For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 10
The Burning Past
For the next two weeks I kept an eye out. So far the Socs hadn't tried anything, which was good for me, but I was still wary about everything. Never and I mean never, did they ever give up when it came to getting even with me. They never stopped, not ever. This all kept my mind filled with worry for Eden. After all, they had threatened my little sister, and that wasn't something that I was going to take lightly.
Each night, someone was set to watch my house in groups. Someone would take the first watch and then switch out as the night went by, that way, someone was always keeping an eye on things for me.
Although, as the weeks went by, I noticed Eden's growing interest and curiosity toward Two-Bit. I guess it was a bit shocking for me since I'd never really seen her take much of an interest in boys. Then again, there was always a first for everything I suppose. Besides, it was actually about time that she started taking an interest I guess. The only good thing about it was the fact that I knew that I could trust Two-Bit with her or at least I hoped that I could trust him, otherwise, there would be some major issues that I would be dealing with.
As I thought about things further though, I realized that she still didn't seem to like Darry for some reason. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I mean, he's a nice guy, so what's the problem? I mean, at least with Ponyboy she was starting to be nicer, so why couldn't she manage to accept Darry?
I sighed as I thought about all of this, catching Joe's attention.
"Alright, what's wrong this time?" he asked, folding his arms on top of the counter and staring at me.
"It's nothing, really," I assured him, wiping down one of the tables with my wash cloth.
"Nothing, huh?" he said, his tone making me turn my head and look at him. "You sure about that?" he asked, causing me to sigh.
"I'm just having a few issues, okay?" I shrugged, moving on to the next table.
"Care to shed some light on those?" he asked, making me sigh once more.
"Eden still has issues with Darry for some reason," I told him.
"Ah, Mr. Curtis. Well, I'm sure that she'll get used to him in time," he told me, trying to assure me that things would work out.
"I sure hope so."
"Well, I think it's about time you got out of here," Joe announced, making me give him a curious look. "Don't look at me that way, I know that you have a date with that nice young man tonight. Now, get out of here," he told him, tossing me my jacket.
"Joe, come on, I'm not even done yet," I groaned out, hating it when he did this.
It always made me feel bad whenever he made me leave like this, leaving him to handle everything on his own.
"Now, stop complainin' and get going, don't want to keep the poor man waiting now would you?" he grinned, shoeing me out of the diner.
"Fine, just stop pushing me," I laughed, pulling away from him. "I'll see you tomorrow Joe," I said, waving as I started to walk off down the street.
Because Joe let me off early, that meant that I was walking home today. It also meant that Darry would likely be at home getting ready for our date. He was actually taking me out to see a movie tonight at the drive-in. The very idea of it made me smile. I'd actually get to spend some alone time with him just enjoying myself. With that in mind, I actually thought about possibly wearing a skirt for once, but I wasn't sure just yet. After all, I never really was very comfortable with wearing skirts.
"Well, whatever I do, I'm going to enjoy myself," I concluded as I voiced this to myself.
I knew that the only thing that I'd actually have to worry about was Eden. She'd stayed home from school today, sick with a fever. It was hard enough as it was for me to leave her earlier for work, now, I'd be leaving her alone while I went to see a movie with Darry. This irritated me so bad, but I didn't know of anything else that I could do really unfortunately.
Really, all that I could do was sigh as I walked down my street and up onto my porch, taking out my key and unlocking the door. I didn't bother announcing my arrival though, since I didn't want to take the chance of waking Eden up if she were sleeping.
After I was inside, I closed the door behind me and placed my jacket down on the edge of the couch, before making my upstairs. Before I went into my room though, I went over to Eden's and opened her door, peering inside. Just as I thought, she was asleep. As I stepping inside the room, I saw that the rag had fallen from her forehead, causing me to let out a small sigh.
"I wish you weren't so sick," whispered, walking over and taking it into my hand.
I then walked out of the room, leaving the door open as I went into the bathroom and turned the faucet on, letting the cold water run for a bit. I let it fun just long enough to where it got cold, before sticking the rag underneath the water, letting it soak in. Once it was wet enough, I turned the faucet off and wrung it out just a little bit, before turning back and going into Eden's room. At this point, she was facing in a different direction, her covers halfway off of her now from moving.
"Eden…" I whispered, sitting down on the end of the bed.
