Okay, the last chapter was kind of a cliff hanger...so here goes the next
one. Have fun!
Chapter 17
(Darry's POV)
I hadn't allowed myself to look at Rees yet, I didn't know how I would take it, so I avoided it until everyone but Soda was gone. Soda could see me upset, he knew what was going on and he would understand.
When I did look over, my stomach flipped and I looked away for a few seconds, calming it. I just felt so bad, and looking made it even worse. Basically, she looked like utter crap. The paleness alone was enough to freak someone out, and then you add all the bruising and it was a bad site. I had half expected it to be worse, but then again, I hadn't known how much we would see. Luckily, we only had to look at her arms and face, but that was enough to tell me that everything else had to be ten times worse.
In one arm, they had a clear fluid IV hooked up. In the other arm they were giving her blood. They were giving her oxygen through her nose, and she was covered in layers of blankets.
If I hadn't known better, I think I would have thought she was dead, just lying there like that. She didn't move, didn't make a sound, didn't even seem to breathe under all the blankets.
I stayed near the opening for a few seconds, just looking, thinking, letting it sink in. But Soda was already over there, sitting next to her on the other side of the bed and holding her hand. He seemed relieved at the site, not by much, but a little. He didn't seem to think it was too bad, and I'm sure compared to what he saw earlier, it wasn't.
I could hardly stand to see it though. Although her face wasn't to messed up, aside from a few gashes that had been stitched up, Reesa's arms were nearly black. There was little area anywhere that looked like skin in the least. I had never seen so much bruising, and that bad in my life. And what was worse was that the parts that weren't bruised had no color at all, it just looked like a white paper with blobs of black and blue all over it.
Finally, I walked over to Reesa, standing on he side of the bed nearest the door and across from Soda. He looked up to me, "Its pretty bad, ain't it."
I nodded my head, and brought my hand down to hold Reesa's. Maybe if I held it she would know we were there and she was safe now. But as I did so, I saw her wrist and stopped. Her wrist was horrible looking, with bruising and rope burns. It looked as if there was blood seeping from the damaged skin. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I didn't know that that was possible, it was so gruesome looking. I knew they would have had to have had her tied up, and she would fight it, and I hadn't really thought about it. But that sight made me sick. I was in shock at how bad all of this was, and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't contain it anymore, I was so angry, so...sorry over it, so guilty.
The guilt that I felt was something that I couldn't place. I didn't know that there was any way that I could have stopped this from happening. I had no idea why my sister was lying there in front of me in that condition, but I felt like it was my fault. Once again, I was the older brother, the protector, the one that was supposed to be there at times like that to stop it. But I hadn't been, and now she had to suffer for it, for my mistake. It made me mad that I hadn't done anything, and now I would never have the chance to make up for it.
I held Reesa's limp hand in mine, squeezing it and hoping I would get some response back, but I didn't. More than anything, I just wanted her to know it was okay, and she would be fine. I was never going to let that happen again. Never, not if I had anything to do with it.
I had stopped the tears, and was trying my best to hold it together. I knew that me crying was the last thing she needed to wake up to if she did while I was in there. I set down her hand and rubbed her forehead, "Rees?...Rees, you gonna be fine, baby. Just hang in there, everything'll be fine." My voice quivered slightly, but it was better than I thought it might be.
I stopped then, the tears were coming back and I didn't want to cry, not in front of her. Sure, she was out, but I didn't know that she wouldn't wake up, so I took a second before going on.
"Hey, I'm sorry this happened. I'm so sorry, honey. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you...I'm sorry." I took another deep breathe, "But it'll all be okay. Just...you're okay...you'll be fine."
At that point I didn't know if I was saying that more for me or her, but I had to say it. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Soda giving me a worried look.
Neither of us said anything, and I looked back down to Reesa. It was so hard to see her like that. I had never seen her so helpless, she was always saying something smart-alec like when she was hurt or sick, and just to prove she was fine. It was so weird to see her doing nothing, not trying to prove that she was fine. I had never seen her that sick...it just didn't happen, not usually. I mean, I thought it was bad earlier that week, but she was still trying to tell us she was fine then, now she wasn't. It scared me, I couldn't believe it was really Reesa in front of me.
I took my hand away from her forehead and picked her hand up, rubbing it between both of mine. I felt so bad, I just wanted to take her place and make it all better, but I knew I couldn't. I sat, looking down at the floor and holding her ice-cold hand in mine, while letting the tears flow freely. I couldn't pretend that I was fine any longer, I just couldn't. It didn't matter that Soda saw me like that, I mean, after he saw her, he cried too, although I'm sure that was worse. But he would cry here to if he were in that position.
"Reesa?" Soda asked softly. I heard him move a little in the chair.
I was glad he was saying something, I couldn't keep talking anymore. Not reassuringly at least, and I was glad he was picking it up. If she heard us at all, it would be worth it. The doctor had said to talk to her and try to get her to respond, but I couldn't keep it up. I was too upset to do it any longer.
"Hey, Darry...she's awake." Soda reached over and nudged my shoulder to get my attention.
I looked up in surprise, just seconds ago she had not even responded, and now she was awake?
I saw her eyes open, searching her field of vision wildly. I had no idea what she was looking for, or if she was just freaked, but it was scaring me just a little. It was apparent that she had no idea of what was happening.
"Reesa? Hey...its okay."
She looked around even more frantically now, like it scared her or something. Like she didn't know who I was or what I was saying.
After setting her hand down, I reached over and gently moved her head so that she was facing me. Then I brought my other hand up and started rubbing her forehead again, "Hey, baby, its alright. Okay?"
I looked into her eyes, tears still streaming down my face. It hurt so bad to see her like that. She was so scared and confused, it wasn't right. Nothing was right that night.
Her eyes stopped moving around as she seemed to focus in on me, calming just a little. Anyone who didn't know her, would think she was just confused, but I knew better. I knew that she was scared and had no idea of what was going on around her.
"Its okay. Everything is going to be fine now. I'm here, no one will hurt you, no one. Just relax...relax, baby girl."
I was trying my hardest to keep my voice steady, to get a hold of myself for her. She didn't need that, not then. She needed someone there that was confident and together; but as hard as I tried to fit the part, the tears kept coming.
"D-Darry?" Reesa asked quietly, in fact it was barely audible. She was so weak, and I could tell just by hearing her voice, by looking into her eyes. Again, something I had never really seen out of Reesa, weakness. I mean, sure she lost strength when she was sick, but it wasn't true weakness. She always found a way to be strong through it. If she couldn't do much physically, she would get real witty and stubborn. And if she wasn't feeling up to par emotionally, then she used her physical strength to overcome it. She just wasn't that way, this was new and scary. Skye had been real weak that night too, but she was Skye and she was easily put down. It didn't take much to get her real sick, or to get her upset. It wasn't a comparison I could make, there was nothing to compare all of this to. There were too many things I had never seen, too many things I couldn't have even imagined before that night.
"Yeah...shhh. Its gonna be okay, just hang in there. Be strong like you always are, just hang in there."
Just seconds after I said that, Reesa's eyes glazed over in a sort of haze. I tried to get her out of it, get her to talk to me or something, but nothing worked. She had her eyes open, but it didn't seem to matter. Then slowly, they slid closed and her body relaxed.
At first it scared me a little, but then I thought again. I was glad she had woken up at all, it was more than I had expected when first going in there.
I kept talking to her in a reassuring voice, she needed that. I was so mad at myself for letting her see me cry. I knew she felt the pain, she knew there was something wrong with her, and there I was crying in front of her. I was supposed to be the strong one, and I cried. No wonder she was so freaked out.
I didn't stop talking to her after that, not until the doctor came in. Thankfully I had stopped the tears by that time and I felt much better. Like a burden had been lifted from me, I wasn't holding everything inside me any longer.
(Reesa's POV)
My hand was being taken and lifted. I didn't know why, and it hurt like a pain I had never felt before. What was going on? I still couldn't put together what had happened to me, not fully. I didn't understand why my hands and arms would kill like they did, it just didn't make any sense. The warmth felt good though, even with the pain. My hands felt like ice blocks to me, and I liked that my entire hand was wrapped in a soft warmth.
I finally got up the strength to open my eyes. I wanted to see who was there, and what was going on. Even if it was bad, it was better than not knowing anything at all. I was sick of being in the dark, and afraid of it, to tell the truth.
When I got my eyes open, it was almost too bright to stand. It sent a pain through my head, but I fought to keep my eyes open and ignore the pain. It took forever for my eyes to adjust to the light, and it killed, but finally they did and I could at least make out shapes through the haze that I saw. Everything was so blurry and weird looking to me, and I hated it, but I waited for it to clear.
My head was throbbing by the time I could see anything clearly, and the concentration was like hell to keep up. I mean, I was just tired as it was, and it shouldn't be that hard. I was so frustrated with it, but I was going to find out some stuff before I gave up. I would prove myself wrong, my body wrong.
