Oooh look at that title! Short, right to the point. April of 1894. Everyone is a year older. And...a certain someone finally appears. Enjoy! :)

Antonio truly wonders why no one wants him to go to Brooklyn.

True, they don't like the idea of him leaving Manhattan at all.

But he's ten now. He can handle leaving the city, surely.

And why is it Brooklyn that is always the worst city to mention? Any time someone talks about Brooklyn, it's like a taboo. And no one's ever tried explaining why.

It's spring of 1894. Spring means new beginnings. New opportunities. Yes, there is the new year. Then, there's when the world wakes up from winter. Spring. A fresh start.

Spring is...primavera.

And suddenly, Antonio has an idea.

Is this really a good idea?

Probably not.

Yet, he does it anyway.

He finds Andrea and Giacomo bright and early in the morning.

He walks right up to them, 20 papers in his bag to sell for the day, and before they even finish saying "Ciao, Antonio!" he says, "I wanna go to Brooklyn with you."

Not too long ago, Andrea explained Sheepshead Bay, and Sheepshead Races, to Antonio. And to Antonio, it sounded magical. Just the name Sheepshead. How does one get a name like that? Sheep's head. Sheeps head. But it's not two separate words. You know it's one. And the way that Sheepshead Bay and Sheepshead Races both end up at the same place, and both have those ay sounds...it's great. Antonio wanted to go. He really did. But he was still supposed to stay in Manhattan. And definitely not go to Brooklyn. But Antonio is curious. Really curious. So maybe curiosity will kill the cat, as people like to say (But why does it kill the cat? Antonio asks those people. After they look at him funny or say it's just an 'expression', he's just stopped asking). But surely it must be worth it.

And now Antonio is actually on his way to Brooklyn.

"What we like to do," Andrea explains to Antonio as they walk across the busy street, "is hitch a ride on the back of a carriage, and ride to Brooklyn that way."

"Wait." Antonio stops. "A carriage?"

"It's much faster than walking," Giacomo tells him. "I mean, you can walk."

"But why walk when a horse can do the walking for ya?" Andrea finishes.

Antonio hesitates. There's just...something about carriages. The newsies are all very wary of those too. They act like he should be too. And like he should know why none of them like carriages. But he doesn't. So they don't push it, and he doesn't know.

Then, Antonio reviews the facts.

He's breaking so many rules set up for him at once.

He's leaving Manhattan.

He's going to Brooklyn.

He's going to get there by riding unwelcomed on the back of a carriage.

He's going to gamble.

He's doing this with two people who are complete strangers to the only family he's ever known.

So maybe this isn't the smartest idea he's ever had.

But his mind is set. No changing that.

Why should the carriage bother him? Shouldn't the fact alone that he's going beyond the only city he's ever lived in be bother enough? He's decided that now it's time for something new.

Ray wouldn't have wanted this.

Antonio swallows.

Ray would have eventually wanted me to leave Manhattan.

And without anything else holding him back, he tells Andrea that he's ready.

Their none-the-wiser drivers loses them right at the start of the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Why are we getting off here?" Antonio asks. "Shouldn't we be closer to Sheepshead? Or at least Brooklyn?"

Andrea grins. "Watch this."

And after walking a few yards, Andrea and Giacomo go to the railing on one side of the Bridge and yell at the water. "OH-OHHHHHHHHHH!!" echoes forever.

Antonio is astounded. His jaw drops. Never has he heard anything like that.

Giacomo stands up first. "Come try it! You haven't lived if ya ain't never yelled off the Brooklyn Bridge!"

Antonio runs over nearly immediately, and they all shout together.

"OH-OHHHHHHHHHH!"

Antonio can feel the power of it. He's never felt this power before. Wow, this is fun.

"Col cavolo!" Antonio exclaims breathlessly. Andrea and Giacomo laugh.

Of all the phrases that Antonio has learned, col cavolo might be one of his favorites. When most people say it, they mean something like no way! It translates literally, though, to with the cabbage. It's really fun to say.

"Come on, bambino," Andrea says. "You can come yell off the Bridge when we get back."

Reluctantly, Antonio backs away from the railing. He loves the view, too. He's never been up here before. It's all so new.

Spring. Where everything is new.

And now, he's off to one special place he won't forget any time soon.

