MUST READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF THIS STUFF!
Vally sniffled a few more times and whipped her eyes with the palm of her hand.
She sat up, her whole body shaking, "He hit me." she sobbed softly. Maggie couldn't help it. She could feel it building up inside of her and it was going to come out any minute now.
"Oh, what? You can dish it out but you can't take it? You can hit me and watch him hit me but you can't take it when it happens to you? That's pathetic! Do you see me crying over it? And I get it every single damn day." she snapped violently, waving her hands about to show she meant business. Vally sobbed more violently and her whole body started to shake even more as she held her cheek.
Maggie watched her sob for a while. She knew she had been wrong to yell at her. In some way Vally being hit but Jim was different then when she was hit by him. Jim was suppose to be in love with Vally. He wasn't suppose to hit her and treat her like this if he loved her. So in a way, him hitting her, was kind of like saying "I don't love you" in the most harsh way he could muster.
Just when Maggie was about to speak up and apologize to her sister, her sister started to speak.
"Your right." he sister sniffled out. Maggie leaned her head in closer so she could here her better. "You shouldn't be here. I'm so sorry for hitting you Mags. I'm so sorry. But, I need you out. I don't want you to be here. This started when you got here. When he brought you back. So I want you to leave." he sister said, her face hardening up as she said it. Maggie shook her head. This was going to be the second time she would become homeless because of that asshole! Maggie turned on her heal and began to walk out but stopped abruptly.
"You should get out too, you know. If he really loved you he wouldn't hit you all the time." she said over her shoulder, and with that she left. She walked down stairs changed into her jeans, tennis shoes, and the warmest shirts she could come up with before leaving. It was 9:00 already and -3 below, but she was leaving.
She shivered in the cold air as she walked but stuck her head up confidently. She walked on and on until she reached greaser territory, and from there she went to the park. She walked until she found a dry area that was void of snow.
She lay there, thinking about odd things. Suddenly she remember that Dally was suppose to pick her up at her sister's house to take her to school in the morning. She hopped up, getting the bright idea to go to the Curtis' and ask them to tell him that she wouldn't be going to school in the morning. She didn't want him to know that she was homeless again.
Besides, now that he was actually starting to worry about her for no reason, if she told him it would only give him more of a reason to worry. And Maggie really didn't want that. At least not right now. She already had to worry about herself and how she was going to get through the winter.
Maggie walked the couple of blocks to the Curtis' house. You could still here the t.v blaring from a block away which meant all of them were still up.
She hesitated when she reached the house but got over it soon enough. She just wanted to tell them and get back to the park so she could sleep. She knocked on the door just loud enough so they could here it and then stepped back a little. A minute later, luckily, Ponyboy appeared on the other side of the screen, peering out at her.
"Hey, Pony." she said softly as she looked down at the ground.
"Hey, Maggie." he said back, his gray-green eyes staring out at her, watching her every move.
"Can you do me a favor and tell Dally something for me?" she looked up at him finally, only making eye contact for moment before her eyes shot back down to the ground. She was too afraid that he would be able to read what she was thinking about.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Just tell him that I won't be needing a ride to school in the morning. That I'm not going." Maggie looked up just long enough to see Pony nod and then she took off into the cold air again. It took her about 5 minutes to get back to her spot at the park. But it took her about 3 hours to get to sleep.
She woke up with a start. The sun wasn't even starting to rise, which means it could have been any where from 5:30 to 7:00. She looked around the stars were starting to slowly disappear. She groaned and tossed over to her side, ignoring the tingling her feet and hands gave her from the cold. She could deal with it, after all it was only cold air.
She tossed around as she tried to fall back asleep, for at least another 20 minutes. But sleep didn't come. Her mind kept wondering and she couldn't help but think of odd things again. Like what if she died before she was 21? And what if she never got a proper education? How would she get a job without an education? Would someone ever want to fall in love with the likes of her?