The first clear image I saw was a big white ceiling and a red glass bottle of fluid type stuff that was hooked to a tube. I tried to follow the tube down to see where it went, but the world started spinning, so I stopped in hopes that the world would stop to. I hated being dizzy, it sucked so bad.
When everything stopped spinning, there was a face in my view, one I actually recognized.
"Reesa?"
I knew the voice to, but it took a few seconds for me to figure out who it was. Soda. Soda was here. Where was here? I still didn't know, but it didn't seem to matter as much, because Soda was next to me.
I wanted to answer back, but once again, I found it very hard. It was hard enough to keep my vision in focus, let alone try something on top of that.
"Hey, Darry...she's awake." Soda almost whispered through the silence.
I tried to move my head, but couldn't through the weakness. Where was Darry? Darry was here? I wanted to see him, I wanted to see him so bad.
"Reesa? Hey...its okay."
Darry. He was here. But I had to see him. For some reason it freaked me out more to be able to hear him, but not see him. I was afraid that my imagination was messing with me, that I was just dreaming. It was real creepy to me to not see him, and I was so confused that I couldn't really understand what he was saying. I don't really think that I knew it was Darry, I just assumed it was because Soda had said it. I could trust Soda, right?
I felt my hand being set down and something gently took a hold of my chin and turned my face. Again everything went blurry, but when it cleared I saw someone else sitting there. It wasn't Soda and I wanted it to be Darry, and after a few seconds, I was sure that it was Darry.
"Its okay. Everything is going to be fine now. I'm here, no one will hurt you, no one. Just relax...relax, baby girl."
His voice was such a good sound to hear then, and I loved it, but I noticed something really odd. It was something I had never heard in Darry's voice, a quiver. It was just slight, but it was almost scary to me. Why would his voice be different?
Then I looked closer at him, at his eyes, seeing that they were red and...he was crying. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure my mind was playing tricks on me, he never cried. Not even when Mom and Dad died. Never had I seen Darry cry, never.
"D-Darry?" I asked. It was so hard to talk, so exhausting to me, but I had to see what was up. I couldn't think of anything else to say, couldn't form any other word, so I said his name. Maybe he would catch on, I didn't know. All I knew was that it was really scaring me.
Why would Darry be crying? What had happened to make him cry?
"Yeah...shhh. Its gonna be okay, just hang in there. Be strong like you always are, just hang in there."
Hang in there? What was he talking about? I mean, sure, I felt like shit, but hang in there? Did he think I was dying or something? Be strong?
I was so confused, so freaked by his behavior. Darry just isn't like that, ever. He doesn't say things like that. When he's worried he'll tell you everything is fine, and then later, when you're over it, he tells you how much you had scared him. I had never heard him talk quite like that, and his voice alone was enough to tell me something real bad was going on.
The problem was that I didn't have the strength to figure out what was going on. I couldn't keep talking, concentrating, not anymore. It was too hard, too tiring.
That was when I lost touch with reality again. I could still hear a little of what was going on, but nothing much and before I knew it, it was all gone. Darry, Soda, the room, the pain...all gone.
(Darry's POV)
I walked out of the hospital room in numbness. Soda had left before the doctor came in, but now it was time to leave. To tell the truth, I was terrified to leave her again. I knew nothing would happen here, but it still scared me. What if something happened and I wasn't there again? That was the thought that scared me.
Slowly, I made my way out to the waiting room again. I hoped that no one asked me about it, I couldn't talk about what I had seen. God, I couldn't even handle seeing it, let alone talk about it. Yeah, even I think I sound like a wimp, but at the time I could have cared less about that.
Even as I felt better than before about a few things, it was almost worse now. I knew there was a long morning of paper work and drilling questions to take care of and I was not looking forward to that. I was tired and worried. I mean it was supposed to help to see her, but now I had an idea. I had seen first hand that Reesa was bad off, it was ugly, and it made me feel even more guilty.
I saw Soda sitting right in my sight in the waiting room. He was holding a cigarette in his hand and slumping down in the chair. I guessed he was doing the same as me, trying to calm down. I took the seat next to him, rubbing my temples as I sat in contemplation. What next? It had been a hell of a night, and now that it had wound down just a little, I found myself at a loss. I mean, I was grateful for it but at the same time I just didn't know my place. I felt no relief, I felt nothing but pain, anger, and worry. There was nothing to do about that either.
"Darry?"
I lifted my head and cranked it around to see Pony who was sitting in the chair next to me, "Yeah?"
"Darry...I need some straight answers. Please. I am worried sick...I mean sick. I'm running on no sleep but I can't sleep because I don't know anything. Tell me what's going on, it'll help settle my nerves. Please..."
I looked at him seriously. I felt bad, he wanted to know but if I told him it wouldn't make things better, only worse. He didn't know that, didn't trust that, so I had to tell him but it was going to kill him. If he was upset then, what would he be when I was finished talking?
"Pony, nothing I can tell you is going to make you feel any better. Nothing I can tell you now is good...you understand that? Nothing..."
"Darry, please. I need to know. Whether it is bad or good...I have to know. I have the right to know...she's my sister too. The least you can do is tell me what happened if I can't even see her."
"Pony...I just don't know. You shouldn't learn about this crap from your sisters...from anyone. I don't know if you can...I'm sorry...but I don't know that you can handle it, Pon. I can barely handle it..."
My voice dropped at the last line and I felt again like crying. It wasn't right, and Pony didn't need to hear about it. Not to mention the fact that I didn't even know if I could get the words out without tears penetrating the mask also. How could I tell him?
"Darry, this is really freaking me out. I haven't ever seen you like this, all—"
"I know." I cut him off. I didn't want to hear the rest of it. I knew what he would say, but to hear it out loud was too much right then.
"Then why don't you tell me?"
"Pony, I don't know that I can tell this to you in the right way. I mean, this is not just a simple situation...it's...I know you want to understand, and I want you to understand, but I don't know that I can help you understand."
"Darry, just give it a shot. I'm not as naïve as you think I am...I've seen a lot of stuff...and I'm sure I can understand whatever this is."
I stared down to the ugly brown tile floor, avoiding his gaze. I knew I had to tell him, he would find out soon enough.
My decision made, I looked back up to Pony, "You sure you want to hear this? It's not pretty, and I can't make it any better than it is. If I tell you now, your gonna get it straight out, cold, hard facts. I can't do this any other way right now. You understand?"
"Yeah."
I ran a hand through my hair, "And you want to know...for sure."
"Yeah."
I nodded my head. The time had come. I had been dreading it all night long. It was going to be hard though, considering the fact that I didn't even have it straight in my head yet. But I knew I had to tell him when this had all started, it was the only way he could understand. Later we would have the full story, and then he would get it, I just hoped I could tell him enough now for him to understand what he needed to then.
"Okay...um...Ponyboy, do you understand why Reesa's in surgery?"
"Um...no."
"Well...basically she has a bunch of built up scar tissue that they have to take care of. Do you get me?"
He gave me a puzzled look. Oh man, this was going to be a long conversation.
"Alright...scar tissue is...damaged tissue and its bad..."
"Um, well, okay..."
I sighed, "Okay...I'm gonna try and put this in terms that you will understand. Pony, scar tissue doesn't just happen...something has to happen to cause it and she has it because...this has happened before."
His face fell, "Wait...so that thing happened before?"
"Yeah...but this time...is a lot worse..."
"Oh...when?"
"Uh...like two years or so..."
"Why didn't you tell me? Does everyone else know?"
"No...Pony, it was just that you were really young, and it didn't seem to be such a big deal then. Plus...I don't think she wanted everyone to know anyway."
"Well...thanks for telling me." He said a little disgruntled. I knew he was upset about it, and I understood why...but maybe he would understand later on. I didn't say anything to that but sat waiting for the next question.
"So...who did it?"
"Then or now?"
"Both."
"Well, I don't know who did it this time...but it was...Clay last time."
"Then...how did you get him to stop? I mean he wasn't arrested for it, was he?"
"...No, but I took care of it..."
"How?"
"Don't worry about it...it's in the past...I don't want to talk about it."
A look of anxiety past through his face but disappeared quickly. I knew he wanted to press more and find out, but he didn't. I was glad about it, too. How could I tell him that I beat Clay up bad enough to scare him away from my sister? I mean, I don't even know how bad it was...but I know that none of the guys saw him around at school or anything for...at least a week, maybe two.
"Okay. Um...so what does this have to do with anything?"
"See, this is where it gets...uh...Lets just say that I think this all has to do with that...see I think it was Miles and Clay who did this to Skye...and test results say that the same people attacked your sisters...so it would have to be related for at least Reesa."
As I said it, I tried to stay calm. I think I was trying to hard, mostly because the look on Pony's face told me that I was too calm. I guess it was such a shocking thing and I had been so upset...and here I am telling him this like I was some police detective or something.
He nodded his head slightly, "So, that's why you're so freaked? It's the same people?"