"Here we are," Andrea announces. "Sheepshead Races."

Antonio looks up at the arch of an entrance way. Woah. He's about to get chills.

Before arriving here, Antonio had gone off to sell some of his papers. He only took twenty because he didn't know what would happen time-wise. By now, he's sold around half of his papers. He was told that he could sell newspapers to people inside, and he knew that he could always sell papers on the way home as well.

Now, he's about to enter. He's holding hands with both Andrea and Giacomo. With any other couple of people (Louis and Mush, for example), Antonio may have felt as if he was being treated like a young child again. But not here. Not what they're about to do. One does not simply take young children (but he's not that young!!) to go gambling.

As he walks in with them, he takes a deep breath in, and looks at all the sights around him.

There are many people. Some already seated, others walking around, making pleasant conversation and bets. Many of them are wearing fancy clothes, but not all of them. Then, Antonio sees the track. That's what the horses race on? It's magnificent.

"How do we know which one to bet on?" Antonio asks.

"We ask a nice gentleman for a program of the races," Giacomo answers.

And so, the three of them walk up to a well dressed man with the papers in his hand.

"Excuse me, mister," Andrea asks real politely, "can we have a copy of the racing program for today's races?"

The man smiles at them. "Of course, gentlemen! Here." As he hands a paper to Andrea, he eyes all three of them. When his eyes land on Antonio, his eyebrows raise a little, then he smiles. He looks a little bit familiar in Antonio's mind. But he can't put a finger on it.

"Thanks, mister."

"Have fun, gentlemen."

Antonio decides to stop thinking about it as they walk away to find seats.

"Alright, the races won't start for another ten, fifteen minutes," Andrea tells Antonio. "Sell papers to your heart's content--just don't take too long."

Antonio nods vigorously, then scampers off, ready to sell a headline to anyone willing to hear and buy it.

Even though Antonio doesn't know it, the man who gave them the program is watching him. His name is Nicholas Jameson. A couple years ago, he gave a little boy with a big spirit and big interest for true crazy stories more than enough money for the newspaper he got in return, to give the small boy enough to help him get along a little better. He never learned his name. But somehow, here they are again. With his passionate talk about the mysterious gambler, Nicholas Jameson knew that it was only a matter of time until the boy would come to Sheepshead. He just wasn't expecting it to be this soon. But now that the boy is here, he can look out for him. The young one looks like he needs someone there. He's someone who doesn't think normally, Jameson can tell. And so, whether this boy is only going to come to Sheepshead once or come to Sheepshead a million times, Nicholas Jameson vows to watch over him.

By the time Antonio gets back, it's time to start placing last minute bets. Just behind the starting line, the horses are lining up.

"Who do ya think is going to win, Antonio?" Andrea asks. "Pick any of the horses." True, Antonio is too young to make the bet himself. Andrea is going to do that for him, give him his first little taste of betting.

"Hmm..." Antonio has never been good at quick decisions. He looks at them the best as he can see from where he is. There's one that stands out to him, though. "I think the fourth is going to win."

Andrea hesitates. "Really?"

"Mhm."

"That horse don't win often," Giacomo mentions. "Just sayin'."

"No, no, it's fine," Antonio tells them. "I got a feeling."

Andrea shrugs. "Okay, then." And so he stands up to place bets for the three of them. He knows that the horse Antonio has put his faith in hasn't won in over a year. But hey, getting a first taste of gambling means losing your first bet. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

But then a miracle happened.

Antonio's horse won the race.

Andrea and Giacomo can't believe it.

All the crowd is standing up, cheering.

Antonio is going absolutely wild.

"I DID IT!" Antonio shouts. "I WON A BET!"

Andrea and Giacomo exchange glances, still confounded. But they decide to roll with it; there isn't much else that they can do.

"'Course you did, Antonio. You got some real beginner's luck."

Antonio positively beams. "Really?"

"Don't think the lucky streak is gonna last forever," Giacomo warns him. He continues explaining the dangers of constant gambling mixed with hubris as Andrea mutters curses in Italian (that Antonio is DEFINITELY gonna wanna try later) over how his horse was no where near close to winning.

"Grazie for taking me to Sheepshead!" Antonio exclaims as they leave Sheepshead Races.

Andrea and Giacomo smile. "Prego."

