32. Back to Work

"Hey, you're alive!" Sue grinned at me from behind the counter, the big guy who usually hung around giving me a once over and nodding, not looking happy, exactly, to see me, but not upset either. When we'd walked over, Johnny had caught me up, telling me the kind of stuff he did at work, and that the big guy that hung around a lot was her cousin.

Beside me, Johnny smirked and nudged me hard, and I had to fight not to kick him. Her dress was yellow, matching the ribbons in her hair, and I did my best to keep my eyes on hers and not let my ears get even redder. Even if she wasn't rich or nothing, she dressed like a soc, and there's no way a girl like her would ever be interested in a guy like me, even if she was friendly.

"Yeah…" I nodded, wanting to kick Johnny again when he snorted, walking off to find our boss. "I better…uh…tell Mr. Williams that I'm back."

"Sure." She gave a half wave, going back to waiting on the customer standing in front of her.

"She looks good, huh?"

"Shut up," I grumbled, nudging him where he was waiting for me in front of the workroom door. Pushing past him, I opened the door, both of us heading back to Mr. Williams' desk. He glanced up, then did a double take, looking me up and down as he stood up.

"Michael? How are you feeling, son?" he asked, holding out a hand. I took it, fighting to meet his eyes, not wanting him to think I was rude.

"Fine, sir."

"Good." He was eyeing me critically, his eyes going to my arms, which were covered by the long sleeves I still always wore. "Are you sure you're up to coming back to work? If you need to take a few more days, you're not going to lose your job."

"I'm okay," I insisted.

"Alright." He nodded, glancing over at Johnny. "Patrick can show you everything that needs to be done, in case you can't remember. You had a pretty high fever the last time you were here, so I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't remember. You can come to me if you have any questions." He crossed his arms. "No ladders, alright? I mean it, Mike. Stay on the floor. And if you start to feel bad, you can sit down, or if you need to go home, that's fine too."

Johnny nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him," he promised, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, boys. Get to work. I'll be at my desk if you need me."

Johnny took me around the back room, pointing out where everything was and where I'd find what I needed to restock. The cleaning supplies were all in a closet and we started by getting boxes of cans or paper towels or whatever needed restocking and taking them out onto the floor. He took all the high shelves and I knelt down and did the lower shelves. I got dizzy every once in a while, but it usually passed pretty quick.

Sue waited until the store was just about closed before she came over. Johnny was on the other side of the store, putting away toilet paper on the top shelves, so he couldn't say anything smart or embarrass me, which I would probably do just fine on my own. Not that I thought he'd actually tease me in front of her…but I knew I'd be able to feel his eyes on me and be embarrassed.

"Hey, Mike. You sure you're feeling okay?"

I wiped off my forehead, sitting up on my knees. "Yeah. I'm alright. Just had the flu or something." I had no idea what had been wrong with me, but whatever it was, it seemed to be mostly gone.

"Yeah? Good." She hesitated, glancing around. "I was worried."

"You ain't gotta worry about me. I'm fine," I told her, my chest kind of tight as I grinned. She was pretty, but she was nice.

Sue grinned back, crossing her arms. "My dad was pretty worried. Patrick too. Must have been some flu." I just shrugged. "You coming to church with us on again? I figured you were still too sick yesterday."

"Yeah. I wasn't really up to it, but we'll come Sunday."

"Patrick likes church too?"

"Me and him would go sometimes back home."

"You got any other family?" I guess her father hadn't told her we weren't really brothers. I shook my head, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to give her too much information. I didn't think she'd ever rat us out or nothing, but the fewer people who knew anything about me in this city, the better.

"Nah. Not anymore."

"Well, you're lucky to have Patrick, then."

I nodded. "Yeah, I am."

She started to say something else, but her cousin walked over, lifting an eyebrow at me and nodding, glancing between me and Sue.

"Mike, this is my cousin, Marcus. Marcus, this is Michael."

I stood and held out a hand that he shook after a second, nodding and squeezing my hand kind of hard.

