27. Cross Your Heart

The girl shivered on our couch, despite the blanket I'd wrapped around her, and I glanced over at Tim who was watching her as closely as I was from his spot at our kitchen table. Two-Bit had decided to go out with Steve and Soda, partially to get Soda out of the house and partially because they all needed to stop waiting by the phone all day. He'd cut back on the drinking, but we were all tense, waiting for James to call about Pony. Or, even better, for Pony to call. So I could understand him needing to cut loose a little. I just hoped he kept a handle on himself. Soda too...he didn't drink all that much, except for on Pony's birthday, and that hadn't gone well. Heck, I kind of wanted to take a few beers out of the fridge and let loose myself. But we needed to get Pony back, and for some reason, it was like if I didn't think about him all the time, and if I didn't stay focused, it wouldn't happen.

Pony was awful sick according to James. He had fallen off a ladder and James was taking care of him but he was sick and I wasn't there. James had promised to call if anything changed the day before, and he had yesterday. I hadn't been there, though. Two-Bit had answered and had told me later when I got home that there wasn't really any change…Pony was still sick and still unconscious. I couldn't think about it, though…not until he called again. I figured if he didn't call by the next day, I'd have to get Dally to call…I'd make him put my brother on the phone. I had to talk to him. That had been on my mind all day at work, up on a roof, doing my best to focus on my job and failing.

Pony was sick.

I wasn't there.

I had no idea how bad it was…how sick he really was. What if he didn't get better? It had been so long since I'd seen him...what if I never did again?

No. That was ridiculous. I couldn't think that. Not with him so far away and me stuck here, not even sure where I could find him. I couldn't risk it even if I knew where he was. I couldn't risk leading anyone to him, or anyone finding out where he was. Besides, my boss wasn't about to give me that much time off, nor could we afford it. The bills had to be paid whether or not my little brother was sick. And I knew Pony needed rest if he was as sick as James said. I didn't want to risk him getting worse just cause I wanted to talk to him so bad. But if he was still this sick in a few days, I'd have to figure out how to send some money…probably through Dallas.

I'd called the place where Soda and Steve had taken Two-Bit while Susan had been in the shower...some bar across town. Not the best place to hang out, but better than Buck's where I assumed Dallas was. Soda knew that I worried too much when he went to Buck's…it seemed I heard of someone getting stabbed there every week or so. Bad enough Pony had gone there once to get Dally, although I couldn't stop being grateful that Dal had gotten him out of town…I just didn't want either of my brothers anywhere near that place, especially not Ponyboy. He was too small and too quiet and I kept remembering how those socs had held him down with a knife to his throat…how he'd cried on the sidewalk after we'd saved him and how he'd pulled away from me. Of course, it always had been Soda who could comfort him…I was never as good at it as him. Maybe I was too rough…

Or maybe he just didn't like me as much.

I didn't want Sodapop at Buck's either, though. He was reckless and sometimes spoke before he thought, and the last thing I needed was him getting jumped at that place. I knew Steve and Two-Bit were with him, but if they got cue sticks or blades and it turned into some kind of brawl, one of them could really get hurt. If something were to happen to Soda right now...glory, I needed to stop worrying so much.

I'd told the guy that answered that I needed to talk to Sodapop Curtis and he'd given my brother the phone after a minute of yelling into the crowd I assumed was there.

"Hey, Darry. What's going on? Did Pony call?"

I'd been glad he hadn't sounded drunk but had to strain to hear him over the music in the background. He practically had to yell.

"Is Two-Bit with you?" I'd asked loudly, cutting him off as Tim had lifted an eyebrow from across the room, his eyes going back to the hallway where we could hear the shower running.

"Yeah…what's going on?" Sodapop had sounded worried then. I'd glanced over at the bathroom door where the girl had been for almost twenty minutes. A dark thought had crossed my mind but I pushed it away. The girl would be fine…she was upset but I didn't think she'd do anything drastic.

"Tell him to get over here…all of you need to come home."

"What's wrong, Darry?" he'd demanded then.

I hadn't wanted to tell him. He was worried enough about Pony and the guys that had thrown a rock through our window…now this! But the girl needed her brother. I knew her well enough, but I knew she wasn't gonna be okay until Two-Bit came back.

"It's Susan…some guys broke into Two-Bit's house and…"

"Is she okay?" Soda had cut me off. We didn't know the girl all that well…Two-Bit didn't bring her around too much. Sure, there were days when she followed him to the house, back when she was younger and couldn't stay alone. Every once in a while he'd bring her for dinner and the guys would all be on their best behavior. At only just fourteen, I didn't think she ought to be staying alone all night, almost every night. I'd certainly never left Pony alone all night.