Then, after a few moments of silence, Andrea mutters, "can't believe the fourth won."

"It's never for certain who's gonna win," Giacomo reminds him.

"Well yeah, but normally the winner is someone you'd expect."

As they continue to go back and forth, Antonio gets ... distracted.

Maybe this is why Antonio was never allowed outside of Manhattan without anyone with him; or even with somebody there.

Because it was always inevitable that he was going to end up wandering around.

For a while, he's fine. Just totally in his head and engrossed in his surroundings at the same time...

...Until he has no clue where Andrea and Giacomo are.

And no clue where he himself is.

Well this could be a problem.

Maybe I should have listened to them after all. All of them. They were right. All the newsies were. I should never have left Manhattan.

He continues looking around, trying to find anything familiar at all.

"What are you doing on my turf?"

Antonio whirls around, to find a boy around his age and height with pink suspenders and a cane and the prettiest blue eyes he has ever seen looking at him curiously. "What?"

The boy huffs. "I sa-aid, what are you doing on my turf?"

That's a word Antonio has never heard before. "Turf?"

"Yeah." the boy spreads his arms out wide. "Here. Brooklyn."

Antonio tilts his head. "Brooklyn is yours?"

"Well not fully, obviously." Then his eyes drift down to Antonio's bag, then he looks back at Antonio and his eyes widen. "So you are a newsie?"

Antonio nods.

"Which borough are you from?"

Is that a good question to answer?

The boy looks at him, very curious, awaiting a response.

Antonio has never been good at quick responses.

After some time, he mumbles, "Manhattan."

"Hm?"

Apparently he wasn't loud enough.

"I said Manhattan," Antonio tells him a little louder. "What's it matter to you?"

"I wanna know what a Manhattan newsie is doing so far into Brooklyn," the boy answers. "How long have you been a newsie? Surely you would have known your way around better the longer you've been a newsie."

Antonio tries to ignore that. "Two years. You?"

"Around that time. Little less."

There are a few quiet moments.

Then, because Antonio is dying to ask, "why that color?" 

That catches Blue Eyes off guard. "What?"

Antonio makes gestures at his outfit. "Your pink suspenders. Why that color?" And what's with the cane?

"I-" when he can't find any words, he just shrugs. "I don't know. I like it. My cousin liked the color. Got a problem with it?"

Antonio shakes his head vigorously. "No."

The boy eyes him. "You're kinda strange, you know that, right?"

Antonio looks down, trying not to let the other boy (who really captivates him) see that his face is heating up.

"But it ain't bad."

Antonio looks up. "Really?"

"What are you doing in Brooklyn?" the boy asks curiously.

"I was gamblin'," Antonio answers honestly. "Sheepshead."

The boy raises his eyebrows. "Sheepshead?"

"You think I'm lying?"

"No."

"Good."

"So what are you doing here?"

Does he say it?

"I got lost," he admits.

Luckily, the boy nods sympathetically. "Want me to show you 'round a little?"

Antonio nods. "Yes please. But I have people I need to get back to. How do I get back to Sheepshead?"

The boy starts walking. "Come follow me."

After some time walking and talking (but still not learning the other's name), they have Sheepshead in sight.

And, right there, coming closer with each step, are a very stressed Andrea and Giacomo.

Antonio is filled with instant relief. "There they are! They waited for me!"

"Those are your friends?" the boy asks.

Antonio nods. "Mhm. Thank you for showing me the way!"

"'Course. Be careful not to get lost again, yeah?"

"Mhm. A'ight. Bye!"

"Bye."

And with that Antonio takes off running back to his friends, whose faces light up when they see that Antonio is safe.

"Never run off like that again!" Andrea scolds. "Mamma mia, I nearly had a heart attack!"

"You sure did scare us," Giacomo tells him.

Antonio looks down. "Mi dispiace."

"Hey." and suddenly, Antonio has an arm around him. "Just don't do that again, okay?"

Antonio nods. "Mhm."

And with nothing else better to do, they take off walking back towards Manhattan.

And Antonio can't stop thinking about that boy he met whose blue eyes and pink suspenders and cane he's never going to forget any time soon, who had disappeared into the Brooklyn setting right after Antonio turned away from him.

Antonio finally makes it back to the lodging house, selling newspapers for the day successful.

