Darry arrived in Tulsa during the evening. He walked in the door and headed for his room. It was unbelievable, he walked out on his brothers, literally, for the first time. He had walked out on them before, leaving for work and petty things like that, but never had he walked away from them feeling as though he was not going to see them again.
He laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He saw white and maybe some dirt. In the kitchen, he heard the tap dripping and the wind tossing the trees back and forth. Steve and Two-Bit left, so the house was empty, leaving Darry to his thoughts.
They seemed happy...maybe their being there is for the best. I mean, Soda's back in school, Pony should have friends his own age, and it will keep them out of trouble. They are completely safe there, Darry concluded.
He sighed and rolled over. "Then way can't I shake this feeling that they aren't?" he whispered to himself. He needed to do something, he was getting rather restless.
Darry sat up and debated with himself if he wanted something for an evening meal. He finally decided that he would have something simple and placed a can of stew onto the stovetop.
The phone rang while he awaited for his meal to be heated. He answered it with a tired voice.
"Hello?"
"Hello. Is this Mr. Darrel Curtis?" the voice asked.
"Yes it is, who, may I ask, is this?"
"This is Tessa. You remember, from your Anger Management sessions, silly?" Yup, that was Tessa alright, Darry's hands were in fists.
"Of course. Now, why did you call me?" His temper was running alittle short today.
There was a short giggle. "I was wondering what you were doing tonight..."
This can't be happening! "Uh- Nothing- but I have an early day tomorrow and I've had a horrible day today, so I don't much feel like doing anything. Sorry," he added, hoping to sound sincere.
"Aww," Tessa whined. "That's terrible. I'll tell you what, meet me at the movies in a half an hour and I promise I'll make your day better!"
"But I-" Darry tried.
"None of that!" Tessa commanded. "I'll see you in a half hour."
Before he knew it, Darry was listening to the annoying hum of the dialtone. He hung up the phone in a slight stupor. He had just gotten a date with someone who aggrivated him beyond compare.
What if I just don't show up? He thought. I don't want to seem rude, besides, I'd see her during those damned Anger Management classes, and that would be too awkward, Darry countered.
The oldest Curtis sighed. The only moral conclusion he could think of was to go on the date.
"If Two-Bit and Steve ever find out about this, I'll never hear the end of it," Darry muttered to himself. He sighed and caught a whiff of something burning. "Oh shit! The stew!"
He ran to the stove and looked at the blackened "liquid". That was the last time he left the stove on high.
"Honestly! I'm getting as bad at cooking as Two-Bit,"Darry complained. And I'm talking to myself! he thought.
Within a matter of minutes, the stove was cleaned up and Darry was in his bedroom changing. He had no idea what he was going to wear. What with being a full-time guardian of his brothers, keeping a job, and maintaining rumbles, he had very little time for dates.
He finally decided on a black shirt and a pair of dark blue denims, after all, they were only going to the movies and he did not even like her to begin with. He pulled on his cleanest pair of shoes and headed out in the old Ford.
"I have no idea why I'm doing this," Darry mumbled. He checked his hair, perfect as usual. "I don't even like movies," he added.
It took him a matter of minutes before he reached the theatre. He looked around for the all-too-familiar face he was supposed to be meeting.
"This is just a waste of my time," Darry sighed. He got out of the truck and looked around once more, hoping to not see Tessa.
"There you are!" a voice exclaimed from behind him, making him jump, although it went unnoticed.
Darry turned around with a big, fake smile on his face. "Here I am," he said, almost clenching his teeth.
Tessa was wearing a long-sleeved pink blouse with an off-white skirt that went down past her knees. Her hair was done up in a neat bun with not one hair loose, showing that she had had this all planned out from the beginning.
"Shall we go in?" she asked, taking Darry's unoffered arm.
"Sure," the Curtis reluctantly agreed, being just about pulled into the dark theatre. "What movie are we going to see?"
"I don't know." Tessa shrugged. "Maybe just whatever is on." With that, she sealed the conversation with a wink.
They walked in, got their tickets and sat in their seats. It was some horror flick, "My Mother was a Vampire" or something.
Darry yawned. He always thought movies were boring, but this was beyond really boring, especially Tessa with him. "I'll go get us some popcorn," Darry offered. He stood up and walked quickly out of the dark room. When he reached the counter, he ordered the salty treats.
"Hey Darry," Two-Bit greeted with a silly grin on his face. "I thought you didn't like movies?"
"I don't," Darry answered shortly.
"Well, you didn't come here to git popcorn, didja? 'Cause it's cheaper if you go across the street," he offered.
The Curtis sighed. "I'm on a date, Two-Bit," he informed his friend.
"Oh really? You? Darrel Shaynne Curtis Jr., has a date? Glory, someone punch me!" the jesting greaser proclaimed.
"That won't be a problem if you keep yellin'," Darry threatened. Two-Bit shut up immediately.
"So...is she pretty, or what?" Two-Bit asked, quietly.
Darry grabbed the popcorn and looked at his friend. "I don't even like her."
"That's not what I asked," Two-Bit notified, nudging his friend. "Hell, if I went out with every girl I liked, I wouldn't've went out with very many of them, now would I? Is she good-lookin'?"
"I'm not doing it just to go out with someone! She's someone from the Anger Management classes, and I felt guilty about not accepting her invitation," Darry filled in the uninterested Two-Bit.
"Just answer the question," Two-Bit said.