"Nice to meet you, Michael."

"Yeah, you too."

He let go and I slouched a little, hooking my thumbs in my jeans, going back to the old posture I relied on, trying to look tough, which was ridiculous since this guy was almost as big as Darry and could probably knock me on my ass before I could say 'boo' to him, but I could hold my own in a rumble pretty well. I hoped it didn't come to it with him, though.

"I'll let you get back to work. I'm going to head home. Goodnight, Mike."

"Night, Sue." I nodded to Marcus. "See you around, man."

"Sure…see you around, kid." He waved over his shoulder, then lead her out the door. Mr. Williams followed behind right after, leaving me and Johnny alone in the store. A few times while we were cleaning up, mopping and dusting and taking out the trash, I had to stop, leaning against the shelves or, once, at Johnny's insistence, going to the back room and sitting on the sofa, drinking some water, then joining him again. We quit at 11, him dropping the keys through the mail slot.

"Well, what did you think?" he asked me as we were walking back to the apartment. "Not too bad, huh?"

"Nah. I guess it's easier with two people."

"We got more done, that's for sure." He yawned, stretching his arms up, then grinning over at me. "You hungry?"

"Starving," I admitted, kind of surprised by the fact.

"Come on." He jerked his head, turning left instead of right when we got to the road where James lived, leading us to a diner where music was still blasting through the speakers. I had to admit, I still wasn't used to anything but bars being open this late.

"Think this is where James works?" I wondered as the waitress led us to a booth in the back right against the window. The place was almost full, mostly greasy looking guys eating burgers and girls in short skirts drinking milkshakes and giggling together. A few of the girls glanced over our way, some of them looking curious, and one kept looking at Johnny, trying to catch his eye until I kicked him, jerking my head toward her. His cheeks went kind of dark and he kicked me back.

"Maybe. There's another diner about a block away, and another one the other way, closer to that church you went to." he told me, ignoring the girl.

"You wanna go sit with her? I won't mind."

He kicked me again, this time harder, but he was grinning and I laughed. "You gonna call your brothers tonight?"

"Yeah, I told Two-Bit I would."

"You talked to Two-Bit?"

"Oh…yeah. I called last night after you went to bed, but Soda and Darry were already asleep." The waitress came over, notepad in hand, and we both ordered burgers and shakes, then I turned back to Johnny. "We can both talk to everyone tonight. They're probably sick of just talking to me."

He snorted. "I doubt it. Soda and Darry miss you like crazy."

"They all miss you too," I reminded him. He waved me off, but he was smiling a little. I wanted to say more…to remind him that he was family and the gang couldn't live without him, but I figured that might be a little too much emotional talk for one night, so I let it go. "So they got cops in the neighborhood, looking out for those guys. I told you about the rock?"

"Yeah…and everyone's alright?"

"They're fine…" I glanced around, then leaned in. I hadn't told him about Susie yet. I don't know why…I guess everything happened kind of fast and I was worried and…either way, I told him all about it as we sat waiting for our food, finishing up by telling him that the gang was keeping a closer eye on her now.

"Glory…I'll bet Two-Bit's pissed."

"Yeah…"

"Scared too. You sure she's okay?" Him and Susie weren't close but she was family or as good as.

"He said she was. Offered to let me talk to her, but she was asleep."

"And it happened on Tuesday night?"

"Yeah. Ever since they've all been keeping an eye on her. But…I don't know how they even knew about her."

"Probably just followed Two-Bit and found out where he lived. It wouldn't have been hard…could have followed him from your place. But if they're watching out for her, and Tim's hanging around, there's not really anyone else to go after. Steve's got his dad, but he probably won't care if they rough him up." We both laughed at that and our waitress brought the burgers and chocolate milkshakes that we downed almost immediately, me dipping my fries in the chocolate ice cream and Johnny wolfing down his burger.

"You know it ain't your fault, right?" he asked quietly when most of his burger was gone. I stared at the fries on my plate, swirling one in ketchup. "I mean…shoot, Pone, you didn't ask for any of this."

