Good LORD it's been forever since I've updated this! Alright... I've made a few changes... Dally is gonna be Billy Flynn, not Taylor, the little brother I made up for him... it's a long story, lol. Also, Two-Bit is not going to be "Papa Matthews"... that'll be Jade West as Mama... and one more thing - Steve Randle is now the judge guy, Sodapop Curtis is (...was...) Angel's husband. If I make any more changes, you'll be promptly notified, I just didn't want to start the real story without seeing the movie again. And so you know, Heaven is not Roxie, she is Heaven - this story is just kind of following the Chicago storyline. Only minor characters (like the Merry Murderesses) will keep their Chicago names.
And without further ado... on with the show!!!
Chapter One
And All That Jazz...
The man rushed around, desperate to find his dancers - they were half an hour late, and they were on stage in five. Unbeknownst to him, Angelina Marquin was stepping out of the car just as he burst backstage. "Keep the change, Charlie." Her voice was low, and her face was painted perfectly, her flashy shoes tapping against the pavement as she dashed inside, back into her dressing room. "Where have you been?!" the man shouted at her. "Cool your heels, alright?! I'm here, aren't I?" She said, dabbing a bit of powder on her high, symetrical cheekbones. "Where's Sandy?" he inquired, still huffing and puffing, worried she wouldn't make it onstage in time.
"She's not really herself tonight..." Angel mumbled, her facial expression not changing one bit as she jumped up, pulling on her costume quickly, and not giving a damn if her boss was in ithe room or not. "But tonight is her act!!" he cried, and she shot him a look. "Don't sweat it, I can do it alone... shit!" she shouted from nowhere, making a mad dash for the door and towards the stage. "Get out there, hurry up!" the man ushered from behind her, but she was already in place when the announcer began.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Onyx club is proud to present Tulsa's hottest show in the world... two Jazz babes moving as one - The Onyx Songbirds!!"
Angel suggestively shrugged her shoulders, her lips drawn back in the most seductive pout she could muster, and began to sing. "Come on, babe, why don't we paint the town... and all that jazz..."
Heaven Shepard was in awe from the audience, looking up at the jazz singer, and she envisioned herself on that stage, instead of Angel Marquin - she was the most infamous club girl in Tulsa, and would do just about anything - or anyone - to get where she was.
But her date quickly brought her back to her senses. "Let's go, babe..." came Tim Shepards deep voice from behind her, leaning down a bit to kiss her neck. She quickly pushed him off, spinning around to look up at him with pleading eyes. "But I didn't get to meet your friend, that manager guy!" she protested, and Tim smirked, shrugging a bit. "It's cool, babe, I told him about you..."
She smiled - he had won her over. "Honest? You told him?" He nodded, inhaling slowly on his cigarette. "Yeah, I told him..." She smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him, and he drew his arms around her waist as they stumbled together out of the club.
Angel didn't pay them any mind - she couldn't even see them from the bright lights of the stage. "Park the car, I know a whoopee spot, where the gin is cold, but the piano's hot! It's just a noisy hall where theres a nightly brawl, and all... that... jazz..."
Back at Heaven's apartment, she and Tim were backing slowly up the stairs, their lips smashed together in a kiss until they both heard a door creak open. With a gasp, Heaven spun around, fumbling to wipe off her smeared lipstick with a handkerchief she couldn't find as she greeted her too-nosy neighbor. "Hi, Mrs. Borusewicz!" The woman nodded, giving her a suspicious look. "Mrs. Shepard..."
"This is Tim... my brother-in-law... don't you remember?" The other woman shrugged, giving them both another look as she closed her door. They muffled their laughter until they got inside, and immediately began kissing again, slowly undressing each other as they did so.
"No, I'm no one's wife, but... oh, I love my life! And all... that... jazz... that jazz." She smiled, a self-satisfied smile as the number ended, and turned on her heels, marching offstage and down to the bar - a drink was in order.
"Oh, say it again, Tim..."
"My star, my little shooting star..." He mumbled, kissing her cheekbone, and she burst into smiles, pulling back to look at him. "Say it again..." He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Jesus Christ, kid..." Her smile faded a bit, and she looked at him, confused as to why he wasn't trying to smother her with himself - and why he was pulling on his coat.
