Hey y'all, I know it's been like months and months since I added a chapter. I could tell you that I was working on something more important, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I forgot. So I wrote this chapter a while ago. There's a quote from the Avengers movie in here, see if you can catch it! (Any Avengers fans out there, leave a review and I'll find a way to integrate another quote into the next chapter! Peace out.)
The next day, Katrina woke up to a loud crash. "Dammit, Steve!" she heard Darry yell from the kitchen. Oh, fun. It was time to meet a member of the infamous gang. From the Curtis's detailed description of each person, Kat remembered that Steve was the moody one whose dad sometimes got drunk and beat him up, then paid Steve to make up for it. Strange thing to do. Katrina preferred people who were consistent.
Kat got up, stretched, and pulled on a tank top. She tied her hair up and put on some denim shorts, and she was ready, since she rarely wore much makeup. She opened her door and walked down the hall into the kitchen.
"Mornin'," she yawned, pouring herself a bowl of cereal without bothering to ask. A brown-haired boy she hadn't seen before looked somewhat sheepishly at the shards of a bowl that seemed to have been dropped on the floor. Darry then walked in with a broom, which he tossed to the brown-haired boy.
"If you're wonderin', Kat, this is Steve. One of these days I'm gonna start charging him for everything he breaks around here," Darry told her. Clearly, this wasn't an uncommon occurrence, nor did Darry seem overly fond of Steve. This could be an interesting story; she'd have to ask Pony or Soda about it later. Steve nodded at her as he finished sweeping up the fragments.
"Nice to meet you, Katrina. Your cousins have told us a lot about you," Steve remarked in a much more polite fashion than usual. At least he was making an effort, even if it was just because Darry would pound him if he didn't.
Katrina replied, "Oh, really? And what did you hear?" This was a kind of test. Kat wanted to figure out right away whether she would get along with this guy or piss him off, like with Dallas. She wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Dallas again. He didn't seem like a forgive-and-forget kind of guy.
Steve shrugged, "Well, they said you could kick some serious ass."
Katrina laughed. "Got that right. But honestly, Darry, out of all the things you could have shared of my stunningly charismatic personality, you chose that? Why not tell them about my great sense of humor and wonderful vocabulary?"
Darry raised an eyebrow. "You have a wonderful vocabulary?"
"I just used the word 'charismatic', didn't I?" Katrina replied.
"Yes, but I wouldn't have thought your knowledge of seventh-grade-level words would be one of the qualities you prized about yourself."
"Oh, I know plenty of other words, but I'm pretty sure a seventh-grader would be punished for saying them in class."
Soda chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, and hearing her last statement, gave all of them a confused look. That look paired with his tangled hair made for quite a funny sight.
Katrina wouldn't be Katrina if she didn't tease him, so she said, "Geez, Soda, I dunno which is more amusing: your face or your bed head."
Soda wisely chose to ignore that dig, knowing that getting into a verbal battle with Kat was a no-win situation.
"What's for breakfast?" Soda asked.
"Whatever you can find or want to cook," Darry replied.
"But you were up before me! It's your turn to cook breakfast!" Soda protested. Katrina filed away this information in her brain. It could come in handy at some point. At least, she'd make sure she was never the first one up.
Darry sighed, "Well, I would cook breakfast, Soda, but it seems that someone forgot to get eggs and milk, even though I reminded that someone yesterday to go shopping. Now, what is your reaction to the breakfast arrangement?"
"On second thought, I would love some dry cereal!"
"Good choice," Darry smirked.
A few minutes later, Ponyboy walked into the kitchen still half-asleep. He poured a bowl of cereal and left, going to eat his little breakfast in the living room.
Kat glanced at his older brothers. "Well, he seems social today."
Soda replied, "He's a bit of a zombie in the morning. He gets better as the day goes on."
"Geez, I hope so. It wouldn't be good if he was like this all the time."
She strode into the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Ponyboy.
"So, how do you like dry cereal?" Kat asked.
Pony shrugged, "I'm not a fan of cereal in general, but since Soda forgot to go shoppin', it's pretty much the only option."
"Pretty stupid of him, huh?"
"Yeah. But lucky for him, he can get away with this kinda thing and not get screamed at by Darry," Ponyboy replied, his voice bitter.
Uh-oh, Katrina thought. This seemed like it was more than a one-time thing. While Katrina cared about her cousins, she didn't want to get caught up in any messy family things, being the below-average family counselor that she was. Grasping at a way to change the subject smoothly, she said, "Ah well, one day without milk never killed anyone. I would be more worried about lethal objects, if I were you."
Ponyboy smiled and said sarcastically, "Thanks, Kat. Next time I complain about something, I'll think, 'At least I'm not being impaled by a lethal object.'"
"Aha!" Katrina exclaimed.
Pony jumped, startled. "What?" he asked.
"You just displayed a sense of humor. I win!"
Ponyboy smiled again. "I didn't know this was a contest."
Katrina replied, "First life lesson, little cousin: everything is a contest. If you know that, you'll do just fine in the world of competitive people."
