I'm finally updating! This chapter is a little of a "relay" with points of views. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders.
Darry's POV
Nine o'clock? I never sleep this late! We'd been up late the night before talking, though, and I have to admit, it's not easy to get up and walk away when there's a warm body in the bed next to you. We hadn't intended for her to stay overnight, but by the time we were done talking, it was after two in the morning and I wasn't about to let her drive home, not in that unreliable lemon she drives. She'd assured me she could take care of anything that happened, she has a twin brother who fixes cars and she's picked up a few things over the years, but I didn't like the thought of her standing on the side of the road with her head under the hood in the middle of the night.
I slid my arm out from under her and quietly rolled off the bed. Good, I didn't wake her. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and headed out to the kitchen where, oddly, I smelled coffee. Sure enough, an almost full pot was waiting on the counter. I poured myself a cup and turned to survey the kitchen.
Everything was neat and clean. It almost made me wince to think of the number of dishes that would be filling the sink and counters later in the afternoon. I'm used to just me now. I use the same plate, cup, fork, and spoon every day. Really I should start rotating my dinnerware, since the ones I use all the time are looking more worn than everything else.
Hopefully the turkey is big enough, I thought. The woman at the store picked it out for me when I told her how many people we were having. Since then, the only additional person was the little girl Pony was bringing with them. I hadn't met her yet, but couldn't imagine that a ten-year-old girl would consume a whole lot of food.
I finished my coffee and turned to wash my mug in the sink. Before I was done, a pair of arms encircled my waist.
"Let's see…it's either Jenn, or that turkey in the fridge has a vengeful family and I should get out now."
Laughter. "Hey," I said, turning around and resting my arms on her shoulders, "did you make the coffee this morning?"
She shook her head, smiling. "No, I was on my way in to do it, but there were a couple of elves on the counter…"
Jenn laughed and pulled away when I reached down to tickle her stomach. "You're a real wise mouth," I told her.
"I know. Yeah, I made the coffee. I woke up at five, so I decided it would be nice to see the sunrise. Since I was up, I made the coffee."
"You got out of bed at five to watch the sunrise?" I'd never been motivated to do something like that, but standing there looking at her with her hair like a rat's nest and wearing one of my shirts, I was thinking I could motivate myself to go out and watch the grass grow, if she was with me and thought it was a good idea.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked suspiciously.
"Grass," I answered.
"Grass? Like marijuana?"
I laughed. "No. A different kind of drug. Never mind." She was looking at me like I was nuts. "Feel like going back to bed for a while?" I asked.
"Now, that's the best idea I've heard all day," she grinned.
Vic's POV
"Vic, can you stay here with Lin while we go hunt down her doctor?" Pony asked me.
I nodded, and him and Melissa left. I flopped down in the chair next to the bed and looked up at Linleigh. She's okay, not annoying like most of the little kids I know. Maybe it's just because she doesn't talk much, I don't know.
"Did you sleep with that dumb bear?" I asked her. The teddy bear that Soda had given her was lying on the bed next to her.
Lin smiled guiltily. "I like it."
I shrugged. I never had a teddy bear and never got how kids could get attached to them.
"Vic? Can you help me out of the bed? I need to go to the bathroom." Lin was sitting up stiffly.
I stood up and helped her get down off the bed; walking backwards slowly, she rolled her IV thingy along with her to the bathroom. I guess those hospital gowns don't stay closed too good in the back. Three days later, and she's still sore from that beating. What kind of jerk hits a little girl? It made me really mad. Even my father had the sense to teach me that you don't hit girls. Maybe he would have thought differently if I had been a girl.
"Are you Linleigh's brother?"
The girl in the other bed was checking me out.
"No," I answered, "not really."
"Are you her boyfriend?" she asked.
Boyfriend? What kind of drugs are they giving these kids here? "No!" I snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh, but I mean, come on. Her boyfriend?
"Well, if you're not Linleigh's boyfriend, maybe we can go out sometime," she said hopefully, then added, "You're really cute."
