Disclaimer: I do not own S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders" or A Fine Frenzy's "Now is the Start". All rights go to them. Enjoy! Xx – K
(A/N):Hi everyone! Here is my new story! It will also be on WATTPAD under the same title (Growing Up and Getting By) and by the same user (leafsubsidestoleaf). I hope you enjoy it! Please R&R!
June 5th, 1966
Do you hear that sound?
It's the sound of the lost gone found.
It's the sound of a mute gone loud.
It's the sound of a new start.
"Will you two stop it already?"
"Stop what?" Soda asked with a smile that would make teenage girls swoon.
"Stop looking at my cards!"
"We were doing no such thing! How dare you accuse us of that, Jacqueline!" Two-Bit yelled, while trying not to laugh.
"Just stop, ok? You know you're cheating," Jackie replied, annoyed.
After a few more minutes of playing cards, Jackie caught them again.
"That's it. I fold." As she got up, she heard playful protests from some of the boys around the table. She liked playing cards, and she was always prepared to beat one of the boys, but tonight she just wasn't feeling it.
It was nearing the end of the first week of summer, and the week had been exactly like it had been for the last few years. Her and Pony always went to see a movie to kick off summer, then the guys who actually went to school and her would all go bowling. And now they were all celebrating by playing cards.
She walked from the small table surrounded by the teenagers, over to the couch. She slumped down to next to Pony, who was reading the This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She tapped his shoe to get his attention.
"How come you're not playin' cards?" Pony asked, not that interested.
"Your brother kept cheating," she said loud enough for Soda to hear and deny the statement.
"Why do you think I don't like playing with him?" Pony said with a chuckle.
After a few seconds of silence, Pony went back to his book. He liked Jackie and she was awful great to discuss movies with, but sometimes it was awkward. The feeling was mutual. Jackie got up from the couch and walked back to the table. Leaning over Soda, she announced his cards to the other players, then walked outside before Soda could retaliate.
Immediately stepping outside, the warm, summer air wrapped around her like a blanket. She sat down on the porch step and pulled out a smoke. As Jackie inhaled and exhaled, she thought about the night. She was trying to figure out when, and if, she should go home. She didn't want to go home, but she didn't want to stay at the Curtis' for another night. She always felt like she was intruding, despite Soda telling her she wasn't. She could stay at Two-Bit's but it was still too close to home. Her mom would probably see or hear her.
A few nights ago when her mom was working, she was fed up with her mom's behavior. Especially her alcoholic behavior. So she poured out all the bottles of vodka and whiskey in the house, which amounted to five bottles. There were another two bottles of wine and one scotch, so she just took those over to Steve's. He could always go for scotch. Before her mom got back to find the alcohol missing, Jackie headed over to the Curtis' before a fight could break out. She knew she had to go back sometime, but tonight she still wasn't ready.
She was almost done with the cigarette when she heard the door swing open. She turned her face up to Steve, who was already lighting up a cancer stick.
"Did Soda and Two-Bit cheat you too?"
"No, I'm not that dumb to let 'em," he told her with a wink.
"Hey, can I stay at your place tonight?" before he could answer, Jackie added, "My mom's probably still on a war-path."
"Kid, you know you don't have to ask, but my dad's bein' awful this week. I'm probably just stayin' here."
"Oh ok, I'll just stay with Two-Bit then, I guess."
"Why not here? You know they don't care."
"I've stayed here for the last three nights."
"Just stay. You're already here."
"Jackie, you're right. I damn sure wouldn't want your ass sleepin' on my couch for three nights," said a hoarse voice from a few feet away.
Jackie turned her head to the sound of the chain-linked fence being shut. She saw Dallas looking like he thought his dig at her was hilarious. She would've retaliated, but nothing came to mind, so she just rolled her eyes when he stepped closer. She wouldn't say she hated Dallas Winston, but she would say disliked. She didn't know why they didn't like each other, but they always were at each other's throats. She could tell that the other guys got annoyed with their aggravating quarrels, and she tried to make amends a few times, but nothing worked.
