I'm back! Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this story, hasn't it? I can't promise I'll be extraordinarily quick on the next on either, but it certainly won't take three years this time haha. I'm currently writing the next chapter already anyway. Enjoy the read and I hope you'll leave a review to motivate me ;)
It was an unusually hot day so early in spring and the Jets were sitting around on the sidewalk. Action felt cheated by the weather. He was so energetic all of the time that he found it hard to sit still but it was too hot to move.
The school was almost out and the rest of the Jets, those who were still in school, could join them any moment. Riff said they'd start patrols then. He had told Action that he should take them out on morning patrols as well but around 11:30 no one felt like it anymore.
Soon enough the Jets were complete, safe for Baby John who was visiting his grandma in upstate New York, and a little while later Action noticed Bee and her twin brother walking up to them as well. She stayed a safe distance away from any of his gang members but he noticed her glancing in his direction a couple of times. He flexed his fingers trying to come up with a good reason to walk up to her and talk to her but after a moment he cussed at himself and told himself he didn't need any. It wasn't like he wanted to impress her or something.
She looked up in surprise from her book when Action's shadow casted over the pages. 'Oh!' She exclaimed. 'Action, what can I do for you?' She asked politely. 'Nothing.' He said stupidly. He leaned against the bar next to her. 'You invited me for dinner last week right?' He asked her and he saw her eyes widen a bit. She probably hadn't expected him to ask about it again and he hadn't really planned on it either but he had gotten into a fight with his mother again and he didn't want to rely on his friends all the time. He told them not to worry but he knew they did anyway.
He didn't say anything more but just looked at the bar counter stubbornly, tracing the lines of the wood with his thumb. 'You want to come over for dinner tonight?' Bee asked after a few seconds. He hesitated a moment. 'If that's alright.' He answered then. 'That's perfectly alright!' She said and he looked up at the enthusiasm in her voice. She had a bright smile on her face. 'I'll go prepare dinner right away! Just follow Emil home, he'll know when to come home for dinner.' She said and before he could protest or comment she had jumped up and run out of Doc's.
Action saw Bee's twin stand upright from his place next to the door a couple of hours later. He said goodbye to Snowboy and Gee-Tar, who sat closest to him, but they didn't even look up and he left through the front door. Action waited a couple of seconds but then murmured a quick goodbye to his fellow Jets and they all said goodbye to their lieutenant. 'Where're you going?' A-Rab asked but Action pushed him aside as he walked past. 'I don't need to tell you anything.' He grumbled moodily.
He quickly caught up to Emil, Bee's twin brother. He looked startled as Action matched his pace. 'Your sister invited me for dinner.' Action told him reluctantly and Emil frowned. 'She did?' He asked and Action glared at him. 'You calling me a liar, buddy?' Action asked testily and Emil immediately shook his head. 'I'm just surprised, that's all.' He mumbled.
Emil didn't seem to be at peace with it though. Right outside of the apartment he stopped and looked at Action. Action narrowed his eyes at him. 'Aren't you going to open the door kid?' He asked and Emil nodded. 'Yeah, I will, I first just want to tell you to stay the hell away from my sister.' He said and the threat came so unexpected to Action that he started laughing. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.' He denied the boy in front of him and he turned away but Emil grabbed at his shoulder. That was it for Action. He wasn't about to let some punk order him around.
He moved out of the way of Emil's hand and pushed him to the sidewalk, putting his right knee to his chest and gathering up his collar in his fist. 'You better be real careful now.' Action told him in an angry voice. Emil seemed to be offended more than scared and after a moment Action stood back up and after Emil had gotten up as well he said in a low voice: 'Nothing is going on with me and your sister.' Emil pressed his lips together. 'There better not be.' He muttered as he stepped past Action to unlock the front door but Action decided to let it slide.
The two boys walked up to the top floor in silence and Action was already regretting his decision of coming over but as he glared at the back of Bee's twin as they walked up the stairs, he hardened his face: he wasn't going to let himself be pushed around by anyone, let alone a shrimp like him.
When they walked in, Emil kicked off his shoes and threw his coat at the coat rack before barging out the hallway into the kitchen. Action looked at the shoes that were neatly lined up to the wall (and Emil's thrown on top) and hesitantly decided to take off his own shoes as well. He hung his jacket on the rack and then walked into the kitchen as well.
Bee was leaning over a big pot of what seemed to be soup, stirring the contents as she added salt. Emil was talking to her in rapid Danish and he was obviously annoyed. Bee seemed to stay calm under his scrutiny, talking back in her usual cool and collected tone of speaking. When Action walked in she looked over her shoulder, a smile on her face. 'Hi Action, soup's almost ready.' She said and Action sniffed his nose. It smelled nice so he told her. She blushed.
