I do not own The Outsiders.
On one hot Summer day Darry Curtis was driving to his job. His boss gave him his new assignment, and Darry was driving through the middle class neighborhood looking for 110-15 Maple Street. It was muggy and humid out. It must've been over seventy degrees. Darry kept sipping water from his water bottle and wiping sweat off his face.
Finally, he spotted the address he was looking for. He pulled up, and got out of the truck. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. In a few minutes the door opened, and Darry saw a young woman in the doorway.
"Hi I'm Darryl. I'm here to fix the roof."
"Nice to meet you," she held out her hand, "I'm Alison. We've been expecting you." She had long black slightly wavy hair, tanned face and big blue eyes.
"The damage is on the left side of the roof," Alison said, "you can go up there and see for yourself."
"Who is it mom?" a boy appeared in the doorway.
"This is the man that's going to fix our roof, now get back inside Bobby," Alison said.
"So, I'm ready to get started," Darry said, wiping the sweat off his face with the back of his hand.
"Go ahead," Alison replied, smiling "And if you need anything just let me know."
"Ok, thanks," Darry said.
"What is his name?" the boy asked.
"It's Darryl, but you can call me Darry," Darry said, thinking that Alison looked way too young to have a kid.
"Here, you want a candy bar?" He asked the boy, and gave him a MilkyWay. Good thing Soda stuck it into Darry's lunch box this morning. "Thank you," the boy said taking the candy. He must've been four or five.
Darry took out his ladder and climbed on the roof. There was a lot of damage and that meant a lot of work. Darry's been working for a few hours. He was getting tired, and sweat was pouring down his face. Suddenly he heard sounds of someone playing the piano, and not just playing, but practicing scales. Darry realized the sounds were coming from inside the house. A,B,C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C,D,E,F,G - the same mundane notes again and again. It was annoying, and Darry wished whoever was playing would stop, but no luck the sounds continued on for about two hours. Then they finally stopped, and Darry sighed in relief.
Soon the door opened and Alison walked out. "How is it going Darryl?" she yelled, shielding her face from the sun with her hand.
"It's going just fine."
"Would you like to join us for lunch?" she asked, looking up at him. Darry wasn't expecting that. He never got asked to have lunch at any of his other jobs. He felt awkward, but felt it would be rude to refuse. "Thank you, that's really nice of you," he said smiling "I'll be down in a second."
Darry got down from the roof. He left his tool belt in the truck, and wiped his hands with a rag. Then he walked awkwardly into the house.
"The kitchen is that way," Alison pointed in the direction of the kitchen, "hope you like roast beef with mashed potatoes."
They walked into the kitchen. "Thanks again," Darry said.
"Oh, it's no big deal," she laughed, setting the plates with the food on the table."I want you to do a good job and to do that you need fuel so I'm going to feed take a seat," she prompted, and Darry took a seat.
Bobby was sitting in his high chair. He tried the potatoes. "I don't want this," he whined.
"Oh, that's not nice," Alison scolded, "I asked you what you wanted and you said mashed potatoes,"
"But I don't want it," he repeated. Darry looked at him and smiled. "He is a handful isn't he?" he said to Alison. She nodded, "he can be sometimes."
"I don't want this," Bobby said again.
"I'll tell you what," Darry smiled, "do you want to grow up big and strong?"
"Like you?" Bobby said. Darry smirked, slightly embarrassed, but then added, "yes like me."
"I'm going to grow up big and strong, and I'm going to be a fireman," Bobby said excitement in his voice.
"Well, then you have to eat this."
"This?" Bobby said like he didn't believe Darry.
"Yes this. It's going to make you big and strong." All of the sudden Bobby's facial expression changed. "Oh, ok," he said and took a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Alison chuckled – "I gotta invite you more often, he's really picky with what he eats."
"I heard the piano earlier," Darry said, picking up a piece of roast beef with his fork.
"Oh, that's me. I'm a piano instructor, and I practice a lot every day. Hope it didn't give you a headache or anything." Darry almost wanted to make a sarcastic comment but considering how nice she was and invited him for lunch he couldn't do that. "Oh, it's ok, no big deal," was all he said.
"Well, thank you, it was delicious," Darry said when he was done with his food.
"Glad you liked it," she smiled, getting the empty plates and putting them in the sink.
"Now I better get back to work."