As I walked out of school the next day the first thing I saw was Shepard, standing leaning against his car just a few feet away. When he saw me coming out the door he walked up to me. He looked ten times worse then any of our gang had from the fight. His lip was split and as he smirked at me I could see him wince in pain because of it, his face was all shades of yellow, purple, black and blue, his left eye was swollen, but not so much that he couldn't open it. He had a small cut in his left eyebrow as well, but even with his face all mangled he still looked cool, slouching before me, his hands in his jeans pockets.
"You got a minute Curtis?" he asked motioning me to his car. I followed him and got in the passenger seat. He got in and sat quiet for a while looking out the window. I watched his face closer, feeling suddenly dizzy and nauseous. That must really hurt, I thought shuddering. Shepard turned to me smiling slightly.
"It ain't that bad" he said putting his hands on the wheel. I was silent as I watched his hands; they were still swollen, even more so then yesterday. He was looking out the window again concentrating on something in the distance.
"Look Nora…" he said sighing. I flinched when I heard him saying my name, I had no idea he even knew it. As I looked at him I could tell he didn't know how to say what he wanted to say, his hands griped the wheel so hard that blood started to trickle from his busted knuckles. He didn't notice and continued;
"That guy, Casey…" he paused still looking out the window, his eyes unreadable "…a year ago…" he cleared his throat and fixed his eyes on mine "…he was in my gang…" I heard myself gasp for air, how could I not have known that? A small part of my brain asked me if it really mattered, but the rest screamed at me that Shepard should have known what he was, he should have beaten him up then. Still, I thought I couldn't blame him for something a guy in his gang did when he wasn't there.
"…he went after Angie to get back at me for kicking him out" I heard Shepard shift in his seat and looked up to see him stroking his chin with his right hand, wincing slightly as he touched the bruises. He looked over at me his eyes dark.
"He wont come back" he said his voice hard "the fuzz got him, plus he won't be walking for at least six months"
I smiled at that, I was glad he had hurt him that badly and suddenly I felt bad for ever thinking that he was to blame just because Casey had been in his gang.
"Angela ok?" I asked feeling embarrassed as looked out the window, following the motions of those who walked by.
Shepard snorted "Yeah, she's fine, she knows how to handle her self" he chuckled lightly adding "Probably had it coming" in a low voice. I couldn't help but laugh at that, he was a pretty special guy, to go through so much trouble to kick a guy's ass for hitting his sister when he really knew that she probably deserved it. But that was just the way it was, no matter how wrong your family were they still came first. I looked over at Shepard who was wiping his bloody knuckles off on his jeans while laughing softly and I suddenly felt a warmth in my chest. He was a nice guy even if he was a hood and even if he enjoyed being one.
"Thanks Tim" I said touching his arm gently. He looked at me a glimpse of surprise in his dark blue eyes, his gaze fell on my hand resting on his arm and I removed it instantly not even knowing why I had put it there in the first place. Looking out the window again I felt myself blushing slightly.
"You and your brothers going to the race tonight?" Shepard asked putting a cigarette between his lips, lighting it.
"Don't know yet" I answered opening the car door and getting out as I saw Angela walk out of the school.
"See you later Nora" I heard Shepard saying as I walked around the car to the drivers side, he was sitting with his arm hanging out the window, rising his hand to greet his sister who was walking towards us.
"Bye" I said walking off, giving Angela a nod when I passed her. She didn't look too bad, her right eye was a bit swollen and purple but it wasn't that bad, at least I didn't think so after seeing Tim's face.
I walked over to Two bits car waiting for him and Pony to come. I felt kind of cold so I picked the lock open and jumped in the back seat. I was glad Dally had showed me how to pick locks that time some years ago; I had been with him when he stole a car to drive around town at night, he did it just because we were bored out of our minds. Dally knew all sorts of things that came in handy once in a while, although picking locks was the only illegal thing he showed me that I sometimes practiced.
"Hey Nora, what are you thinking about?" Two bit asked as he looked at me in the rear view mirror. He wasn't even surprised at finding me already in the car, guess it had became somewhat of a tradition for me to pick the lock. Pony was sitting in the passenger seat his head turned towards me.
"Dally" I said looking out the window at the school, feeling cold and tired. They both nodded their heads silently as we drove off.
We rarely ever talked about Dally and Johnny in the gang anymore since they died; sometimes one of us had happened to mention something to do with them and everybody immediately fell silent or changed the subject. Nobody seemed to want to remember, even though I knew nobody had forgotten either. It was just something that needed to be healed individually.
We drove all the way home in silence, Pony looking out the window lost in thoughts and Two bit concentrating on the driving. I could see how hard it was for him to be quiet, I could see that he wanted to tell a joke to make us laugh, but he knew it wouldn't have worked so he stayed silent.
As soon as I got in the house I went to my room and flung myself on the bed drifting of to sleep. I didn't wake up until I heard Darry, Soda and Steve come home, with them in the house it was impossible to sleep. Soda and Steve were harassing Pony, I heard their steps as they chased him around the living room, Darry yelling at them to leave him alone. Two bit soon joined in the chase however and Darry had no chance in hell to stop them. I sighed knowing that I wouldn't get any more sleep and walked out into the living room. They were all laying in a heap on the floor wrestling. Darry was standing to the side shaking his head slowly as he snickered.
"That's enough" he said dragging Steve up by the collar of his shirt. Then he left for the kitchen. They all stood up, flustered, laughing like maniacs.
"Nora, where have you been hiding?" Steve asked when he saw me. He walked up to me grinning, throwing his arm around me. I grunted and wiggled myself away from his grip.
"Ah, sleeping beauty has just awoken" He said smiling wickedly. Pony and Soda chuckled as they sat down on the couch.
"You're the worst morning person ever, and it ain't even morning!" Two bit said trying in vain to control his laughter as it bubbled from his mouth. I grunted again and rubbed my eyes trying to wake up.
"Any of you guys wanna go to the race tonight?" Soda asked looking at us his eyes beaming. He loved drag racing; he loved anything that was a competition. But I knew it wasn't just that, it was the speed and the excitement too.
Pony said he had too much homework and Darry didn't want to come.
"Sure" Steve said fingering at a purple bruise on his cheek.
"Yeah, there will be booze, right?" Two bit said cocking an eyebrow, laughing.
"Yeah, I'll come too" I said thinking that Shepard would be there; I didn't really know what to think of him, or about me when I was around him. I suddenly remembered that warm feeling I had had when I watched him laugh and for just a second I got this weird felling of realization. Only thing was I couldn't grasp what it was that I realized, I thought about it for some time but when I still didn't get it, I just shrugged it off.
This was a hard one to write, hope you enjoy it! Please read and review!
