End Of Part One
Chapter TexTwo-Bit Mathews.
Two Bit Mathews.
He thought it would be a cold day in Hell before anyone in his gang willingly associated with cops. Yet here they were, standing in the old Catholic cemetery beside officer Whateverhisnameis as Johnny's mother was lowered into the ground.
Maybe Old Lady Cade turned off the furnace down there.
It was barely a funeral, they couldn't afford anything but a few words over a pine box. The cop said they did a whip round at the station and handed Johnny an envelope of cash for the coffin.
His father plead guilty. They'd had him on the ropes and he didn't even try to make excuses. So there would be no trial and he would likely avoid the death penalty. Although life in the slammer wasn't much better. At least Johnny and Mary were safe now.
The priest looked up from his Book of Common Prayer. "Would anyone like to say anything?"
Two-Bit looked around at the assembled crowd. The gang was there, Johnny front and centre, holding Mary in her little blue knitted dress. He was wearing a suit borrowed from Steve's older brother, and it hung off him. Dally stood beside him with an arm around his shoulder. Two-Bit and Steve beside Dally.
The three Curtis Brothers stood to his left. They were clearly struggling with the memory of the last funeral they attended and tearful, though they all tried to hide it.
Maude from next door was there, Mr and Mrs Sullivan and their daughter Jane, the old guitar guy from the end of the street, the cop, The lady social worker, Buck and Hattie (both looking more scrubbed up than he'd ever seen either of them before.) and last but not least, looking less than sober but not quite cooked either, was Old Jasper.
More than he expected. But he knew they were't there for Old Lady Cade, they were there for Johnny.
No one looked like they wanted to get up and talk, but it seemed a cruel thing to go into the ground without a word no matter who you were.
All eyes were on Johnny. His friend was staring ahead, looking like a rabbit in the headlights at the thought of having to get up and speak. No. Johnny could hardly speak in normal conversation let alone in public… Let alone at his own mother's funeral. Wasn't going to happen.
So Two-Bit stood up instead. "Yeah… I would." He said, stepping forward awkwardly and clearing his throat. He shuffled his feet against the grass.
"Mrs Cade… Well… She's been a part of the neighbourhood since I can remember. I believe she had a pretty sad life, she was…Unwell… For a long time… She struggled a lot with a lot of things… She survived in spite of it all…" He looked at Johnny, who was staring at him with a look of relief and gratitude on his face. "But she did a wonderful thing for me…" Johnny's eyes widened in surprise as he continued "…She gave me two of my favourite people and… Well… If there's even a peck of her in either of them then I can thank her for that… I sure am sorry that she had to leave us the way she did too. She deserved better in life I recon, and certainly in death… I… I hope she's at peace now." He looked around, suddenly at a loss for words, shrugged and went back to his seat.
"Thank you Son." The priest murmured and went back to his book. " Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear sister here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth , ashes to ashes , dust to dust ; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ…"
Maude Next-Door had transformed the Curtis place into a coffee and sandwich dispensary for the wake. She was wise enough to forgo the alcohol given the old men in attendance. Hattie, Buck and Jasper didn't stick around long, given the presence of the cop and social worker that was probably for the best. But everyone shook Johnny's hand and told him they were sorry for his trouble and Hattie hugged him.
The social worker, Mildred he thought her name was, spoke with Johnny for a while in a corner of the living room, holding his hand the whole time while his lip wobbled. It took a moment for Two-Bit to realise that she was almost crying too. She seemed human after all. Who knew?
After that Johnny seemed to disappear for a while. He probably needed a rest after everything. But Two-Bit had something he needed to give to him.
He found him in the bedroom, staring at himself in the mirror. He did cut a comical figure with his sleeves rolled up like that. He looked a little like Charlie Chaplin or something.
"Hey Man." He said softly, mindful of the baby sleeping in her crib at the end of the bed.