She didn't respond, but I didn't exactly expect her to either. I just rolled her back over, pulling the covers back of to her chin and placed the rag on top of her forehead. I smiled a bit when I saw her relax a bit, enjoying the coolness that the rag gave to her. It made her more comfortable.
"I love you…" I whispered, lifting the rag slightly and pressing my lips to her forehead, before finally getting up.
I then walked out of her room, closing the door behind me and going inside my own. I went straight to my closet, looking inside at what I had. Granted, I didn't have too much in there, but I still had a bit. I had to look in the very back of my closet though for what I was searching for, and there I found it. It was a long, dull orange skirt with beautiful embroidery on it. It had been my mother's, but she had given it to me when I was younger, saying that I'd grow into it one day. It just made me sad because she was very sick back then, another reason why she gave it to me.
I pushed all of that that out of my mind though as I pulled a medium blue blouse out of my closet as well, setting everything on my bed. The whole time, I felt slightly embarrassed because no one had really ever seen me in something like this or at least not since I was a kid. I rarely ever wore skirts anymore. I pushed that away too though as I stripped out of my clothes and into my other ones, tucking the blouse into the skirt. I then turned around and looked in the mirror, blushing lightly when I saw my reflection.
"I hope Darry likes it," I voiced, pulling on my only pair of tan dress shoes.
I then walked out of my room, closing the door behind me, before going down the stairs. I held onto my skirt as I went down, making sure that I wouldn't trip on it. Once in the living room, I grabbed my jacket and walked out, holding my small purse in my hand. I also found that funny because I never really used purses, I normally just kept my stuff in my pockets.
T
"So, Darry, what are you two doin' tonight?" Two-Bit asked from the living room.
"I'm taking her to see a movie. I don't really know what's playing, but at least it's something," Darry said from the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror shaving.
He didn't really have that much that needed shaving, but there was still a little bit and he wanted to look nice and clean for Abigail.
"So, tonight the night ya gonna propose?" Two-Bit asked purposely.
"Hey, lay off," Darry warned, getting tired of Two-Bit's jokes.
"Come on Dar, I'm serious," he laughed, messing around with the TV a bit.
"Yeah, well, so am I buddy," Darry replied, stepping out of the bathroom as he wiped his face off with a washcloth.
"You know he's just foolin' with ya Dar," Ponyboy voiced, a small smile his face.
"Yeah, I know Pony, but it gets old after a while," Darry told him, before turning his eyes toward the door as someone knocked, Abigail's voice follow soon after.
T
"Knock knock," I said, tapping at the doorframe a couple times.
The moment I did that, I saw Darry turn around, his jaw going slack a bit. The sight of this made me blush and it didn't help the fact that I noticed everyone staring at me as I stepped inside the house.
"And I thought ya said you weren't no proper lady," Two-Bit chuckled, making me go even redder.
"Two-Bit, shut it," Darry warned as he walked over to me. "You…you look beautiful," he said softly, making me look down as I blushed.
"Th-thank you," I whispered, getting a few more laughs as a result of my actions.
"Come on guys, it's not that funny," Ponyboy said as he tried to help out.
"I-it's alright Ponyboy, it's to be expected," I said softly. "After all, I never really wear skirts," I told him.
"Why not? You look nice," he said truthfully, making me smile.
"Thanks kid."
It was then that I actually took notice to the fact that Darry's chest was bare. He didn't have a shirt on, then again, after further inspection it was obvious that he'd been shaving.
"Hey Abby?" Pony said, catching my attention.
"Yeah?"
"How come Eden wasn't at school today?" he asked curiously, turning on the couch a bit.
"Well, she's sick," I told him, making him to give me a strange look. "I called it in this morning because she has a fever," I explained. "She's been in bed all day."
"Oh…" he said quietly.
"Why, were you worried about her?" I asked.
"Kinda. I was afraid that she'd skipped school again," he told me.
"Nope, no this time," I said.
"Maybe I'll pay her a visit later," Two-Bit said out loud.
"Maybe, but it'll have to wait til later though," I told him, before sitting down on the edge of the couch near Ponyboy.
"Hey, I've got a question for you," Darry said as he turned toward me. "How come you're not at work still?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
I just sighed, before letting loose a small laugh.
"One word: Joe," I said.
"You're kidding me?"
I just shook my head.