On the rare night after our parents had died that I had to work that late, or once when I'd spent a weekend out with my friends, I made sure Sodapop stayed home with him. Pony might have thought I was being overly protective, but I knew if someone got it in their head to come into our house, I needed someone else to be there. Still, no matter how I disagreed with Two-Bit and even their mother's style of taking care of Susan, it was none of my business…until she showed up on my doorstep, shaking and crying and bleeding and begging me for help.

Then it became my business.

"She's pretty shaken up…got a couple of cuts and bruises too, but I think she'll be alright."

"We're on our way."

In the kitchen, Tim sat with his arms crossed, keeping an eye on the bathroom door. Our friend had been hanging around our side of town around more and more recently. He never said why, just hanging out and eating cake and reading my newspaper…playing cards with us and watching our TV. Sometimes Curly would come, which I hated because he always reminded me of Ponyboy. The two had hung out sometimes…not just burning themselves with cigarettes either. They did other dumb stuff…Pony was usually the voice of reason from what I could tell though. Sometimes they'd be gone all day, out by the railroad tracks or sneaking into movies…Curly was a lot tougher than Pony, though. Meaner, too, and he always had my brother's back, even if he was the one that got Ponyboy into trouble a lot of the time.

Tim's guys had kept an eye out for him when he was closer to their side of town and our guys did when he'd stayed over here. I figured Tim was keeping an eye on us now, with those guys after us, but it looked like it wasn't just us they'd be after. I'd never thought they'd go after some girl that Pony had rarely even talked to. Guess they didn't know that though. "She's alright?" he'd confirmed.

I had shrugged. "Yeah, I think so," I'd told him, glancing again at the bathroom door. He had his own kid sister, even though his was about Soda's age and could pretty well take care of herself. When Susie had finally emerged from the bathroom, she'd had red eyes swollen from crying, even though she was obviously trying not to let on. I hadn't called her out, cleaning up the cuts on her face and hands, and the scrape on her knee. She hadn't fought me, but I knew it hurt and tried to make it quick, finding myself taken aback when she'd told me that she'd only had a candy bar for dinner and that her mother hadn't gotten groceries.

They didn't have enough food. That thought had hit me hard as I'd offered her some dinner. Sure, money was tight sometimes, especially after our parents had died. Sometimes we'd had to scrimp a little, making smaller meals and making due with hand-me-downs clothes, Pony especially, but glory, we always had food. I made sure of it. My little brothers wouldn't go hungry. Ponyboy had money for lunch and Soda had food to take to the gas station or money to buy something. We always at least had bread and bologna in the house, and even though Ponyboy hadn't eaten much when we'd first lost our parents, we'd made sure to have enough food in the house in case he wanted anything.

Two-Bit knew this. He'd known that we always let our friends come over to eat when they needed to. He could have brought Susan anytime and we would have found enough food for her. Hell, he had sometimes! Looking down on the shaking girl on our sofa, I felt a wave of anger both at Two-Bit and at their mother. The girl had been left on her own, no food in the house, no one to protect her, and I knew that Two was doing the best he could but he let his mom work all the time and didn't even offer to chip in and…it was none of my business. I shoved the thoughts away, shaking my head a little and looking back at Tim who was still watching the girl. Regardless, from then on, I swore I'd keep a better eye on the girl. She wasn't my blood but she was just a kid, and my friend's little sister and she deserved to have someone looking out for her.

I'd tried to get the girl to sleep since it was so late, but she wasn't having it. Instead, Two-Bit's sister huddled on the sofa, a blanket wrapped around her, eyes drooping as she tried to stay awake. I wanted to offer her food again, but I doubted she'd take it. Sighing, I grabbed a glass and filled it with water, placing it on the table beside her. She glanced at it, then up at me. After a second, she reached out and took a drink. "You sure you don't want something to eat, hon? A sandwich or some chicken…" I hesitated for a second, then smiled. "Chocolate cake?"

She glanced up at me again with a hesitant smile. "Ponyboy told me…" she paused then, glancing at the door, then at the ground, shrinking against the sofa. "Sorry."

I knelt down, my hands clasped as I crouched beside her. "What are you sorry for?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet.

"I know…I know that you miss him a lot."

My eyebrows lifted in surprise and I reached out, dropping a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, kiddo. I miss him something awful. Doesn't mean you can't say his name around me. What did he tell you?"

"Um…he told me that you let him eat chocolate cake for breakfast…I was jealous."

I grinned. "Well, in the morning, you can have chocolate cake for breakfast. Heck, you can have some now if you want it."

She opened her mouth to answer when tires squealed outside.

