Okay, sorry it took so long to update. We spent hours last week putting the
next few chapters together. You better be grateful too....it was the most
frustrating three hours in a long time for the both of us. LOL. Anyway,
here goes the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Oh, and if this is a t
all confusing, then just ask questions. I think it all comes together, but
if not, then ask and we will tell. Have fun, Enjoy! See ya round!
Now on to .... Reviews:
Oblivious misconception: Wow....thanks! We enjoyed the convo between Soda and Darry also. It shows that Soda and Darry do have a mutual relationship if you know what I mean. And I am soooo happy you liked the little scene between Reesa and Steve. OI was really nervous about that one, because most people leave Steve as a jerk, but he has to be more, and we wanted so badly to add another dimension to him, so we did. Thank you for reading on and always reviewing, we really appreciate it! Have a great day and enjoy!
Tens: Since we mostly answered your review as soon as we got it, here is a choppy little note to you. LOL. Hope you don't mind. Don't forget Pony in this, and yes Darry is beyond sleep deprived, Soda is just that way because he can't help it, Steve can be a jerk most of the time, but in here he is just Steve pure and true. Dally and Two-Bit are coming up soon so don't worry. I hope you like the next chapter.
Okay, that's it. Enjoy!
Chapter 22
(Pony's POV)
"Ponyboy!"
Ahh, hell no. Someone was /I waking me up yet. "Ponyboy! Wake up!" I could always be wrong. Didn't he have any respect for the sleep deprived? Shoot, I never barged into his house and scream his name at the top of my lungs. At that point they'd call the people with the straight jackets and get me secured. They'd have to, because if they didn't, I would. Although, those straight jackets don't look fun in the least bit. I hear they get tighter the more you squirm. Those poor idiots who wind up in them. How do they keep from suffocating? What am I thinking? Who cares? Maybe it was all part of my dream. For the last hour and a half I had been in and out of it with messed up dreams swimming around the surface of my brain.
"Pony! You deaf or what?" Two-Bit barged into my room and pulled the covers off of me. What the hell? I shivered. "What you still doin' asleep?"
"I've only slept for..." I looked at my clock, "...like eight hours or something. What's the big idea anyway?" I reached for my blankets but he threw them across the room. "Two-Bit! Give them to me!"
"Get up and get them yourself. You could use the exercise." He strolled over to the mirror and checked out his reflection. His hair wasn't greased yet and it was falling over his ears. He ran his hand through the side and held it back. He looked funny without it done. That's most likely because I've never seen him like that before. At least not that often.
"I could use the exercise?" I sat up. "I run track everyday. I don't need anymore exercise. /I, however, can't run to the corner without getting short winded." I rolled my eyes and swung my legs over the end of the bed and went after the blankets. No respect, I swear!
"Yeah, well I smoke," he said while picking up a jar of grease and helping himself to it. Way to justify himself. "Otherwise I'd be good enough."
"And I don't?" Had he been drinking again? When would he find the time to do that? He should be resting like the rest of us normal people. "Two-Bit, what are you doing here anyway?"
"Darry asked me to baby-sit you."
"No, he didn't."
"Wanna bet?"
"He wouldn't do that. I've never had a baby-sitter, stupid. This is Darry we're talking about." I wrapped the blankets around me again and flopped back down on the bed. "Now, what do you want?"
"Nothing. I'm just here to keep an eye on you."
"Whatever."
He couldn't be serious. That's ridiculous... But what if he was? Could Darry be that worried? I guess I couldn't blame him if he was. After my spectacular performance the other day and with all of this added on, I suppose I could see how he wasn't up to trusting anyone on their own. Now, I just feel so confident. Thanks Darry. "How long have you been here?" I rubbed at my eyes to clear up my vision. Otherwise, Two-Bit had two heads.
"I dunno, like maybe an hour. Maybe less." He shrugged and set the jar back on the dresser. "You sleep like a rock, man."
"No, I don't."
"Hahaha. Yeah, you do. I tired to get you up earlier, but you kept cussing at me. You weren't even awake. I've been bored with no one up. Why do you think I'm in here?" He had a point there. Even if Skye was up and running, he still probably would prefer my company, sad to say.
"Well, I was up all night. I have a right to be tired." And so should he! Where does he get away with not sleeping? Why can't I do that? I'd love to be able to stay up as late as I need to, studying for a test, and not be affected by it in the following days.
"Not anymore; though, are you?" he said and turned smiling. Yeah, he was right. I wasn't really all that tired anymore. I had been trying to sleep when I didn't need to and it was throwing me off. And I sort of do remember him in here earlier, although it was all very distorted. "That's what I thought." He turned back to the mirror and combed through his hair once more. "There we go." He shoved the comb back in his pocket and came over to the bed. "Come on. Get outta there. We're watching TV."
"Where's Soda?" Don't ask what that had to do with anything. The thought just dawned on me. He wasn't here. I mean, if Two-Bit was here, that meant Soda wasn't, right? At least, he wouldn't be here to /I us.
"I don't know. Probably out with Steve or something. Who knows. Darry never said." He began to walk out of the room. "Hurry up! I'm hungry."
"So? Get something to eat." What did that have anything to do with me? If he thought I was going to make him a snack...
"Ahh, but that wouldn't be polite. This is your house. I wouldn't feel right going through your kitchen," his voice wandered from somewhere in the hall. He wasn't going to the kitchen was he?
"Since when has that stopped you before?"
"Never. But, now I think it's something we should start up. I'll give you the honor of making me something to eat. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like I won't be doing it."
"Eh, now what kinda attitude is that?"
The couch whined as he sat down. A second later the TV got fuzzy as he began to flip though the channels.
What was he on about? Where was he coming up with this stuff? I sighed. Something told me this was going to be a long day. Which to a degree was odd, because usually with Two-Bit you ain't ever bored. Perhaps things can change.
`~`~``~`~`
(Mason's POV -- A Police Officer)
We were on our way to the hospital to once again interrogate a scared and traumatized girl. I wasn't looking forward to it. Even after working as a detective for so long, I didn't understand why we couldn't give the families just a little time to deal with things. The concept behind that was that the victims/witnesses wouldn't forget the little details - but my feelings and experience told me that time had little to do with how many details a victim would remember. Either they didn't remember or it was something that they would never forget.
