For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 36
A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words
"Abigail?" Darry called hesitantly.
She didn't answer though, merely uttering a choking sound.
"Abigail?" his voice was soft, careful as pushed open the bathroom door.
He found her on the floor in the corner, knees pulled up to her chest and hands clutching her head. She looked terrible, down right terrible.
"Abigail," he whispered, falling to his knees in front of her.
Tears were staining her face and her shoulders were shaking. She was scared. His ring hung low on her neck, brushing her shirt as she shook.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay," he cooed, gently taking her face in his hands.
It was obvious how hard it was for her to look at him at the moment, with her eyes shifting around. She was jumpy.
T
"Hey, Soda, get in," Dally ordered, pulling up to the DX in Buck's car.
He'd decided to borrow it again in order to hurry things up. If something was seriously wrong with Abigail, he wasn't going to sit around with his thumb up his butt. Plus, it was cold out and he didn't feel like walking.
"Huh? You gotta be kiddin me Dal, I'm workin here," Soda told him, tugging on his jean jacket a bit as a gust of wind come through.
"I said get in," Dally pushed, putting the car in park.
"Dal, just go home already and leave us be," Steve groaned, wiping his hands on his jeans.
"Look, I said get in, your brother's orders," Dally told him. "Somethin happened over at your house and he wants you home."
"What? What happened?" Soda asked, his brows furrowing together.
"I don't know, something with Abby. Now, get in," he growled, getting annoyed with having to explain himself so much.
It only took a moment for Soda to process this, before climbing into the passengers side.
"I'll see ya later Steve," Soda waved.
"Ya, see ya later," Steve called, waving over his shoulder.
T
"H-he's not s-supposed to be here," Abigail cried, gripping Darry's shirt.
Her hands were still shaking as she held onto him, her face buried against the fabric.
"H-he c-can't b-be here," she choked out, letting herself fall against him as he held her in his arms, keeping her close and safe.
"It's gonna be alright," he whispered, his left hand cradling the back of her head, while the other rested against her back.
"I-it can't...h-he can't..." she couldn't even finish her sentence.
"Darry?"
It was Soda. He'd just come inside with Dally on his heels, Pony and Two-Bit climbing out of the car. Dally had found them and picked them up on the way to the house, not wanting to leave them out there when there was apparently something majorly wrong at home.
"Darry?" Soda called again, walking toward the dining room.
Darry didn't say anything, merely grabbing the closest thing to him and throwing it out of the bathroom to get their attention. It did it's job and within seconds, Soda and Dally were standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
"What...?" Soda wasn't sure what to make of what was going on, but his face held a look of worry and concern upon it, his eyes searching around between the two on the floor.
"What's goin on?" Two-Bit asked, walking toward the bathroom.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he found Abigail a shaking mess in Darry's arms.
"Two-Bit, go upstairs and keep Eden there," Darry managed to say, trying his best to comfort the crying woman in his arm.
"Y-yeah, alright," Two-Bit nodded, slowly making his way up the stairs, stopping at the top to look down at them before entering Eden's room.
"So, ya mind tellin me what the hell's goin on man?" Dally finally asked.
They watched Darry's face harden for a moment, before turning toward them, his arms curling around Abigail just a bit more.
"Her father's back, he was just here a while ago," he spoke softly, watching Dally's face turn to one of confusion.
"The hecks her old man got to do with anything?" Dally asked, voicing both his and Soda's question.
This time, Darry bit his lip, biting until the faint taste of cooper met his tongue. He looked down at Abigail, who had her nails into his shirt. How was he supposed to tell the guys what he knew, how was he supposed to do that to her? He'd already said that he wouldn't. Then, right as he was getting ready to open his mouth, she snapped.
"I-I can't...I can't do this!" she said, her voice cracking as she pushed Darry away, going to stand.
He sat there watching her as he gripped her head, thoughts running rampant through her mind. Now, he knew he had to do something, whether he liked it or not he'd have to tell them. Otherwise, she wouldn't have a chance.