Dallas leaned against the railing and started to share in the smoking group. He thought of saying something snarky, but due to her silence, he couldn't come up with anything to say. He looked down at her face that was illuminated by her smoke. He didn't care for her, but he had to admit she was pretty tuff. Yeah, he had met girls more tuff than her, but she was ok. She handled all the shit he threw at her pretty damn well. He hated to, but he commended her for that.
"Alright, well I'm going inside," she mentioned as she stubbed out her butt.
"You want me to call the paper, sweetie?" Dally taunted.
"You're too stupid to even dial the number," Jackie retorted. Steve laughed and Dally gave him a cold glance. Jackie giggled at the boys before she opened the door. When she stepped inside, Johnny and Pony were watching the Johnny Carson show, while Two-Bit and Soda were talking about some Shepard member and some greaser girl. She went over to the table and pulled out a chair next to Sodapop.
"No way did Jane Robinson do that!" Soda said wide-eyed.
"That's what Tom said. Boy, Anne looked pissed!"
"What happened?" Jackie asked, wide eyed. She was one of the biggest gossips in Tulsa.
"I'd tell you but I wouldn't wanna make you blush," he said, smirking at Soda.
"C'mon, I wanna know!" Jackie begged. "Please?"
Two-Bit proceeded to tell a story about how Anne's boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend, Jane. Two-Bit tried to tell the story as smutty as possible to make her blush, but to his discretion, she never did. She did, however, bite her lip and look uncomfortable, which was enough to satisfy Two- Bit's need to embarrass his friend.
A few seconds after Two-Bit finished, Darry came into the house looking a little frazzled. He was carrying a bag of groceries that looked like it was about to tumble out of his arm.
"Hey, Dar. Where've you been?" Pony asked.
"Oh, I had to get some groceries after work," Darry replied. Pony looked at him oddly. He didn't get why his brother had gone grocery shopping for so long, but dismissed his thoughts when Darry stepped back outside. Sometimes, he just didn't get his big brother.
Shortly after Darry went outside again, Jackie got up to help him with the groceries, considering no one else volunteered. She stepped outside and look to the left at Darry just sitting, dazed, on the bench. She shrugged it off and went to get more groceries out of his truck. When she returned, he still hadn't moved. She placed the groceries down on the step, and then went to sit next to him.
"You okay?" she asked, voice traced with worry.
"They're gonna fire people at work," he explained. "What if I lose my job? What if I lose them? What if this just ain't gonna work?"
She sighed, not knowing what to say. His questions were hard ones that not many people knew the answer too. She was one of them. Ever since Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died, he'd have these days. He would feel pinned down and nothing in the world could lift him up. Jackie tried hard to comfort him, but she couldn't. She was imagining life without Pony and Soda. She imagined them in a boys' home. She tried as hard as she could to just push all those bad thoughts away, but it was hard.
"I went to their grave today," Darry said with a cloud of sadness covering his face. Her heart couldn't help but break a little bit when his voice quivered at the word grave. She missed his parents like crazy and she could barely imagine how much Darry and his brothers missed them. Everyone in the gang missed them; even Dallas. Sure, he didn't cry every few weeks like Pony and Soda, but Jackie could tell. He had gotten a little meaner, and whenever someone said something about them, his face turned to stone and he tried to change the subject as fast as he could.
"I just talked to them, you know?" Darry told her.
"They would've been proud of you," she mumbled, regarding his decision to keep Soda and Pony. "You know that, right?" she said more defiantly, not knowing if he did.
"Oh, I know. It's just… some days it feels like the odds are against me… c'mon, let's go inside."
As he got up and walked towards the door, he heard her giggle a little bit and turned around when her soft voice said his name. "Yeah?"
"The groceries."
He smiled and picked the ones off the step as she got the rest from the car. When they returned inside, everyone was still just hanging around. She wondered if Darry ever got bothered with everyone always at his house, but she knew he probably didn't. He was a good guy, after all.
