Jo woke up alone in Darry's room to the sound of him calling out for the others to get up. She could hear people hustling around outside in the hallway and knew everyone was getting up and ready for the day. She slipped out of the room and into the kitchen as Soda was coming out of the bathroom and Pony was going in.
"Victoria, you have five minutes to get up or you're going to school without a shower," Darry yelled down the hall before he pointed to Pony. "Five minutes for you in there."
"Dar?" she asked.
"Have you seen my jeans?" Soda asked as he came into the kitchen in a towel.
"Yeah, I ironed them. They're in my closet," Darry said to Soda and turned to answer Jo but was interrupted by Victoria running in.
"You have to wake me up earlier!" she said. "I don't take ten minutes to get ready like a boy!"
Darry raised a brow at her. "I've already called for you twice," he said. "Set an alarm and wake up before us, or shower at night like Jo used to if you don't like it."
"Oh, so I have to do everything like Jo?" she argued. "Maybe you, or Soda and Pony should shower at night."
"You'd still be late," Pony said as he came out of the bathroom.
"Shut up!" she yelled and slammed the bathroom door.
"Hey, cool it, Vic." Darry yelled through the door. "Pony stop egging her on."
"She's becoming a diva," he said. "You need to do something."
"You worry about you," he nodded toward the hall. "Get dressed."
"You let her get away with everything," Pony mumbled.
Darry sighed and turned to Jo. She was sitting at the table and seemed to be lost in thought. He frowned as he caught her gaze. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," she smiled. "Funny the things you end up missing."
"You miss this?" he raised a brow.
"Do you remember why I started showering at night?" she asked.
"Yeah," Darry smirked. "Dad would pace out here and bang on the door the second it was on longer than ten minutes."
"And you'd ignore him," Soda chimed in. "That is until he turned the water off on you."
"Right, and then I refused to go to school with unwashed hair, and he made me," she retold the story.
"See?" Pony said. "You need to do stuff like that to Victoria, Darry."
Jo, Soda and Darry all exchanged grins. "It didn't work, little buddy," Darry said. "Jo cried and Dad brought her back home and then let her stay home and have a day off school because he felt so bad. It was Mom that got her to shower at night."
"What did she say?" Pony asked.
"It's a girl thing," Jo said. "But, sometimes when I was being like Vic is now, what helped was these two being nice."
Ponyboy rolled his eyes. "So, Victoria gets to throw tantrums and it's a girl thing?" he asked and turned to Darry. "That's not fair. I do that and you ground me."
"Well, you're not a difficult teenage girl," Darry smirked. "I know what it's like to be a teenage boy, little buddy. That's why I know how to handle you."
"Oh, so you don't know how to 'handle' me?" Victoria said from the bathroom doorway. "Because I'm just too difficult? Well, let me make it harder for you, I'm staying home!"
She stomped out of the room and slammed her bedroom door and now, Darry had had enough. He held up hand that was shaking slightly, indicating he'd be back in a moment. He had one of those grins that wasn't really a grin, but an expression of annoyance that had now reached the breaking point. He followed his sister down the hall and opened her door.
"I know exactly how to handle you, young lady." Darry said with a raised voice. "You stop slamming doors and stomping around here right now. And, if you want more time to get ready in the morning you wake up early and take some responsibility because I am not having this every damn morning. Now, you get your stuff and you get in the truck because you are going to school."
"But-" she started to argue.
"Unless your want your butt tanned, Victoria, you'll do what I say." He said. "You have ten minutes."
Darry closed the door behind him with a little force and headed back to the kitchen. Pony had scrambled out of his way and went to finish getting ready before being told. Soda was now back in the kitchen, leaning on the counter drinking coffee, and Jo was sitting on the counter beside him. They both looked at each other and then at him, it was a classic twin thing they did, and he sighed.
"What?" he asked them.
"I mean, you told her to stop slamming doors and then you did it," Jo shrugged.
"Yeah, and threatening to tan her before school, maybe not the way to 'handle' her," Soda said.
"She's been asking for it all morning," Darry said as he pointed down the hall. "And, if I remember correctly, she came crying to me last week when I got home from work because you swatted her for similar behavior."
"You did?" Jo looked at him.
"It was one swat," he defended. "Besides, maybe she's getting a little old for that kind of discipline."
"You're getting mighty judgemental about my parenting lately, little buddy," Darry said as he crossed his arms. "Dad disciplined me right up until a week before their accident and I belted you last month after your drag racing stunt."
"Your what?" Jo said with shock.
Soda shrugged her off. "Yeah, but we're guys, Darry." He said. "It's not a big deal for us to see each other like that, and that kind of discipline works on us. But, she's a girl."
Darry glanced at Jo. "What's your take on this?" he asked.
She shrugged. "There is something you two don't know," she said slowly. "Vic got her period, she has it right now, so sometimes these moody outbursts are because of that and it's something you'll never understand. So, give her some space and let her come back to you, because she will."
"I miss Mom," Victoria said softly from the doorway and they turned to see her with tears in her eyes. They didn't know how much she heard, but they figured it was enough for her to react so differently than she had all morning. "I don't want to go to school. Things are different and my stomach hurts and I just want Mom."