He raised an eyebrow, "Ok. Just know that because you told me this, you have no excuse next time when I beat you in an unexpected contest."
"Are you trash talkin' me, little cousin? Wanna know how that's gonna work out for you?"
He laughed at her mock-serious expression. "So you've decided to call me 'little cousin' now?"
She nodded. "Unless you'd prefer 'little greaser boy' or something equally irrelevant."
"Little cousin it is."
Darry walked into the room. "Time to meet the gang, you guys. That probably means you'll want to get dressed, Pony."
Katrina, always snarky, chimed in with an unhelpful comment. "Unless you'd prefer meeting Dallas and the others in your pajamas. That would earn you a lot of street cred."
Darry looked at her, but there was no amusement in his expression. "Thank you for bringing up the subject of Dally, Katrina, I'd almost forgotten."
"Glad to be a help."
Darry glared at her. "Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Well, having Dallas Winston as an enemy isn't funny, so we should be able to have a normal conversation." Katrina bit back a retort that immediately sprang to her tongue. Darry continued: "I'm not happy that Dallas is pissed at you before he even knows you, but there's nothing I can do about that, so I've moved on."
It didn't sound to Katrina that he'd moved on, but she thought it best not to say so. Instead, she asked, "So what do you recommend, based on your knowledge of Dallas' character?" She was proud that she kept the sarcasm out of her voice. Another hard-learned lesson: only let people know what you're feeling if it will help you manipulate them. Not the kindest skill to have, but with endless applications.
Darry said, "Obviously, he's not gonna be overjoyed when he finds out that he has to interact with you on a regular basis. It'll help that neither of you knew who the other was when this happened, but that won't completely make up for it. He'll probably get over it eventually, as long as you don't piss him off again."
Kat was trying to listen and take this seriously, but she felt now she had to say something. "Why are you treating this like I'm the one who owes an explanation? He wasn't exactly being civil to me, but I don't see you asking me to forgive him, which won't happen anytime soon, by the way. I reacted the way any tough street girl would react. He provoked me. The way I see it, he is more at fault than I am."
Darry sighed. She was completely right. But for God's sake, what was he supposed to do? Darry had never seen two people who were more likely to rub each other the wrong way. Neither was sorry for their actions, and neither would apologize. "I know, Katrina! You were justified! Does that make you feel any better? But what do you want me to do? I can't make Dally friendlier toward you. I can't ask him to go back and un-say whatever he said that night. I just want you two to get along, since you're my cousin and he's my friend. Is that too much to ask?"
He was right, but Katrina couldn't just smooth over the situation. She stood by her actions, for better or worse. "I understand. I'll do my best, but you can't ask me to beg him for forgiveness or just forget what he said."
"Fair enough." That was all the movement he could expect from her. Dallas was impulsive, but he was smart, and would listen to reason. This whole thing would have just been another interaction between two tough greasers if it weren't for Kat being their cousin or Dallas being their friend. Dallas would understand that.
Ponyboy reappeared, now dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. "I'm ready," he announced.
"Let's go, then," Darry replied. He got up off the couch, but before they joined Steve and Soda at the door, he imparted one more bit of advice to Katrina. "Probably nobody has told Dally about you bein' our cousin yet, so it will probably be surprising to him. Just so you're prepared for his hateful glare."
Katrina smiled. Hateful glares, she could deal with. "I'll try to be strong." Then she remembered Johnny. "Hey, where did Johnny go? He was here last night."
"He left just a few minutes before you woke up. He was goin' home to change clothes, so he'll meet us in a while."
"All right. Let's do this thing!"
Darry wished he could be as enthusiastic as she was.
They headed out the door, and to the place where they would meet Two-Bit and Dally.
Katrina found Steve to be a fine person to be around, so the walk wasn't awkward. She didn't have anything against him yet. After a few minutes of playing the awkward 'getting-to-know-you' game and pretending they hadn't already been told these things by Darry, Soda, and Pony, the conversation moved to something more interesting and less pointless. Johnny joined them about halfway through the walk. But too soon, they were at the place where they would meet the remaining two gang members.
Soon, Kat saw two figures walking toward them. One was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and seemed to have an omnipresent playful smile. The other figure, the one she recognized from last night, was the opposite. There was nothing whimsical about him, with his worn leather jacket and a cold expression. His hair was very blond, and his features roughly cut. All in all, he looked like someone to be avoided. Katrina couldn't wait to meet him.
As the two boys drew closer, Dally caught sight of the girl standing with Johnny and the Curtises. His eyes narrowed. It couldn't possibly be that broad from last night, but it was. Oh, shit, he thought, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Now he would be expected to be civil to her, and that wouldn't come easily to him. She had dumped Coke on his head, for God's sake! The fact that he had deserved it was irrelevant. He hung back, not eager to speak to them.
Two-Bit, on the other hand, had no such reservations. He figured she was someone who was not to be ogled at, but damn, that broad was fine. He walked right up to Katrina, offering his hand and saying, "I don't believe I've been graced with your company before. I'm Two-Bit Matthews, and you are?"