The door hit the wall when it opened, probably making another dent, and Tim had his gun out and pointed at the guy standing there so quick I almost couldn't follow. I stood up from where I was crouching beside the girl, then stepped out of the way when I saw who it was. Two-Bit and Sodpop stood in the doorway, both soaked from the rain, my little brother's wide eyes on that gun, Two's on his sister. I grabbed Tim's shoulder, making him point the gun away from Soda while Two-Bit ran over to his sister, dropping to his knees and grabbing her. Tim put the gun away while she threw her arms around his neck, her face in his shoulder. He sat down on the couch after a second, her in his arms as he held her, murmuring something I couldn't hear from where I'd moved to the other side of the room.

"Shit…" Sodapop whispered, looking at me. Steve was right behind him, nodding to Tim and trying not to stare at the siblings on our couch as he shut the door behind them. I reached out and grabbed Soda's shoulder, pulling him closer for a second. He gave me a weak grin when I squeezed him. "They do that to her face?" he asked quietly.

"No…she said she fell running over here."

He nodded, leaning his shoulder against mine for a second.

"Hey, Dar…" Two-Bit's voice was rough, but his eyes were dry, his jaw clenched when he stared up at me. The girl kept her face hidden in his shoulder, arms around him, and he rubbed her back. "Think we can crash for tonight?"

I nodded immediately, but it was Soda who spoke up.

"Susie, you can sleep in my old room if you want. Two, you want the sofa?"

"Sure. Thanks, man." He reached down, shaking her a little. "Come on, honey, let's get you to bed." We all cleared out to the kitchen while he got her up, walking her into the room Sodapop used to sleep in. Tim stood against the counter, the rest of us sitting at the table, all of us waiting for him to come back out. I couldn't hear anything from the other bedroom, but Two was in there for a while.

When he finally came out, he dropped into a chair, then jumped up, throwing the refrigerator door open, grabbing a bottle of beer, then dropping into the chair again. Instead of opening it, though, he left it on the table, his head in his hands. After a minute, Steve reached out and grabbed it, pulling his knife out and using the bottle opener to pop it open, then took a swig. Two-Bit looked up, giving him a halfhearted glare, but Steve just shrugged.

"You weren't going to drink it," he reasoned.

Tim moved before any of the rest of us, grabbing Two-Bit before he could tackle Steve. Steve jumped up, Soda right behind him, both of them backing out of range, and I started to grab Two-Bit but Tim had it handled, pushing him back into his chair. For a minute, there was a long tense silence. Then Two-Bit reached out, grabbing the bottle of beer from the table and throwing it against the wall. We all flinched, our faces all turned away.

"He went after my sister," he told us, his voice barely a whisper. "He went after my baby sister!" His fist hit the table so hard I was afraid he was going to break it, and I steadied it, glaring at him. No way he could pay for a new one, and I couldn't either. Soda spoke up before I could, though.

"We need to call that cop…Officer Charlton."

I knew Steve was still disgusted at the idea, but I agreed. "Do you want me to go ahead and call, Two?"

"What the hell good will that do, huh?"

"Someone broke into your house and attacked your sister."

"And what's the fuzz gonna do? When is he gonna do something about this guy, huh? Who's next? My mom? Steve's dad?"

"They can have him," Steve deadpanned and I fought a grin. I could tell Two-Bit was too, but he shook his head after a second, sobering.

"He's gotta get proof…it would be better if one of those kids would testify. But the guys already said they wouldn't," Soda reminded him.

"What about the girl?" Two demanded.

"We've tried catching up with her, but she don't spend much time outside…not that I've seen," Tim put in. "Besides, I doubt she's gonna talk. I never saw her and the kid together…doubt they were close. She's gonna split as soon as she can, and we'll never see her again. His wife sure as hell ain't gonna talk and his buddies are all in it with him." Tim shook his head, hands shoved in his pockets. "We'll keep an eye out, but I don't know how we're gonna get anyone to talk."

"We'll figure it out, man," Steve told him, patting Two-Bit on the shoulder. "In the meantime, we'll keep an eye on Susie, okay? She'll be so sick of us hanging around she'll start locking the door."

Two-Bit grinned, reaching out and squeezing Steve's arm for a second.

"Yeah, she can come to the DX with us," Sodapop spoke up. "We'll teach her how to fix cars…she can fix that old truck of yours." Two-Bit snorted.

"When she's sick of that, Superman can teach her how to roof houses," Steve put in.

I rolled my eyes, laughing. Man it felt good to laugh. For just a second, I forgot about my sick little brother, alone with just Johnny and some stranger to take care of him. "Yeah, that's what we need…let's put the girl on a ladder."

"Then we'll send her with Dally to the races."

