It was a beautiful summer day. Small sparrows chirped a happy song in the morning mist as the newsies suddenly started calling out headlines of the morning news.
“EPIDEMIC SMARMS SOUTH CAROLINA!!” Seven shrieked. “MANY DEAD, HUNDREDS INFECTED!!”
“Hey, where’s that story?” Bumlets asked.
“Uh…page six.”
Bumlets opened up a newspaper to page six and read over the article. It turns out a cold virus was sweeping through a town of North Carolina, and many were infected and only one man died of a heart attack from coughing so much.
“Ya did a good job improvin’ it.” he commented.
“Thanks, but I had a good teacher.”
Bumlets grinned widely as Seven turned her back to him to sell a newspaper to an older woman. He was the one to teach her how to sell newspapers, even though he wasn’t nearly as good of a teacher or improver as Jack. But he was good enough, and Seven knew it.
As Bumlets looked at the article again, his heart sank to his shoes. He then closed the newspaper and called out a different headline. Since both had bought a hundred newspapers, it would probably take them all day to sell them.
By lunchtime, they had sold almost half of their papers. When they headed to Tibby’s, Seven happened to notice something different about Bumlets. He had a normal shine to his eyes, but today, it didn’t seem as bright as it normally was. ‘Maybe he’s just tired.’ She thought.
When they arrived at Tibby’s, Dancer, Charcoal, Cap and Beaner waved at Seven, and she waved back. But she and Bumlets sat at a table together and decided to split a foot-long ham and cheese sandwich that had just been added to the menu. While they waited for their lunch, the rest of the newsies began arriving.
Bumlets waved Dutchy and Pie Eater over and invited them to sit with them. They both agreed and Bumlets moved over to sit next to Seven. Though Dutchy and Pie Eater were his best friends, he knew very well that Dutchy had a crush on Seven and he wanted to make sure that Dutchy didn’t try to put any moves on her.
“Didja read about dat cold virus dat was flyin’ around?” Pie Eater asked.
“Yeah, I read about it.” Seven answered. “Got me quite a few buyers today.”
Bumlets remained silent. He was deep in his thoughts, and only Seven could tell. She knew Bumlets well enough to know when he was deeply intrigued with his thoughts.
“To bad ‘bout dat virus.” Dutchy said. “So Seven, what song ‘r ya gonna do Wednesday? Is it one I know?”
“I dunno. It’s called ‘somewhere down the road,’ and I don’t think you’ve heard it before.”
“I t’ink yer right. Neva hoid ‘a dat song.”
When he finished talking, a waiter came by with Seven and Bumlets’ lunch. He set the plate before them and Dutchy and Pie Eater gave him their orders. When he left, Seven took her half of the sandwich and pulled out the tomato slice while Bumlets took a large bite out of his.
“Why’re ya takin’ de tomato out?” Bumlets asked with his mouth full.
“I don’t like ‘em.” Seven answered.
“Why not?” Dutchy asked.
“Have you ever eaten a tomato with whipped cream?” (Writer’s note: I have!)
“No, why?”
“The day ya do, you won’t even want to smell one again.”
Seven dropped the tomato slice on a napkin and then picked up her sandwich and took a bite. It took her several minutes to finish it because it was bigger than the other sandwiches she had had. When she was finished, she picked up a potato wedge and chewed on the end when Bumlets finished his sandwich.
“You wanna ‘tato wedge?” Seven asked.
“No thanks, I’m full.”
“Well, I can’t finish these all by myself!”
“Well, maybe I’ll take a few.”
Bumlets took a few potato wedges and set them on a napkin while he took a bite out of one. When he finished them, he began to feel a little sick.
“Oh man, why’d I eat so much?” he moaned.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Seven said. “When we sell the rest of our papes we’ll work lunch off.”
“Then I wanna sell right now.”
“No problem.”
Seven dropped some coins on the tabletop and picked up her newspapers. They said goodbye to Dutchy and Pie Eater and the rest of the newsies as they left the restaurant. The two then began hawking the headlines and their afternoon work began.
It was close to five o’clock when they finished selling. As Seven jingled the coins in her pocket, she noticed that Bumlets was going in a different direction. Confused, Seven pulled him to a stop.
