Hi everyone! The first time I saw West Side Story was in fourth grade. I had a great music teacher who discussed a wide variety of music with us, ranging from the nutcracker and the swanlake to alicia keys. In the first two semesters of fourth grade it was West Side Story time though and we analized it to great lenghts. The great thing about this teacher was that although we had classes about things that kids our age normally weren't very interested in (what ten year old boy, or girl for that matter, wants to see a three hour ballet and then rewatch it ten times?) he was so engaging and enthusiastic about what he taught that he swept us up with it completely. Well I've always loved West Side Story since the first time I've seen it and when I discovered the film wasn't available on the dutch netflix (my roommate has netflix! WHOOHOOH!) I decided to buy it. It will arrive the day after tomorrow and in preperation I started a fic based on my favourite Jet: ACTION!
ENJOY and READ and REVIEW!
Action was a hothead as long as he could remember. He couldn't think of a time when he wouldn't kick someone's teeth in for calling him little or talking behind his back or about his mum and although his mother is never done talking about the innocent days of his childhood he simply thinks she remembers those days a little more rose-coloured than they actually were.
There wasn't a day when he wasn't out with his buddies, his family, the Jets and as lieutenant he had a big responsibility too. Riff and Tony were the leaders of the gang Action cherished so much but if either of them put out a direct order it was partly onto Action to carry it out and make sure that the others did as well.
Action was with the gang almost from the beginning. Tony had seen him punch the living hell out of three bigger boys who had said something that Action didn't even hear very well but he was sure it wasn't good and the next day he and Riff had drafted him in. He was with the Jets now. He had some purpose.
When Action joined the gang, the gang had been tiny and the two others that had been in the gang then, two fellars called Drizzle and Rocky were gone soon anyway. Drizzle and his parents had moved to Chicago and Rocky had gotten tuberculosis and three months after Action got in he died of it.
But life moved on and Action never did have much time to get to know either of them and nor did Riff and Tony really.
Over the next years lots of people joined the gang thanks to Riff and Tony's undying enthusiasm, confidence and fearlessness and anyone in the Jets would follow them wherever they went, no matter how sticky the situation got.
About a year and a half after Action joined another boy joined, he was tall and had light blue eyes and a cool demeanour and Riff coined him Ice. Although Action stayed lieutenant, he knew it would be Ice who'd follow up Riff and Tony if the unlucky day ever came that the two of them kicked the bucket. Action was too heated, didn't think straight when he was angry (and he was angry a lot), couldn't plan out strategies. Ice could do those things. Action would be the lieutenant though because Action was the man you wanted by your side. Action got your back. He'd fight till either the enemy or he was dead, he was that loyal. Action didn't mind being lieutenant forever. He wouldn't have to think.
It was early in the spring, it was still too cold to lose the coat, when a new family settled in the West Side. New families settled all the time but since the winter it had been mainly Puerto Ricans. This family was white and Action heard they were from Europe somewhere. He didn't care. As long as they didn't interfere it didn't matter who they were.
There was a lot of buzz though because apparently they had a daughter that caught the eyes of many Jets. Action hadn't seen her yet but he had his girl Clarice so he shouldn't be thinking about other girls anyway. His loyalty didn't end with the Jets.
Around the same time Tony started showing up less and less to Jet meetings and hangouts. Riff said that he was dealing with some stuff but Action knew his friends well and knew it was something else. He didn't question it though.
March turned into April and the first time Action saw Bee was at school. Action rarely went to school anymore. Sometimes, when he went to pick up Clarice or Baby John he'd look around the building suspiciously like teachers would burst out of their classrooms and lock him up in the dreaded institution. They couldn't if they tried, he told himself. Besides, they wouldn't try anyway. He was a bad student and a rotten apple they often told his mother when he was younger.
He and A-Rab were standing outside the school waiting for Baby John, smoking cigarettes and kicking rocks, when the bell rang and students piled out of the double front doors. A-Rab nudged his shorter friend and pointed up the stairs to a pretty dark blonde girl with dark blue eyes and an icy smile. Action felt something stir at the bottom of his stomach but didn't show any of it. 'What!' He barked annoyed at A-Rab and A-Rab, used to his friend's stormy moods, nudged him again.
'It's that girl we've been talking about, the new one. She's a looker, ain't she?' He said and Action saw no choice but to agree. 'That's the chick, eh?' He asked contemplatively. The girl passed them and her eyes passed over A-Rab nonchalantly and landed on Action. They lingered a bit and then the corners of her mouth turned up just a little bit more. She was gone before Action had time to think about what that meant.