The day before we had questioned the other girl involved in the case, but the one we were going to see now had not been able to speak with us. We both knew that that had something to do with her physical condition, and personally, I didn't know it would be better at this point.
All the same, I found myself driving to go see her and question her at the Police Chief's request. I tried to ask him to wait until the next morning at lest, but he had a very different opinion on the matter than I. He didn't look at the family, he looked at solving the case and getting the guys off the streets. Now I agreed with that last part, but could it not wait a day or two? Yet, despite this opinion of mine, I never neglected to cut to the chase when questioning, and I wouldn't that night either. Being soft about it wouldn't make things any better, and it wasted everyone's time.
We arrived at the hospital and went into the front desk, "We are here to speak to a patient. Can you tell us what room to go to?" I explained to the nurse behind the counter.
"Who do you need?" She asked politely. I loved having a badge, it made people so politely listen to you and help you out.
I pulled out my little notebook and opened it up, "A...Reesa Curtis."
The nurse searched through some charts and finally pulled one out, "It says here that she is still listed in critical, you will need to talk to the doctor to see if you can see her."
"Can we please speak to her doctor then?" I pressed politely. The chief would be pissed if we went back to the station with no evidence, with nothing to show for our trip and gas money, although it wasn't my hope that even if we did get to talk to the girl she would be able to tell us anything new. She would inevitably be pumped up with plenty of medications and therefore be thoroughly confused. That was the other reason that I wanted to wait. Basically, the way I saw it, this was a waste of our time all the way around, we could be doing better things than asking a drugged up girl what happened to her on the worst night of her life.
A doctor came up to us pretty soon, "Can I help you, officers? I was told you wanted to have a word with me."
"Yes, that's correct. We came here to speak with a patient of yours but were told that she isnt doing well. The name is Reesa Curtis, can you tell us more about her condition?"
The doctor continued on to tell us his speculations on what had happened according to what he had seen and heard through out his administration of treatment to that patient. When he was finished, I asked him if there was anyway that we could see the girl that night. From what we had just heard from him, this was a more urgent case than anyone had originally thought, this was complicated and brutal, possibly even premeditated.
He basically told us he had to go check up on her and would decide after he saw how things were going currently. He came back just a few minutes later, saying she was stable enough and she wanted to talk to us so we would be allowed to see her that night. But, of course, following usual procedure, he had to first lay down the normal ground rules for us to follow during questioning; if this, then that type stuff.
Eventually, we proceeded into her room. The girl was seemingly asleep on the bed that had the head of it propped up. She looked pretty bad off, white as a sheet, tired, feverish, and... her arms were darkened in multi- colored dark reddish-brownish-black bruises. That was a sight to behold, she really had been through hell the night before, that much was clear right off. Still, I couldn't believe I was about to do this, no matter how important. It just didn't seem right to question what had happened and bring all the shit back to the surface.
Next to her bedside, sat a man. He was in his early twenties, strong, big and...yet oddly gentle. He seemed like the type of guy to be feared at first, but at least right then he seemed so gentle and worried...but yet hard at the same time. I wondered who he was, but decided not to ask, that wasn't to important. I mean, he had to be family or he wouldn't be there, and if he was sitting next to her, he had to know a little of what had happened. It was confusing to me though, he wasn't old enough to be her father, but she couldn't be and wasn't married. Maybe a brother? But what would a brother be doing there?
I had stopped just inside the door to take in the situation, but now I took another few steps forward. The girl slowly opened her eyes, and directed her attention to us. With her eyes opened, she looked even worse, they were so feverish that it added another dimension to her condition.
"Reesa Curtis?"
"Uh-huh." She slightly nodded her head, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, okay, to be fair it was, but it was also my job to ask.
She seemed to be pretty annoyed with the whole situation, almost as much as me. Well, I couldn't blame her, she was probably more fed up than I, and I couldn't say that I wouldn't be if I were in her shoes.
"Okay. Um...can you tell me what happened?"
"Yeah, but since you already know, can we move on?" She asked, seemingly bored. The guy sitting next to her sent her a quick, sharp look, like he were trying to discipline her. For some odd reason, I didn't think that would make much of a difference, but if it made him happy.
"Uh...look, I know you don't want to go over this, but I don't really know the whole story. We were hoping that you could provide a little more insight into what happened than your sister. So...will you humor me?"
"Oh...right. I forgot that Skye couldn't give a straight answer to anything to save her frickin life --"
"Rees!...um..." the guy cut in, giving Reesa another look.
"Darry, just shut up...sorry, but its true and you know it." The girl snapped back at him. She was a little more animated that time, weird.
He didn't protest to that, so I waited further.
"Okay...um...so yeah...Clay basically beat the shit outta me and then raped me after he knocked me out. Anything else you wanna know?"
"Clay Johnson?"
"Yup." She wasn't even shaken by the name, surprising if you ask me.
"Who else was involved?"
"Miles Johnson, his brother, Brighton Walters, Bruce Thorton, Lars Tranato, and Rus Gremmil."
"Good to know." I scribbled the names down in a legible manner and turned back to the girl, "Did all of these guys try to rape you?"
"They all /I rape me."
"Okay. Your sure?"
"Um...yeah."
"Can you tell me approximately what time you arrived there?"
"Midnight or so..."
"And what time did you leave there?"
The girl looked over hestitantly to the man sitting next to her, "Dar? What time did I get home?" She looked almost nervous to be asking the question, like the guy would get mad or something.
"I don't know...Soda...Soda brought you in at around three thirty or so..."
She looked back over to me, a confused expression on her face, "Well, I would say I left at about...two-thirty or three..."
"Were they already gone when you left?"
"Yeah."
"How did you get there?"
"I drove."
"You went /I?"
"Well, I guess you could say that. Although if I had felt I had a choice I wouldn't have gone."
"Then why did you go over there?"
"I had my reasons." She must have seen the look on my face or read my mind or something because her next comment followed quickly after, "No...it wasn't to get knocked or high."