Johnny jumped a little and turned around. "Hey…"
"I know you probably could use some alone time right now but I have something I've been meaning to give you… Um… You know… Before your old man was arrested, me and Steve went to the house, to see if there was anything of yours you might need… Um… I hope you don't mind… I found this…" He handed him the old photograph of Johnny and his mother. He'd put it in a little brass frame he'd swiped from a second hand store down town. "There's a whole book of 'em in the nightstand but… I didn't think you'd wanna look at those right away…"
Johnny held the little frame in his hands and stared at the picture. He took a few steps back and sat on the bed as he studied it quietly.
"She was pretty huh?" He said eventually, running a finger lightly over the glass.
"Yeah Johnny, she was." She had dark, shiny hair and Johnny's shy smile and big eyes.
"Do you think she loved me?"
Two-Bit felt stricken by that question, the sorrow in Johnny's voice. He put his hand on his shoulder. "Yeah Man, look at her face."
"I've been thinkin' a bunch about my Ma since Mary came." he said quietly. "I was thinkin' about all the stuff I have to do for her, the feedin' and the changin' and the washin' and all… All that stuff that she can't do for herself."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah… Thing is… My Momma lost her parents before I was born and My Daddy's lived in Missouri so… It must've been just her… She must've done all that for me, 'else I wouldn't be here… That's what me an' Mildred were talkin' about earlier. That our Mommas must've looked after us pretty good at least for a while when we were babies 'else we wouldn't be here."
"That's a good point Johnnycake." Two-Bit smiled sadly. "Think of all that work that goes into raisin' a baby… You'd have to love 'em I guess."
Johnny looked at the crib. "I'm gonna tell her Momma loved her… Even if it ain't true… I'm gonna tell her that, 'cause who knows… If she'd been able to keep her…"
Two-Bit nodded "Yeah Johnny… You should."
"Two…"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for looking' out for me at the funeral."
"Don't mention it Man."
"And always…" He whispered.
"You can count on me Johnnycake." He replied, giving the boy's shoulder a squeeze.
Johnny placed the picture on the nightstand carefully.
Later, when everyone but the gang had gone home. They were sitting around the living room discussing the Cade house. No one knew what would become of the place. If the bank would seize it, if Johnny's dad still owned it or if Johnny could inherit it one day.
One thing was for sure. He and Steve were going to gut it of everything that wasn't nailed down, sell everything Johnny didn't want and use the money for him and the baby. Bank be damned!
"Well…" Soda said "I'll help you with that… But I doubt Johnny will want to set foot in the place for a while…"
"G…Guys!" They heard a cry from the bedroom. "GUYS!"
They rushed down the hall and rounded the doorway to see Johnny standing there beside Mary's crib, his eyes were wide and shining. He shook all over like he'd just had an electric shock.
"Johnny what's wrong?" Dally asked. "What happened? Is she…"
"She smiled at me!" Johnny said "She woke up and I leaned over the edge of the crib to check on her and she smiled at me for real!"
There was a flurry of movement as all six of them rushed to the crib and started baby talking at Mary.
Sure enough the little face broke into an adorable toothless grin. A genuine one that reached her eyes.
"Glory!" Ponyboy was practically dancing on the spot. "Right on time too! Dr Spock had it right! Hey Baby" He touched her nose, eliciting another smile "Hey Happy Girl!" His own grin almost matching hers in sheer delight.
Two-Bit couldn't stop looking at Johnny's face. He had never, in his whole life, seen Johnny that genuinely happy. On this day of all days. Maybe it was because he knew real love in that moment.
The little bedroom came together more slowly than they'd planned due to the Cade house clearance plan.
The old man wasn't ever getting out of jail again, they hoped, and as far as Johnny was concerned the whole place could burn down, he said he didn't care and flatly refused to look at the place. But Two-Bit sure as hell did care. He was going to strip that place to the bone. If the Bank got it then they were getting four walls and a roof and that was it.
He started by roping Steve and Soda into clearing out the mess. That was goddam disgusting and took whole weekend. He didn't think Steve was going to forgive him any time soon when he found an an actual rat's nest in the kitchen.
