The next couple days go by the same. Isaac picks me up in the morning, we go to school, I see him like 3 times during the day, I get a ride home from Darry or Jay. Repeat. It starts getting to me. He's acting so weird and I have no idea why. Every time I ask him if everything's okay he blows the question off by kissing me or acting nonchalant. Friday night comes and we don't have anything planned. He told me he had to go out and get stuff for his brother's birthday tomorrow.
So now me and Darry are driving home in silence. I had thought I'd been doing a pretty good job of hiding how I felt, but Darry knows me.
"Listen Ember, you've been acting sorta off lately." He hesitates. "Everything okay?" Even though Darry knows me the best, sometimes he has absolutely no clue what's wrong with me or how to handle it. There was only ever one person who completely understood me.
When I don't say anything, he presses on. "I know I ain't Mom." My breath catches. I used to tell Mom everything. Whether it was big or small, I would tell her. "And I'm sorry she's not here for you to talk to. But you know you can talk to me. About anything." I wait for more, for him to ask me again what's wrong, but he doesn't. He lets me decide whether I wanna talk about it or not. The floor's open.
"Isaac's been acting weird lately." I admit. I can feel his eyes on me, probably because he's surprised I'm actually talking about it.
"Why ain't he picking you up after school anymore?" He asks, and I can tell he's choosing what he says carefully.
"His Mom has him running errands everyday after school because she's at home with Roger."
"So.. do you not believe him or...?"Darry asks.
I think before I say anything. "I believe him. But he's still acting weird. He's been distant and I don't know why. I'm just confused."
Darry puts his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it. "Don't worry baby, he'll come around."
I guess truthfully, I'm scared he's keeping his distance because of last Friday. But I trust him and I love him. So for now, I just gotta keep my head on straight and stop stressing.
"So what are you doing tonight?" He asks me as we pull in front of our house.
"Nothing with Isaac if that's what you mean." I reply. "But I'm going to the diner tonight with Kim and a couple other people for supper."
"How late are you gonna be?" He asks, stepping back into the parental position.
"Not too late, probably around 9. No later than 10 for sure."
We walk through the front door and into the deserted house. I don't have any homework so I start cleaning up a little bit, because who else is gonna do it? I head to the back of the house first, sweeping in Soda and Pony's room and then in Darry's. From the kitchen I hear a sigh, so I poke my head around the corner so I can see Darry but I can't be seen. He has his head in his hands, money and folds of paper spread across our tiny kitchen table.
Going from being a nineteen year old guy to a 'dad' would take its toll on anybody. In the daytime, Darry just works, and I guess he could almost forget what he has to deal with at home. But when he gets here, he has to take his and Soda's small wages and try to pay all our bills and still be able to buy food and other necessities. It's not fair. No nineteen year old should have to take care of all three of his siblings and throw away his dreams to make money. Darry had definitely received the short end of the stick.
"Everything okay Dar?" I ask quietly, sweeping down the short hall and into the living room.
"Yeah." He says, a little too quickly. "Yeah, it's fine." I choose not to push him, but now's obviously not the time. To say that money stressed Darry out was a major understatement.
The front door slams as Pony trails in, blushing. I grin, and I can't help but say anything.
"What's up with you Pony?" I ask him.
Of course, he blows me off. I shouldn't of expected anything different.
"Nothing." He says, growing a little bit redder. Darry's watching him, grinning a little bit but not saying anything. "Is she pretty?" I ask, heading into the kitchen with the broom.
"As good looking as any broad I've ever seen." He says, smirking. Darry chuckles, smacking him on the back of the head.
The phone rings and I make my way to the wall, grabbing the receiver. For some unsaid reason, I always answer the phone. I guess maybe I just sound friendlier?
"Hello?" I say.
"Novie, it's Kim."
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Wanna make some money?" She asks.
The diner's crowded, with most of the tables full and the bar even more crowded. Kim works part time at the diner as a waitress after school. She'd overheard her boss talking about how they needed some entertainment, and she'd asked him if he was interested in having someone sing. So she'd called me. I'd agreed as soon as the words left her mouth. How could I turn down basically free money? Okay, so it technically wasn't free, but I loved to sing and people said I was really good, so I was gonna get paid to do something I loved.
Her boss, Mr. Skiver, is gonna pay me somewhere between five and ten dollars, depending on how well the crowd reacts plus tips. I couldn't turn it down, we needed every extra dime we could get.
Mr. Skiver comes up to me, smiling. "You ready?" He asks.
I take a deep breath, nodding. He'd already explained that he's gonna play songs that I know good enough to not mess up. I'm gonna sing near the back of the diner, right beside the bar but still where the other tables at the front could see and hear me. I walk to my spot, the music plays, I lean into the microphone and start singing.
During the first song, I see the group of friends me and Kim were supposed to meet sit at a table close to me. It goes good. I don't mess up with any of the songs and people actually clap.
I'm in the middle of the last song, At Last, by Etta James, when I see Jay making his way towards me. I shoot Kim a look. She's sitting with Dave, Mikey, Lauren, and Donna since her shift ended a couple minutes ago.
