya know what...this ain't gonna be easy," Spot said looking at the climb to the bunk room of the Bronx, " I'm thinkin' you need to go first, dat way if you fall I'll catch ya."
" Oy, " Action groaned looking up the building.
" Whats da matter?" Spot smirked, "scared o' heights Monroe?"
" No, " Action handed him the cane, " I've just had some unpleasant experiences wit climbin' in and out o' windows dats all."
" Oh," Spot raised an eye brow and gave Action a boost. Unfortunately with daylight half gone and very sore bones and a problem with shortness (which they both had) Action soon lost grip of what she had been attempting to hold herself up with and collapsed. Knocking Spot flat on his back and landing her right on top of him. The two sat there frozen face to face.
****
" I wonder, " Skweeks thought as she crept up to the Bronx lodging house. She thought maybe she could sneak in and find out just what they could've done to her best pal. Skweeks jaw hit the ground when she saw two sworn enemies , one on top of the other.
" Well," Skweeks said loudly, Spot and Action snapped out of the trance they were in and turned to her, " I'm glad yer not too worried about what's been going on. And I mean I'm not mad dat I finally figured out jist what you been up to the past three days."
" What?" Spot said not catching on at first to what Skweeks was hinting around at.
" Yeah what are ya talkin' about?" Action didn't at first either, but when it dawned on them both they immediately jumped apart, of course Action fell to the ground in pain afterwards.
" Look dere ain't no way, I mean." Spot gave Action a helpless look. Action grabbed the cane and pulled herself up.
" No way, no how." Action started to fall and Spot quickly caught her.
" Yeah, right," Skweeks rolled her eyes at the site of them even anywhere remotely near each other, " Why you two love birds been gone Julio and his boys took back da lodgin' house."
" Yeah, we figured." Action said standing on her own two feet again.
" How'd ya figure?" Skweeks was suspicious.
" Well ya see..." they heard a noise coming from inside, Action rolled her eyes, "Oh no." " Look we can talk about this later?" Spot had a point. At any moment all of Julio's boys could surround them and Action was in no condition to even try and fight.
" Alright lets scram than." Skweeks started to run and Spot joined her and stopped, looked back at Action. There was no way her hobbling would be fast enough. Spot rolled his eyes and went back for her.
" Hey what are ya-" Action would have finished that statement but she was too busy being thrown over Spots shoulder, " Oh dat's what yer doin'" With that they took off to Manhattan.
*****
"Spot and Action were doin' what?" Race's chin dropped. Skweeks hand flew over his mouth quickly as she looked around to make sure Action and Spot were still in the other room.
" Shhhh!" Skweeks released the grip on Race's mouth slowly, " Look, I know what I saw and dey were awful close….hell dey was on top of each other."
" Hey if I were you I'd be keepin' dis to myself , I mean if Spot found out dat you were tellin' people dat…" Race warned.
" Tellin' people what?" Baby said entering the conversation.
" That Skweeks caught Action and Spot all over each other at the Bronx" Race answered not thinking.
" OH MY GOSH!" Baby squealed, " Where's Mush? He is never going to believe this."
" Oh nice one Race," Skweeks threw her arms up in the air and walked off.
" HEY! What I say???" Race went after her.
********
" SO," Action said as she sat on the floor by the entry way to the lodging house, "Now what??"
" I dunno," Spot was standing up and pacing around. Action took a deep breath and starred in front of her. This was all her fault and right about now is when Action usually takes what she can and runs but she couldn't this time. She'd done something she promised never to do…she'd gotten involved. People were counting on her now and that scarred her. Action had always been able to walk away until now. Even before she and Skweeks had been thrown, rolled, in to the orphanage Action would sometimes disappear for months. No one ever knew where to…not even Skweeks.
" HEY!" Spot was waving his hand in front of her face. She noticed he was now squatted on the floor in front of her, " I been wavin' my hand in front of yer face fer over a minute now….you okay?"
" Yeah I just…." Action sighed.
" You feelin' okay?" Spot put his hand on her forehead, checking her temp.
" SPOT!" Jack screamed so loud that Spot fell right on top of Action…just in time for Jack Kelley to walk in the room with Shiner.
" Hey we," Jack froze when he walked in and saw a certain Brooklyn leader and his worst enemy laying on the floor …on top of each other.
" Well," Shiner was speechless. She had rumblings of this from Specs and Skittery and all the other Newsies were suspicious of them too but to actually catch them in the act , " I uh, well we……"
" We'll come back at a better time when yer not," Jack cracked an uneasy smile, "Busy. Come on Shiner." With that the two left whispering. Spot turned his head to Action when it finally clicked for both of them and they instantly jumped a part.
" Uhhhh, I got stuff to do now so….bye." Spot took off towards Jack.
" Oy," Action rolled her eyes. She knew what she had to do now…and it wasn't going to be easy.
**********
Action looked down the side of the lodging house. It was a long jump and would no doubt hurt. She decided tying sheets together to form a rope might prove to be a little wiser. She kept praying that no one would catch her…she didn't want anyone following or trying to stop her. When her mind was set on something nothing stops her. She hobbled over to the window after securing one end of the rope to a bunk bed. Action opened the window took one look down and nearly passed out as memories of her last window hopping experience flowed through her head. She took out her lucky dice and gave them a kiss. Action counted….1…..2…..3… She jumped. For a split second everything was perfect…until she slapped into the side of the wall halfway down and out of rope.
" Shit." Action swore dangling from the lodging house. She was stuck…and she looked like a complete and total moron just hanging there. She couldn't yell for anyone because that would defeat the whole purpose of jumping out the window.
