Five For Fighting
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own no original characters of the S.E. Hinton books
T.H.R.E.E.
As we ripped into the cake Darry picked up the phone.
"I'm going to call the gang, tell them not to come over tonight, no need to send Amber running."
"Who's the gang?" I asked with a mouthful of cake, spewing crumbs everywhere.
"That was very ladylike…they're just some boys we grew up with, they're like another four brothers, but they can get pretty wild, maybe it's best if we let you get adjusted first" Darry said
"No, I want to meet them!" I protested, swallowing my cake and washing it down with the water that Soda had given me before. I always liked my beverages closer to room temperature. I don't know why.
Darry shot Soda a wary look, but Soda's eyes were dancing merrily, "Gosh but Steve is gonna love you, Steve is my best buddy"
There was a slight scowl on Ponyboy's face that I didn't quite understand yet, why didn't Pony like Soda's best friend, especially if this boy was one of the "gang", one of the four "extra brothers". I shook the thought out of my mind and turned my mind back to Darry.
"Put the phone down, I want to meet your friends." I wheedled, a slight whine rising in my voice that made Darry smile slightly and hang up the phone, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I nodded, refusing to admit to either myself or my brothers how nervous I really was, as Soda cocked his head to the side "Boy, I bet the gang will be excited to see you, they saw you when you were a baby too, we've known them that long."
I turned my attention back to Ponyboy and watched him curiously, he seemed upset.
"You mean to tell me…" he was measuring his words as if he couldn't believe they were coming out of his mouth "that the gang knew about Amber all along and no one told me?"
"Of course they know about her, they were old enough to remember there being someone other than us three in the family"
I didn't really like the sarcastic edge in Darry's voice but I didn't stop to really dwell on it because I was feeling a knot of tension return to the pit of my stomach at the hurt look that entered Ponyboy's eyes. Betrayal is probably a better word.
"We made them swear not to tell you" Darry added in a nicer tone "I threatened to throttle anyone who said anything.
"What about Johnny? He wasn't old enough" Pony challenged.
"Well you know Two-Bit, he went and opened his mouth about it when Johnny was there, we couldn't very well lie to Johnny, you know none of us can, but you also know how he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't offer information. I'm sure if you had walked up to him and said 'Hey Johnny, do you know if I have a twin sister" he would have said yes cause he doesn't lie either," Darry replied
"I'm really tired," I said desperate to cut the tension but not knowing how, "can I take a nap?"
"Of course you can, Ponyboy, why don't you get her set up in Soda's old room and I'll bring in some clean sheets," Darry suggested.
Ponyboy nodded and I followed him out of the room grabbing my duffle bag on the way. I could tell he was still irked but he would make his peace with it eventually, just like I would. It certainly didn't seem fair that by no fault of our own we were separated at birth with everyone knowing but us. But that's what life dealt us, and we would deal.
Pony opened the door to a gray and blue room covered in dust, dark and dim. But when he pulled open the curtains I could see that the room had character. The walls were gray with green stripped boarders running the perimeter of the ceiling. The curtains were also a hunter green, hanging limply from the two windows. It was a small room, and like I said, it was dusty too. A far cry from my room in Arizona with its wide window seat and shining wooden floors. This floor was covered in gray shag carpet, the kind you can curl your toes into on a cold winter night.
I could hear Soda or Darry running water in the bathroom, through the wall and I smiled. This house was small, closed in and crowded and I liked it. No more echoing feet on the floor panels when I would walk the halls alone at night, or strange noises as the house settled, you could feel safe and secure in a house like this. I already did.
"It was Soda's room, before he started sleeping with me." Pony offered "I know it ain't much but…"
"It's great, I love it" I said walking over to the windows to open them, dropping my duffel bag on the bed at the same time.
"The bed has gotten some use in the last year anyway, guys sometimes spend the night here or on the couch…if you ever wake up and find someone you don't know on the couch don't panic. Our door is always open, guys get hacked off at their parents and spend the night here to blow off steam instead of doing something stupid."
I tried to think of exactly what "doing something stupid" meant but couldn't think beyond getting into a fist fight, which didn't seem so bad. I admit my naiveté was at an all time high my first few days in Tulsa. I had a lot to learn, many things I did not want to learn but had to. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
As I unpacked the few possessions I had taken with me from Arizona, Darry came in and made the bed for me before going to take a shower and leaving me and Ponyboy alone. I tried to learn more about my brother, in the few minutes it took me to unpack. I knew he would tell me anything, and I knew that even though I'd always been a private person (hard to believe, what with me giving away all these inside details to you sir, I know) I would tell him anything and everything too. I think everyone needs someone to talk to.
"Why is Soda sleeping with you?" I asked, hoping I wasn't getting too personal, too fast.
"Since mom and dad…uh..died I've had these nightmares, horrible nightmares, they're not so bad when Soda is next to me…I sound like a pansy I know…" He replied
I tilted my head to the side, a blouse in one hand, a hanger in another, "I don't think you're a pansy, I think you're smart to get Soda to sleep with you instead of screaming to high heaven every night, I bet the rest of the neighborhood thinks so too."
It did strike me as odd though, that my brother seemed so tough but already was proving himself otherwise.
"Even Soda hasn't been able to stop the nightmares lately though" He conceded "Not since, well Johnny...he's cri...I umm"
The water turned off in the bathroom and through the walls I could hear the shower curtain being pulled aside. "Darry is out of the shower…I better get in there before Soda does or I won't get one tonight," he said.
Gosh he looked happy to get out of there, I didn't know what he was trying to say but I found out soon enough.
"Ok," I said falling onto the nicely made bed – hospital corners and everything as Ponyboy closed the door behind him. I was asleep within minutes despite my unfamiliar surroundings.
I don't know how long I slept, but I think it was the slamming of the screen door that woke me up, and then the voices that filled the living room.
Wishing I had been given the chance to shower, I changed quickly into a red skirt that fell just to my knees and a white shirt instead hoping I didn't look too bad. Pushing my hair over my shoulders I took a deep breath.
Outside my room there was such a commotion it sounded like three dozen boys had come into the house instead of four solitary guys by themselves.
Looking into the mirror I pushed down on my nose wishing it didn't turn up the way that it did. I shook my head to myself, it didn't matter what I looked like, I wasn't out to impress my brother's friends. I wasn't going to fall in love with them. I made that promise to myself then and there. Falling for your older brother's friend only ever resulted in the said friend being hit by the brother at some point because the brother has a warped sense of "dishonoring" the sister, and the failed friendship being blamed all on the female.
No, I wouldn't fall in love with any of the boys out there.