I breathed in the Manhattan air, triumphantly. I had done it. I had turned in one, actually two of my stories to an editor and would return within a week to see what he had thought. True, he may hate it, but I had gotten up the nerve to do it. If anything, I would learn and grow from what he would say. I was in a terrific mood. I had sent my ‘beloved’ younger sister packing yesterday, telling her that I would be there for the wedding and wished her luck on all the arrangements. I was staying here; Manhattan was my home now. I looked around as I walked back towards the Lodging House. Then, still rather proud of myself, I decided to shop for some pencils and other stationary products. I had a little extra money. So, I changed directions and headed to my favorite shop and entered. The clerk looked up and nodded at me. I smiled back and continued to look at the many pencils, some for art, some for writing. I looked out the front window to find, to my surprise, Dutchy and Kelly outside talking. I hadn’t seen the two of them in a long time. It still kind of hurt, but I was happy that Dutchy was happy. Course, he didn’t look really happy at the moment. She said something and he turned his head towards the window and saw me. I smiled and waved. What else could I do? A small smile inched across his lips. Kelly turned as well and saw me. I went back to looking at paper.
A couple minutes later I made my purchase and exited the shop and came face to face with them. Kelly looked at me, aloof.
“Hi, Muse, right?” I nodded, tucking my bag under my arm.
“Yes, hi Kelly. How are you doing?” She rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been better.” She looked back at Dutchy who just looked helpless. I cleared my throat.
“Well, I better go. Nice ta see both of you.” I smiled at both of them and about bolted out of there. The tension was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. I smiled to myself. There’s a cliché. I looked around till I found a clock and saw it was lunchtime. And where did I go? Tibby’s.
“Muse, where ya been?” Seven smiled at me. I laughed back and sat down with her, Bumlets, and Snoddy.
“Guess.” I grinned. Seven looked at me funny and thought for a moment.
“The boxing place?” I shook my head. I hadn’t gone back since that first time, though I did talk to Panda occasionally.
“Where, then?” Seven prompted. I bit my lower lip in excitement.
“An editor’s office.” I said proudly. Seven beamed.
“You turned in your story?” I nodded.
“Two, Odessa’s and Amelia’s.” She hugged me.
“That’s great. Are you nervous?” I shrugged.
“A little, but I just did the hardest part.” And I had.
Everyone headed to Medda’s that night and I went along. I hadn’t been in awhile and it was nice to be with the whole group again. I brought my journal to take notes. I just had to write about the newsies one of these days. I watched all the couples dance and I felt okay about it. Not that I didn’t want somebody, but I’d prove to everybody that I was fine on my own, especially my little sister.
“Hi Muse.” I looked up from my musings to see Dutchy. I smiled.
“Hi Dutchy, wanna sit down?” He nodded and sat and looked at me closely.
“Yer happy. What happened?”
“Well, I went to an editor’s office today and turned in two of my stories, so I guess I’m excited about that.” I replied. He smiled fully.
“That’s great, Muse. Was it hard for ya?”
“Kinda.” I said honestly. He nodded.
“Takes guts. When do ya find out if he liked ‘em?”
“I’ll go back in sometime next week.” He nodded, seeming a little distracted.
“Are you okay, Dutch?” I asked, concerned. He looked back at me.
“Yeah, do you wanna dance?” My eyes widened. I looked around for Kelly.
“She ain’t here, if Kelly’s who yer lookin for.” I looked back at him.
“I didn’t want to…” I trailed off. He nodded again.
“I know, so do you want to?” I looked closely in his eyes but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He just seemed sincere.
“Sure.” He stood up and offered me his hand and I took it. He led me to the dance floor. I swallowed hard as he put his hand on my waist and took my hand in his other hand. I placed my free hand on his shoulder and he led. I followed, a little nervous, but when he didn’t say anything I began to relax. It was nice dancing with him.
“Kelly has a new boyfriend.” He said quietly. I looked up at him. He wasn’t looking at me but somewhere off to his right.
