We all knew the story. We all knew what the poor kid was going through, yet no one reached out. People teased, taunted, made cruel jokes. I was tired of it. He didn't deserve that, not after losing two of his friends.
The day I read about it in the paper, my heart broke. I was never close to either of the boys who had died, but I was always close with the Curtis family, up until I moved out of Tulsa with my family a few years ago. After my parents died, my older brothers and I moved back into our childhood home, eager to start over. Damien and Matt were both working full time to support us, because let's face it, if you live on our side of the city, you know the ropes. You go without sometimes, but it doesn't bother you, because you know you can make up for it eventually.
I was a junior at the local high school, whereas Ponyboy Curtis was a freshman. I still remember my first day back at that school, just a week after we moved back home. Matt had given me a ride, because he wasn't too keen of the idea of me walking alone to school, and we both knew that I wasn't going to bus. When he dropped me off, my eyes immediately scanned the lot for someone I knew. When I saw Ponyboy, I remember smiling. A sad smile, a smile that spoke the words everyone else was too afraid to say.
That day I skipped out after my English class, already tired of the charade. The only reason I went to school in the first place, was because the state was on Damien's back about my lack of education. I was smart, sure, but I didn't like school, so I skipped a lot. I stopped going all together when our parents died in a house fire just six months ago. We had stayed with our cousins for the first few months, but none of us wanted to be there, because none of us wanted to leave Tulsa in the first place. But we knew the circumstances. We were always forced to move where our dad's work took us.
Anyway, I walked down to the DX, because I was hungry and figured Matt would let me hang out there until school let out. He'd been working there a few days now, thanks to Soda getting him in with the boss. I didn't really mind hanging out in the shop, I actually enjoyed it, especially since Matt had a habit of explaining exactly what he was doing, so I could follow along. That was normal routine for us. I'd skip out half way through the day, and end up wherever he was working, whether it be a ranch, a gas station, whatever. We were close enough that he never told Damien about my class cutting, but he was stern enough to scold me on a daily basis. Eventually, he just gave up and would put me to work. I'd been skipping classes since I was old enough to remember my way around whatever city we were living in.
Let's see. My father was multi-talented man. He worked wherever he could, doing whatever he could, but he was best known for his talent with animals. He worked as a dog trainer, horse trainer, you name it, he could tame it. So we moved around a lot. Damien was born in Upstate New York late December of '46. My parents and their first born son moved to Iowa early spring of '47, where, 11 months after Damien was born, Matt was born in early November. Then I came along when my parents had finally decided to settle down in Tulsa, Oklahoma in '49. I was born January 13th, on one of the coldest nights of the season. Then came along the twins, Margret and Ryan, who were born the summer of '55.
Dad's work took us to the small town of Kiowa, Kansas late into the summer of '62, where we lived for the last 3 years, up until the fire tore through our two story farm house. Both of our parents were killed that fitful night, and we would have perished too, had it not been for Damien and Matt dragging me and my younger brother and sister from the house. Matt was the one who saved me, from the back bedroom, where the fire had blocked off the door. I still have nightmares about that night.
Ryan and Maggie still live in Kansas with our cousins, due to the court not feeling that Damien was capable of caring for four children. Instead, he was rewarded custody of me and my second oldest brother, Matt. When we decided to return to Tulsa, the only home we were in for longer than just a few months or years, our cousins told us they'd keep in contact and let us know how the twins were. The twins were content in the small town in Kansas, with our much wealthier cousins. The money issue didn't bother my brothers or me, because we were used to being low class hoods, no matter what city or town we were in. We were always causing trouble, stealing, fighting. It was just our way.
So when we packed up the old pick up with nothing but our few prized possessions and our two dogs, we had one thing on our minds. A new start, in an old town, and a new name for ourselves. We were tired of living in our cousins socy idealism, and we were more than ready to start our own lives. Our father never made a lot of money, normally trading his services for whatever we needed, be it car oil or dog food. We always got by with little money. Things were different now, and we all knew it.
When I got down to the DX, I sat on top of a pile of tires and watched the boys work. I lit a cigarette and smiled proudly at my brother's handy work.
"Hey Riah," he called. He waved me over.
"Hang on," I called, holding up my cigarette. I wasn't stupid enough to get by a car with a smoke. Matt frowned before walking over to me, his hands covered with grease.
"Skipping school again?" he asked as I handed him a cigarette.
"Mhm," I said with a sigh. "You bring Hunter or Lassie down with you?" I asked. Sometimes he brought the dogs to work with him, to keep them from getting out of the back yard, until we could pitch together enough to mend the rickety old gate.