'Rabbit!' A shrill voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked up to see Pauline, A-Rab's girlfriend, bound down the stairs landing in her boyfriend's arms. Clarice and Graziella, Riff's girl, came after her. 'Rabbit, honey, how nice of you to pick me up!' She shrieked, kissing his cheek. He put her down uncomfortably. 'We're here for Baby John actually..' He said and Action huffed annoyed at the uncertainty in his voice. Action was always certain.
'It's always the Jets..' Clarice piped in with Pauline's disappointed face, leaning down a bit to give Action a kiss. Action was unresponsive, feeling irritated. 'They're our gang, baby.' He said. 'But I am your girl.' Clarice said, snaking her arms around his neck and pecking his lips another time. He took her arms and disbanded her from around him though, not so easily distracted. 'You knew what you were getting into.' He said and Clarice exhaled in a frustrated manner. Graziella was checking her make-up in the little mirror she had slipped out of her purse she had with her instead of a schoolbag and Pauline was busy retidying her precious 'Rabbit's' hair.
Action saw the thin form of Baby John walk down the stairs and he strode up to him to grab him by the shoulder, a bit high up for the short Action and steer him away from the school. 'Come on bunny-boy.' He said mockingly to A-Rab, hitting him in the shoulder as they passed him. 'I'll drop by tonight.' He said to Clarice and she pouted at him. 'You better, darling.' She said.
As they walked off Graziella called after them 'Tell Riff I'm waiting for him to take me out!' but Action strode on, pushing his fellow Jets on. 'What are we? Your messenger boys?' He shouted back but as he rounded the corner he could see Baby John hold up his thumb for Graziella to see, to signal he'd pass the message along.
That night Action went by Clarice's place. She lived with her parents and two older brothers and none of them liked Action one bit so when he wanted to visit he'd have to come by the fire escape. Her window was already opened a bit when he started to knock on it.
She was sitting at her vanity, applying the brush of one of her silly make-up things to her cheeks. She didn't turn around when he jumped from the window into her room but he saw her eyes shift to him in the mirror. 'Hi baby.' He said, walking forward.
He laid his hands on her shoulders, leaning forward to kiss her neck and he felt her shiver slightly under his touch. He felt silently proud to have such an effect on a girl. 'Action, come sit with me.' She said, moving to the side and patting the now free space next to her.
He moved to sit next to her, his arm still around her shoulder and he looked at her in the mirror. She looked at him. 'Action, I want you to start making nice with my family.' She said testily and Action shot up immediately, angrily opening his mouth, but she had a hold of his arm and pushed him back down. 'Come now Action, they'll like you once they get to know you.' She said but Action wasn't convinced.
'No, they won't. I've finked their only girl away from them.' Action said, pulling his arm away and sitting on his hands. Clarice smiled. 'And I'm thrilled that you did.' She purred, rubbing his neck and turning his face so he'd look at her. 'Just come by the front door once and we'll see what happens.' She said softly and he nodded unwillingly.
She swung both her legs over his and pulled herself onto his lap, kissing him deeply and his worries were forgotten in a second. He kissed her back forcibly, pushing her backwards until she was laying on the little bench in front of her vanity and he was laying on top of her. He didn't cease kissing her as he started unbuttoning her sweater and her hands were in his hair.
'C'mon honey..' Clarice murmured against his lips. 'The bed..' and after a few more seconds he lifted himself off her and they both hurried themselves to the bed, Clarice getting rid of her tights quickly and Action kicking off his shoes and quickly losing his pants. He jumped on the bed with her, laughing at her giggle as he lowered himself onto her but they both jump back up when there's a knock on the door.
'Clarice, can I come in?' Brother number two asked and Clarice shrieked at him that she wasn't decent. Action quickly picked up his clothes and ducked into the closet and Clarice put on a robe. 'My shoe, my shoe!' Action hissed from the closet and Clarice kicked the forgotten shoe under the bed, before opening the door.
Clarice was quite tiny, one of the reasons Action liked her although she was still just a tiny bit taller than he was, and her hair was a dark auburn but her brothers, both of them, were tall as trees, although a bit lanky, and their hair was a lot lighter. She took after their father Action knew, whose hair was also quite dark.
'I was just about to go to bed, Marty, what do you want?' Clarice asked impatiently, her shoulder length hair dishevelled. She was slightly out of breath. 'Chill it Clarice, I just came to talk. We'll be done in a minute.' He said and he pushed Clarice down to the bed, sitting down next to her. 'I just wanted to talk to you about boys.' He said and Clarice's eyes shifted to the closet in which Action was hiding, clutching his pants and one shoe.