Katrina grinned. The Curtises had described him perfectly. "Katrina Jackson. I 'spect you've heard of me."
"Ah, yes. You're quite well known around here, at least among this gang. We've heard many stories of your dramatic triumphs over the forces of evil!"
"Not a word of those stories is exaggerated. I am every bit as amazing as you have been led to believe."
"Any less would be a disappointment. After all-"
Their lively conversation was interrupted someone loudly clearing their throat. Katrina didn't even have to look to know who it was: Dallas Winston. Cold blue eyes met cold green ones, and neither of them said a word. Two-Bit clearly had no idea what was going on, and looked back and forth between the two with a confused expression.
It was Sodapop who broke the silence. "Dally, this is our cousin Katrina. Katrina, Dallas Winston." The introduction was completely unnecessary, but he felt he had to say something to lessen the tension.
Katrina nodded, not taking her eyes off Dallas. She had been told that Dallas wouldn't harm a friend of the Curtises, but she still didn't trust him out of her sight. "We've met," she said in a toneless voice.
"Indeed," Dallas replied.
Two-Bit realized that this wasn't something he wanted to be involved in, so he decided to take a little walk around instead, motioning for Soda and Pony to follow. With any luck, he could figure out from them what the hell was going on between Dallas and Katrina. They walked until they were well out of earshot but could still see if a fight broke out. Steve and Johnny also wandered off.
Meanwhile, Darry shifted, uncomfortable with this staredown. This was going exactly how he had feared. Clearly, neither of the NYC natives was going to initiate the conversation, so Darrel took it upon himself to do so. "Look, I realize that the two of you had a disagreement, but that was before you had even met. I want both of you to put this behind you and try not to piss each other off."
They both looked at Darry as if he had gone slightly loony in the head. They were made to piss each other off, and both of them knew it.
Katrina decided that because her cousins were being so nice to let her stay with them, she should probably at least make an effort. "I know you didn't know I was their cousin when we first met," she said to Dallas. He shook his head but said nothing. She continued, "And I didn't know you were their friend. So we both reacted like we would with anyone else."
"Correct, but that doesn't change the fact that you dumped a Coke on my head," Dallas replied unhelpfully.
Katrina bristled with anger. She was trying to be reasonable, the least he could do was stop being an ass. "As I recall, you fully deserved it."
"What the hell did I do? I'm just a guy, hitting on a girl who looked like she could be fun. I bet you've had guys hit on you before, and I'm also betting you reacted in a more friendly way than dumpin' Coke on them."
Oh, he didn't, Katrina thought, furious. "So, you assume that because I'm from New York, I'm automatically a slut?" She spoke in a dangerously quiet voice, but anyone with a brain could hear the hostility simmering beneath a thin veil of tranquility. Dally did, apparently, have a brain, so he wisely chose not to answer.
"Let's just get one thing straight, Winston," Katrina said, stepping closer to Dallas to jab his chest with her finger. "I am not easy. Never suggest that again, or I promise I will not forget it." She gave him a little push just to prove her point.
Dallas, unaffected by the push itself, was really appalled that a broad would dare to push him. This girl was a spunky thing, no doubt about it. He admired that, but she had crossed a line. Her neck was so little and fragile, and it took a fair amount of his self-control to avoid reaching out and choking her, just until she learned to give him some respect. He let himself indulge in this fantasy for a few seconds, and then came back to reality. "I'll be sure to remember that," he said to her, in a bitter voice.
She bobbed her head quickly. Ignorance, she could forgive. Deciding that Dallas had meant no personal offense the previous night in the store, she would let it slide for now, barring a second incident. "All right. If we can both let go of what happened before we met, I'm willing to move on." In reality, she was just sick of talking about it.
Dallas nodded. "I guess I didn't handle it that well. Just don't dump Coke on me again." Wait, did he just say something that could be construed as an apology? He was losing it.
"No promises."
Dallas didn't so much crack a smile as waver in his glare, but that was the first glimpse of humor he had shown thus far. He just couldn't figure this girl out. One day she tells me to jump off a cliff, the next she cracks a joke. One minute she pushes me, the next she says we should move on. What's next?
"We cool?" she asked.
"Fine." This was how things worked. People got pissed, blew up, moved on. He had done this many a time with Tim Shepard. Except negotiations between Dallas and Tim usually involved fists rather than words.
Darry, who had been standing there awkwardly throughout this whole interaction, blew out a deep breath of relief. He waved the others over.
Soda looked at Darry like, Glad that's over. Darry nodded in agreement. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could keep their friends and what was left of their family intact. And that was all anyone could hope for.
Two-Bit decided Katrina needed a tour of the town, so the group set off walking down the street, each member of the gang pointing out some landmark they felt she should know. Darry was relieved to see that while Katrina and Dallas were treating each other with some coolness, they were not totally ignoring each other. With time, and maybe a few bribes, they might work their way up to full conversations. Fingers crossed.
Did you find the quote? If not, I forgive you. It's a wittle one.