"Yeah, they're in the back," he said, nodding towards the empty lot. I smiled at that. Those dogs were like other siblings. Hunter was our 8 year old hound mix. We weren't entirely sure what he was exactly. Lassie was our gold and white collie mix. She was no higher than my knees on all four, and since I'm only just over 5 feet, she was considerably smaller than her kennel mate. Hunter was our father's dog before he died. Hunter was the prime example of Dad's training abilities. Primarily because Hunter only has 3 legs.
"Earth to Mariah," Matt said, waving his hand in front of my face, breaking my thoughts.
"What?" I asked, having missed the entire conversation.
"I was asking if you wanted to take the dogs for a walk. I'm sure they're tired of being chained out back," he said, shaking his head.
"Sure," I said eagerly. I wanted to see how much had changed in Tulsa over the last 3 years.
"Just stay within shouting distance," Matt said. Always the over protective one.
"Shoot, she'll be fine with them dogs, Matt. Hunter's a scary lookin' thing," Soda laughed as he came over to join in the conversation. "Anyway, Lassie'll keep her safe," he added.
"She's not named after the movie," I grumbled. Everyone thought that. No. Lassie, our 2 year old collie was named that because she was the only she pup in her litter, and her old owner always called her Lass because of it. So we adapted the name when our father brought her home as an early Christmas gift for us kids.
"He's got a point tho," Matt said with a smile. Lassie was very protective of us kids.
"Think Damien'll head down here after work?" I asked suddenly. If Damien caught me skipping classes again, he'd skin me.
"Prolly. The truck needs work. He called and told me it barely made it down to the ranch," he said shaking his head. Damien currently worked at the ranch just outside of town, that housed the horses used in the rodeos.
"Then I better beat it before he comes by," I said as I jumped off the tires. "I'll be down by Shepard's place, I wanna see what's up with Curly," I said. We lived in between the Shepard's and the Curtis's places. Literally. So it wasn't uncommon for me to end up at either of the two. Curly, Tim Shepard's little brother and I used to be tight when we were growing up, up until boys were gross. Naturally, I'd outgrown that stage since I last saw him.
"I think Curly's in the reformatory again," Soda called as I ran around to the back of the shop. I disregarded that. Regardless, I'd end up down that way, since none of the Curtis boys were home and I had no reason to putter around their place.
"Mariah," Matt called just as I was about to leave.
"Yeah?" I stopped. He rarely ever used my real name.
"Stay on this side of town. I ain't need you getting jumped when no one's around to hear it," he said, his voice soft but stern. "No farther than the Dingo," he warned.
"I ain't going no where near there!" I yelped. Ever since I could remember, dad had warned me to never go near there. It was a rough hang out, and I remembered him telling us kids that a girl got shot there. For that very reason, I always avoided the place, no matter what.
"Why don't you go hang out in the lot by my place? I'll send Ponyboy over after he gets outta school," Soda suggested. "It's safe there," he added, throwing a look in my brother's direction.
"Sure, fine," I said shaking my head. I hated being the only girl at home. It made the boys way too protective.
"Mariah Jane, I mean it," Matt said with way more force than I'd expected.
"Golly, what's got you so worked up?" I asked, holding both leashes firmly.
"I just don't want you getting hurt," he said in a softer tone.
"Shoot, you ain't ever had to worry about me before. I can handle myself, Mathew," I said, sounding exactly like my mother used to.
"I know that Riah, but this isn't Kansas. This ain't even New York. This is Tulsa. You're a hood here. Shoot, you know the ropes," he said shaking his head. This confused me, because all he did was state the obvious. I walked off, pondering what he had just said. It didn't make any sense, because I knew we were hoods, greasers here in Tulsa. We didn't have our aunt and uncle sending money like they had in Kiowa. And we weren't living on a shared farm like mom and dad had in New York. I knew all that, so I couldn't for the life of me understand why Matt was making a big deal outta it. I'd never had a problem carrying my own weight before. Why suddenly, did Matt get so overly protective? I was used to that sort of thing with Damien, who still regarded me as the baby even though we had a ten year old twin brother and sister. Not Matt tho. Matt usually treated me as an equal – an adult.
I ended up hanging out at the Shack, one of the rougher restaurants in the neighborhood. The owner knew me from when we used to live in Tulsa, and knew what happened with my parents, so he let me bring the dogs in, since both were well behaved and fully trained, thanks to my dad. I ordered a coke and some fries, since I never did get anything to eat at the DX. I ate my food in silence, slipping a fry or two down to the dogs, who ate silently, but happily.
