Chapter twenty-one:
Strike Two
We drove for a while then he turned off the main road and cut down a dirt trail then parked by a lake. "I forgot there were lakes in town. It's beautiful."
"Before my mom left we used to come out here all the time. My parents loved it. My dad said he fell in love with my mom out here." Steve said as he shut off the engine.
I looked away from the water and right at Steve. Then I saw his hand creeping towards my leg. "I'm not the kind of girl that sleeps with a guy on the first date," I gripped his wrist pinning his hand to the seat, "so if that's what you want, take me home and go crawling back to Evie."
"I was hoping I could convince you otherwise but I wasn't expecting it. Hoping because you're Dally's sister and I know the guy he is but not expecting it because you don't seem like the type. We can just talk." Steve said.
"A hormonal boy suggesting we "just talk" instead of "making out in hopes of getting more"? I don't know whether to be stunned, terrified, or touched." I smiled shyly.
He rotated his hand and held mine, then he smiled. "I didn't want to push you. Remember what I said about preconceived notions. I was hoping for something a little more—"
"Physical? You can't say anything that's crass that I haven't already heard from those PR hoods and their bull sessions." I said.
"Intimate." He said exasperated. "You and those stereotypes. Being crass is more likely to get me slapped or punched, and I'm not looking to get punched by you again. You know greasers know how to be nice." He let go of my hand and sank back into the seat. Then he huffed and stared out the front window.
I took a few seconds to calm down and took a few slow breaths. Then I shifted to face him drawing my left leg up and laying it across my lap. "Look, my father is a first class, grade A, uh ..." I trailed off trying to think of a nice way to put it.
He muttered a dirty name under his breath and I chuckled.
"Yes, you can call him that. Dally's one too. He can be, don't even defend him. I know what he's like when it comes to girls."
Steve shrugged still not looking at me.
"When things go wrong a lot of the guys I know like to drown their sorrows in alcohol. My father did it, I know Dally does, and after my mama died my step-daddy did it. They don't always get violent but it kinda colors your world after a while. You think everyone's going to be a jerk to you. Look at the way the PR treated me. I know I shouldn't lump every guy into that category but it's hard to break habits. Yours happens to be letting screen doors slam. You know how hard it is to break that. And now you know why Darry asked you to break that habit. Man, I wish we could go back to talking about cars and the last 20 minutes never happened." I sighed. My brilliant speech was followed by the one thing that I hated more than anything else, awkward silence. I took off my right boot and pulled my right foot up onto the seat then dropped my forehead onto my knee.
"I'm not trying to be nice to you because I think if I screw up you'll go to Tim and Dally and I'll end up in pain." Steve said. I looked up and rested my chin on my knee. Steve had shifted in his seat and was looking at me. "Partially I am scared of Tim and Dally. I could probably take Dally, I've done it before, but Tim, I've seen the way he protects Angel when guys get to her. I could not take him. Part of me is also wary of how you feel after what happened, it only happened a couple days ago and Two-Bit told us everything. I don't think you're fragile. Scared maybe but not fragile. You can handle me and my stupid crap. You handled those boys, I'm not going to be a problem. Have you noticed any difference in my personality or the way I act towards you between this date and the first one I took you on?"
"No, I guess not. You seem about the same. So Dally—" Steve pressed a finger to my lips cutting me off.
"Let's not talk about him or Tim ok?" Steve asked. I nodded. I turned back to face the front putting my feet back on the floor and putting my boot back on as he slid out from behind the wheel. I grinned because unlike my daddy's truck and my ex's Mustang which both had the gear shift on the floor, Steve's gear shifter was on the dash giving him essentially three seats in the front with plenty of leg room. He wrapped an arm around me and we watched the sun go down over the water as I cuddled to his side.
"It's so beautiful out here." I said.
He turned my chin towards him and gave me a sly grin. "Not nearly as beautiful as you."
"Cheesy much?" I asked but didn't protest. He smirked and looked me over then gently pulled me closer and kissed me. We made out, his hands staying above my waist even as I straddled his lap. As his hand slid up my back under my t-shirt I heard the wail of a police siren. I pulled back and looked around then saw the blue and red lights flashing. The siren cut out for three or four seconds then came back on. "Think this baby can out run the cops?" I asked.
"I've topped out at 100 but never had the chance to try beyond that. You're crazy if you're going to try."
"It's only illegal if you get caught." I said. I slipped out of his lap into the driver's seat, fired up the engine, shifted into drive then drove off. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Steve staring at me. "Would you rather I pull over and let them arrest both of us?"
"Arrest?" Steve's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
"You're technically endangering the welfare of a minor and you were trespassing. I'm driving without a license, evading police, and driving at an excessive speed since there is no speed limit on a dirt road." Steve swallowed. "If we get caught I could probably cry and get off but it's the pokey for you. Especially since that's Jeff Riker. He was a friend of my daddy's until he died." I said slowing down.