“We’re goin’ the wrong way. The lodging house’s that way.”
“I know. I jus’ need ta run an errand real quick.”
“But Kloppman’s gonna be servin’ dinner soon!”
“I know, but I’m still a little full from lunch, so I’ll eat later.”
“Want me to come with you?”
“Naw thanks. But I’ll see ya at the lodgin’ house, ‘kay?”
“’Kay.”
The two split up and went in opposite directions. When Seven reached the lodging house, she could smell dinner from the kitchen, and she frowned. ‘Soup again?’ She thought. Kloppman had served soup every other day for the past two weeks, and frankly, Seven wasn’t the only one who was tired of it.
Seven stuck her hands in her pockets and whistled a little as she climbed the stairway to the girls’ bunkroom. When she entered, she said hello to all the girls and went to her bunk to put her money away. She had made quite a bit today, so she stored some away for future use.
As soon as her money was put away, Kloppman’s voice rang from the lobby, telling everyone that dinner was ready. Seven only shrugged and walked to the stairway and waited for the fastest newsboys to get down first. When the slower ones came, she followed behind them and went to get dinner.
Kloppman was serving tomato soup for dinner tonight, but Seven didn’t mind. Tomatoes she hated, but tomato soup she liked. When she got her soup, she crumbled some soda crackers into her bowl and began to eat. When she was almost finished, she heard the door open and she looked to see who it was. It was Bumlets, and something was wrong. He looked…sad.
“’Ey, Bumlets!” Specs called. “Where’ve ya been? C’mon, de soup’s gettin’ cold!”
“I ain’t hungry.” Bumlets answered, his voice low.
Seven watched as Bumlets climbed the stairs to the boys’ bunkroom. His eyes were a little red. Had he been crying? ‘What’s going on with him?’ Seven wondered.
The newsies were now leaving the dinner table and heading back to the bunkroom or heading for the door to go on a night out with their dates. Seven only pushed her chair back and helped Kloppman get the dishes to the kitchen before heading upstairs to see Bumlets.
When she knocked on the door to the newsboys’ room, Swifty answered and he seemed pretty surprised to see Seven there.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Is Bumlets in there?”
“Well, he’s on de fire ‘scape. ‘E don’ seem too ‘appy.”
“I’ll check on him.”
Swifty let Seven in and she walked over to the window and she slid through to the fire escape. She found Bumlets sitting on the metal stairs, hugging his knees and hiding his face. Something was definitely wrong.
“Bumlets? Are you okay?”
Bumlets jerked his head up, startled. When he saw Seven there, he calmed a little bit.
“Oh. It’s you.”
“Bumlets, what’s wrong?”
“Nuthin’. Nuthin’s wrong.”
“Are you sure? If nothing’s wrong, then why are your eyes red?”
“Allergies.”
“Oh. Well…are you absolutely sure you’re okay?”
“Why do ya keep askin’ me that?” Bumlets snapped, startling Seven. “Jus’ go away an’ leave me alone.”
Seven didn’t bother to ask why; she just rushed down the fire escape to the girls’ bunkroom. But before entering the bunkroom, she stopped to think about Bumlets. He had never used that tone of voice with her before. She also knew that he wasn’t like that to any of the newsies. Something must be wrong.
‘But what?’ She wondered.
Early the next morning, while running to the distribution center, Seven tried to talk with Bumlets, but he avoided everyone who came near him. ‘What could be wrong?’ Seven wondered.
As she drew closer to him, she noticed something different about him this morning. His face looked coarse; he had forgotten to shave. Or at least, it looked like he had forgotten. Or maybe he hadn’t cared. But that wasn’t all, his normal shine was gone, and his eyes were sullen and sad. And all this confused Seven.
When they reached the distribution center, Bumlets was behind Seven in line, but she didn’t try to talk to him at the moment. She understood that something was wrong and that he probably needed to space. When she reached the counter, she ordered her usual hundred papes and Oscar dropped them off as usual.
“Yer papes, tootsie.” He said sweetly.
“Don’t play sweet on me, Oscar.” Seven sneered. “I ain’t in the mood.”
