Quite important A/N: Okay, so that plan didn't exactly work out. Sorry, everybody. I have volleyball all this week, and school starts for me on the 29th. And that sucks. Anyway, I'm going to have volleyball for two months straight after school, so there might not be very many updates until the end of the season in October. But I'll try; I really will. I love you all, and I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint.
Chapter dedication: Nina a.k.a. Oprah. From the ever-loving Star Jones. And Ramona. :Dies: "We're gonna have a good show today!"
"No fucking way, Angela. Put the damn cat away so we can go."
"No. I'm taking her with us. She'll die without me!" Angela clung to the kitten.
Tim shook his head. "Not if Ma feeds her."
Angela snorted loudly. "Like she will. She's too wrapped up in her new boyfriend." It was just like their mother. Three days after the divorce, she had a new boyfriend.
There was a loud honking noise, and both Tim and Angela jumped and saw Alicia sitting in the driver's seat, her right palm pressed firmly on the horn of Tim's car. "Hurry the hell up, or me and Curly'll go alone," she shouted. Tim knew she could drive, and now he deeply regretted teaching her.
He ran his hand through his hair. "Angie, leave the cat. The guy said no pets."
Angela scratched the cat behind the ears. "She ain't a pet. She's family."
"Nice time to start following the rules, Tim," Alicia commented from the car.
Tim sucked in his breath and counted to ten. He was not going to get all bent out of shape over Angela and her stupid cat. "Angela, please leave the cat?"
"Nope. And if I can't take her, then I ain't movin' in with you."
Her brother shrugged. "Fine by me."
"What?" Alicia was out of the car and storming over. "No. Angel, you're being an idiot. Tim, you're being a jackass. If Angela stays, we're all stayin'. It's all or nothin'."
Curly climbed out of the car and stumbled over. He was tired, considering it was nine o'clock on a Sunday morning and he wasn't used to getting up before noon. "Can we go?" he asked, impatiently.
"Curly, shut up," Alicia barked. "We're having a problem."
Her older brother rolled his eyes. "No, we aren't. If Angel ain't willin' to give up her cat, then me an' Tim'll go alone." He looked at Tim, as if for approval.
Tim shook his head. "No, we won't. I agree with Alicia. Never thought I'd say that," he added under his breath. "But it's all or none. As much as we all hate to admit, we're family. And we've gotta stick together. We're on our own now."
Much to everyone's surprise, Tim let Angela keep the cat. She sat with Alicia in the backseat, with Shadow in her lap, while Alicia was talking. "So, Tim, are we like your kids now?"
His lips turned up a little at the corners, and Alicia could tell he was thinking about what they all would be like if they were his offspring. God, that was a scary thought. "No."
"So, you didn't adopt us or nothin'? We're livin' with you illegally?"
"Yep." He kept his eyes on the road.
Alicia looked mildly surprised. "Really?" When he nodded, she continued. "So, we're not your responsibility?"
Then he turned around in his seat and looked Alicia right in the eye. Angela gave a small scream, and Curly leaned over his seat and grabbed onto the steering wheel as the car swerved, narrowly missing driving off the road. "Yeah, you are my responsibility. So don't fuck it up, all right?" Then he turned around and gripped the steering wheel.
"What'll happen if someone finds out? Like the fuzz or somethin'?" Angela asked.
"Y'all have to either move back with mom or get sent to a girls home," Tim muttered, flatly.
Alicia said, "Don't let them find out."
"This is it?" Angela asked, her voice disbelieving. Shadow leapt out of her arms and dashed off.
Tim shoved the key into his pocket and surveyed the front room. "Yep, this is it," he said.
Alicia, detecting a hint of pride in his voice, ventured timidly, "I think it's nice. I mean, we're on our own now, aren't we? And this is the best we're gonna get, isn't it?" She said it in a way that wasn't a question, it was more a statement, but she still sounded a little afraid.
"I like it," Curly said. Normally, Curly wasn't a people-pleaser. He said what he wanted and did what he wanted, but when it came to Tim, he would say exactly what his brother wanted to hear.
They didn't have much to move in because they'd sold most of their belongings, or left them at home. Their mother made them promise that they would come and visit at least twice a month. The apartment was small: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a main room and a kitchen. Tim, of course, got the master bedroom, Alicia and Angela had to share again, and Curly got the smallest room.
It took all of Saturday and most of Sunday to move in. When they finished, Tim fell down on the couch, and laid down the law. They couldn't smoke weed in the apartment, or they'd get evicted. They couldn't drink alcohol in the apartment, or they'd get evicted. They couldn't have loud, raging parties in the apartment, or they'd evicted. (He looked right at Curly when he said this.) They couldn't light fires and douse them with flammable liquids, or they'd get evicted. (Now he looked at Alicia.) They couldn't play extremely loud music or have loud, crazy sex, or they'd get evicted. (His steely eyes landed on Angela.)