"Tim...? Hey, what's the rush? Curly's not gonna be home til after midnight... Tim? Tim?" She persisted, but still he ignored her, reaching for his shoes. "Hey, you know, I don't like you to feel like I'm tryin' to nag you or anything, but don't you think I should meet your friend at the Onyx? It's been a month since you told him about me..." she said, her voice faltering a bit as she spoke. "Hey, you're not goin' away, are you?"
He shrugged, not wanting to meet her eyes. "It's getting late."
She walked over to him, running her hand down his arm. "I've been thinking alot about my anthem lately..." she mused out loud for a moment, then sat beside him, leaning over as she breathed slowly across his neck. "We could open up a club together you know... you could run it... I could be your headliner..."
He pushed her away roughly. "Get off of me..." He stood up, and she followed his lead quickly. "Hey, what's the big idea, Tim?" He looked at her, a smug look of amusement on his face. "Wake up, Heav, you ain't never gonna have an act..."
She glared at him defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. "Says who?!" she spouted, and he chuckled a bit, smirking down his nose at her. "Face it, babe... you're just two big towers with skinny legs, and l'm just a furniture salesman..." he said quietly, and she shook her head, confused. "No, no, you have connnections! That guy down at the club...!" He rolled his eyes again. "There ain't no guy..."
"Yeah there is, that night..." He cut her off quickly. "It was the first time I set foot in the joint..." She inhaled shakily, not wanting to let herself cry in front of him - she couldn't believe she'd put her marriage on the line for some sleazebag liar - who just happened to be her brothers husband. "So you didn't tell anyone about me...?" she asked, her eyes full of denial. "Who was there to tell...? Besides..." He crossed the room, leaning down to run his lips softly against her jawbone. "I'd have said anything to get a piece of this... you're pretty hot stuff... why should Curly get all the fun...?" She put her husband quickly out of her head, and tried to return his interest. 'Curly ain't even been around here anyway...' she told herself, trying to find some sort of justification for her actions.
"So will you stay now...?" she asked quietly, and he looked down at her, a vacant expression in his eyes. "We've had some good times... let's just leave it at that..." he told her. "Aww, Tim, why you wanna do this to me...?" she pleaded, and put her arms around his shoulders, looking up at him with big, doe-like eyes. He quickly reached up, taking her wrists in his hands and shoving them off of him. "You get your hands off of me, touch me again and I'll knock your lights out..." He roughly let her go, turning towards the door, but she was right behind him. "Tim, wait!" she hissed, and he spun around, glaring down at her. "Curly's gonna be home soon - can't have him walkin' in on me havin' my fun with his pretty little thing of a wife, now can I?" he said with a laugh, and her eyes quickly filled with tears. "You're a liar, Tim Shepard..."
He threw his head back and laughed at this. "Yeah, so? You knew that when you got involved with the likes of my brother..." She shook her head, glaring at him, completely and utterly heartbroken. "You lied to me..."
He looked up at her, flashing her a brilliant, wicked smile. "That's right, baby doll... that's right..." A cold chill ran down her spine - that had been the last straw. She reached into her nightstand drawer, pulling out the tiny handgun Curly had bought her when she told him she had always wanted a gun. She pointed it at him, the tears streaming down her cheeks as she pulled the trigger, screaming at the top of her lungs. "You bastard, you bastard!!" She sank to the floor after putting a sheet over Tims lifeless body, not bearing to look at his face. Curling up in a ball, she tried to cry herself into a false sense of comfort until Curly came home.
'Curly will get me out of this... I know it...'
"Heaven, baby, come on, talk to me!!!" Curly cried as he scooped his wife into his arms, trying to revive her. She was out cold, and his favorite shirt was now covered in blood from her head wound, but it was the least of his problems. He blinked away a few tears and ran inside the hospital, trying to keep Heaven's head still.
'Knock it off, Shepard...' he thought to himself. 'Greasers don't cry...'
Alright... I know that the Outsiders was the late 60's, early 70's, but work with me - The last part of this and every chapter will be what's going on in real life - the Chicago story line is what Heaven is seeing in her head while she's asleep/dying/in a coma. (I haven't decided yet.) Anyway, I'll try to update this more often, I've been slacking, I know, I've been devoting all my time to my Pirates of the Caribbean fan-fics. w00t! Also, I know that Angel's dance partner was supposed to be her sister, but her sister is Heaven, and Heaven can't die, because it's her dream. Sooo, her dance partner is her best friend - well, deceased, ex-best friend... what kind of best friend steals your husband? Heehee... anyway, review, people!!
Always,
Heaven Marquin-Shepard, The Bonnie Pirate Lass