"How old are you?" I asked.
"Twelve."
"Look, um…"
"Julie," she told me.
"Look, Julie, I don't date twelve-year-olds. But write your name down, and when you're eighteen and I'm twenty, I'll give you a call and we can go out to dinner. Deal?"
That seemed to satisfy her. She looked excited, even, and grabbed a piece of paper out of the night table to write her name down. Kids are so dumb. She gave me the piece of paper, so I stuffed it into my back pocket.
Linleigh was coming out of the bathroom, so I went back over to her bed to help her up. Who makes beds this high for little kids to climb into?
Linleigh's POV
Julie was giving Vic a piece of paper when I came out of the bathroom. I wondered if they had been talking about me. Julie had said some mean things to me earlier.
It still hurts when I walk. Mostly it's my back, but the doctor says I have to just wait for my kidney to heal. My side hurts, too, but my face is a little better. I want it to get better soon, so people stop looking at me funny. I hate looking different.
Vic came over to the bed to help me up. We figured out the day before that if he just kneels on the floor, I can stand backwards against the bed and step on his leg to get up. I have to stand backwards because the hospital gown only ties in two places, and I just have underwear on underneath of it. I hate being here. I hate hospitals.
Vic sat back down in the chair after I was on the bed. I don't really know any boys except the ones in my class at school, and they make fun of me, but Vic seems to think I'm alright. He's nice to me. I think he's funny. He acts like he doesn't like Pony and Melissa too much, though. But I guess he's had a bad life, and he doesn't trust too many people.
Pony and Melissa came in then, and I couldn't help but smile, even though I tried not to. I wish Pony was my dad. I never knew mine, but I always used to imagine what he would be like, even though I knew that he was a bad person and in jail; but when I first met Pony, he was the person that I had imagined being my dad. I'll never tell him that, it's too embarrassing.
He came over and sat on the bed next to me. "We found your doctor, Lin. He signed off on your release paper, so you can go ahead and get dressed."
"We brought you some clothes," Melissa said, holding up a bag. I cringed, thinking about the clothes from my house. Nothing fits right, and most of it is worn and dirty-looking.
Pony helped me off the bed so I could go in the bathroom and change. "Thanks," I told Melissa when she handed me the bag. Pony walked with me to the bathroom to hold my gown closed.
Melissa's POV
I watched Linleigh disappear into the bathroom. I hoped she liked the clothes I'd picked out for her. They seemed to be the style most of the kids at school were wearing.
"Did you tell Darry what time we were coming over?" I asked Pony.
He shook his head. "No, but he'll expect us before noon. We usually go out to play football around eleven."
"Football?" Vic looked interested.
"Yeah," Pony told him, "whoever's at the house goes out to the lot to play football on Thanksgiving morning. Some years it was just me and Darry and Soda. Other years it was a bunch of us – Steve, Two-Bit, Johnny,…" Pony trailed off, looking nostalgic for an instant. "Anyway, you can play, if you want. We play tackle football, though, so if you don't want to get hurt…"
I knew Pony was just saying it to egg Vic on. Vic shrugged like he didn't care, but I could see he was interested. I couldn't imagine him turning down an opportunity for a try at tackling Pony to the ground.
The bathroom door opened, and Linleigh stepped out grinning ear to ear. I took that as a sign that she liked the clothes – a red shirt, plaid jumper, tights, and new shoes. She looked radiant with that smile.
"Thank you," she said again, looking a little flustered.
"You're welcome, honey. You look great!" I almost forgot she didn't have a normal life, a good family.
"Are we all ready?" Pony asked.
Pony's POV
Everyone sort of nodded or didn't say anything. "Let's go, then."
Linleigh really did look nice. I was glad Melissa had volunteered to go out and get her some new clothes. I would have had no idea what to buy. We had a suitcase full in the trunk, too, to take to the group home with her tomorrow. That wasn't something I wanted to think about, though. Not today.