"Drive." Steve said. "How do you know which cop it is?" He added after a moment.
"The sirens. He told me any time he comes up on a car parked somewhere secluded he'll turn on the siren, turn it off for a couple seconds then turn it back on. It's to give them enough warning to pull on some clothes or break it up so he doesn't walk up on something intimate." I drove through town keeping to the speed limit and knowing he wouldn't chance an maneuver to pull me over until it was less crowded. I stopped at a red light and he pulled up beside me on the left.
"You gonna make me chase you, Sanders?" Jeff called.
"It's only illegal if I get caught. Later." I sped off waving as the light turned green.
"Crazy." Steve muttered. I only laughed and drove. Soon I was back on familiar turf and it didn't take me very long to out run Jeff. I put the car in park outside Buck's and looked at Steve. "That was insane."
"And I'm officially in love with your car. It is so cool. My old truck could have never out run them." I answered.
"Are you sure he's not going to keep looking?" Steve asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. He told me if I could ever outrun him he'd let me off. All he has to do is buy his partner a six pack and remind him that I managed to outrun a cop whose daddy used to run shine. Jeff's daddy used to run corn whiskey all over the state even though it's illegal. To do so you have to be able to do some fancy driving. Jeff learned how to drive from his dad and uses some techniques to catch his more quick suspects."
"So you're clear and I don't have to worry about them tracking down my plates?" Steve asked.
"Truth time. Jeff Riker is my godfather. He looks after me when my dad can't. Or used to. He'll let it go." I said.
"I've never met a girl quite like you." Steve said.
"Is that a good thing?"
"I don't know. I don't know how to react, I don't know what to say, I don't even know if I like it but—" He sighed.
"I'll just go inside then." I opened the door and moved to side out of the seat.
"Wait. At least let me take you back to Soda's. Dally will skin me if you don't come back tonight." Steve said.
"Fine." I walked around the car as Steve slid back behind the wheel and when I was safely inside the car and both doors were shut, he took me back to Soda's. Steve followed me inside and I headed for the back bedroom that Dally was currently camped out in and sat down on the bed. Unfortunately Steve's voice carried down the hall before Dally could say anything.
"I guess it was alright," he must have been talking to Soda about the date, "she's kinda crazy though. Now I know what Two-Bit meant." Steve explained the date and my heart broke. He wasn't painting me in a good light and I couldn't even look at Dally. I really didn't want to see his reaction. "It's like what happened tonight is normal, outrunning the cops, driving my car like she's been born to do it ... I don't know man."
"How'd you feel about what happened?" Soda asked.
"I've never felt like this. It's weird. I don't like girls that—I want my girl to at least need me but with her it's like she's tough and all ok on her own."
"I'll kill him," Dally said. My head jerked up and I locked eyes with my brother.
"Don't. I was wrong and I shouldn't have given him the second chance. This just shows me what kind of guy Steve really is and obviously we're not as compatible as we could be or as we should be for this to work."
"First," Dally said as if I hadn't spoken, "I'm going to kill him for calling you crazy, then I'm going to kill him for giving you a hickey."
"Like you haven't done worse to your girlfriend." I snapped. "Do whatever you want. I have to get out of here."
"Down the hall leads to the back door. Out the back door to the left there should be a gate in the fence. It's getting a little dark out there." Dally said.
"Thanks Dal." I smiled then left the room. Terror looked up at me and I nodded patting my leg. He followed and we walked out the back door and down the street a ways. It didn't take very long before we weren't alone. "Hello Two-Bit." I said seeing the redhead beside me.
"You look upset." He said swinging an arm over my shoulders. "I should buy you a coke and you should tell me all about it."
"First off as long as that coke is actually a root beer then sure and second where are you going to find a coke at this late hour?"
"Since it's only 8:30 there are still plenty of places. I even know one that will allow the dog."
When we came to a stop we were outside a two story white building I had never seen before. I looked up at the sign that read "Billiards" in flashing neon. There was another neon sign in the widow but this one was for a national beer company. "You do realize I'm only 15, right?"
"Relax kid, just 'cause they sell beer doesn't mean they're a bar. I've brought Johnny here and he looks more like a kid than you do."
"Alright." I said. We entered and I spotted an empty pool table. "I'll go rack them if you get the drinks. I'll tell you all about it over a game of pool." Two-Bit agreed and got the drinks.
"I wouldn't use that table," a guy said as I racked the pool balls and set up the table.
"And why not?" I asked.
"That's Tim's favorite table. He doesn't take very kindly to people playing on it. Tim's been in here so much that the bartend keeps it reserved just for him."
