CHAPTER SIX
That evening Sweet Pea came home with a bag of takeout Chinese food – a staple in the Southside, alongside the other popular 'easy' options of pizza, ramen and pasta – and they sat in the snug living room, Cheryl and Toni huddled as close as could be with a blanket wrapped around their shoulders at the edge of the now-sofabed watching something on television that didn't require too much attention or care, with him and Fangs playing some card game between the coffee table and the other sofa, the only sound other than that coming from the poor quality speakers being that of forks against cardboard containers and quiet breathing.
No sniffling, no tears, no raised voices or sarcastic comments. No.
It was a world away from all over emptional states in the past twenty hours.
It was also a world away from the definition of their typical Thursday night, which would otherwise have been spent hanging in the Wyrm playing snooker and listening to deeper adult voices around them complaining about low wages or gang rivalries or the lack of hot water or something else surrounding working class oppression. For tonight, even if it was for one night only, was nice to avoid all that for once; watch some trash nobody gave a shit about and take a break from reality, ironically by watching reality shows. It made them feel like real teenagers – those who had nights in doing nothing and actually enjoying that.
Toni had never been a chill person when it came to watching TV. She was one of the most level-headed of the Serpents (arguably the most level-headed of the Serpents) and able to keep a steady hand under stress, sure, but he didn't remember a time where she'd peacefully sat and watched even ten minutes of a show in silence. Sweet Pea wasn't too sure why she did it, but she'd always give her input (regardless of whether it was appreciated – more often that not it wasn't) on whatever was playing; even when the boys were watching some sports game or racing event she'd find some way to frown upon the reckless nature of it all (because being a gang definitely wasn't just as dangerous as that). It drove them crazy. But right here, right now, she was sat cross-legged next to and leaning into the taller girl, watching Houswives Of Some-Place-Or-Another in silence as she pushed her portion of sweet and sour chicken around the takeout box, and she looked happy – or at least satisfied with the current situation.
And then there was Cheryl, sat in a similar position next to his best friend, which was even stranger than the way Toni was watching that piece of trash on the screen in dead silence because a) she was Cheryl Blossom and b) she was Cheryl Blossom. At the same time, it wasn't the Cheryl Blossom he recognised from the street race or the hallways at school – she looked completely different, more like a shadow or maybe a ghost lingering in the background rather than the star of the show (for some reason, he'd always seen her as wannabe-Sharpay from High School Musical – not that he was an avid fan of that trilogy, but Toni's nine-year-old self had been and he'd been there to endure it). Hot Dog was lying to her right, puppy dog eyes half closed as the girl played with the scruffy (yes; scruffy) charcoal hair on his ears. It was as if he knew that this stranger was now an ally who needed the same protection he gave his own.
"You like dogs?" Sweet Pea asked as a commercial came on. The largely-build boy was coming to the conclusion that if Toni was more than happy with her then he should be equally as accepting and try to get to know her a little at the very least.
"Yeah." It was a blunt answer, eyes remaining fixed on the screen she didn't seem all that interested in. After a few minutes, she turned back to face him. "We used to have a couple when we lived at Thornhill. My father used to go hunting when he wasn't... busy... so we had a few Irish Setters – think they're called that anyway; he liked their colour – but they weren't pets. They stayed in the barn and he got rid of them when they got too old." The three Serpents exchanged glances upon noticing how her eyes were once again glossy from tears which threatened to fall, Toni raising an eyebrow at the tallest boy who raised his hands above his knees in a subtle surrender.
At the worst occasion possible they'd led her onto the topic of Jason and how her father took his life just like he took the lives of those dogs. Treated him – them, as both son and daughter – like animals there to play nice until he didn't, their purpose a myth, themselves useless, their lives threatened by the complicated world of assets and profit, and all because someone had made destined-to-be harmless comment about a fucking dog. In all painful honestly, though, it didn't surprise Toni, knowing that the poor girl she loved had been through so much that every little thing in the world probably triggered her in some shape or form. That hurt like a stab to the chest. That made whatever they said something which could potentially bring up a horrifying memory.
When your whole life has been a horror story, the world as a whole is a very scary place indeed.
