I must'a blacked out because I didn't wake up until I felt someone gently shaking me.

"Kid. Kid! Time ta wake up kid."

My eyes shot open and I tensed, ready to be hit.

The shaking stopped entirely.

"Hey, hey now. Don't worry 'bout that. I won't hit you, not ever."

Mr. Kelly gave me an encouraging smile before he turned his attention back to the piece of paper he was sketching on in his lap. 

I was confused, no one had ever not hit me, let alone deemed me worthy enough to tell me about their decision. I was just about to voice my confusion when Mr. Kelly spoke again. 

"What's ya name kid?"

"U-Um. I-I'm sorry sir, I don't have one." I managed to stutter back. It was true, if my birth parents ever did happen to give me a name before I hit da orphanage steps I wouldn't remember it.

Jack just let out an offhand chuckle and tilted his head to one side.

"Come on, you gotta have a name. What do people call ya da most when dey talk to ya?"

I swallowed thickly, my throat feeling like sandpaper as realization dawned on me.

"Oh, like that. W-Well, gutter rat is a pretty well known one. Crip, cripple, boy, does hey you count? Um, worthless goof fir not'in in da most recent-"

"Dat's enough!" Jack cut me off and I hastily dropped my gaze, lowering it all the way to the floor in submission. I had found out a long time ago that it was best if you were quiet and if you only spoke when directly spoken to you had the best chance of--well, pretty much anything.

"I-I'm sorry sir, I won't talk so much in da-"

"No, i-it's okay kid, that's not what I meant by saying dat it's just... Well... Here, how 'bout this. I hereby dub you... Crutchie."

Jack sent me a hopeful smile, his eyebrows raising to his hairline in question. 

I cautiously looked back up at him and smiled shyly, "Crutchie?" I mouthed the foreign word a few times, testing it on my tongue. My smile widened.

"I like it sir."

"Great! That's you from now on den."

"Thank you sir!"

My smile faded and I tore my eyes away from his, quickly turning my gaze down soI was looking at the discarded papers at his feet.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was making eye contact, I know better.

I could feel the panic rising in my chest as all the possible consequences of my of my actions flashed through my mind.

"I'm sorry sir! I-It won't happen again! I-I promise it won't happen again!"

"Hey! Crutchie, it's all okay. Forget 'bout it. Let me properly introduce myself."

I smiled despite myself at the use of my new name. Mr. Kelly stood and stepped closer to me, bending down and holding out his hand. 

"Jack Kelly, Newsie of Manhattan. You can call me Jack, none of this sir business. And, you can look at me Crutchie, it's okay.

"Yes s-Jack." I answered back immediately, catching myself at the last second. He smiled when I said his name.

"That's better, and you are?" He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

"Oh, i'm C-Crutchie, nice to meet you Mista Jack." He smiled at me and nodded his head, inspecting me and checking for any other injuries with his eyes. 

"How ya feeling Crutch?"

I sighed as he looked down at me, the whole of my chest and most of my arms covered in an array of purples and blues. I was thankful that he could only see my arms and my feet. I don't know what he would say if he could see my legs and my chest.

"I'll be fine." I answered, looking at the hazy sun that was just starting to touch the tops of the soot dusted buildings when I realized that I was terribly late.

"Oh no! I gotta go now! Thank you Mista Kelly but I gotta go, i'm late for my job. Oh man, Mr. Jacobi's gonna kill me."

I hurriedly tried to stand up but without the support of my crutch and because of the rough beating I received this afternoon I let out a small yelp of pain and fell back down. 

Jack chuckled at my sudden babble and came over to help me up, leaning over to grab my patched up crutch and offering me a hand up. I took it and placed my crutch under my left arm. I was grateful to him for saving it. I only used it when I needed to but it was very much appreciated when I needed to use it. 

"Thank you Mista Kelly." 

"No problem Crutchie."

As I stood I could feel Mr. Kelly's eyes on me once again, scanning me up and down once I stood.

"Crutchie? When's the last time ya ate?"

Jack looked down at my loose fitting clothing and frowned when his eyes settled on my exposed ribs. I furrowed my brows and thought about his question. 

Hmm, when was the last time I ate?

"Um, maybe yester-no, uh, maybe... a few days ago? It doesn't matter. I'll be fine and when I eat i'll eat." I shrugged my shoulders and then winced as a strong wave of pain washed over me.

Ouch, that was really, really painful. I don't intend on doing that again any time soon.

I closed my eyes and took in a few deep breaths. Mr. Kelly looked at me with concern written over his features. 

"Okay, you ain't gonna go crawl back to whatever dark hole you been liv'in in lately. You're stay'in wit me, that's final!"

"W-What?" I blinked at him a few times, confused.

"You're stay'in wit me. My minds made up."