New York City had a lot of newspaper businesses. Lots of newspapers businesses required lots of people to run the businesses. The food chain ranged from the big shots up at the top all the way down to the young boys who peddled bicycles at some outrageously early hour to deliver bicycles to the citizens of the city. Such was the job of a young boy by the name of Jack Kelly. He was the leader of the Manhattan group of peddling paper boys. Each boy had a bicycle and they would deliver newspapers to the people of Manhattan. Every single one of the boys had their own unique route. Some would deliver to businesses and others to the ordinary homes of New Yorkers. They would receive their pay from the places they delivered and they would use the money that they earned to buy papers in the morning. Most of the paper boys would be doing this to help their family earn a few extra cents. Life in New York City was very expensive at times and people did not usually have a lot of money, so it helped to have a few extra cents. The ordinary New Yorker would have a son who would wake up at some absurd hour, jump on his bike, ride out to the distribution center at the paper that they sold for, and then ride his route knocking on doors and  For most of the kids that were in that situation, life was perfect. They had free reign of the city and had some freedom before school started. There was only one issue. The gangs that thought they could rule New York City too. If a paper boy had a tip, the gangs would beat him up (on a good day), steal it from him and run off with the money. On a bad day, a paper boy wouldn't be able to deliver the papers for a good long while. Those paper boys, who had families and led somewhat normal lives, needed someone who could stick up for them against the gangs. Some kind of a leader or better yet, they needed some kind of a union. They knew of a group of boys who were a gang, in the sense that they fought with other gangs often. This other group of boys was also a group of paper boys around the city. The other paper boys did not typically associate themselves with the gang of paper boys. The gang was led by none other than Jack Kelly. Jack was kind to most of the other kids on the job, but he still made lots of kids nervous. None of the "normal" kids trusted him and saw him as a "bad boy." Jack Kelly was far from the "bad boy" status and only the kids he led and hung out with saw that. The day he became the leader of the gang he is in was a day that some kids cheered about and others wanted to cry about. One particular kid that was excited for this was named Crutchy. Crutchy was Jack's little "brother" in a sense. Of course, Jack considered all of the boys to be his brothers, but Crutchy was special. Crutchy was the only person who Jack would invite to sleep on the rooftop of the abandoned warehouse they stayed at. None of the other boys were invited up there. Even if they had a nightmare. Jack always came into the warehouse itself to comfort them. Old sofas with the stuffing bulging out from under the cushions littered the dirty floor of the warehouse. Over the years, Jack had dragged those into the warehouse along with the leaders before him. There was always one sofa left open just incase Jack ever wanted to sleep inside. He rarely did and he usually gave up his sofa to some kid from the street who needed a place to hide away from parents or the cops. Just because he was the leader of a gang didn't mean that Jack couldn't create a safe place for the kids of New York. He didn't really look out for the "normal" kids though. They had a place to sleep every night and they had parents who actually cared about them. Their homes were places that they didn't have to be afraid to walk into every night. Scared that tonight was going to be worse than the night before. That had been these boys' lifestyles until they found the gang. Before this group of boys had formed, they had been known as the Newsies of Lower Manhattan. But, things changed in New York and once the Depression passed, Newsies disappeared from the streets of New York. Replacing them were the young paperboys on bicycles. In the warehouse, there was an old picture of a group of newsboys from 1899 when they went on strike. Those boys had no doubt grown up and grown old, but that did not stop the paperboys' respect for the Newsies. Jack had always liked to remind the boys of where they had come from. When the Newsies went out of style, the Lodging Houses of New York City closed and the Newsies of New York City retreated to the underbelly of the city to escape the prying eyes of the cops and their fellow citizens who loathed seeing them on the streets. There, many of them were pulled into gangs, forced away from the healthy lifestyle that they had been longing for. The former Newsies had no choice and were nabbed from their hiding places in the city. Most of them shrugged off their dreams, at this point just looking for a way to survive. It had taken awhile, but eventually, during Prohibition, a group of them found each other and escaped from their old gangs. Together, they formed a new gang. Of course, staying true to their roots, they called their gang, The Newsies. The Newsies accepted non former Newsies as well and even new members. Just because you weren't a Newsie didn't mean you couldn't join the gang. The gang called themselves, The Newsies, not because of who was in it, but rather the principles they chose to live by. The Newsies chose to live like the original Newsies from 1899 did. Everyone was considered family. Most gangs in New York fought with an every man for himself mentality, but not the Newsies. The Newsies watched each other's backs and cared about their members. This was a tradition that they made sure to carry out on each member and that was all the new candidates had to promise to hold to once they joined. There was no terrifyingly cruel initiation where a new candidate might have to go and beat up someone. The Newsies wanted their gang to be as safe of a place as possible for its members. Of course because they were a gang, the safety had its limitations.  