"Then why?" I pressed. She was going to tell me.
"Because I knew Skye was over there, so I went to go get her."
"Alright. Is there anything else that you need to tell us?"
I didn't really believe her, but I figured that was as much as I needed at the time and I wasn't getting anything else out of her, I could tell that much.
"No..."
"Can you possibly tell me where we can locate these guys? Will they be hiding out?"
"Well, they wont be hiding out per say...they are always hiding out. The best places to find them are 1. In the shit hole of an alleyway behind the Johnson's place... 2. Lars's place...his is the hang out, the party place, the everything at night place...its on the soc side... and 3. The dug out behind the Dingo...its in the field, in the little clump of trees...probably your best bet. They like to go and get drugged up there, its pretty popular during school hours."
"Were they doing drugs last night?"
"When are they not? They were all pretty drunk, well...more like soused, they werent drunk to the point of loosing control."
"Your blood tests showed some amounts of other drugs, when did you take those? Earlier that night?"
"What?" She looked completely confused at that point, lost as to what I was saying. It could be an act, and I expected it was because the guy was still in there. She couldn't change that quickly from put together to confused.
The guy sitting next to her started fidgeting, his eyes having already nearly popped out of his head. He seemed just as surprised, like the doctor hadnt told him?
"You had drugs in your system when you came in here, when did you take them?" I was a little more stern this time to show that I wasn't going to buy that.
"What drugs? I didn't do any." She turned to the man, "Darry, I swear! You can ask Dal, he was with me. You know I don't do that...Dar!"
I guessed she was trying to get him to say something, but I didn't understand why. I thought she would want to avoid that for a while...this girl was weird. She was starting to panic and freak a little now, shaking silently in her bed.
I had to keep this going, stupid teens.
"You had various drugs in your system. Don't try and hide it, I already know. It'll be better if you just tell me when you took them."
She slowly looked up from her hands, almost glaring at me, but refraining as much as possible.
"It musta been when I went over there. The place was suffocating with all the smoke...it smelled like weed, but I couldn't leave then."
"Your telling me that you got high off of fumes?" I said skeptically.
"Um...yup. That place was bad. For all I know they could have a lab hidden somewhere in there. They are good at hiding things. Not to say that they do because I don't have anything to support that..."
"Well, I guess we'll find out. Thank you for talking to us. We'll be around, I'm sure." Then I turned and walked out abruptly. I was done with that shit for the night. Thank goodness. That had been worse then I thought it would be, she was a bratty one. I hate little girls like that.
`~``~``~``~`
(Reesa's POV)
I knew I was in for it as soon as that police officer left. There was no way around it, although I wished futilely that Darry could wait until later to go over this. I was so tired and weak...putting on a facade like that took more energy than I had ever thought before. That police officer wasn't in the best of moods though, I could tell. He wanted out of there as much as I wanted to get up and slap the doctor for having me on so many damn medications. I would rather live with the pain.
The room fell silent for a while...great...this might be as fun as Steve was. Then again, it might be even better. Yeah! So I waited for the wrath to come, waited doing nothing to stop it, waited in full view.
"Reesa, you were high?" he was already having a hard time keeping his voice down, I just couldn't wait for the stop lying to me crap to start. Then it would all go to pot. Wonderful.
"No..."
"Reesa! Stop lying to me, he just said you were!"
"Well, I don't remember it, Darry!" I snapped unexpectedly and in a /I snotty tone. I thought I would be more able to just blow him off, but I wasn't in all control of my emotions, I was too worn out to care anymore.
"How can you not remember it?!? You had to /I the drugs to get high in the first place! And don't tell me that they /I you because you /I came home stoned.../I!" he yelled. He was starting to freak me out. I mean I knew his reaction would be bad as soon as the frickin fuzz man had to move his ugly lips to form the words of that sentence, but he was getting too worked up too fast. It wasn't Darry, and that scared me, because I didn't know what to expect.
"Darry, please just trust me. There isnt --"
"/I you? Trust you after last night? After you just up and left and then told me you would be home by /I, and then walked into the worst situation of you entire life? /I you?"
Did he have to say that so many times, was I Deaf? No. Okay then...
"Yes, Darry. You know I had my reasons...and I didn't take anything!"
"Yeah...right." He sighed. What the hell did that mean?
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you think that I would just lie to you? That I'm in the position to lie?"
"You're in the perfect position to lie, no one can get mad at you...you're a poor hurt girl who doesn't give a shit about anyone else."
Where the hell did he get that one? God, I was sitting there /I I cared about someone else.
I was out of energy to respond, at least to that. At that point, he could think all he wanted.
"Oh...God, Reesa. I cant believe you...you are such a selfish little brat. If you would just tell me the frickin' truth --"
"I am telling the truth!" tears were running down my cheeks again. It hurt me so bad the Darry didn't believe me. I didn't want to lie to him. "Darry, when was the last time I lied to you? Huh? A year? Two? When?"
He looked down, shaking his head.
"Answer the question or get out." I said as warningly as possible.
"Just tell me when you took the damn drugs. I think I deserve to know. I'm the one who takes care of your sorry ass."
"Get out!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, gasping afterwards out of extreme pain. I was even sitting up in my bed, and I don't know how it was that I had gotten there, but it hurt even worse than the screaming part did.
"I don't have to! I'm paying the damn bill for this room, it ain't yours, its mine! Now spit out the truth, Reesa!"
"Fine, you want to hear it? I didn't do anything! I hate that shit! It smells, its sucks, it freaks you out and screws you over! It makes you so slow you cant think or tense up or shit. Shoot, maybe you need some now, to calm you down!" I knew I shouldn't have said that, but I was so mad, and it was true. He was freaking out over nothing. He had no reason to think I was lying, none at all. I had done something good, and now he was yelling at me for it? Could anyone do anything right for him?
"You shut your mouth, or you're gonna get a whoopin when we get home, ya hear! You already deserve one, don't push it! First you leave two sick siblings, then you get high, then you nearly get yourself killed...what's next, Reesa? Hell, for all I know, the last year /I been a lie. The way the last day has gone, I'm starting to think it, too."