Two- Bit hollered through the door, "I'll see y'all later!"
Steve shouted back an "Ok" and then they were out the door. Two-Bit slung his arm around her shoulders and said, "So, you've survived one whole year of ol' Will Rogers."
She chuckled softly, "Yeah, I guess so. One down, three to go."
"Or five if you're me."
They walked through the dark neighborhood as crickets chirped and street lights flickered. She breathed it all in, knowing September would be here far too soon. They turned the corner, and she took in a sharp breath. She stared at the woman who she called mother, smoking on the porch of her house. Two- Bit followed her gaze, and yanked her back around the corner.
"Wanna just wait it out?" he whispered. She thought about saying no, and not being a coward, but she nodded her head anyway.
After a few minutes, Jackie peeked around the corner when she heard a car door shut. She knew her mom would drive past her sitting in the bushes in around twenty seconds. Maybe less…
"Make a run for it?" Two-Bit asked.
She shook her head. "That'll be more suspicious. Just hide." They crouched down more and got a little behind the bushes belonging to one of her neighbors. She didn't realize she was holding in her breath, until her head started to hurt. She let the breath go once she heard the old clunker turn right, opposed to left. Jackie and Two-Bit sat up and continued walking down the street.
"You can stay over if you want," Two-Bit offered.
She considered her options. Her mom was still pissed, but she had face her some time. After thinking for a few more moments, she realized some time wasn't gonna be this time, so she answered, "Yeah, ok. Let me run in though, to change and check on Tubbs."
Tubbs was her cat that she found one night outside of Buck's. She found him a few months ago, and he'd gotten significantly fatter. Hence his name. She remembered Dally's face when she picked the kitten up.
"Dallas, look!" she exclaimed, stepping toward the stray kitten.
"What about it? It's just a cat."
"I think I'm gonna keep him," Jackie stated while packing the little fur ball up and petting its head.
"Jackie, it's probably gonna bite you. It probably has rabies, too," Dally said, talking through his smoke.
Turning around to face him, she told him, "I don't care, I'm taking him home."
"No. No way," Dallas objected pointing at it. "If that thing shits in my car, I swear to God…"
"What you'll hit me?" she challenged, knowing he wouldn't. "Besides, it's not your car, it's Buck's."
"Whatever, if that thing craps in the car, Buck will have my ass on a platter, not yours."
"Relax, would ya? I'll keep my eye on him," Jackie replied while walking to the car. She turned around and leaned against the T-Bird. "Would you come on already? Or are you gonna stand in the parking lot all fucking night."
He reluctantly gave in and walked to the car as slow as possible to piss her off. When he got into the car he looked at her smiling at the creature and murmured, "Ridiculous." Her smile only got wider. Jackie was happy she got a cat and got her way.
As they stepped into her house, Tubbs ran toward them. Two-Bit picked him up and pet him a bit while she poured some food into his bowl. She groaned at the sight of fresh liquour bottles. Two-Bit noticed and teased, "You gonna pour those out, too?"
"Don't put it past me," she responded, walking down the hall to her room, as Two-Bit followed.
"Hey, do you know a James Graham? Goes by Jimmy sometimes?" She shook her head as she grabbed a shirt from her drawer.
"He goes to Will Rogers. He was in our study hall. Brown hair, kinda skinny?"
She paused for a moment before realizing she did know him. "Oh, I know who you're talking about. He was in algebra with me. English too, I think. He always slept during classes. Ditched a lot, too. What about him?"
"Well, Kathy's friends with Betty, his sister. Word is he's got a crush on you," Two-Bit said with wagging eyebrows.
"Oh please, I don't even know him," Jackie said as she threw in a few things into a bag.
"Well he knows you."
She zipped the bag and gave a goodbye belly rub to her kitty. They walked out of the house and a few feet over to Two-Bit's. He was walking up the steps, rambling about some other gossip chain.