"Nope, Joe kicked me out early because of our date tonight," I told him, laughing lightly. "I hate it when he does this stuff because it makes me feel bad leaving him there like that."
"Why don't you go put a shirt on Darry instead of showin' of those muscles," Soda laughed, causing Darry to give him a dry look.
"Why don't you go take a shower and close that mouth of yours," Darry told him.
Soda just laughed it off though as he got up off of the couch and headed toward the bathroom, tossing Darry's shirt at him. Darry only put it on after Soda closed the door though, staring his brother down.
"Darry, stop it," I said, watch as he tucked his shirt in and buckled his belt.
He gave me a small smile though as he sat down in his chair and put his shoes on, tying each of them up. Once he was done with that, he stood back up, holding his hand out for me.
"Such a gentleman ain't he. Just makes ya want ta marry him, don't it?" Two-Bit laughed, laying on his elbows on the floor.
"Two-Bit," Darry warned.
"Darry, just ignore him and let's go, alright?" I said, pulling him toward the door. "Now, you guys behave, alright," I said, looking at everyone.
"Yes Ma'am," Two-Bit saluted, making me laugh further.
Darry just shook his head though as we walked outside, placing his arm around me.
"You really do look nice though," he said, giving me one of those smiles of his.
"Thanks. I was hoping that you'd like it," I told him, my cheeks heating up a bit. "The skirt was actually my mother's," I said, catching his attention.
"That reminds me, what happened to her exactly?" he asked, trying to be careful with his words.
"Well…" I started.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I realize that it's a sensitive subject," he said.
"No, i-it's alright, I was actually wondering when you would ask me about it," I said quietly, rubbing my arm a bit. "You see…she got sick after Eden was born and she just…she never got better," I told him, walking down the street with him.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said quietly, giving me a gentle squeeze.
"It's alright…there wasn't much that we could do. Perhaps, that's why Eden is so angry with me at times," I said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"The last two years of my mother's life, she was stuck in and out of the hospital, Eden barely got any time with her," I explained. "She doesn't even remember that much about her…"
Darry remained quiet as I spoke, taking in everything that I said.
"The only one that she truly remembers is our father…even that, it…" I sighed, not sure if I wanted to continue with that one or if I even wanted him to know about my father.
"Abigail?" Darry called softly, his footsteps coming to a stop as he pulled me close to him.
I just looked up at him, feeling slightly uncomfortable underneath his gaze. I didn't know what to say to him. I mean, how could I tell him about my father when I could even tell Eden about him? I just didn't know what to do.
"Why don't we go to the park instead, that way we can talk?" he suggested.
"Alright," I said with a small nod, allowing him to lead me toward the park.
In a way, I suppose that this was better instead of going to see a movie. After all, it's better if he knows what he's dealing with if me and him are going to be together. That and the fact that I now think I realize what Eden's problem is. It's not that she has a problem with Darry as a person, like me, she thought that I was trying to replace our mother. There was a good chance that she was offended by having another man being brought in. The only man that she wanted in that house of ours was our father, not Darry, but our father.
"You know…she doesn't really hate you," I said quietly, catching Darry's attention. "Eden I mean."
"You figured out the problem, didn't you?" he asked, walking over to the fountain with me and sitting down.
"I think so," I said with a nod, placing my hands in my lap. "I…I think that I offended her by bringing another man into the house, someone other than our father," I told him, fiddling with my fingers.
After a moment, Darry took hold of my head, giving it a small squeeze. I gave him a smile at this, but just a small one.
"I…I just feel bad," I whispered, looking down at our hands. "Other than me, you're receiving the brunt of this and you shouldn't be," I told him, resting my head against his shoulder. "My problem is…if she knew, if she really knew what had happened…" I couldn't even finish my sentence before tears started to fall.
"Abigail," he said softly, taking me into his arms.
We just sat there together, not saying a word for at least three minutes. If I went any further than this, if I said anymore than what I already had, then he'd know more than anyone else did.
"I hope and pray to God that I never see any of you guys drunk," I said quietly, causing him to pull back slightly and looking at me.
"Abigail, what are you talking about?" he asked.
"I kept her away from it for so long," I whispered. "Every night he would drink, just trying to drown everything out. I didn't want her to see him like that, so I'd take her out… I…" I stopped as more tears fell, thinking about how things had been.
"Shh… Abigail, it's alright," Darry cooed, placing a hand on my cheek and wiping away the tears from my eyes. "It's alright darlin'."