"I'm sorry," she choked out, quickly moving out of the bathroom. "J-just do what you want, I-I don't care anymore," she said, relaying this to Darry.
He knew what she meant when she said that, giving him the okay to fill them in. Right now, her mind couldn't process it enough to tell them herself, even if she wanted to. She then went into the kitchen, going out back where the cold January, almost February air met her skin.
T
"So, ya mind tellin me what's goin on?" Dally asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
At this point, he was a bit wary, but he knew he had to find out. He had to figure out what was going on, he had to, that way he could do something. The only problem was, Darry didn't know where to begin or if he even could. His mind was still stuck on Abigail, his heart aching from the pain he knew she was in. She was break down bit by bit.
"Pony, go keep an eye on her?" Darry swallowed, slowly standing up from his spot on the floor.
"Sure Dar," Pony spoke softly, making his way out back.
That left only Darry, Dally, and Soda.
"Look, I," Darry started, trying to get his bearings.
He still had no clue where to start. I mean, what was he supposed to say. Oh, her dad's name is Roger, he's the reason she's so messed up? Or maybe he's the one that ran off after beating her so many times out of drunken rage. Where was he to start. Then he remembered, Abigail had mentioned something about a picture once when it was just to two of them the other month. It was a picture of her getting out of the hospital after one of her latest accidents that she passed off as clumsiness.
"Look, just...just say here for a sec?" he asked, moving up the stairs into his room.
He knew where she kept it and even though she might kill him for it later, he still had to do it. He would have rather not gone through it, but it was in her underwear drawer in the corner, his cheeks turning a faint pink as he opened it.
"Get a hold of yourself Darrel," he muttered, shaking his head, before moving garments out of the way.
It didn't take much for him to find the thing buried in the upper lefthand corner of the drawer, the silver shining dully from the soot caked lid. After that, he picked it up in his hand, closing the drawer behind him before going back downstairs. Luckily for him, Dally had stayed where he was, eyeing Darry for a moment once down at the bottom of the step.
"The heck you got that thing for?" Dally asked. "Only thing in it's pictures," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Exactly," Darry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You ever see all the pictures though?" he asked, turning to look at the two.
They both shook their heads no, looking between each other, before looking down at the little metal tin.
"Then maybe it's time you did," Darry whispered, carefully opening the lid and setting it aside.
He then pulled out all the pictures, setting them on the dining room table for the others to see. Perhaps, now, they would finally understand.
Dally was the first to respond, leaning forward and pushing the pictures around to look at them. Some had her parents in them from what he could tell, some were merely her and her sister. There was even one of her mother holding a baby. Finally, Dally came to the final one, this one making his breath catch.
There was no denying what he saw as he stood there, his nails curling into the wood of the table. The picture he was looking at was a picture of her just outta the hospital almost. Even with that, she still looked banged up, almost as if she'd fallen down stairs or something. If only he knew how close to the truth he was with that one. It was obvious that her arm was broken, a sling holding it in place, and a wrap around her forehead. Honestly, he wasn't sure what to make of it.
"The hell's this?" he asked, his voice getting a bit heated as he stood there.
"It's exactly what it looks like Dallas. That's what her dad does to her," he admitted finally, turning to walk into the kitchen.
"What do ya mean that's what her old man does to her?" Dally asked, following after him, even though he already knew what he meant.
Darry merely stood there by the back door, looking out the window. From where he stood, he couldn't see Abigail or Ponyboy anywhere, making him worry. He was worried how she was handling things, how she was processing everything, how she was trying to hold herself together without completely breaking down into pieces.
"Well?" Dally pressed, raising his voice.
"Keep it down," Darry hissed, quickly looking toward the stairs.
If there was one thing that he knew, then it was that Eden couldn't know about this, not yet anyway.
"Why should I?" Dally glared.
"Because Eden doesn't know," Darry pointed out.
"Well, I think the kid's got a right to know what that bastard did. In fact, I'm gonna go get her," he said, moving toward the stairs.
