Brotherly Love
Chapter 1-My Life
I had just heard the bell ring when I woke up from my deep stare out the window. You see, I didn't enjoy Social Studies much, my last period of the day.
I quickly got up from my seat and went to my locker. I was so happy to finally get out of school that I didn't even notice my brother, Ponyboy, standing right next to me, staring. When I closed my locker door, eager to leave, I jumped back because I was so surprised to see him there, right in my face.
Ponyboy is so good in school that when you see my report card next to his, it makes your head spin. That's saying a lot since I get almost perfect grades even when I don't pay attention in class. That doesn't explain why Ponyboy doesn't speak proper English though. Oh, who am I kiddin', I don't either.
"You ready to go, Kate? Soda's waiting outside." he said, bending down to help me pick up my books. "Ya, you go ahead, I'll be there in a sec." "K." he said with a weird look on his face. "You gonna be OK?" "Ya" I mumbled looking down at the floor. He ran off to meet Soda as I slowly walked down the hall. I was happy to get out of school and everything, but I was really bummed lately.
You see, my parents died a few months ago and everyone was still suffering from the loss. All I could ever think about in school anymore was my family-well, what was left of it.
I have my 14 year old brother, Ponyboy, who you've already met. I've got my 16 year old brother, Sodapop, who dropped out of school. Soda's got the biggest heart and I can tell him anything. I also have my 20 year old brother, Darrell or Darry for short. He's the oldest of all, so he took guardianship of us when our parents died. He and Soda work full time for money, while me and Pony go to school. Last but not least in the Curtis family is me, Kaitlin Curtis. I just turned 13 last month. That's why I'm considered by some, the baby of the family.
You see, my mom named me and Darry, so we have normal, ordinary names. My dad named Ponyboy and Sodapop because he liked original names. I loved him so much cause he was different. My brothers take such pride in their names because of him and when someone makes fun of them, they're not too pleased.
I slowly reached the end of the hall and opened the door. As I did, light poured in and blinded my sight. I stepped out and went down the steps. "Hurry up, Kate!" Soda screamed starting the truck that was parked in front of the school. "Darry's probably gonna be mad again." Soda mumbled, but covered it up with his oh-so-famous smile. "Oh come on! We're only gonna be half hour late!" Pony hollered as I jumped into the back seat with him.
I was more quiet than usual today, but I wasn't really in the mood to talk since I felt like crap. Soda seemed to notice as he looked at me from the rear view mirror. I tried to hide the sick look on my face, but you can't hide anything from Soda. "You feelin' ok? You're awfully pale and I've never seen you this quiet on a Friday." I managed to choke up an "I'm fine." From the sound of my voice and the look on his face, it must not have been very convincing. Trying to keep away from conversation, I turned my head and looked out the window. A pretty deepwater blue Mustang sped by. No doubt that tuff car was owned by a Soc.
In Tulsa, we had basically three types of people. There were middle classers, but mostly Greasers and Socs.
Socs are rich kids with Mustangs and madras. They throw big beer blasts and go around everywhere acting like they own the place. They always get drunk and even if they aren't, they enjoy jumping Greasers, like me.
Greasers are very different from Socs. My brothers and I, Two-Bit Mathews, Dally Winston, Steve Randle, Johnny Cade and Anna Cade are all Greasers. We don't really have a lot of money and we're classified as hoodlums even if we don't do anything wrong. We aren't really the most popular group ever; that title goes out to the Socs. We're actually more of the lowest group and many people don't like us. I don't see why since I know a lot of sweet Greasers like my brother Soda.
We finally reached our old, broken-down house. It didn't look like much but there was so much more family love in that house than any house in the world. I hopped out of the truck which was a big mistake because my stomach started to churn. Maybe I'm hungry, I thought. Ponyboy jumped out right next to me, almost knocking me over.
I walked in the door behind Soda and Pony still trying to make my sick face look happy. Sitting on the couch like every other day was Johnny, Steve and Dally. Two-bit was lying on the floor staring at the TV and Darry was sitting in Dad's old armchair reading the paper.
To my surprise, he didn't jump up and scream bloody murder at the three of us. He simply turned his head and said "You're late." "Sorry Darry." I said with a smile on my face walking into the kitchen and grabbing an apple. I could fool everyone in the gang when it came to acting, except Soda and Anna.
I walked back into the living room, leaning in the doorway. "Hey Johnny, where's Anna?" "In your room, I think. Probably readin' a book." Anna Cade was Johnny's little sister and my best friend. Even though Johnny and Anna had parents, it didn't help much cause they were abusive. They were usually over our house everyday and at least twice a week Anna and Johnny stayed over night.
Anna used to get sexually abused by her dad, but one day she broke down and told Johnny. Ever since that he's been pretty protective of her when she's not in the Curtis home. That's usually why Johnny comes in every morning with big bruises from his father. So basically me and Anna don't have a good mother or older female figure to guide us; just a gang of 7 guys who don't know how hard it is for a teenage girl to grow up.