Chapter 12
(Reesa's POV)
The next morning I woke up and went to the grocery store. There was no food anywhere and I was the first up, so I took the truck down to the market and got us some food. There was a lot to do that day. We had to clean up and get food, and well, just get everything back to normal again. It had been a crazy week. I guess the other part of it was that if I was doing something worth while I could keep my mind off of things. Yeah, I know, it was pretty bad.
When I walked in with my hands full of bags of food, Skye and Pony, who were on the couch, didn't so much as move. That's just stupid, didn't they appreciate the fact that I spent my morning shopping so they could eat? Apparently not enough. Then Soda walked out from the kitchen, he had a glass of water in his hand on account that there was nothing else to drink.
"Finally! I thought you would never come home. Man, I'm starving, there ain't a scrap of food left in this house." He whined.
"Well, if you're that hungry, go bring in some bags. There's a lot out there." I walked into the kitchen putting the bags on the table and starting to get things out, "Skye and Pony, that goes for you too. Go and help bring in everything. There's a ton."
I went about, putting things away and going through the ice box to make more room. No one cleaned it out, only me and sometimes Darry, so I did it whenever I had to do the shopping. It was bad though, the last crumbs form the chocolate cake were dried to an empty plate that still sat in the fridge. Not to mention the food that had never been eaten and was now molding like nothing else. Then there was the stale food that someone had neglected to cover up before putting it in, and that was no good any more either. Well, I guess that's what I get for not looking in the ice box for.three days.
Soda came in carrying a few bags, put them on the counter and left again. It didn't seem that Pony or Skye was up and doing anything, so I walked out into the living room. I didn't mind that Pony wasn't doing much, I mean he was obviously in pain, I could tell from just looking at him. I was surprised that he was even up, but whatever. Skye on the other hand, was just being lazy. I mean, she looked a little more pale and she was wrapped in a blanket, but she didn't seem that sick. She could go get groceries out of the truck, it wasn't back breaking work.
"Skye, go help Soda out."
"You."
"I'm cleaning out the ice box so we can actually put the food away, now go help him."
"I'm sick."
"Yeah, well not Ithat/I sick. Getting a few bags wont kill you." Skye stood up slowly and I turned to go back into the kitchen.
"What about Pony?"
"He doesn't look to good, think about it Skye."
Surprisingly, she didn't say anything more but went out the door to get some bags. That was easier that I thought it might be.
"Hey, Pony, you feeling okay?"
"How does it look?"
"Like you feel pretty bad. What are you doing up?"
"I got sick of that room. I'll be okay."
"Okay. Hey, where's Darry?"
"I dunno, I haven't seen him yet." I shrugged and went back to putting away food and cleaning the kitchen. Holy crap it was a mess.
I wanted Darry's help, he could make people clean, but I knew he was probably asleep still. Saturday was his only day off. And that was only twice a month. He was off every other Saturday. So when he was off, he slept in. He needed the sleep and I wasn't about to wake him up. You don't do that if he is still sleeping.
When I was done cleaning out the fridge and had all the food put away I went back out to see what other things needed to go on the cleaning list for the day. The front room was a disaster with clothes, shoes, blankets, beer bottles and cans, plates, cups and anything else you can think of scattered everywhere through out. It was like no one noticed it or cared, or both. I didn't understand it, I couldn't stand to have that going on, it drove me nuts! I just hadn't had the real energy to really care the last few days. In fact, it hadn't been until that morning that I had noticed how filthy it really was.
And yet, everyone was still sitting around on the couch. I didn't understand it, never would. Of course, I hated to do nothing, and I hated it even more when there was something that needed to be done.
"You guys! This house Ineeds/I to be cleaned up. It's a pig sty. Lets go!" I said.
Soda got up and looked around, "What do you want done?"
"What do you think, Soda? Look around."
"I already did, it isn't that bad."
"Okay, you see all this crap in here?"
"What crap?"
"The stuff that should be in another room maybe?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, how about you start by picking it up and taking it to its rightful places, and that includes your shoes, Soda."
Soda didn't say anything, he just started picking things up and putting them away. I looked over to Skye and Pony, "Aren't you helping? You live here to."
"I don't feel good! How many times do I have to tell you that?" Skye whined.
"Too many, apparently. Get up, once your done, I'll leave you be."
Pretty soon I had everyone slaving away, or so they thought. Really, it was just a little work. I wasn't asking for spotless, I was just asking for clean. You know, no dirty dishes around, or clothes and stuff. The floor vacuumed for once in the last month. Things dusted so we didn't die of inhaling dust constantly, and maybe a little organization. How hard was that? Okay, hard at our house, but it shouldn't be.
I worked at the kitchen, doing dishes and mopping the floor once I had gone through the cabinets and cleaned out all the crumbs. What? I don't want bugs and mice crawling around in there.
It took a few hours to finish, and I assumed no one else was finished because it was still pretty quiet. We usually had music blasting, but today we didn't because Pony needed the sleep. Once he was finished with his more than easy task, I had made him go back to bed, but then he got up again to watch TV. Well, I couldn't blame him for getting sick of sleeping. I hate being sick because I cant hold still to save my life in most circumstances, although there are those that.okay not going there.
So, anyway. I basically had to deal with the cleaning to. I mean, how could I be the slave master if I was doing the work to? And more than anyone else, I might mention. That went on for a while, and finally we all finished.kind of.
`~``~``~` (Soda's POV)
We spent most of the afternoon cleaning the house. Heaven forbid, I was cleaning the house. I rarely touched a rag or the vacuum except when the people from the state were supposed to show up to check on us. They still did that even though Darry was a legal adult, although I'm not sure why. That's beside the point. The point was that somehow Reesa convinced me to clean and I wasn't all that happy. I was fidgety and I wanted to yell at someone. Not because I was angry, only because it would be an outlet to my pent up anxiety.
At that particular moment I was in the living room. It was almost spotless (or what you might say was not messy) and I was finishing up vacuuming. Pony was sitting on the couch complaining that he couldn't hear the TV and I almost felt like decking him.
"Soda! Hurry! I'm missing it!" He leaned over to see around me to the TV. Who cared? It was cartoons! I'm not dissing cartoons, because I love them, but it was one he had seen at least a billion times. It wouldn't hurt him to miss two minutes of it. He had no place to talk either. He wasn't completely helpless you know.
"Shut up, Ponyboy. If you aren't doing it, just shut up." I switched off the vacuum now that I was done.
"I can't do it!" he said with a smug grin on his face.
