My Daddy Never Was
Summary; How is Two-Bit's life doing ten years after the book? One-shot!
Disclaimer; I do not own the Outsiders, nor the song's lyrics.
My boss'll tell you that I've been to work all week on time
And I ain't had no liquor on my breath.
It ain't some kind of secret, I've been known to take a drink
And it's made me do some things that I regret.
"Two-Bit,we can't go on like this!" Kathy told me in exasperation. We had had this conversation before, and I half-listened to her go on and on as I took a drink of beer. Oh yeah, I'd heard this conversation too many times. She looked at me. "This ain't no kind of way to raise a family, Keith."
She used my real name. Uh-oh. "Kathy, baby, we're gettin' by. We can raise a family here." I motioned to the bedroom where my two little girls were playing. I took another long drink as Kathy looked disgusted.
Loretta said this ain't no way to raise a family
And one night she called it quits and called a cab.
She left the clothes out on the clothesline
And the dishes in the sink
So I guess she knows she ain't comin' back.
"Keith Mathews, I've had it!" Kathy cried angrily. She shook her head. "This is an unsafe, horrible way to raise Katie and Grace! Look at this place! It's a mess." She sweeped her arm around the living room. The carpet was in need of a cleaning; beer bottles covered the floor. Cobwebs covered the corners of the rooms and plaster was chipping from the walls. "Keith, I've cleaned up after you, I've tried to stop you from drinking, because I don't want our daughters to become like that! I'm done!" She left me dumbfounded sitting in the chair and walked into the bedroom, coming out holding Katie and Grace's hands. I stood and stumbled over, but Kathy stopped me. "Don't, Two-Bit. You're not only a danger to us, you're a danger to yourself." I watched as she walked outside and called a cab over.
"Kathy!" I shouted. "Kathy!" She only looked back once, face smooth with no emotion. She and my girls drove off, and I had a sinking feeling that Kathy wasn't coming back.
I just want to see my kids.
I just want to hold my girls.
Heaven knows I ain't got much of nothin' else in this old world.
I just want to be around enough to know that they've been loved.
I just want to be their daddy.
My daddy never was.
Now lately she's been knowin' this old boy she met in church
And I can't say she's wrong for wantin' more.
I gave him the right to tell my wife that I can't come around
The night I knocked a hole in her front door.
"Kathy, please come out!" I cried. "Please!" I was standing on the porch of Kathy's new house, pleading for her to come out and talk to me. She was standing at the front door, with a man I had heard she met at Buck Merril's place a couple months ago.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Two-Bit. I can't."
I lost my temper then. I surprised myself, because I rarely got angry. "Damn you, Kathy, COME OUT!" In my fury, I punched the door, knocking a hole right through the wood. Kathy shrieked and the man swung open the door. He was about my height, and he was intimidating. But I was a greaser, and greasers can look meaner than anything, so I slouched and glared at him.
"Look here, mister," the man said in a low, dangerous voice. "You can't come around here and start knockin' holes in the house--"
"And who are you to tell me to stay away?" I snapped angrily. "Kathy is my wife. I can do--"
"You can do nothing!" the man countered back just as heatedly. He turned back to Kathy. "Kathy, baby, your husband isn't allowed to come 'round anymore." He turned back to me, eyes hard and icy. "You hear that? I hear that you've around again, I'll blow your head off! Now get!" Before he could move towards me, though, Kathy stepped up.
"No," she said quietly. "Let me call someone over."
And Loretta took my keys
And she made me wait outside.
But she didn't call the law
She called a cab.
Kathy turned to me. "I'll get Katie and Grace. You can see them for a minute." She must have known that all I wanted to do was hold my girls in my arms, to know that they were being taken care of and loved. She disappeared and Katie and Grace appeared.
"Daddy!" they cried and ran into my open arms, the man watching from the door, a furious look on his face. I didn't care that I was probably going to jail, because Kathy was probably calling the police to come pick me up for trespassing. She came back a couple minutes later.
"All right Katie. Grace. Time to come back inside." They reluctantly did so after hugging me tightly. Looking at me one last time, they disappeared. A few minutes after that, standing in silence, I was surprised to see a familiar Ford truck pull up instead of the fuzz car I was expecting, and Darry Curtis, one of my friends and a member of my gang stepped out.
He sighed as he walked up the porch steps and saw me standing there. "What did you do now, Two-Bit?"
"He knocked a hole in the door," the man snapped before I could begin.
Darry gave him an icy stare, which shut the guy up real quick. "Did I ask you?" Darry's voice was low and hard. He turned back to me. "Come on, Two-Bit. We're leavin'. Soda and Pony are waiting for us." We left silently, bu t not before Kathy stepped up and hugged me quickly.
"I'm sorry, Two-Bit," she whispered. I swallowed and as Darry pulled away and we started down the road, I glanced out the rearview mirror and found Kathy staring after us... and I could have sworn I saw something in her eyes. 'So she knows I ain't that bad,' I thought, leaning back.
And as I pulled away I saw somethin' in her eye
So I guess she knows that I ain't so bad.
"What happened, Two-Bit?" Darry asked me quietly. "Pony and Soda and I were talking when we got a call from Kathy, saying that there was someone we needed to pick up at her house."
I sighed. "I need to know whether my little girls are being loved and cared for." I took a deep breath. "All I want is to be their dad. You know my dad never was to me." He was silent, thinking over what I had just said.
I just want to see my kids.
I just want to hold my girls.
Heaven knows I ain't got much of nothin' else in this old world.
I just want to be around enough to know that they've been loved.
I just want to be their daddy.
My daddy never was.
"It'll get better, Two-Bit. You'll see." He looked at me. "I'll tell you what. I can find a place for you to fill at roofing houses with me, and you make sure you don't ever drink. Maybe then Kathy will see that drinking isn't your life. She'll see that you can take care of a family."
I sighed, feeling a bit more hopeful. "All right. We can do that."
My boss'll tell you that I've been to work all week on time
And I ain't had no liquor on my breath.
A/N; All right, that's it. It was just something I came up with at eleven t night, and I thought of Two-Bit, and how he drank so much. I hope you liked it! R&R please!