Chapter Text
“Skittery, we need to talk,” Kloppman motioned for the boy to follow him. Skittery just assumed he was being blamed for something he hadn’t done, again. So Skittery followed Kloppman, expecting the man to stop at his desk but instead he held his office door open. Now, Skittery had been there longer than almost all the other boys here, except maybe Jack, and he had never once gone into Kloppman’s office. That was the one rule any of the newsies actually followed. Stay out of Kloppman’s office. So it was understandable when Skittery hesitated.
“Skittery, this is something that we have to discuss privately. You have permission to come into my office.” So Skittery followed Kloppman in, and looked around. There were all sorts of trinkets and art projects from the newsies. Skittery even recognized a few from when he was younger and felt a rare rush of nostalgia. Kloppman sat behind his desk which was on the opposite side of the room from his bed, and motioned for Skittery to sit in one of the seats in front. Skittery did so, feeling very much like a child.
Kloppman took a deep breath to collect his thoughts before speaking, “I’m sure you’re aware that you’re aware that we aren’t technically supposed to have Tumbler here. He should be in an orphanage.” Skittery nodded. He knew this but Kloppman let the young boy stay because Skittery had promised to take care of him.
“The Children’s Aid Society found out about him. We have until Friday to make a decision. Either we find someone to adopt him, or he gets taken to an orphanage.”
“He can’t go to an orphanage,” Skittery responded immediately. He knew kids weren’t very well looked after in orphanages and Tumbler needed a lot of attention. “Can you make some connections to find someone to adopt him?”
Kloppman nodded, “I figured you’d feel that way about it. Tomorrow morning I’ll get in touch with some people and find out who’d be willing to adopt him. Not everyone is going to want a kid like him. Come by here in the afternoon so you can meet some of the people who would be interested. But I’m going to need your help.” Skittery didn’t respond, unsure of how he was supposed to help in this situation.
“You have to be the one to tell him. He trusts you more than anyone else. If someone else tried to tell him, I think he’d fight it. I think he’d accept the news from you.”
Skittery’s heart broke, “I’ll do that tomorrow.”