"Well, that's part of it. Pony...this is really complicated. This isn't just about getting those guys behind jail. It's about..." my voice broke and I couldn't get it out. Just the thought of everything was too much. I couldn't think of Rees not making it, or about the family being split, or even about who did it. There was too much behind it, too much that I couldn't explain to Pony.
"Why couldn't I see Reesa, Darry?"
"Pony...you saw Skye...you saw that she didn't look to great. Did it bother you to see her?"
"Well...yeah. But it wasn't that bad...it's just that she's in the hospital."
"I didn't let you see Reesa because...I didn't know what I was gonna see, but from what I heard from Soda it was bad enough to be concerned over you seeing her in that condition. Pony, it is really not a pretty sight...and there are things you need to know before you can even /I to handle something like that."
"And I don't know those things?"
"I don't know. No...Pony, I don't know how much you know about rape... I know that you know what date-rape is and stuff like that...but that isn't stuff that /I hurts people. It does...but this is different. This is /I that most people don't even think about." I took a breath, I was loosing control. I was so mad and it was so hard to say without just lashing out. I calmed myself and continued, "This is...meant to be harmful...its meant to hurt the victim. Date-rape is...just as bad...but it's not intentionally meant to hurt someone. We are talking the difference between murder and...beating someone up...get it?"
Pony scrunched his forehead a little, "Why, though?"
"I don't know Pony. Basically, what I want you to know is that this is wrong... There is no reason that this should happen to anyone...and not /I...god damn it!"
I lost it then. I couldn't say this...I couldn't hold it in. I formed my fists into balls, and put my head between my hands, trying to not lash out completely. I felt bad for doing that in front of Pony...but I thought I was doing pretty well considering.
After a few minutes, I looked back over to Pony, "Hey, Pony, I'm sorry...there isn't anything else to tell you right now...I don't know anything else. When I find out, I'll tell you...really, I will...you can see Rees when she's out of surgery and the doc okays it. Just know that its really a hard thing to see... know that it's bad...the bastards beat her...nearly to death..." the last line was so quiet, but if he had heard it, I wouldn't have cared much. He was going to find it out soon enough.
I went back to my previous position, and tuned out everything around me...just going numb and not allowing myself to think. It was a nice change...it was good to be able to just let it go for a while.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Pretty soon, Soda was talking to me, "Darry, the fuzz are here. Looks like they're heading over...they're gonna want to talk to you."
I didn't move, this was going to be even harder than it was with Pony...once I told the cops about the shit, it would all hit the fan. I wanted to find out who it was, but I was afraid that I couldn't go through this rationally again. It was hard enough to be calm when it wasn't the fuzz I was talking to, let alone when I was basically on trial. Besides, I didn't know if Skye was ready for this...
"Darry? "Soda asked a little worried...
"I know..." I said without expression. Here goes...
`~``~``~``~`
(Skye's POV)
Nothing much had changed since the last time I was awake. It was still dark outside of my window and I could hardly feel a thing. The only difference was that Soda and Pony had left, Darry never came back -- as far as I knew – and Dally was sitting in the seat near the window. His arms were folded and his legs were propped up on the upside down garbage can. He looked fairly comfortable, although he didn't act like it.
"Hey, Dal," I said and tried to sit up. The back of my stupid bed was raised some and it wasn't difficult to be up and it sucked to lie down. "I didn't know you were here." I wasn't all that sure I wanted him here, because than that would mean that he knew too.
"Didn't have much of a choice. I brought everyone else here and I thought I might stay, ya know?" He sat up straighter in his seat and brought it closer. I could tell by his stench that he had been drinking and it was bringing back some unpleasant memories. It didn't matter so much, just because he was Dally, but the memories came with the smell.
"Oh. That boring, huh?"
"Nah," he said, "I would've found out one way or another." I guess by that he meant that either way he would've been here. That's nice of him. I didn't expect it, but I'm glad he was there. He always seemed to drop in at the right times.
"Oh," I said again. I didn't know what else to say. It was awkward trying to strike up a conversation when all I could think about was the obvious and I'm sure that Dally was just itching to tear me down with questions. I wasn't going to tell anything if I could prevent it. I'm sorry but that's the way I felt. "How come everyone else is gone?" I asked. I don't know how to describe how it made me feel, but it was not all that fun to know that my family up and left me when I was bedridden in the hospital.
"They're busy," he said and that was it.
"Doing what?" I pressed. What could be more important than me?
"Talking and doing stuff."
"Without me?"
"Skye, for the first time listen to me and don't question it, all right?" He wasn't impatient or anything, but he definitely knew something that I didn't and he knew he had control over that bit of information. It was going to drive me nuts if I didn't know the rest. I hate knowing that I don't know something.
"That ain't no answer," I said. "Where's my brothers? I mean, I love ya Dally, but I sort of want to know where they are too. Where's Reesa? Is she not concerned at all?"
"Holy shit you're never content are you?" he tried to laugh it off but it really didn't work for him. "They went to get something to eat. They'll be back in a while."
"All of them?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly meaning what?"
"That not all of them are gone."
"Dallas Winston, tell me what's going on right now. You aren't going to get away with this! I want to know! You can't keep a secret from me, you know that. So just tell me before I go over there and beat it out of you." He couldn't do this to me! This is no time to joke! I might just cry if he didn't tell me what was going on. I was surprised that I was even able to talk to him like that. Any other time I don't think I would've dared to talk to him using that tone of voice or those words, even if he did cut me a lot of slack, but being in my position he actually let it slide.
"I'd like to see you try." He smirked.
I sat up even more and made the motion to get out of my bed but the door opened and Darry walked in right as I did. I was more glad to see him than upset that he interrupted my escapade. Actually, I was really glad he did barge in because I didn't feel like getting out and freezing my ass off. That and Dally might try and do something about it if I did.
"Skye! Get back in that bed. You should know better than to get out." Wow, talk about paranoid. I slid back under the covers and back into the warmth. Once I laid my head back down on the pillow I realized how dizzy that all made me. Damn, I hate Darry always being right about everything.
He kicked Dally out of his chair and sat down in it, looking intently and seriously at me. That wasn't a good sign. Darry never gave me a serious look unless I was in trouble and I knew there was no way he could be mad at me right then. If he was, that was pretty messed up. Although, there was a possibility he was seeing as I got myself into this mess, but he didn't know that yet...
"Skye, there are some cops here that want to talk to you."
"What?"
"They want to ask you some questions and you need to answer them honestly, because, well... you need to." He looked over at Dally who was making himself comfortable in another chair by the wall. "And you'll have to leave, Dal. Sorry."
"Why? I ain't in no one's way."
"No... but the cops don't want anyone else here. They think that it'll be a distraction and besides that they don't think anyone other than immediate family should be in on the questioning right now."
That was stupid. What wrong with Dally being in here? He wouldn't do anything except listen and... possibly get very angry. Okay. I guess that made sense when you looked at in that way.
"Right," he said and slowly stood up. "I'll be in the waiting room then." He slumped out the door and closed it behind him. I was sort of sad watching him go. I only got to talk to him for a few minutes -- not that he was giving me anything that satisfied me anyway.
Now back to the more important issue. Darry had called the cops and now I was expected to talk to them? What was fair in this? "Darry, I don't wanna talk to no cops."
"To bad. They want to talk to you. They are very interested in this case and well, it's their job, so be nice." I really don't like policemen, let me tell you. Every encounter I've had with them has never turned out in my favor and I don't see any use in them. They'll only make things worse if anything.
"Fine," I sighed. This was going to bite the big one. "When do I talk to them?"
"Now. They're waiting outside of the room." He got up and walked over to the door. "Tell them the truth, Skye."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, just do."
He opened the door and two policemen walked in. They were both male and looked like they were around their later thirties, early forties. Great. Old fogies to talk to. If I wanted to talk to someone that old I would've walked down the hall and found the janitor or something. But, if I thought I about it, it was better than talking to some young, hot cop who would make me completely embarrassed if I had to answer his questions. Anyway, these two were decked out in their navy blue uniforms and had all their specialty equipment like their guns and handcuffs and notepads to take notes on. That made me feel safe, let me tell you.
"Skye Curtis?" One of them asked stepping forward.
I could only nod. Damn it Darry.
"Hi. I'm Officer Mason and this is my partner Officer Coleman." He addressed the balding man next to him. "We hear you got yourself into quite a situation and we want to ask you some questions about it, all right?" Did he have to say it like he was talking to a three-year-old? I knew what was going on. I knew what happened to me; I could face up to it.
"Okay," I said bashfully anyway. Man, I always turned shy in front of these types of people. Never any other time.
Darry took his seat again and offered the cops a seat but they shook their heads and said they didn't plan on staying long. That didn't sound right to me. Did that mean my case wasn't good enough for them? I'm sure I was blowing it out of the water but I was feeling somewhat sensitive at the time.
"Can you tell us what happened, Miss Curtis?" Mason asked.
Well that was up front wasn't it? They could've been a little subtler about it. I knew it was coming, I knew it all along, but it was really hard to bring it up when I was being forced. Sodapop could've told them as much. "Um...." I tried to start, but it wasn't coming out in any audible fashion. I really was having a time trying to talk tonight, wasn't I?