"So, basically, everything fun's banned?" Curly said, looking miffed.
"Yeah," Tim said. "But, if you want to leave…" he trailed off, smirking slightly.
"No, no, no, no," Curly blurted. The last thing any of them wanted was to go live with their mother and her new boyfriend.
"Figured. Now, the bills." From his pocket, Tim withdrew a piece of paper and a pen. "We're all going to pay for something. Food, water bill, electricity, all that. Somehow, y'all've gotta get money. I don't care how. Steal it, get a job, rob some kid, whatever. I don't care."
Curly looked up and said, with a wry grin, "Can we whore ourselves?"
Tim shot him a dirty look. "What do you think? That's the one thing I'm not lettin' any of you do."
"I'll pay for food," Alicia said, trying to be helpful.
Surprisingly, Tim almost smiled. "Good. Angie, what do you want to do?"
Angela thought for a moment. "Water bill."
Curly would pay for electricity, and Tim would take care of everything else. After deciding who would pay for what, he left to meet with his gang, leaving his sisters and brother to decide how to get money.
"Okay, Curly, you take the two biggest ones, I'll take the blonde and the redhead, and Angel, you be the distraction. It'll be fun."
"Why am I the distraction?"
"Cause you're pretty. They'll look at you, giving me and Curly time to beat 'em up."
"Like they're gonna look at me. They think I'm trash compared to them."
"So? You're better lookin' than me or Curly. Trust me, Angel. They'll look at you."
Angela sighed, and stood. She didn't mind showing off how good-looking she was, but when she was used as bait, it got old. But they needed money, and jumping rich kids was the easiest way to get it. Sashaying up to the group of Socs, she swung her hips in an exaggerated manner and flicked back her hair. They stopped and looked at her. As they catcalled at her, Angela noticed Alicia and Curly creeping up behind the Socs, with a baseball bat in hand. Alicia caught Angela's eye and grinned.
Luckily, there was no one else around. Alicia swung the baseball bat and cracked as hard as she could on the redhead's skull. The trick was not to be seen. Then she swung it on the other one's head, rendering both unconscious. Smirking slightly, she felt around in the first one's pockets for a wallet. Pulling it out, she grinned. "Five bucks!" she exclaimed. The blonde kid had ten bucks, and she shoved both into her pocket.
The ones Curly hit had twenty all together, and they quickly ran off. Alicia swung her baseball bat around as they walked down the street. She felt sort of exhilarated, because she'd never carried so much money in her pocket at one time. Normally when she and Curly jumped kids, they did it for the fun of it. Not to steal. This was both exciting and terrifying.
"So is this what we're gonna be doing for the rest of our lives?"
Curly grinned. "Yep. Or until we get jobs."
"Which is never gonna happen," Angela said. "You'd never get a job, and Alicia would get fired within five minutes with all the shit she does."
"You do a bunch of shit, and you don't get fired," Alicia said, pointedly. "What makes ya think I would?"
Angela smirked. "Because I'm prettier than you," she said.
Curly laughed. "No, because people like you. Because you put out."
"I do not put out!" Angela cried, indignantly. "I'm just flirty and get tips." She tossed her hair. "Besides, it's not like you have a job, Curly. You'd get fired like that." She snapped her fingers to show her point and the conversation ended.
Surprisingly, it was more relaxing living with Tim than it was with their mother. He was out most of the time, always leaving some chore to do. Alicia, Angela and Curly lived life in a sort of routine way now, only it was more fun. Every day, they would wake up, go to school, come home, drop their stuff off, jump some more kids to get money and then do whatever they pleased. On the weekends, they hung around with friends.
Of course, no one knew that they lived with Tim, except their mother and their friends. They didn't let the school know, and they never planned on letting them. It felt thrilling and dangerous, as Alicia put it. "Like being convicts on the run or somethin'."
The combined smell of coffee, bacon, eggs, toast and something chocolate wafted into Tim's nostrils and made him almost gag. Who the fuck ate chocolate for breakfast? He sure as hell didn't; chocolate made him sick. Without opening his eyes, he wondered why he was smelling food. Cooked food. The most any of his family ever ate for breakfast was cereal. Was Angela trying to cook again? Alicia? Then a horrible thought struck him: what if it was Curly cooking? He would burn down the fucking apartment! "Curly!" he cried out, tiredly.
Then he felt a soft jab in the ribs. Opening his eyes, he saw Angela, peering down at him, intently. Her small hands were curled around a mug of coffee, and she grinned. "Good, you're awake." Standing next to her was Alicia, also grinning.
Tim tried to sit up, but his head hurt too much. "Where… where are we?" he mumbled.