"I was the one who wanted to go to the park, Johnny." For a long second, he was silent, and I could feel his eyes on me. I stared at my fries, though, listening to the guys at the next table over. They were talking about some guy named Pete. Behind us were some girls all whispering, and every once in a while I heard a name. It was still weird being here, alone with Johnny in the city where no one knew us and where I had no idea who anyone was. Back home, I'd known just about everyone, at least by name. Here, I knew James, the guy I worked for, his daughter, and maybe three other guys.

"You can't be serious." Johnny was shaking his head, eyes wide, and I vaguely realized that the guys at the next table over were glancing at us, but none of them came over.

"I fell asleep in the lot. I made Darry mad. I wanted to go to the park." I stared back down at my friends while I listed my many mistakes.

"You've more than paid for all that…"

"Now I'm hiding out while that asshole goes after my family and Two's sister and…"

"He would have killed you!" He was talking too loud and I gave him a look. He lowered his voice, but not by a whole lot. "Have you looked at yourself, man? He almost did kill you." He didn't have to spell out what he was talking about, and I dropped the fry on the plate, suddenly not at all hungry. "I mean…shit, Pony. Look at your arms! And he…"

I stood up, not letting him finish. I didn't want to hear it. I mean, I knew he'd seen, but I sure as hell didn't want to talk about it. Leaving him open-mouthed, I about ran to the bathroom, throwing open the door and almost running into a big guy in a leather jacket. Good to know I wasn't the only one who wore long sleeves in the summer. He lifted an eyebrow at me, shoving me aside and warning me to 'watch it,' then left. Honestly, I was just grateful that he left it at that instead of slugging me. I leaned forward against one of the sinks, closing my eyes and breathing slow, not wanting to throw up the first really good food I'd had in a while.

He wasn't wrong about Richard. That man had hated me from the get-go. Of course, I wasn't special or nothing. He hated all of the foster kids. I figured his wife took them in for the money and he just put up with it. They got money every month for every kid they took in…I wondered as I stared at the sink if they'd taken in any more kids. Surely with one kid dead and one missing, they weren't allowed to take in any more. He'd been unfriendly from the beginning, but it hadn't been until after I'd talked to the social worker that he'd really gotten mean. He hadn't used the belt on me before that.

And then there'd been the stuff at night.

At first, I'd tried to think about Dallas…how he would take it. But Dally would strangle someone with that belt before he let them hit him with it. I couldn't fight him, though. I wasn't big enough or strong enough, especially considering they barely fed us. Mark and Tyler never did anything…I mean, they didn't know all of it, sure, but they'd cleared out more than once when he took that belt off. Then again, I didn't blame them. If they'd tried, he would have been worse to them.

That was a lie.

I blamed them.

I blamed them every time I looked at my arms or felt a scar on my back. It just sounded better to say I didn't blame them. They could have helped. They could have stepped in…I sure did for Lianne. Not just her, neither. I got plenty of shit for it, but I took it. They didn't…they took off whenever they could and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves.

But they also gave me money for food sometimes too…gave me rides to school in the morning when it was cold. At school, no one ever really messed with me, and sometimes they'd sit with me at lunch. They weren't my brothers, but they'd lived with me. Shared a bedroom, all of us crammed together in that tiny room, and after the first day, they'd never tried to mess with me or hurt me or nothing.

But they'd also let that man hurt me.

I glanced down at the sleeves that went all the way to my wrists and tugged them down, just barely covering the blister that almost went up to the back of my hand. Richard had made sure to only hurt me where I could hide it…he was real considerate that way. I hadn't seen my back…not really. I never tried to look. I'd just forced myself under the shower every time, making sure to clean up good so it never got infected. The burns were harder…everything hurt, all the time, but I wasn't sure how to keep those from getting infected, so I just put whatever medicine I could on them.

"You on a bad trip or what, kid?"

I jerked my head up and found a greaser from the diner standing in the bathroom beside me, eyebrow cocked as he crossed his arms. "What?" I asked dumbly, dropping my hand on the rim of the sink.

