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April 14th, 1912
After the Newsboy Strike of 1899, Kid Blink and Mush had gone back to work as newsboys. Of course, their youth faded, and by the time they were twenty-four and twenty-five respectively, they were working together as ship dockers. Three years later, and here they were, taking a ship back to New York, earning their spots by working in the engine rooms. It’d been a year since they’d come to Ireland on another job, and they were both looking forward to getting to see the fellas they’d left behind. The ship? The Ship of Dreams. The RMS Titanic.
The night was like every other night, and the two were taking a break, resting after being on their feet all day, idly chatting about what it must be like in the first class rooms as they just thanked god the worst of the engine fires was over. It was nearing midnight, but they knew that they’d be switching out again soon. Blink was almost dozing off as Mush softly told him a story about a guy he’d met in a pub who’d won a first class ticket on a ship once, and what he’d said it was like.
The bell of the E.O.T suddenly started ringing. Three times, that meant urgent. Blink shot up, Mush shooting to his feet as well. All of the men in the room immediately set to stop the ship, frantically closing the boiler doors. They managed to get them all shut, but it was quickly realized that they were too late as they felt a shudder, hearing an awful screeching sound as the ship collided with something. There was a silence for only a moment, no one daring to even breathe. Then there was a loud crack of metal bending, and screaming from the other engine rooms closer to the bow as water began flooding in. Someone shouted to run, and Mush had to pull Blink from where he was frozen in place, staring in horror as alarm bells rang, the doors beginning to shut automatically to keep the water in the hull.
“Blink, come on!” Mush urged him, tugging him forwards towards the other door. He all but pushed him under the closing bay door, slipping under himself, his heart pounding as it closed just after his foot came through the doorway. He could hear screaming and desperate banging on the other side, but the doors wouldn’t reopen.
They kept running until they reached a staircase. Mush held tightly to Blink so they didn’t get separated, pushing past people the best he could as they made their way to the kitchen. The staff looked at them, confused as to why a group of dirty engine workers had burst in, but Mush didn’t care, and Blink was still in a silent panic. Mush lead Blink out through the dining room and the baths, to the elevators, a few of the other workers that had made it out following his lead. Under the floor, he could hear some of the screams silencing as the hull filled with water.
“Oh god,” Blink choked out.
Mush’s jaw tightened. Get themselves out, that’s all that mattered now. He couldn’t save the poor souls below.
They went up to the decks, running to the railing to see what had happened. It didn’t take very long. The iceberg was touchable, and Blink put a hand over his mouth at the sight. Mush leaned slightly over the railing- “We’re already starting to sink…”
One of the men beside him began muttering in German, something that sounded like a prayer. Another two were talking rapidly in Russian, fear in their eyes. They seemed to be the only ones worried.
“Wh-what do we do?” Blink asked, his hands shaking on the railing. Mush took one of them, squeezing it, but he didn’t know how to answer.
“Wait, I guess… Captain should already know what’s going on, he’ll start the orders for the lifeboats soon,” Mush assured him, somehow managing to make his voice sound calm.
Blink nodded softly, watching the iceberg slowly drift away, squeezing Mush’s hand back.
They’d watched it all pass. The uncaring passiveness and confusion of the situation slowly turning to horror and chaos. Even more so when they realized exactly how little lifeboats there were.
Blink began shivering from the cold, and out of fear; Mush put his arm around him, pulling him close. Both of them realized at this point… they wouldn’t be getting on a lifeboat.
Mush shut his eyes for a moment, blocking out the blind panicking as he sighed. “Come on,” he said softly to Blink, pulling him away from the dock. “You know, I bet with all this, no one will mind if we sneak into the first class lounge.”
Blink looked up at him, breathing back a sob as he realized what Mush was doing. He breathed out shakily, holding his hand tightly as he nodded, letting Mush lead him inside.
As Mush thought, there was no one inside the lounge, only the ashes of a dying fire in the fireplace. He sat down in one of the chairs, pulling Blink onto his lap. Blink obliged, putting his arms around Mush’s neck because neither of them cared about maintaining a distance anymore.
“The height of luxury, eh?” Mush said softly, putting a cigarette in his mouth that had been sitting on the table. He took the match and lit it, puffing it before taking a drag and offering it to Blink.
Blink nodded, parting his lips so Mush could put the cigarette between them, taking his own drag, holding it in a moment before blowing it out away from the other man.
“You remember when we were in the Lodge? We’d sit there and talk with the other boys ‘bout what we’d do if we were rich?” Mush asked, looking into the embers of the fire.
“Yeah…” Blink laughed brokenly. “JoJo would say he’d have a house big enough for all of us to live in, everyone would have their own room. Race would say he’d have a penthouse better than Jack’s, that maybe he’d invite us. Al-” He stopped, his heart hurting mentioning the man who’d died in a sweatshop accident four years ago.
“We’re gonna be with them. Al, Crutchie, Finch, we’re gonna be joinin’ them wherever… whatever is after this life,” Mush said softly, a distant look in his eyes as he took another slightly shaky drag of the cigarette.
“Why’s it always gotta be slow?” Blink murmured. “Why’s it gotta be infections and exhaustion and sinking ships? Why’d that have to be our lot in life?”