I started to wrap the cord around the vacuum to put it away. "You wanna bet? You aren't one hundred percent immobile. If I told you to do something, you could do it fine." It really bothered me how lazy some people were. I'm not all that innocent, but there was a difference between being lazy because you've been working your ass off all day and you deserve a break and being lazy and having done nothing productive to make up for it. Yes, I know he got the tar beat out of him the other day. That was horrible. I admit that. I'm not insensitive. But I've gotten my share of jumpings and one or two of them were a lot worse than what he got. Again, I'm not trying to place myself higher on the totem pole, but all I'm saying is that I know exactly how he feels and he could do something if he just tried.
"Nuh uh!" he whined. "Darry said that I wasn't supposed to move anymore than I have to."
"Is Darry here?"
"No."
"Then you have to do what I say."
"No, I don't."
Oh God. I wasn't even going to try with that anymore. If he was lazy that was his own problem. Sympathy sucker. Even Skye was being somewhat helpful. Okay, so that was because Reesa threatened her with several things, but at least she was up and moving. It drove me especially insane to know that Pony was down and Skye was up. Skye was the least productive of us all. Usually that's okay because we don't do many things that require motivation and when we do we don't usually make her do much because she screws it up or can't figure it out. She was a spoiled brat and that's all there was to it. But all the same, something seemed warped about the picture.
"You know what? This is your problem. I ain't even gone dwell on it because you won't get to have the satisfaction of knowing you did something good for once. That's enough for me." I smirked and left down the hall to put the vacuum in the closet. I wasn't in the best mood can you tell?
As I passed through the hallway to go to the kitchen I spotted Skye sitting in the bathroom scrubbing the floor with less enthusiasm than as a kid with a huge mound of homework. She was still wrapped up in that blanket and she kept rubbing at one eye with the back of her hand through the blanket.
"Having fun?" I asked.
"What do you think?"
"No?"
"Good answer."
I nodded absentmindedly. "You feeling better?"
"No."
What was with the short blunt answers? I didn't mind it all that much, but shoot, she was temperamental today. Touchy touchy. Then again she had continued to complain about being under the weather, so whatever.
"Worse?"
She shrugged.
"So you feel the same," I said it as if I had come to my own conclusion. Sometimes it was hard to get straight answers out of her.
"I don't know! Leave me alone!" she snapped.
"Rere. Okay.!" I left her then because I didn't want to get my head bit off anymore than that. I'd go and find someone else who wouldn't mind my company. And that would be Ianyone/I else, apparently.
I rounded the corner into the kitchen where Reesa was busy making turkey sandwiches for everyone. Yummy! I was getting hungry too. They looked really good. She went all out with lettuce, tomatoes, everything.
"Yes!" I said and reached for one but she shoved my arm away. "What?!"
"Are you done?" she asked while giving me the eye. Of course I was done. I was done before I even started. She should be glad I did as much as I did.
"Yes," I said tentatively reaching out again, but she stopped me.
"With.?"
I sighed. "The living room and the hallway. Happy?"
"Very." She smiled and motioned to let me know I could take one now. God she's protective. That or she's got a problem with me taking a break. "Take one to Pony, if you don't mind."
I looked at her sardonically and yelled, "Pony! Come get your food!"
"I can't!" he called back.
I shrugged. "I tried."
"No, you yelled at him. ITake/I it to him. bDon't/b Imake/I him go hungry." She put away the mayonnaise and mustard jars and set to wrapping up the leftover lettuce and onion. Who made her the ruler of the house? I'm the oldest; I'm in charge! And I told her so. "Hahaha," was all she had to say to that.
"Skye!" she called as I trudged into the living room with a plate of sandwiches for Pony and me and a couple cans of pop.
"Whaaaat?" she whined.
"Do you want anything to eat or not?"
"No."
".I don't think you understand, Skye. I made you a sandwich so you are going to eat it." She sounded a bit more than annoyed. I can't say I blame her either. If I went through the trouble of making lunch everyone better savor each and every bite and be grateful. I don't slave for no reason.
"I'm not hungry."
"Bullshit. You haven't eaten yet today. You can't not be hungry. Get in here." I could hear her set the plate down and go into the hall.
"I'm not hungry, okay? I'll eat it later," Skye huffed, which probably meant that Reesa was standing over her with a baseball bat or that she was simply trying to get her off her back.
"You better."
"I will. Can I stop now?"
".No. You're not done. The toilet and --"
"Soda!" Skye screamed. A few seconds later she was hurrying out to the living room, Istill/I wrapped in that blanket. "She won't leave me alone!"
Reesa was right behind her. "That's because --"
"Rees, just let her be done. She's sick and I don't think the toilet will mind if it's not cleaned. It'll be just as dirty as it is now the next time it's used. No one's making you touch it. Don't make her." How do parents do it? I know that I was never that hard. I can't have been, I'm a guy, but all the same I'll never get over marveling how Darry can even begin to understand them in the least.
"All right, but next time you aren't getting out of anything unless you're on your death bed, got it?"
"Shut up," Skye said and turned away from her.
"Skye, why don't you go lay down or something? Obviously you don't feel good. Go and sleep." I was sick of hearing her talk back to everyone and I was tired of listening to Reesa bullying her, so I decided to solve it anyway I could.
She just frowned like I was mad at her and snapped. "Fine. But only because I'm tired." And she stormed off into the hallway. Hey, I felt bad, but you can only take so much, only have so much patients before your supply runs dry.
After that things ran a bit smoother. Skye was asleep and Reesa was content with how the house looked. Why she cared so much was beyond me. I just assume to keep it the way it was. It didn't bother anyone but her.and Darry a little, but he never did anything about it so why should I? I don't care anymore. Popeye was on.
~`~``~`~
(Soda's POV)
I was clearing the kitchen after having made myself dinner so that Reesa wouldn't come home and blow a gasket. It was sort of boring around the house. Pony was hanging out with Johnny and Two-Bit, and Skye was still asleep. That girl sleeps like a rock. It isn't even funny how soundly she sleeps. It makes you want to go to extremes to see how far you can go before she wakes. Anyway, it was sort of quiet around the house and there wasn't a whole lot to do.
Steve had said he'd come over later after work and we'd go hang out. I had no idea when that was but it should be soon. In the mean time I was stuck finding something to do on my own.
I wandered back out into the living room to watch more TV. That's all there was to do when you weren't with anybody else. The date I had last night turned out to be a complete sham and I wasn't about to call her. I wasn't that desperate. Not yet.
