Chapter Twenty-Three: The Importance of Being Earnest

Sodapop made blue mashed potatoes. Blue. He claimed that they looked too plain, next to the yellow corn. They tasted normal, but I could hardly eat them, cobalt colored like that. Thank God the pork chops were alright.

Dinner was the usual loud, bustling affair. The boys were all real glad that Two-Bit was out of the cooler. Steve and his girl Evie dropped by, and so did Wanda Idelmann, but some miracle. I didn't get a chance to get Ponyboy alone for the rest of the evening, or to talk to Darry, but it was so nice, I didn't mind. All the noise that came along with the folks I loved was refreshing after my violent morning and quiet afternoon.

When I got home, I called Carla. The word was that the fuzz had actually shown up for Curly and Frank; the fight happening at the same time, and subsequently breaking up when it did, was pure coincidence. As far as Carla knew - and generally, Carla knew everything - both boys were still in a holding cell at Tulsa Police Department. I couldn't help but wonder what that little blonde secretary thought of Curly Shepard.

The girls were all pretty much fine; Beth had a black eye and bruised ribs (Valerie O'Brien packed a hell of a side punch, I'll give her that), Nancy's jaw was swollen, and Carla had gotten out without taking a single hit. The second she heard the fuzz, she bolted. I didn't blame her at all. Angela Shepard's face was black and blue, Jennifer Price's mouth was busted to hell and back, and Valerie O'Brien had a black eye of her own.

It didn't feel as important now, but it was satisfying to know that undoubtedly, my side had won.

I was nervous about school - especially Jennifer and Angela - but Jen skipped the first day, and then hid from me for the rest of the week, while Angela did nothing more than give me dirty looks. The fight, and Curly Shepard's arrest, were the talk of the school. That was no secret. For some reason, though, people left me alone for the most part. Usually, after a fight like that, someone would try to antagonize me, prove that they could whip the girl who whipped so and so. There was none of that this time. Maybe they'd listened when I told Jennifer that I was crazy, and to leave me alone, even if I didn't want to remember that part myself.

Either way, it was a relief. I didn't have to fight and worry my mama. For the first time all school year, I could relax. I spent lunch with my girl friends, practiced Guys and Dolls, caught up on my homework, and generally felt like a normal freshman girl. For once.

Of course, I still had a couple of concerns that normal girls didn't have to worry about. But at one of them got addressed Thursday morning, before school.

Two-Bit was in the bathroom, greasing up his hair. Mama was frying an egg, singing along to the radio. And I was making my peanut butter sandwich, just like usual.

"I know you're wondering where I got the bail money," Mama said. Her voice was light and pleasant, despite how abruptly she'd spoken.

"I wasn't gonna ask," I admitted, screwing the cap back onto the Jiffy.

"But you were wondering," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah."

She scooped her egg out of the frying pan, setting it neatly onto her plate. "It was Darry Curtis. He came over here on Saturday, while you and Ponyboy were out. Wouldn't take no for an answer."

"It was Darry?" My jaw practically scrapped the floor, I was so shocked. "But we'd just argued on Saturday morning. Why -?"

"He said we were family, Rose. The Curtises are good people. And Lord, Darry looks just like his daddy."

I didn't know what else to say to that. She was certainly right, though. So was he.

Pony had track practice after school on Thursdays, but I still asked Two-Bit to drop me off at the Curtis' house that afternoon instead of our own. My own brother been gone every day that week, sometimes not even making it home for dinner. But he'd given me 40 for grocery money the day before, only half of which I actually needed, so I couldn't complain too much.

I did wonder if he'd paid back Darry yet though. If he even knew.

The old red Ford was in the driveway - a good sign, this time. I let myself in, and then hollered, "Honey, I'm home!"

Darry stuck his brunette head out of the kitchen. When he saw me, his eyes widened, then narrowed. "Hey, Rosalie. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, things are pretty good, actually," I answered honestly, walking into the kitchen to meet him. "Thanks to you, in part, I reckon."

Darry was at the counter, meticulously cutting up strips of chicken. He raised his eyebrows at me - both of them, not the old Matthews special. "Whatcha mean?"

"I know you gave Mama bail money, Darry. I wanted to say thank you."