Seven took her papers and walked down the platform. To her surprise, Bumlets hadn’t said anything to Oscar regarding her. ‘Weird,’ she thought, ‘he normally sticks up for me. Whatever’s wrong with him must be worse than I thought.’
As Bumlets walked down the platform with his papers propped up on his shoulder, Seven walked up to him and gently tapped on his arm.
“What?” he demanded.
Seven was taken aback by his tone of voice. “I…uh…”
“Whaddaya want?”
“Well…I was just wondering if we were gonna sell together today.”
“I’m not in the mood. I’ll be fine by myself, so don’t go taggin’ along.”
With the turn of his heel, Bumlets left the yard and Seven with her eyes wide. ‘What is going on with him?’ She wondered. ‘We always sell together! And he never talks to me like that. I need to find out what’s wrong before it gets worse.’
Seven sat at a table with the newsgirls, chatting about the day’s headlines. But Seven didn’t talk much, for she was thinking about what to say to Bumlets when he arrived. She knew very well that if she said the wrong thing, he might lash out on her or say something that he would regret later.
Just as a waiter came by to take orders, the door opened and Bumlets strolled in. He had his hands tucked in his pockets and he ignored all the friendly greetings that were called to him. He just walked to an empty table and plopped down in a chair. Seven saw and knew that she needed to go.
“I gotta go guys.” She said. “But hold my seat just in case, okay?”
“Okay.” Hercules said.
Seven arose and slowly walked over to Bumlets’ table. He was looking at the tabletop and not paying any attention to her.
“Can I sit down?” she asked.
“No.”
Seven didn’t listen and sat down in the next chair. Bumlets noticed, but he looked like he didn’t care.
“Bumlets, what’s wrong with you?” Seven asked.
“I don’ wanna talk ‘bout it.”
“Please Bumlets, I’m your girl, and as your girl, I’m worried about you. You know that you can tell me anything.”
“No, I can’t. Jus’ go away an’ leave me alone.”
“Bumlets-“
“I said go away!” he said louder.
Seven immediately jumped up and knocked her knee against the table in the process, knocking over the salt and pepper shakers. She was stunned at his behavior and his tone of voice. But as she looked at his face, she could see that he was sad about something, and that she should leave him alone.
Calmly, Seven left his table and said nothing. She only went back to the girls’ table and sat down in her old seat.
“What went on back there?” Dusk asked. “Thought you’d be stayin’ with ‘im.”
“He’s having a bad day.” Seven answered. “He just needs his space and didn’t want me around right now.”
Seven tossed four pennies into the center. “I raise you two, Snoddy.”
Snoddy only smiled smugly and pulled out double the money Seven had put in. “I see yer four an’ raise ya four more.”
“Fine.” Seven tossed another eight pennies into the center.
“Show?”
“You opened.”
Snoddy grinned widely and revealed his cards to her. “Four kings. Ya couldn’t possibly beat dat.”
Seven raised her eyebrows and looked at her cards. “How can you be so sure?”
“Cuz I know it.”
Seven began to laugh out loud and revealed her cards. She also had a four of a kind, only she had four aces. Snoddy saw and went slack-jawed.
“Four aces. Read ‘em an’ weep.”
Seven then gathered the money in the center and put it into two piles while Snoddy still stared at her cards with his jaw on the floor. Seven then stuck one half of the money in her pocket and held the other half in her as she stood up.
“Well, I’m done for the night. It’s been lovely, Snoddy.”
Snoddy said nothing; his jaw was still on the floor. Seven then turned around and headed for Bumlets’ bunk. For some reason he hadn’t sold all of his papers that day and didn’t make a whole lot of money.
When Seven found him, he was sitting on his bed, reading as usual, only something was different. He looked like he was trying to read, only he couldn’t concentrate on what he was reading. He frowned as he tried to keep his mind on the book, but it seemed unusually hard for him to do so.
Inhaling deeply, Seven approached his bunk. She knew that Bumlets knew she was there, but he refused to acknowledge her.
“Bumlets,” Seven said quietly.
“What?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the book in his hands.
“Well…uh, I noticed that you didn’t sell all your papes today, so,” she opened her hand and revealed half of her night’s winning in poker; “I want you to have some of my money. It beats having to eat what you don’t sell.”
