Dedication: This goes out to The Goddess of Sarcasm who is leaving me for three weeks! I will go crazy! Africa is like 11 hours ahead! It's hard enough dealing with 7! Oh what a world! Enjoy this one Chocolate bar!
Disclaimer: I own everyone I point out, other than that I own nothing and S.E Hinton owns the Outsiders.
Darry's POV
"What?" I asked noticing the shock in my voice
"Just as I said, Darrel, your parents' will is specific." The Aging man sympathized with me, but by the tone in his voice there was nothing he could do
I couldn't believe this! My parents had been dead for two days and I already had to meet with their lawyer over some will I didn't even know they had. I'm not surprised I didn't know about it when they hadn't updated it since Ponyboy was born. I could handle that. It was a smart thing for them to have one, but what was inside shocked the hell out of me.
"Would you read that again please, Mr. Allan?" I asked just to make sure I wasn't hearing things.
"In the event of the death of Mr. Darrel Shaynne Curtis Sr. and Mrs. Elanor Irene Murry-Curtis their children; Darrel Shaynne Curtis Jr., Sodapop Patrick Curtis and Ponyboy Michael Curtis and all their assets are to be taken care of by Mr. Jason Collin Curtis Jr. He is listed as the executor of this will and the boys' legal guardian. In the event of his death, we are to refer to his will," Mr. Allan said reading it carefully
"I'm 20 now! I can take care of them!" I argued
"It would have to go to court and your brothers would end up in a boys home until it was decided," Mr. Allan sighed tiredly "The State of Oklahoma has a high respect for wills."
"We have never met our uncle. All I know about him is that he and my father fought a lot. Dad wouldn't even speak of him let alone leave him anything! How can he be the executor?" I asked still not believing any of this
"The will was last updated little less than 14 years ago. Things change but this is a legally binding paper," Mr. Allan explained "Do you remember what your uncle and father were fighting about?"
"No."
Truthfully I couldn't remember. I don't even think I was born at the time. All I know was that he was a person my father didn't like to talk about and plain avoided the topic of Jason Curtis. I don't even think we had a picture of him anymore. My mother once said they were close until they started fighting, but it wasn't much to go on.
"Well, we should get a hold of him before the funeral. He may like to pay some final respects to his brother. Until then all we can do is wait. I've arranged for the state Child services not to separate you three until we hear a final decision from your uncle." Mr. Allan looked me in the eyes "Everything will turn out ok, son. I knew your father and uncle well once and if he turned out to be half the man your father was, you three are in good hands."
"Thank you, Mr. Allan," I said shaking his hand even though I wasn't happy
I left the tiny office loosening my tie. James Allan was a down to earth guy who'd known my grandparents at one point. He was the type of guy my parents trusted, but he was getting into his sixties and I knew he wasn't going to be in the business much longer. When he told me to come down for the reading of their will I'd expected him to just be following formalities, like his law degree said he had to, and to say everything would go to us and we could try to go on with our lives. The last part was going to be difficult, but it looked near to impossible now.
I drove home without the radio and just thought. A man I had never met was responsible for my kid brothers. I didn't know what would be happening to them. If our uncle turned out to be a drunk or even dead...some other stranger could be responsible for them. I didn't like that thought.
I came in the house to find it absolutely quiet. I hadn't expected it to be lively, but I hadn't expected it to be this quiet. I walked into the kitchen to find Soda doing the dishes.
"Where's Ponyboy?" I asked
"He's sleeping," Soda answered drying his hands "What did Mr. Allan want?"
I sighed and told Soda what Mr. Allan had told me. He looked confused and I didn't blame him.
"We have an uncle?" he asked a bit surprised
"Apparently," I confirmed
"Well, at least we're not alone," he said looking for some hope in the situation
"We weren't alone this morning when it was just the three of us," I snapped still not sure about everything that had happened
"We'll be ok, Darry." Soda smiled slightly "They wouldn't want us to be sad. If they didn't want this to happen, they would have changed it. Like you said, they did update it when Pony was born."
