This was very very subtly hinted at in the last chapter. And so here we are: did Kid Blink actually betray the newsies?

Enjoy! :)

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The newsies are much more peaceful in their efforts to stop people from selling papes now.

The rally a couple nights ago had a lot of great effects. This was one of them.

Mush is proud of Kid Blink for persuading them to be more peaceful in their actions.

"I knew you could do it," Mush murmurs when they're alone--or as close to alone as they can get. No one is around in the moment; that's good enough for them. "And I knew you would win that floral horseshoe."

"Thanks for always believing in me," Blink tells him in the same low tone before kissing him.

It's peaceful moments like this in the early morning that they cherish. Moments where they are alone. Where they can do or say whatever they want. And no one is there to judge.

"You think we'll win the strike soon?" Mush asks.

"I do," Blink responds with a smile. "I really do."

Today, there's been talk about how they might get a parade...if they can get the permit from Chief Devery. Seeing how that went for Racetrack Higgins last time, there's only a so-so chance of this working out. They're all hopeful, though.

As the newsies go about the day, showing everyone that they're still on strike and aren't giving up soon, Kid Blink and Dave Simmons have their own business to attend to.

The pair of strike leaders walk and talk, coming up with ideas of what their next moves might be, and how long it will take for the World and/or the Journal to finally listen to them.

Suddenly, a well-dressed man comes up to them, smile wide, showing that they can trust him. But there's just something about his eyes: a shallow color; without any warmth or reason to trust. No, this man's eyes are a superior looking at an inferior. And so, neither Blink nor Dave trust him.

"Good morning," he greets them in a voice that matches his eyes.

They exchange glances. 

This can go many ways.

Only one way to find out what this guy's angle is.

Unsure of exactly how they should handle this, they stare at him warily, trying to get any more idea of what he wants by just observing him.

Luckily, this man doesn't give them another chance to speak, and continues the conversation himeself.

"You wouldn't happen to be the infamous 'Kid' Blink and 'Dave' Simmons, faces of the strike?" 

What gave it away? Kid Blink wants to ask sarcastically. The patch over my left eye?

"Yeah, we are," Blink says out loud, wanting to know why this guy wants to know.

"And who would you be?" Dave asks.

The man waves the question away. "It does not matter who I am. What does matter is that I work for the New York World."

So that's one of the motives behind this random World worker talking to them.

Yeah, they're not buying what he's selling.

And he hasn't even tried to sell them anything yet--metaphorically or physically.

They begin to walk away.

But he's not done talking to them yet.

"What would interest you both?" he asks them. "Something...just out reach. Something good enough to give up the strike for?"

And there it is.

That's what this guy wants.

He's just Pulitzer's messenger sent to do the dirty work of trying to get the strike to end.

"We don't want anything from you," Blink tells him scornfully.

"We won't ever be acceptin' any bribes," Dave adds, just as defiantly.

The man is unfazed. "What about $200?" he lets that sink in. "What about $400? Or free papers and a dollar a day?"

He's offering them money that they will never see any time soon--let alone at all. This is a golden opportunity. He's offering them things that most wouldn't ever be able to resist.

That's not going to work on them.

"I ain't takin' it," Dave answers first. "I don't care if you offer me $200 or $2,000. I've been a newsie most of my life. If you think I'd betray 'em now in this very crucial time, you'd be very much mistaken."

"But surely we can work out something-" the man continues, obviously unaware that this is not ever going to go in his favor.

"Now listen here, and listen well," Kid Blink interrupts him. "You may see us as kids. You might think of us unloyal to each other; easily bought over. That we don't mean nothing. That's where you're wrong. Have ya seen all the other papers writing furiously about us daily? We're putting you and the Journal out of business, but for some reason you ain't realizing it. Your pride is more important than the business. And us newsies? We're staying together. Ain't nothing that can break us up. We're stayin' strong until the end. I don't care if it's over in a day, a week, a month, or year. None of us would accept any bribe you give us. We ain't just kids. We'se people, who deserve our rights, and we'se going to get those rights, even if it's the last thing we do. You just wait and see, and you'll soon realize you never should have messed with us at all."

He steps back and leaves it at that.

"Come on, Dave," he turns around. "We got more important things to do."

And so they leave without another word.

Blink is satisfied with himself. This is one of the issues they talked about two nights ago: people who were easily bribed. But not him. He's staying loyal to this strike.

The man watches them walk away, impressed by their determination, but looks at them with a disdainful glare.

They might not have agreed to the bribe. He'll figure out something.

If he can spread rumors about the strike leaders taking bribes amongst the other children through another newsie...

...it will all work out just fine for The World.

True, both of them said noteworthy things, stuff that will work as evidence refuting his claims. But, to his advantage, he was the only one who heard them say it. If it never ends up in the papers, that means that it never happened. So know one will ever know the truth of what actually happened here.

They should have taken the deal when they had the chance.

Because what's about to happen to them will be far worse.

Blink and Dave have it all planned out. They're going to tell everyone else with a leadership position--Racetrack, Morris Cohen, Henry Butler, and the like---their ideas. Judging by how well the parade goes, there will be only so much or so little more work they need to do before they're going to win this thing.