“I don’t know…” Mush said, looking at him. “But… fuck, you know, I’m real glad it’s with you.”
“Me too,” Blink said, feeling tears stinging at his eyes. “Remember when we met? You thought I was a pirate cause of my patch.”
Mush let out a wet breath of laughter, “It took a month to convince me you weren’t secretly from a pirate ship.”
Blink looked into Mush’s eyes, suddenly finding that he was holding his face. Mush didn’t pull away. In fact, he leaned into it, turning his head to press a soft kiss to his palm. Blink leaned closer, his breath ghosting on Mush’s lips. Mush closed the distance, pulling him closer, and they couldn’t get close enough, the cigarette being set in the ashtray so Mush could hold him, his hands cold through the fabric on Blink’s back.
When they finally pulled away, Blink pressed his forehead against Mush’s, taking a shaking breath. “Why didn’t we do that before?”
“We’re just a couple of dumb kids,” Mush said, pressing another soft kiss to his lips.
“We had all that time,” Blink said with another kiss.
“We wasted it,” Mush said with another. “But we’re here now.”
“I love you.” Blink pulled away slightly. “I have for a long time.”
“Me too,” Mush said, looking at him to drink in the way he looked, knowing it would be the last time. “You really are a pirate. You stole my heart when we were sixteen.”
“All that time…” Blink repeated, leaning in to kiss him again when the room suddenly shuddered. The lights flickered for a moment before shutting off, plunging them into darkness. The ship lurched, and they were thrown forward, a loud smack as Blink’s head collided with the floor before they both hit the wall.
“Blink!” Mush called out, reaching for him, trying to adjust his eyes. An emergency light came on in the hallway, casting a little bit of red light into the room.
Blink groaned softly, reaching back, his ears ringing for a moment, seeing two of Mush in the dim light. His vision come back into focus as Mush held onto him, leaning across the wall because the floor was unlevel. The ringing slowly came down, and he realized that Mush was singing softly to him. It was a song that they used to play at Coney Island, when they’d go down to the circus to sell. One of the acts had been a woman who sang with the most enchanting voice, and both of them had always gone back to the Lodge singing it. It had been years since he’d thought of it.
“… How can there be a story that has no end, how can there be a baby with no crying?” Mush sang softly and slowly. He was looking at the window. In the dim light, Blink could see that it was completely submerged. “A cherry when it’s blooming, it has no stone. A chicken when it’s pipping, it has no bone…” Mush turned away from the window, a tear rolling down his cheek as he cupped Blink’s face. “The story that I love you… It has no end-”
Before Mush could finish the last words of the song, they both heard a cracking sound, looking back at the window. Large cracks were forming under the pressure, and Mush choked out a sob, holding Blink tighter as water began leaking through them.
“Louis, I love you. I love you so much, I love you,” he said desperately.
“Nick, I-”
Blink’s words were cut off by the shattering of glass, and a roar of rushing water as it hit them like a ton of bricks. Blink held his breath as they were both shot across the room from the burst, hitting the other wall. Blink coughed as he came back up- Where was Mush.
He went back down, grabbing Mush’s hand and pulling him up above the water, which had already filled over half the room.
“Mush? Nick? NICK?!” Blink cried, realizing that while Mush’s eyes were open, they were staring blankly straight past him. He shook him, tears mixing with the salt water on his face, letting out a choked sob when Mush didn’t respond. He stared into those eyes he’d loved since they were children. The light had gone out behind them. Biting his lip, Blink pulled Mush’s body closer, burying his face into his neck, sobbing brokenly into the freezing skin.
His legs were getting stiffer, the pin needles in his limbs making it hard to kick. And the room was nearly filled to the top. He looked upwards, gasping.
“Please. Please… If there’s a God above. For our mercy, please. Let me be with him in another life,” Blink cried, holding Mush tightly and moving his hand to his frozen cheek.
He kissed Mush one last time, and as the water reached the roof, he let the air out of his lungs, letting the burn of frozen water collect instead. He gasped desperately for air, holding on tightly to Mush’s body as it faded to black. He stopped struggling, and as Blink died, he was still holding his should-have-been lover.
April 17th, 1912
Race was quiet that day. They all were. The new generation of newsies didn’t understand quite as much, some understanding the tragedy. Most just saw a great headline to sell. Maybe Race would have felt that way at some point. He walked silently down the street, that newspaper, faded and yellowed, worn, hardly able to make the picture out anymore, in his hands. He looked at his friends’ young boyish faces. Most of them were gone now. Some moved on, some got away, some died.
Specs was there, Henry, Buttons. Elmer had brought his son. All of them were quiet as they stood on that dock, where they should have been welcoming their friends home. Instead, they looked at the large memorial being set up, tokens for loved ones who had past, families wailing, praying that maybe by some miracle their people had survived but been missed on the count.
Race laid the newspaper on the stack of gifts. He stepped back, bowing his head, letting out a shaky sigh.
He stayed long after the others had gone. He’d seen them all come in. He’d seen them all leave.
He left the paper there, finally shuffling his way back to the Lodge. He’d need a drink.