“I don’ accept charity, an’ you know it.”
“It’s not charity. Jus’ what I won in poker.”
“Oh, so it’s dishonest money?” Bumlets shot at her. “I don’ take dishonest money, eidder. Why don’tcha jus’ leave me alone?”
Seven scowled to hide her disappointment. Here she was, trying to give her boyfriend some money out of the kindness of her heart and he turns her down. Sniffling to hide the tears that were burning behind her eyes, her frown became darker and she clenched the coins in her hand into her fist.
“Fine.” She said. “If you don’t want me to give you some money then that’s just fine. The next time I bleed to death in the street you can just walk by and leave me there!”
She threw the coins onto his mattress and stormed through the bunkroom to the door. How could he do this to her? He had fought for her to keep her from being sold into a marriage and even confessed that he loved her! Why the sudden change of heart?
‘Could it be that he doesn’t love me any more?’ She wondered. Wiping away a stray tear that had somehow made its way down her face, she entered the girls’ bunkroom and tried to forget what had just happened.
Seven watched Bumlets closely as they walked toward the distribution center. He looked worse today than he did yesterday. His eyes were dull and bloodshot as if he hadn’t gotten a whole lot of sleep that night. There were bags under his eyes, his eyes seemed even sadder than the day before, and he hadn’t shaved that morning, so his face looked more coarse that before.
‘What is going on with him?’ Seven wondered for the millionth time. He not only looked terrible, but he hadn’t eaten in days. The worse he looked, the more determined Seven was to find out what was wrong.
When she got her papers, Oscar tried flirting with her like he always did, and like the day before, Bumlets neither said nor did anything. When he got his papers and got ready to leave, Seven stopped him to talk with him.
“Bumlets, I’ve had it.” Seven said calmly. “What’s going on with you? You haven’t been yourself lately, and everyone’s worried!”
“Leave me alone.” He answered in a low, sullen voice.
“No, I’m not going to.” she said firmly. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
Seven then regretted what she had said. She was so worried about him that now she was saying things that she shouldn’t. To make matters worse, Bumlets was giving her a look that she had never seen before.
Dropping his papers, he suddenly grabbed her by the arms and held her up against the gate. Seven’s heart pounded wildly as she looked at his eyes. His eyes were somewhat frightening now, and his grip on her arms was painful. She wished that the other newsies hadn’t left so soon.
“Look,” Bumlets said, his voice angry yet calm, “I don’t care what de newsies think. An’ I want you ta stay outa my life.”
“Bumlets-“
“Shut up! You’ve been nuthin’ but a pain in my side fer the past few days. I want ya ta leave me alone!”
“Bumlets, you’re hurting me!” Seven cried.
Seven shut her eyes, expecting him to do something unexpected, but he didn’t. When she opened them, Bumlets’ facial expression had changed, and his grip on her loosened a great deal. He seemed frightened and…sad. The anger she had seen seconds before had now totally evaporated.
Before she could say anything, Bumlets released her and broke into a run. Within a few moments, he was completely out of sight. Seven just stood there for a minute, then sank to the ground and her tears poured over. She didn’t know what to think.
It was near dark when Seven had finished selling her papers. But she wasn’t just selling her papers, she sold Bumlets’ also, for he hadn’t bothered to pick them up when he disappeared. When she had sold the last of the stack, she headed for Irving Hall, for she had to sing tonight.
As she walked down the streets, she thought of the morning’s events and what had gone wrong with Bumlets. She hadn’t seen him since then, but she hoped he would be at Irving Hall as he always was when she sang.
When she arrived at Irving Hall, Medda greeted her and told her to dress and get ready to go onstage. Seven did as she was told, and when she came out, she was wearing a long, white dress with a yellow sash tied around the waist. She looked for Bumlets, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Medda!” Seven called.
“Hang on, I’ll be there in a second.”
Medda arrived a few seconds later with a flowered hat in her hand. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Is Bumlets here? I don’t see him.”
“I don’t think so. I didn’t see him come in. Why?”
Seven didn’t answer. Where could he be? How could someone like Bumlets just disappear like that? Seven then knew where he was. Turning to Medda, she stopped her before she went back to what she was doing.