“She does?” my voice cracked.
“That’s what wese was arguin about taday.” He looked back at me, “I had found her wit him.” I gasped.
“Oh Dutchy,” I whispered, “I’m sorry.” He shrugged.
“S’okay. She was tryin ta convince me it wasn’t anythin.” He gave a cynical laugh. “Roight.”
“I’m so sorry, Dutchy.” What else could I say? I felt so bad for him. He looked hurt.
“I don’t why I told ya that. I haven’t told Specs or Bumlets that.” He looked confused at his own self.
“I’m glad you told me.” I responded. He looked at my eyes so I went on. “We haven’t talked in a long time.” He gave a faint smile.
“I know. Sorry bout dat.”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you.” I answered quickly, “Just makin an observation.”
“So, what happened to yer sister?” he changed the subject as the song changed.
“I sent her home.” I grinned mischievously. He chuckled.
“So, when’s her wedding?”
“In two months.” I shrugged.
“Yer gonna go to it, right?” I looked at him strangely. He sure was asking a lot of questions.
“Yes.” I raised my eyebrows.
“Are ya,” he cleared his throat, “are ya gonna stay dere?” I stopped cold, shocked.
“Of course not.” I answered, hurt. “Why, do you think I should?” His eyes widened and he shook his head.
“No, dat’s not what I meant, Muse. I don’t want ya ta go.” He smiled sheepishly, “Wese friends, right?” I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back.
“Wese friends.” I imitated his accent. He rolled his eyes and swept me back to dance. I laughed. Life was great.
“Muse!” I turned to see Dutchy running up to me. I laughed.
“What? ya look like somebody’s on fire.” I teased. He rolled his eyes.
“Where ya off to?” My smile shook.
“The editor.” His statement changed to sympathetic.
“Oh, ya find out today?” I nodded. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Ya want some company?” He looked like a little boy and I smiled. In the last week, our friendship was back to where it had been before Kelly. He still made me a little nervous, but then some things would never change.
“If you want to.” I replied. He nodded and we continued on our way. We reached the building and entered and I spoke to the secretary.
“Merlyn Davidson to see Mr. Marshall.” I told her. She nodded.
“He’s in there, go ahead.” I looked at Dutchy who gave me an encouraging smile and I took a deep breath and entered the office. Mr. Marshall was a balding man, with a usual stressed look on his face. He looked up.
“Miss Davidson, please, shut the door and have a seat.” I did as he bade and looked at him as calmly as I could. He placed a stack of paper on his desk and looked at me calculatedly.
“I’m not going to send these to a publisher.” My heart fell, but I nodded.
“I understand…” he shook his head.
“I’m not done.” He raised his eyebrows, “The story about Amelia has some potential, the other is fluff. You have some talent, Miss Davidson. I made some suggestions for Amelia’s story. Make corrections and bring it back to me and we’ll see.” He nodded, “You can go.” I nodded and took the stack of papers almost in a daze.
“Thank you, sir.” I left the office and entered the lobby to find Dutchy sitting, talking to the secretary. He saw me and smiled.
“How’d it go?” I nodded.
“He wants me to work on one of my stories and turn it in again.” I said in a fog. “He thinks I’m talented and show some potential.” He chuckled at my statement.
“Dat’s great, Kid. Let’s head back.” He wrapped his arm around me and led me towards the LH. After a couple of minutes, I stopped and looked at him.
“Don’t you realize what this means?” He looked confused so I continued, “I might really be a writer someday, Dutchy.” He grinned and messed up my hair.
“I know.”
I guess after that, life seemed to go back to normal. I reworked Amelia’s story whenever I could and spent time with the newsies. I went back to the boxing ring with Panda a couple of times. You know what was really weird was that Scott didn’t seem as appealing as he had that first time. Everything was looking different. Ever since I had decided to prove to the world I could do it (write, live, whatever) I had confidence in myself. For the first time in my life, I felt good about myself. I wasn’t perfect in talent, looks, or personality by any means. But God had seen fit to open my eyes to how he saw me. A child of great potential.