"Maybe we'll start with a simpler question. Do you know the individuals who raped you tonight?" Again with the forwardness. It surprised me how little they bothered with sensitivity and my thoughts and feelings. Good for them. They must like their job. Let's annoy and depress people for a living.
"I-individuals?" I asked. That was supposed to be a simpler question? What planet did they come from? And how did they know it was more than one person? I though I was the only who knew that. This kind of thing could not have been all that common.
"Yes. Your tests results came back saying that you were raped by six men. Can you elaborate for us?" Coleman answered me. Ah, that's how they knew. Okay, that made more sense. By the look in his eyes I could tell he found it hard to believe, but knew it was true and that made him very disheartened to know that. Welcome to my world, buddy.
Every time the word rape was uttered, Darry would flinch slightly. It didn't bother me as much only because it had happened and there was no taking it back. Perhaps when seen from a different light the words and emotions were different. He took hold of my hand again and squeezed it very lightly. I realized then how much I missed it. He had sat with me for hours not leaving my side and then suddenly he up and left and I was stuck with my bed and pestering people. "Do you know who it was, Skye?" Coleman asked again after I was silent.
"Yes, sir."
Darry clenched his other fist into a ball and gritted his teeth. It made my stomach clench to know he was in such pain over this. I didn't mean for it to work out this way. I didn't know it would all escalate to this point.
"Can you give us their names?" he pressed me further. And what a good job he was doing too.
"S-some of them." I paused for a brief moment and made sure I didn't look anywhere near Darry. In fact I avoided it so much that I was looking at the upper right hand corner of the room. Darry was sitting directly to my left. "Two of them were Clay J-Johnson and... Miles Johnson."
Darry made a noise sounding like he was just socked in the stomach. He released my hand while he grabbed the top of this hair. He had his head dropped and he was hunched over so I couldn't see his face at all.
I knew that had to be a big slap in the face. All the times that I went against his judgement and snuck out of the house at night and even slipped out right under his nose when he was watching me but didn't know that I was lying to him and going off to see Miles, was flashing into his memory. I knew it was my fault that I had gotten myself into this mess in the first place and Darry had done nothing but tried to prevent any heartache and hurt that he could. He knew what kind of person Miles was and he knew that no matter how I tried to prove him wrong I'd be the one who ended up in the wrong. I also knew that he never really wanted it to be that way. He wanted to be wrong himself and think that maybe I wasn't so dumb and gullible.
I felt so guilty and low about myself. Everyone was going to be so disappointed when they heard who had done it and they would all know in their minds that I had been stupid enough not to listen to them. I was feeling better by the second.
"Are they related to each other?"
I nodded. "They're brothers."
Darry froze to his spot and slowly looked up at me. "Clay and Miles are brothers?" he whispered. His eyes were wide and surprised, almost fearful.
I nodded scared. He shouldn't be reacting to that. But if he was, what did that mean?
His was truly fighting to keep his cool then. "Why didn't you tell me they were brothers?"
"I don't know. I thought you knew."
"No!" he cried sounding so desperate. "No, I didn't!" He sat up straight and reached for my hand again. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
"I thought you knew! I'm sorry." I didn't want him mad at me too.
I sunk deeper into my sheets again. Why was he so angry about that? It shouldn't have surprised him all that much. They were always together and they looked really similar. What did it matter if they were brothers in the first place? Who cared? It didn't make much of a difference.
Darry stood up, letting go of me, and started to walk to the door. Where was he going? He couldn't leave me. I needed him.
"Darry...?"
"I'm sorry," he said to the policeman, not even answering me. He paused for a second like he was considering changing his mind. "I can't... I can't listen to this anymore."
"That's all right," Coleman said. "If you'll wait outside the door or in the waiting room for us then, please. We may have some things to discuss with you." Darry nodded and made to leave again.
"Wait, Darry...!" I said but he didn't listen and kept going. He closed the door behind him and I felt like getting up and yelling at him for leaving me alone with these guys, but I couldn't. I felt to rubbery and weak that I couldn't move. Dally had worn me out. I don't think I would have in the first place, but it would've made me feel a bit better. I couldn't believe all of this was happening.
"All right," Mason said, who had been writing on his notepad. He had waited until it fell quiet again to start the interrogation back up. "And the others?"
I shook my head. I didn't know their names. I had never known their names. With Darry gone now, I'd be surprised if I could give any straight answers. For some odd reason him being there had made this all seem a lot easier, but now he was gone and I felt vulnerable again. I didn't like feeling out of control or forced into this. It wasn't right. It shouldn't have been this way.
"You don't know?" Mason asked. I shook my head again. "You have no recollection of them at all?"
"I know who they are... but I don't know their names," I told him. I knew it sounded as stupid as I thought it did.
"All right. That's fine. We'll come back to that later." He shook his pen to write down some more stuff. I had no idea what he could be writing down. I hadn't told him anything new.
"Now, how did they come across you?" Coleman said. He was standing there with his hands cupped over each other in front of him. He looked like he was enjoying this just as much as I was.
I felt so ashamed and awful about telling them the next part, but they wanted to know it and I promised both Soda and Darry that I'd answer them truthfully. "They came to my house."
"They raped you at home?" Okay, I didn't react to the word, but did they have to say it continually without end? Give me a break!
"No!" The very thought made me feel queasy. If they had I wouldn't be able to step foot in my house and feel safe for a long time. Darry would start locking the doors and just hand out spare keys to the boys. "They came to my house and got me."
"Did you go willingly?"
I shook my head. "They made me go. I was supposed to be staying with my brother and I was feeling sick anyway. I didn't want to go but they were instant and I didn't know that this would happen if I went."
They both rose their eyebrows and looked at each other. Mason wrote something else on his paper and looked back up at me. "Are you trying to tell us that you were kidnapped?"
What? Of course not! "I – I don't know...." I said. "I don't know what it takes to be kidnapped." That alone made me feel funny. There's no way I could've been kidnapped. I would've known about it wouldn't I? I mean the thought had crossed my mind but I wasn't thinking clearly and I didn't really think it was true anyway.
"It's being taken anywhere against your will without your consent or the consent of your brother."
"Oh." Well in that case... "I -- I guess so."
The questioning went on for some time more. They asked questions like about how much my family knew of the Johnson's, how well I had known Miles and Clay before this, if I had any prior knowledge of the situation at hand, and things like that. I told them as much as I could and the full and honest truth. It was painful and I was fearing for my life, but I did it because I couldn't stand to let anyone else down. Finally, Officers Mason and Coleman decided they had enough evidence to convict some of them and said that they'd be leaving to talk to Darry.
"Wait," I stopped them before they left, "you want to convict Clay and Miles?"
"Well, yes. This is a very serious issue we're dealing with and it has to be dealt with accordingly and as soon as possible," Mason said as he went to pull out his pad again. Did he think I was going to cough up more?
"But... you can't do that." I don't know what pushed me to say that, but it was already out and I couldn't take it back. I knew exactly why I didn't want to go ahead with all this conviction stuff, and I didn't think they'd see it my way. I had to try.
"Well, I'm sorry but that's not up to you," Coleman spoke up. "That's up to your brother Darrel and what he sees fit."
That didn't make sense. Why did Darry have the control and not me? This was about me wasn't it? Why didn't I get any say? "But that's not fair," I said. "This is about me, not him. What does he have to do with it?"
Mason gave me a queer look. "It's not only about you, Miss Curtis. With your sister involved and with this being as serious as it is, it's up to your guardian to decide what's –"
"What are you talking about?" I asked. What did Reesa have to do with anything? She wasn't involved with this, was she? Someone would have told me by now is she was. Maybe that's why I haven't seen her all night? Was she here too and I didn't see her? How could that have happened, though? I know I would've seen her. Did they get her too? Was she in the hospital? No! This didn't match up. They were wrong. They had me mixed up with someone else. That had to be it. Reesa was out in the waiting room with the rest. She was just fine... right?
Coleman decided to step in at that point and it pissed me off to say the least. "I think it's about time we went. Perhaps we spoke too quickly. We have another case to attend to and we still have to talk to your brother before we leave. I'll expect we'll be seeing you again soon."
No, he was not going to avoid me. This wasn't happening. This entire thing was turning into a nightmare and only because no one would clue me in on anything. Is that why Dally was so weird earlier? Did he not want to tell me about Rees? What about Reesa anyway? No one had said what she had to do with this. What could she possibly have to do with this. She was out with Dally at that party. There's no way she could have had anything to do with Clay and Miles. She hadn't spoke to them or even thought about them in forever. She hated them; what would she want with them? What would they want with her? I didn't even know if I was semi-close to coming up with a reasonable answer to this. I need to talk to someone else. Where was Darry? Damn it. I needed to find out what was going on. I hate not knowing what's going on!
But before I could open my mouth again to say anything in protest to their leaving me hanging, they bid me farewell and a speedy recovery and left. This was not going how I expected.