At least in Toni's case, she had felt true happiness for quite a bit more than thirty seconds of her life, and she had her own family – the Serpents – even if it wasn't if a biological format. Cheryl had never lived like her and she had never lived like Toni, so whilst their stories had similar sentences in them it was always merely that.
"Hot Dog isn't ours," Toni was attempting to shy away from the sore topic of Cheryl Blossom's life, "He's the Serpent's dog, and we take turns looking after him – it's part of the initiation but also something we just do because that's what it is."
"That's so sweet," Cheryl commented half-mindedly. Toni pulled a face. "What? You literally have a dog and if you don't look after him you're not allowed to join the gang."
Fangs shrugged. "If you can't be trusted look after a dog then you can't be trusted with another man's back. He's also a half-decent guard dog, even if he is pretty cute."
"He's clearly doing a good job. Letting me in without a hassle."
"Eh, he knows you're with us."
With us.
Cheryl had not once imagined that she'd find herself thinking that without a grimace or some other disgusted look in her face, but here she was, with the Serpents, being offered a shuffled set of playing cards as the boring show came back from its breaking, and she felt safer than she'd ever felt. There wasn't that constant fear of her mother taking her anger out on her, physically or psychologically; there wasn't that heart-in-stomach sensation she'd lived with for a fortnight, ever since she'd began to piece together the story behind her brother's murder; there wasn't that worry of a stranger indentical to her dead father plotting to harm either her or her nana; there wasn't the midnight screaming and discomfort and pain associated with conversion therapy. Instead of that negative sort of atmosphere she'd known nothing better than, she was now in one of nothing less than pure mutuality amongst people who, for once in her life, didn't want to harm the redhead. She now understood why Toni had referred to the Serpents as her family so many times, why she called the boys her brothers. They really were the definition of an ideal family, minus the bloodlines. Cheryl didn't remember a time where the Blossoms had ever sat down and had a borderline enjoyable time – sure; they were related by blood but that was all they had, and that's all they would ever have (what the remaining of them had, that was). Not even at Christmas would they do so much as attempt to be a happy family. No wonder Cheryl had perfect grades, having dedicated her life to staying away from the parents she only ever wanted to please (yet never succeeded in doing so)...
"Cheryl!"
She shook her thoughts away at the familiar voice and smile less than a foot in front of her.
"You're turn," Toni nodded in the direction of the pile of cards on the table.
"What was the last?"
"Three."
"Um..." she stared down at the several in her hand, hesitating. "Two fours."
"Bullshit."
Cheryl stared at her in disbelief. "How did y—"
"Years of practice," Toni smirked, "and the fact that I in fact have three of the fours. Now take the cards."
Sweet Pea chuckled at the disgruntled expression on the redhead's face as he reached for the bottle of beer behind him. "You'll get used to it, Blossom. Toni always wins. She knows what a lie looks like. You'll see."
Toni did win that game. Fangs was the second to go out, and Cheryl came third after a good ten minutes between her and Sweet Pea (with the subtle help of the other girl). A similar result came in the next game, and the one after. By the time they'd reached game number six Cheryl was struggling to keep herself from yawning every thirty seconds so they finished off with Sweet Pea as the victor and, with that, he headed to the shower and Fangs started to head back to his own trailer whilst Toni found some pyjamas for the two girls (well, for Cheryl a pair of red and green plaid pyjama bottoms she'd got from one of Fangs' little brother for Christmas and a F.R.I.E.N.D.S top, and for herself she settled with one of Sweet Pea's massive t shirts which came just above her knees and a pair of cotton shorts), both girls then collapsing in each other's arms.
Each other's arms. Just where both had longed to find themselves for so long.
"Are you okay?" Toni murmured softly only a matter of minutes after they found themselves a comfortable position to lay in.
"M'yeah." She could feel the other girl's warm breath on her neck. "Better than I was this time twenty-four hours ago."
Right. 'Better'. That was like saying, 'hey, I've been stabbed in a vital organ but at least the knife isn't in there anymore' whilst bleeding to death.
"You know I'm right here now, okay? If you need anything just... I'm here?"
"I know that."