By the time her mind actually did stop wondering the sun was already starting to rise. She slowly got to her feet. Hissing at the harsh tingling in her feet. They were numb along with her fingers. She began to walk, not knowing she was actually headed for school. When she did finally find herself in front of the school she had no idea what to do. She knew she couldn't go inside, she probably stunk to the high heavens and people would look at her weird if she came in wearing the clothes she was. She was lower then a greaser now. Greasers actually had homes. Maggie, on the other hand, was homeless and there for lower then dirt!
She began walking again in no particular direction. She just wondered. Her stomached had yet to growl and let her know that she was hungry so she decided not to stop for food. Before she knew it she had ended up at the DX. She stopped in front of it to give her still numb feet a rest. She leaned up against a gas pump and blew hot hair on her fingers, hoping to warm them up if not just a little bit.
"Hey, Maggie!" a voice called from behind her. Maggie pushed herself off of the gas pump and turned around slowly. Soda stood in the doorway to the DX station motioning her inside.
"Come on. Its cold out here." he hurried her, holding the door up wider as she approached. She sighed as she was met with hot air. It felt so good to her cold skin that she couldn't help but feel relaxed.
"Where ya been? Dally sure was pissed when Pony told him that you didn't need a ride to school." Soda explained as he poured Maggie a cup of hot chocolate. He walked back over to her and set the cup down before actually taking the time to look her over.
"Wow, Maggie. For having a home now you sure do still look homeless..." he trailed off and after a few seconds his eyes went wide and he stared down at her in confusion. She rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe it had taken him that long to notice.
"She kicked you out?" he asked as he turned around and poured himself some hot chocolate.
Maggie nodded and proceeded to tell Soda all that had happened in the past month. About getting starved and the beatings. She told him all of it all the way up to last night when she fell asleep under the tree.
"You could have stayed at our house, Mags!" he scolded. "At least your body wouldn't have been half numb if you did." Maggie shrugged and took a huge gulp of her hot chocolate, letting it travel down her throat and warm her whole body.
"I don't like intruding on other people Soda. You guys have barely enough room as it is. Not to mention 7 mouths to feed. Plus, I like being independent. I can take care of myself."
"That's the thing, Maggie!" a new voice said. Maggie whirled around to see Steve in the doorway to the garage, whipping his oiling hands on a red rag. "Your only 13. Your not suppose to have to take care of yourself. And if you call what your doing taking care of yourself, you've got another thing coming." he said as he entered and poured himself of a glass also.
"What age did you start taking care of yourself, Steve?" Maggie snapped defensively. She didn't like the direction that this whole conversation was going in.
"I was 13. But that was totally different then what we're talking about here." Maggie was about to interrupt and argue her case some more but Soda clasped his hand over her mouth so Steve could continue, which Steve did.
"I had money to buy food. I had clean clothes and a warm bed to sleep in. Not to mention I had a place to take a shower too." he turned up his nose as if he could smell her from where he was standing. She flipped him the bird and moved Soda's hand from her mouth.
"Yeah, well. My life just doesn't come with those luxury's." she shrugged as she drank some more hot chocolate.
"I'll be right back. Gotta finish a car." Steve said after giving Soda a weird glance. Maggie looked between the two, trying to figure out what was going on. But nothing seemed to come to mind to what they could be up to. She turned back to her cup, vowing she would find out later.
And that she did. About 10 minutes after Steve had disappeared someone started yelling at her. A new someone.
"Maggie, whatever you middle name is, Ross! Why the fuck aren't you at school?" someone snapped as the door dinged. Maggie cringed at the sound of the voice and flushed a pale white. And then, suddenly, her bottom lip started to tremble. She turned around to stare Dallas in the face, not knowing what she wanted to answer with.
"Um? I got sick?" she said more of an asking tone. She had no idea what he wanted to hear. HECK, she had no idea why he even cared!