"Tim can kiss my ass for all I care. I'm not really in the mood to care what he thinks at the moment. Besides he's not here right now and if he does come in I'll deal with him then."
"Your grave." The guy said and went back to his game. I shrugged and looked for the perfect pool cue. When I found it Two-Bit was back with the drinks and was ready to play.
"So tell me what happened and what game are we playing?" Two-Bit said.
"I shouldn't bash your friend."
"And I shouldn't drink so much." He stated.
"Eight-ball or stripes and solids." I sighed. It was the same game but not everyone used the same name. "He called me crazy. Granted you've said it too but yours was more affectionate and he made me sound like a lunatic."
"He? That's right, you had your date with Stevie tonight."
"Please don't call him that. It makes me think you're trying to refer to both Steve and Evie at the same time."
"How'd the date go?"
I told him what happened and what Steve said when the date was over.
"Steve's thing is cars. He's never been out done by anyone. That's part of why their DX Station is so busy. He's never met anyone who has been in his car twice and could drive it like that's what they were born to do."
"I see. However that doesn't mean he can call me crazy."
"I never said it was right for him to. Just that there is a reason behind it. He was probably just in shock."
"Maybe." I shrugged and downed the rest of my drink. "Okay time to take you to school."
"What's school got to do with anything?" Two-Bit asked.
"This." I answered. I surveyed the table seeing that he only had three solid balls left on the table compared to my six striped ones. I evened it up then sank two more in the pockets.
"Outrunning cops, pool, driving a car you've been in twice, what can't you do?"
"Play poker. I have too much of an expressive face apparently. That and I have a problem keeping boyfriends. I don't really understand guys the way most girls do."
"Maybe they just don't understand you the way they should and don't want to put the effort into getting to know you."
"Eight ball, corner pocket." I said then took my shot sinking the ball with practiced ease. "I win."
"How did you do that?" Two-Bit asked staring at me.
"Tim taught me to play as soon as I was big enough to see over the table."
"I can't see a tough little shit like Tim taking a girl two years younger than him anywhere. If he ain't using the girl, he wants nothing to do with them."
"Normally I'd agree. Tim wanted nothing to do with me when we first met. I was five. On my seventh birthday I talked him into taking me with him and Dally as they went to play. Tim had a few older friends who went to a pool hall not far from his house. Even though he was only eight at the time, he convinced them to vouch for us. He was a tall, tough, eight-year-old. He wasn't happy at first but back then I could talk a rooster into flying on cue."
"I can see that." Two-Bit said.
"For the past couple of years after I moved, on Saturday and Sunday when we weren't racing during the day I'd go to Buck's and work on my skills there. The only time Buck's ever put his foot down about my pool playing was my last birthday when I hustled a couple people. He kicked me out for two months and made me agree to barrel race when I almost got my butt kicked by hustling the wrong guy. Buck was not happy because they supplied him with his bootlegged beer at the time. Listen rack it up again, I'm going to get me another drink." As I walked away I glanced back at the table and saw Terror laying underneath it. I wondered where he had gotten off to.
"You know you're playing Tim's favorite table." The bartend said.
"Well I don't see him at the moment so I'm not too worried. If he does come in and he starts fussing at you, then you send him to me and I'll handle it."
"Alright."
When I got back to the table the game was set up. "So Steve ..." I prompted.
"He's in shock like I said. You're so confident and headstrong he is astounded. You actually ran from the cops and got away with it. Are you going to give Steve another chance?"
"I don't know that I should. I mean with the guys that I've really liked, I've always had a three-strike rule but none of them have screwed up two dates in a row."
"Steve didn't technically screw up this date." Two-Bit looked over the table thinking of his next move and words. Finally he said "he didn't actually say it to your face and had Dally not been at the same place as Soda you never would have heard it."
"So am I supposed to pretend like I didn't hear him say it?"
"I didn't say that nor did I say that excuses him to say it. Besides if I know Dally, he's already said something to Steve. I think you should talk to him and soon. Tell him you heard what he said and you want to know what that means for your relationship."
"Two-Bit, is it true you only date blondes?"
"No, but they do have the most fun. You and I, we wouldn't work."
"Because I'm jailbait?"
"For other reasons too. You're not my type. I like a girl that's very light-hearted, a great kisser, wears high heels and skirts, a girly-girl, and one that can drink with me."
"I bet you're a happy drunk." I said.
"Very much. So is Darry if you can get him to drink."
"Steve's not."
"No, he's not but he doesn't drink often and it's even rarer that he gets drunk."
"So you think I should give Steve one more shot?"
"I can see it in your eyes. You want it to work. He may actually surprise you. You know, when he feels something it really hits him. I'm talking smacks him in the face." Two-Bit swallowed a mouthful of beer and leaned against the table beside ours. "It hits him hard and he—anger is the only emotion he really knows how to show. It's the only one he's comfortable showing."