Chapter 17
(Darry's POV)
I hadn't allowed myself to look at Rees yet, I didn't know how I would take it, so I avoided it until everyone but Soda was gone. Soda could see me upset, he knew what was going on and he would understand.
When I did look over, my stomach flipped and I looked away for a few seconds, calming it. I just felt so bad, and looking made it even worse. Basically, she looked like utter crap. The paleness alone was enough to freak someone out, and then you add all the bruising and it was a bad site. I had half expected it to be worse, but then again, I hadn't known how much we would see. Luckily, we only had to look at her arms and face, but that was enough to tell me that everything else had to be ten times worse.
In one arm, they had a clear fluid IV hooked up. In the other arm they were giving her blood. They were giving her oxygen through her nose, and she was covered in layers of blankets.
If I hadn't known better, I think I would have thought she was dead, just lying there like that. She didn't move, didn't make a sound, didn't even seem to breathe under all the blankets.
I stayed near the opening for a few seconds, just looking, thinking, letting it sink in. But Soda was already over there, sitting next to her on the other side of the bed and holding her hand. He seemed relieved at the site, not by much, but a little. He didn't seem to think it was too bad, and I'm sure compared to what he saw earlier, it wasn't.
I could hardly stand to see it though. Although her face wasn't to messed up, aside from a few gashes that had been stitched up, Reesa's arms were nearly black. There was little area anywhere that looked like skin in the least. I had never seen so much bruising, and that bad in my life. And what was worse was that the parts that weren't bruised had no color at all, it just looked like a white paper with blobs of black and blue all over it.
Finally, I walked over to Reesa, standing on he side of the bed nearest the door and across from Soda. He looked up to me, "Its pretty bad, ain't it."
I nodded my head, and brought my hand down to hold Reesa's. Maybe if I held it she would know we were there and she was safe now. But as I did so, I saw her wrist and stopped. Her wrist was horrible looking, with bruising and rope burns. It looked as if there was blood seeping from the damaged skin. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I didn't know that that was possible, it was so gruesome looking. I knew they would have had to have had her tied up, and she would fight it, and I hadn't really thought about it. But that sight made me sick. I was in shock at how bad all of this was, and tears started rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't contain it anymore, I was so angry, so...sorry over it, so guilty.
The guilt that I felt was something that I couldn't place. I didn't know that there was any way that I could have stopped this from happening. I had no idea why my sister was lying there in front of me in that condition, but I felt like it was my fault. Once again, I was the older brother, the protector, the one that was supposed to be there at times like that to stop it. But I hadn't been, and now she had to suffer for it, for my mistake. It made me mad that I hadn't done anything, and now I would never have the chance to make up for it.
I held Reesa's limp hand in mine, squeezing it and hoping I would get some response back, but I didn't. More than anything, I just wanted her to know it was okay, and she would be fine. I was never going to let that happen again. Never, not if I had anything to do with it.
I had stopped the tears, and was trying my best to hold it together. I knew that me crying was the last thing she needed to wake up to if she did while I was in there. I set down her hand and rubbed her forehead, "Rees?...Rees, you gonna be fine, baby. Just hang in there, everything'll be fine." My voice quivered slightly, but it was better than I thought it might be.
I stopped then, the tears were coming back and I didn't want to cry, not in front of her. Sure, she was out, but I didn't know that she wouldn't wake up, so I took a second before going on.
"Hey, I'm sorry this happened. I'm so sorry, honey. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you...I'm sorry." I took another deep breathe, "But it'll all be okay. Just...you're okay...you'll be fine."
At that point I didn't know if I was saying that more for me or her, but I had to say it. I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Soda giving me a worried look.
Neither of us said anything, and I looked back down to Reesa. It was so hard to see her like that. I had never seen her so helpless, she was always saying something smart-alec like when she was hurt or sick, and just to prove she was fine. It was so weird to see her doing nothing, not trying to prove that she was fine. I had never seen her that sick...it just didn't happen, not usually. I mean, I thought it was bad earlier that week, but she was still trying to tell us she was fine then, now she wasn't. It scared me, I couldn't believe it was really Reesa in front of me.
I took my hand away from her forehead and picked her hand up, rubbing it between both of mine. I felt so bad, I just wanted to take her place and make it all better, but I knew I couldn't. I sat, looking down at the floor and holding her ice-cold hand in mine, while letting the tears flow freely. I couldn't pretend that I was fine any longer, I just couldn't. It didn't matter that Soda saw me like that, I mean, after he saw her, he cried too, although I'm sure that was worse. But he would cry here to if he were in that position.
"Reesa?" Soda asked softly. I heard him move a little in the chair.
I was glad he was saying something, I couldn't keep talking anymore. Not reassuringly at least, and I was glad he was picking it up. If she heard us at all, it would be worth it. The doctor had said to talk to her and try to get her to respond, but I couldn't keep it up. I was too upset to do it any longer.
"Hey, Darry...she's awake." Soda reached over and nudged my shoulder to get my attention.
I looked up in surprise, just seconds ago she had not even responded, and now she was awake?
I saw her eyes open, searching her field of vision wildly. I had no idea what she was looking for, or if she was just freaked, but it was scaring me just a little. It was apparent that she had no idea of what was happening.
"Reesa? Hey...its okay."
She looked around even more frantically now, like it scared her or something. Like she didn't know who I was or what I was saying.
After setting her hand down, I reached over and gently moved her head so that she was facing me. Then I brought my other hand up and started rubbing her forehead again, "Hey, baby, its alright. Okay?"
I looked into her eyes, tears still streaming down my face. It hurt so bad to see her like that. She was so scared and confused, it wasn't right. Nothing was right that night.
Her eyes stopped moving around as she seemed to focus in on me, calming just a little. Anyone who didn't know her, would think she was just confused, but I knew better. I knew that she was scared and had no idea of what was going on around her.
"Its okay. Everything is going to be fine now. I'm here, no one will hurt you, no one. Just relax...relax, baby girl."
I was trying my hardest to keep my voice steady, to get a hold of myself for her. She didn't need that, not then. She needed someone there that was confident and together; but as hard as I tried to fit the part, the tears kept coming.
"D-Darry?" Reesa asked quietly, in fact it was barely audible. She was so weak, and I could tell just by hearing her voice, by looking into her eyes. Again, something I had never really seen out of Reesa, weakness. I mean, sure she lost strength when she was sick, but it wasn't true weakness. She always found a way to be strong through it. If she couldn't do much physically, she would get real witty and stubborn. And if she wasn't feeling up to par emotionally, then she used her physical strength to overcome it. She just wasn't that way, this was new and scary. Skye had been real weak that night too, but she was Skye and she was easily put down. It didn't take much to get her real sick, or to get her upset. It wasn't a comparison I could make, there was nothing to compare all of this to. There were too many things I had never seen, too many things I couldn't have even imagined before that night.
"Yeah...shhh. Its gonna be okay, just hang in there. Be strong like you always are, just hang in there."
Just seconds after I said that, Reesa's eyes glazed over in a sort of haze. I tried to get her out of it, get her to talk to me or something, but nothing worked. She had her eyes open, but it didn't seem to matter. Then slowly, they slid closed and her body relaxed.
At first it scared me a little, but then I thought again. I was glad she had woken up at all, it was more than I had expected when first going in there.
I kept talking to her in a reassuring voice, she needed that. I was so mad at myself for letting her see me cry. I knew she felt the pain, she knew there was something wrong with her, and there I was crying in front of her. I was supposed to be the strong one, and I cried. No wonder she was so freaked out.
I didn't stop talking to her after that, not until the doctor came in. Thankfully I had stopped the tears by that time and I felt much better. Like a burden had been lifted from me, I wasn't holding everything inside me any longer.
(Reesa's POV)
My hand was being taken and lifted. I didn't know why, and it hurt like a pain I had never felt before. What was going on? I still couldn't put together what had happened to me, not fully. I didn't understand why my hands and arms would kill like they did, it just didn't make any sense. The warmth felt good though, even with the pain. My hands felt like ice blocks to me, and I liked that my entire hand was wrapped in a soft warmth.
I finally got up the strength to open my eyes. I wanted to see who was there, and what was going on. Even if it was bad, it was better than not knowing anything at all. I was sick of being in the dark, and afraid of it, to tell the truth.
When I got my eyes open, it was almost too bright to stand. It sent a pain through my head, but I fought to keep my eyes open and ignore the pain. It took forever for my eyes to adjust to the light, and it killed, but finally they did and I could at least make out shapes through the haze that I saw. Everything was so blurry and weird looking to me, and I hated it, but I waited for it to clear.
My head was throbbing by the time I could see anything clearly, and the concentration was like hell to keep up. I mean, I was just tired as it was, and it shouldn't be that hard. I was so frustrated with it, but I was going to find out some stuff before I gave up. I would prove myself wrong, my body wrong.