He growled deep in his throat and Maggie's lip started to tremble even more.
"Not a good answer!" he snapped as he started to pace the floor in front of her. "Why are you dressed like that? What happened to your soccy clothes? Why do you stink? And most importantly why do I care?" he asked the question more to himself then anyone. He new he wasn't going soft or anything but for some odd reason he did feel obligated to take care of her. She was only thirteen and she was living on the streets, alone, in Tulsa.
"Fine!" Maggie said weakly. "My sister kicked me out because she blamed me for Jim starting to beat her all the sudden. So I'm wearing these clothes cause their the warmest things I have. And I stink because I spent last night sleeping in the park which had god knows what on the ground. And I really have no idea why you care." she answered him all in one breath. She watched as he took in all her words and then nodded.
"So your back to where you started. Living on the streets?" he asked as he scraped a hand through his hair.
"Why do you care Dallas?" she snapped back, suddenly feeling like she was just as tall as him and just as old. That feeling quickly left her as he moved to stand right in front of her. Towering a good foot and half over her. Then she was back to her lower lip trembling.
"Go get in the car." he snapped and pointed towards the black car sitting outside. She nodded weakly and got up thanking Soda quickly for the hot chocolate and then leaving.
Dallas turned to Soda and gave him a glare. Soda put his hands up defensively. "I didn't know until about hour before you did!" Soda told him putting one hand up in scout's honor. Dallas' glare only turned more harsh before he turned on his heel, his boot making a loud thud on the floor as he did so. Then he stormed out.
"You never answered my question." Maggie said as they pulled up into the Curtis' driveway. "Why do you care?" she asked turned to face him now. He shrugged, avoiding eye contact as best as possible.
"Fine." he grunted and turned towards her. "You remind me of me when I was your age. Except I actually had a little bit more money then you did.
"Ok, Dally." Maggie said nodding and smiling a little bit. "But I'm only staying here for the night. After that I'm going back to the streets. I still have to get into a winter routine." she explained and Dally cocked an eyebrow. "You know...steal some winter clothes, pick out the best garbage cans for food, find a warm dry place to sleep, and find something to do during the day besides sleep and walk around." she told him. He looked at her strangely again and she just had to break the stare.
He opened the door suddenly, getting out and slamming it shut again.
"Come on!" he called and Maggie scrambled out of the passenger side and up the steps to the house after Dally. Dally disappeared into Soda and Pony's room and emerged with a pair of sweat pants, long socks, gloves, boots, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a heavy jacket.
"This should last you for a while." he said as he threw it all in her arms. She gawked at it all, wondering why he was just giving it all to her when she could just steal it. "I'm not taking the risk of letting you steal shit just so you can get caught doing it. A girl and jail just don't mix." he said as he pointed a finger in her face, almost warning her that if she tried something he would personally skin her alive. She nodded and threw all the crap in the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and undressed. She jumped in the shower, yet again enjoying the warmth it brought with it.
It wasn't until half way through the shower that she realized that there was a faint pain in her side. It was more of her lower back but it was gradually getting worse until she was fight doubling over. She finished washing the soup off of her body and slid out of the shower. She quickly dried off, stopping often to clutch her side from the pain. She dressed slowly, trying as hard as possible not to disturb her side. She emerged from the bathroom, walking slowly and still clutching her side.
Dally was no where to be found so Maggie walked slowly to the couch and slide down. Nausea was slowly creeping its way over her to accompany the pain in her side. She slowly slide down so she was lying down. She still clutched her side and wondered where Dally was when you needed him.
She sat like that for about and hour. Holding her side, and finding back the urge to puke. She was suddenly glad Dally had given her all those clothes because she felt really cold all of the sudden.
Her head popped up when she heard laughter and talking. It was Steve and Soda who had, thankfully, gotten home from work early.