He makes it back inside, but no one's there. He's used to not seeing anyone here. He'll find them. Whether they're out and about or just somewhere hiding, Antonio will find them. 

Or maybe he'll have some time alone. That's always good too.

Especially if any of them know where exactly he's been today and what he's done.

He starts making his way up the stairs.

Then, at the top, he hears strange noises coming from the broom closet.

He stops. What on Earth can be in there? He truly has no clue.

After acting on so many impulses today, he's not sure he even has any actual form of impulse control anymore.

He opens the closet door.

What he finds is not what he was expecting.

He sees Louis and Mush, totally enwrapped with the other, the rest of the world doesn't matter to them, arms in various places, kissing passionately.

Huh.

He didn't know they were together.

He thought they had something strong, and now he knows what. 

But come to think of it, Antonio has never seen any sort of romance in his life. And here he is, seeing two people he considers to be his brothers, kiss like the world is going to end.

Which is fine, and even sweet, but ... for Antonio, he can see a hunger with that passion. And he hears a moan. And ... something inside him shrinks away a little.

"Uh, guys?"

Finally, Louis and Mush catch up with the world.

They immediately break apart, blushing furiously, mortified at being caught.

Being caught by one of the youngest and most innocent people in the lodging house.

Great. Absolutely great.

"Antonio!" Louis squeaks. He hides his face.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Mush asks, also hiding his face.

They're literally in the dark in a closet. Can't they see that Antonio doesn't care?

"I just wanted to see what was in the closet." A beat passes. "I guess I know now."

Louis and Mush laugh nervously. "Yeah."

"Why are you in the closet kissing?" Antonio asks curiously. "Why here of all places?"

And that's what caught them off guard. Antonio isn't asking about why they are kissing. He's asking about why are they kissing here.

They exchange a hopeful glance. Maybe it's ... okay with him?

But how do they explain any of this to him?

Mush decides to start. "Well, Antonio...some people...don't like it."

"Why?"

Louis answers next. "Some think it's wrong for us to like each other."

"Why would it be wrong for two people to be in love?" Antonio bursts.

They said like. He said love. He said two people. Not two boys. Two people.

Another glance. Does Antonio really have no sense of what's been drilled into them for years? They like this attitude, though. They don't want to lose it.

"Do you think it's okay, Antonio?"

"Of course. Are you two happy?"

"Of course." That was immediate from both of them.

"Then why are we still talking about this?" And with that he closes the door and lets them be. And once again they are all alone in the darkness.

Then Louis starts freaking out.

"He saw, he saw, he saw-"

"Hey," Mush tries to calm him down. "Relax, okay? We're okay. He thinks we're okay."

It's true. They heard the words. Antonio asked if they were happy. And that was good enough for them.

Louis flings his arms around Mush, who holds him close. "It's okay, Louis. It's okay."

"He accepted us so easily."

"Yeah, I know. Isn't it great?"

"Will everyone else?"

"They accepted Ray and Stargazer, didn't they?"

"Yeah, yeah they did."

Mush kisses (a now calmed down) Louis on the side of his head. "I love you."

He gets a little kiss back. "I love you too."

When Antonio came home, he couldn't find Jack because as of right now Jack is standing up on the roof, wearing his red bandana, and looking up at the sky.

The thing about Jack is that he's been growing a lot recently. Every time he surpasses someone older than him in height, it gives him a little bit of satisfaction.

Now, he's six feet tall. Barely over.

He's now reached Ray's height.

At seventeen years old and six feet tall, he's as tall as the person he looked up to more than anyone else in the entire world.

"I'm your height now, Ray," Jack tells the sky while touching the bandana. "Now, I can see the world from your view. Now that, that's something, Ray. All my life, you were taller than me. I thought that you could see the whole world from where you stood." Jack averts his eyes and chuckles just thinking about his younger self. "And now I have some idea of what it was like for you." He looks up again. "But I can never see the world exactly like you saw it, can't I?"

As usual, he gets no response.

Coming up on the roof is his comfort zone. No one to judge him. Just him, his thoughts, the sky, Imaginary Ray, and his dreams of Santa Fe. It's peaceful.

But sometimes lonely.

And, with nothing better to do, he climbs back down.

Once Jack is back inside, he runs into Antonio. "Hey, Antonio."

