Chapter Text
To say Esther was overcome with grief when her husband came home with a bandaged hand was an understatement. She didn't know what would happen without his two-dollar daily wage. There was only so much that she and Sarah could do. Crocheting lace doilies only gave them fifty cents each. She had checked their savings and by watching every penny, she could make their savings for four dollars and eighty-seven cents last a week.
No one was that surprised when David said he'd work, clearly not willing to take no for an answer. They were all sad at the news as David was the top of his class. He had a great future but without him leaving, they wouldn't last.
Her and Mayer had been about to protest but he had spoken to quickly to stop them. He'd work at The World, he exclaimed. It was the best job for a boy his age, he had claimed. She had tried to protest, claiming that the newsboys are orphans and toughs. They'd just turn him into a criminal. Mayer said there was a chance he'd change them. That he might make them into scholars. They fought hours into the night but after tears on her end and hair tugging on Mayer's, David won. As her husband had said, If he's going to work, he's a man. If he's a man, he should choose his own job.
David had left before she and the others had woken. However, there was one part of the agreement that hadn't been spoken about. Les. She wasn't ready to let go of one son, yet a small part of her wasn't surprised to discover Les had woken up and followed David. The young boy idolized his older brother after all and was willing to follow him wherever. He always did his best to do whatever David did, from the way the older Jacobs shot marbles to even the way he combed back his hair.
Despite Sarah telling her not to worry, she couldn't help it. Her two baby boys were who knows where in the city. Who knew what sort of thing could happen to them? What if they got hurt? What if Les got lost? What could be happening to them right now?
"Ma...You should sit down." Sarah stood up, wrapping her arms around her pacing mother. "They'll come back."
"It's eight Sarah...What if they're hurt somewhere?"
Before Esther could even reply, her sons walked in, David carrying a sleeping Les, followed by another boy. She didn't really know how to react. Naturally, both she and her husband were angry and scared but also confused as to why David would bring home a boy he didn't know. However, that fear quickly faded at the sight of coins being placed on the table from her eldest son.
It took a bit but the family managed to convince the Irish boy to stay for dinner. Despite not being very talkative that night, Jack seemed like an interesting boy and she believed that he would make a great friend for her son.
She should have known that something would have happened. David and Les had come home the next day with no money yet with news of a strike. Yet despite all the fear wrapping around her heart and gripping it tightly, she could see the fire in her boys' eyes and knew that no matter what anyone said, they wouldn't back down.
Esther had been right. The boys had rallied their new friends only for David and Les to come out as the only newsies who hadn't been arrested. Jack himself had been forcefully taken away from them all and she wasn't stupid. She knew David would try to get him back.
Drama swept through the strike from the rally to Jack betraying them but even so, her sons stood up and faced it head-on, risking everything until they won.
She couldn't be any more proud of her sons once the strike was over.