In seconds, Darry had him by the arm, pulling him outside and leaving Soda standing there with the picture in his hand.
"Now, you listen here Winston. Did you not see the shape she was in?" he asked, pointing down the street where he figured his brother was. "Did you not notice how much of a wreck she was, how much she was breaking down?" Darry choked out.
"Of course I did man," Dally spat in annoyance, before shoving the man in front of him.
"Well, what do you think would happen if Eden were to find out about this right now? Huh? What do you think it would do to Abigail?" he cried, getting more frustrated by the moment. "She'd break Dal," Darry told him.
"The kid has a right to know," Dally fumed.
"That may be true, but Abigail's been trying to protect her from facing that all these years. Do you really want to destroy what she's tried so hard to do? Do you really wanna she her crash and burn because I sure don't," he hissed, feeling his hand shake.
Darry loved Abigail so much, he gave her every bit of his heart. There was no way he could just stand by and watch her crash like that. He couldn't let her break like that. It was true that Eden had a right to know what kind of person her father really was, but it she were to find out now, that would be the end of it all. He knew that Abigail wouldn't be able to handle it, not in the state that she was in now. She'd held up for so long, but now that was compromised because a man decided to show up at there door step with a hello, wanting to see his family again. Possibly even wanting it back.
"Of course I don't wanna see her crash and burn, why would I?" Dally yelled.
"Then it means keeping your mouth shut Dallas. Otherwise, it'd be like putting a gun to her head."
That's when it hit him. It hit Dally like a ton of bricks, reminding him of when she'd run off to find him just to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. He'd had his gun with him then, even made a comment on wishing he had a bullet. She'd come so close to smacking him for that one. Sure, he'd had it hard, but so had she. He came to understand that that night, but even more so now. Now, he knew the truth behind the rage that night, the pain behind it all. Like him, she'd wanted to give up on life before, and now she was being pushed once more. It was like having everything thrown back in her face. All the hard work, the suffering, everything.
Think about all the crap I've been through?
Her words from that night echoed in his head. It was then that he finally broke away, quickly walking down the street behind the house. He could see her in the distance, sitting there on the ground with her back against a bit of fence, her hands gripping her head as she cried. Ponyboy just stood there watching her, feeling his oneself become shaken. The kid didn't know what to do.
"Move," Dally breathed, walking passed Ponyboy and over to Abigail.
Darry watched the whole thing from the back driveway, watching as Dally fell to his knees in front of her, carefully taking her into his arms. It wasn't something that they normally saw, the warmer side of Dallas Winston. Dally had come to have a bit of a soft spot for her to a degree though and it was obvious that in a way, she held the last bits of his sanity together as strange as the thought might sound. At times, no one really thought that Dallas was sane anymore, but you never know. After all, in a way, Abigail held everyone together. She sure held Darry together, that he knew for a fact. She was also helping keep his family together as well.
T
Inside the house, Eden was talking up a storm, telling Two-Bit all about her father. She was just so happy that he was back. She'd waited so long to see him again and now he was finally back. She always knew that he'd come back, always. She didn't understand why Abigail was so mad at him. All he had done was come say hi and ask questions. It wasn't like he'd ever done anything wrong to either of them. Yeah, he up and left for a few years, but they had gotten by and Eden knew he likely had his reasons. Even with all that though, she still couldn't understand her sister. Unfortunately though, all that Two-Bit knew was what Eden had told him, that he'd come to the house and said hi. He'd asked some questions and then Abigail started acting weird. Although, regardless what he knew at the moment, Two-Bit still knew that there was more to it than what Eden was saying. At least on Abigail's end anyway.
"I'm sure she was just surprised to see him, that's all," Two-Bit tried, trying to defend his friend.
"She's weird anyway," Eden said off handedly.
"She's not that bad,"Two-Bit chuckled, trying to keep his mind off of things.
"The hell she isn't," she grumbled.
"Hey now, careful," he chided, shaking a finger at her.