“Medda, can you postpone my performance for about an hour?” she asked.
“What?” Medda asked.
“Look, I’ve got something to do, so do you think I could go on in about an hour?”
“Well, I guess so.”
“Thanks Medda. I need to go now, but I’ll be back in time.”
Medda nodded and Seven headed for the exit. She had to walk through the streets, for the shoes that she was wearing weren’t meant to be run in. She walked to the lodging house to check if Bumlets had signed in.
“Kloppman,” she called, “did Bumlets come in?”
“No, sorry.” He answered. “No one’s seen him all day.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Seven then turned to continue to her destination. She knew exactly where Bumlets went when he wasn’t doing too well, and she would bet a million bucks that he was there. She reached Central Park and continued on her way. She walked past the lake and the children rolling on the grassy knolls and continued on her way.
She finally reached a huge hydrangea bush with fully blossomed pink and yellow flowers on it. She took a deep breath before entering through a small hole in the branches. When she ducked inside, she found Bumlets sitting by the trunk of one of the bushes, hiding his face in his hands.
The space inside the bush was all cleared out so no more than five people could be in there at one time. Seven knew that it was Bumlets’ favorite place to be when he wanted to think or be by himself.
“Bumlets?” Seven said quietly.
Bumlets lifted his face from his hands and looked up at Seven. His eyes were red and tear-stained to Seven’s surprise. He had been crying. Seven crouched down to Bumlets and gently touched his arm.
“How’d ya find me?” Bumlets asked.
“You always come here when you want to be alone.” She answered gently. “Bumlets, you haven’t been yourself lately and everyone’s worried about you. Before you say anything, I want you to know that you can tell me what’s wrong. I just want you to think of me more as a friend that you can talk to rather than your girlfriend.”
“How can ya still talk ta me afta what ‘appened dis mornin’?”
“Because you fought for me. Don’t you remember when Quentin tried to take me away so he could marry me? You fought for me because you loved me. Why can’t you let me do the same?”
Bumlets looked at the ground. For several minutes, he said nothing. Finally, he looked up at Seven and swallowed hard.
“I neva knew my father.” He said. “My mama married a man an’ when she told ‘im she was gonna have a baby he left. She neva saw ‘im again, an’ I neva knew ‘im. For as long as I can remembah, once every year mama would start cryin’ cuz she missed ‘im so much.”
Bumlets stopped momentarily to wipe his nose on the back of his sleeve. He was trying very hard to keep from crying.
“Anyway,” he continued, “mama really cared fer me. She was always bein’ protective an’ lookin’ out for me. When I was eight, she got sick. An’ she was only twenty-four. De doctor’s din’t know what she ‘ad an’ dey wanted ta find out what it was, only dey hadta send ‘er to a hospital down in North Carolina, but she couldn’t take me cuz dey was afraid I’d get sick. So I hadta be a newsie. But mama would write me every now an’ then, an’ she always told me ta look out fer strangers, avoid bullies, an’ someday, find a nice goil.”
Bumlets stopped once again. Seven still listened, and she took Bumlets’ hand and squeezed it gently.
“I’m listening.” She whispered.
“Well, I jus’ gotta ledder from North Carolina. Dey neva found out what she ‘ad, or how ta treat it. She died two weeks ago.”
“Oh.” Seven breathed.
“Dat’s why I’ve been so upset. I was mad at my dad cuz ‘e neva bothered ta take care of us or even get ta know me. An’ cuz ‘e left mama cuz ‘a me. I was angry at mama cuz she hadta get sick and not be able ta see me…or meet you. An’ I was angry at myself cuz I jus’ wanted ta see ‘er, jus’ one more time. I almost had ‘nough money ta buy me a train ticket ta see ‘er, I jus’ needed anudder dollar. I’ve jus’ been so angry fer so many reasons dat I haven’t been myself lately.”
“I know why now. But why didn’t you tell us? You know that we’re your family.”
“I didn’t know how. I hadn’t seen ‘er in so long an’ most ‘a the newsies thought I was jus’ anudder orphan.”
“You could’ve told me.”