I flipped through the channels and found nothing interesting on. There was the news and some old silent movie that really didn't excite me. Besides that there wasn't anything but The Mickey Mouse Club and I couldn't bring myself to watch it. I didn't even watch it when I was younger, why would I start now?
Maybe I could get some laundry done. Sounds exciting doesn't it? No one had done any this week and I wasn't itching to wear dirty clothes to work tomorrow. My boss has started to enforce this strict dress code policy and that meant our clothes had to be clean and ironed. I'm not complaining because we did look pretty lousy when we didn't take the time to look nice for work, especially Bud, but that meant that I had to do laundry more often now.
I went into my room and rounded up a bunch of mine and Pony's dirty clothes and went back out into the hall, to cut across to Darry's room that led to the laundry room. I hardly ever did laundry so I wasn't sure what to do exactly, but I figured it out in the end and at least got the clothes and detergent into the machine.
"Soda!" Steve called. It's about time he got here!
"I'm in the laundry room! C'mere!" I just had to figure out how to turn it on.
"Whatcha doin' back here?" he called as he walked back with Dally. Goody.
"Well, I thought I'd take a deep cleansing bath, but I don't know if I can fit in there. What do you think I'm doing? I got work tomorrow and I ain't got any clean shirts to wear." I found the start button and pushed it. There we go.
"Oh, right." Steve nodded. "You ready to go?"
"Just about." I felt around my jeans for my wallet as I left the room. "I just have to find my wallet. I think it's in my room. Hold on."
I ran back into my room and searched on the floor and desk. Hell, this room has to be cleaned too. I can't ever find anything I need. I wonder if I could get Pony to do it for me. And if that doesn't work I could always bribe someone. Think Skye would be up to it? Nah, didn't think so.
"Found it!" I rejoiced in finding my long lost wallet of two days. It was under the bed. Go figure.
"Good. Let's go," Steve said as we left the room.
"Hold on. I gotta let Skye know we're leaving. Where are we going anyway?"
"The movies most likely. I got my car so we don't have to sit in the cold."
"Sounds good to me. Hey, I'll meet you guys out there, 'kay?" I made my way into Skye's room.
"Hurry, man. We ain't got forever," Dally griped.
"Never said we did." I rolled my eyes. Anyway. "Hey, Skye."
I should've known it wouldn't be any good. At least not on the first attempt. Like I said, she sleeps like a hibernating bear.
"Skye! Wake up! Now! Waaaaake uuuuuuup. Skye!"
"What?" she snapped as she turned over. "What the hell do you want?"
"Ouch. No need to attack. I just wanted to let you know that me, and Steve, and Dally are going to the movies. No one else is home, though, so. have fun." I didn't exactly want to leave her by herself but you can't blame me for wanting to leave the grumpiness behind.
"Right. Whatever." She rolled back over. Well, that was easy.
"Are you coming?" Steve called from the front doorway. I thought I said I'd meet them out there. Impatient people around these parts.
"Yeah. Comin'." I left, jogging to the front door. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Skye called. God, what did she want? I don't mean to be rude towards her, but it was really hard when she brought it upon herself. What comes around goes around. Doesn't she know anything about karma?
I held my spot in the doorway as Steve and Dally headed out the car. "What?"
"I want to come! Hold on." I heard her running around inside her room. She was probably changing or something. What did it matter to her if she looked good or not? Who did she have to impress inside of an old car?
"Fine. You got one minute. Hurry!" I said and then ran out to the car. "Hey, guys, we have to wait a minute. Skye's coming with us."
"Why?" Steve asked.
"Who cares?" Dally said. "She can come if she wants. But she better hurry, 'cause if we're gonna get a good spot."
"I know, but I thought she was sick," Steve tried to redeem himself.
"She is. I guess she doesn't want to stay behind on her own. Can't say I blame her. It's pretty boring with no one and nothing to do." I shrugged. I didn't care one way or another if she came. Except it meant that I had to pay her way, but whatever. I didn't care. What was fifty cents?
After about five minutes (Dally and I wouldn't let Steve drive away before she came out) we were on our way. We were going to the Nightly Double, which meant that we'd be out pretty late.
"What's playing?" Skye asked as we drove down The Ribbon.
"I dunno." I shrugged.
"Oh. Then I hope I haven't seen them already." She sat deep into the seat in the back. She didn't look really happy to be there. In fact if it hadn't been me that she informed she had wanted to go, I would think we dragged her with us.
We got there with good timing. We got a front row parking slot and it was a good view even from the back seat where Skye and I sat. Dally and Steve rolled the windows up so that they were only partially open and just enough so that we could hear the movies without freezing our asses off.
~`~``~`~
Sometimes I don't know why I ever agree to go to the movies. I forget how little I can sit still. Not to mention that we got the pleasure of seeing two movies for the price of one. It turned out that Skye had seen both movies, when I have no idea, but she tried to pay attention and be interested. There was one point where she was almost asleep but I accidentally woke her up when I decided to go buy myself something to eat. I was getting fidgety again and somewhat hungry. I ate a light dinner because I didn't know what we'd end up doing tonight and well. my stomach was starting to growl after the first movie. Anyway, Skye woke up when she noticed I was leaving. She immediately sat up and climbed out after me using the excuse that she wanted to get out and stretch her legs. Yeah right. If she wanted to stretch her legs she could've stayed in the car. Her legs weren't that long. But I let her come with me. It started to get weird when we got to the concession stand. She got really clingy.
"What is with you?" I asked as she grabbed my arm.
"N-nothing." She stared up at the menu like she was reading it. She didn't let go.
"Right. Did you want something?"
"No. Not hungry." She held on to me with both hands now and was strangely stiff.
"Have you eaten anything today?" I asked as I pulled out my wallet. "'Cause I don't think you did. So if you want popcorn or bonbons or something."
Her face went green at the mention of popcorn and she shook her head. Oh yeah. I forgot she was sick. That's right. Well, sorry, Skye, but that wasn't stopping me from getting me anything. I started to look around to see what was making her so antsy. She kept trying not to look anywhere but the menu.
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Are you still sick?"
"Yeah, that's it."
Wow. I don't know how dumb she thought I was but I guess that was her problem. If she didn't want to say what was going on I wasn't going to push it but it was starting to bug me. I didn't see anything or anyone that I knew that she knew who would bother her. I saw Miles and some of his friends but I knew that wasn't what was getting to her so I decided to forget about it.