She just rolled her eyes at him for this, shaking her head. She'd never understand why they all defended her at times, after all, they didn't grow up with her. Yeah, Darry might have gone to school with her, but that didn't mean they had known each other personally. Then there was Ponyboy and Johnny. They hadn't known anything about her until that night at the diner. Nobody really did. She'd always kept to herself, so how would anyone know what she was like save for Eden.
In Eden's mind, Abigail always asked too much. She always wanted her home by a certain time when all Eden really wanted was to hang out with her friends, homework alway had to be done. Of course, her sister always got annoyed when she skipped school with one of her buddies, but it's not like Eden really liked school that much anyway. In fact, she really didn't see the point in it, it was just a bunch of homework and crap. It's not like she even used half the junk that she learned in school. Heck, she didn't even know what she wanted to do when she got out of school.
"Now, there's just somethin I don't get," Two-Bit breathed. "What's up with you and your sister?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Sure you do. Why you always fightin and stuff?" Two-Bit asked, sitting on the bed that Sparky was laying on.
"I guess we just don't see eye to eye," she shrugged, skim over a few pages in her book that she was supposed to read for English class.
She really didn't care much, that's why she skimmed. She knew Abigail would get on her for it though if she knew, so hopefully, Two-Bit wouldn't open his mouth and say anything. Then again, he also had a habit of skipping school at times, so it really did matter much to him. That's what she thought anyway.
"You don't seem to care too much about that homework of yours," he commented, leaning back on the bed.
Again, she shrugged, writing something down on a paper sitting on the desk.
"Why is it the moment we switch the conversation from your dad to your sister, you go all quiet?"
"Because there's not much to talk about," Eden told him, turning off the desk lamp and moving toward the door.
Two-Bit was up out of his seat in a heartbeat, quickly grabbing her by the arm.
"W-Wait," he stammered.
She gave him a curious look, glancing down at the hand on her arm.
"Um, let's just stay up here a while longer," he suggested, trying to ease her away from the door.
"But I'm hungry," she said, pulling away, quickly making her way out the door.
"H-hey, wait!" Two-Bit called after her.
It didn't do much good though as she hurried down the stairs, finding Soda by the dining room table. The moment he saw her though, he placed whatever he was holding behind him, tucking it back into the waistband of his pants. His shirt covered it, so even if he were to turn, she wouldn't be able to see it.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, walking toward him.
"Um, nothing?"
She didn't pay much attention to his answer though, looking down at the pictures laying out on the table. She grew angry at this upon seeing them. With the look on her face, Soda was about to say something, but she beat him to it.
"This is why I don't like her! She's always hiding stuff," she yelled, getting angry at the fact she didn't know her sister had held onto some of their pictures without letting her know about it.
"Eden, it's-," Soda wasn't even able to finish his sentence, before she shoved it all off the table in annoyance, the tin and it's lid clattering onto the floor.
"Hey, now, there's no need for that," Two-Bit said, moving to grab her like before.
She merely moved away, walking toward the back door. She'd talk with her sister one way or another.
Both Soda and Two-Bit tried to go after her, but she was out the door quicker than they could say Pepsi-cola.
"Where is she?" Eden asked, walking up to Darry.
"I, uh, Soda!" Darry yelled, turning to find his brother stepping out of the house with Two-Bit behind him.
"D-Darry, I'm, I didn't," Soda stammered, not really sure what to say.
He knew that Eden wasn't supposed to be outside, she wasn't supposed to be anywhere near her sister right now and risk the possibility of find things out.
Eden merely got annoyed at this, walking passed everyone and onto the back street.
"Wait!" they called.
"What!" she screamed in annoyance, turning around to face them.
They all went quiet though as they came to stand near her, looking down the street to find nothing there. This left all of them stunned, even Darry.
Yay! Chapter 36! I really hope that everyone liked it? Please, let me know what you think about it? Don't forget to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and feelings on this chapter/story. I LOVE hearing FEEDBACK. It keeps me HAPPY, helps me WRITE, and KEEPS me WRITING. Anyway, thanks everyone and if you've got ANY IDEAS let me know!