Hi, so this is sort of a vent fic? Idk. It's a story told in three parts so there's two more chapters I'll finish eventually. Tw for period-accurate homophobia and violence.
November 24th
She stands in front of him, arms crossed against her worn yellow sweater with her lips frowned in defiance despite the fear in her eyes. "Sodapop Curtis?"
"Yeah," He affirms, pausing to look her in the eyes before continuing to sweep dirt and loose metal from the ground. She doesn't budge.
"Monica Lewis," She answers. Soda nods wordlessly. It's not uncommon for girls to hang back, giggling like little schoolgirls and offering to take him out for dinner Saturday night. He's expecting the same from Monica Lewis.
"I need you to be my boyfriend," Monica Lewis says, loosing the coolness in her voice she had before. Soda turns around, his eyebrows raised and lips curled into a smile. He places his hands on his hips.
"You need me to be your boyfriend?"
Monica Lewis does not budge, even though the longer he stares at her, the more the corners of her mouth twitch and her eyes become wet with tears.
"There's rumours going around about me."
Soda snorts, his fingers curling tightly around the wooden broom. "Not good ones, I guess."
Monica Lewis takes a moment to inhale sharply. "Girls at school are calling me a lesbian."
"And are you?"
Soda watches as her face pales and her fingers curl into her hands. Her wide eyes and nervous shaking indicate fear, and fear means a yes. He could tell that she was internally kicking herself for her slip up. He leans on the broom and his smile widens.
"Are you?"
He doesn't know why he's prodding what is practically a complete stranger like he is. Part of him wants to laugh, and the other part is mildly concerned for her. Monica Lewis wipes her eyes on her sleeve and glances around to make sure they're alone.
"Yeah, I'm a queer," Monica Lewis finally answers, just above a whisper. She's like a deer caught in headlights, already shying away from Soda in case he lashes out, pre-emptively wincing in pain. Soda bites back a joking remark at her actions, overcome with guilt.
He stands from the broom and begins to sweep the ground again. "Sorry kid, I ain't dating a dyke."
Monica Lewis takes a stumbling step toward him, her voice suddenly choked with tears. "Please Sodapop. I need a year – just a year – to get money to ditch Tulsa altogether. Then I'll leave and you never have to speak to me again."
Soda spins around to face her, sweeping forgotten. "A year is a long time, Monica Lewis. For both me and you."
Her eyes are blazing. "You have a kid brother, right? What if he was like me? What would you do then?"
Monica Lewis is right, and Soda feels his stomach churn. He loved that kid more than anything, and she was right. He relents. "Fine. I'll do it, but you better be prepared for the shit that's gonna come your way."
Monica Lewis practically falls down in relief. "Thank you," She whispers, her hand covering her mouth. "Thank you."
November 26th
Soda sits in his car waiting for Monica to come bouncing out of school. It's the first time they've been seen together since Soda agreed to be her fake boyfriend. He waits in the sticky car, watching out for a head of copper-brown hair. Soon enough he sees her. A few girls sneer at her while she walks past, but she points to Soda's car and their faces turn a crimson red in anger.
Monica slings her bag off her left shoulder and pokes her head through the window. She reaches out and touches his shoulder – the other girls go nuts for that, she says – but she doesn't kiss him. "Hey, can you drop me and my friend Janet off at my place?"
Janet isn't her friend. Janet is her girlfriend, and Soda is surprised at seeing her. He had always imagined Janet to be tall and bulky, the classic butch woman, but finds her thin and petite, with a short nose, olive skin and dark, thick hair. However, her eyes were set in a cold way. It's the trademark of an East side girl.
"Sure, jump in," He answers. Monica's mouth lifts at the corners and she climbs into the passenger side, while Janet takes the backseat.
Soda takes off in the direction of Monica's house. Monica turns in her seat to Janet and grins. "Janet, this is Sodapop Curtis. Soda, Janet Miller."
"It's nice to meet you," Says Janet. He can hear the meaning under her words. It's unfair. She's polite, and he respects that.
Soda looks down to find Monica's fingers curled around Janet's outstretched hand. It's such a simple gesture, one he had done countless times with Sandy. It was depressing seeing it here.
Monica looks out the window. "Oh, Soda, let us out here."
He pulls over and squints at the empty sidewalk. No people in sight. "Here?" He asks, instantly understanding. There's no one, and that's the way they want it.
"Yeah, thanks Soda," Monica replies quickly, flinging the door open and jumping out. Janet follows, but quieter, more catlike.
They leave without a goodbye. Soda doesn't expect one.
November 30th
Monica meets Ponyboy and Darry for the first time at the end of November. Soda had regretted it at first, but when she shows up at their door in her plaid miniskirt and her red cardigan, Soda's fears settled. She looked normal.
"Hello Sodapop," She giggled. "You gonna let me in?"
He steps out the way and she walks in, taking a moment to marvel at the photographs of Soda and his brothers. She stands on her tiptoes to look at the ones higher up.