Regardless of this, kids with cruel families or no families, gravitated towards The Newsies. New members came often and the gang began to grow quickly. The Newsies gang encouraged everyone in their gang to lead somewhat normal lives meaning they had jobs and acted as trustworthy normal citizens of New York City. This lasted for approximately six months. Some of the younger members were able to become Newsies, selling newspapers yet again. Only a few managed to do this as the demands for people in other jobs were high. The normal citizen by day and gang member by night lifestyle worked for many of the members. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and a turf war began between one of the gangs, who behaved as a gang 24/7, and The Newsies. The Newsies' rival had been trying to attack in broad daylight since a lot of The Newsies were out in the morning. The rivals had an agenda to steal the majority of Manhattan during the daytime. One day, The Newsies decided to surprise their rivals by jumping one of their members. The Newsies sent out one of their boys the next morning and he found the person he needed to jump. Or so he thought. The Newsie jumped the man only to find that the person he had just jumped was not one of their rivals, but an ordinary citizen of New York. The man had been angry with The Newsie and to make matters worse, he knew that the boy was a newsboy. With his secret exposed, The Newsie tried to get away, but the man put the police on his case. The police were speedy to find the hiding place of The Newsies and in 1937, half of The Newsies wound up in jail, including two out of their three leaders. The other boys stuck together and went into hiding. Just because half of their brothers had been separated from them didn't mean that they couldn't still carry the gang. However, the rival gang, that had been attacking The Newsies previously, caught wind of what had happened to The Newsies. They quickly located The Newsies' new hiding place and made plans. The Newsies were careful and stayed hidden until their rivals found them. The leader of their rivals gave them a choice, all of them could stay together and join his gang or they would die. The Newsies could not decide what to do. They asked for three days of a wait and their rivals, just to humor the now small gang's request, agreed. The Newsies decided to disband their gang and they turned themselves into prison, deciding it might be safer for all of The Newsies. Many kids lost hope that day for themselves and were terrified of what was going to happen to them. Every other gang in New York City was known to be ruthless and they would stop at nothing to get new members. The Newsies had been the one beacon of hope for a lot of kids. About eight years later, a seven year old boy was abandoned to the streets of Manhattan. World War II had just ended and Jack Kelly's parents were both dead because of it. His father died during a mission over in France and his mother had died two years after Jack was born. Jack never figured out why she died, all his father would tell him was that she was very sick. With what or why, Jack was never told. A few years later, Jack's father enlisted and off to the war he went, never to return. After that, Jack spent some time in an orphanage. The orphanage was very cramped and Jack snuck out one night when one of the nasty women forgot to lock the door. Or as Jack saw them, the prison gates. Jack fled to the streets and became one of many who lived there. He had heard rumors of The Newsies gang and had wanted to join. Even if he was only a little boy, at least he would have someone to look out for him. Jack quickly learned that The Newsies were all in prison and due to that, many of them were dead. A few had paid for their crimes that way and others simply died due to sickness. Only a few of the younger boys, who had been little boys at the time and were now teenagers, remained. They had been too young to face much of a punishment and still were. Those boys lived in a place called The House of Refuge. Jack had heard once again from the older kids on the street that it was anything but that. Terrible things happened in The House of Refuge and every street kid knew it. Even if you were new, you were quickly informed. As was the case with Jack. There was a small group of little boys that met in an alleyway and stayed together. In their minds, they considered themselves to be a gang, but none of the big gangs full of grown men and teenagers saw them as a threat. The big gangs tried to pull the kids into their gangs, but the kids refused. This put a target on their backs. One day, the kids decided to fight back and they threw rotten fruit, the only weapon they had out on the streets, at the gangs ruining their fancy clothes and whatnot. The gangs hated this and vowed to retaliate in much harsher manner. Jack Kelly, a seven year old in 1945, was nervous for what was going to happen to them. They had only stood up for what was right. Later on that night, one of the leaders of the gang that the kids had thrown rotten fruit at, marched over to the police station and told him the whereabouts of the kids and what they had done. The police came and arrested the kids. After spending a night down at the police station, Jack and his cohorts were carted off to The House of Refuge. Jack was actually somewhat relieved. He remembered from the rumors that The House of Refuge was where the last few surviving boys from The Newsies gang were. Maybe they could start The Newsies again just so that some kids on the street could have a chance. Jack and his boys were thrown in a large room with all of the other kids who were mild offenders. A large group of boys stared back at them and a tall lanky teenage kid stood up from his place one of the bunks.