'What about them?' Clarice asked, slightly more nervous than a second before. 'Well, I've noticed that you're pretty popular at school and after that little thing a couple of weeks ago..' He said and Clarice frowned at him. 'You mean when you, Sean and dad chased my boyfriend out of the house before I could even properly introduce him to you?' She asked him sceptically and Marty looked annoyed at her description of the incident but he nodded anyway.
'He's a good for nothing hoodlum, Clarice. He's in a gang, dropped out of school and doesn't even have a job. And you should know about his mother.' He said and Action fell his blood began to boil as he mentioned his mum. Clarice stuck her nose in the air. 'I don't care what you think of him.' She said and Marty stood up from the bed in his frustration.
'I'm just saying that you should be careful with the boys around you because they're all after only one thing.' He said mysteriously, not aware that Action had already gotten that one thing a long time ago. Clarice got up as well, pushing her brother out of the room. 'Action is lovely, get over it.' She said, slamming the door shut behind him.
Action fell out of the closet when she opened the doors and tackled her to the floor with him. She went to kiss him with a flirty smile on her face but he got to his feet quickly, shooting into his pants. 'I should go.' He said hastily. She looked hurt but didn't say anything as she sat up and watched him fish his left shoe from under her bed.
'See you around, honey.' He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek and escaping through her window, his shoes in hand. He ran down the stairs, sitting down at the last step to put on his shoes, quickly tying them before bolting out of the alley. He slowed down as soon as he got to the street, feeling at comfort in the tarmac jungle of which he and his buddies were kings.
He stalked down the sidewalk and saw two people coming his way in the distance. His back tensed as he narrowed his eyes at the two but he relaxed when he saw that one of them was a girl and they both had too light a skin to be Puerto Rican.
As they came closer he saw that the girl was the girl he had seen that afternoon, the one who A-Rab had pointed out. The one the Jets had been nudging each other about ever since she came to the city two weeks prior.
With her was a younger looking boy that looked a lot like her so Action assumed he was her brother but he didn't care much either way because he was too busy looking the girl up and down. He stopped short in his step and looked at her as the two passed and he saw her looking him up and down as well. And then she winked.
She quickly looked in front of her again, grabbing her brother's arm and stepping up her pace but Action had seen it and it had left him befuddled and dazed, walking on again. What a girl. Her light caramel hair bouncing off her neck, pinned up in loose curls. Her smooth, white skin shining in the street lights and her dark, piercing blue eyes.
It was all but luck that Action got to Doc's candy store unharmed as he wasn't paying much attention to all that was around him. The bell above the door rang as he walked in and the Jets that were still hanging around there greeted him enthusiastically. 'Back already Action? I figured you'd be a while if you were visiting Clarice.' Big Deal commented but Action shoved him off his barstool, sitting on it himself instead. Big Deal knew better than to argue it and trailed, muttering half-hearted insults under his breath, off to the back of the joint.
The bell rang again and Riff came in, Graziella hanging off his arm. Action threw a lost bottle cap that was laying on the bar at Baby John's head, who rubbed his forehead acceptingly. 'You played messenger, Baby John?' Action asked, momentarily feeling annoyed with the youngest member of the Jets. 'Ah, lay off him, will you?' A-Rab said, sticking up for his friend.
'What's this friction brewing among the ranks?' Riff said loudly, laying his arms around Action and A-Rab's shoulders. Action grunted, flipping out a cigarette and lighting it with another grunt. A-Rab just shrugged. 'Eh, what's up Action-boy? You seem off. More than usually I mean, hehe.' Riff said, smacking him on the shoulder.
'Clarice threw him out!' Big Deal piped up from the back. 'I thought I told you to shut it!' Action shouted back at him, getting up from the stool but Riff pushed him back down. 'Easy Action-boy.' He warned his hothead lieutenant. 'Is that true then? Your girl ditched you?' He asked and Action shook his head. 'Of course she didn't.' He said, taking a drag of his cigarette. Riff laughed, pulling up a chair to sit next to Action. 'Quite confident there, aren't you?' He commented.
'Action, I hope I ain't intruding on some private matters here –' Riff said 'You probably are.' Action interjected but Riff ignored him '–but you gotta cool it. We know how you are and we love you for it, but lately it's been getting worse.' Riff said and the boys around them nodded timidly. Action let the cig dangle between his lips as he turned to look at his brothers.
'It's them bleeding Spics!' Action said and as soon as he said it everyone roared in approval of that statement. 'We are barely rid of 'm Emeralds and now those Sharks are popping up everywhere. I'm sick of those stinking PR's!' He shouted out and Riff nodded, patting his arm.