"Hey, Jack."

"How was today for ya?"

"Good. Real good." But there still appeared to be something bothering him.

"Anything happen?" Jack asks gently. He hopes everything is okay. If something was wrong with Antonio-

"Can I ask you about something?" Antonio asks tentatively.

"Of course."

Antonio hesitates. "I saw Louis and Mush..."

Jack had a feeling this would happen someday. He's known that Louis and Mush have been together since they were thirteen, and that they've loved each other since they were little kids. His heart beats faster. However Antonio reacts to it is going to determine everything.

"It's okay that they're together, right?" Jack asks cautiously.

"Oh yeah. I knew that they love each other."

And just like that, all of Jack's newfound anxiety goes away. He's okay with it. But...surely he's never seen romance before. This is how he got introduced to it.

"Where'd you find them?"

"In the closet."

So this is how Antonio learns what romance love is.

Two boys, kissing, in a closet.

Jack sighs internally. And now he starts to wonder if they should have at least introduced Antonio to the idea before. They've had no reason to. But he's ten now, and still as innocent as a small child.

Well actually, Antonio is less innocent than Jack thinks. But it's still significant.

"So what do you think about them?" Jack asks.

"Well, I asked them if they was happy," Antonio responds. "And they said they were." He shrugs. "I don't know if there's anything more to it than that."

He's taking this so well.

If I told him right here and now that I am bisexual ... he would be okay with it. But this isn't necessarily the time.

"But there is one thing..." Antonio mentions slowly.

"Oh? What's that?" Jack's heart picks up a little.

"Do all couples do...that?" Antonio asks.

"What? Kiss?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know how to explain it," Antonio says. "It just looked...hungry. Dangerous."

Jack holds back a laugh. So passionate and heated kissing was Antonio's first exposure to two people in love. This is just going further and further downhill by the second but surprisingly still managing to be perfectly fine.

"Do all people kiss like that?" Antonio asks.

"I think so." Jack never saw Stargazer and Ray do things like that. He just assumed the would. And he has no experience himself.

"Oh." Antonio seems a little put off by that.

Maybe he's just not ready for anything like that himself, Jack thinks. Or maybe he's wondering if he'll like someone like that. Wait--has he even seen a girl before?

Antonio's been exposed to less and less (to their knowledge) than Jack thought. 

Dang, I think we messed up some parenting step somewhere.

Meanwhile, very different things are going through Antonio's head.

He's fine with the kissing.

He's fine with two boys being in love.

But the way they were kissing scared him a little. So maybe he's innocent. But he doesn't want to kiss anyone if it means ending up like that. Which only happens in a relationship. So, he concludes, he's gotta stay away from relationships.

Then he remembers something.

Sometimes his brain's memory is on point, and other times it's really not.

This is one of those times where it puts something off for a really long time.

He plays the words he wants to say in his head. Once, twice, thrice, then he finally asked.

"Hey Jack? Do you ... know anything about my parents?"

Jack hesitates. He should have known this question would come up sooner or later. "I...I can't tell you everything you want to know, Antonio. I didn't know that much. Ray...Ray handled all that stuff."

"Do you at least know their names?" he asks.

Jack thinks about that for a second. "Your father was Edward Higgins, I know that. I forget your mother's name. But her family name was Buonforte. Her father was Giovanni and her mom was Mattia. Something like that."

Edward Higgins. Giovanni and Mattia Buonforte.

"What happened to 'em?" Antonio asks.

Jack sighs. "I don't know the specifics, Antonio." He tries bringing back all memories of that time. Almost 9 years ago. That was one of the best times of Jack's life. He and Louis and Mush and Crutchy/Charlie were all really close, being the youngest. They had Ray to look after them. And Jack got a new younger brother. He remembers Ray and Stargazer talking in hushed voices, and papers. He remembers Stargazer took them back afterwards. Said he had to burn them. Delicate matters. With Stargazer, everything was a delicate matter and/or a secret. Jack doesn't necessarily remember every detail for why Antonio was brought to them, but the ones he does remember he has no clue how to tell Antonio.

"I...I don't know, Antonio," Jack says guiltily.

Antonio nods understandingly, and looks away.

Then it comes to Jack. "Letteria. That was your mother's name."

Edward Higgins. Letteria Higgins-Buonforte. Giovanni and Mattia Buonforte.