"Hey, keep it down. You're mom and sister are probably sleepin'."
"Good point," he whispered.
They crept inside quietly and Two-Bit turned on a lamp. "Hey, you hungry? My mom made pumpkin pie a few days ago.
"Sure, cut me a slice. I'll be right back."
She maneuvered her way around the dimly lit house toward the bathroom. She was about to walk in before she heard a few soft cries in the room over. She walked a few feet forward to Two-Bit's sister Linda's, door. She knocked quietly a few times.
"Linda? Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Can I come in?" Jackie asked, already opening the door. Linda was sitting on her window seat with stray tears on her cheeks. "You wanna talk? It's fine if not…"
"It's just.. I'm upset," Linda paused. "My friends and I are just having a fight. They're mad at some things I said. They said I was always mean to them. What bothers me though, is they won't say what I said. They could've said something when I said whatever I said," Linda explained with a few fresh tears spilling over."
Jackie reached across her to grab a tissue box. She offered Linda a Kleenex before saying, "You, know when I was around your age, a little younger, I was kinda going through the same thing. But, it kind of helped me. I found out who my real friends were. It was tough at first, but then I met some great people; including your brother. Now I have way better friends than ever." Jackie realized she didn't have a moral to the story. "I guess, my point is that it takes a few weeds in the garden to weed them out."
Linda stopped sniffling and looked up at the older girl. "What?"
"You've just gotta find out who aren't your friends before you find the real deal. Take some time over the summer to hang out with other people, ok?"
"Okay… Thanks Jackie."
"Anytime," Jackie said with a smile. She got up and was about to walk out, but turned around. "You know, you can talk to me anytime. I'm over here a lot and if you ever feel like you can't talk to your mom, or Two-Bit, you can come to me." She stopped before saying, "Me and Two-Bit are gonna eat some pumpkin pie. Wanna join us?"
Linda looked like she was gonna say no, but the she got up. Linda and Jackie walked out of the room, and Jackie smiled, glad she could help. She couldn't believe Linda was gonna be fourteen soon. She remembered her being a nine year old trying to hang out with the big kids whenever the gang was at Two-Bit's.
Two-Bit was sitting on the couch, eating what looked like his second slice. Jackie got her slice he had cut her from the counter as Linda cut hers from the pan. They all sat around the living room talking about adventures they had had from the school year that ended merely a week ago and what they plan to do during the summer. After thirty minutes, Linda yawned and announced she was going to bed. Two-Bit waited to hear Linda's door shut before looking at Jackie with an eyebrow raised.
"What?" she asked, gathering the dirty plates from around the coffee table.
"What were you and Linda talking about?"
"It's a secret. If I tell you, I'd have to kill you," she teased as she placed the plates in the sink and started washing them.
"Hey, you can take my bed, if you want. Haven't slept in it for awhile," Two-Bit offered.
"No, it's fine. It's your bed, you can take it."
"Jackie, you've slept on Darry's recliner for the last three days and you're washing dishes you didn't make dirty. Take the bed." She knew he was right. Darry's recliner was pretty uncomfortable after a while. She gave in as she dried the last dish.
"Goodnight, Two-Bit," she told him as he got set up on the couch.
"Night, Jacks."
She walked down the hall to his room. She was always amused when she stepped inside. For as messy as Two-Bit was and as grown up Two-Bit was, his mama still cleaned up his room. There were only a few clothes piled up near his closet drawer, his knick knacks were all in the right place, and his bed was always made up. She crawled into the simple sheet set and curled up into fetal position.
Jackie did what she always did before going to sleep. She thought of everything that happened that day. She thought about how the guys and her crammed into a small booth at Jay's, she thought about Soda and Two-Bit peeking at her cards, her conversation with Darry, and her conversation with Linda. She smiled before closing her eyes.
Just another good day to what she hoped was going to be a great summer.
With a mouth of shooting stars
Of lost and broken hearts.
Unafraid you can name your scars
With a touch of a new heart.