I tried to breathe steadily, to not jump up and go at it. I would have much rather had Steve yelling at me than him, he was worse. What he thought made a difference, if he thought I was lying, then by god I was. At least he saw it that way. He's always right.
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? You don't have anything else to say, because you're lying, so you'll just sit there. You think that's gonna make me leave you be? No, no, no...it ain't. Not in a million years, it ain't. I'm gonna find out what really happened Reesa! For all I know you went over there /I get yourself killed. Or you wanted the sex back, or the guy, or the power. Hell, for all I know you were just trying to get attention, well you got it now!"
He kept going on with more crap after that, things just as bad, but I stopped listening. I instead found myself lunging out of the bed and going straight for him. I couldn't handle it any more, and if the only way to get him out was to cause myself more pain, I didn't care. I would push him out of there if it took all night.
I got to him and grabbed onto his shirt, pushing him, but making no difference. He just laughed psychotically at that point, thinking it was funny that I thought I could move him. But the action made me even more angry and with one final effort, I pushed him far and hard enough to stun him. Then I fell to the floor, crying in pain, trying not to scream any longer, trying to just contain myself so I wouldn't move anymore. At the time, I didn't know if it was worth it, because I had never felt worse in my life. Never.
I curled up on the cold floor beneath me, thankful for something to cool me off finally. Earlier I had been cold, but now I was too hot to describe, and the tile felt so good, except that it was hard. I gasped for breath, willing myself to breathe even through the horrible pain and tightness in my chest...and everywhere else. My body shook, as I struggled to regain composure and a normal state of being, but I ignored it and instead focused in on all the colors of the tile, desperately straining to block the world around me out. You'd be amazed at how many different colors are in a bland tan-brown tile, it's about a million, really. If you count shades of one color.
Suddenly a hand took hold of my shoulder, gently but firmly "Reesa?"
I didn't know who it was, I had no idea. I had heard the voice, but not a lot, it wasn't someone I knew. How did he know my name? That was a bit freaky, and I didn't like it. At first I didn't respond, not really caring that he freaked me out, or even who he was. It didn't matter, nothing did anymore. Things didn't matter if they mattered, this was the end of my life as I knew it. I was back to square one, the same place I had been just a few years earlier, so nothing mattered. In my mind, all was going wrong, why not let more shit pore down from the heavens and land right on my head? It didn't matter.
But the dude wouldn't leave me alone, "Just relax, okay? Look at me...concentrate on something for me." Why couldn't he leave me be? I wasn't going to talk to him...to any one. It only made things fall apart when I did.
He gently took hold of my chin and moved my face so it faced him. Then he shone a blinding light in right eye. I pulled away quickly and squeezed my eye shut. The light hurt my head so bad, it sent sharp pains exploding in my brain. Did he have to do that?
He shook me a bit, again trying to get my attention. I didn't want to talk!
"Reesa, lets get you back in your bed, you will be much more comfortable there." The doctor turned his head, and his torso a little, and said, "Darrel, help me get her in bed?"
Darry came over and gently brought me up by my arms, "C'mon Rees..."
I tried to get my feet under me once he had lifted me to a semi standing position, but it wasn't working very well. It felt like my legs were jello, I had absolutely no control over most of my body. I hated it so much, I wanted to do it myself, damn-it!
Then the other guy took hold of one side and pretty soon I ended up in my bed. The guy had been right, it felt good to be on something soft again. The only problem was that the pain was about ten times worse already just from moving. I felt like screaming something horrible, but I wouldn't...nope...no!
I started to rock back and forth on the bed, it didn't help much for anything, but it was slightly calming at the same time, the pain was to the point that the slight movement didn't matter much any longer.
"Reesa, you need to calm down. Just try to relax, you really need to. I know it's hard, but whatever this is, you need to let it go for right now. It can be taken care of later. Just try to calm down now."
I did try, I was trying, but between everything that was going on it wasn't happening in the least. Things just got worse by the second, and I couldn't take it. I was gonna loose it, but I didn't want to do that. That was a sure way to get the doctor freaked out, along with everyone else.
"Reesa, if you can't calm down, its okay, but you need to try. I know its hard...listen, if you can't calm down, then I'll need to give you something to help you out. It's fine if you can't, but try."
The doctor was doing a whole lot of things to me, but I had no idea what it was he was doing. At that point I didn't really care, but I did manage to nod my head at his request. I understood what he was saying, I knew I needed to calm down, but I just couldn't.
I started to hold my breath then, so I didn't loose it. It hurt even more, but in a different way. Maybe if I held it long enough I would pass out, I mean, that would be bad, but it would make it all go away.
"Okay...whoa, okay, you need to breathe, Reesa. Just breathe...c'mon, breathe, just breathe..."
By that time my chest had locked up and I couldn't breathe. It was like I didn't need to anymore. It was kinda nice though, I mean, it meant I didn't have to fight myself.
"Reesa, look at me... you need to breathe, it's alright." He shook me a little, then made eye contact with me, "Okay, I'm going to get a nurse in here to help you calm down, alright? But in the mean time you /I need to breathe for me."
Right then I lost all control of anything, suddenly gasping for breath even as I tried to fight it. But I couldn't do that anymore either. I even heard myself nearly screaming, although it took a few seconds for me to realize it was me. Then I started fighting it, trying for the life of me to hold my breath again, but even as I tried I couldn't, it turned more into a type of hyperventilation.
Then the doctor was at my side again, "Reesa, in just a minute we're going to have you taken care of, okay? Don't fight it, just relax for now...no one's gonna get mad at you."
It was a few seconds before he said anything else, but when another strange person showed up in the room, he made eye contact with me again, "Okay, I'm going to give you something that's going to put you to sleep for awhile. Don't be afraid of it, and don't fight it, just let it help you."
Well, as much as I didn't like the doctor at that point, he was really nice about everything, and I was glad that he was giving me whatever the crap it was. I knew it would help if he was giving it to me. For some reason, as much as he scared me, I trusted him.
Then I felt him give me the shot, and I felt my body relaxing slowly. It was easier to breathe, and the pain seemed to drift off quickly.