"So he wasn't angry when he said it?"
"If he was, you would know it."
"I guess can see that."
Monday afternoon I found myself making my way down to the DX from Buck's. Terror was my constant companion. Two-Bit had been more persuasive than I had originally expected him to be. Since Steve was out of school he was working more hours. Two-Bit had told me that Steve was trying to work five days a week and that he had gotten a shift that afternoon. I walked into the garage where Steve leaned back against a car with an open hood. A girl was pressed up against him. Her lips were pressed to his throat, her hands pressed to his chest under his shirt, and her dark hair styled perfectly. She glanced back over her shoulder, grinned at me, then wrapped a hand around Steve's neck and leaned towards him. That's when I knew who it was. Evie.
For a moment my breath caught in my throat. I shook my head and walked away. I only made it to the gas pumps when Curly stopped me.
Curly cupped my face and looked into my eyes. "I'll kill him." Curly said.
"Don't be stupid." I said swiping away a tear. "You're not a match for him. You may be scrappy and good in a fight but I think Steve could definitely take you." I took a shaky breath and Curly pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back.
"Toria, wait!" Steve called.
"You have no right." Curly snapped as I heard footsteps approach. He squeezed me and then let me go. Curly stepped around me and I spun around and saw Curly confronting Steve. "You have no right to speak to her after what you did to her." I peered over Curly's shoulder and took his right wrist in my hand; that way there was less of a chance of him hitting Steve.
"What I did?" Steve snapped.
"First you take her out on a date while you're still going with Evie, then you call her crazy, and now you're back with Evie without giving Tore any indication or explanation as to what went wrong."
"How do you know what he said? Dally heard it last night but he wouldn't say anything and I only told Two-Bit."
"You were talking about it in Tim's favorite pool hall. His guys hang out there. Chuck overhead you."
I described the guy that told me about Tim's table and said it was my grave if Tim came in and saw me. Curly nodded. "How old is Chuck?" I asked interested.
"Just turned 17." Curly said looking at me. "He was impressed you didn't seem scared of Tim."
"That's because I'm not scared of him. I know Tim would never lay a hand on me. You know Chuck is kinda cute."
"Hey!" Steve snapped drawing our attention back to him. "If you weren't Shepard's kid brother I'd—"
"You'd what?" I snapped. "I can't believe I ever felt anything for you."
"Let me explain. What you heard wasn't—"
"Wasn't what? You called me crazy. Made me sound like I was a lunatic for being myself."
"I've never met a girl quite like you. Sure country girls come through here on their way towards Okie City, but none of them are like you. You're something else. I didn't realize what I was getting into with you. What you did last night, I was in shock. I'm not a guy that can easily admit that he doesn't understand what was going on. I don't get everything that happened last night. What you heard was a gut reaction. And what you saw in there with Evie was all her. I told you, she and I are over and I meant it. Even if there is no hope left for us I wouldn't go back to her."
"You mean that?" I asked. "This isn't about Tim or Dally. This isn't even about Curly. This is only about you and me."
"Victoria, all I need is one more shot, I will never—"
"Don't promise me you'll never hurt me."
Steve looked past me and nodded. "I'm sorry for what I said last night and for Evie. You deserved so much more than what you'll get out of me but I want to try."
I looked at Curly who only shrugged then went back to glaring at Steve. He obviously didn't want me to but I knew my heart wanted me to give Steve another shot. It only took a few moments for my head to agree. I stepped up to Steve and poked him in the chest. "This is your absolute last chance. Three strikes and you are out. You break my heart one more time and I will break your face and there will be nothing those big, green eyes that seem like they're staring straight into my soul will be able to convey that will stop me. However I won't be the only one after you. Even if my brother doesn't care, you break my heart, both Tim and Curly will kill you and I'll reach out to every person I know and you will get what's coming to you. I know people who know how to make people like you disappear."
Steve swallowed hard.
"Oh and Steve, this time, I expect flowers." I added then spun on my heel to walk away. The minute I turned my back on Steve I saw why he had apologized. Leaning against the gas pump just behind Curly stood Soda. Of course he had been the one to get Steve to apologize. It made sense now.
"Where you headed?" Curly asked.
"I don't know. Somewhere that accepts dogs. Pool hall maybe." I shrugged. "Come on Terror."
As I walked down the drive and then headed for the street I heard Curly say "Word to the wise, she hates red roses."
"Why?" Steve asked.
"Something you'll have to ask her about." Curly answered.
Again thanks to incense and peppermints and 7.06andcounting for the help with the first half of this chapter and keeping Steve in character. Go check out their stuff, it's amazing.