"He was her hero, she looked up to him, I…I couldn't let her see him any other way," I cried. "It was even worse when he was angry. Such small things would set him off…"
"Wait, he didn't… he didn't hit you did he?" he whispered, pulling my chin up a bit to look at him.
I could barely even look into his eyes as he asked this, unsure of what to do, but at the same time I knew exactly what to do. So, with much reluctance, I pulled away.
"Abigail, what are you…" I just put a finger up to stop him as I sat there, unbuttoning the first two buttons on my blouse.
I then pulled the fabric away from my shoulder, exposing the skin to his eyes. It was hard for me to do, but in a way, I knew that I had to do it. He didn't seem to understand as he sat there, so I took hold of his hand and placed it against the skin, letting him feel the scarred tissue that was there.
"What happened to you?" he asked quietly, his brows furrowing in sympathy.
"He got drunk, came home and…" I looked away for a moment, trying to pull myself together. "Eden had tried helping me cook and we accidentally burned it. When he got home, he could smell it and got angry," I told him as I explained my story. "I was in the kitchen and he just snapped, lashing out at me with a broken bottle," I said, whispering the last part as I thought back on everything.
"He did more damage than just that, didn't he?" Darry asked, already knowing the answer to his question even before I nodded my head.
It was true though, there was more than just the wound on my shoulder. In fact, there were scars on my arms, legs, back, even my stomach. Some were from fights, others were from him, my father.
"What about this one?" Darry asked, running a finger over my cheek.
I nearly laughed as he asked this.
"That one is actually from me. I feel off my bike when I was younger," I told him, giving him a small smile.
"So, how did you hide all of this stuff?" he asked, not seeing how I could have possibly hid all of this.
"I convinced people that I was clumsy," I said with a shrug.
"How could anyone believe that?" he asked skeptically.
"You'd be surprised," I mumbled, buttoning my blouse back up and straightening the collar.
"How did you manage to hide all of this for her though?" Darry asked, not understanding how I could have possibly managed something like that.
"I just…I hide marks…that's all that I could do," I said quietly, looking back at him with sad eyes. "I protected her Darry… All that I could do was protect her from seeing such things… She was too innocent," I told him, before standing up. "It's what I promised my mother before she died. I promised that I would always look after Eden and protect her, no matter what."
As I stood there with my back to him, I felt his arms wrap around me from behind, pulling me against him. I just leaned back against him, closing my eyes. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my back as he breathed, comforting me.
"You know, I'm glad that you were able to tell me all of this," he said, resting his head on my shoulder.
As we stood there though, I felt something pulling at my heart as I thought about Eden, something different. I didn't know what it was, but it made me open my eyes. I regretted it though a moment later as I saw something in the distance. Smoke.
"Darry," I whispered, my eyes widening slightly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, watching as I lifted my hand, pointing off into the distance.
"Please tell me that that smoke isn't coming from where I think it is?" I whispered.
"Oh no…" he breathed, letting go and stepping forward.
It only took seconds before we both starting running toward the smoke, praying that it wasn't my house that the smoke was coming from, but as we got closer that pray vanished. A piercing scream ripped through my throat as we rounded the blocks, tears falling as I saw the house.
"EDEN!" I screamed, running ahead of Darry and toward the door.
"No, wait!" he yelled running after me and pulling me away.
"B-but she's inside. Darry, Eden's in there!" I cried, trying to pull away from him.
"I-I can't lose her!" I screamed.
"And I can't lose you," he said firmly, pulling away me away from the house.
T
"Hey, Two-Bit, do you smell that?" Ponyboy asked, getting up off of couch.
At Ponyboy's comment, Two-Bit sat up, sniffing the air.
"Is that…smoke?" Two-Bit asked, sitting his beer down on the coffee table and walking over to the door and stepping outside.
Although, what Two-Bit saw made his jaw drop and his eyes go wide. Even worse, when he heard Abigail's scream for Eden.
"Pony, that's Abigail's place!" Two-Bit said in panic, grabbing his jacket and running off down the street.
Ponyboy stood there for a moment, his eyes wide with shock. A moment later, he shook his head before calling to his brother.
"Soda, we've got trouble!" he yelled.
"What's wrong?" Soda asked, coming down the stairs.