I got myself popcorn and a Pepsi, and a Sprite for Skye then we went back to the car. She slid in far but once I got back in myself she slid over closer to me. I didn't think much on it and went back to watching the movie. It was about some guy who was trying to find the woman who killed his brother because he wanted revenge. He finds her and they end up falling in love and then he had to chose between turning her in or keeping her safe and he chose to turn her in and yada yada ya. It wasn't all that cool. I wanted some action. Shoot, whatever happened to James Bond?
~`~`~``~`~`~
I told her not to fall asleep. Really, I did. But did she ever listen to anyone? Not if she could help it. Someone ought to teach her to listen to her elders.
"Skye? Hunny, you gotta get up. We have to get in the house."
It was after midnight and I knew that Darry might be worried as to where we had gone. We hadn't left him a note at all. I knew he could've cared less if I went out and didn't tell him. I could take care of myself. But he had no idea that Skye had gone with me and I hadn't taken that into consideration until. now.
"Hmm?" she sighed and I'm not sure that she heard me in the first place.
Dally ran a hand over his forehead and through his hair. He was starting to get as impatient as me. Not to mention Steve who wanted to go home. It wasn't my fault! I'm not her keeper. Why should I have to watch her every move?
"C'mon." I was standing outside of the car and she was laying down in the back seat. I was ready to reach in there and drag her out by her hair. But I decided to be a nice big brother and I pulled her out by her shoulders, well her armpits. You get the idea. She was as limp as a rag doll but she was fairly light so it wasn't much of a struggle. I just had to force her to walk up the sidewalk and porch without her falling all over herself. It was almost like she was plastered or something. She suddenly stopped walking without my knowledge and I almost dropped her on her face. "Don't bother waking up. Really. This is quite easy. Thank you."
"Yeah," she breathed, but I knew it was only sleep talk. Shoot. Her and Pony need to work out some sort of balanced network here. He has a hard time sleeping, but she can sleep anywhere anytime. And trust me, I'm not jealous of either.
I kicked the door open and dropped her on the nearest couch. I was too tired myself to do much more. That was as good as she got. I was done. Finished. Asta le vista baby. Sodapop has left the building.
`~``~``~`
(Reesa's POV)
I fell asleep watching TV, and by the time I woke up I saw that I only had twenty minutes to shower and be ready to go out with my friends that night. We decided on Friday that we would go out tonight. Just hang out on the town. The whole crowd was usually out, and we liked to just walk up and down the ribbon to talk to everyone. I did it all the time, on weekends and school nights. It was just the only thing to do that was fun and didn't cost much money.
I got up and ran frantically around the house, trying to find the right shirt and do my hair and make up while trying to explain to Darry where I would be all night and when I would be home. It may not sound like a lot, but it is at our house, let me tell ya.
I was just about ready when I heard Gene come in, "Rees? You coming?"
"Yeah, just a sec!" I yelled from my room, running out once my shirt was fully on, "No one had the sense to wake me up, so I'm running a little late. Isn't anyone else coming?"
"Yeah, Danny, Lacy and Cindy are all waiting outside. They didn't want to come in."
"Oh, well okay." I turned around yelling, "Darry, see ya. I'll be home by midnight."
"Wait!" he called.
"What?"
"Did you give Pony his medicine?"
"Yup. He was complaining and getting on my nerves so I gave him a full dose this time. I figured it was late enough."
"Alright. But be careful, ya hear?"
"Yeah, Darry. I know. See ya."
"Bye."
I ran out the door, catching up to Gene and taking flack from everyone else.
"What took you so long?"
"Lets get going, were gonna be late for the party." Danny called out while walking away.
"What party?" I asked. I hadn't heard about no party. Then again, I had missed most the 'important' periods when it came to hearing news. You always heard about it seventh on Friday if there was a party.
"There ain't no party. But we gotta get out to the ribbon before the fun starts without us!" Danny explained, like it was obvious or something. He had a mind like Two-Bit's, no one would ever catch on completely. Once you think you understand it, he goes and does something else. Figures.
All of us together are pretty bad combination. We were to rowdy for our own good, and it took longer to get downtown because we were having to much fun goofing around.
Once we ere downtown, we walked around, from one hangout to the next, seeing who we could find to talk with. That was most the fun, tracking down people and seeing how wasted they were. I mean, I didn't like to drink, it just wasn't worth it, but it was funny to see other people completely high and wasted.
We were walking from the Soc hangout to the end of the ribbon (which wasn't far) when I spotted a friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in a few.well, about a week. I decided to wait until he passed by me to line off a smart one and make him mad. It was just a joke between us, but he got it.
Right as he passed by me I said under my breathe but loud enough for him to hear, "What a loser, he doesn't even have ride to cruise in."
He whirled around, looking angry, "What did you--?" Then he stopped and started laughing, "You always get me with that one."
"Yup, you should start paying attention."
"Yeah, well.Hey, how's your brother doing?"
Trying to change the subject I suspect. No guy took humiliation, not if they could change the subject. I'll allow it today, I thought.
"Which brother? I have three, remember?"
"The one that freaked out the other night."
"Oh, yeah that. Well, he's doing alright."
"I didn't really meant to hurt him that bad or anything, he was okay right? I mean he kind of came at me and I cant just stand there, I've got a rep to keep."
"Yeah, I know. He wasn't too bad. He's fine. If anything, he can dodge a punch pretty well."
"Yeah, I figured that one out. So he's okay, then?"
"Don't worry, whatever you did do to him is long forgotten. He's got a whole other set of problems now."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, got jumped a few days ago. Your art is long destroyed and the destruction is hidden under a new painting."
He laughed, "Well, that sucks. See ya around."
"Bye."
Yeah, the whole thing that Pony was mad about a few days ago? Yeah, that was why. You see, Pony thought that this guy, Tommy, was going to really kill me. But he's a real good actor, and he was faking the whole thing. When Pony stepped in, it started a huge fight and no matter how hard I tried to get him to stop, he thought he was helping me out. Well, news flash that he'll never get: IT WAS AN ACT, I AINT THAT STUPID. I had to laugh at it though, you gotta admit it was all pretty funny. I was a little surprised that Tommy was so worried over it, but I guess he didn't want me mad at him.
I turned to my friends, "Hey, guys I gotta go. I have to be home in an hour, and I've got a ways to go. Anyone coming?"
"Yeah, I'll walk you home." Danny said.
We turned around and started home, again it took forever between Danny and me. But I got home in time, before midnight at least and went straight to bed. I was exhausted.