They come back to the Manhattan newsies later in the day.

"Hi guys!" Kid Blink greets them cheerfully. "How did getting the permit for the parade go...?"

He trails off when sees them all staring at him coldly. 

"Did you take the World's bribe?" one of the older newsies ask.

"What?" is Blink's immediate response. "Of course not! Where'd you hear that?"

"We'se heard you was seen sellin' newspapers," a younger newsie, not more than ten, chimes in.

"A guy from the World did find us, and tried to bribe us, but we didn't take it," Blink explains. 

Their expressions stay the same.

His eyes begin to dart around, heart beating quicker.

That's when he spots Mush in the back of the crowd, the only one with an expression of concern and sorrow rather than glaring distrust.

"Mush!" he makes his way to the back. Mush doesn't meet his eyes. "Mush, what's going on?"

"We couldn't get the permit," Mush murmurs. "And one of the young 'uns said they heard from someone else that you two were found sellin' newspapers."

Kid Blink shakes his head rapidly. "No. That ain't true."

Mush finally looks up, eyes remorseful. "I believe you. It's just everyone else you need to worry about." Then he murmurs, "I'll find you later."

"What?" is all that escapes Blink's mouth.

"Why should we follow leaders who betray us?" a newsie shouts.

"We trusted you!" another shouts.

"No! No! No!" Blink cries. "It ain't true!" 

He's drowned out by the crowd shouting at him.

"You ain't our leaders no more!"

Throughout it all, Dave Simmons stands there, silent, looking hollow. He's already accepted that there's no point in trying to defend himself. No one will believe him.

Blink can't believe it. This can't be happening. How did everything go wrong so fast? 

More importantly...what should he do now?

Then it hits Blink.

I'll find you later.

Mush is telling him to run.

So he runs, Dave not far behind him.

A bunch of newsies chase after them, still accusing the two of betraying the strike, and them.

The chase goes through many streets, drawing a lot of attention. Many a newspaper man is going to take note of this. And it won't be in the pair's favor.

Finally, Blink and Dave run so far that none of the newsies care to follow any farther.

"What's going on?" a man asks them, looking concerned. He's nicely dressed. In a lot of ways, he resembles the man who tried to bribe him. Except this man's eyes shone with true compassion and concern. This is the man they'll trust.

"I work for the New York Sun," the man elaborates. "And I want to know what happened--from your perspective. This seems like a mess. We'll need every bit of information we can get."

And so they trust this guy.

"They all thinks we betrayed 'em," Blink explains, finally fully catching his breath. "But we didn't."

"They're going to be reporting soon that me and Blink of getting bribed and fallin' out of the strike," Dave adds, recalling those last final moments when the newsies all shouted that the two weren't their leaders anymore. "Those reports saying that we had been desposed as leaders of the strike for going over ot the enemy is a device of the enemy, and it won't be true."

"I belive you," the man tells them. "Now, tell me everything."

So they tell him what they can. When they're done, he thanks them and they go their separate ways.

Blink and Dave can't go back to the lodging house; and they probably won't be able to go anywhere else with newsies. Word will spread fast. And it won't be in their favor.

How did it all go so wrong?

Who said what first?

There were obviously rumors. But who started them? And why?

There's some information that they'll never know.

He thinks back to Mush telling him I'll find you later.

He hopes that later becomes soon fast.

The thing is, that man will never be able to publish the article he writes with all the information that they told him. The Sun doesn't want it, and so they won't publish it.

And so, Kid Blink's and Dave Simmons' story is lost to the forgotten parts of history, destined to be just mere moments in the grand scheme of time; forever to be cast away and disregarded. Never to be heard of again.

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Did I like writing everything that happened in this flashback? No. No I did not.

I did some major tweaking of details.

But they were chased through the streets. And no longer leaders.

Okay, so fun fact about David Simmons, one of the leaders: he was a newsie since he was eight, and was 21 during the strike. I can't find much more about him except things that he said at the rally and random quotes put in newspapers.

Including this quote/kind of quote: on July 27th, according to the New York Sun, he claimed that a published report that he and Kid Blink had been deposed as leaders of the strike for going over ot the enemy was a device of that enemy, and that the report was not true. (July 27, 1899: "Parade To-Night, Sure" on cityhallpark1899.com.). I wanted to include it somehow.

I found this one article called Did Kid Blink Betray The Strike? on newsboys-of-1899.home.blog, with links to all the other articles I used; which was a lot of inspiration for this chapter. Because it was just rumored that Kid Blink and Dave Simmons took a bribe and started selling papers. No one actually caught them in the act of selling papers. And this article is actually in favor of Blink and Dave Simmons having actually not done anything wrong. And I liked that, so I put that information and argument in here.

The newsies did want a huge parade on the 26th, hoping for 6,000 newsies. They...never got the permit.

Because of all the inner turmoil I was giving Louis over if Kid Blink was actually a "good guy" or "bad guy," I wanted to write this. And I'm not going to say that Kid Blink has had justice now, but his story is told.

Or...my version of his story haha.

Please, no homophobia or transphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who is always intrigued by the stories/sides of the stories that aren't always told)