Now Antonio finally knows.

I need to tell them about it.

"I just remembered something," Antonio says suddenly. Without another word, he bolts off to the door.

"Antonio, wait!" Jack calls after him. 

"I'll be back in under an hour!" He slams the door.

Jack hurriedly opens it, and finds Antonio already far away.

"But where are you going?!" Jack shouts after him.

He gets no answer.

"Whatcha doin', Jack?" Crutchy asks.

Jack sighs and makes vague hand gestures. "I really don't know. Antonio said he remembered something, and just...took off."

"Hmm. Maybe he's just that age?" Crutchy suggests. "He ain't quite a teen yet, but there's just something about age ten where they'se convinced they're grown up. I know; it wasn't THAT long ago I was ten."

Jack and Crutchy chuckle at that.

Jack puts an arm around Crutchy. "Glad you know empathy, Crutch."

Crutchy puts his arm around Jack. "You're not so bad as an older brother yourself, Jack."

"We're gonna have to talk to Antonio when he gets back, though."

"Oh, definitely."

"Hopefully he remembers that he promised to be back in under an hour."

Edward and Letteria Higgins. Giovanni and Mattia Buonforte.

Antonio repeats those names over and over again.

Edward and Letteria Higgins. Giovanni and Mattia Buonforte.

He got his middle name from his father.

His first name ... he still needs to figure that out. There's gotta be some missing detail he doesn't know about.

But he knows that Andrea and Giacomo will be able to help him. He's sure of it.

He reaches their alleyway, out of breath, smiling.

"Andrea! Giacomo! I know it! I know who my family is!"

Then, he stops.

They aren't here.

That can't be right.

They're always here.

"Ciao, Antonio!" they call after him when he leaves one day. "Make sure to come back! You know where to find us! We're always here! Sempre e per sempre!"

But no one is here.

There aren't any cards or anything on the table.

There isn't even an intact table.

It's like they weren't even here.

Maybe Antonio went to the wrong alleyway?

No. That can't be right.

He knows this place like the back of his hand.

"Andrea?" Antonio calls out tentatively. "Giacomo?"

Nothing.

He tries louder.

"Andrea? Giacomo?"

Nothing.

Normally, he'd just assume they were out somewhere.

But there is not a single trace that they were ever here.

Come on, Antonio. Think.

Did they move?

Not without telling me. Not that fast.

Maybe they're at Moretti?

I can't check tonight. I told Jack I would be back soon.

He can check tomorrow if they've been there.

But something here is eerie. 

He doesn't like it.

He doesn't know what's happening, but he does know one thing.

He shouldn't be here.

In Brooklyn, Spot Conlon is watching the sunset. He thinks about his day.

And he thinks about the Manhattan boy he met today. The one whose name he never learned.

This boy ... he didn't act like other people of Spot's age. At least, Spot assumed the boy was around his age. Spot will be 11 in August. Maybe the boy is already 11, or still awhile to go until then.

He looks up at the sky, thinking about how later, there's going to be stars, and thinks about his cousin, Theo. The one he really liked, but his family didn't. Their fathers were brothers. Even though Theo was many years older than Spot, he always felt a strong connection. But he's been gone for a few years now. He vows never to forget Theo, or, as the newsies called him, Stargazer. The one who taught him all the constellations he knows. The one who taught him that it was amazing to see shapes in the clouds; like how he saw pictures in the stars. Day and night, they were.

I wonder what the sunset looks like from Manhattan.

He brushes that thought away.

Why am I thinking about Manhattan sunsets?

Because you want to know more about that boy.

He can't deny that latter voice.

It's just that the things he said and the way he acted was totally different from anything that Spot has ever seen.

He wants to know more.

And as he watches the sun set, Spot decides that if the boy is ever going to come back to Brooklyn, he'll learn all that he can about that strange Manhattan boy.

And maybe ... we can be friends.

Again, this is a loaded chapter.

I don't know if it seems loaded to you all, but seeing the word count be 4700 and climbing is a lot for me. And I packed so many little details that have been floating around in my mind forever here, so to me, it seems like a lot.