"Oh hell no," Two-Bit laughed, and even though it was shaky, he was dry-eyed. "Dal ain't taking my sister to that hell-hole where he lives!"

"Why the hell not?"

We all jumped, Tim's hand on his hip where the gun was hidden, and Dal followed the movement with a brow lifted, his grin dropping.

"For the love…will you lock your damn door, Darrel?" Tim demanded and I jumped up, pushing past Dallas to do just that. We never locked our door, but everyone was here…I'd probably just need to get Two-Bit, Steve, and Dal a copy of the key.

"What's going on? Why can't Susie come visit me?" he asked with a smirk, looking between all of us as I came back to the kitchen.

"Couple of guys broke into Two-Bit's house. Roughed her up," Steve told him, all of us quiet, the laughter forgotten.

"The hell? Where are they?" he demanded, looking around the room like we might have them stashed somewhere. "Why didn't you go after them?"

"Darrel and I were the only ones here," Tim informed him. "Not like we could just leave the girl by herself again." Two-Bit flinched, but Tim either didn't notice or didn't care. "They scared her to death, man."

"She okay?" he asked, looking at Two.

For all his talk of hating kids, I thought with a half smile, he sure looked after enough of them.

"I don't really know." Two-Bit admitted. "She's pissed at me…I don't blame her, really."

"She was scared, man," I reminded him. "Those guys hurt her…"

"Because I wasn't there," he finished for me, hands tight in fists again. "Because I left her alone. Again. Even though I knew there were people after us. She's only fourteen and they could have…"

"But they didn't," Soda reminded him, glancing over at Dally. "They roughed her up, but she's gonna be alright."

"Damn it…" Dally murmured, arms crossed as he glanced over at Tim. "They let her go?" he confirmed.

Tim shook his head, grinning a little. "Naw, man. She punched one of 'em and got away."

Dal nodded, then glanced over at the doorway, grinning himself. "Thumb outside your fist?" he asked, holding up a hand as an example, and we all turned to find the girl in the doorway, shrinking back from us. She grinned a little when Dallas did, though, holding up her fist, the one with bruised knuckles.

"Yeah."

"Right here?" He tapped his own nose on the side. She nodded again.

"Yep."

"And the other one? Where I taught you?"

She flushed a little but nodded. "Hard as I could."

"Good girl." He walked over, ruffling her hair like he would Pony's sometimes, throwing an arm around her. She looked tiny in Pony's clothes, the shirt drooping off her shoulder, and she looked even smaller standing next to Dally.

"When did you teach her how to fight?" Two-Bit asked with a grin. He reached out his arm and she moved to stand beside him.

"I gave her and Ponyboy a ride back from school one day. After you kicked out that creep your mom was dating. He helped too…let her punch him."

Soda snorted.

Two-Bit glanced over at the girl standing beside him. "You're a fighter now, huh? How come you didn't tell me?"

"Cause you're never home," she told him, her voice quiet, and we all went kind of still then.

Two-Bit swallowed hard, reaching up and patting her shoulder. "It ain't gonna be like that no more, honey," he told her softly. "You ain't staying alone no more." He glanced over at me, like he was asking permission for something, and I nodded. We sure had the room if they needed it. We'd make room.

"You ain't gonna tell Mom…" She trailed off.

He glanced at me again. "We gotta call that cop. He'll probably talk to her. But that don't matter. If I can't stay with ya, you're gonna stay here, okay? Somebody's always here."

"That's right, kiddo. We ain't using that old room." Soda put in.

"Wasn't it…I mean…it's Ponyboy's, right?"

"Naw. Me and him shared a room. That's just a spare room."

"We got plenty of chocolate cake," I told her, and she grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"We're gonna look after you, kid. Nobody's gonna bug you," Dal put in, arms crossed.

She nodded.

"Hey…" Two tapped her on her arm. "I mean it. You ain't gonna be home alone anymore. I'll look after you. All of us will."

He'd said the same thing to my little brother after his fourteenth birthday. I'd woken up to find him sobbing into Two-Bit shoulder, our friend rubbing his back and promising that they'd all look after him. I'd leaned against the wall in the kitchen, listening to my little brother sob that he wanted our mom and dad back and had just about cried myself. I wanted them back too. So much. Every day.

"Cross my heart, hope to die," Two-Bit went on, grinning a little at his sister. She glanced at the fridge, then at the floor where the shattered beer bottle still lay, but didn't say anything. Reaching into his pocket, he took her wrist, pulling her hand toward him. She held it out, and he put his black handled switch into it. Her eyes widened, meeting his as he curled her fingers around it. "And if one of those guys ever gets close to you again, honey, you go ahead and stick this needle in their eye."