After I was done, I noticed that it was nearing 2:30. That meant I could safely head home without Damien suspecting that I skipped class again. I hated the walk home, even with two dogs at my side. It meant crossing through some of the rougher parts of town, and I certainly wasn't looking forward to that. Sure, I could have hitched a ride with Matt, but I was tired of being the kid sister that had to be driven everywhere. I was old enough to get my license, but naturally, neither of my brothers thought I was capable of driving. It made me so mad.
I decided to walk the long way home, because it was safer, and if anything, I could stop at the Curtis's and call Matt or Damien from there. I started out, watching every movement. I had a slight fear of walking alone, being a girl and all. That was why I like Kiowa. It was calmer. No real dangers. The town was so small that we had known almost everyone. Sure, I loved Tulsa, but I didn't feel safe there, not in our neighborhood.
I practically ran the entire way home, until I reached the lot near the Curtis's house. I stopped there to catch my breath. Hunter let out a low growl as he sat down next to me, Lassie flaking my other side. I took a deep breath and looked around, fully alert. I slowly circled my back always protected by one of the dogs. I don't know why, but I felt completely on edge, like eyes were following me.
"Mariah?" a voice came from behind. I reached for the closest piece of metal my hands could touch and turned quickly, both dogs growling, snapping in the direction of the voice.
"Calm down, it's me," the voice said as the figure came into view. It was Darrel Curtis, the oldest of the Curtis brothers.
"God damnit Darry! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I yelped as I threw the thin rod aside and lightly pulled on both leashes, calming the two dogs. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on people?"
"Didn't mean to scare you. Saw you from the window. Need a ride?" he asked coolly. He looked exactly how I remembered, except taller, broader maybe. I shook my head.
"Is Soda home? I wouldn't mind someone to walk with," I said honestly. I hated walking alone.
"He is," Darry nodded as he motioned for me to follow. I insisted on waiting outside when we reached the house, still a bit shaken from the whole thing.
"So Darry scared ya, huh?" Soda teased as he came bouncing out of the house.
"Sure did. The dogs went nuts," I laughed softly. My hands were still shaking.
"Well c'mon, you shouldn't be walking alone anyhow," he said as he led the way down the street. Hunter whined and started to leg behind, limping heavier than normal.
"Don't make me carry you," I scolded the old dog. He was normally great for long walks. Apparently even he's uneasy in Tulsa.
"C'mon slow poke!" Soda teased. I jogged to catch up with him.
"So you back in the old house?" he asked as we walked.
"Sure are. Damien's got some fixin' up to do tho. Said he might as Darry to help out with the roof. It's leakin' again," I explained as we neared my block.
"Darry'd prolly love to," Soda said eagerly. "Your brother's truck needs a few repairs too, left him with a spare for now," he explained.
"That's good. Matt and I can walk to where we gotta go, but Dame's need the car for work," I laughed imagining my brother walking all those miles to work, something he would have done if he needed to.
"Yeah. So how you like being back?" Soda asked.
"It's different for sure. I was used to small towns," I said honestly. "I'm so jumpy here,"
"You should hang out with Ponyboy. You two could keep each other outta trouble," he suggested. Normally, I would have been insulted, because Ponyboy was younger than I was, but Ponyboy was more mature than most his age, so I took it as a friendly suggestion.
"Prolly will. Maybe he can keep me in school," I laughed. We stopped outside of my house, and I let both dogs off the leashes. They ran up the rickety old stairs and in through the screen door which stood ajar.
"Thanks for walking with me," I said as I turned to go inside.
"No problem. Hey Riah?" Soda said. I turned to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"You're gonna get tough in your not careful." He walked off without saying another word. That frightened me. That wasn't something someone just said out of the blue. I didn't even know what he meant by that. I'm gonna get tough? Shoot, I fight like the best of them as it was. I couldn't wrap my mind about it.
Must be something in the water, I thought as I walked inside, slamming the door behind me. First Matt says something out of the blue, now Soda? What the hell is it with this town?
a/n;; WAWO is a completely new mini series. :) I decided to recycle Mariah, since I love that name. Anyway, this is the first book of hopefully 3 or 4. :)
*Full Summary*
Sometimes you can't leave your past behind, no matter how hard you may try. Sometimes, your worst nightmares come true. When Mariah Michaels and her two older brothers return to Tulsa 6 months after their parents died in a house fire, they never expected to be coming back to a living nightmare. In attempts to leave behind their pasts and change their lives, they're faced with hardships, sickness, and loss like nothing they ever expected. When friends are the only family you really have, you learn to welcome their help, with arms wide open.