"Well well well. Looks like some new kids finally showed up at da Refuge," The boy announced with a thick New York accent that was similar to Jack's. "What brings youse in? Got thrown in for loitering? Stealing food for ya buddies dere? Hoirt somebody? C'mon kid, make wid da details. I ain't got all day." Jack shook his head.

"We'se stood up for what's right an now, we'se wants ta join Da Newsies. Was youse in it? Dat why youse is here?" Jack asked and the teen laughed a loud laugh. A couple of other boys came and stood next to the tall kid.

"Da Newsies? Da gang dat failed? Ya can't be Da Newsies gang, kid. Most a dem wound up dead. Yea, ya made some good friends and bruddas bein a part of it, but it ain't worth it," The teen stated and the two other boys slapped him in the chest.

"We'se didn't fail. Things just ain't goin like dey should," One of the boys says. "Have some hope, Twister." Jack's eyes went wide and he stared at the boy.

"Youse was one of Da Newsies?" He asked and the kid nodded.

"Da Newsies was a good gang wid good ideas. We'se just messed up da one time an it wound up costin us da whole gang in some form or fashion. If da other half of da group hadn't turned demselves in, we'se would have survived and some of us wouldn't be in jail right now," The kid said and Twister stated,

"Dat's why dey failed. An dey ain't evah getting back toggedah, kid. Everyone who could get da gang goin back togeddah again, is dead or can't do it." Jack turned back to the small band of boys standing behind him.

"Why's can't we'se be da new Newsies?"  Jack asked and Twister snorted.

"Da worst place youse could start a gang is jail, kid. Da cops will catch on. Just trust me an don't revive da Newsies. Dey's dead an dat's all dey's gonna be for now," Twister explained. Jack groaned and looked towards the other boy who had helped him earlier.

"Can't youse help?" Jack asked and the kid shook his head.

"Twistah's one of my best friends an I couldn't do dat to him. Besides, Twistah is just a liddle sour bout what happened to da gang. He used ta play a pretty big role in it," The kid explained and Jack stared at Twister in awe. The kid continued telling Jack Twister's story. "He was one of da boys dat was a Newsie for a job an he was pretty close wid Snappah, one of da main leaders at da time. Twistah was da who Snappah sent out ta beat up dat gangstah. Except, well, youse knows da rest of da story." Jack's eyes went wide again. He pointed to Twister.

"Dat was him? He's dat kid?" Jack asked and the kid shushed Jack.

"Yea, he is. Which is why he takes Da Newsies so hard. He doesn't want ta see it come back an he doesn't want ta talk about it.  Some of da people dat Twister looked up to like bruddahs are dead now, because dey got put in jail," The kid finished. Jack shook his head in disbelief.

"So, Twistah blames himself?" Jack asked and the kid nodded.

"Yea. I'se tried ta get him ta break outta here an start Da Newsies again, but he won't do it," The kid said and Jack sighs.

