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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 6, 2019 21:26:16 GMT -5
Spot hadn’t slept well. There was a lot on his mind... That morning he decided he would head to Manhattan and not sell at all. He left a note for Mr. O’Quinns and had Cloud tell his birds and other boys that he would be gone for the day. Today, he needed to talk to Jack and stay away from Brooklyn and Queens.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 6, 2019 22:11:31 GMT -5
When Jack had initially spotted Spot at the distribution center, a part of him had just thought that it was some random person who had looked like him. He hadn't wanted to think that something could possibly be wrong, but almost as soon as he had gotten closer and realized that it really was the Brooklyn leader, his heart sank.
"Spot? What're ya doin' here?" He approached.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 6, 2019 23:21:08 GMT -5
"Spot? What're ya doin' here?"
Spot pursed his lips. "Had a rough night."
He made a slight gesture to all the other Manhattan newsies lining up to sell. He didn't want to say why he was here with this crowd forming. The boys weren't gossips and meant well, but Spot liked privacy alot.
"Mind if I shadow ya while ya sell?"
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 7, 2019 11:09:08 GMT -5
"Had a rough night."
Concern flashed across Jack's features. Had something bad happened? Or had he just not slept well for whatever reason?
"Mind if I shadow ya while ya sell?"
Surprise. It must have been written all over Jack's face as he stood there, just blinking for a few moments before getting himself under control. "Yeah... yeah, that's fine. We can talk then."
It would be best to find a place to talk where they weren't so close to a huge line of newsies, even if his were some of the best when it came to not talking and gossiping too much. They just didn't care half the time if it didn't affect them.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 7, 2019 11:43:22 GMT -5
"Yeah... yeah, that's fine. We can talk then."
Spot didn't seem to notice Jack's surprise. He was still tired and hazy from yesterday. He had barely slept. He just nodded at Jack's consent and waited quietly for the Manhattan leader to buy his papers so they could get going.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 7, 2019 12:01:21 GMT -5
It took Jack a few minutes to get his papers, just buying the usual hundred and slinging them up and onto his shoulder. By the time that he made his way back to Spot, he began to realize just how exhausted the leader looked. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes seemed almost glazed over with exhaustion.
"Ya ready?" He cleared his throat.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 7, 2019 16:16:44 GMT -5
"Ya ready?"
Spot was slightly startled. He hadn't been expecting Jack to be done already. He almost dozed off there...
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready."
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 7, 2019 16:18:30 GMT -5
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready."
Jack nodded slowly. He was definitely curious about what was going on with Spot, just because the slightly jumpy, exhausted version of himself was incredibly different from the Spot that he was used to.
Nodding off in one direction, he began walking, moving a bit more slowly so that he could make sure that Spot was still able to keep up. "So what happened to ya? Ya look like death."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 7, 2019 17:48:27 GMT -5
"So what happened to ya? Ya look like death."
Spot glared at his friend for commenting on his appearance, but he really couldn't blame him. He saw his reflection in the mirror that morning... He knew all too well how awful he looked. But where to begin?
He shrugged. "Stuff happened yesterday... Lacey. Rip."
He wasn't being very clear, but then he was working on probably less that a couple of hours of sleep right now.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 7, 2019 17:49:46 GMT -5
"Stuff happened yesterday... Lacey. Rip."
Almost instantly, Jack stopped dead in his tracks. What had happened with Rip?
"What happened?" His tone was much more serious this time around, laced with worry. Had something happened to Lacey?
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 7, 2019 22:22:56 GMT -5
"What happened?"
Spot just gave Jack a tired look. So much had happened in so little time... how could he even begin telling Jack the events that had passed the day before?
"Shouldn't ya worry about sellin' foist?" he asked tiredly, not bothering to cover his thick Brooklyn accent.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 3:46:16 GMT -5
"Shouldn't ya worry about sellin' foist?"
"Spot." Jack's voice was admittedly more aggressive than it needed to be, but hearing him talking about Rip and Lacey when he seemed to be so distraught and out of it was really worrying Jack. If he had to, he could push his selling back a bit. He never had any issue selling them all.
"Tell me what happened."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 11:47:23 GMT -5
"Spot. Tell me what happened."