The next morning I woke up and went to the grocery store. There was no food anywhere and I was the first up, so I took the truck down to the market and got us some food. There was a lot to do that day. We had to clean up and get food, and well, just get everything back to normal again. It had been a crazy week. I guess the other part of it was that if I was doing something worth while I could keep my mind off of things. Yeah, I know, it was pretty bad.
When I walked in with my hands full of bags of food, Skye and Pony, who were on the couch, didn't so much as move. That's just stupid, didn't they appreciate the fact that I spent my morning shopping so they could eat? Apparently not enough. Then Soda walked out from the kitchen, he had a glass of water in his hand on account that there was nothing else to drink.
"Finally! I thought you would never come home. Man, I'm starving, there ain't a scrap of food left in this house." He whined.
"Well, if you're that hungry, go bring in some bags. There's a lot out there." I walked into the kitchen putting the bags on the table and starting to get things out, "Skye and Pony, that goes for you too. Go and help bring in everything. There's a ton."
I went about, putting things away and going through the ice box to make more room. No one cleaned it out, only me and sometimes Darry, so I did it whenever I had to do the shopping. It was bad though, the last crumbs form the chocolate cake were dried to an empty plate that still sat in the fridge. Not to mention the food that had never been eaten and was now molding like nothing else. Then there was the stale food that someone had neglected to cover up before putting it in, and that was no good any more either. Well, I guess that's what I get for not looking in the ice box for.three days.
Soda came in carrying a few bags, put them on the counter and left again. It didn't seem that Pony or Skye was up and doing anything, so I walked out into the living room. I didn't mind that Pony wasn't doing much, I mean he was obviously in pain, I could tell from just looking at him. I was surprised that he was even up, but whatever. Skye on the other hand, was just being lazy. I mean, she looked a little more pale and she was wrapped in a blanket, but she didn't seem that sick. She could go get groceries out of the truck, it wasn't back breaking work.
"Skye, go help Soda out."
"You."
"I'm cleaning out the ice box so we can actually put the food away, now go help him."
"I'm sick."
"Yeah, well not Ithat/I sick. Getting a few bags wont kill you." Skye stood up slowly and I turned to go back into the kitchen.
"What about Pony?"
"He doesn't look to good, think about it Skye."
Surprisingly, she didn't say anything more but went out the door to get some bags. That was easier that I thought it might be.
"Hey, Pony, you feeling okay?"
"How does it look?"
"Like you feel pretty bad. What are you doing up?"
"I got sick of that room. I'll be okay."
"Okay. Hey, where's Darry?"
"I dunno, I haven't seen him yet." I shrugged and went back to putting away food and cleaning the kitchen. Holy crap it was a mess.
I wanted Darry's help, he could make people clean, but I knew he was probably asleep still. Saturday was his only day off. And that was only twice a month. He was off every other Saturday. So when he was off, he slept in. He needed the sleep and I wasn't about to wake him up. You don't do that if he is still sleeping.
When I was done cleaning out the fridge and had all the food put away I went back out to see what other things needed to go on the cleaning list for the day. The front room was a disaster with clothes, shoes, blankets, beer bottles and cans, plates, cups and anything else you can think of scattered everywhere through out. It was like no one noticed it or cared, or both. I didn't understand it, I couldn't stand to have that going on, it drove me nuts! I just hadn't had the real energy to really care the last few days. In fact, it hadn't been until that morning that I had noticed how filthy it really was.
And yet, everyone was still sitting around on the couch. I didn't understand it, never would. Of course, I hated to do nothing, and I hated it even more when there was something that needed to be done.
"You guys! This house Ineeds/I to be cleaned up. It's a pig sty. Lets go!" I said.
Soda got up and looked around, "What do you want done?"
"What do you think, Soda? Look around."
"I already did, it isn't that bad."
"Okay, you see all this crap in here?"
"What crap?"
"The stuff that should be in another room maybe?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, how about you start by picking it up and taking it to its rightful places, and that includes your shoes, Soda."
Soda didn't say anything, he just started picking things up and putting them away. I looked over to Skye and Pony, "Aren't you helping? You live here to."
"I don't feel good! How many times do I have to tell you that?" Skye whined.
"Too many, apparently. Get up, once your done, I'll leave you be."
Pretty soon I had everyone slaving away, or so they thought. Really, it was just a little work. I wasn't asking for spotless, I was just asking for clean. You know, no dirty dishes around, or clothes and stuff. The floor vacuumed for once in the last month. Things dusted so we didn't die of inhaling dust constantly, and maybe a little organization. How hard was that? Okay, hard at our house, but it shouldn't be.
I worked at the kitchen, doing dishes and mopping the floor once I had gone through the cabinets and cleaned out all the crumbs. What? I don't want bugs and mice crawling around in there.
It took a few hours to finish, and I assumed no one else was finished because it was still pretty quiet. We usually had music blasting, but today we didn't because Pony needed the sleep. Once he was finished with his more than easy task, I had made him go back to bed, but then he got up again to watch TV. Well, I couldn't blame him for getting sick of sleeping. I hate being sick because I cant hold still to save my life in most circumstances, although there are those that.okay not going there.
So, anyway. I basically had to deal with the cleaning to. I mean, how could I be the slave master if I was doing the work to? And more than anyone else, I might mention. That went on for a while, and finally we all finished.kind of.
`~``~``~` (Soda's POV)
We spent most of the afternoon cleaning the house. Heaven forbid, I was cleaning the house. I rarely touched a rag or the vacuum except when the people from the state were supposed to show up to check on us. They still did that even though Darry was a legal adult, although I'm not sure why. That's beside the point. The point was that somehow Reesa convinced me to clean and I wasn't all that happy. I was fidgety and I wanted to yell at someone. Not because I was angry, only because it would be an outlet to my pent up anxiety.
At that particular moment I was in the living room. It was almost spotless (or what you might say was not messy) and I was finishing up vacuuming. Pony was sitting on the couch complaining that he couldn't hear the TV and I almost felt like decking him.
"Soda! Hurry! I'm missing it!" He leaned over to see around me to the TV. Who cared? It was cartoons! I'm not dissing cartoons, because I love them, but it was one he had seen at least a billion times. It wouldn't hurt him to miss two minutes of it. He had no place to talk either. He wasn't completely helpless you know.
"Shut up, Ponyboy. If you aren't doing it, just shut up." I switched off the vacuum now that I was done.
"I can't do it!" he said with a smug grin on his face.