It stayed awkwardly quiet after, not because Action and Bee didn't know what to talk about but because Emil was standing in the corner of the kitchen, overseeing the spectacle with narrowed eyes. Action decided that the scrawny looking kid had more zest to him than he and the other Jets had originally thought. Not that it changed anything but still.
When they started dinner their parents hadn't come home yet. They shared some polite conversation and it was getting increasingly frustrating and Action saw that Bee was about to open her mouth with a determined look on her face when in the other room her little sister started crying. She sighed, put down her spoon and stood up. 'I'll be back in a moment.' She said. When she left Action and Emil glared at each other. 'What do you want?' Emil eventually asked.
'I don't want nothing.' Action told him but Emil didn't look convinced. 'You already have a girlfriend, so what are you hanging around with my sister for.' Emil hissed, looking angry. Action didn't like the feeling of being accused and shot out of his chair, leaning the palms of his hand flat on the table. 'I don't have to explain myself to a fream like you.' He said menacingly and he was surprised by how unimpressed Emil looked. Action was used to people shrinking down a couple of sizes whenever he focussed his anger on them.
Action didn't want to look at his face any longer so he huffed and stalked off to the door Bee disappeared into. He found her in a tiny little room that somehow sported a dresser and a bed and a crib pushed against the wall. There barely was room to stand in. Bee looked up when he came in, softly rocking her baby sister. 'She's almost back to sleep.' She said. Her eyes shifted over the room nervously and Action realized that this must be her bedroom. He felt himself get a bit hot around the collar as well.
'The soup was good.' Action said and Bee smiled. 'That was what I was going for.' She said and Action snickered despite himself. Their conversation felt more relaxed without the supervising of her twin brother. 'Why are you guys called the Jets?' Bee asked and Action shrugged. 'Tony and Riff came up with it. Having jets means being smart, or having brains, you get it?'
She nodded as she gently put the toddler in the crib, tucking the blanket around her. She straightened her back and looked back at Action. 'You want to go for a walk?' She asked and he eagerly agreed. Anything to get away from that pit bull twin of hers. As they walked through the kitchen, Emil jumped up from his seat, rattling off a speech in Danish. Bee rolled her eyes and said something back. Emil didn't seem to be happy but before he could reply, she interjected in English. 'Emil, just do the dishes. I always have to do everything myself already.'
In the hallway the two quickly shot into their shoes, sitting on the narrow wooden bench. They were pressed together and Action could feel the smooth skin of her shoulders rub against his arms as she moved her hands around to tie her shoe laces and it gave him inexplicable goose bumps. When they stood up, he hastily put on his jacket.
They strolled down the sidewalk in silence, but Action was glad that she didn't chatter his ears off. Clarice was always talking away, whether it was about her friends, her teachers, some party or dance or about her feelings. And her favourite subject; their relationship. Action never was a great talker so although he could suffer through the other benign conversation points, every time she brought up their relationship and everything it involved he was suddenly forced to participate. And she never was quite happy with his input on the matter.
'I'm a bit tired.' Bee admitted after a couple of blocks. Action chuckled. 'You must have had a hard day.' He told her. 'We all know how much of an exertion school is, right?' He added cheekily and she elbowed him. He took her assault with a grin. 'There's a good spot close by. We can sit there.' Action told her and after a few minutes they did arrive at a sort of courtyard, ducking through an alleyway to get there. There was a wooden fence in the way but Action climbed over and opened the door from the inside.
The courtyard seemed to be intended for a communal garden, although only a corner was actually used for it, a couple of tomato plants shrivelling up in the dry earth. Concrete covered the rest of the ground, although violets and grass sprouts fought their way up through cracks in the cement. The fenestration of the surrounding building made it look boxy and impersonal, however the red brick and the washing hanging on long lines from one end of the courtyard to another made up for the small square windows.
'You can sit fairly comfortable behind the plants.' Action said, taking the lead and sitting on the dirt, leaning his back against the brick wall and stretching his legs out in front of him. 'I can't sit there!' She exclaimed and he looked up at her, squinting his eyes against the sun, to see her standing in between the green and red of the tomato plants. Her caramel coloured hair glinted in the golden light. It was pinned up in loose curls but he saw that little strands had come detached from her do and were tickling her neck. 'Why the hell not!?' He replied indignantly.
'I'll never get the stains out of this dress.' She explained and he huffed but nonetheless shrugged off his baseball jacket and put it on the ground next to him, patting it patronizingly. 'There you go princess.' He said and she shot him a glare. 'Easy for you to say, you look good wearing filthy clothes.' She said jokingly but his mind got stuck on only one particular part of that sentence. "You look good" she said. She thought he looked good.