"Curtis's. When you didn't come home last night, we figured we'd find ya here," Angela said.
He tried to remember how he ended up here. He remembered a fight, and getting hit in the head and trying to get home. Along the way, he passed the Curtis's house. Their door, as always, was unlocked, so he went in and fell asleep on the couch. He didn't remember the details of the fight, or even who he was fighting. All he knew was that he got hit on the head. "Where's Curly?" he demanded.
"Kitchen," Angela replied.
"What time is it?"
Alicia combed her fingers through her hair. "'Round seven. We've gotta go to school soon. We just came by to make sure you weren't dead." She turned her head in the direction of the kitchen and screeched, "Curly! We're leaving! Hurry the hell up!" To Tim, she said, "see ya." Angela nodded at him, and they left, with Curly in their wake.
School would have been uneventful, if Miss Jamison, Alicia's math teacher, hadn't have dropped the bomb: There was going to be a school dance. A winter formal. And, shockingly, Alicia, Angela and Curly were allowed to go. Even after they ruined the Thanksgiving play, they were allowed to go to the dance.
Alicia loved dances. She liked spending hours getting ready with Angela and then going out and hanging out with her friends. After the dance, she and Angela would hang around and flirt with guys, then go home around three or four in the morning. She loved it and was definitely going.
At lunch, she caught up with Summer and Angela. "Y'all goin' to the dance?" she asked.
Angela laughed. "Fuck yeah. You?"
"Yeah. Summer?"
Her friend shook her head. "I hate dances."
"Please? It'll be fun. I promise. You can get ready with us," Alicia pleaded.
Summer shook her head. "I don't dance," she said. "Besides, I don't have a date. Both of you do. And I'll be like a spare part." She had a point, actually. Alicia was going with Travis, and Angela would most likely find some poor sap to go with. She always did.
Still, Alicia felt sort of bad for her friend. Putting her arm around Summer, she said, "don't worry, Summer. We'll make it up to you, 'kay?"
Summer laughed, softly. "It's okay. I just don't like dances. They annoy me. Besides, even if I did have a boyfriend, I still wouldn't got to a stupid dance with him."
Angela shrugged. "Suit yourself. I love dances." She grinned. "I'm gonna get me the best looking kid in school for this dance, just you wait."
Tim staggered down the street to the apartment. His head felt heavy, and he was surprised he wasn't bowled over by the weight. The oldest Curtis, Darry, had actually been pretty nice to him, giving Tim coffee when he asked, and letting him sleep on the couch until noon. The rest of his "gang" only shuffled around, almost nervous, and didn't talk much. Especially Dally, who Tim noticed stayed in the kitchen most of the time. He was avoiding him.
Why did I even go to the fucking Curtis's? Tim wondered, rubbing his temples. He knew exactly why. He wanted to go in the off-chance that Dallas would be there, and they could talk. Obviously, that plan had backfired.
"Tim!" A voice behind him made him jump, and his head began to throb, painfully. There was a flash of shimmering gold hair, and Nini ran up beside him. She grinned, and Tim couldn't help grinning back. She looked amazing in tight jeans and dark green button-down blouse that made her eyes stand out. "I haven't you in forever. How've ya been?"
"Not good. I'm so fucking sore."
She grinned again. "Yeah, I saw you fightin' some people last night. You were doin' good, 'til ya got hit." She laughed. "I never understood rumbles or whatever the hell they're called."
Tim shook his head. "What? Who was I fighting?"
Nini raised her thin eyebrows. "You don't remember? How thick can you be? You were goin' after some kids, Brumley, I think. Don't know why. But it was in a vacant lot, and there were a bunch of us there, watchin'. It was crazy."
"Who was there?"
She thought for a moment. "Your gang, of course, and the Brumley kids, and your gang's girlfriends, and theirs. And some other kids that just wanted to watch. I'm friends with Mike's girl, so we was there watchin'."
"Was Dallas Winston there?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"No, I don't think so. I mean, if he was, I didn't see him. He mighta been watching."
Tim exhaled, not realizing he'd been holding his breath and began to pray with every fiber of his being that Dally wasn't there watching.
She shrugged. "I think so. Why do you care?"
"I don't know," he responded.
They walked for a while in silence. Some kid rode by quickly on his bicycle, causing Nini to move to the and bump into Tim. A spasm of pain shot through him. "Jesus Christ!" he yelled.
Nini laughed. "Sorry," she said, and softly touched the bruise on his arm. Smiling slightly, she pressed on it, gently. "Does that hurt?"
He grimaced. "Yeah. I hurt all fucking over."
She put her arms around his neck. "Maybe I can make you feel better, eh?"