I started to wrap the cord around the vacuum to put it away. "You wanna bet? You aren't one hundred percent immobile. If I told you to do something, you could do it fine." It really bothered me how lazy some people were. I'm not all that innocent, but there was a difference between being lazy because you've been working your ass off all day and you deserve a break and being lazy and having done nothing productive to make up for it. Yes, I know he got the tar beat out of him the other day. That was horrible. I admit that. I'm not insensitive. But I've gotten my share of jumpings and one or two of them were a lot worse than what he got. Again, I'm not trying to place myself higher on the totem pole, but all I'm saying is that I know exactly how he feels and he could do something if he just tried.
"Nuh uh!" he whined. "Darry said that I wasn't supposed to move anymore than I have to."
"Is Darry here?"
"No."
"Then you have to do what I say."
"No, I don't."
Oh God. I wasn't even going to try with that anymore. If he was lazy that was his own problem. Sympathy sucker. Even Skye was being somewhat helpful. Okay, so that was because Reesa threatened her with several things, but at least she was up and moving. It drove me especially insane to know that Pony was down and Skye was up. Skye was the least productive of us all. Usually that's okay because we don't do many things that require motivation and when we do we don't usually make her do much because she screws it up or can't figure it out. She was a spoiled brat and that's all there was to it. But all the same, something seemed warped about the picture.
"You know what? This is your problem. I ain't even gone dwell on it because you won't get to have the satisfaction of knowing you did something good for once. That's enough for me." I smirked and left down the hall to put the vacuum in the closet. I wasn't in the best mood can you tell?
As I passed through the hallway to go to the kitchen I spotted Skye sitting in the bathroom scrubbing the floor with less enthusiasm than as a kid with a huge mound of homework. She was still wrapped up in that blanket and she kept rubbing at one eye with the back of her hand through the blanket.
"Having fun?" I asked.
"What do you think?"
"No?"
"Good answer."
I nodded absentmindedly. "You feeling better?"
"No."
What was with the short blunt answers? I didn't mind it all that much, but shoot, she was temperamental today. Touchy touchy. Then again she had continued to complain about being under the weather, so whatever.
"Worse?"
She shrugged.
"So you feel the same," I said it as if I had come to my own conclusion. Sometimes it was hard to get straight answers out of her.
"I don't know! Leave me alone!" she snapped.
"Rere. Okay.!" I left her then because I didn't want to get my head bit off anymore than that. I'd go and find someone else who wouldn't mind my company. And that would be Ianyone/I else, apparently.
I rounded the corner into the kitchen where Reesa was busy making turkey sandwiches for everyone. Yummy! I was getting hungry too. They looked really good. She went all out with lettuce, tomatoes, everything.
"Yes!" I said and reached for one but she shoved my arm away. "What?!"
"Are you done?" she asked while giving me the eye. Of course I was done. I was done before I even started. She should be glad I did as much as I did.
"Yes," I said tentatively reaching out again, but she stopped me.
"With.?"
I sighed. "The living room and the hallway. Happy?"
"Very." She smiled and motioned to let me know I could take one now. God she's protective. That or she's got a problem with me taking a break. "Take one to Pony, if you don't mind."
I looked at her sardonically and yelled, "Pony! Come get your food!"
"I can't!" he called back.
I shrugged. "I tried."
"No, you yelled at him. ITake/I it to him. bDon't/b Imake/I him go hungry." She put away the mayonnaise and mustard jars and set to wrapping up the leftover lettuce and onion. Who made her the ruler of the house? I'm the oldest; I'm in charge! And I told her so. "Hahaha," was all she had to say to that.
"Skye!" she called as I trudged into the living room with a plate of sandwiches for Pony and me and a couple cans of pop.
"Whaaaat?" she whined.
"Do you want anything to eat or not?"
"No."
".I don't think you understand, Skye. I made you a sandwich so you are going to eat it." She sounded a bit more than annoyed. I can't say I blame her either. If I went through the trouble of making lunch everyone better savor each and every bite and be grateful. I don't slave for no reason.
"I'm not hungry."
"Bullshit. You haven't eaten yet today. You can't not be hungry. Get in here." I could hear her set the plate down and go into the hall.
"I'm not hungry, okay? I'll eat it later," Skye huffed, which probably meant that Reesa was standing over her with a baseball bat or that she was simply trying to get her off her back.
"You better."
"I will. Can I stop now?"
".No. You're not done. The toilet and --"
"Soda!" Skye screamed. A few seconds later she was hurrying out to the living room, Istill/I wrapped in that blanket. "She won't leave me alone!"
Reesa was right behind her. "That's because --"
"Rees, just let her be done. She's sick and I don't think the toilet will mind if it's not cleaned. It'll be just as dirty as it is now the next time it's used. No one's making you touch it. Don't make her." How do parents do it? I know that I was never that hard. I can't have been, I'm a guy, but all the same I'll never get over marveling how Darry can even begin to understand them in the least.
"All right, but next time you aren't getting out of anything unless you're on your death bed, got it?"
"Shut up," Skye said and turned away from her.
"Skye, why don't you go lay down or something? Obviously you don't feel good. Go and sleep." I was sick of hearing her talk back to everyone and I was tired of listening to Reesa bullying her, so I decided to solve it anyway I could.
She just frowned like I was mad at her and snapped. "Fine. But only because I'm tired." And she stormed off into the hallway. Hey, I felt bad, but you can only take so much, only have so much patients before your supply runs dry.
After that things ran a bit smoother. Skye was asleep and Reesa was content with how the house looked. Why she cared so much was beyond me. I just assume to keep it the way it was. It didn't bother anyone but her.and Darry a little, but he never did anything about it so why should I? I don't care anymore. Popeye was on.
~`~``~`~
(Soda's POV)
I was clearing the kitchen after having made myself dinner so that Reesa wouldn't come home and blow a gasket. It was sort of boring around the house. Pony was hanging out with Johnny and Two-Bit, and Skye was still asleep. That girl sleeps like a rock. It isn't even funny how soundly she sleeps. It makes you want to go to extremes to see how far you can go before she wakes. Anyway, it was sort of quiet around the house and there wasn't a whole lot to do.
Steve had said he'd come over later after work and we'd go hang out. I had no idea when that was but it should be soon. In the mean time I was stuck finding something to do on my own.
I wandered back out into the living room to watch more TV. That's all there was to do when you weren't with anybody else. The date I had last night turned out to be a complete sham and I wasn't about to call her. I wasn't that desperate. Not yet.