" Poyfect," Action thought, " this is jist poyfect." She sighed. Might as well climb back up and find another way out. Suddenly she heard a ripping noise from above, "Oh no." With that she tumbled to the ground with torn rope made of thin sheets falling on top of her.
" Oy," Action just laid there for a moment. Not wanting to move…not being able to. She heard noise coming from with in, forced herself up, and was on her way.
" Action?" Skweeks had watched from the door of the lodging house and was now determined to find her friend. She ran silently behind Actions limping body. Skweeks followed Action to an all to familiar place, the Bronx lodging house.
*******
" Monroe," Julio laughed as Action stood before him and all of his goons. Skweeks watched from the window in fear for her best friend. She couldn't decide rather to stay or go for help. She couldn't do anything but watch, " You got a lot of guts comin' back here…one set of broken ribs not good enough for ya?"
" Look Dice," Action kept an eye on the exit out of the room incase things when bad, " I'm not one fer holdin' grudges….how about a little craps huh?"
" What do you want to play for?"
" What do I always wanna play for…da most I can get."
" And would the most be the lodging house?"
" In time….but first I wanna work my way up to it….so what do ya say?"
" I say ," Julio looked around, " Lets get the dice rollin' already."
******
The night was dying, and they were playing craps harder than Skweeks had ever seen. She wanted more than anything to go get Spot and the others, but she couldn't risk something happening to Action while she was gone. The game was hot. All Actions life she had spent playing craps and gamboling like there was no tomorrow, but tonight she was playing like the whole world was depending on her. For as long as Skweeks could remember Action cared only about one thing…money. She had no family, disappeared so much that she had only one real friend, and for the most part was alone. But she liked it that way. No one to worry about her, no one for her to worry about. Something had changed about Action, Skweeks couldn't put her finger on it but she knew something had.
" Alright," Action whipped the sweat off her forehead. She looked at the pile and took a deep breath, all the money was there, the sun was almost up…it was time, " The way I see it Julio is dat we both got nothin' left to go into that pile except one thing."
" What?" Julio was focused on the game.
" The Bronx. You loose I get it," Action prayed he'd go for it.
" And if I win?" Julio was suspicious as to what Monroe had. Action thought long and hard than answered with a dry mouth and half dead body response.
" My marker." ( Note: Marker is a crap game players I Owe You slip for when they run out of money)
" What? No, you said we play till the first one busts. And you bust," Julio was reaching for the pile.
" No," Action said helplessly. She lost…Action Monroe had lost. She'd lost many times before but it never hurt as badly as that night. Than she felt something in her balled up hand. She opened her hand slowly and looked down at the gold and silver that seemed to dance in her eye replacing the glimmer of hope with the memory of the gift. They were her fathers before he died. He had a gamboling thing just like Action. In fact after her mother died having her he named her Action. He showed her everything there was to know and now…she had to, " I ain't busted yet." Action laid the dice down on the pile. The whole room grew quiet.
" Action," Skweeks whispered out side. She was amazed. Action valued those dice more than anything else in the world.
" Dice or no?" Action asked in a whisper. Julio just stared at them. Action was shaking this hurt so bad, "DICE OR NO?"
" Dice," Julio laughed slightly, "Dice."
" Lets go." Action picked up the dice Julio had been using. She took a long deep breath and let the dice roll.
******
Action hobbled out of the Bronx lodging house just after the sun had risen. She looked up at the sky and gave a bitter smile.
" So, now what?" Skweeks said coming from where she had been hidden the whole night. Action turned to her, and out of sheer exhaustion she didn't ask why Skweeks was there or how she knew where she would be.
" Now," Action looked down in her hand and smiled at the two gold dice with silver spots that stared right back at her, it was time. She pulled the slip of paper out that stated the lodging house was theirs and handed to Skweeks, " you go get the girls and take them back to yer new home."
" Our new home Action," Skweeks was unsure what was happening, " Its yers too, You've more than earned it."
" That's a real nice thought but I been thinkin'," Action combed her hair with her hand , " Maybe its time to move on."
" What?" Skweeks mouth dropped.
" Look, I don't like stayin' in one place to long. Besides, I've had enough of New York's action to last a life time. "
" But, " Skweeks couldn't believe what she was hearing " I thought New York was all you wanted and and….." Action just looked at her with a weird smile, and Skweeks knew nothing she said was going to keep her here, " So where you goin' ?"
" Dunno yet," Action shrugged, " First the train yard than where ever all dis money 'ill take me."
" I'll see ya round Action," Skweeks spit on her hand and held it out.
" See ya kid," Action spit on hers and the two shook. Action headed off towards the train station. Than Skweeks thought about something.
" Hey Action," She yelled. Action turned around back at Skweeks, " What should I tell Spot?"
" Tell 'im I said bye." Action shrugged. She had no idea what Skweeks was talking about.
******
Spot sat at his usual place on the Brooklyn Bridge thinking about the passed few weeks…days. Action was gone now, maybe life could get back to normal. That kid had a way of turning life upside down where ever she went. Still he'd miss having someone questioning everything he did and constantly making smart ass remarks about him.
" Hey Spot," Spot turned around at the voice he heard. His eyes became full of anger.
" Boy you got some nerve." Spot said to a weary Julio who stood before him.
" So does that offer still stand fer me and my boys to come crash at yer lodgin' house er what?" Julio asked. Spot shook his head and laughed slightly.
" Julio," Spot kept shaking his head and laughing. Nervously, Julio started to laugh too. Than Spots fist flew at his face full of an anger that knocked him back a good foot and a half, " You get the hell outta New York or you'll have trouble than you could ever imagine," Spot turned to walk away but stopped smirking as he saw trash cans near by. Maybe just one more time...for Actions sake.

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A Special Word From Skweeker and Action