"That should help you out, Reesa. Don't fight it, just let it work for you." I heard the doctors voice far off.
Slowly I drifted off, not even realizing what was going on.
Now on to .... Reviews:
Oblivious misconception: Wow....thanks! We enjoyed the convo between Soda and Darry also. It shows that Soda and Darry do have a mutual relationship if you know what I mean. And I am soooo happy you liked the little scene between Reesa and Steve. OI was really nervous about that one, because most people leave Steve as a jerk, but he has to be more, and we wanted so badly to add another dimension to him, so we did. Thank you for reading on and always reviewing, we really appreciate it! Have a great day and enjoy!
Tens: Since we mostly answered your review as soon as we got it, here is a choppy little note to you. LOL. Hope you don't mind. Don't forget Pony in this, and yes Darry is beyond sleep deprived, Soda is just that way because he can't help it, Steve can be a jerk most of the time, but in here he is just Steve pure and true. Dally and Two-Bit are coming up soon so don't worry. I hope you like the next chapter.
Okay, that's it. Enjoy!
Chapter 22
(Pony's POV)
"Ponyboy!"
Ahh, hell no. Someone was /I waking me up yet. "Ponyboy! Wake up!" I could always be wrong. Didn't he have any respect for the sleep deprived? Shoot, I never barged into his house and scream his name at the top of my lungs. At that point they'd call the people with the straight jackets and get me secured. They'd have to, because if they didn't, I would. Although, those straight jackets don't look fun in the least bit. I hear they get tighter the more you squirm. Those poor idiots who wind up in them. How do they keep from suffocating? What am I thinking? Who cares? Maybe it was all part of my dream. For the last hour and a half I had been in and out of it with messed up dreams swimming around the surface of my brain.
"Pony! You deaf or what?" Two-Bit barged into my room and pulled the covers off of me. What the hell? I shivered. "What you still doin' asleep?"
"I've only slept for..." I looked at my clock, "...like eight hours or something. What's the big idea anyway?" I reached for my blankets but he threw them across the room. "Two-Bit! Give them to me!"
"Get up and get them yourself. You could use the exercise." He strolled over to the mirror and checked out his reflection. His hair wasn't greased yet and it was falling over his ears. He ran his hand through the side and held it back. He looked funny without it done. That's most likely because I've never seen him like that before. At least not that often.
"I could use the exercise?" I sat up. "I run track everyday. I don't need anymore exercise. /I, however, can't run to the corner without getting short winded." I rolled my eyes and swung my legs over the end of the bed and went after the blankets. No respect, I swear!
"Yeah, well I smoke," he said while picking up a jar of grease and helping himself to it. Way to justify himself. "Otherwise I'd be good enough."
"And I don't?" Had he been drinking again? When would he find the time to do that? He should be resting like the rest of us normal people. "Two-Bit, what are you doing here anyway?"
"Darry asked me to baby-sit you."
"No, he didn't."
"Wanna bet?"
"He wouldn't do that. I've never had a baby-sitter, stupid. This is Darry we're talking about." I wrapped the blankets around me again and flopped back down on the bed. "Now, what do you want?"
"Nothing. I'm just here to keep an eye on you."
"Whatever."
He couldn't be serious. That's ridiculous... But what if he was? Could Darry be that worried? I guess I couldn't blame him if he was. After my spectacular performance the other day and with all of this added on, I suppose I could see how he wasn't up to trusting anyone on their own. Now, I just feel so confident. Thanks Darry. "How long have you been here?" I rubbed at my eyes to clear up my vision. Otherwise, Two-Bit had two heads.
"I dunno, like maybe an hour. Maybe less." He shrugged and set the jar back on the dresser. "You sleep like a rock, man."
"No, I don't."
"Hahaha. Yeah, you do. I tired to get you up earlier, but you kept cussing at me. You weren't even awake. I've been bored with no one up. Why do you think I'm in here?" He had a point there. Even if Skye was up and running, he still probably would prefer my company, sad to say.
"Well, I was up all night. I have a right to be tired." And so should he! Where does he get away with not sleeping? Why can't I do that? I'd love to be able to stay up as late as I need to, studying for a test, and not be affected by it in the following days.
"Not anymore; though, are you?" he said and turned smiling. Yeah, he was right. I wasn't really all that tired anymore. I had been trying to sleep when I didn't need to and it was throwing me off. And I sort of do remember him in here earlier, although it was all very distorted. "That's what I thought." He turned back to the mirror and combed through his hair once more. "There we go." He shoved the comb back in his pocket and came over to the bed. "Come on. Get outta there. We're watching TV."
"Where's Soda?" Don't ask what that had to do with anything. The thought just dawned on me. He wasn't here. I mean, if Two-Bit was here, that meant Soda wasn't, right? At least, he wouldn't be here to /I us.
"I don't know. Probably out with Steve or something. Who knows. Darry never said." He began to walk out of the room. "Hurry up! I'm hungry."
"So? Get something to eat." What did that have anything to do with me? If he thought I was going to make him a snack...
"Ahh, but that wouldn't be polite. This is your house. I wouldn't feel right going through your kitchen," his voice wandered from somewhere in the hall. He wasn't going to the kitchen was he?
"Since when has that stopped you before?"
"Never. But, now I think it's something we should start up. I'll give you the honor of making me something to eat. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like I won't be doing it."
"Eh, now what kinda attitude is that?"
The couch whined as he sat down. A second later the TV got fuzzy as he began to flip though the channels.
What was he on about? Where was he coming up with this stuff? I sighed. Something told me this was going to be a long day. Which to a degree was odd, because usually with Two-Bit you ain't ever bored. Perhaps things can change.
`~`~``~`~`
(Mason's POV -- A Police Officer)
We were on our way to the hospital to once again interrogate a scared and traumatized girl. I wasn't looking forward to it. Even after working as a detective for so long, I didn't understand why we couldn't give the families just a little time to deal with things. The concept behind that was that the victims/witnesses wouldn't forget the little details - but my feelings and experience told me that time had little to do with how many details a victim would remember. Either they didn't remember or it was something that they would never forget.