Soda made more sense than I gave him credit for some days. They would have changed it if they didn't think he was the right person. I just wished I knew something more beyond what I did now.
"Yeah. We'll be just fine, Little Buddy."
-/-/-/-/-
"Two-Bit, get out of the fridge," I sighed tiredly
"Hell, you got more food in there than even I can eat." He grinned and I wondered if he was right
"I wonder about that," Soda said in all seriousness
Ever since the word got out our parents died every person who knew them seemed to figure that we needed as much food as they could give us. To be honest, I was glad we had Two-Bit to eat some of it before it backed up on us. I'd hate to throw anything out, especially with the money we had in our budget right now. Paying for the funeral tomorrow drained it more than I would even admit to Soda. Dad's life insurance was gone and most of the savings they had. We could always dip into my college fund money, if we needed to, but I didn't think it would get that far. It had only been three days. We could survive a bit longer.
"What I don't get is where you put it all. By now you should be the same size as a big old elephant," Steve said with no hint of humor in his voice
"He'd look more like Mickey mouse with the elephant ears," Ponyboy put in dryly
"What do you think Dally?" Steve asked
"Nah. Elephants and mice have brains." Dally smirked half heartedly
"Good to know you guys are my friends," Two-Bit commented sitting down in front of the TV "You'd make some pretty good enemies."
I just shook my head. I was glad the guys were such good actors. I knew Soda and Pony must feel just as depressed and frustrated at the situation as I was, but these acts were helping. At least they kept our minds off of it for a little while. It was a little scrap of normal; a piece of glass from a broken mirror. It wasn't much, but it gave us something to look at.
The phone rang and everyone shot up at once to answer it. Steve managed to tackle Soda, I couldn't tell if it was intentional from the way they were both sprawled across the floor, before he could reach it, both of them rolling into Two-Bit. Dally and Pony just watched the scene while Johnny quietly slipped into the kitchen. I guess I was the only one who was going to get the phone at this rate.
"Hello?" I answered waving at the guys to be quiet
"Darrel? It's James Allan," the other voice answered
"Yes, hold on a moment please," I said turning towards the guys who were still making more noise than a pack of hyenas. "Hey, keep it down. Mr. Allan's on the line."
There was instant silence apart from the TV. Two-Bit moved to turn that off and I was appreciative. They all knew who Mr. Allan was and they all knew I was expecting this call.
"Mr. Allan?" I asked to make sure he was still there
"I hope I wasn't disturbing anything."
"No, nothing at all. Just the TV," I answered wanting him to go on
"I managed to get a hold of your uncle's number and address today," he revieled very calmly -- I don't know how he could be. My heart was beating hard -- "I thought it would be better if you boys gave him a call and explained."
"Yeah." I nodded "I'll get a pen."
I managed to find one and copied down what he said. He was going slowly so I could get it all and I understood why, but I was anxious to talk to my brothers and my...uncle. It was almost a foreign word to me. I'd never had any reason to use it. Until yesterday I considered my parents to both be only children.
"Good luck, son," Mr. Allan offered
"Thank you, Mr. Allan," I sighed, hanging up
I turned to the group to see every eye on me. They were waiting for me to say something and it hit me then how much of the leader I was. I guess I was the oldest and it was me that had to be strong. I was glad I had all these muscles; even if these problems were emotional I would have some support.
"Mr. Allan wants us to call him," I supplied
"Wow," Soda breathed and Pony looked a bit anxious
"What will you say to him?" Ponyboy asked
"I honestly don't know. He doesn't know what happened yet unless he follows the Oklahoma news papers," I added
It was going to be hard to tell him the story. Hell, it was hard to get the story straight in my own mind. My parents walked out the door and never came back. They would never come back. They're just two shells lying in the morgue at the hospital. I know they'd been moved to the funeral home already, but that was the image in my mind and I didn't like it one bit.
It was going to be a hard couple of days.
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Well there you have it! It was bit short but first chapters always are. Hope everyone enjoyed
Any comments at all are welcome, flames are accepted.
See ya in the funny papers! Tens