Nine
July 1966
"So are you all in?" Ryan Lang stretches across, grabs his beer from the table and takes a swig, sits back in his chair and waits. And slowly, one by one, every single one of the gang nods and agrees with his latest plan.
Well, everyone except me.
I just shrug at him.
"You got a problem, Shepard? 'Cause if you have then how about you spit it out, instead of sitting there like some dumb fucking idiot." Ryan glares at me as the rest of the guys fall silent.
Christ. I know sharing my concerns isn't exactly my smartest idea. But then I ain't exactly keen to blindly follow his dumbass plan either. Not if means risking getting myself arrested again just for a few lousy dollars. But he's staring at me, so I'm gonna have to say something. "I dunno, it don't seem like the best idea, hitting the place like that."
"Oh yeah?" Ryan sneers, leaning forwards in his seat, elbows resting on his knees. "Well how would you do it then, genius? You got a better idea? Or is it that you've lost your nerve, gone soft since you've been spending all your time with that broad?"
All eyes are on me now. But I'm not going to let Lang have the satisfaction of thinking he's got to me, with his digs at Linda. And I ain't prepared to back down, to go through with his shit without saying nothing. Ryan might think he's smart, and he probably is, compared with some the other guys sat here. But he ain't Tim, and I know he hasn't considered all the options, everything that could possibly go wrong. Wouldn't be sitting there looking so smug, like his plan was foolproof, if he had. 'Cause if even I can spot the flaws in it, well, it's not like they're hard to miss.
"Nah, I ain't backing out." Aside from anything else, I can't afford to. Could always do with a few more bucks, even with the extra shifts I'm picking up down The Dingo now school's out. "But there is an easier way to do this."
And then I spell out exactly where I reckon he's going wrong, how we can do it better, with a whole lot less chance of the fuzz picking us up. And by the time I finish all the guys are smiling and nodding. Well, all of them except Ryan.
"So what d'you say?" I ask, watching him, waiting for a response.
Ryan stays quiet for a few seconds. Runs a hand through his hair. And from the look on his face I'm pretty sure that I won't come out of this well. "Sounds like a load of bullshit to me."
"C'mon, Ryan," Danny Simmonds says, ever the peacemaker of the group. "Curly's got a point. Might take us a bit longer, but none of us is looking to spend any time in the cells if we don't need to."
Try to keep the smirk off of my face as I hear a couple of the others backing Simmonds. Backing me.
Ryan turns to me, shakes his head. "Yeah, alright. We'll do it your way, Shepard. This time." And then he grins at me. "So how about you make a start on it tonight?"
"Tonight?" Fucking asshole. Reckon he fucking overheard me telling Danny I had plans to see Linda again. How things are going real good between us even after all these weeks. That he's trying to prove a point, make it plain he's still the one in charge, by screwing that up.
"Yeah tonight." He's still smiling at me, but his brow is creased, eyes hard as he stares me out. "That is, unless you got something more important than the gang to think about? Somewhere else you've got to be?"
Resist the temptation to knock him out. He wouldn't expect it. And I can't let him get away with that. Insinuating I don't have my priorities straight. Not when this is still the Shepard gang, even if everyone else but me seems to have conveniently forgotten that fact.
Shove my hands deep in my pockets, stop myself doing anything rash, stupid, thoughtless. Settle for rolling my eyes and snapping back at him.
"I said I'd do it, didn't I? So don't ever fucking question my loyalty. I'll be there."
~oOo~
"Hey, Curly. Isn't that your sister out there?" Curtis asks, gesturing through the hatch. "Over by the counter, reckon she's looking for you."
Takes me two seconds to pick out Angela, leaning on the counter and biting her lip as she points towards the back of the diner, towards the kitchens. Towards me.
"Jesus. Yeah." I'm already taking off my apron, heading through the swing door. Grabbing her by the arm. She don't ever come here when I'm working. Not like this. Not on her own. Fail miserably at trying to keep calm, my words spilling out in a rush as I pull her aside. "What's happened? What's wrong? Why are you here?"
Angela smiles. "Calm down will you? Before you have a fit. I swear you're getting more like Ma every day."
"Jesus, Ange, I'm working," I hiss, catching a glimpse of Ricky out the corner of my eye, eyeballing the pair of us. "If you ain't here for nothing important then I'm going back to work, before you get me fired."