The day before we had questioned the other girl involved in the case, but the one we were going to see now had not been able to speak with us. We both knew that that had something to do with her physical condition, and personally, I didn't know it would be better at this point.
All the same, I found myself driving to go see her and question her at the Police Chief's request. I tried to ask him to wait until the next morning at lest, but he had a very different opinion on the matter than I. He didn't look at the family, he looked at solving the case and getting the guys off the streets. Now I agreed with that last part, but could it not wait a day or two? Yet, despite this opinion of mine, I never neglected to cut to the chase when questioning, and I wouldn't that night either. Being soft about it wouldn't make things any better, and it wasted everyone's time.
We arrived at the hospital and went into the front desk, "We are here to speak to a patient. Can you tell us what room to go to?" I explained to the nurse behind the counter.
"Who do you need?" She asked politely. I loved having a badge, it made people so politely listen to you and help you out.
I pulled out my little notebook and opened it up, "A...Reesa Curtis."
The nurse searched through some charts and finally pulled one out, "It says here that she is still listed in critical, you will need to talk to the doctor to see if you can see her."
"Can we please speak to her doctor then?" I pressed politely. The chief would be pissed if we went back to the station with no evidence, with nothing to show for our trip and gas money, although it wasn't my hope that even if we did get to talk to the girl she would be able to tell us anything new. She would inevitably be pumped up with plenty of medications and therefore be thoroughly confused. That was the other reason that I wanted to wait. Basically, the way I saw it, this was a waste of our time all the way around, we could be doing better things than asking a drugged up girl what happened to her on the worst night of her life.
A doctor came up to us pretty soon, "Can I help you, officers? I was told you wanted to have a word with me."
"Yes, that's correct. We came here to speak with a patient of yours but were told that she isnt doing well. The name is Reesa Curtis, can you tell us more about her condition?"
The doctor continued on to tell us his speculations on what had happened according to what he had seen and heard through out his administration of treatment to that patient. When he was finished, I asked him if there was anyway that we could see the girl that night. From what we had just heard from him, this was a more urgent case than anyone had originally thought, this was complicated and brutal, possibly even premeditated.
He basically told us he had to go check up on her and would decide after he saw how things were going currently. He came back just a few minutes later, saying she was stable enough and she wanted to talk to us so we would be allowed to see her that night. But, of course, following usual procedure, he had to first lay down the normal ground rules for us to follow during questioning; if this, then that type stuff.
Eventually, we proceeded into her room. The girl was seemingly asleep on the bed that had the head of it propped up. She looked pretty bad off, white as a sheet, tired, feverish, and... her arms were darkened in multi- colored dark reddish-brownish-black bruises. That was a sight to behold, she really had been through hell the night before, that much was clear right off. Still, I couldn't believe I was about to do this, no matter how important. It just didn't seem right to question what had happened and bring all the shit back to the surface.
Next to her bedside, sat a man. He was in his early twenties, strong, big and...yet oddly gentle. He seemed like the type of guy to be feared at first, but at least right then he seemed so gentle and worried...but yet hard at the same time. I wondered who he was, but decided not to ask, that wasn't to important. I mean, he had to be family or he wouldn't be there, and if he was sitting next to her, he had to know a little of what had happened. It was confusing to me though, he wasn't old enough to be her father, but she couldn't be and wasn't married. Maybe a brother? But what would a brother be doing there?
I had stopped just inside the door to take in the situation, but now I took another few steps forward. The girl slowly opened her eyes, and directed her attention to us. With her eyes opened, she looked even worse, they were so feverish that it added another dimension to her condition.
"Reesa Curtis?"
"Uh-huh." She slightly nodded her head, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, okay, to be fair it was, but it was also my job to ask.
She seemed to be pretty annoyed with the whole situation, almost as much as me. Well, I couldn't blame her, she was probably more fed up than I, and I couldn't say that I wouldn't be if I were in her shoes.
"Okay. Um...can you tell me what happened?"
"Yeah, but since you already know, can we move on?" She asked, seemingly bored. The guy sitting next to her sent her a quick, sharp look, like he were trying to discipline her. For some odd reason, I didn't think that would make much of a difference, but if it made him happy.
"Uh...look, I know you don't want to go over this, but I don't really know the whole story. We were hoping that you could provide a little more insight into what happened than your sister. So...will you humor me?"
"Oh...right. I forgot that Skye couldn't give a straight answer to anything to save her frickin life --"
"Rees!...um..." the guy cut in, giving Reesa another look.
"Darry, just shut up...sorry, but its true and you know it." The girl snapped back at him. She was a little more animated that time, weird.
He didn't protest to that, so I waited further.
"Okay...um...so yeah...Clay basically beat the shit outta me and then raped me after he knocked me out. Anything else you wanna know?"
"Clay Johnson?"
"Yup." She wasn't even shaken by the name, surprising if you ask me.
"Who else was involved?"
"Miles Johnson, his brother, Brighton Walters, Bruce Thorton, Lars Tranato, and Rus Gremmil."
"Good to know." I scribbled the names down in a legible manner and turned back to the girl, "Did all of these guys try to rape you?"
"They all /I rape me."
"Okay. Your sure?"
"Um...yeah."
"Can you tell me approximately what time you arrived there?"
"Midnight or so..."
"And what time did you leave there?"
The girl looked over hestitantly to the man sitting next to her, "Dar? What time did I get home?" She looked almost nervous to be asking the question, like the guy would get mad or something.
"I don't know...Soda...Soda brought you in at around three thirty or so..."
She looked back over to me, a confused expression on her face, "Well, I would say I left at about...two-thirty or three..."
"Were they already gone when you left?"
"Yeah."
"How did you get there?"
"I drove."
"You went /I?"
"Well, I guess you could say that. Although if I had felt I had a choice I wouldn't have gone."
"Then why did you go over there?"
"I had my reasons." She must have seen the look on my face or read my mind or something because her next comment followed quickly after, "No...it wasn't to get knocked or high."
"Then why?" I pressed. She was going to tell me.
"Because I knew Skye was over there, so I went to go get her."
"Alright. Is there anything else that you need to tell us?"