Action looked at his beat up tennis shoes, digging his heels into the parched earth. 'How are you liking New York?' Action asked after a couple of moments. Way to go, he thought to himself, how many people must have asked her that already. She seemed to be giving it significant thought though. 'Better and better every day.' She ended up saying and he felt his heart speed up. He didn't say anything back.
Bee seemed to feel uncomfortable as well but after a few minutes she took a deep breath and started telling him about what they had learned about the Ancient Egyptians in class that day. And although he didn't really care about these pharaohs and pyramids she kept going on about, he just listened to the soft lull of her accent, the cool quality of her voice and the passion with which she spoke.
He dropped her off at her apartment a couple of hours later and went back to Doc's. 'Action, buddy-boy, where'd you disappear to?' Riff called out as he came in and all heads looked around, greeting him as he walked past. It was already late, nearly dark outside. He pulled up a chair and took a seat at the table, across from his gang leader. The aforementioned leaned forward, crossing his arms. 'Clarice came here looking for you.' He said. 'Good to know.' He said gruffly.
The boys left him alone for a bit because Action appeared to be in a pensive mood, which he wasn't often. But his interest was immediately peaked when Riff and Ice started talking about the new gang in town. 'The Sharks are getting more and more ballsy.' Riff said loudly. 'So many PR's arrived in New York lately that they'll have as many recruits as they want.' Ice grumbled. 'We have to act soon.' Riff agreed. 'Before their gang becomes too big.'
Not everyone at Doc's heard the conversation yet but they did when Action hit his fist onto the table. 'Then let's quit bench racing and wipe 'm out!' He called out. Everyone looked up from what they were doing and tuned into the table in the corner, where their leaders were sitting. 'I'm going to talk to Tony about it.' Riff said but Action growled at that. 'Where is Tony?' He asked, letting himself lean back in his chair again. Riff glanced at him in annoyance but took no further notice.
The next day Tony did show up. Riff must have had a talk with him indeed. Riff lived with Tony's family on account of his own family being a shit family. Sometimes Action would wonder if any of the Jets would let him live with them if he asked but he'd quickly shake his head. Of course they would, they all would (their parents were a different story). It was just that he was too proud to let anyone know the full extent of his practical homelessness. Technically he could stay with his mother, but he'd rather live under a bridge than stay with her for any extensive period of time. Instead he stayed singular nights at his friends' houses, at Doc's, anywhere with a roof. Sometimes he'd take the subway up to the Bronx to stay with his cousin Astrid and her dad, but he tried to avoid that if he could. Not only was it a fairly lengthy trip to make just for a sleeping place, but he also had to leave his turf and go through the turf of many other gangs. And when he finally got there, he was on the territory of the Fordham Baldies, a large gang (much larger than the Jets), that also ruled the high school that Astrid went too. He didn't want to make trouble for her if he couldn't be there to protect her afterwards.
It had gone wrong once before, when he had gone into a little lunch room called "Jennie's Luncheonette" to get his cousin a sandwich when she was younger. It was then that he found out that the elder members of the gang, dubbed the Fordham Daggers, held house there and at least twenty five of them were present when he came in. He was let off with a warning, very luckily so, and could leave the Bronx alive that night with just a black eye. He wasn't allowed to buy the sanwich for Astrid and the money he would've paid with was taken as well. The thing he was happy with the most though was that he had made Astrid wait outside so he could get the sandwich as a surprise. He didn't want the boys with the white jackets and the gold letters on the back to know that this girl was the cousin of a gangster in another gang.
When Tony showed up at Doc's that day everyone was ecstatic. Tony was top dog in the gang, one of the best fighters, up there with Ice and Action, and incredibly charismatic. You couldn't help but like him. However, when he came in and everyone clapped him on the back and greeted him enthusiastically, Action stayed back, leaning his back against the wall and waiting it out. Action was loyal, very loyal, but he expected that absolute loyalty to be returned. Tony hadn't shown up much at all recently and when he did he didn't really do anything of consequence. Action hadn't seen him punch anyone for months.
After the excitement of seeing one of their gang leaders in the flesh once again had died down a bit, Tony looked around Doc's and his eyes landed on the moody lieutenant. He came to stand next to him, bumping the smaller boy in the shoulder with his own. 'Action, what's up?' He asked, a good natured smile on his face. 'Nothing.' Action mumbled. Tony chuckled. 'There's a whole of that nothing on your face.' He commented on Action's grouchy facial expression. If possible, he became grouchier. 'Come on Action, you're the lieutenant, it's a great day for the Jets!' Tony exclaimed. 'What happens today?' Asked Baby John who was standing close by.
