"All right, you distract the guy, and I'll sneak up behind him and grab his purse, okay?"

Itey nods in agreement, and takes off down the street, leaving Snitch hidden in the shadows. This will be an easy job.

"Hey, hey, Mister!" Itey calls. "Mister, you gotta help me!"

An old man with a fluffy moustache turns and blinks at Itey. "What's wrong?"

"I lost my dog, Mister! Over there!" He points down the street. "Help me find my dog, Mister!"

The old man follows him down the street, and Itey waits for Snitch to use his feather-light fingers to steal the man's purse, so they can both take off and leave the man wondering what hit him, but… Snitch never comes.

Itey pretends to search for his 'dog' for ten minutes and finally steals away to the alleyway where he left Snitch.

As he enters the alley, he bumps into a short and stocky girl, who glares at him with hazel-green eyes.

"Watch where you're going, Itey." She says snippily, before rushing past him, her head held high and her skirt swishing at her ankles. Itey rolls his eyes and looks at Snitch.

"That's why you didn't come?"

Snitch bites his lip. "I couldn't risk it. I promised Lute I wouldn't steal if she wouldn't drink, and I think she's honestly trying not to, so… Plus! Hell would break loose if she caught me!"

Itey rolls his eyes again and resists the urge to tell Snitch that Lute pays Pie Eater two dollars to help her home when she gets drunk, and another dollar not to tell Snitch she did. Pie now has a lot of great stories to tell once Snitch falls asleep.

Snitch frowns. "Would you stop that? I know Lute's a little odd…" -Itey repressed a snicker; 'odd' wasn't quite the word- "but she's a relatively good girl." Snitch pauses, thoughtful.

"You only like her 'cause she babies you." Itey accuses.

"You're just jealous 'cause you ain't got a girl!" Snitch retorts, then he blinks and flushes. "Sorry, Its. That was low."

Itey shrugs. "'Sokay. C'mon, let's go grab a few wallets before Jake shows up with our papes."

Snitch grins, and the boys run off down the street, dust clouding at their heels.

Grace Durnin sits placidly on the curb outside her house, feeling the breeze on her cheeks and listening to the birds in the trees. It's relatively quiet out, which is good. Grace likes quiet.

Then the sound of heavy breathing makes her ears perk. Two… boys? Yes, boys, form the heavy thud of their boots on the sidewalk. Grace stands and turns to go back into her house, her hands in front of her, feeling for the banister. If these boys were running from someone, she didn't want to be around when they were caught.

As she is walking, she is hit, and sent flying onto the sidewalk. One of the boys keeps running, but the other stays with her; she can hear his gasps for air.

"You all right, miss?" he asks, his silky voice tainted by a street accent. He must be one of the working children, Grace thinks.

"I'm fine." She replies, pushing herself onto her feet. "Thanks for asking."

The boy hesitates, and Grace is sure he's wondering why she holds her arms out if her eyes or open, or why she's staring at nothing. She feels heat in her face, and grabs the banister to go up the stairs.

"I'm Itey." The boy says after a while. "What's your name?"

"Grace."

"That's a pretty name." When he says 'pretty', it comes out 'purty', and Grace giggles.

"Thank you, Itey." She says. "Your name is… interesting."

She can hear the embarrassment in his voice. "Well, me real name's Angelo… but my friend's call me Itey. 'Cause I'm Italian. If you couldn't tell."

She couldn't tell, but she could remember seeing Italians on the street when she was little, and conjures up one of those images to try and picture Itey. It doesn't work.

"Itey! C'mon, whattaya doing?" A voice calls from down the street. Grace hears Itey cluck his tongue.

"Just hang on a minute, Snitch! I wanna see if this girl's really okay!"

"Why'd ya knock her over in the first place then?"

"Just shut up and go away!" Embarrassment returns to Itey's voice, but there's smile in there as well. "I'm sorry. My friend… he's impatient."

"I understand. And I'm fine. Really. You can go."

Now he sounds resentful. "He's gonna ditch me for Lute in a little while anyway. But it doesn't matter." He pauses. "You live here?"

"Yes. Mama, Daddy, and my little sister Virginia too." Grace decides not to admit that she's never gotten to see her little sister, and must live with the pictures in her mind.

"Well… you mind if I visit later? I get bored after Snitch goes off with Lute."

Grace hesitates before answering. "Why not?"

Itey laughs, and she hears him hop onto the sidewalk. "All right then. I'll be back later. Nice meetin' ya!"

Grace smiles, and listens as he runs off down the street, yelling at Snitch for interrupting him. Then she turns and slowly makes her way up the front steps into the house, hands feeling for the doorknob.

"Why'd ya take so long?" Snitch demands when Itey catches him up.

"I wanted to see if that girl was okay. I thought you were more gentlemanly than that."

"I didn't even notice, okay?" Snitch sighs with frustration. "C'mon. Let's go."

The newsboys start walking, and Snitch looks at Itey. "Really. Why'd you stick with that girl?"

"I dunno…" Itey replies. "I think it was her eyes… they were weird. She just kept staring… staring at something I couldn't see."

Snitch raises his eyebrows. "That's weird. Never heard of anything like that before…"

Itey shrugs. "I get to see her again, though."

Snitch grins. "Calling on her? Maybe you got yourself a girl after all."

"No." Itey blushes. "I dunno."

Snitch checks around quickly, then gives Itey a sideways hug. "A girl would be good for you. So you enjoy her, all right?" A clock chimes in the distance, and Snitch gasps. "Oh, shit! I promised Lute I'd meet her after school and now I'm gonna be late." The young thief starts to run off in the opposite direction. "Bye, Itey!" he calls, waving over his shoulder.

Itey rolls his eyes and sits down on the curb for a moment, watching as carriages and people mill about on the street.

"I get to see her again…" he muses quietly. "But I don't think she can see me…"

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Okay… this is what happens when I watch Little House on the Prairie Reruns. **rolls eyes** hey, it's a good show! Not fond of the books… but the show is good! XD I'm such a dork. SHUT UP ~h! LOL ^_^;

Anyhoo… I know I shouldn't be starting anymore chapter fics, but this is only a five parter (one chapter for each verse of Amazing Grace), so it's okay. XD Besides, I'm glad to write a fic about Itey.

Okay, my cat is meowling at me to feed her, so I better go. XD Chow!