Here we are, right where we left off. It's wild. A nickname is earned. I won't keep you waiting any longer! Enjoy! :)

"NO!"

Charlie acts upon pure instinct. There's no real time to think.

Everyone around him is stressing out. They're all paralyzed from consternation and shock.

All he can focus on is one thing: Antonio is out there in the street and the carriage is right there.

He pushes past Ray and Jack.

And now Charlie is running out onto the street. He's seven, but he's a fast runner. But that doesn't matter. He just has to be faster than Antonio, the horses, and the carriage all at once. He doesn't have that much time.

He bolts out even faster.

He lunges out and grabs Antonio and yanks him back. Antonio is now out of the path of the carriage. Jack swoops in and whisks him away.

But then Charlie slips. 

Frantically, he tries to stand up, but falls down again, and now instead of his head being dangerously close to the panicking horses, it's his legs.

And now something horrifying and terrible happens that none of the newsies will never, ever forget.

The horses try to get out of his path. And for the most part it works, until a horse hoof accidentally slams on his ankle.

Then the carriage swerves...

...and at angle, a wheel rolls over one of his bent-at-an-angle legs. 

"CHARLIE!" Jack cries out.

Now several newsies are rushing into the street.

The people around them stand there, stunned at what they are seeing, and all the commotion to go with it. Some try to help.

Ray rushes to help Charlie, while others make sure Jack and Antonio are safe.

The carriage has stopped moving, and the people get out, trying to fix the situation.

Ray gets on his knees next to Charlie, who is crying out in pain. And whispering gently, Ray says, "hey Charlie, it's me, okay? You're gonna be okay. Shh, shh, shh..."

It's obviously not alright. Everyone knows.

Ray, with the help of one of the passengers, stands Charlie up. But something's wrong. Charlie doubles over.

"My leg...I can't..."

Ray helps him stand again, supporting him more this time.

"Here," a woman who was in the carriage says to Ray. "Let me take him to a hospital. It's the least we can do. He needs help."

Ray brings Charlie closer to him. He wants to trust her, but there's just so much he doesn't know and there's too much going on at the moment.

"It's going to be okay," she tells him. Then she holds out her hand. "Here. Come with me."

Ray looks down at Charlie. He knows that there is something severely wrong with Charlie's leg, something that they won't be able to fix on their own. Then, he looks back at the woman. He's really low on options. Reluctantly, he takes her hand.

And then they start heading to the nearest hospital they can find.

The newsies who stayed behind at the lodging house are conflicted. Do they go on selling like they normally would? Or do they wait for Ray and Charlie to come back? They aren't sure. None of them can stand still. No one is really saying much either.

Jack is distraught. Charlie was always like a brother to him, just like Antonio. Except he's known Charlie a little longer. He glances at Antonio, oblivious of everything. It's his fault this happened. He knows he shouldn't blame a three year old, but he can't help it. Blame feels nice at the moment. So, Antonio is the unsuspecting victim of that blame.

Jack sighs. He's better than this. 

I just hope Charlie's gonna be okay.

Now he just needs to convince himself that it's not entirely Antonio's fault.

It's true, Charlie would never have run out if it weren't for Antonio. But both the horses and the carriage played a part in hurting him too. Except that wouldn't have happened either if he hadn't slipped. So with a mix of him losing his balance and the slippery roads, he was at the mercy of horse hooves and carriage wheels. And Antonio didn't know any better. He's three, and has never left the lodging house whatsoever. Maybe whoever was watching him should have been keeping closer watch. Maybe someone should have grabbed Antonio before he ran out into the street. It's hard to tell what could have gone differently to have avoided this. Whatever it was, it couldn't be changed. This was just a series of events that led up to one really unfortunate event.

Some newsies reluctantly head to the circulation center. They need the money. Everyone understands. In time, they all leave. 

All except for Jack, Louis and Mush, and little Antonio. Jack knows that when Ray and Charlie come back, they're coming straight back here. He wants to wait for them. Louis and Mush do too. They're very anxious. They're the ones closest to Charlie. They just hope he's okay.

Jack just wishes Antonio could have an ounce of understanding for what he had done, and what the consequences will be.

The newsies come back before Ray and Charlie. This worries everyone.

"Surely they're coming back, right?" Itey asks. "Ray would've said something if he thought it would take more than a day."

"The whole thing was unexpected," Morris says. "I don't know if any of us truly know what to do, or what's going to happen."

And that's all they have at the moment.

"How was sellin' today?" Louis asks after some quiet, trying to start up some form of conversation. 

Snoddy shrugs. "Average day, I guess. People ain't interested in bad headlines."

"You gotta sell it right, though," Sheeny points out. "Even bad headlines can be interesting if you sell it right."

"That's an odd way of sayin' you gotta lie," Buttons quips lightly.

Smoke rolls his eyes. "Improvin' the truth ain't exactly a lie."

"Yeah," Henry agrees.

"I want Charlie back," Mush whispers to Jack.

"Me too," he whispers back.

"Do you think he's okay?"

I hope he is. What does he tell Mush, though? He doesn't want to give him any false hope. Of course, they can't know for sure until someone outside with information can tell them.

But right as Jack opens his mouth, the door opens up, with Ray, who is carrying Charlie and something else in his other hand, coming inside.

Everyone springs up.

"Ray! Charlie! You're back!" they all chorus.

Charlie grins. "H-hey guys! Did ya miss me much?"

"Of course!" Louis and Mush practically shout.

"Are you okay?" Jack asks worriedly.

Charlie nods.

Then they all take a longer glance at what Ray has in hand as he helps Charlie stand up. Charlie takes it from him. It's a crutch.

And suddenly it hits them all what this means.

And yet Charlie is putting on a brave face and smiling through it.

But they can tell that he knows too.

Charlie looks at Antonio, who is on the floor, off in his own head somewhere. He gives a bittersweet smile. "Hey, this is a part of parenting, I guess. Or brotherhood. Or something. The things we give up to make it a better world for the littler ones."

None of the newsies ever ask Ray or Charlie what happened at the hospital, or what the total effects are. They just know that Charlie will never walk or run like he used to. And that's a lot for a seven year old to take in. But he handles it well. 

Everyone has new respect for Charlie, the newsie who was ready to sacrifice himself to save Antonio, and paid a terrible price to keep Antonio safe. And because of this act of heroism, and a general sense of thinking he's ready for it, the newsies give him a new name.

From that day forward, he was known as Crutchy.

That's a lot to deal with there.

I ultimately chose to spell it Crutchy instead of Crutchie because the real person was named Crutch or Crutchy Morris, and I was aiming for historical accuracy.

I also know that polio was probably the actual cause of his bad leg, but! It's my story, and this was far more captivating to write about. I may change it if there's anything really really historically inaccurate. But for now, Antonio ran out onto the street, and after stuff happened, Charlie ended up as Crutchy.

I'm either super historically accurate or "I'm gonna write what I want" with no in between at all haha.

I don't want summer to be over. Summer is my escape from the normal world. One of my best friends is the opposite. They can't wait for summer to be over. Whatever your opinion is on summer vacation having some variation of a month left, I can respect it.

I have a plan for future chapters...kind of. I *do* have up until chapter 10 planned out, and later today I may post more of those chapters.

So what did you think of how Crutchy's nickname origin story?

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

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who has summer reading to do but only just started the first few pages of 1984--the book we have to read)