"There's no time, come on," Ponyboy said quickly before running off after Two-Bit, leaving his brother to follow after him.
"Hey, Ponyboy, wait up!" Soda called, but it did little good as his brother ran down the street toward the fire.
Although as they ran, Soda saw a mustang drive by, a few Socs in the car.
T
"Eden!" I cried once more, tears falling down my face as I watched the fire.
"Darry!" I heard Two-Bit call from behind us. "The hell is going on?" he asked.
"Eden's inside," Darry told him, before pushing me into Two-Bit's arms and running toward the door.
I couldn't help, but to fight against Two-Bit as I stood there, desperate to help my sister. He would let me go though, receiving help from Soda.
"Th-the b-back door!" I managed to choke out.
I knew that he'd have a better chance at getting in through the back door since the lock on it was about shot. All I could do was fall back against Soda and Two-Bit as I watched Darry run around back, the sound of him kicking the back door in meeting my ears.
"Eden…" I whispered, falling to my knees and onto the ground.
If I lost her, I didn't know what I would do. I don't think that I'd be able to handle losing her, not after losing my mother the way that I did.
"I'll be right back," Ponyboy said as he ran off, heading back toward his house.
I just sat there on the ground crying as Soda, knelt down beside me, placing his arms around me.
"It'll be alright," Soda assured me, holding me against him.
It wasn't until a few minutes later that we heard Darry yelp.
"Darry!" I cried out, trying to pull away once more, but Soda wouldn't let me.
"I'm goin' in," Two-Bit said quickly before running around back and inside the house.
T
"Darry, are you alright!" Two-Bit called out as he stepped inside, flames flaring up all around him.
"Yeah, I'm over here!" Darry called from the top of the stairs, standing there with Eden wrapped up in his arms.
Unfortunately, the stairs had collapsed, leaving Darry with no way out.
"Two-Bit, you're going to have to catch her," Darry said, shifting the young girl in his arms.
"But how are you gonna get out?" Two-Bit asked, coughing a few times as the smoke started to get to him.
"I don't know, but you have to get her out of here," Darry told him as he got closer to the edge. "Okay, you ready?"
"Yeah, toss her down," Two-Bit said, holding out his arms to catch her.
A moment later Darry was tossing her down into Two-Bit's arms, telling him to get out. Two-Bit ran out right after that, leaving Darry to hold himself up in Abigail's room, stuffing a sheet at the bottom of the door in an attempt to keep the smoke out.
T
"I got her!" Two-Bit called as he stumbled out with Eden in his arms, coughing a bit.
"Eden!" I cried, running forward as Two-Bit laid her down on the ground. "Eden," I cried, running my hand over her face.
Although, after a moment I noticed something, she wasn't breathing.
"S-she's not breathing," I said frantically, before watching Two-Bit start to breathe air into her, pressing against her chest afterward.
How he knew CPR I had no clue, but I wasn't about ready to complain about it. In the background, I could hear the sound of sirens headed toward us. It was then that I realized that Darry was missing, making things even worse on me.
"Where's Darry?" I asked, looking around.
"He's still inside," Two-Bit said.
"W-what?"
"The stairs gave out," he told me, continuing CPR on Eden until she started coughing and breathing on her own.
From there everything just seemed to go in slow motion as firemen filed out of the fire truck, hooking the hose up to the fire hydrant. At the same time, the ambulance was pulling, the people inside quickly coming to examine Eden and Two-Bit. I barely even registered the fact that Soda had placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. No, I didn't even register that as I watched everything, thoughts swimming frantically through my head. I only snapped out of it when I saw them bringing Darry out of the house, black smudges painting his face.
"Darry!" I cried, running over to him and wrapping my arms around him.
"Hey," he wheezed out, coughing a few times before falling over on me.
"Soda!" I exclaimed, holding Darry up the best that I could as Soda came over and helped me, sitting him down on the ground.
"Darry, Darry can you hear me?" I asked as I sat behind him, his head resting against me.
"Y-yeah…" he said faintly, before closing his eyes, his head falling to the side a moment later as he blacked out.
"Darry…" I whispered, brushing a bit of hair out of his face.
I had some one asking me about Abigail's past with her dad, so there's the answer AND now you know Eden's issue XD. Anywaay, I hope you all liked this chapter. Please, remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts and ideas on this chapter/story. I always love feedback. Thanks for reading everyone! :)