Then they took the bigger furniture, fixings, kitchen appliances, bathtub, the curtains and curtain poles, even the lightbulbs. Any stuff they thought Johnny might want for the new bedroom. There wasn't much but who knew? Maybe the side table belonged to his grandma or something?
They stored it all in an old shipping container on Buck's property that he wasn't using for much. They figured it could stay there till Johnny got to a place where he could look at it. They also took the old Bible and photo album back to the Curtis place.
"The only two books in the house!" Steve noted with a whistle. "Don't that tell all?"
Then they took all the small stuff, lamps, carpets, mirrors, any unbroken plates, cutlery, paintings and such that weren't mouldy and lousy and took them out in a wheelbarrow. They set everything up on a Sunday after church and stuck a big cardboard sign outside the house with GARAGE SALE on it.
It certainly got attention from the neighbourhood, but that wasn't all. A couple of fancy cars stopped throughout the day and Soc kids got out and gawped at their trash for a bit. One of the girls, a hot redhead, bought a china tea cup and a mirror. She batted her eyelashes at Soda and gave more than they were worth. Steve bristled at their 'slumming' but Soda said "their money is as good as anyone's and hell, they have plenty of it so why not?"
By the end of the day they'd sold almost everything and made 77 dollars and 58 cents. That was going in the Mary fund. That was what Darry called the savings account he'd opened for her. Those drunks were her folks too. And it looked like they weren't leaving her anything else.
So yeah… The bedroom took a little longer but they got there in the end and painted it pink. Just like Johnny wanted, but not like, bubble gum pink, they mixed it with white and made it pale and classy for their little lady.
Of course it was Johnny's friggin' bedroom too but no one teased him about it much.
"Don't need that stuff Two." Johnny said yet again one Sunday afternoon as he pinned an old sheet up above the window with thumb-tacks.
"We have perfectly good curtain rails Johnny… Just sitting over at Buck's place."
"I said this is fine!" He snapped. "I don't want to have their things in this room! I have enough bad memories from that house I don't need them in here!" He blinked, as though just becoming aware of what he'd said. "Thank you though… For saving them. Maybe I'll be able to hawk them and get some different ones."
"Save the money Johnny." Darry said from the doorway. "I can get all that stuff from the landfill at work. You camp out for a while with sheet curtains and a floor mattress and I'll snag anything nice for you that comes by."
"Dar?" Asked Johnny turning from his pinning "Can you show me how to make furniture?" Then he stammered. "I…I mean… Some day… If you're not too busy."
"Why sure Johnnycake!" Darry smiled at him. "We'll talk next Sunday OK?"
"Thanks!" Johnny looked delighted.
"You thinkin' of going' into carpentry?" Two Bit asked, half joking.
Johnny shrugged "Got the idea while I watched Darry knock out Mary's crib in an afternoon. I'd like… I mean maybe it's stupid or whatever but I'd like to make somethin' for her, like a toy chest or bookcase or somethin.'"
"Nah It ain't stupid, it's a nice idea Man. I don't think I've made a damn thing in my entire life."
"You made 77 bucks for us!" Johnny reminded him. "You made my life a hell of a lot easier by clearing out that trash heap for me… Maybe you could go into business yourself as a…" he frowned. "…House… Stripper."
"That doesn't sound quite right." Two-Bit laughed, patting Johnny's shoulder. "I'll see you later man, I'm meeting a girl at the Drive in."
"Oh yeah?"
"Oh yeah… All going well I shouldn't be home 'till mornin'" He winked.
Johnny blushed and looked hurriedly back at his work. Glory that boy was a prude.
As he left the little house Two-Bit looked back over his shoulder. The lights were on, there was smoke coming from the chimney, Darry was probably helping Ponyboy with his homework and Soda was probably combing his hair, about to head out to meet Sandy.
For the first time he could remember he wasn't worried about what Johnny Cade was doing. He let out a deep breath he didn't know he's been holding and walked on, fleeing suddenly much lighter on his feet.