I flipped through the channels and found nothing interesting on. There was the news and some old silent movie that really didn't excite me. Besides that there wasn't anything but The Mickey Mouse Club and I couldn't bring myself to watch it. I didn't even watch it when I was younger, why would I start now?
Maybe I could get some laundry done. Sounds exciting doesn't it? No one had done any this week and I wasn't itching to wear dirty clothes to work tomorrow. My boss has started to enforce this strict dress code policy and that meant our clothes had to be clean and ironed. I'm not complaining because we did look pretty lousy when we didn't take the time to look nice for work, especially Bud, but that meant that I had to do laundry more often now.
I went into my room and rounded up a bunch of mine and Pony's dirty clothes and went back out into the hall, to cut across to Darry's room that led to the laundry room. I hardly ever did laundry so I wasn't sure what to do exactly, but I figured it out in the end and at least got the clothes and detergent into the machine.
"Soda!" Steve called. It's about time he got here!
"I'm in the laundry room! C'mere!" I just had to figure out how to turn it on.
"Whatcha doin' back here?" he called as he walked back with Dally. Goody.
"Well, I thought I'd take a deep cleansing bath, but I don't know if I can fit in there. What do you think I'm doing? I got work tomorrow and I ain't got any clean shirts to wear." I found the start button and pushed it. There we go.
"Oh, right." Steve nodded. "You ready to go?"
"Just about." I felt around my jeans for my wallet as I left the room. "I just have to find my wallet. I think it's in my room. Hold on."
I ran back into my room and searched on the floor and desk. Hell, this room has to be cleaned too. I can't ever find anything I need. I wonder if I could get Pony to do it for me. And if that doesn't work I could always bribe someone. Think Skye would be up to it? Nah, didn't think so.
"Found it!" I rejoiced in finding my long lost wallet of two days. It was under the bed. Go figure.
"Good. Let's go," Steve said as we left the room.
"Hold on. I gotta let Skye know we're leaving. Where are we going anyway?"
"The movies most likely. I got my car so we don't have to sit in the cold."
"Sounds good to me. Hey, I'll meet you guys out there, 'kay?" I made my way into Skye's room.
"Hurry, man. We ain't got forever," Dally griped.
"Never said we did." I rolled my eyes. Anyway. "Hey, Skye."
I should've known it wouldn't be any good. At least not on the first attempt. Like I said, she sleeps like a hibernating bear.
"Skye! Wake up! Now! Waaaaake uuuuuuup. Skye!"
"What?" she snapped as she turned over. "What the hell do you want?"
"Ouch. No need to attack. I just wanted to let you know that me, and Steve, and Dally are going to the movies. No one else is home, though, so. have fun." I didn't exactly want to leave her by herself but you can't blame me for wanting to leave the grumpiness behind.
"Right. Whatever." She rolled back over. Well, that was easy.
"Are you coming?" Steve called from the front doorway. I thought I said I'd meet them out there. Impatient people around these parts.
"Yeah. Comin'." I left, jogging to the front door. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Skye called. God, what did she want? I don't mean to be rude towards her, but it was really hard when she brought it upon herself. What comes around goes around. Doesn't she know anything about karma?
I held my spot in the doorway as Steve and Dally headed out the car. "What?"
"I want to come! Hold on." I heard her running around inside her room. She was probably changing or something. What did it matter to her if she looked good or not? Who did she have to impress inside of an old car?
"Fine. You got one minute. Hurry!" I said and then ran out to the car. "Hey, guys, we have to wait a minute. Skye's coming with us."
"Why?" Steve asked.
"Who cares?" Dally said. "She can come if she wants. But she better hurry, 'cause if we're gonna get a good spot."
"I know, but I thought she was sick," Steve tried to redeem himself.
"She is. I guess she doesn't want to stay behind on her own. Can't say I blame her. It's pretty boring with no one and nothing to do." I shrugged. I didn't care one way or another if she came. Except it meant that I had to pay her way, but whatever. I didn't care. What was fifty cents?
After about five minutes (Dally and I wouldn't let Steve drive away before she came out) we were on our way. We were going to the Nightly Double, which meant that we'd be out pretty late.
"What's playing?" Skye asked as we drove down The Ribbon.
"I dunno." I shrugged.
"Oh. Then I hope I haven't seen them already." She sat deep into the seat in the back. She didn't look really happy to be there. In fact if it hadn't been me that she informed she had wanted to go, I would think we dragged her with us.
We got there with good timing. We got a front row parking slot and it was a good view even from the back seat where Skye and I sat. Dally and Steve rolled the windows up so that they were only partially open and just enough so that we could hear the movies without freezing our asses off.
~`~``~`~
Sometimes I don't know why I ever agree to go to the movies. I forget how little I can sit still. Not to mention that we got the pleasure of seeing two movies for the price of one. It turned out that Skye had seen both movies, when I have no idea, but she tried to pay attention and be interested. There was one point where she was almost asleep but I accidentally woke her up when I decided to go buy myself something to eat. I was getting fidgety again and somewhat hungry. I ate a light dinner because I didn't know what we'd end up doing tonight and well. my stomach was starting to growl after the first movie. Anyway, Skye woke up when she noticed I was leaving. She immediately sat up and climbed out after me using the excuse that she wanted to get out and stretch her legs. Yeah right. If she wanted to stretch her legs she could've stayed in the car. Her legs weren't that long. But I let her come with me. It started to get weird when we got to the concession stand. She got really clingy.
"What is with you?" I asked as she grabbed my arm.
"N-nothing." She stared up at the menu like she was reading it. She didn't let go.
"Right. Did you want something?"
"No. Not hungry." She held on to me with both hands now and was strangely stiff.
"Have you eaten anything today?" I asked as I pulled out my wallet. "'Cause I don't think you did. So if you want popcorn or bonbons or something."
Her face went green at the mention of popcorn and she shook her head. Oh yeah. I forgot she was sick. That's right. Well, sorry, Skye, but that wasn't stopping me from getting me anything. I started to look around to see what was making her so antsy. She kept trying not to look anywhere but the menu.
"Are you okay? What's going on?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Are you still sick?"
"Yeah, that's it."
Wow. I don't know how dumb she thought I was but I guess that was her problem. If she didn't want to say what was going on I wasn't going to push it but it was starting to bug me. I didn't see anything or anyone that I knew that she knew who would bother her. I saw Miles and some of his friends but I knew that wasn't what was getting to her so I decided to forget about it.