Tony turned partially away from Action and addressed everyone who listened, which was everyone. 'Riff and I talked it through yesterday evening and we're going to really send those Puerto Ricans a message.' He said. Animated murmurs went through the candy store. Riff took over, being the bigger talker. 'We're going to jump every bleeding Spic that even looks at the borders of our territory. We're going to block them access to the playground, the garage, Doc's and the high school. We'll make them look over their shoulders wherever they go. We'll be merciless.' Riff said in his commanding tone and everyone cheered.
Action's heart started thumping faster in anticipation and a smile broke onto his face. Tony saw. 'That's what I'm talking about!' He said, putting an arm around his neck fondly. Action didn't mind. They were going to properly take control. Finally!
'We're going to start tomorrow morning immediately. We have to nib these Sharks in the bud.' Tony interjected and Riff nodded in agreement. 'We're going to have to split up to cover everything, divide and conquer and all that.' Riff elaborated. 'We want Ice by the playground, I'll stay here at Doc's and Action, we want you to defend the high school.' Riff ordered and Action stomped his fist in his open hand, a big mean grin on his face. 'We'll separate the rest of the gang among these groups.' Riff finished grandly. 'What about the garage?' Asked Gee-Tar and Riff pointed his finger at him with a smile. 'Good question!' He commended. 'The garage usually isn't busy in the morning so we're going to leave that as it is. In the afternoon Action will take a couple of the crew there.' Riff answered.
Later that evening everyone left Doc's with a clear plan on what the next day was going to entail. In the end it was only Riff, Tony and Action who were still sitting at the counter. They were talking, reminiscing the fights they had been in together. For now Action's recent scepticism towards the Jets co-founder were forgotten. Tony was his brother, like any of the others.
Doc was silently scrubbing off the glasses and after a while Tony got up from his barstool and ducked behind the bar to help him out. 'Here, let me Doc.' He said, taking the rag from him. 'You look exhausted, go get some sleep.'
Doc tried to refuse, saying that he had to stay to lock up, but Tony insisted and told him that if he gave Tony the key that he would lock up and put the key through the mail slot. Doc relented and now it was just the three boys. The last remaining members of the original Jets. 'Action, tomorrow morning when we decide the different line-ups, I want you to take at least three strong fighters with you; it's going to be the toughest at the school because they need to get in for their classes.' He told his lieutenant.
Action nodded understandingly, lighting a cigarette. 'Can I get one off you?' Riff asked and Action took out the nearly empty pack which he had taken from a Shark just a couple of days ago on a routine patrol with his buddies. There were two left and Riff took one. Luckily Tony didn't want one. Action threw away the pack and put the last cig in his breast pocket.
Riff took a long drag from the cigarette and savoured it in his lungs for a moment before he blew it out with a sigh. 'I'm putting you by the high school for a reason, Action. No one can get past, otherwise our stance is pointless. You can fight hard and you won't get scared and back down but most importantly, the others won't get scared either when they know you got their back.' Riff said to him and Action felt oddly flattered.
'Ice being on the playground and me being at Doc's, we'll be close by each other so we can back each other up when we need to, but you'll be more far out and we won't be able to easily come if you need help.' Riff rattled off.
'On a different subject, A-Rab and Snowboy can't be on the same troupe; I want none of them joking around or getting distracted. This is important.' He continued and Action once again nodded, leaning forward on the counter, looking at Tony's quick and steady hands as they dried off every glass one by one. Tony was a strange one to offer to do chores like this one his own.
'Everything will run smoothly tomorrow, daddy-o.' Action told Riff.
Soon Tony was done and it was time to leave. It was a shame that Doc had gone upstairs to sleep already because Action had half-planned to stay there that night but now he couldn't without alerting his friends to the situation. Maybe he'd have to stay at his mother's, just for this one night. He didn't know yet and he figured he still had a couple of hours before he definitely had to make his mind up.
'I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early.' Riff said cheerfully, clapping him on the back. Tony and Riff went one way and Action another. Despite having no prospect to where he would be sleeping that night, Action was in a good mood. The next morning would be the start of their retaliation. Too long they had let the newcomers get away with things they shouldn't get away with and it was done.
Riff would be at their home base, Doc's. Ice would hold down the playground and Action would block the school; no Puerto Rican was coming through his fists. All major players of the gang would lead their squads to defend the territory they owned. Then Action realized; where was Tony going to be?
How's that for an update? Next chapter is going to be ALL about that Jet-Shark action! Please review :D
PS: I've also realized that I've been mixing the Broadway production and the movie up quite a bit haha. But I don't mind really. I'll be following the story line of the movie though, but names and characters and backstory that you might find in the Broadway version only will find a way into this story too.
PPS: The Fordham Baldies were indeed a big Bronx gang.