"She's...attractive...in her own way, I guess..."
Two-Bit considered this. "So, she's ugly. What color hair?"
Darry rolled his eyes. "Blonde."
Two-Bit gaped. "Those are the best kind! If you don't like her, I'll gladly take your place..." he offered.
"Why, so she can hate me for ditching her with my probable "sex-driven" buddy?"
"Hey!" Two-Bit cut in. "What's with the "probable"?
Darry rolled his eyes. "I'm going back to the movie. Are you coming?"
"I don't know, after the emotional trama I just went through, I think I should just leave you with that broad," Two-Bit attempted to intimidate his friend.
"Was that a 'yes'?"
"Yeah, I'm comin'."
They entered the dark room with their snacks. Darry spotted Tessa and hoped she would not be able to resist Two-Bit "charm".
"There she is," Darry pointed.
Two-Bit followed his friend's direction and saw a blonde with her hair in a bun. He whistled lowly. "Glory, you must have high standards, she's goreous!"
They walked over to where Tessa was sitting.
"Hey, welcome back. Who's that?" the girl with the bun inquired.
"M'name's Keith Matthews, but you can call me "Two-Bit", everyone else does, ma'am," he introduced himself. "If you don't mind my sayin', you're lookin' extremely good-lookin."
Tessa giggled. "Why, thank you." She turned to Darry. "Where on Earth did you find him? He's so charming."
Darry opened his mouth, but Two-Bit intercepted. "We've been friends since grade school. Inseperable, we are."
"Excuse us," Darry said, grabbing his friend's arm. "What are you doing?" he whispered.
"You said you didn't like her, so I figured, why waste her? I thought my charm was pretty good," Two-Bit replied, rubbing his knuckles on his shirt professionally.
"If you're going to pretend to be a gentleman, don't do it on her."
A grin seeped itself on the Matthew boy's face. "You want to know what I think?"
"No."
"I think that you really like her, you just don't know it yet," Two-Bit stated, still smirking. "Inside, you're just a little kid, bein' all mean and junk, but secretly, you like her."
"WHAT!"
"You heard. Why else wouldn't you want me to take her away from you? I mean, I won't touch now that she's your woman."
"She's not m-"
"So, then, you want me to charm her away from you?"
"No, leave her alone!" Darry whispered fiercely.
"I got yah,"Two-Bit said with a wink. "She's all your's. Too up tight for me anyways. I like 'em loose."
"Would you get out of here before I'm forced to do something drastic?" Darry exclaimed quietly.
"Alright, alright! I'm outta here, but the second you too break up-" Two-Bit started.
"Get!" Darry hissed, taking a swing at his friend.
"See yah! Tell me how it goes, lover boy," Two-Bit teased with a crazy grin on his face. He turned around just in time to miss Darry's second attempted blow.
Darry walked back to his seat in a huff. I don't like her, he thought. She's annoying, and besides, I don't date. I have two brothers to look after, a job and besides, she looks like a soc anyways. Why would she want to go out on a date with one of us?
"Where's your friend?" Tessa asked, breaking her date's thoughts.
"He - uh - just had to run an errand and said he was really sorry to leave on such short notice," Darry lied. His eyes flickered back to the screen for a second.
Tessa sighed lightly. "That's too bad. But I suppose, it's just the two of us now, right?" She leaned to her right and rested her head on the Curtis's arm. "That's what I was hoping for."
Darry allowed himself to give a smile. What could it hurt? No one else was going to see it.
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile."
Looking down, startled, Darry saw Tessa staring up at him. "Well, I've just...have a lot on my mind, is all. I - miss my brothers."
Why was that sentence so hard to say? Darry asked himself.
"Aww, that's really sweet." A small hand was placed on Darry arm. "I'm sorry if this comes off as rude, but, what happened to your brothers?"
What do I tell her? My brothers were taken away from me because I hit one of them? I was an unfit guardian? Yeah, that's going to go over well...
Darry swallowed hard. "Well..it's like this; you see," his mind raced for some excuse, "I just couldn't seem to get enough money to raise them and...the state said that I couldn't care for them anymore and they took them away."
He felt horrible about lying, he really did. He just did not want Tessa to think he was some kind of monster. Guilt had already started to eat at his insides.
"You'll get them back. You're a great guy. I've never seen anyone care so much about his brothers like you just did," Tessa comforted. "In fact, I'd like to see more of you, not just in Anger Management."
"I'd like that too," Darry answered.
They drew close for their first kiss. Darry felt her warm breath reach his lips. Then a scream errupted out of nowhere, making Tessa jump back in her seat.
Damn movies... Darry thought.
"Sorry," Tessa whispered. "I'm alittle jumpy." She giggled. "How about this Friday? Around 7:00? We could go out to eat or something," she offered.
Darry gave a rare smile. "I can't wait."
The lights slowly came on and people began to get up and make their way towards the exit.
"I guess the movie's over," Tessa speculated, looking around. "I had fun."
"Yeah, so did I. It was the best movie I ever went to see," Darry announced cheerfully. "So..I guess I'll see you later?"
"Of course." Tessa smiled.
Darry slowly swooped down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "See yah."
Tessa blushed. "Bye."
As Darry reached the old truck, a thought struck him. "Glory, the world's coming to an end; Two-Bit was right!"
There you have it! Review please, I'm quite happy with this chapter but please tell me what I could improve on!
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