Darry turned red, but he kept his pale eyes on the task in front of him. I wondered where he'd gotten them from. Ponyboy had his mama's eyes, and Soda his daddy's, but Pony was right - Darry's eyes were all his own.

"I told your mama that y'all are family, and I meant it, Rosalie," the man said gruffly.

I grinned at him. "Does that mean I can't date Ponyboy, since we're family and all?"

Darry rolled his eyes at me. Now he was laying the raw chicken strips in a bowl full of Coca-Cola. It was a trick that I'd taught him, and my mama taught me, to make the chicken tender. "Are y'all even dating yet?"

I leaned against the kitchen counter with a grin. "Well, we're going on a date, but I reckon I shouldn't get too ahead of myself yet. Although I gotta ask, Dar - is all this okay with you?"

"Isn't that sorta backward?" He said with a wry smile. "I feel like he should be askin' Two-Bit, not the other way around."

It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I added a snort to mine. "He probably has, knowin' him." Then I turned to look at Darry. "But I am asking you. It's important to me."

He gave me one of his rare grins. "Yeah, Rosalie, y'all have my blessing. Now, don't you have some homework to do?"

I didn't get a chance to apologize, exactly, but I knew that he knew. Darry never stayed mad at me long, anyway.

Soda's party was on a Saturday, so I was cutting it kinda close by waiting until Friday to get a new dress. Carla had been inexplicably busy all week, though, and surprisingly tight-lipped whenever I did get her on the phone. By Friday, I was dying with anticipation for our trip to Vernon's. I'd never been real patient.

We met up behind the theater after school, our usual spot now. Carla's long brown hair was down and blowing all around her face in the wind, but I still noticed that her lipstick was smudged.

"Caroline Ann," I hissed as soon as I was within earshot. "You have some 'splainin' to do, missy."

To my surprise, she giggled, her face flushing. "I promise, I'll tell you everything once we get off campus, okay?"

I huffed impatiently, half for show and half genuinely. But I nodded. Admittedly, I walked a little faster through the parking lot than normal, or necessary. Carl kept pace though.

Once we hit the sidewalk, I turned to her. "Alright, spill."

She stared at her shoes shyly. "You know Gerald Lowenthal?"

"The Soc?" I couldn't help but gasp. "His daddy owns some car dealership, don't he?"

"He does," Carla admitted. "But Rose, Gerry is such a good guy."

I reached into my purse for a cigarette. Lord, I needed one. "How'd this even happen?"

"We got partnered together for English class. Romeo and Juliet," she grinned.

I sighed as I lit my smoke. I tried to remember what Ponyboy said about hating the Socs, but the idea of my best friend dating one was still harder to swallow than I wanted to admit. It was Carla, though, and I loved that girl. So I said begrudgingly, "He is cute."

"I want you to meet him," Carla said, as we turned the corner that led us into the tall buildings of downtown.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wouldn't bring him to Soda's party, that's for sure."

"Oh, come on, Rose, don't be that way." She nudged me with her shoulder, gently but genuinely.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I replied. "I'll try to be good, I swear. Just be careful, ya dig?"

She smiled at me. Her whole face was lit up and radiant. "Don't worry, Rosalie. He's a good one, I promise."

I didn't say anything else. The city was getting noisy, anyway, downtown getting ready for another Friday night. I wondered if Tim Shepard was at that bar on Jackson again.

Vernon's shop sure was a welcome sight. As soon as we walked into the door, Carla called, "Hey, Mrs. Vernon!"

Old Mrs. Vernon hobbled out from behind the cash register, her blue eyes warm. "Girls! I hadn't seen you in a couple weeks, I was starting to worry."

"There's been a lot going on," I confessed.

"Well, tell me all about it!" She cried. "And here, I have some dresses I want you to look through..."

So Carla and I filled the old woman in on the last few weeks - both my drama with Ponyboy and Angela, and Carla's budding romance with Gerald. It was funny to find out a couple weeks into it, but I guess I'd been a little distracted. I decided I needed to be better about that from now on. Among other things.

All week, I'd been stunned by how normal things felt, how simple they could be. Trying on dresses with Carla and Mrs. Vernon, laughing about boys, I thought that maybe Two-Bit was right. Things were gonna be okay.

A/N: Sorry to reupload, wanted to make a minor character name change. Please review! :)