The first clear image I saw was a big white ceiling and a red glass bottle of fluid type stuff that was hooked to a tube. I tried to follow the tube down to see where it went, but the world started spinning, so I stopped in hopes that the world would stop to. I hated being dizzy, it sucked so bad.
When everything stopped spinning, there was a face in my view, one I actually recognized.
"Reesa?"
I knew the voice to, but it took a few seconds for me to figure out who it was. Soda. Soda was here. Where was here? I still didn't know, but it didn't seem to matter as much, because Soda was next to me.
I wanted to answer back, but once again, I found it very hard. It was hard enough to keep my vision in focus, let alone try something on top of that.
"Hey, Darry...she's awake." Soda almost whispered through the silence.
I tried to move my head, but couldn't through the weakness. Where was Darry? Darry was here? I wanted to see him, I wanted to see him so bad.
"Reesa? Hey...its okay."
Darry. He was here. But I had to see him. For some reason it freaked me out more to be able to hear him, but not see him. I was afraid that my imagination was messing with me, that I was just dreaming. It was real creepy to me to not see him, and I was so confused that I couldn't really understand what he was saying. I don't really think that I knew it was Darry, I just assumed it was because Soda had said it. I could trust Soda, right?
I felt my hand being set down and something gently took a hold of my chin and turned my face. Again everything went blurry, but when it cleared I saw someone else sitting there. It wasn't Soda and I wanted it to be Darry, and after a few seconds, I was sure that it was Darry.
"Its okay. Everything is going to be fine now. I'm here, no one will hurt you, no one. Just relax...relax, baby girl."
His voice was such a good sound to hear then, and I loved it, but I noticed something really odd. It was something I had never heard in Darry's voice, a quiver. It was just slight, but it was almost scary to me. Why would his voice be different?
Then I looked closer at him, at his eyes, seeing that they were red and...he was crying. I couldn't believe it. I thought for sure my mind was playing tricks on me, he never cried. Not even when Mom and Dad died. Never had I seen Darry cry, never.
"D-Darry?" I asked. It was so hard to talk, so exhausting to me, but I had to see what was up. I couldn't think of anything else to say, couldn't form any other word, so I said his name. Maybe he would catch on, I didn't know. All I knew was that it was really scaring me.
Why would Darry be crying? What had happened to make him cry?
"Yeah...shhh. Its gonna be okay, just hang in there. Be strong like you always are, just hang in there."
Hang in there? What was he talking about? I mean, sure, I felt like shit, but hang in there? Did he think I was dying or something? Be strong?
I was so confused, so freaked by his behavior. Darry just isn't like that, ever. He doesn't say things like that. When he's worried he'll tell you everything is fine, and then later, when you're over it, he tells you how much you had scared him. I had never heard him talk quite like that, and his voice alone was enough to tell me something real bad was going on.
The problem was that I didn't have the strength to figure out what was going on. I couldn't keep talking, concentrating, not anymore. It was too hard, too tiring.
That was when I lost touch with reality again. I could still hear a little of what was going on, but nothing much and before I knew it, it was all gone. Darry, Soda, the room, the pain...all gone.
(Darry's POV)
I walked out of the hospital room in numbness. Soda had left before the doctor came in, but now it was time to leave. To tell the truth, I was terrified to leave her again. I knew nothing would happen here, but it still scared me. What if something happened and I wasn't there again? That was the thought that scared me.
Slowly, I made my way out to the waiting room again. I hoped that no one asked me about it, I couldn't talk about what I had seen. God, I couldn't even handle seeing it, let alone talk about it. Yeah, even I think I sound like a wimp, but at the time I could have cared less about that.
Even as I felt better than before about a few things, it was almost worse now. I knew there was a long morning of paper work and drilling questions to take care of and I was not looking forward to that. I was tired and worried. I mean it was supposed to help to see her, but now I had an idea. I had seen first hand that Reesa was bad off, it was ugly, and it made me feel even more guilty.
I saw Soda sitting right in my sight in the waiting room. He was holding a cigarette in his hand and slumping down in the chair. I guessed he was doing the same as me, trying to calm down. I took the seat next to him, rubbing my temples as I sat in contemplation. What next? It had been a hell of a night, and now that it had wound down just a little, I found myself at a loss. I mean, I was grateful for it but at the same time I just didn't know my place. I felt no relief, I felt nothing but pain, anger, and worry. There was nothing to do about that either.
"Darry?"
I lifted my head and cranked it around to see Pony who was sitting in the chair next to me, "Yeah?"
"Darry...I need some straight answers. Please. I am worried sick...I mean sick. I'm running on no sleep but I can't sleep because I don't know anything. Tell me what's going on, it'll help settle my nerves. Please..."
I looked at him seriously. I felt bad, he wanted to know but if I told him it wouldn't make things better, only worse. He didn't know that, didn't trust that, so I had to tell him but it was going to kill him. If he was upset then, what would he be when I was finished talking?
"Pony, nothing I can tell you is going to make you feel any better. Nothing I can tell you now is good...you understand that? Nothing..."
"Darry, please. I need to know. Whether it is bad or good...I have to know. I have the right to know...she's my sister too. The least you can do is tell me what happened if I can't even see her."
"Pony...I just don't know. You shouldn't learn about this crap from your sisters...from anyone. I don't know if you can...I'm sorry...but I don't know that you can handle it, Pon. I can barely handle it..."
My voice dropped at the last line and I felt again like crying. It wasn't right, and Pony didn't need to hear about it. Not to mention the fact that I didn't even know if I could get the words out without tears penetrating the mask also. How could I tell him?
"Darry, this is really freaking me out. I haven't ever seen you like this, all—"
"I know." I cut him off. I didn't want to hear the rest of it. I knew what he would say, but to hear it out loud was too much right then.
"Then why don't you tell me?"
"Pony, I don't know that I can tell this to you in the right way. I mean, this is not just a simple situation...it's...I know you want to understand, and I want you to understand, but I don't know that I can help you understand."
"Darry, just give it a shot. I'm not as naïve as you think I am...I've seen a lot of stuff...and I'm sure I can understand whatever this is."
I stared down to the ugly brown tile floor, avoiding his gaze. I knew I had to tell him, he would find out soon enough.
My decision made, I looked back up to Pony, "You sure you want to hear this? It's not pretty, and I can't make it any better than it is. If I tell you now, your gonna get it straight out, cold, hard facts. I can't do this any other way right now. You understand?"
"Yeah."
I ran a hand through my hair, "And you want to know...for sure."
"Yeah."
I nodded my head. The time had come. I had been dreading it all night long. It was going to be hard though, considering the fact that I didn't even have it straight in my head yet. But I knew I had to tell him when this had all started, it was the only way he could understand. Later we would have the full story, and then he would get it, I just hoped I could tell him enough now for him to understand what he needed to then.
"Okay...um...Ponyboy, do you understand why Reesa's in surgery?"
"Um...no."
"Well...basically she has a bunch of built up scar tissue that they have to take care of. Do you get me?"
He gave me a puzzled look. Oh man, this was going to be a long conversation.
"Alright...scar tissue is...damaged tissue and its bad..."
"Um, well, okay..."
I sighed, "Okay...I'm gonna try and put this in terms that you will understand. Pony, scar tissue doesn't just happen...something has to happen to cause it and she has it because...this has happened before."
His face fell, "Wait...so that thing happened before?"
"Yeah...but this time...is a lot worse..."
"Oh...when?"
"Uh...like two years or so..."
"Why didn't you tell me? Does everyone else know?"
"No...Pony, it was just that you were really young, and it didn't seem to be such a big deal then. Plus...I don't think she wanted everyone to know anyway."
"Well...thanks for telling me." He said a little disgruntled. I knew he was upset about it, and I understood why...but maybe he would understand later on. I didn't say anything to that but sat waiting for the next question.
"So...who did it?"
"Then or now?"
"Both."
"Well, I don't know who did it this time...but it was...Clay last time."
"Then...how did you get him to stop? I mean he wasn't arrested for it, was he?"
"...No, but I took care of it..."
"How?"
"Don't worry about it...it's in the past...I don't want to talk about it."
A look of anxiety past through his face but disappeared quickly. I knew he wanted to press more and find out, but he didn't. I was glad about it, too. How could I tell him that I beat Clay up bad enough to scare him away from my sister? I mean, I don't even know how bad it was...but I know that none of the guys saw him around at school or anything for...at least a week, maybe two.
"Okay. Um...so what does this have to do with anything?"
"See, this is where it gets...uh...Lets just say that I think this all has to do with that...see I think it was Miles and Clay who did this to Skye...and test results say that the same people attacked your sisters...so it would have to be related for at least Reesa."
As I said it, I tried to stay calm. I think I was trying to hard, mostly because the look on Pony's face told me that I was too calm. I guess it was such a shocking thing and I had been so upset...and here I am telling him this like I was some police detective or something.
He nodded his head slightly, "So, that's why you're so freaked? It's the same people?"
"Well, that's part of it. Pony...this is really complicated. This isn't just about getting those guys behind jail. It's about..." my voice broke and I couldn't get it out. Just the thought of everything was too much. I couldn't think of Rees not making it, or about the family being split, or even about who did it. There was too much behind it, too much that I couldn't explain to Pony.