"You must be Monica," Darry nods his head to her as he walks into the room. Darry and Pony had been told that she wasn't straight, and while neither were happy about it, they had both accepted what Soda had done. His fear came from the thought that Steve or Two-Bit could pop around.
Monica spins on her heel, her face blossoming into a smile. "Darry and Ponyboy, right?"
Ponyboy glances between Monica and Soda. He's clearly uncomfortable having a strange girl in their living room, not to mention said stranger was a lesbian. Monica doesn't bother to make him feel uncomfortable around her. She looks resigned, and it's a little disheartening.
"C'mon, we made a pie if you want some," Darry says. Monica looks over to Soda for permission. He nods. Monica smiles.
"'Kay, since you're offering," She giggles, following Darry into the kitchen.
They all take a seat at the table, and Soda notices Monica's hands are shaking. She swallows.
"And you all know…"
"… You're a queer? Yeah," Ponyboy answers for her, pushing his food around his plate. Monica lets the fork scrape against the plate. Ponyboy cringes.
"Okay," She says, lifting a forkful of pie into her mouth.
Conversation comes swiftly after that. Darry asks about Monica's family, and Monica seems interested while Pony discusses school with her using wide and exaggerated hand movements. Pretty soon its almost as if she fits right into their little family.
December 6th
Monica, Janet and Soda sit in an empty lot and watch the stars. It's cold and snow looks like it's heading their way, but they sit with blankets and Janet's hot chocolate which is, admittedly, amazing. Soda hears Monica's soft murmurings to Janet, but he pays no mind. Without looking, he imagines Janet smiling, her eyes sparkling with the reflection of the stars.
Janet is a woman of few words. She's a lot quieter than Monica, carefully selecting words, never speaking for the sake of it. Monica says she gets into fights, and it's not difficult to imagine her in that circumstance. Janet is threatening in her own way.
In the distance, Soda sees a group of greasers. Monica and Janet break apart in an instance. When they disappear from sight, they don't touch again.
Monica brings her knees to her chest. "I hate Tulsa," She mutters. Her words are venomous, spitting them from her mouth in disgust.
Janet stands. "It's getting cold," She says. Janet is threatening in her own way. Janet calls the shots. But she's nothing but soft to Monica.
December 9th
"Where did the rumour come from?" Soda asks one day. They're walking through the main street trying to pick out Christmas presents. Soda's lucky. He's got Pony, Darry, Two-Bit and Steve to buy for. Monica has 8 siblings to buy for.
She stops at a toy store. She bends down and looks at a Barbie dress set for little Cynthia, and then to a matchbox car for Kevin. She can't afford much, but money was tight in a house trying to support 8 children and they'll be happy with anything.
"Some girl called Lori saw me kissing another girl," She answers, opening the door to the toy store to fish out the car and the dress set.
"Janet?" Soda guesses, and Monica shakes her head.
"Denise Frank," She corrects. Soda watches as she pulls out her purse and pays for the gifts.
"There's more of you?"
Monica rolls her eyes. "Jesus Sodapop, you act like we're an endangered species of panda bear."
Soda thinks for a moment. "Is Denise Frank one of you?"
Monica's eyes get sad. "No Sodapop. Just another drunk girl."
December 10th
Her thick jacket is dusted with snow when Soda sees her the next day. She's like a little waddling penguin and under her right arm is a package. Soda is driving and slows up to her. Monica doesn't look like she enjoys the winter months at all.
"On my way to the post office," She quickly explains. Soda shakes his head.
"Get in."
She does as she's told. She always does. She gets into the car as quiet as a mouse and pulls off her beanie and her scarf and she unzips her jacket. The heater is blasting from the car anyway. Her cheeks are a rosy red and snot looks ready to drip from her nose, so Soda hands her an old napkin from somewhere in the car.
"What's in the box?" He asks. Soda was never good at leaving things to the unknown. The unknown was scary, and even the innocent box was too tempting.
Monica flips it over and runs her fingers over the words printed on the box. "It's a present for my older brother. He lives in Minnesota where he works. All of us packaged one our gifts to send to him."
Soda pulls over near the post office and looks down at the box. Neatly, a list of 8 names was printed in a range of different styles.
Monica
Timothy
Dennis
Penny
Vivian
Lucy
Kevin
Cynthia
Monica thumps one hand on the cardboard. "In order of oldest to youngest, so you can imagine the gifts get pretty lame as you go down the list."
"It's sweet," Soda shrugs. Monica grins.
"Yeah?" She laughs and opens the door, slamming it shut behind her. "Thanks Soda."
December 13th
Sodapop Curtis wakes to the sound of thumping on his front door. Darry works too hard to be woken by such a weak sound, and Pony is curled up under the covers in deep sleep, so Soda tugs on a jacket and goes to the door.
To his surprise, Monica stands there with a bruise under one eye and blood dripping in a steady rhythm over her lips and down her chin. Soda wastes no time in pulling her inside and sitting her on the couch.
While he's wetting tea towels to wipe her face, she's sitting with her head in her hands, trying to keep her anguished sobs as silent as possible. He sits down next to her and gently wipes the blood from her face. He's done this countless times after rumbles. He knows how to do this as painlessly as possible.