A nurse showed up with a wheelchair for Lin, and walked along with us to the exit. We made our way to the car slowly, since Linleigh was tired and still sore. Vic walked with her ahead of us. He seemed to get along with her well. I guess they've got a lot in common.
We got to Darry's a little before eleven. Soda had just arrived with Melanie. She took one look at us and turned to Soda. "You know, I think I am overdressed," she started.
Soda shook his head. "I told you, Mel, you look fine."
She was wearing a really nice dress, probably silk, and fancy shoes, and truthfully looked more like she was going to a country club ball than to the Curtis's house for Thanksgiving. I agreed with Soda, though – she looked really good. Just because the rest of us were dressed down didn't mean someone shouldn't look decent.
"Really, though," she said again, "I should go home and change. I'm completely out of place."
Soda smiled at her. "You look great, trust me. Have I ever lied to you?"
Melanie raised her eyebrows and gave him a look. "A jigwig? The fossenflopper?"
Soda grinned sheepishly, and I laughed. "He fixed your car, eh? Listen, if he ever takes you camping, don't let him send you off asking around for a left-handed smoke-shifter."
It was Soda's turn to laugh. "Man, Pony, you were wandering around for almost an hour. Me and Dad and Darry were done eating by the time you got back."
"Yeah, and I actually found a guy who told me sorry, but he just had a right-handed model."
Soda opened the front door, and we all invaded the house at the same time. I still hadn't met Darry's girlfriend, so I was anxious to see her. I took a look around the living room as everyone filed in behind me, and assumed the woman sitting on the couch reading a book was Jenn.
"Hi," I greeted. She didn't move, just kept reading. "Hello?" Nothing. Everyone was standing behind me now, looking at the person I figured was Jenn.
"Jenn!"
Her head popped up at Darry's voice. He was standing in the dining room doorway. Jenn looked over at all of us standing in the front doorway.
"Oh…hi!" she greeted, scrambling up off the chair and turning red. "I'm sorry, I was reading…" she explained weakly.
Soda grinned at her. "We don't know anyone else who disappears to another planet while they're reading, do we Pon," he told her, jabbing me in the back.
"Yeah, I do the same thing," I admitted. Everyone piled the rest of the way into the room, and all the necessary introductions were made. Linleigh nearly cringed when Darry came near her.
"Hey Dar," I said, pulling Darry aside, "I'd like to set up the couch for Linleigh to lie down. She's still not feeling too good."
"Yeah, I can see, she looks like she's about to fall over. Come in the bedroom and help me grab some stuff."
I followed Darry into the spare bedroom. He closed the door behind us and turned to me. I started feeling like I was thirteen again, and he was getting ready to chew me out over something stupid that I did. "What's up?"
"What's going on with Vic?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, though I thought I might know what he meant.
"He's not saying anything to me. It's like he's a…a…"
"A robot?" I suggested helpfully.
"Yeah. What's up with that?
"I have no idea," I said honestly. "I was hoping you could tell me. He's been the same way with you?"
"Yeah. Ever since Liss's accident…do you think it has something to do with that? Or with the baby?"
That hadn't occurred to me. "You think he's jealous?" I couldn't imagine Vic being jealous of a baby.
"No, probably not. He's different, though, and I can't seem to get around it. I thought maybe you would know." Darry ran his hand through his hair, then shrugged and pulled a blanket off the bed as I grabbed a pillow.
"Well, let's get back out there," Darry said, slapping me on the back. "I'm about ready to run you down over at the lot."
"Dream on," I laughed, fully aware that Darry could darn well run me over if that was what he wanted to do, and there was nothing I could do about it. When does your big brother stop being your big brother?
Soda's POV
"What're you guys doing, taking a nap? Are we playing some football, or not?" Darry grinned at me as he walked into the living room with Pony on his tail.
"Watch it, little buddy, or you're gonna be joining our baby brother as a permanent lawn fixture in the lot," Darry warned.
"Yeah yeah, go put your turkey in the oven." I ducked Darry's swipe and gave him a punch in the ribs.