"Just making sure," Toni whispered as she brushed a strand of red away from the other girl's cheek, kissing her forehead and leaving her lips to linger there for seconds following. "G'night."
"'Night, Tiny," she grinned to herself at the nickname she knew, from the way the boys were winding her up with it, that Toni hated. She swore that, if it had been light enough to see, the serpent would be grinning too.
For a while, the dark room filled with silence. Toni felt the redhead's breathing ease and her heart rate slow, at that point shutting her eyes as well as she pulled the blanket back over her shoulder for a minimal amount of extra warmth, and she was almost out when—
"Toni?"
She opened her eyes a crack at the small voice, groggily propping herself up a little on her elbow but not enough to disrupt their comfortable position. "Hmm? What is it?"
"How come you live with Sweet Pea? Are you, like, emancipated or something?"
Oh.
She had a feeling that this topic of conversation would come around sooner or later, but she'd assumed the 'later' part of that. Only twenty-one hours in to their new accommodation, she wasn't quite so readily prepared with a response to that question.
"Kind of," Toni whispered after a long silence. "I mean, he is – his parents' trailer isn't too big so he moved out just under a year ago. They live in the park, though, so they still see a lot of him – like, sometimes they'll invite us for dinner or his mom will bring us breakfast over. As for me, I just stop over quite a bit, which explains why a lot of my stuff is over there."
"Don't your parents mind that?"
"They're not really around to give a shit about that anymore," she sighed, shifting to lie on her back, as exhaustion (mixed with the lack of will to share her life story at this hour) pulled down on her eyelids. "As far as the authorities know I'm living with my uncle, but we don't get on all that well so he's not too bothered with me crashing with friends. I think he prefers it, actually, having his own space and all." She gave her a small, sad smile. Not the whole truth, but it wasn't exactly like she was telling a lie, either.
"I'm sorry that I asked. I didn't mean—"
"Hey, no," Toni frowned as she brushed another hair away from Cheryl's face, "I'm being serious, it's really not a big deal. To be honest it was going to be discussed at some point, so..." Toni shrugged. "It's just a really long story and I don't know if right now is the best time to talk about it. Like, it's late. And after everything..."
The other girl trailed off – a fine indication that the story wasn't one to be shared, or at least not shared quite yet. Cheryl didn't blame her. Sure, she knew nothing about the Serpent's life but still, she'd been through enough trauma herself to understand that sharing a story wasn't always a case of trust but often one of admitting the truth to yourself, and it would be hypocritical for her to beg for answers when she had purposefully missed out so much in her own storytime sessions – hell, she herself had shared virtually nothing about her time at the Sisters with the shorter girl, and if she'd straight-up been asked she probably wouldn't have been able to make a sound. Regardless, whilst the serpent was dozing off to sleep, Toni's skeleton of a story kept her wide awake and it did make Cheryl ask a million questions:
Where were her parents? And why weren't they 'around here' anymore?
Where did she sleep when she didn't sleep here on this very couch?
What was her uncle like? Why didn't they get on?
But she wasn't going to overstep on the question game. She couldn't. She was already (as discovered only maybe twenty-something minutes ago) staying in a trailer which didn't belong to her or Toni. To say or do something which would have a negative reaction? It wasn't fair. And, of course, there was that argument that life itself wasn't fair, but still – plainly and simply, no.
Instead of begging for more, too tired to bother with a cruel and needless interrogation process with the other girl or process a single thing which came to mind, she adjusted her position on the sofabed, trying to bury herself into the other girl as comfortably close as she could. Toni opened her eyes a crack at the slight movement, murmuring something ambiguous against the redhead's forehead before throwing her arm around the redhead's waist, pulling her closer as if she was scared if she let go, she would go as well – the cause of all this shit happening – as she bid a silent prayer that, this time their sleep wouldn't be interrupted by demons in the night.
LATE UPLOAD BUT HOPE YOU DON'T MIND – HECTIC LIFE ETC. ANYWAY, HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER AND REMEMBER TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! GUYS, ALL THE FOLLOWS, FAVES AND REVIEWS ARE OVERWHELMING, I SAY THIS CONSTANTLY BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! HAVE A GREAT WEEK.