"Why couldn't I see Reesa, Darry?"
"Pony...you saw Skye...you saw that she didn't look to great. Did it bother you to see her?"
"Well...yeah. But it wasn't that bad...it's just that she's in the hospital."
"I didn't let you see Reesa because...I didn't know what I was gonna see, but from what I heard from Soda it was bad enough to be concerned over you seeing her in that condition. Pony, it is really not a pretty sight...and there are things you need to know before you can even /I to handle something like that."
"And I don't know those things?"
"I don't know. No...Pony, I don't know how much you know about rape... I know that you know what date-rape is and stuff like that...but that isn't stuff that /I hurts people. It does...but this is different. This is /I that most people don't even think about." I took a breath, I was loosing control. I was so mad and it was so hard to say without just lashing out. I calmed myself and continued, "This is...meant to be harmful...its meant to hurt the victim. Date-rape is...just as bad...but it's not intentionally meant to hurt someone. We are talking the difference between murder and...beating someone up...get it?"
Pony scrunched his forehead a little, "Why, though?"
"I don't know Pony. Basically, what I want you to know is that this is wrong... There is no reason that this should happen to anyone...and not /I...god damn it!"
I lost it then. I couldn't say this...I couldn't hold it in. I formed my fists into balls, and put my head between my hands, trying to not lash out completely. I felt bad for doing that in front of Pony...but I thought I was doing pretty well considering.
After a few minutes, I looked back over to Pony, "Hey, Pony, I'm sorry...there isn't anything else to tell you right now...I don't know anything else. When I find out, I'll tell you...really, I will...you can see Rees when she's out of surgery and the doc okays it. Just know that its really a hard thing to see... know that it's bad...the bastards beat her...nearly to death..." the last line was so quiet, but if he had heard it, I wouldn't have cared much. He was going to find it out soon enough.
I went back to my previous position, and tuned out everything around me...just going numb and not allowing myself to think. It was a nice change...it was good to be able to just let it go for a while.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Pretty soon, Soda was talking to me, "Darry, the fuzz are here. Looks like they're heading over...they're gonna want to talk to you."
I didn't move, this was going to be even harder than it was with Pony...once I told the cops about the shit, it would all hit the fan. I wanted to find out who it was, but I was afraid that I couldn't go through this rationally again. It was hard enough to be calm when it wasn't the fuzz I was talking to, let alone when I was basically on trial. Besides, I didn't know if Skye was ready for this...
"Darry? "Soda asked a little worried...
"I know..." I said without expression. Here goes...
`~``~``~``~`
(Skye's POV)
Nothing much had changed since the last time I was awake. It was still dark outside of my window and I could hardly feel a thing. The only difference was that Soda and Pony had left, Darry never came back -- as far as I knew – and Dally was sitting in the seat near the window. His arms were folded and his legs were propped up on the upside down garbage can. He looked fairly comfortable, although he didn't act like it.
"Hey, Dal," I said and tried to sit up. The back of my stupid bed was raised some and it wasn't difficult to be up and it sucked to lie down. "I didn't know you were here." I wasn't all that sure I wanted him here, because than that would mean that he knew too.
"Didn't have much of a choice. I brought everyone else here and I thought I might stay, ya know?" He sat up straighter in his seat and brought it closer. I could tell by his stench that he had been drinking and it was bringing back some unpleasant memories. It didn't matter so much, just because he was Dally, but the memories came with the smell.
"Oh. That boring, huh?"
"Nah," he said, "I would've found out one way or another." I guess by that he meant that either way he would've been here. That's nice of him. I didn't expect it, but I'm glad he was there. He always seemed to drop in at the right times.
"Oh," I said again. I didn't know what else to say. It was awkward trying to strike up a conversation when all I could think about was the obvious and I'm sure that Dally was just itching to tear me down with questions. I wasn't going to tell anything if I could prevent it. I'm sorry but that's the way I felt. "How come everyone else is gone?" I asked. I don't know how to describe how it made me feel, but it was not all that fun to know that my family up and left me when I was bedridden in the hospital.
"They're busy," he said and that was it.
"Doing what?" I pressed. What could be more important than me?
"Talking and doing stuff."
"Without me?"
"Skye, for the first time listen to me and don't question it, all right?" He wasn't impatient or anything, but he definitely knew something that I didn't and he knew he had control over that bit of information. It was going to drive me nuts if I didn't know the rest. I hate knowing that I don't know something.
"That ain't no answer," I said. "Where's my brothers? I mean, I love ya Dally, but I sort of want to know where they are too. Where's Reesa? Is she not concerned at all?"
"Holy shit you're never content are you?" he tried to laugh it off but it really didn't work for him. "They went to get something to eat. They'll be back in a while."
"All of them?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly meaning what?"
"That not all of them are gone."
"Dallas Winston, tell me what's going on right now. You aren't going to get away with this! I want to know! You can't keep a secret from me, you know that. So just tell me before I go over there and beat it out of you." He couldn't do this to me! This is no time to joke! I might just cry if he didn't tell me what was going on. I was surprised that I was even able to talk to him like that. Any other time I don't think I would've dared to talk to him using that tone of voice or those words, even if he did cut me a lot of slack, but being in my position he actually let it slide.
"I'd like to see you try." He smirked.
I sat up even more and made the motion to get out of my bed but the door opened and Darry walked in right as I did. I was more glad to see him than upset that he interrupted my escapade. Actually, I was really glad he did barge in because I didn't feel like getting out and freezing my ass off. That and Dally might try and do something about it if I did.
"Skye! Get back in that bed. You should know better than to get out." Wow, talk about paranoid. I slid back under the covers and back into the warmth. Once I laid my head back down on the pillow I realized how dizzy that all made me. Damn, I hate Darry always being right about everything.
He kicked Dally out of his chair and sat down in it, looking intently and seriously at me. That wasn't a good sign. Darry never gave me a serious look unless I was in trouble and I knew there was no way he could be mad at me right then. If he was, that was pretty messed up. Although, there was a possibility he was seeing as I got myself into this mess, but he didn't know that yet...
"Skye, there are some cops here that want to talk to you."
"What?"
"They want to ask you some questions and you need to answer them honestly, because, well... you need to." He looked over at Dally who was making himself comfortable in another chair by the wall. "And you'll have to leave, Dal. Sorry."
"Why? I ain't in no one's way."
"No... but the cops don't want anyone else here. They think that it'll be a distraction and besides that they don't think anyone other than immediate family should be in on the questioning right now."
That was stupid. What wrong with Dally being in here? He wouldn't do anything except listen and... possibly get very angry. Okay. I guess that made sense when you looked at in that way.
"Right," he said and slowly stood up. "I'll be in the waiting room then." He slumped out the door and closed it behind him. I was sort of sad watching him go. I only got to talk to him for a few minutes -- not that he was giving me anything that satisfied me anyway.
Now back to the more important issue. Darry had called the cops and now I was expected to talk to them? What was fair in this? "Darry, I don't wanna talk to no cops."
"To bad. They want to talk to you. They are very interested in this case and well, it's their job, so be nice." I really don't like policemen, let me tell you. Every encounter I've had with them has never turned out in my favor and I don't see any use in them. They'll only make things worse if anything.
"Fine," I sighed. This was going to bite the big one. "When do I talk to them?"
"Now. They're waiting outside of the room." He got up and walked over to the door. "Tell them the truth, Skye."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I don't know, just do."
He opened the door and two policemen walked in. They were both male and looked like they were around their later thirties, early forties. Great. Old fogies to talk to. If I wanted to talk to someone that old I would've walked down the hall and found the janitor or something. But, if I thought I about it, it was better than talking to some young, hot cop who would make me completely embarrassed if I had to answer his questions. Anyway, these two were decked out in their navy blue uniforms and had all their specialty equipment like their guns and handcuffs and notepads to take notes on. That made me feel safe, let me tell you.
"Skye Curtis?" One of them asked stepping forward.
I could only nod. Damn it Darry.
"Hi. I'm Officer Mason and this is my partner Officer Coleman." He addressed the balding man next to him. "We hear you got yourself into quite a situation and we want to ask you some questions about it, all right?" Did he have to say it like he was talking to a three-year-old? I knew what was going on. I knew what happened to me; I could face up to it.
"Okay," I said bashfully anyway. Man, I always turned shy in front of these types of people. Never any other time.
Darry took his seat again and offered the cops a seat but they shook their heads and said they didn't plan on staying long. That didn't sound right to me. Did that mean my case wasn't good enough for them? I'm sure I was blowing it out of the water but I was feeling somewhat sensitive at the time.
"Can you tell us what happened, Miss Curtis?" Mason asked.
Well that was up front wasn't it? They could've been a little subtler about it. I knew it was coming, I knew it all along, but it was really hard to bring it up when I was being forced. Sodapop could've told them as much. "Um...." I tried to start, but it wasn't coming out in any audible fashion. I really was having a time trying to talk tonight, wasn't I?