"Hey, Soda," Pony said.
I turned around to see Lin looking like someone had hit her. Again, I mean. She was pale and frightened looking. It took me a second to realize that she must have gotten scared seeing me and Darry fooling around. I went over to sit next to her, on the arm of the chair she was sitting in, while Pony fixed up the couch for her.
"Hey beautiful, we were just messing around. Darry's my brother, he'd never hurt me." I hoped she believed me, though she didn't look convinced. I guess she's done a lot of lying in her time, to keep people from knowing what was really going on.
"So who brought the football?" Steve shouted as he came slamming through the front door with Fizz on his heels. "I've got my linebacker here," he added, and Fizz beamed.
"Darry's in charge of equipment, man. I'm just here to play and eat." Melanie came over to stand behind me.
"I guess I'm the cheerleader," she said, pulling her skirt out a little.
"I'll run that ball clear to Texas if you're cheering me on," I told her, wrapping one arm around her waist. She smelled like roses.
"Alright," Darry said, coming into the room with a football in his hands, "the bird's in the oven. Liss, you're staying here with Linleigh?" Melissa nodded. "So all we need are teams. And where the heck is…"
"Are we serving cocktails before, or after, the match?" came Two-Bit's voice haughtily from the porch. He wandered through the front door with an open beer in his hand, stopping to take a closer look at Linleigh, who was making her way over to the couch. "Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Miss Linleigh?" he asked, smiling.
Lin blushed. "Hi, Mr. Mathews."
"Two-Bit, do you remember the names of all the kids you teach? I mean, babysit?" I couldn't imagine he would, but you never know.
"Now how could I ever forget a beautiful name like Linleigh?" he asked simply.
"Okay, we're all here, let's go!" Darry declared, herding us all out the front door.
Pony's POV
I nearly got shoved down the steps on the way out. We chose teams once we got to the lot – Darry, Vic, Steve, and Fizz against me, Soda, Jenn, and Two-Bit. Melanie had declared herself the allover cheerleader, since she wasn't dressed to play. To be honest, I think by the time we were done playing she was glad she hadn't gone home to change. She stood on the sidelines yelling things like, "This team, that team, everybody go!" and "Touchdown, kick it, I don't know the rules!"
It used to be easy to play tackle football when it was just us and our friends, but everyone was a little less crazy with Fizz and Jenn playing. Jenn apparently didn't make any alterations in her playing, however. She nearly knocked the wind out of me on one play, and she was on my team. Apparently she forgot. The other thing about her – whenever we used to have girlfriends playing, they liked being on the opposite team so they could get their hands around us more often or get pulled to the ground by us for a little playful rolling around. Jenn seemed a bit too competitive for that kind of nonsense. She was having fun, but no way was she letting Darry get that football from her.
The two of them were going back and forth, Jenn hugging the football, and Darry trying to get hold of her. She finally tossed the ball to Soda just as Darry was on top of her, falling to the ground with his arms around her waist. They hit the ground with a thud, Darry on the bottom, and Jenn screamed like crazy when Soda made a touchdown about two seconds later.
"Haha, Mr. Football," she mocked, "we're better than you!" Darry scooped up a handful of mud and tried to smear it on her face. She almost got away, in the end getting some across her cheek and over her nose.
"That girl is a real wiseass," Darry grinned as we all gathered together for the next play.
"Yeah," Vic agreed, "it's like you finally got Soda and Pony out of the house, and now you're dating both of them in the same person."
Darry's mouth dropped open, and Soda and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh. After he said that, I could see it, too – there was a little of both of us in her. They say girls marry their fathers and boys marry their mothers, but I never heard anything about big brothers dating their little brothers. Learn something new every day.