I didn't really believe her, but I figured that was as much as I needed at the time and I wasn't getting anything else out of her, I could tell that much.
"No..."
"Can you possibly tell me where we can locate these guys? Will they be hiding out?"
"Well, they wont be hiding out per say...they are always hiding out. The best places to find them are 1. In the shit hole of an alleyway behind the Johnson's place... 2. Lars's place...his is the hang out, the party place, the everything at night place...its on the soc side... and 3. The dug out behind the Dingo...its in the field, in the little clump of trees...probably your best bet. They like to go and get drugged up there, its pretty popular during school hours."
"Were they doing drugs last night?"
"When are they not? They were all pretty drunk, well...more like soused, they werent drunk to the point of loosing control."
"Your blood tests showed some amounts of other drugs, when did you take those? Earlier that night?"
"What?" She looked completely confused at that point, lost as to what I was saying. It could be an act, and I expected it was because the guy was still in there. She couldn't change that quickly from put together to confused.
The guy sitting next to her started fidgeting, his eyes having already nearly popped out of his head. He seemed just as surprised, like the doctor hadnt told him?
"You had drugs in your system when you came in here, when did you take them?" I was a little more stern this time to show that I wasn't going to buy that.
"What drugs? I didn't do any." She turned to the man, "Darry, I swear! You can ask Dal, he was with me. You know I don't do that...Dar!"
I guessed she was trying to get him to say something, but I didn't understand why. I thought she would want to avoid that for a while...this girl was weird. She was starting to panic and freak a little now, shaking silently in her bed.
I had to keep this going, stupid teens.
"You had various drugs in your system. Don't try and hide it, I already know. It'll be better if you just tell me when you took them."
She slowly looked up from her hands, almost glaring at me, but refraining as much as possible.
"It musta been when I went over there. The place was suffocating with all the smoke...it smelled like weed, but I couldn't leave then."
"Your telling me that you got high off of fumes?" I said skeptically.
"Um...yup. That place was bad. For all I know they could have a lab hidden somewhere in there. They are good at hiding things. Not to say that they do because I don't have anything to support that..."
"Well, I guess we'll find out. Thank you for talking to us. We'll be around, I'm sure." Then I turned and walked out abruptly. I was done with that shit for the night. Thank goodness. That had been worse then I thought it would be, she was a bratty one. I hate little girls like that.
`~``~``~``~`
(Reesa's POV)
I knew I was in for it as soon as that police officer left. There was no way around it, although I wished futilely that Darry could wait until later to go over this. I was so tired and weak...putting on a facade like that took more energy than I had ever thought before. That police officer wasn't in the best of moods though, I could tell. He wanted out of there as much as I wanted to get up and slap the doctor for having me on so many damn medications. I would rather live with the pain.
The room fell silent for a while...great...this might be as fun as Steve was. Then again, it might be even better. Yeah! So I waited for the wrath to come, waited doing nothing to stop it, waited in full view.
"Reesa, you were high?" he was already having a hard time keeping his voice down, I just couldn't wait for the stop lying to me crap to start. Then it would all go to pot. Wonderful.
"No..."
"Reesa! Stop lying to me, he just said you were!"
"Well, I don't remember it, Darry!" I snapped unexpectedly and in a /I snotty tone. I thought I would be more able to just blow him off, but I wasn't in all control of my emotions, I was too worn out to care anymore.
"How can you not remember it?!? You had to /I the drugs to get high in the first place! And don't tell me that they /I you because you /I came home stoned.../I!" he yelled. He was starting to freak me out. I mean I knew his reaction would be bad as soon as the frickin fuzz man had to move his ugly lips to form the words of that sentence, but he was getting too worked up too fast. It wasn't Darry, and that scared me, because I didn't know what to expect.
"Darry, please just trust me. There isnt --"
"/I you? Trust you after last night? After you just up and left and then told me you would be home by /I, and then walked into the worst situation of you entire life? /I you?"
Did he have to say that so many times, was I Deaf? No. Okay then...
"Yes, Darry. You know I had my reasons...and I didn't take anything!"
"Yeah...right." He sighed. What the hell did that mean?
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you think that I would just lie to you? That I'm in the position to lie?"
"You're in the perfect position to lie, no one can get mad at you...you're a poor hurt girl who doesn't give a shit about anyone else."
Where the hell did he get that one? God, I was sitting there /I I cared about someone else.
I was out of energy to respond, at least to that. At that point, he could think all he wanted.
"Oh...God, Reesa. I cant believe you...you are such a selfish little brat. If you would just tell me the frickin' truth --"
"I am telling the truth!" tears were running down my cheeks again. It hurt me so bad the Darry didn't believe me. I didn't want to lie to him. "Darry, when was the last time I lied to you? Huh? A year? Two? When?"
He looked down, shaking his head.
"Answer the question or get out." I said as warningly as possible.
"Just tell me when you took the damn drugs. I think I deserve to know. I'm the one who takes care of your sorry ass."
"Get out!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, gasping afterwards out of extreme pain. I was even sitting up in my bed, and I don't know how it was that I had gotten there, but it hurt even worse than the screaming part did.
"I don't have to! I'm paying the damn bill for this room, it ain't yours, its mine! Now spit out the truth, Reesa!"
"Fine, you want to hear it? I didn't do anything! I hate that shit! It smells, its sucks, it freaks you out and screws you over! It makes you so slow you cant think or tense up or shit. Shoot, maybe you need some now, to calm you down!" I knew I shouldn't have said that, but I was so mad, and it was true. He was freaking out over nothing. He had no reason to think I was lying, none at all. I had done something good, and now he was yelling at me for it? Could anyone do anything right for him?
"You shut your mouth, or you're gonna get a whoopin when we get home, ya hear! You already deserve one, don't push it! First you leave two sick siblings, then you get high, then you nearly get yourself killed...what's next, Reesa? Hell, for all I know, the last year /I been a lie. The way the last day has gone, I'm starting to think it, too."
I tried to breathe steadily, to not jump up and go at it. I would have much rather had Steve yelling at me than him, he was worse. What he thought made a difference, if he thought I was lying, then by god I was. At least he saw it that way. He's always right.