“Muse? Are you still up on the roof?” I heard Seven come up.
“Maybe.” I replied. She came over to my “spot” and smiled down at me.
“How ya doing?”
“Good, how about yourself?”
“Decent.” She cocked her head, “There’s something downstairs I think you might want to see.” I followed her through the bunkroom and down the stairs to the lobby. There was Kelly and Dutchy conversing. Kelly looked like she’d been crying. And they had an audience.
“Dutchy, you’re imagining things.” He raised his eyebrows.
“I’se imaginin things? I don think so, Kelly. I don’t want ta date a two-timer. In fact,” He spoke calmly, “I don’t want ta date ya at all.”
“You can’t be serious.” She pushed back her hair and turned slightly and saw me. She glared. “Is she the reason you’re saying all this?” she pointed at me. My eyes widened. Dutchy turned and looked at where she was pointing. He gave me a half-grin. I was confused and a little worried.
“What if she is?” Dutchy retorted. The whole room gasped. (This is such a soap opera.) I looked at him incredulously. Kelly snorted.
“She’s…” the girl was so mad she couldn’t speak. Dutchy shrugged.
“A lot nicer, prettier, and a whole lot more faithful dan you. Any questions?” Kelly looked appalled and embarrassed and turned and left. I stood there in shock. Dutchy rolled his eyes at her leaving and looked around at the audience. “What? Don’t youse have more important things ta do dan watch odder people’s lives?” The group slowly broke up. Seven looked over at me. I looked back.
“Did that just happen?” I whispered. She nodded. I looked back at Dutchy who was talking to Bumlets. I guess he felt my stare and looked back. He smiled sheepishly. I forced a smile back and spoke to Seven. “I’m going back up to write.” She nodded and I headed upstairs quickly. What had just happened? I looked at my story, but I couldn’t concentrate. Was he using me just to make a point or…? I shook my head. No need to head down that road again. I had stuffed those feelings down awhile back. They didn’t need to resurface.
“Muse, ya out here?” I closed my eyes and sighed.
“Yeah, Dutchy, I’m over here.” He found me and smiled down at me.
“Workin hard?”
“Kinda.” I blinked back. He sat down across from me and looked at me pointedly. “What?” I asked.
“Aren’t ya gonna ask me?” He grinned. He seemed awfully pleased with himself.
“Ask you what?” I replied, a little exasperated. He reached out and touched my cheek.
“Why I said all dat about ya?” I shivered under his touch. I shrugged helplessly.
“I figured you needed a excuse, so I was there.” I offered. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
“Ya really think dat?” his hand was still on my cheek, gently brushing it.
“I don’t know, Dutchy.” I said, confused, “Why’d ya say all that?” there I had asked. His smile turned tender.
“Cause I meant it.” He responded and leaned in and kissed me gently. I had just enough time to get over the shock to close my eyes and enjoy the kiss. And I did enjoy it. He drew back and I opened my eyes to meet his deep blue ones. He tucked my hair being my ear and spoke again, “I’m sorry I eva dated Kelly, Kid. After ya stood up for me in front of Bradley I wasn’t sure what ta do wit ya.” He grinned a little. “I wondered if ya liked me and I thought I might like ya back, but I wasn’t sure. When Kelly came back to make up, I figured I just was missin her. But I was wrong. And I didn’t realize it until I saw you when ya were in da paper shop. I’m sorry, Kid.” He finished. I couldn’t speak. He liked me.
“You like me?” I whispered. He smiled that tender smile again.
“Yeah, a lot.” His smile grew mischievous, “I’m guessing by yer face, dat I was right and ya do like me.” I blushed and looked at the story in my lap.
“Yeah, for a long time.” He tipped my chin up and winked at me.
“I’ll make up for the lost time, Kid.” And I had no doubt he would.