I got myself popcorn and a Pepsi, and a Sprite for Skye then we went back to the car. She slid in far but once I got back in myself she slid over closer to me. I didn't think much on it and went back to watching the movie. It was about some guy who was trying to find the woman who killed his brother because he wanted revenge. He finds her and they end up falling in love and then he had to chose between turning her in or keeping her safe and he chose to turn her in and yada yada ya. It wasn't all that cool. I wanted some action. Shoot, whatever happened to James Bond?
~`~`~``~`~`~
I told her not to fall asleep. Really, I did. But did she ever listen to anyone? Not if she could help it. Someone ought to teach her to listen to her elders.
"Skye? Hunny, you gotta get up. We have to get in the house."
It was after midnight and I knew that Darry might be worried as to where we had gone. We hadn't left him a note at all. I knew he could've cared less if I went out and didn't tell him. I could take care of myself. But he had no idea that Skye had gone with me and I hadn't taken that into consideration until. now.
"Hmm?" she sighed and I'm not sure that she heard me in the first place.
Dally ran a hand over his forehead and through his hair. He was starting to get as impatient as me. Not to mention Steve who wanted to go home. It wasn't my fault! I'm not her keeper. Why should I have to watch her every move?
"C'mon." I was standing outside of the car and she was laying down in the back seat. I was ready to reach in there and drag her out by her hair. But I decided to be a nice big brother and I pulled her out by her shoulders, well her armpits. You get the idea. She was as limp as a rag doll but she was fairly light so it wasn't much of a struggle. I just had to force her to walk up the sidewalk and porch without her falling all over herself. It was almost like she was plastered or something. She suddenly stopped walking without my knowledge and I almost dropped her on her face. "Don't bother waking up. Really. This is quite easy. Thank you."
"Yeah," she breathed, but I knew it was only sleep talk. Shoot. Her and Pony need to work out some sort of balanced network here. He has a hard time sleeping, but she can sleep anywhere anytime. And trust me, I'm not jealous of either.
I kicked the door open and dropped her on the nearest couch. I was too tired myself to do much more. That was as good as she got. I was done. Finished. Asta le vista baby. Sodapop has left the building.
`~``~``~`
(Reesa's POV)
I fell asleep watching TV, and by the time I woke up I saw that I only had twenty minutes to shower and be ready to go out with my friends that night. We decided on Friday that we would go out tonight. Just hang out on the town. The whole crowd was usually out, and we liked to just walk up and down the ribbon to talk to everyone. I did it all the time, on weekends and school nights. It was just the only thing to do that was fun and didn't cost much money.
I got up and ran frantically around the house, trying to find the right shirt and do my hair and make up while trying to explain to Darry where I would be all night and when I would be home. It may not sound like a lot, but it is at our house, let me tell ya.
I was just about ready when I heard Gene come in, "Rees? You coming?"
"Yeah, just a sec!" I yelled from my room, running out once my shirt was fully on, "No one had the sense to wake me up, so I'm running a little late. Isn't anyone else coming?"
"Yeah, Danny, Lacy and Cindy are all waiting outside. They didn't want to come in."
"Oh, well okay." I turned around yelling, "Darry, see ya. I'll be home by midnight."
"Wait!" he called.
"What?"
"Did you give Pony his medicine?"
"Yup. He was complaining and getting on my nerves so I gave him a full dose this time. I figured it was late enough."
"Alright. But be careful, ya hear?"
"Yeah, Darry. I know. See ya."
"Bye."
I ran out the door, catching up to Gene and taking flack from everyone else.
"What took you so long?"
"Lets get going, were gonna be late for the party." Danny called out while walking away.
"What party?" I asked. I hadn't heard about no party. Then again, I had missed most the 'important' periods when it came to hearing news. You always heard about it seventh on Friday if there was a party.
"There ain't no party. But we gotta get out to the ribbon before the fun starts without us!" Danny explained, like it was obvious or something. He had a mind like Two-Bit's, no one would ever catch on completely. Once you think you understand it, he goes and does something else. Figures.
All of us together are pretty bad combination. We were to rowdy for our own good, and it took longer to get downtown because we were having to much fun goofing around.
Once we ere downtown, we walked around, from one hangout to the next, seeing who we could find to talk with. That was most the fun, tracking down people and seeing how wasted they were. I mean, I didn't like to drink, it just wasn't worth it, but it was funny to see other people completely high and wasted.
We were walking from the Soc hangout to the end of the ribbon (which wasn't far) when I spotted a friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in a few.well, about a week. I decided to wait until he passed by me to line off a smart one and make him mad. It was just a joke between us, but he got it.
Right as he passed by me I said under my breathe but loud enough for him to hear, "What a loser, he doesn't even have ride to cruise in."
He whirled around, looking angry, "What did you--?" Then he stopped and started laughing, "You always get me with that one."
"Yup, you should start paying attention."
"Yeah, well.Hey, how's your brother doing?"
Trying to change the subject I suspect. No guy took humiliation, not if they could change the subject. I'll allow it today, I thought.
"Which brother? I have three, remember?"
"The one that freaked out the other night."
"Oh, yeah that. Well, he's doing alright."
"I didn't really meant to hurt him that bad or anything, he was okay right? I mean he kind of came at me and I cant just stand there, I've got a rep to keep."
"Yeah, I know. He wasn't too bad. He's fine. If anything, he can dodge a punch pretty well."
"Yeah, I figured that one out. So he's okay, then?"
"Don't worry, whatever you did do to him is long forgotten. He's got a whole other set of problems now."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, got jumped a few days ago. Your art is long destroyed and the destruction is hidden under a new painting."
He laughed, "Well, that sucks. See ya around."
"Bye."
Yeah, the whole thing that Pony was mad about a few days ago? Yeah, that was why. You see, Pony thought that this guy, Tommy, was going to really kill me. But he's a real good actor, and he was faking the whole thing. When Pony stepped in, it started a huge fight and no matter how hard I tried to get him to stop, he thought he was helping me out. Well, news flash that he'll never get: IT WAS AN ACT, I AINT THAT STUPID. I had to laugh at it though, you gotta admit it was all pretty funny. I was a little surprised that Tommy was so worried over it, but I guess he didn't want me mad at him.
I turned to my friends, "Hey, guys I gotta go. I have to be home in an hour, and I've got a ways to go. Anyone coming?"
"Yeah, I'll walk you home." Danny said.
We turned around and started home, again it took forever between Danny and me. But I got home in time, before midnight at least and went straight to bed. I was exhausted.