So let me explain the carriage. In one interview thingy that I found in the Extras for 92sies on Disney+, Max Casella says "My character, Racetrack...he's independent. While everyone else has a selling partner, he gets his papes and hitches a ride on the back of a carriage to bet on horses in Sheepshead." Something along those lines. It makes more sense than Race walking to Brooklyn each day. Maybe some days. But not his first day.

I feel like Perfect by Ed Sheeran is a good Blush song. Especially the lyrics "we were just kids when we fell in love/not knowing what it was" and such. And now you've seen Blush! :)

So I headcanon Antonio as asexual. So that's why he had that reaction to them. He's not homophobic. He just doesn't like the heatedness of it. So, like me. I just realized some of you still don't entirely know what asexual means. Here we go! Asexual (ace for short) is the lack of sexual attraction. It's not one of the better known sexualities. Some asexual people think stuff like that is fine, others are repulsed by it. Every asexual is different. But the reason why we're asexual is because we lack sexual attraction to all. We don't see people as hot, we're rather attracted to their personality and who they are. True, we can still see people as cute and still have romantic attraction. Aromantic is the lack of romantic attraction to all. Aroace is short for aromantic asexual, or asexual aromantic, however you wanna say it. That's the lack of both sexual and romantic attraction. All of these are valid. And there's a spectrum. There's gray, and demi, and many, many more. Like homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia exist, aphobia (or acephobia, as some refer to it) exists. It is the hatred/lack of tolerance towards asexuals. Yeah, we're rare, but still a part of the LGBTQ+ community. Wow I went LONG on that haha. Anyway, one time I saw this Newsies post that said: it's Racetrack Higgins, not Rallotrack Higgins and that made my day (allo is for those who do feel sexual and/or romantic attraction. Homosexual is an example of allosexual. Biromantic is an example of alloromantic).

I also looked up why people kiss. Because I really wanna know. Apparently, it releases chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine and seratonin, which give you all the good feels. Interesting, interesting. Not that I would know anything about that from personal experience haha. I'm that one person who's gonna end up single forever.

Now to talk about Andrea and Giacomo.

I kinda picture them, in a sense, like the fox and the cat, or il gatto e la volpe (gatto = cat; volpe = fox) in Italian, and Antonio would be their Pinocchio. They aren't necessarily bad, but they're just different, and teaching Antonio about their ways that are different. The Disney Pixar movie Luca had some themes from the story too. They also had a song called Il Gatto E La Volpe by Edoardo Bennato play in Luca--it's a really catchy song, too. Anyway, this is kinda how I pictured Antonio being introduced to Sheepshead Races, so yeah.

Their characters grew beyond what I thought they ever would become. In my notes, they were some of the last people added before I just stopped thinking about this story for some time. And even then, they were just the Italians that play cards who teach Antonio about being Italian and for the longest time they were really just the Italians with cards. And now they have full names, favorite restaurants, personalities, and great importance to Antonio.

And then I just snatched them away.

Why the heck do I bring original characters into this story and take them out again so easily?

But is this really the last time you'll see them? That's up for interpretation.

So what exactly do you think of them?

Alright, moving on.

I looked up Christian Bale's height to make Jack that. Jeremy Jordan is 5'10" (LITERALLY ONE INCH TALLER THAN ME) and I needed him to be taller than that. So, Jack is now 6'.0", as tall as Christian Bale, and...his role model Ray.

Does anyone know how tall Ben Tyler Cook is while we're on the subject? Just wanna know. For science.

Oh woah. 5457 words and climbing.

Oh right. One last important thing.

WE HAVE REACHED CONTACT WITH SPOT CONLON HE IS NOW OFFICIALLY A PART OF THE STORY

I can't believe it took until Chapter 17 to get him here!

I need to say this: the real Spot Conlon of Brooklyn did wear pink suspenders. Gabriel Damon wore red ones. Nearly the same. But that is awesome. But also, Spot Conlon may or may not have been the actual leader of Brooklyn. He was one of them, but the amazing Racetrack Higgins was the leader. So there's that. And some records say that they think Spot Conlon and Racetrack Higgins may have been the same person. That is also another discussion. But. For now. Pink suspenders. :)

But right off the bat Spot could tell that Antonio is different. And so, now in the future...we can watch their dynamic and relationship develop.

Please, no homophobia or aphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section at any time.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who is writing this on August 11--seven years after Robin Williams passed away. May he rest in peace)