"I'se always wanted ta be a Newsie an now," Jack started, but the kid cut him off,

"Dat's what I'se tried ta tell him. He could help so many boys and maybe even some goils, but he wouldn't listen. I tink dat dis place wouldn't be as big as it is if Da Newsies existed. We'se would be keepin kids off da streets so much, ya know?" Jack nods again.

"I'se dreamed of it and I'se heard of it. But, everybody was in jail before I was born," Jack said sadly. The kid nodded his head.

"Yea, it was a sad time. Da Newsies really was a good gang, but it only took one mistake an everyone wanted us dead. Da sad ting is, dat's what happened ta most of us," The kid said staring out the window. Jack sighed and whispered in the kid's ear,

"Someday, I'se gonna start Da Newsies again." The kid stared at Jack and looked over at the band of boys that had come with him. There were only five of them in total. Not nearly enough to make a gang. But, the kid figured everyone had to start somewhere. One of the boys had a crutch. How on earth was this little kid going to lead a ragged group of boys? The older boy leaned down to Jack.

"What's yer name, kid?" He asked and Jack replied,

"Jack Kelly. An my pals over dere are Crutchy, Racetrack, Specs, and Skittery."  The older boy nodded.

"Well, I'm Split an I'se nevah stays in one place for too long. I was a Newsie who was a part of Da Newsies gang," Split introduced himself and asked Jack, "How old are youse, kid?" 

"Seven," Jack replied and Split shook his head in disbelief.

"Youse on da street an youse dat young?" Split asked and Jack nodded.