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? You don't have anything else to say, because you're lying, so you'll just sit there. You think that's gonna make me leave you be? No, no, no...it ain't. Not in a million years, it ain't. I'm gonna find out what really happened Reesa! For all I know you went over there /I get yourself killed. Or you wanted the sex back, or the guy, or the power. Hell, for all I know you were just trying to get attention, well you got it now!"
He kept going on with more crap after that, things just as bad, but I stopped listening. I instead found myself lunging out of the bed and going straight for him. I couldn't handle it any more, and if the only way to get him out was to cause myself more pain, I didn't care. I would push him out of there if it took all night.
I got to him and grabbed onto his shirt, pushing him, but making no difference. He just laughed psychotically at that point, thinking it was funny that I thought I could move him. But the action made me even more angry and with one final effort, I pushed him far and hard enough to stun him. Then I fell to the floor, crying in pain, trying not to scream any longer, trying to just contain myself so I wouldn't move anymore. At the time, I didn't know if it was worth it, because I had never felt worse in my life. Never.
I curled up on the cold floor beneath me, thankful for something to cool me off finally. Earlier I had been cold, but now I was too hot to describe, and the tile felt so good, except that it was hard. I gasped for breath, willing myself to breathe even through the horrible pain and tightness in my chest...and everywhere else. My body shook, as I struggled to regain composure and a normal state of being, but I ignored it and instead focused in on all the colors of the tile, desperately straining to block the world around me out. You'd be amazed at how many different colors are in a bland tan-brown tile, it's about a million, really. If you count shades of one color.
Suddenly a hand took hold of my shoulder, gently but firmly "Reesa?"
I didn't know who it was, I had no idea. I had heard the voice, but not a lot, it wasn't someone I knew. How did he know my name? That was a bit freaky, and I didn't like it. At first I didn't respond, not really caring that he freaked me out, or even who he was. It didn't matter, nothing did anymore. Things didn't matter if they mattered, this was the end of my life as I knew it. I was back to square one, the same place I had been just a few years earlier, so nothing mattered. In my mind, all was going wrong, why not let more shit pore down from the heavens and land right on my head? It didn't matter.
But the dude wouldn't leave me alone, "Just relax, okay? Look at me...concentrate on something for me." Why couldn't he leave me be? I wasn't going to talk to him...to any one. It only made things fall apart when I did.
He gently took hold of my chin and moved my face so it faced him. Then he shone a blinding light in right eye. I pulled away quickly and squeezed my eye shut. The light hurt my head so bad, it sent sharp pains exploding in my brain. Did he have to do that?
He shook me a bit, again trying to get my attention. I didn't want to talk!
"Reesa, lets get you back in your bed, you will be much more comfortable there." The doctor turned his head, and his torso a little, and said, "Darrel, help me get her in bed?"
Darry came over and gently brought me up by my arms, "C'mon Rees..."
I tried to get my feet under me once he had lifted me to a semi standing position, but it wasn't working very well. It felt like my legs were jello, I had absolutely no control over most of my body. I hated it so much, I wanted to do it myself, damn-it!
Then the other guy took hold of one side and pretty soon I ended up in my bed. The guy had been right, it felt good to be on something soft again. The only problem was that the pain was about ten times worse already just from moving. I felt like screaming something horrible, but I wouldn't...nope...no!
I started to rock back and forth on the bed, it didn't help much for anything, but it was slightly calming at the same time, the pain was to the point that the slight movement didn't matter much any longer.
"Reesa, you need to calm down. Just try to relax, you really need to. I know it's hard, but whatever this is, you need to let it go for right now. It can be taken care of later. Just try to calm down now."
I did try, I was trying, but between everything that was going on it wasn't happening in the least. Things just got worse by the second, and I couldn't take it. I was gonna loose it, but I didn't want to do that. That was a sure way to get the doctor freaked out, along with everyone else.
"Reesa, if you can't calm down, its okay, but you need to try. I know its hard...listen, if you can't calm down, then I'll need to give you something to help you out. It's fine if you can't, but try."
The doctor was doing a whole lot of things to me, but I had no idea what it was he was doing. At that point I didn't really care, but I did manage to nod my head at his request. I understood what he was saying, I knew I needed to calm down, but I just couldn't.
I started to hold my breath then, so I didn't loose it. It hurt even more, but in a different way. Maybe if I held it long enough I would pass out, I mean, that would be bad, but it would make it all go away.
"Okay...whoa, okay, you need to breathe, Reesa. Just breathe...c'mon, breathe, just breathe..."
By that time my chest had locked up and I couldn't breathe. It was like I didn't need to anymore. It was kinda nice though, I mean, it meant I didn't have to fight myself.
"Reesa, look at me... you need to breathe, it's alright." He shook me a little, then made eye contact with me, "Okay, I'm going to get a nurse in here to help you calm down, alright? But in the mean time you /I need to breathe for me."
Right then I lost all control of anything, suddenly gasping for breath even as I tried to fight it. But I couldn't do that anymore either. I even heard myself nearly screaming, although it took a few seconds for me to realize it was me. Then I started fighting it, trying for the life of me to hold my breath again, but even as I tried I couldn't, it turned more into a type of hyperventilation.
Then the doctor was at my side again, "Reesa, in just a minute we're going to have you taken care of, okay? Don't fight it, just relax for now...no one's gonna get mad at you."
It was a few seconds before he said anything else, but when another strange person showed up in the room, he made eye contact with me again, "Okay, I'm going to give you something that's going to put you to sleep for awhile. Don't be afraid of it, and don't fight it, just let it help you."
Well, as much as I didn't like the doctor at that point, he was really nice about everything, and I was glad that he was giving me whatever the crap it was. I knew it would help if he was giving it to me. For some reason, as much as he scared me, I trusted him.
Then I felt him give me the shot, and I felt my body relaxing slowly. It was easier to breathe, and the pain seemed to drift off quickly.
"That should help you out, Reesa. Don't fight it, just let it work for you." I heard the doctors voice far off.
Slowly I drifted off, not even realizing what was going on.