Spot was tired. Maybe coming to Manhattan wasn't such a good idea, but he really needed to talk everything out. "Sell a couple of papes foist," was his gruff reply.
He probably feel a little better knowing Jack had gotten some selling done before he majorly interrupted it with the events of the day before.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 11:49:10 GMT -5
"Sell a couple of papes foist."
Jack huffed in response, but did as he said, beginning his selling for the day. He knew better than to try arguing with Spot. He wasn't going to be any less tough just because he seemed tired. There was almost nothing in the world that could break Spot down.
After he had sold maybe ten or fifteen of his papers, he returned to the shorter boy, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now explain."
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 14:36:27 GMT -5
"Now explain."
Spot felt a little better after Jack had sold some papers, and well, it gave him a chance to doze off a little. However, that did not make it easier to explain things to Jack.
He hesitated. "Rip came ta Brooklyn yesterday..."
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 14:37:48 GMT -5
"Rip came ta Brooklyn yesterday..."
Jack's eyes widened. Rip had come to Brooklyn? Had everything gotten started and Jack hadn't even known? And what did that have to do with Lacey?
His heart sank at the thought. "Spot... what happened?"
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 15:10:55 GMT -5
"Spot... what happened?"
That's where it got difficult. What exactly had happened? Though, Spot seemed surprisingly unaffected by Rip being in Brooklyn...
"Lacey, she... I don't know. She made him mad? He dragged her ta me and told me ta keep an eye on her or somethin' like that."
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 15:12:37 GMT -5
"Lacey, she... I don't know."
Jack frowned again. What was he talking about?
"She made him mad? He dragged her ta me and told me ta keep an eye on her or somethin' like that."
He bit his lip. So Lacey wasn't hurt, which was what he had initially thought... but why had Rip come to Brooklyn just to drag Lacey back? They never crossed into one another's boroughs. "Is she... okay?"
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 16:02:08 GMT -5
"Is she... okay?"
Spot could only sigh. He didn't know anymore. Things had just gotten more complicated with Lacey. He could only shrug in response. Words just wouldn't come. He needed them to. He couldn't keep bottling up his feelings, but the words just weren't there. He didn't know how to explain everything that was going on in his head right now.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 16:03:33 GMT -5
Jack didn't know what to do. The response from Spot didn't give him much to go off of, and Jack was just left to worry that perhaps things with Rip would move faster now.
"If ya need ta stay here for a while, I can get somethin' set up for ya, alright?" He offered, though he didn't figure that it would help much.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 17:26:15 GMT -5
"If ya need ta stay here for a while, I can get somethin' set up for ya, alright?"
Spot nodded a bit absentmindedly, but he was grateful for the offer. He probably would need to stay in Manhattan a couple of days. Who knew if Rip would change his mind and decide to attack in Brooklyn after all.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 8, 2019 17:28:27 GMT -5
All that Jack wanted to do was help. He had thought that they would have more time than this before anything with Rip would happen, much less before the guy would just got barging into Brooklyn with Lacey. Now, who knew when things were going to come to a head? If Spot would be safe in Manhattan, then that was where Jack would insist that he stay.
For now, he cleared his throat. "Let's get ya ta the lodge, okay? I'm sure Kloppman wouldn't mind havin' ya take a nap on one of the beds. Ya look like ya really need it." He asserted.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 8, 2019 20:31:05 GMT -5
"Let's get ya ta the lodge, okay? I'm sure Kloppman wouldn't mind havin' ya take a nap on one of the beds. Ya look like ya really need it."
For once, Spot was too tired to argue. He just nodded and complied to Jack's wishes. Perhaps after taking a nap, he'd feel better and be able to sort out his thoughts with the Manhattan leader.
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Post by Jack Kelly on Feb 9, 2019 13:14:20 GMT -5
Jack was relieved that Spot seemed to agree with him easily, rather than putting up a fight. He wasn't going to force Spot into doing anything if it wasn't what he wanted, but he knew that sleep was going to be the best thing for him now. So, he began leading the fellow leader back towards the familiar lodging house to talk to Kloppman.
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Post by Spot Conlon on Feb 9, 2019 14:21:57 GMT -5
Spot was silent as he and Jack walked back to the lodge. He was too tired to talk now. It seemed like sleep was finally catching up to him. At this rate, he might even be sleep-walking right now.
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