As it turned out, Darry did eventually end up running me over. It was unintentional, which didn't make it any less similar to getting bowled over by a locomotive. Neither of us was paying attention, and the next thing I knew I was hurtling in the opposite direction I'd been running, then Darry was coming down on top of me and we were both falling onto Vic. In an attempt to not crush him under both of our weight, I put my left arm straight down, which worked to divert our heading to the side. As soon as I put my arm down and Darry landed on me, though, I knew would be bad for me – I felt something in my left arm go and nearly screamed from the pain.
"Lord, Pony, are you okay?" Darry asked after he'd hauled himself off of me. Vic had gotten knocked to the side, but was sitting up brushing himself off, apparently unhurt.
I rolled over, clutching my arm and pretending it didn't hurt like crazy. "I'll be okay," I tried to tell myself out loud in a strangled voice.
Darry looked skeptical. "Bend your elbow," he told me. I sat up and tried to follow his instructions, but the pain was overwhelming, not to mention it was like there was a board inside my arm keeping it straight. "I think we're about done anyway," Darry proclaimed. We had been playing for over two hours – Melanie had gone back to the house almost an hour ago, and Steve looked ready to drop, trying to keep up with Fizz. Darry gave Soda a meaningful look.
"Right. Let's get back to the house, everyone," Soda suggested, and I knew that whatever Darry had in mind for me would hurt more than what I was feeling now. We sat in the lot and watched until everyone disappeared into the house.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Darry said.
I crammed some of my sweatshirt sleeve into my mouth as Darry took hold of my arm. It only took him a couple of seconds – a twist and a pull, and I could bend my elbow again – but a white-hot pain shot through my arm, and it was all I could do to not sob as the tears rolled down my face. I sat for a minute rocking back and forth with my head in my arm, waiting for the pain to subside and gasping for control.
"Thanks," I finally groaned to my brother, who was squatting next to me with his hand on my back.
I never asked Darry, but I always suspected that if he had been able to go to college when he was young he would have gone into sports medicine. He had picked up a lot from the team doctor when he played football in high school, and he was the one who always patched up our injuries after a fight. He's a natural at it.
"Let's get back inside now," Darry suggested, helping me to my feet.
Jenn was in the shower when we got back to the house. Soda had set the egg timer for three minutes per person, so we wouldn't run out of hot water. Steve and Two-Bit were planning to take showers at home, after they took a breather and had something to drink.
"Did Doctor Darry put your arm back together?" Steve quipped.
"Yeah, all better," I answered, though it still hurt. I pulled some ice out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel, then sat down on the couch with Linleigh while Darry got me some asprin. I think I actually fell asleep sitting there, listening to everyone's mixed-together conversations and the sounds of pots and pans clanking in the kitchen.
By the time I woke up, the table was set and Melanie and Jenn were bringing food out. "Hungry?" I asked Lin, who was watching from her spot next to me. She smiled and nodded, so I helped her up and the two of us stumbled to the table.
"Melanie," I asked, "are you spending any of today with your family?" It seemed odd that she would spend the entire day with her new boyfriend's family, and that her family wouldn't have something to say about it.
"Oh, no, my parents are spending the holiday at a bed and breakfast up in New England," she explained. "That's where we were from, before my dad got the job he has now, and we moved here."
"Well, this is everything," Darry announced, bringing out a plate full of sliced turkey and setting it on the table. He had carved the turkey in the kitchen, where there's more room. We don't really do the Norman Rockwell scene; the food gets to the table, everybody digs in, and then we all sit around until someone gets voted to take all the dishes into the kitchen.
"Uhg." I looked at Melissa. She was staring at that plate of neatly lined up slices of turkey. One hand over her mouth, she suddenly jumped up and ran for the bathroom.
"Oh, the poor thing," Melanie crooned. "Does that happen often?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Vic beat me to it. "Only when we have food for dinner."
Note: Pony had a dislocated elbow. It can happen if you fall straight down onto your extended arm.
Expect a bit more action in the next chapter; I've had most of it written since I finished chapter 3, so it shouldn't take long for me to finish it either. Lots of Vic POV, too. Keep an eye out!