"Guys." she crooked out. They both shut up and looked down at her. "Can one of you find Dally for me?" she asked quietly, still fighting the urge to throw up right there on the couch. Steve nodded and began wondering around the house. After a minute or so he left the house and went outside. Maggie didn't know why but for some odd reason she was starting to feel like the only person she could trust was Dally. After all, she had spent the most time with him.
About 10 agonizing minutes later Steve came back, Dally following behind slowly.
"Dally." Maggie crooked out as she looked up at him. "Can you take me to the hospital?" she asked, hopefully. The pain in her side was just too great to ignore.
"Shoot kid!" Steve yelled suddenly. "Me and Soda could have done that." Dally glared at him before turning back to Maggie.
"Yeah, let's go." he grunted as he stepped back to let Maggie get up. This time it was Soda's turn to glare at Dally. Soda pushed him out of the way and moved to Maggie's side helping her up to her feet and out to Dally's car. She climbed in and tried to keep her mind off of the pain while they drove to the hospital.
After a few tests and a couple hours in the emergency room the doctor finally came in with the diagnoses.
"You, my young friend, have a kidney infection. Its something that can happen from bacteria or if your not taking care of yourself. Maybe not eating properly or not showering daily, or maybe if your dehydrated. Its nothing a little medicine and pain medication can't fix. But you are going to have to make a returning trip so we can check you out again. Just to make sure you don't have any diseases that we didn't catch." was all the doctor told he before patting her lightly on the back and leaving.
Maggie turned to the nurse who had just came in. The nurse smiled warmly at her and handed her a bottle of pills.
"Don't worry about it, deary." she said warmly. "I'll pay for them for you." Maggie nodded. She didn't care if it put a dampen on her pride to have someone else pay for her medicine. She wanted to get better and wanted the pain to stop. She dried swallowed one of the pills and wondered how long it would take for it to start working as she walked out of the hospital with Dally.
1 Month Later
Maggie sat in the hospital room with Darry this time. After the last time she had an infection she had gotten another one almost right after she had gotten better. And even when she didn't have an infection she dreaded going #1 because it would burn so bad when she did. She had even started bed wetting which was really unusual from someone her age. So Darry had taken her back to the hospital to find out what was wrong with her.
She looked up at Darry, worry filling his eyes as he stared at the doctor.
"Well, we've been able to figure out a diagnosis. Its a disease called Urinary Reflux Disease. Its a disease thats usually caught in infants a lot younger then you. Which is what we're not sure about. You could have a significant amount of damage to your kidneys if this hasn't been caught until now." he explained, talking mainly to Darry instead of Maggie. "We'd like to perform a test called an radionuclide cystogram to see just how bad her urinary reflux is. This is a yearly test performed once a year."
"What is it exactly? The test I mean." Darry asked as he cocked an eyebrow, really not liking how it sounded.
"She lies on a table, her lower...area...is clean and a catheter is inserted. It can be quite painful and uncomfortable to be honest. Her bladder gets pumped full of a radioactive fluid that allows us to take pictures of her her bladder while its full. So we can observe the fluid baking up in her ureter tubes. And then she is allowed to pee and then more images are taken. We'd also like to perform an ultra sound to check damages of the kidneys." the doctor finished finally and Maggie shifted uncomfortable not really knowing how to take it all in.
This was a lot!
Author's Notes:
Hey! Ok well, let me explain. I had this disease when I was littler and trust me its no picnic. Maybe some of you had it or had a friend have or something but its o fun. If I hadn't grown out of mine I would have had to have a kidney transplant. That's how serious this disease is if its not treated. But umm this test I'm talking about is infact a yearly thing or at least I had it yearly. I did also get my blood drawn every year which Maggie will probably have to have to do too. And umm they do ultra sounds in these cases too. But you can look Urinary Reflux Disease up on the internet and read up on it. Its really no fun whne your about 2 years old lol. But ok that's it. And guess what? I UPDATED TWICE IN ONE DAY! haha:D;)