Chapter 21

The Results

I dropped Lorraine and her siblings home after dinner and cake at my place with the rest of the gang. She wanted me to walk her to the doorway, so I did.

"The most amazing part of today was that I didn't think for a second about Johnny," she told me once Two-Bit and Sarah went inside.

"I'm glad I can help," I said with a smile.

"Well, good luck with the paternity test tomorrow."

I gave Lor a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks." I walked down the steps to the pick-up and drove home. Steve was sleeping on the couch with Evana. Darry was washing the dishes. Pony was already asleep. I decided to tell my older brother about the test.

"Don't worry. I know it's not to be mine, plus we don't need to pay anything," I reassured him with confidence.

"If you know you're not the father, the why are you taking the test?" he asked me.

"Because Sandy wants me to." Darry just shook his head. I finished helping Dar wash the dishes and went to bed. 'This is crazy,' I thought to myself, looking up at the ceiling. Then I shut my eyes.

(In the hospital)

I did what the doctor told me to do. In about three hours, he told me, Sandy and Time to come back. I've been avoiding Tim the whole time, because I didn't want to start a fight. I saw baby Chris. He was sleeping soundly. His hair was blonde like Sandy's. I went back to the DX, where Steve, Evana, Ponyboy and Lorraine were waiting for me.

"How'd it go?" Steve was eager to know.

I answered, "The doctor's gonna have results in a few hours." I noticed a car driving in and walked over to help the woman in it pump gas. It must have been the longest three hours of my life. Pony and Lorraine sat down inside the quick-mart, working on their final school assignments. School was just about to end. June was coming around the corner. Evana hung out with Steve whenever he wasn't working. I kept on checking the clock. I had two hours. One hour. Half an hour. I couldn't take this. Finally! My shift was over and I drove back to the hospital.

"Ah! Mr. Curtis, there you are," the doctor said as I ran into the room we were in before. He took a deep breath and spoke. "In my hand, here, I have the results." I looked over at Tim. He opened his mouth to speak, but decided not to. "Mr. Shepard," we all held our breaths, "you are the father of baby Christopher."

Words couldn't have expressed how happy I was. Sandy looked disappointed, but I didn't care. I had to go back to the DX and tell everybody the news. I thanked the doctor and left Tim and Sandy to deal with their own problems.

I jumped out of the car and ran toward the answer-hungry faces. "He's not mine! He's not mine!" I must have looked like a hyper-active monkey.

"Alright!" Pony clapped his hands.

"Whoo-hoo!" Steve let out a cry of joy as he jumped up and down.

"Ah! Yeah!" Evana yelled, raising her hands in the air.

I ran to Lorraine, picked her up and spun in a circle. God, it was one of the happiest moments ever.

"Wait 'til Darry hears this. I bet you that would make his day," Pony exclaimed. I agreed. We all went to my place to wait for Darrel to come home. When he did, I informed him that I wasn't Christopher's father.

"That's great, little man!" His face lit up and he ruffled my hair. We had a happy, early dinner, which was interrupted my Two-Bit. He came into the kitchen where we were eating and searched for some beer. I didn't know if he was still mad at me, so I kept quiet until he said, "Soda, I heard the news. Good for you."

"Thanks, Two-Bit," I replied.

"You guys got anymore beer or do I have to go get some myself?" he asked.

"Sucks for you, Two-Bit," Darry stuck his tongue out at him like a first grader. We all laughed hard at this.

He cocked his eyebrows, "Oh, alright. I'll go get some." Just as he was about to leave, he said, "Oh, by the way, Lor and Pony, guess you I ran into today?"

"No clue," Lor said.

"Marcia!" he exclaimed with a big, bright smile.

"Really, how is she?" Pony asked.

"She's good. She's blonde!"

"What?" they gasped in unison.

"Yep. She dyed her hair yesterday. Isn't that great? I need to call her."

"Oh my God! I kept her phone number from that might when we were walking her and Cherry home! Go into my closet and get it out of my black jeans' pocket. It should still be there, but it may be blurry from washing it."

"Whoa, thanks, Lor! You're the best!" he jumped up and down like a little kid getting ice-cream, and kissed the top of Lor's head.

She smiled and said, "You owe me." Two-Bit rushed out the door and went back to his house. A while later, we went to the park to play football. At the end of the game Lorraine said, "Soda, I want to show you something." She led me to her house and dragged me up the stairs. "Come on, you turtle!" she joked. She stopped when she got to the door of the master bedroom and took a deep breath, then opened it. I've seen her mom's room before, and it looked the same. Nothing was touched except for the bed sheets which looked like someone just got out of bed, the mirror, which was broken due to something being thrown at it, and the bullet holes in the ceiling, which were patched up with plaster. Lorraine walked to the closet and pulled out a black tuxedo in a big, clear plastic bag. It was really nice!

"Try it on," she said to me.

"Huh?"

"Wear it. I wanna see how you look in a tux," she explained as she handed it to me.

"Oh. Okay." I went to the bathroom and tried it on. Amazingly, it fit just right. I stepped out and Lor's jaw dropped.

"Wow. It looks great! Does it feel comfortable?"

"Yes. It fits perfectly," I said as I did a flashy spin. "Why'd you want me to wear this anyway? And where the heck did you get such a nice suit?"

"It was my dad's. He wore it on his wedding day. I want you to wear it Friday night."

"What's on Friday?" I asked. I was so confused.

"Soda, I'm taking you to prom with me!"