"My Dad died in da war an my Mom died a long time ago," Jack said and Split shook his head again. "I'se went ta street before da war was ovah. My Dad had me stay wid my old aunt an she was mean. When we heard dat he died, tings got worse in our home. I'se decided dat I wasn't staying for any reason." Split shook his head. The things young kids went through these days. Time went on and Jack grew closer to Split and even Twister. Their other friend, who had also been a part of The Newsies gang, was named Jumper, because he jumped a lot and got scared easily, and he became good friends with the boys too. Crutchy, Racetrack, Specs, and Skittery stuck to Jack like glue the whole time they were there. The older boys were in The House of Refuge until they were twenty one, but the younger boys were released after a year. Those five boys miraculously never experienced any of the abuse that Snyder or called the Spider by the Refuge's residents. Jack was feisty, but somehow, whenever he acted out, Snyder forgot about the kid. All of the kids. Racetrack and Jack would often pick fights with the guards and Racetrack could be very sarcastic sometimes. Crutchy and Specs would try to keep them in line and Skittery just didn't seem to care about any of it. He was too upset and moody to really care about what was going on in the Refuge. There were days when the five boys were sure that one of them was going to suffer the wrath of Snyder, but Snyder was too busy making boys like Twister, Split and Jumper pay for their crimes to worry about a couple of little kids. Knowing Snyder, their sentence was much longer than a year, but Twister had given Jack some ideas on how to escape. Not only just by himself, but with his four friends as well. One warm night in 1946, the five boys escaped the Refuge. Snyder was furious about this. He ordered that the boys be tracked down which was smart, but Jack and his boys were smarter. Those five boys went into hiding at a local theater that Jack had a family friend at. Miss Medda Larkson had been a dear friend to both of Jack's parents and had gone to high school with Jack's mother. Jack and the boys stayed there for a while and in exchange for their stay, Medda had them do some work around the theater. The Newsies were still prevalent in Jack's mind as he worked and grew up around the theater. Eventually, Medda forced them to go to school even though Jack didn't want to. Medda thought she was doing something good until the day that her five boys disappeared. Then she wasn't so sure. Jack had been twelve when they ran away, making it the year 1950. The four years at Medda had been amazing and Medda had tried to school them herself, but she only remembered so much from her school days. Three weeks later, Medda got a call from the police department, saying that the five boys had been arrested and they were all now in The House of Refuge. Snyder was thrilled to have the escapees back under his "care". Medda couldn't do anything about it and for that she was furious. No amount of bail money was going to save her boys. The boys did not escape the wrath of Snyder this time. The first night, Jack disappeared and came back with bruises and cuts in a high quantity. Each of the boys would disappear and the others could do nothing about it or they would receive the cruel treatment themselves. After a morning when Crutchy could barely walk, Jack decided that they were going to break out again. The Governor of New York City decided to visit the Refuge and gave notice. Snyder bustled about trying to get them all ready and making the Refuge look like a wonderful place where rehabilitation happened, but Jack had other plans. He openly rebelled anyways, but now, he full out rebelled against Snyder and the guards. The five boys had secretly made a plan against the prying eyes of the guards. The Governor came and greeted the boys. He inspected the place and congratulated Snyder on his work. This made Jack and the other boys furious. The Governor went to leave and the five boys, when the appropriate heads were turned, jumped into the back of the Governor's car. Jack and the boys snuck out of the car and ran to hide somewhere in Manhattan. They couldn't go back to Medda's. She would make them go to school. Jack and his boys worked their way through the city until they came upon an abandoned warehouse that no gang had infiltrated yet. The five boys made this their hideout. They hid and took other boys in. Before winter came, there were ten boys who stayed at the secret warehouse every night consistently. Winter was cold in the warehouse, but the boys managed to survive. Jack's birthday came, making him 13 and that's when he found a picture in the warehouse, where the original Newsies gang had met and hung out. The photo reminded Jack of his long time dream to be in The Newsies. Jack took awhile to consider this. It would be a huge change for everyone involved, but deep down, he knew it would be worth it. Six months later, Jack gave a pole to the boys who were currently staying in the warehouse. They voted that they should revive The Newsies gang. In the spring of 1951, The Newsies became a gang again. Every one of the boys that was staying in the warehouse had heard of the legendary gang and they were thrilled. Medda had heard of what they were doing and she had friends who would take each of the boys in. The original five boys lived with Medda once again and the others all stayed nearby with various stage hands and friends of Medda. Medda sent them to school, but the boys didn't mind. Jack was eager to go into high school and lead a somewhat normal life again. A seventeen year old Jack Kelly now sits on the beat up couch in the warehouse, listening to the snores of his brothers surrounding him. He remembers those beginning days of The Newsies like they were yesterday. There is only thing that makes Jack sad. He has always had a dream of running off to Santa Fe in New Mexico. Now, being the leader of a fairly large gang, Jack can't do that. As much as he wants to, he knows he needs to stay. Jack leads somewhat of an ordinary life now and he needs to help keep things that way. He goes to high school, leads the gang, delivers newspapers on his bicycle at the crack of dawn, and helps out at the theatre.  If only life could stay as it was, Jack had no idea of what was about to come in the near future.

AN:/ Welcome to the 50's book that I announced last month!! Here we are!! If you have any ideas for this book, please talk to me. I have a vague idea of where I want it to go, but I am open to new ideas to. I hope it is as good as I made it seem. Please keep in mind that this is not really chapter one, but a prologue of sorts. This tells you what is going on and how everything sort of came up and about. The actual story has kind of started and kind of not. I hope the backstory isn't boring, but interesting. I also gave you Jack's past. Please keep in mind that this particular backstory of Jack's is used for this story only. I will tell you in another story if I choose to use it anywhere else. Like the oneshots. XD. Thank you to all of you who replied to my message when I asked for thoughts on this idea. Your comments and thoughts helped me to see the starting of this book through. I am not going to give you a consistent update day for this one. If it gets an update, it will be on the weekends. That being said, this book is not going to replace She's the King of New York's regular Friday update. I will be working on stuff and if I am persistent and not busy, something could be released on Friday nights. You know how wordy I am though and you also know that this long of a chapter takes a long time to write. If you look at this book and go, "Oh. Another 50's gang story. Or, Oh. Another strike story?" Please at least read the backstory and the first chapter. Having those two elements with a little bit of a West Side Story look to it, things are going to be different than either of those story ideas. I am combing the two and making them different from anything you have seen so far. Yes, I have read other stories about both categories. Please don't look at it that way and please see it through to the end. I think you will enjoy it better that way. Things are going to be similar and way different all at the same time. So, first installment of this story and you get a tragically sad and complicated backstory. How about I shake it down for you so it makes a little bit more sense or less complicated? I'm going to tell you the time line and explain somethings. So,