"Maybe we'll start with a simpler question. Do you know the individuals who raped you tonight?" Again with the forwardness. It surprised me how little they bothered with sensitivity and my thoughts and feelings. Good for them. They must like their job. Let's annoy and depress people for a living.
"I-individuals?" I asked. That was supposed to be a simpler question? What planet did they come from? And how did they know it was more than one person? I though I was the only who knew that. This kind of thing could not have been all that common.
"Yes. Your tests results came back saying that you were raped by six men. Can you elaborate for us?" Coleman answered me. Ah, that's how they knew. Okay, that made more sense. By the look in his eyes I could tell he found it hard to believe, but knew it was true and that made him very disheartened to know that. Welcome to my world, buddy.
Every time the word rape was uttered, Darry would flinch slightly. It didn't bother me as much only because it had happened and there was no taking it back. Perhaps when seen from a different light the words and emotions were different. He took hold of my hand again and squeezed it very lightly. I realized then how much I missed it. He had sat with me for hours not leaving my side and then suddenly he up and left and I was stuck with my bed and pestering people. "Do you know who it was, Skye?" Coleman asked again after I was silent.
"Yes, sir."
Darry clenched his other fist into a ball and gritted his teeth. It made my stomach clench to know he was in such pain over this. I didn't mean for it to work out this way. I didn't know it would all escalate to this point.
"Can you give us their names?" he pressed me further. And what a good job he was doing too.
"S-some of them." I paused for a brief moment and made sure I didn't look anywhere near Darry. In fact I avoided it so much that I was looking at the upper right hand corner of the room. Darry was sitting directly to my left. "Two of them were Clay J-Johnson and... Miles Johnson."
Darry made a noise sounding like he was just socked in the stomach. He released my hand while he grabbed the top of this hair. He had his head dropped and he was hunched over so I couldn't see his face at all.
I knew that had to be a big slap in the face. All the times that I went against his judgement and snuck out of the house at night and even slipped out right under his nose when he was watching me but didn't know that I was lying to him and going off to see Miles, was flashing into his memory. I knew it was my fault that I had gotten myself into this mess in the first place and Darry had done nothing but tried to prevent any heartache and hurt that he could. He knew what kind of person Miles was and he knew that no matter how I tried to prove him wrong I'd be the one who ended up in the wrong. I also knew that he never really wanted it to be that way. He wanted to be wrong himself and think that maybe I wasn't so dumb and gullible.
I felt so guilty and low about myself. Everyone was going to be so disappointed when they heard who had done it and they would all know in their minds that I had been stupid enough not to listen to them. I was feeling better by the second.
"Are they related to each other?"
I nodded. "They're brothers."
Darry froze to his spot and slowly looked up at me. "Clay and Miles are brothers?" he whispered. His eyes were wide and surprised, almost fearful.
I nodded scared. He shouldn't be reacting to that. But if he was, what did that mean?
His was truly fighting to keep his cool then. "Why didn't you tell me they were brothers?"
"I don't know. I thought you knew."
"No!" he cried sounding so desperate. "No, I didn't!" He sat up straight and reached for my hand again. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
"I thought you knew! I'm sorry." I didn't want him mad at me too.
I sunk deeper into my sheets again. Why was he so angry about that? It shouldn't have surprised him all that much. They were always together and they looked really similar. What did it matter if they were brothers in the first place? Who cared? It didn't make much of a difference.
Darry stood up, letting go of me, and started to walk to the door. Where was he going? He couldn't leave me. I needed him.
"Darry...?"
"I'm sorry," he said to the policeman, not even answering me. He paused for a second like he was considering changing his mind. "I can't... I can't listen to this anymore."
"That's all right," Coleman said. "If you'll wait outside the door or in the waiting room for us then, please. We may have some things to discuss with you." Darry nodded and made to leave again.
"Wait, Darry...!" I said but he didn't listen and kept going. He closed the door behind him and I felt like getting up and yelling at him for leaving me alone with these guys, but I couldn't. I felt to rubbery and weak that I couldn't move. Dally had worn me out. I don't think I would have in the first place, but it would've made me feel a bit better. I couldn't believe all of this was happening.
"All right," Mason said, who had been writing on his notepad. He had waited until it fell quiet again to start the interrogation back up. "And the others?"
I shook my head. I didn't know their names. I had never known their names. With Darry gone now, I'd be surprised if I could give any straight answers. For some odd reason him being there had made this all seem a lot easier, but now he was gone and I felt vulnerable again. I didn't like feeling out of control or forced into this. It wasn't right. It shouldn't have been this way.
"You don't know?" Mason asked. I shook my head again. "You have no recollection of them at all?"
"I know who they are... but I don't know their names," I told him. I knew it sounded as stupid as I thought it did.
"All right. That's fine. We'll come back to that later." He shook his pen to write down some more stuff. I had no idea what he could be writing down. I hadn't told him anything new.
"Now, how did they come across you?" Coleman said. He was standing there with his hands cupped over each other in front of him. He looked like he was enjoying this just as much as I was.
I felt so ashamed and awful about telling them the next part, but they wanted to know it and I promised both Soda and Darry that I'd answer them truthfully. "They came to my house."
"They raped you at home?" Okay, I didn't react to the word, but did they have to say it continually without end? Give me a break!
"No!" The very thought made me feel queasy. If they had I wouldn't be able to step foot in my house and feel safe for a long time. Darry would start locking the doors and just hand out spare keys to the boys. "They came to my house and got me."
"Did you go willingly?"
I shook my head. "They made me go. I was supposed to be staying with my brother and I was feeling sick anyway. I didn't want to go but they were instant and I didn't know that this would happen if I went."
They both rose their eyebrows and looked at each other. Mason wrote something else on his paper and looked back up at me. "Are you trying to tell us that you were kidnapped?"
What? Of course not! "I – I don't know...." I said. "I don't know what it takes to be kidnapped." That alone made me feel funny. There's no way I could've been kidnapped. I would've known about it wouldn't I? I mean the thought had crossed my mind but I wasn't thinking clearly and I didn't really think it was true anyway.
"It's being taken anywhere against your will without your consent or the consent of your brother."
"Oh." Well in that case... "I -- I guess so."
The questioning went on for some time more. They asked questions like about how much my family knew of the Johnson's, how well I had known Miles and Clay before this, if I had any prior knowledge of the situation at hand, and things like that. I told them as much as I could and the full and honest truth. It was painful and I was fearing for my life, but I did it because I couldn't stand to let anyone else down. Finally, Officers Mason and Coleman decided they had enough evidence to convict some of them and said that they'd be leaving to talk to Darry.
"Wait," I stopped them before they left, "you want to convict Clay and Miles?"
"Well, yes. This is a very serious issue we're dealing with and it has to be dealt with accordingly and as soon as possible," Mason said as he went to pull out his pad again. Did he think I was going to cough up more?
"But... you can't do that." I don't know what pushed me to say that, but it was already out and I couldn't take it back. I knew exactly why I didn't want to go ahead with all this conviction stuff, and I didn't think they'd see it my way. I had to try.
"Well, I'm sorry but that's not up to you," Coleman spoke up. "That's up to your brother Darrel and what he sees fit."
That didn't make sense. Why did Darry have the control and not me? This was about me wasn't it? Why didn't I get any say? "But that's not fair," I said. "This is about me, not him. What does he have to do with it?"
Mason gave me a queer look. "It's not only about you, Miss Curtis. With your sister involved and with this being as serious as it is, it's up to your guardian to decide what's –"
"What are you talking about?" I asked. What did Reesa have to do with anything? She wasn't involved with this, was she? Someone would have told me by now is she was. Maybe that's why I haven't seen her all night? Was she here too and I didn't see her? How could that have happened, though? I know I would've seen her. Did they get her too? Was she in the hospital? No! This didn't match up. They were wrong. They had me mixed up with someone else. That had to be it. Reesa was out in the waiting room with the rest. She was just fine... right?
Coleman decided to step in at that point and it pissed me off to say the least. "I think it's about time we went. Perhaps we spoke too quickly. We have another case to attend to and we still have to talk to your brother before we leave. I'll expect we'll be seeing you again soon."
No, he was not going to avoid me. This wasn't happening. This entire thing was turning into a nightmare and only because no one would clue me in on anything. Is that why Dally was so weird earlier? Did he not want to tell me about Rees? What about Reesa anyway? No one had said what she had to do with this. What could she possibly have to do with this. She was out with Dally at that party. There's no way she could have had anything to do with Clay and Miles. She hadn't spoke to them or even thought about them in forever. She hated them; what would she want with them? What would they want with her? I didn't even know if I was semi-close to coming up with a reasonable answer to this. I need to talk to someone else. Where was Darry? Damn it. I needed to find out what was going on. I hate not knowing what's going on!
But before I could open my mouth again to say anything in protest to their leaving me hanging, they bid me farewell and a speedy recovery and left. This was not going how I expected.