Chapter 25: Playing Peacemaker
It had been another relatively uneventful and boring day at school for Larry Romano. There had been several rumors floating around about what the greasers had done recently, but he had decided to ignore them. No reason to mull over things that didn't concern you the least. It had become easiest to regard school the same he did the warehouse where his part-time job as a tiny insignificant link in the supply chain took place: it was just a place where he went to work and be bored until he got to go home and be bored or go to work and be exhausted and bored, but paid. It was something temporary, something he had no reason to get too involved in.
The classes he had basically loafed through that day had been art and gym. Thanks to his sister pestering him about what he was going to do after high school and encouraging him to make the most of the education he was given, he paid more attention at class and exerted slightly more effort, but not at art. Not at gym. Like Larry and many of the students at Bullworth Academy had noticed long ago, only those with natural talent in sports or artistry ever managed to get their art and gym grades up and when you had none, you might as well do squat.
Gym had been very problematic right after Larry's resignation from the greasers, though. He had had to break the usual routine that had been established long ago, namely the way teams were formed. Depending on the sport, the teams were either formed by cliques forming their own teams and non-clique students being divided between them or by only the physically more imposing cliques, which meant that jocks ultimately called the shots and both non-clique students and nerds were thrown around like hot potatoes.
It had been very awkward for Larry to suddenly be one of the undesirables. His greaser friends had taken their time to get used to it too – it had initially taken some intense death glares to remind them not to pick him out of habit. Compared to that, what happened in the locker room was simple and far less difficult than he had at first thought. All he had done was to move to a different locker. Despite now being sure he was not straight, changing in the locker room was just as mundane as it had always been. The ex-greaser sometimes wondered about that, but he had come to the conclusion that if a straight guy changed his clothes in the girls' locker room, he probably wouldn't be that excited about it after doing it for several years.
As for what came to Larry's sexual orientation... Well. By now, there was no question about it – it was guys although there had been only one who had been special. He still wasn't entirely okay with it, but he had promised to himself to try to take things as they came. One new definite problem had arisen though; should he tell his sister? His mother? Other relatives? How would they take the news? He was hopeful about his sister understanding, but the rest were one big question mark. Most probably didn't care whether he was dead or alive, much less whether he was straight or queer, but still.
With these overwhelmingly positive thoughts in mind, Larry opened the door to his sister's apartment and waltzed in, only to find his future brother-in-law, Stanley, standing in the middle of it.
"Hello Larry", he greeted with a smile.
"Oh, eh, how's it goin' Stan?" the surprised youngster asked while zipping down his winter coat.
"Hey! Don't take your coat off yet. We're gonna head out", Connie said as she poked hear head out of the toilet. Larry didn't even manage to see her before she closed the door and locked it. The boy shrugged and sat on a couch with his coat still on.
"How was school?" Stanley inquired.
"The usual", Larry responded laconically. The adult man nodded and the two became quiet.
Stanley Soon was the nephew of Mr. Oh from the Yum Yum Market. He was a nice person overall, but he was the squarest peg in the squarest of holes and possibly the most bland person Larry had ever encountered. He never had anything to discuss with him without his sister present. He did, however, somewhat understand what she saw in him, considering that this Korean-American man was very family-oriented, sensitive, and well spoken. He was passive and taciturn, but that was all well and good with Connie being active and energetic like it was going out of style. So, she would become Connie Soon sometime in the summer.
When Connie came from the bathroom, Larry looked at her expectantly.
"Get up and let's get going!" she chirped while gesturing her brother to stand up.
"Where we goin' anyway?" Larry asked suspiciously.
"Oh, nowhere special. Now c'mon", the young woman giggled.
That was that. Not another word of their destination came out of her or Stanley's mouth before they were in the car. And, of course, it was a trap.
"I can't believe you sis", Larry said grumpily.
"Whaaaat?" Connie asked, feigning innocence. Stanley chuckled while he glanced at Larry, seated on the back seats, via the front mirror. Larry hemmed.
"It's been so long since we've eaten together as a family! I hear Scott's been asking about you", Connie encouraged.
"Well screw that, just thinkin' about sittin' in the same table with Harvey spoils my appetite", Larry grumbled.
Connie sighed and she suddenly became quiet. She looked outside the car and seemed to fidget a bit.
"You lucked out, because Harvey's not there. He's on a business trip", she said.
"Well good", the boy said gruffly and slumped into a more comfortable sitting position.
"Dad is", Connie continued.
Oh, what a bomb she had just dropped. Disgust and disbelief spread to Larry's face as he looked at the back of his sister's head rested against the front seat, his mouth hanging open. When Connie turned her head to take a quick look at her brother from the corner of her eye, he saw that she knew what injustice she had committed.
"You can't be serious" Larry huffed.
"I am. I'm sorry, but this means a lot to me. Dad wanted to see what kind of man I'm marrying and I want you to see him now that he's here. It's been more than a year, hasn't it? Please, at least try to be civil..." Connie pleaded tensely.
Larry shook his head and scrunched his nose. He and his father hadn't gotten along in years. Even when they had gotten along, they hadn't been very close. Neither had wanted to. Connie had always been their father's girl, so she simply could not see why things always went awry between the two. She was privileged, something that Larry wanted her to be because he wanted the best for the only relative who gave a damn about him, but he wished she could just stop trying to fix things for him.
It was then, though, that Larry had an idea. He almost shot it down the very second he got it, but it lingered. He played all the possible outcomes of it in his head and decided that while it would be mean to raise a ruckus during an occasion that clearly meant a lot to Connie, the miffed teenager decided that she was practically asking for it by deceiving him.
"I ain't promising you nothin'", the gloomy boy mumbled, going through the worst case scenarios and trying to decide whether this idea of his was worth it.
Author's Notes: So I watched some 50's movies and movies about the 50's while I was having a break to get a clue about what the greasers of old were about. I conclude that Jim Stark from 'Rebel Without a Cause' is a goddamn pussy – who wouldn't think it's awesome to have a father who wears a frilly apron?