"It was Lori and her friends," Monica whispers. Her voice is scratchy and hoarse, no doubt from screaming.
"Don't they believe what we're doing?"
Monica pulls away. "I don't know, but they grabbed me and they kept hitting me. It was horrible. They didn't say anything, but they were laughing. Oh God, they were laughing."
Soda rubs her shoulders. "Stay here tonight. I'll get you a pillow and a blanket and we can deal with this in the morning."
Monica nods and lays herself against the worn couch. She's fast asleep by the time he returns with pillows and blankets.
December 14th
Soda goes to sleep knowing that Pony and Darry won't be too worried about Monica crashing on their couch. Soda wakes up to Two-Bit's unmistakable laughter. Likely about Monica. Groaning, he lifts himself from the bed and tugs a shirt over his head.
Monica has dried blood around her nostrils and her bruise has gotten deeper, but she's still laughing along with Two-Bit, although rather uncomfortably. Ponyboy is watching from the kitchen. His eyes burn deep into Soda. He's waiting to see how Soda handles the situation.
"I see you met Monica," Soda stretches and yawns. Two-Bit raises his eyebrows and whistles.
"Shoot kid, figured you gave up trying to find a girl," He teases. Monica giggles.
"It's more like I found him, actually."
Ponyboy, with his jaw clenched, finally speaks up. "What happened to you Monica?"
She looks back to the youngest brother, hurt evident in her eyes. It seemed that Ponyboy still hadn't quite warmed up to her. Soda blew air nosily from his nose. Ponyboy could be such a child sometimes.
"I got into a fight," She answers, plain and simple. Two-Bit scrunches his nose up at her.
"In those clothes?"
Monica looks down to her clothing, noting her thick wool jacket and skirt. "Am I not supposed to wear this to a fight?" She asks. Her tone is light enough, but it also itched to get out of there. Soda walks to Monica and helps her to her feet. She flinches, not expecting him to touch her.
"I should be getting home. I probably got seven hungry kids waiting on me," Monica fixes her coat and rubs her nose, not doing much of anything to help it. She waves.
"See you later!"
December 17th
Janet's sucking on a cigarette when Monica and Soda approach. She glances to their loosely entwined fingers and narrows her eyes, but her politeness stops her from saying anything.
Really, Monica wasn't into holding Soda's hand at all. Her fingers were only just holding onto Soda's, but he wasn't sure how jealousy works. He never had any reason to be jealous with Sandy. At least, he didn't think he had a reason.
Janet blows the smoke and it floats up and disappears. Monica gives her a pointed look of repulsion. "You know I don't like you smoking."
She's already lighting another cigarette. The lighter illuminates her face, her splatter of freckles making her seem all the more entrancing. Janet puts the lighter away, takes a drag and pulls it away from her lips. "Sorry baby."
Monica's hand brushes against Janet's, but she freezes and quickly pulls away. Soda pretends to ignore it.
December 23rd
Steve is finally introduced to Monica. It's a weird attempt at a Christmas party with the whole gang all compressed in the Curtis' kitchen. Monica turns out to be a pretty decent cook, bring over gingerbread and pecan pie. She helps Darry serve up pie and helps to mix whisky into the eggnog after Evie put too much in the other jug.
"You must be the Steve I hear so much about!" Monica gushes, attempting to start conversation. Evie stalks over, her bright red lips pursed.
"Monica, right?" She asks. Monica nods happily.
Evie smiles. Monica isn't sure if it's a nice smile, or if she's only being sarcastic with her actions. She wishes Janet could've come.
"I love your hair, it's such a pretty colour," Evie continues, and for a moment Monica is certain that Evie means well. Evie hangs off Steve's arm, bobbing her head up and down like a parrot.
Soda approaches and places an arm over Monica's shoulders. "What're we talking about over here?"
Evie giggles an airy, light giggle. "Oh, just how utterly adorable your girlfriend is."
Soda doesn't miss the pleased smile that brushes over Monica's lips, or the flush of her cheeks. Evie reaches over and pinches Monica's cheek. "Gosh, we need to go on a double date sometime. I've gotta make this girl my friend!"
Monica's toes curl up in her shoes. She looks to Soda and giggles. "We'll see."
December 27th
Christmas at the Curtis' is normal and boring. He sees a present under the tree labelled with his name. He unwraps it. It's a small card and enclosed in it is a wad of mismatched bills. Soda is sure that the money doesn't equate to much, but he focuses on the card.
Dear Sodapop Curtis,
Thank you.
Monica Lewis
January 1st
Monica and most of her siblings are still up in Minnesota visiting her brother. Soda sees Janet around now and then, and she occasionally give him a nod. Ponyboy is curled up on the couch reading some book and Darry is scanning the newspaper idly in the kitchen. However, Sodapop is mesmerised by the postcard with Greetings from Minnesota written in comically large, bold lettering. He's never received one before. On the back, it's a quick hello from Monica. He's glad that they're settling into something like friendship.
In pretty pink pen, Monica has written one last comment.
Welcome to 1967!