Turned Around 4
Sodapop Curtis jumped up, fully awake.
He looked around, and saw he was in the living room. Oh, right. His day off.
Yawning, he walked into the kitchen. Day off meant stuffing yourself shitless, right?
He took a quick look at the contents of the fridge, and took out a piece of chocolate cake.
"That's all we eat anyways, right?" Soda reasoned with himself, before flopping back onto the sofa.
He hunted around for the remote and turned it to the 24/7 channel of Mickey Mouse.
"Damn program. Why can't they put something good on, like Oprah or Jerry Springer?" He said angrily as the mouse ran across the screen doing nothing in particular.
Suddenly the screen door banged open. Soda looked up to see Two-Bit standing in the doorway.
"Hey, Two-Bit! Why're you just standing there?" Soda frowned. Two-Bit's rust coloured mane covered most of his face. Something was definitely wrong with this picture.
Two-Bit continued staring at him, then stared at the TV, before dashing out the front door.
"Whatever." Soda shrugged, and put his feet on the coffee table.
He was about to eat his cake when Johnny and Pony came in. They sat on either side of him on the sofa.
"Hey Soda." Pony greeted his older brother.
"Hey guys." Soda replied, grinning, and secretly glad they weren't acting strange.
"How was your day off?" Johnny asked, as his eyes quickly scanned the TV screen before returning to the middle Curtis beside him.
Soda smiled. "Alls I did was sleep and eat. So it was excellent."
Pony snickered. "When does Steve get off?" He asked, still snickering.
"Ahh, well, Steve got roped into doing the night shift.." Soda tried his hardest to look sorry, but both boys knew full well that Soda hated the night shift.
"Bummer." Johnny grinned, and leaned back on the sofa.
The three boys stayed silent, watching the television for a moment before the one and only Dallas Winston flounced in.
"Hey man." Johnny looked up.
"Hey. What's up?" Dally asked, plopping into the armchair. Tuffly, of course.
"Watchin' TV. Damn mouse." Pony said, rolling his eyes boredly. He wanted something else to watch.
"Just change the channel, dufus. And they say I'm the dumb one." Soda grinned, pressing the 'up' button on the remote.
What was strange was that on the next channel was another episode of Mickey Mouse!
"That's weird." Johnny said, looking at the TV strangely.
"Not really. Mickey mouse is a really popular programme." Pony shrugged, and Soda changed the channel again.
"Yeah, but now it's weird." Johnny said, nodding at a different episode of Mickey Mouse.
"Change it again." Dally ordered, and Soda obeyed.
Yet another episode of Mickey Mouse!
"What the fuck?" Dally snickered, as Soda changed the channel several times.
All channels were showing Mickey Mouse!
"What the hell? Is there something wrong with the TV, Soda?" Pony asked, and Soda shook his head.
"Not that I know of.." Soda said, and he was still changing channels. You know, because the Curtises can afford cable.
"What the hell? This is kind of creeping me out.." Johnny said, slowly.
"Let's just turn the TV off." Pony said, quickly, and Dally got up to turn it off.
He pressed the button, but the picture of that morbid mouse would not leave the screen!
"What the fuck? Work, you stupid thing." He said, pressing the button several times.
"Soda? I'm freaked out here.." Johnny said, looking the TV with wide eyes.
"It's just broken, nothing to worry about, Johnny." Soda said quickly, although he didn't sound so sure..
"Hey all." The four boys looked up to see Darry walking in. He was holding a piece of paper.
"Hey Dar. What's that, more bills?" Soda asked, and Darry shook his head.
"We need to have a gang meeting. Is everyone here?" Darry asked, scanning the crowd of Greasers.
"Steve's working the night shift." Johnny offered.
"Two-Bit came and ran off. Kind of weird, actually." Soda added.
Darry just shrugged. "Oh, well. Most of you are here."
"What's the big announcement?" Dally asked, and everyone ignored the TV.
"Well, I've made a decision.." Darry began, and Soda butted in.
"What decision?" Soda asked, and Darry grinned.
"Don't interrupt. You guys can no longer call me Darry.." He began, and the others all looked at him.
"Why not?" Johnny asked.
"Because I've changed my name." He simply said.
"Why?" Pony said, feeling a little upset.
"Because you two have unique names.. so I wanted one, too." Darry grinned.
"But.. but.." Pony couldn't find the words.
"What'd you name yourself?" Soda butted in again, putting his arm around the younger Curtis.
"Teddybear. My name is Teddybear Shayne Curtis." He said, waiting for the warm reception. Well, if he was looking for one, he didn't get it.
Every greaser burst into laughter.
"Teddybear? Of all the names you coulda picked, you chose Teddybear?" Johnny choked out, tears rolling down his face.
"Teddybear, that's something you'd name your.. teddy bear!" Soda cackled.
"That is such a wussy name! Such a stupid name! There are a million insults I could say about your name, but I can't be fucked thinking of them." Dally burst.
"Darry, what the hell? Please tell me your either joking, high, drunk, or all three." Pony stopped laughing.
Darry.. I mean 'Teddybear' shook his head. "I'm deadly serious. My name is Teddybear. Tuff, right? Like your names."
That set them all off again. Except for Ponyboy.
"Sodapop and Ponyboy are tough names, but Teddybear is just.. just.." Soda was laughing so much he couldn't think straight.
One by one, they stopped looking when they saw Pony's face trickling with tears.
"Hey, Pony, what's wrong?" Johnny asked, wiping away his own tears, but his were those of laughter.
Pony glared at Da.. Teddybear.
"How could you? Darry was Dad's name. He chose you to have that name. You should be proud! Who cares if your name isn't different? It's meaningful. Because it's Dad's. Mom and Dad couldn't exactly call Soda 'Michelle' after Mom, could they?" Pony yelled, and ran out of the room into his own.
"Good one." Johnny glared at Teddybear, before running into Soda and Pony's room.
"Bad idea with the name there, Darry." Soda said sadly.
"It's Te.. oh, forget it." Darry sighed, sitting at the dining room table and sulking.
All of a sudden, Two-Bit came into the room. Real quietly, too. Which was real strange for him.
"Two-Bit?" Soda asked, staring at him.
Two-Bit stared at him through his rust coloured.. mask..?
"Sodapop." He said in a clear, dark, voice, which scared the three boys.
"Two-Bit? What the fuck? It ain't halloween just yet." Dally said, staring at the.. I don't even know what to call him!
"Sodapop." Two-Bit repeated darkly, and Soda shuddered.
"Y..yes?" Soda shuddered.
"Come to the darkside. We have cookies." Two-Bit said seriously, and Soda looked at him strangely.
"Uh, Two-Bit? Did you forget to take your sane pills or something?" Darry questioned.
All of a sudden, Two-Bit became.. normal.
He brushed the hair out of his face.
"Hey guys. I was just joshin'." Two-Bit said, and flopped onto the sofa and began watching TV.
I think we can safely say that things were pretty turned-around that evening. Steve had a lot to hear about when he came to the Curtis house that night.