'You're right, Action, you're right. Them stinking PR's are walking our turf like it's theirs. Like we haven't fought with blood and skin to call it ours.' Riff said and silently everyone in the store admired the way Riff always formulated what he felt. Not only did it sound great, you could also tell that he really meant it.
Before anyone, let alone Riff, could add to that, Doc entered his own store via the back, carrying a crate of soda. 'What are you kids still doing here. It's almost eleven, go home!' He said tiredly but all his words did was make everyone settle down from their excited stands, leaning back in their chairs again.
When Doc disappeared to the back for a second time A-Rab jumped back up. 'Me and Action saw the new chick again today, didn't we Action?' A-Rab said and Action nodded as he reached over the bar counter to grab a soda out of the crate. 'Yeah, we saw her at the school.' A-Rab continued, encouraged by Action's nod.
'What's it with you boys' obsession with the broad..!' Graziella said indignantly and Riff laughed as he swung his arm around her waist. 'Are you feeling jealous, Graz?' He asked her and she stuck her nose in the air. 'You know more about her?' Joyboy asked Graziella and she shrugged and Action could tell that, although not very pleased with the subject, she was very pleased to be the centre of attention and the source of information.
'She's in my year but she's in a different class. Wilma says she and her family moved down here from Denmark though.' Graziella said and all boys in the store were hanging off her lips, except for Riff, who was calmly tracing patterns on his girlfriend's dress with his fingers, and for Action, who sat with his back turned, moodily drinking his soda, thinking of lighting another ciggie.
'Oh and she has a twin brother!' Graziella added. 'He's called Emil and he's in my class. He's really thin and he looks like he's twelve.' She leaned on Riff's shoulder. 'Wilma says her old man's an accountant and they moved here because he got busted for fraud back at wherever home is for them.' Graziella finished and everyone frowned, thinking about what the redhead had just told them. Action didn't want to think about it.
In the next twenty minutes everyone piled out of Doc's, either going home or going to the other's home, but Action stayed seated at the counter and when lastly Graziella and Riff left, Riff squeezed Action's shoulder. 'Take care of yourself, buddy-boy.' He said and Action looked over his shoulder, the hint of a smile on his face. 'I could say that to you. Make sure you can walk in the morning, will you?' Action said and Riff let out a bellowing laugh, smacking him on his back. 'The nerve on that fellow!' He said to Graziella as he walked out. She gave him a questioning glance, not having heard their soft conversation.
Action sat alone for another ten minutes before Doc appeared again. 'Action, kid, why don't you go home like your friends. It can't be that bad, right?' Doc said, referring to his mum's stay-at-home-job and it was that Action was completely certain that Doc meant well, he was a good egg, or he would've crippled him for mentioning it. Instead he settled on a glare.
Doc sighed and said; 'You can stay the night here. Better to have you ruin your posture by sleeping on the floor than get into trouble on the streets.' He offered tiredly and Action didn't answer him but just stood up from his stool, politely waiting for Doc to get him a blanket and perhaps a pillow if he could spare one.
Once he got it he told Doc good night and went to nest himself beside the jukebox, out of sight from the shop window. He waited for the sound of Doc locking up and the click of the backdoor closing as he left for his apartment upstairs, before closing his eyes.
Action turned around and opens his eyes again, sitting up a bit. The floor was extremely uncomfortable. He put his head in his hands, groaning softly. Why couldn't he keep his cool a bit more? He had no problem being as action-driven as he was, but sometimes being able to look ahead and judge situations fairly had to come in handy.
Action now regretted storming off earlier that night. Clarice had done nothing wrong, she couldn't help being related to a drip like her brother. If he had taken a deep breath instead of jumping barefoot out of her window he would've had a perfectly nice bed to share with a pretty girl like Clarice. But he had bolted off in anger again.
Action groaned again, flopping down on the hard floor as he thought of his girlfriend. He'd have to go by her school the next day, try and apologize. He was never very good with apologies, but he'd try. Perhaps he could sleep in her bed the next night then instead of on Doc's floor.
I had half a mind to make the girl a redhead AGAIN but I decided against it. Just because I'm utterly obsessed with redheads, doesn't mean I should shove it onto the rest of the world.
There aren't nearly enough Action fics around by the way, although there's one REALLY good one called Action's Girl, but that hasn't been updated in years so I'm feeling slightly negative about that one. If you go to the reviews on that story though you see my dozens of desperate attempts spread out over two years of me trying to get the uploader to write more XD it's really pathetic.
Love from ME
and again; don't forget to review!