Now, for my reviewers:
Lee: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the story. I've corrected the confusing point about when exactly Ponyboy is drafted – it is the summer he turns eighteen, sorry about that. I re-posted chapter 1 to make that clearer. As far as your other point of contention – I completely agree, it is extremely unlikely that Soda would have been in Vietnam for four years. I debated over it for quite a while and did a little research, and was aware that it would stick out like a sore thumb to at least somebody. But in the end I decided that the image I have of Soda, combined with the reason I came up with, were compelling enough to make it seem possible. Unlikely, but not unheard of. It is explained briefly in the next chapter. The closest analogy I could come up with over the past few days is from the movie Saving Private Ryan. When Tom Hank's character (it's been a while since I saw the movie, sorry) finds Private Ryan, tells him about his brothers, then tells him he is there to take him home, Ryan refuses to leave, saying something to the effect of, my mother would understand – these guys are my brothers, too (referring to the men he's been fighting with). It all has to do with me picturing Soda as someone who is street-smart, understands people and knows how to motivate them, and has brothers not dissimilar to the kids he is in charge of. Again, there is a quick mention of it in the next chapter. This is the longest review reply I've ever written! Anyway, hope this helps to make it a little more believable, and by all means, go ahead and critique as much as you want. I'll change what I can and try to explain what I can't change. Enjoy!
hollistergurl: Thanks. Yeah, Vic seems oddly decent, which is exactly what is driving Pony crazy, because it is too abnormal. Things will even out a little better in the next chapter, plus you've got a little of his POV in this one. Enjoy!
lil librada: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed. I'm trying to get a little more Darry in. He's coming in within the next few chapters. Thanks for reviewing!
Mrs. Benji Madden: Glad you enjoyed, thanks for reviewing!
Keira: Thanks! That's so cool that you can check your email at school. Yeah, I'm from the dark ages – spend three days writing a program to do something really earth-shattering, like scroll the word "hello" across the screen over and over. I'm glad you like Linleigh, and her relationship with Vic. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Kind of a filler, but the next one is one of my favorites. Don't be too impressed, you haven't seen what my house looks like! That's a project for this weekend!
mrs sodapop curtis: Thanks, glad you enjoyed! Lin is ten years old.
callion: Thanks! The medical jargon was real, I did a little online research. Glad it came across well. Enjoy!
Ale Curtis-Carter: Thanks! The next update shouldn't take long!
Katie: Thanks, that's quite a compliment! I'm glad you're liking the story. Enjoy!
virgil-t-stone: Thanks, glad you're enjoying! Is your story on this site?
Fairlane: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Yeah, I can see the relationship between Vic and Lin pretty clearly in my head. Don't worry, Vic is most of the next chapter. I love writing him, he's got an edge to him that I've never had. Enjoy!
Scarlett7: Glad you enjoyed the update! I think Pony probably feels the same way. Hope you liked this one!
Star414: Thanks for the review! Yeah, Vic does seem suddenly perfect. He's had a lot of time to build up a few different masks. Pony noticed it, too (he mentions that Vic is living with a nice robot), and in this chapter we see that it's got Darry stumped, too. Hope you enjoyed!
Rock: Yeah, I heard it all right (hehe). I'm glad you liked the chapter so much! This one was a little more of a filler, hope you enjoyed it. Vic comes up much more in the next chapter, and things start happening a little more with him.
Tensleep: Glad you liked it! It was fun to write, I could see it all. Yeah, I guess you write what you know. Thanks for the compliments and the review, hope you liked this one. I'm guessing you'll like the next one better, it's my favorite.
screaming666: Thanks, glad you enjoyed! Yeah, I've met some pretty sorry doctors. Vic and Lin have a nice little thing going. Hope you liked this one!
kaz456: Thanks for the review, glad you liked it!
darkdestiny2000: Thanks! Soda isn't easy to write, glad to hear you like how he's coming across. Thanks for the suggestions; I have plans for Lin, it comes up in the next chapter. I wrote that one shot, it's posted as chapter 2 of The Chaperone. Enjoy!
