Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders, or any of the characters in the book. I do however own the characters that I make up.
Not What You'd Expect
Chapter 1: The Phone Call that Changed Everything
Ponyboy and Johnny dashed into the Curtis's house, both boys gasping for air. They were just walking home from the movies, when they noticed the fancy car that was following them. Neither Ponyboy nor Johnny needed to look inside the car to know it was full of socs that most likely outnumbered them. Rather than risk getting into a fight, the boys decided to try to make a run for the Curtis's house.
Johnny pulled the curtain away from the window, to see the socs driving past in their fancy car.
"Looks like we out ran them," said Johnny, his voice full of relief.
"Out ran who?"
Two-bit walked into the living room, a beer bottle in one hand, and a piece of chocolate cake in the other.
"A few socs that tried to jump Johnny and me," Pony answered.
Two-bit grinned, "Well good for you two."
Two-bit flopped down on the couch, and turned the television on to Mickey Mouse. Johnny and Ponyboy joined him, the world of cartoons engulfing the three boys. None of them noticed Darry entering the house, a worried expression on his face. Darry did not stop to scowl Ponyboy for not working on his homework, or Two-bit for having the volume up loud. He simply went into the kitchen, and sat down on a chair, the phone pressed against his ear, as he waited for the ringing to stop, and for someone to answer the phone. The phone rang four times, before a woman with a high pitch voice answered.
"Hello child services, this is Mrs. Chilton speaking."
Darry cringed, "Yeah hi, this is Darry Curtis. You called me at work about twenty five minutes ago."
"Oh yes, I called you about the matter of your Aunt Rosalie, and your cousin Markie."
Darry was confused; he had not seen or heard his Aunt Rosalie in over sixteen years, and he did not remember having a cousin.
"I think you have the wrong family, 'cause I haven't seen my aunt since I was five, and I don't have a cousin either."
"There is no mistake. It was clearly stated in your aunt's will that if anything happened to her, that Markie would be sent to live with Rosalie's family in Tulsa. Now if you don't want to take Markie in as I expect you don't, we can always place Markie in a home, or find that a foster family that would be willing to-"
"No," Darry said, cutting Mrs. Chilton off. "I'll take Markie in."
Darry's sudden response surprised Mrs. Chilton.
"Are sure Mr. Curtis? I am aware that you are already taking care of you two brothers. Will you be able to handle another teenager?"
Darry was becoming more and more frustrated with Mrs. Chilton. He had already gone through a similar situation, when social services asked if he wanted to take custody of Sodapop and Ponyboy. When would these social workers learn that when a person said yes, they meant yes.
"Yes I'm sure. Can you tell me when Markie is coming so I can prepare."
Darry spent another twenty minutes on the phone, finding out all the details he would need to know about Markie's arrival.
"See you in two days Mr. Cutis. Goodbye."
"Bye."
The line went dead, and Darry hung the phone back up. He was still in shock from finding out that he had a cousin that he never knew existed. As far as he knew, his parents did not even know about Markie. There was no talk about Aunt Rosalie being pregnant, no phone calls, no letters, not even a picture of his cousin.
"Two-bit, turn the TV off!" Darry barked.
The entire gang looked up from what they had just been watching on the TV. Two-bit, Pony, and Johnny had been joined by Soda and Steve who just got off from work, and Dally who claimed he had nothing better to do. Sodapop got up and turned the TV off, sensing something was wrong, by the way Darry just yelled to turn off the TV.
"Darry, what's wrong." Sodapop asked.
"Yeah man, what's up with you yelling to turn the TV off?"
"Shut up Two-bit!"
Two-bit stuck his tongue out at Darry, before taking another sip of his beer.
Darry took a deep breath, preparing himself to tell the entire gang about Markie.
"I was just on the phone with social services."
Sodapop felt Ponyboy shudder when Darry said social services. Soda placed an arm around his younger brother's shoulders, knowing he was thinking that social services wanted to put him and Soda in a home.
"We have an aunt named Rosalie, out father's sister. She lives in Philadelphia and-"
Sodapop cut him off.
"They aren't making us move in with her are they?"
Before Darry could even answer Soda, the rest of the gang began yelling about how they would not let them leave, and they could stay in their homes if they needed to.
"You guys were not moving in with our aunt!" Darry yelled over the noise.
"Then what did they want?" Steve asked.
"If you all stop interrupting me I would tell you all."
The gang went silent, waiting for Darry to continue.
"Our Aunt is dead, but I wasn't told how she died. But I was told she had a sixteen year old named Markie, who doesn't have a home or anyone to look after him. The social worker said they don't know who the father is, and she asked if I would take Markie in, and I said yes."
The gang went silent, Darry's last words still playing over in their heads. Everyone knew it was hard for the Curtis's after they lost their parents. But they had each other and the gang to look for support. Markie had no one.
"When's he gonna get here?" Johnny asked.
"Two days."
"That's not a lot of notice," Dally pointed out.
"Yeah well we'll have to deal with what we have," Darry said.
"Well I'm excited about this," Soda said, bouncing up and down on the couch. "Who knew we even had a cousin at all. Looks like I get another little brother."
Everyone smiled at Soda's goofiness. As it got alter, Steve and Dally left, saying they would defiantly be at the house when Markie arrived. Two-bit and Johnny chose to sleep over, Johnny on the couch, and Two-bit on the floor. Ponyboy tried to go to sleep, but Soda was too busy talking about the new Curtis and Christmas being just around the corner.
Ponyboy put his pillow over his head.
I hope Markie can deal with Soda's mouth, he thought as he drifted off to sleep.