They began to walk down the street, Nini with a smile on her beautiful face, and Tim with a scowl and a limp. When they reached Tim's apartment, he put the keys in his pocket and sunk onto the couch. Nini knelt down next to him, an kissed him full on the lips. Pushing her away gently, he moaned, "no, Nini, doll, not now."
She pouted her full, pink lips. "Why not, Tim? I'll make ya feel loads better, I swear."
He laughed a little. "Sorry, Nini. I'm fucking tired."
Amazingly, Nini backed down. Smiling sympathetically, she stroked his forehead. "All right, baby, you just sleep."
Tim closed his eyes and was asleep in moments. Not for long, though, because the door slammed open and Curly, Angela and Alicia trooped in. Angela and Alicia were chatting about some dance on Friday, but they stopped when Angela saw Nini. "Nini!" she cried, delighted. "I haven't seen you in fucking forever, how've you been!"
Jesus, Angela was loud. Tim massaged his temples, swearing under his breath. He wished he had quiet siblings that did what they were told. But, no, he had insane, loud ones who didn't know when to shut up. Not that he wasn't somewhat fond of them, though.
Shakily, he got to his feet, and began to stagger down the hall to his bedroom. He doubted anyone noticed. Collapsing on his bed, he wondered what he would have done if Dally would have been at the Curtis's last night. Actually, he knew what would have happened. Dally probably would have tried to beat the shit out of him, and Tim would have to fight him back, waking up the entire house. Then he would have been thrown out of the house- literally- by Darry, and the eldest Curtis probably would have beaten the tar out of him for good measure. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn't seen Dally.
A few hours later, Nini left, and Alicia and Angela began mapping out their plans for the dance. It wasn't until they'd gotten to the part where they'd smuggle in a few beers, when they realized that Curly wasn't participating. "Curly, what's goin' on, man? You love this stuff," Angela said.
He shrugged. "Don't feel like goin' to the dance."
Alicia looked shocked. "But we're actually allowed to go this time, Curly! It'll be fun. We'll hang out afterward, you know, smoke a few joints, drink some beer, jump some kids. It'll so cool!" She grinned.
He shook his head. "I'll just hang out with the gang instead. They're more fun than some shitty dance."
Shrugging, Alicia said, "whatever. You used to love dances." Then she and Angela continued their plotting.
Friday night finally arrived. Alicia and Angela spent hours getting ready, trying to achieve perfection. Angela, of course, had not trouble with this, but Alicia had a harder time. After three hours in their bedroom, styling their hair and putting on makeup, they were finally ready. Angela's dress went down to her knees and was a deep purple, and Alicia's was dark green. The dance was supposed to start at six and end at nine, and it was now five-thirty.
Tim, Angela and Alicia were sitting around the kitchen table. Alicia was spinning her ring around the table, Tim was reading the paper and Angela was filing her nails. It was quiet, except for the sound of metal hitting the table and the sound of the newspaper pages turning. Then Angela looked up. "Where's Curly?" she asked.
Tim barely looked up. "He said something about going to the dance," he said.
"What?" Alicia said, confused. What happened to 'the gang is more fun than a dance?' "He said he wasn't gonna go."
Her brother shrugged. "Guess he changed his mind."
"Who was he going with?" Alicia asked, eager for details.
"Hell if I know," Tim said.
"Oh. Hey, Tim could you-" Alicia began, but Tim cut her off.
"You want me to give you a ride to the dance, right?" Tim finished.
Alicia nodded. Tim sighed. "Fine."
By the time Angela and Alicia arrived, there were already twenty minutes late. Actually, they would have been on time, if it weren't for Tim. He gave them the third degree (do whatever you want, just don't get caught) in the school parking lot, and it took thirty minutes. Ever since they'd moved in with him, he'd been more strict than before. It actually seemed that he didn't want to lose them.
Or at least have them sent to a girls' home.
Angela found her date right away, so Alicia went to talk to some of her friends. The entire time, she was keeping an eye out for Curly. Across the room, she spotted Travis, and she walked up to him. He grinned at her, and grabbed her hand. "Where were you?" he said, loudly over the music.
"Sorry, my brother was giving some speech about how I should stay out of trouble," she said. "I stopped paying attention about halfway through."
He laughed, and put his arms around her waist, and they began to sway together to the music. Alicia noticed that Angela and her date were in the corner, practically eating each other's faces and looking like a poster for true lust. She smiled to herself, and rested her head on Travis's shoulder. He smelled nice and clean, much nicer than her brothers.
Then she saw Curly arrived with a pretty girl in a red dress. Alicia couldn't see the girl's face, but she looked vaguely familiar. Her long, straight hair was black and she had fair skin. Alicia decided to ignore Curly, and closed her eyes, liking the way Travis danced. She heard Curly's voice to her left, and she opened her eyes, and saw who he was with. Alicia's jaw dropped.
It was Summer.