“I know. I jus’…din’t know how to. Ya see, in my last ledder, I told ‘er about ya. She said dat she wanted ta meet ya. Ta tell de truth, I wasn’t jus’ savin’ up fer one train ticket. I was savin’ up fer two cuz mama wanted ta meet ya so much.”
“She…she did?”
“Yeah. I guess she knew dat you was…someone special. Seven, I miss ‘er so much!”
Bumlets brushed away a tear that he couldn’t hold back. Seven only gave him a faint smile and squeezed his hand again.
“It’s okay.” She coaxed. “There’s nothin’ wrong with crying. You can cry if you want too; I won’t tell.”
With that, Bumlets threw his arms around Seven and his tears spilled over. Seven only held him close and slowly rocked him and stroked his back as he wept. She knew exactly how he felt, for both of her parents died when she was only eleven. She was pretty upset at the time too, but she got over it. And with her help, Bumlets could too.
After several minutes, Bumlets calmed down and dried his eyes with his sleeve. When he looked at Seven, she gave him a friendly smile and kissed his coarse cheek.
“C’mon,” she said, “I need to get to Irving Hall now. I gotta sing in a few minutes.”
Bumlets nodded and both he and Seven left the bush and walked down the street toward Irving Hall, hand in hand. When they reached the Hall, Medda rushed to Seven and seemed relieved to see her.
“Oh, good, you’re back!” she panted. “You’re on in two minutes, so you’d better get up there!”
Seven nodded and she rushed to the stage with Bumlets right behind her. As she waited for the ongoing act to end, she was suddenly hit with a thought. She turned to Bumlets and tugged on his sleeve.
“You know what’s ironic?” she asked.
“What?”
“The song I’m going to sing. It’s called ‘somewhere down the road,’ and I think I picked it at the right time.”
The act finally ended, and the Hall was filled with applause. Seven was about to walk onstage when Bumlets stopped her.
“You’ll do great.” He said.
“Thanks.”
Bumlets kissed Seven’s forehead before she walked onstage. When the music began, she closed her eyes and began to sing.
“So much pain and oh, the reason why.” She sang. “You’ve cried until the tears run dry. Nothing here can make you understand. The one thing that you held so dear is slipping from your hands.”
“And you say, why, why, why, does it go this way? And why, why, why? And all I can say…is somewhere down the road, there’ll be answers to the questions. Somewhere down the road, though you cannot see it now. Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reachin’ for you. And they will hold the answers at the end of the road.”
“Yesterday I thought I’d seen it all. I thought I’d climbed the highest wall. Now I see the learnin’ never ends. And all I know to do is keep on walkin’, walking ‘round the bend. Singing, why, why, why, does it go this way? And why, why, why? And all I can say…”
“Is somewhere down the road, there’ll be answers to the questions. Somewhere down the road, though you cannot see it now. Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reachin’ for you. And they will hold the answers at the end of the road.”
“Why, why, why, does it go this way? And why, why, why? And all I can say…all I know to say now, is somewhere down the road, there’ll be answers to the questions. Somewhere down the road, though you cannot see it now. Somewhere down the road you will find mighty arms reachin’ for you. And they will hold the answers at the end of the road. Oh, they will hold the answers at the end of the road.”
The music slowly faded out, and Seven broke into a wide smile as the audience broke into applause. She bowed and left the stage and Bumlets caught her in his arms and embraced her.
“Ya did great.” He said. “I guess I will find answers at the end of the road.”
“And if you don’t, I’ll be happy to suggest a few.”
“Got any fer me right now?”
“How ‘bout getting a shave? I don’t think the facial hair look really suits you.”
Bumlets chuckled a bit. “Oh? Well I thought it looked rather becoming. Why don’ I jus’ shave the sides off an’ leave a liddle on my face?”
“We’ll give it a test run. If it looks good, keep it. If it stinks, shave it off.”
“No problem.”
“Y’know, I’ve been a butt fer the past few days, but cin I have a kiss?”
Seven giggled a little. “Of course. It’s something I always love to do.”
And with that, the two sank into a romantic kiss. And Bumlets knew that what Seven had sang was right; there always would be answers, and she would always give him answers if he needed them, whether they were good or not. And he would always love her, no matter what.