"Novie!" Jay slurs, standing right in front of me. I keep singing, trying desperately not to get distracted. But Jay's grabbing my arm and tugging on my skirt, trying to get me away from the mike.
"Jay, cut it out." I murmur, pushing his hands away, obviously having to cut the song short.
"I need to talk to you." The smell of alcohol slamming right into me.
"Stop it. You're drunk Jay."
Kim makes her way over to us. "Jay, I think you should leave." She says seriously.
He grabs my arm again. "Not until I talk to Novie." He says stubbornly.
Mr. Skiver comes up to Kim and I, placing a hand on each of our shoulders. "Everything all right ladies?" He asks, eying Jay's hand on my arm.
Kim nods, eyes narrowed. "Yeah, Jay was just leaving."
"Not until I talk to November dammit." He says, slamming his fist down on the table beside us. People turn their heads, staring at the drunk guy. I can see that this is going nowhere, so I step in.
"I was gonna leave anyways, Mr Skiver." I say, forcing a smile at him and Kim. "I'll make sure he leaves." I whisper.
Mr. Skiver nods, smiling at me. "Thanks for singing tonight. You were great." He presses a wad of dollar bills in my hands. "Maybe you can do it again sometime?"
"I hope so." I reply. "Thanks Mr. Skiver. I really appreciate it."
Although Kim looks worried, I walk out of the diner with Jay in tow.
"Alright." I start. "What's so goddamn important?"
We walk for a minute or two in silence in the direction of my house before he says anything.
"Listen." He says, struggling to maintain eye contact. "You know Isaac's my friend, right?"
"Yes, James." I say, annoyed. He comes to a halt, grabbing my arm yet again.
"I think he's lying to you."
My heart stops for like half a second. He had just said exactly what I wasn't allowing myself to think. But I knew just as well as everyone else that Jay couldn't necessarily be trusted. Especially when he was drunk. Like Isaac had told me the other day, half the shit that comes outta Jay's mouth is a lie.
"Excuse me?"
"Come on Novie, you know what I mean." He sighs. "Listen, I know Isaac. He's been weird lately. I think something's up." He's leaning closer now, getting in my face. "I don't want you to get hurt."
I was starting to worry until he said that last sentence. Now I know that this is all a load of bull.
"You..." I try saying around a chuckle. "You're drunk as hell. So I'm gonna go call my brother." I start to walk away, but he grabs the only thing that's in his reach, which happens to be my skirt. The skirt, which was already a couple inches above my knee, is now ripped clean up to the waistband. Shit.
"Damn it Jay." I holler, trying to hold it together. Obviously I don't get a sincere apology, since he's a badass Greaser. He cracks up, laughing so hard he has to prop his hand against the wall behind us so he won't fall. But that's partially because he's drunk.
"That definitely won't be the last skirt I rip." He winks at me, laughing again at his own joke.
"Asshole." I mutter, walking away towards the pay phone. After I call Darry, I plop down to sit on the bus bench.
"Think about what I said." Jay says, sitting down beside me.
I jump. I hadn't heard him come up behind me. "Jesus Jay. Just go on somewhere."
"I will when you stop being a bitch. Just trust me on this one Novie, okay?"
"You know, I'm really starting to consider the option that maybe you're bipolar? Maybe you should try therapy." I say, only half joking.
He chuckles. "I didn't mean to rip your skirt, not that I regret it." I roll my eyes. "But seriously November, he's been off lately. I'm just giving you a fair warning."
"Jay, I appreciate the thought, but I trust Isaac. Yeah, he's been acting weird, but that doesn't mean he's lying."
He sighs, saying, "Whatever Novie. But don't come crying to me if something happens."
"I ain't gonna go crying to nobody because nothing's gonna happen." I retort. He stands up, realizing that I'm not gonna budge.
"I'll see you around November. Good luck." He says, walking away crookedly.
I wouldn't trust Jay if my life depended on it, but I still think about what he said. He really has a lot of nerve. Telling me that my boyfriend's lying, ripping my skirt almost off, then just leaving like it's no big deal. I guess that's what beer does to ya.
I'm relieved when I see headlights coming down the street.
Before I even have a chance to get in the truck, Darry flips shit. "What the hell happened to your skirt?" He asks, his eyes huge.
"Don't worry Dar, just Jay." I reply, buckling my seat belt.
He gapes. "So you expect me to not say anything when you get in the truck in basically just your panties?"
I laugh. "First, you can only see like an inch of my underwear. Second, he didn't mean to Darry. He was drunk, I tried going one way, he reached for me, grabbed my skirt, and rip. It's fine Darry."
He seems more calm now, but he still hasn't let his guard down. "Is that all that happened?"
I nod. "I made..." I reach into my pocket, pulling out the money and counting it. "Holy crap! I made 24 bucks just off of singing."
Darry grins, looking happy. "Good job Ember."
For the rest of the night, I can't get Isaac out of my head. I don't believe Jay at all. But I can't help but wonder.