"Curly, wait." Angela squeezes my arm. "It ain't exactly an emergency, but I promised Ma I'd go collect her pills. Only turns out I ain't got enough cash. She gave me her change purse, but when I got to the drugstore theres not enough for everything she needs. You got any spare? Don't want to have to go all the way home again, and hope Harry's left some lying around."
"Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
"Come on, Curly. She's down to the last couple of pills. You don't want her getting in a state over it do you? You know how she is. She's been on edge for days, ever since that big row her and Harry had at the weekend. The still ain't barely talking to each other."
"And that's a bad thing?" I ask, with a laugh. "Least if they ain't speaking then we don't gotta listen to them yelling at each other."
"I know. But you know how she gets. She's in a right state, just can't seem to snap out of it. Worst she's been since… well, y'know. Since Tim."
"Ain't you got any money left then?" I ask, more out of principle than anything, 'cause I'm already dragging out the contents of my pocket to hand to her. Turns out I haven't got much either, fifteen cents and half a pack of gum. Have to reach for my back pocket, find her some notes instead. Guess it is just as well I am working that job later with the guys, the way I'm burning through money lately.
"Nah, she says. Don't get paid until I'm back in the salon on Saturday, you know that."
"What, and you've spent all your last week's pay already?"
She shrugs. "Yeah, well. Don't get so many extra shifts as you, do I?"
Angela stretches out her hand, about to take the two dollar bills I'm offering her. Only before she can get a hold of it I snatch it back, hold it up an inch or two out of her reach. "You can have it, but I want the change back, understand?"
She folds the notes, shoving them into her jacket pocket. "Yeah, yeah."
"I mean it."
Angela grins, as Linda passes us by, then shoves me in the shoulder. "Sure you do. You home tonight?"
"Nah." I smirk back at my sister. Happy enough to let her believe I'm gonna be trying my luck with Linda again. Don't need Angela knowing too much or worrying that I'll somehow end up in the same mess as Tim. "I got other plans."
~oOo~
Linda watches as I light a cigarette, pass it to her, before busying myself with a second of my own.
"You okay? You seem awful quiet tonight, Curly." She takes a drag on her smoke, nudges my shoulder with hers and slips her hand into mine as we stand against the wall of The Dingo. Not a great spot, hanging out at the back of the place, a couple of feet along from the dumpster. But it gets the last of the afternoon sun. And there ain't ever anyone else out here. Means we get five minutes peace anyway, away from the chaos of the diner.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I ain't really. Got too much going on in my head right now, too much to do that I'm not entirely sure how to balance it all off. "Only...well...I can't... What I mean is, I ain't gonna be able to take you to see that movie tonight."
"Oh. Why's that? You getting bored of me or something?" Linda is smiling, her voice light. But she don't look away.
"What? No. Course not. Just…" I pause, shift away a little so I'm facing her, her hand slipping out of mine.
"Just what, Curly?" She sighs, swirls of smoke enveloping her as she exhales. "You get a better offer or something?"
I stand there, one shoulder still pressed against the building, trying to figure the best thing to say. Open my mouth, about to tell her what I'm really gonna be doing, stop myself just in time. Less people that know what we're doing tonight the better.
"Jesus, Curly. If you wanna finish with me, then be a man and say it. We've got to be back at work in two minutes." Linda drops her cigarette to the floor, huffs out a breath, then turns away.
"Linda, wait. You've got it wrong, I don't want to break up with you." I grab a hold of her hand, gently pull her into my arms and kiss her, let my hands wander a little as she relaxes against me. Compose myself enough to choke out a few words and sell her some story as to why I'm cancelling things. "Course I ain't dumping you. But I can't make it tonight, is all. I have to be at home."
"Why? What's happened? Is that why your sister was here earlier?"
"Yeah." I take a step back, stare down at my scuffed boots, and hope I don't look as guilty as I'm feeling telling her this bullshit. But Linda doesn't need to know the real reason I'm standing her up, that I'm choosing to spend my night robbing a store instead of having a good time with her. "It's my Ma. She ain't so well. I should be there. Now let's get back to work, 'fore Ricky's out here giving us grief."
A/N: Thanks so much for reading, just a short chapter this time around, but all the different threads of Curly's life will hopefully start to pull together soon :)