"Oh, honey," Darry sighed and pulled her into his embrace. He looked up and saw Pony standing awkwardly in the hall. He slipped past them and headed over to Soda and Jo to be comforted. Victoria held onto Darry and buried her head in his chest. It had been awhile since they all checked in with each other and talked about their parents. It was less than an ideal time, but it was important.
"Pony, Vic," Darry said as he looked down at her and then across at Pony. "Do you need the day?"
"I'm okay," Pony nodded. "I can go to school, Darry."
"I want to stay home," Victoria mumbled.
"I'll stay with her," Jo said.
"I want Darry," Victoria almost whined and he tightened his hold on her.
"Darry has to go to work, baby," Soda said gently. "And, so do I."
"It's alright," Darry fished in his pocket and held out his keys. "Jo take Soda to work and drop Pony off at school."
Jo jumped off the counter and grabbed the keys from him with Pony following close behind her. Soda lingered for a moment and dropped a kiss to Victoria's head. "Are you sure?" he asked his brother. "It's better if I miss work over you."
"Go on," Darry nodded toward the door as he rubbed Victoria's back to keep her calm. "We'll have a chat and then I'll head to work."
He waited until he heard the truck start and watched them pull out of the driveway before he put his hands on his sister's shoulders and pulled her back to look her over. He leaned down slightly and put his hand on the back of her head. "We need to talk," he said. "Without slamming doors, without the attitude, without anyone yelling. I need you to really talk to me, you hear me?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
"Alright," he gestured to the table and they both sat down. "I'm waiting on you, kiddo. Tell me what's going on with you?"
"There's something I can't stop thinking about," she said. "Can I ask you something weird?"
"Sure," Darry nodded.
"What happens if you find someone," she said slowly.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Like, if you get married," she said. "What happens to me?"
He frowned and shook his head. "Nothing happens to you," he said. "You stay with me."
"But, what if whoever you marry doesn't want a difficult teenage girl," she said.
Darry frowned and turned in his chair to face her directly. He put his hands over hers and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "Listen to me, I said that because Dad used to say it about Jo and because I don't know what it's like to be a girl, but I know it's hard." He said. "But, make no mistake about it, I love you and if whoever I marry doesn't see that, she's not the one for me."
"I know you're dating someone," she said. "I heard you and Soda, and I've heard you on the phone. I know you haven't brought her around because of me, because of how I act sometimes, and you didn't want to scare her."
"Baby, what have I told you about eavesdropping?" he asked. "If you would have talked to me, you would know I wasn't worried about you scaring her off, I was worried about this. About me dating scaring you and Pony into thinking that meant I'd start some new life without you two. She knows about you, all of you, and she knows I'm a parent first."
"I want you to be happy," she said.
"Honey, I am," he said. "Look, my life is different than I thought it would be at this point, but I don't regret my decision to be your guardian."
"Really?" she said. "Soda always said you could have said no and worked your way through college."
"I could have, but why would I do that? There was no choice," he said. "Every time Mom came home from the hospital with one of you, Dad would put you guys in my arms and he would remind me that it is my job to take care of you and always look out for each of you. I'm always going to do that, even if Mom and Dad were still around, I'd still be here for you."
"But, it's different now," she said. "It was your choice then, I was just your sister before, now I'm your responsibility."
Darry smiled. "I know those are Soda's words too, and he didn't mean it like that," he said. "Just because you're my responsibility doesn't mean you're a burden."
"I don't want to be taken away from you," she said. "I don't want to do something stupid that gets me and Pony taken out of the house, and I don't want to push you away, but I don't know how to talk to you or Soda about girl stuff, and Jo is gone now, and-"
"Whoa, baby girl, take a breath." Darry frowned heavily as he stopped her. She had started to cry and she was getting herself really worked up. "What brought this on?"
"I don't know," she shook her head. "I just keep thinking about it."
"You let me worry about stuff like that," he said. "Now, you listen to me. There's nothing you could do or say that would make me walk away from you. I will always fight for you and Pony, and Soda and Jo too, we will stay together."
"But-" she started.
"No," he shook his head. "That's my job. Your job is to go to school, make good grades, and follow my rules. That's it, the rest you leave up to me. You got it?"
She nodded and lunged into his arms and he smiled as he held her. He looked up when he heard the door slam and Jo walked back into the kitchen, putting his keys down on the table. Darry pulled her back, kissed her head and wiped away her tears. "You take the day," he said. "Hang out with Jo."
OOOOO
Jo checked the mail and noticed that the box was empty, which means someone had already picked the mail up and she was praying it was anyone but Darry. She could hide it from the others, no one would really question the letter, but Darry would. It would probably have his name on it and he would open it. Soda would cover for her, and Pony and Victoria would absentmindedly throw the mail on the kitchen table without a second thought. She walked into the kitchen, ready to grab it off the table and hide it away, but instead, she saw Darry sitting at the table.
He held up an opened letter with her school's stamp on the front and raised a brow. "What is this?" he demanded. "Sit down, we need to discuss some things."