1.  The 1899 Newsies strike. (If you have gotten this far, I hope you know what that is. Ask me if you don't. It's going to be okay and I won't be mad at you. I just wouldn't suggest reading the rest of this book if you don't know what that is. Go watch Newsies! Either one! They will both explain it than I probably can and they are amazing, so why not? Right, my Fansie friends?)

2. Prohibition. There was a period of time from 1920 to 1933 where alcohol was illegal in the United States. There was a lot of underground activity going on, obviously, because people still enjoyed drinking. This was when the Newsies found each other again and became a gang. You read about that in the story somehow.  I would say they joined together earlier in the 20's then later, like 1922. It could take awhile for a few of them to find each other, so 1922 would be a good estimate.

3. 1937 was when the gang fell apart. This would have been towards the end of the Great Depression. Half of them wound up in jail and the rest of the gang eventually just fell apart.

4.1938. According to the math, if Jack Kelly is to be seventeen in 1955, he would have to have been born during this year sometime. I'm going to say that his birthday is in April sometime. I don't really have a true date for that. I'm just creating a fictional timeline for you.

5. 1940. Later half of the year. Jack's mother dies. This would be two years and then some after Jack was born. Jack's father has not left for the war yet.

6. 1944. Jack's father joined the war effort and left shortly after New Year's, missing Jack's sixth birthday.  Mr. Kelly Sr. joined an operation that was happening in France and died later on in the year because of the battle of Normandy. Jack never heard from him after he left New York City.

7. 1945. Jack escapes the orphanage and winds up on the street. Sometime throughout the year, he meets Crutchy, Racetrack, Specs, and Skittery. They attempt to be a gang even though all of them are under the age of ten. The five boys eventually get thrown into the Refuge where they meet some boys from The Newsies gang that fell apart. Jack promised one of its former members that he will revive the gang someday when he gets older.

8.1946. Jack and the boys escape from the Refuge after being there for nearly a year. At this point, the boys move in with Medda for the first time.

9.1950. Jack and the boys get upset when Medda wants them to go to school. They leave and go back to the streets.  Once again, they wind up in the Refuge. They escape again and they go and hide out.

10.1951. The Newsies gang is formed.

There you go. So, quick little note, The Newsies who are in the gang in 1955 are not the same boys who participated in the strike. Some of them will be named after those kids, but we are going with the actual historical strike information. So, in this story, Jack Kelly did not lead the 1899 Newsboys Strike. He is going to be doing something completely different. And as for face claims and such, as is with the rest of my stories, imagine whoever you would like. Whether it be, Jack Kelly as Christian Bale or Jeremy Jordan or Corey Cott or Dan Deluca or whoever. Same with everybody else. Unless, it's someone like Skittery, who we only see in the original movie. Then imagine him like he is. :) Disclaimer: I cannot claim complete historical accuracy with this story. Please remember that this is a fictional work and you should not take any of the historical facts that I give you to be set in stone. If they have to do with my storyline, then those are fine, but like the facts I told you about Prohibition, please go verify them for yourselves. Don't use my information for a research paper. I don't know how reliable it is. :) I hope the breakdown was helpful. Yes, the story is tragically sad, but it will get better. Well, sort of. I hope you enjoy it anyways!! One more thing about the oneshot book and I'm probably going to sound like a broken record, if you want your OC in my oneshot book, please submit a form! I will write a oneshot about them and add them to the mix of my characters. Okay, that's all. If any of you who have written a 50's story before have some valuable information about writing a story in this AU, I would love to hear it!! I would love feedback about this story a lot, so don't be afraid when it comes to sharing your thoughts on it!! Your feedback will tell me what I need to work on and will motivate me to add more to this story!! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!! See you around, friends!!