"You on some kind of drugs?"

I shook my head, looking back down at my hands. They were shaking. I figured I was pretty pale from being sick still…guess I did look kind of like an addict. "Nah. Just…sick," I muttered, scooting past him to go back to the booth where Johnny sat, playing with one of his fries. I dropped into the booth across from him, fighting to meet his eyes.

He put the fry down. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said anything," he almost whispered.

My hands were shaking under the table…apparently, that's what happened when I made eye-contact for more than three seconds now. Still, I made myself look at him. "You ready to go? We gotta hurry if you wanna call the guys," I reminded him instead of answering. This wasn't something I wanted to hash out at a diner…or anywhere else, for that matter.

"Yeah, man. Sure." He threw the money on the table, leaving a tip for the waitress, and we were out the door before he brought it up again. "I know it was real hard on you…"

"How the hell would you know?" I snapped before I could stop myself. "Shit, Johnny, you think you have any idea what it was like, living with that asshole? Huh?" I whirled on him in the street, hands clenched.

"No…but I know what it's like to live with people that don't want you around," he offered, slouching and shoving his hands in his pockets, making me deflate, the anger draining out of me and leaving me weak. I felt my eyes get hot, and I wiped at them impatiently. Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder, and I flinched, hating myself. He kept his hand on my arm though, squeezing gently. "I don't know what all he did to you. But I know you can talk to me…you're my best friend, Pone. You know? I mean, I know I ain't your brother..."

"Sure you are." I forced myself to meet his eyes again. Sure it was hard, but it was important. "Shoot, Johnny, you're my brother in every way that matters."

His eyes widened, and then he put his arms around me right there on the street, patting my back, and I was fighting tears again. I was turning into a baby these days…Steve would sure get a kick out of it if he knew. I hugged him back, my head on his shoulder. He'd gotten taller…but I had too, I guess. "I'm real glad you're here," I whispered after a long minute, and he nodded.

"Yeah…me too." He pulled back then, his hand shooting out and ruffling my hair. I laughed, pushing him away. "Come on, Ponyboy. Let's get back so we can call the guys."

"Yeah, alright."

He grinned, slinging an arm around me, and together we headed back to the apartment.

No one was home when we reached the apartment…either that, or James was asleep in his room. We both dropped onto the sofa, me grabbing the phone and dialing first thing while Johnny kicked his shoes off. The phone rang only once before Darry picked up.

"Hello?" he asked, sounding both wary and hopeful.

"Hey, Darry." I grinned, gripping the phone tight.

"Ponyboy." He sighed my name. "Hey, kiddo. You sound like you're feeling better." In the background, I heard someone else yelling, and the music on in the background was turned down.

"Yeah. We just got back from work."

"How was it?" Then, immediately after. "Hang on, kiddo." I guess he put his hand over the phone, and then he was yelling. "Dang it, Two-Bit. You break that, I'll skin you!"

I felt my chest get real tight...glory I wanted to be back home so bad. Johnny patted me on the back...apparently I was pretty transparent.

"Is that Pony on the phone?" someone else asked…it sounded like a girl, so I had to assume it was Susie.

"Hey, let me talk to him!" That was Sodapop.

"Wait your turn." Darry sounded like he was laughing, then he was back. "Sorry Pone. How was work?"

"Fine. We just put stuff on shelves and clean up."

"Your new boss was okay with you taking time off?"

"Yeah. He was real nice about it. How are you guys? Anything else happened?"

"Nope. You ain't gotta worry about us, Ponyboy. We can take care of ourselves."

"Yeah, kid!" That was Steve, and I laughed when there was a crash and a yelp, assuming Darry had just shoved him into something.

"Here, let me!"

"I said wait your turn."

Johnny laughed from where he was pressed up beside me, his ear right by the phone so he could hear too. Darry and Soda didn't bicker like that much…not since Darry was about sixteen anyway.

Then there was another crash, and Darry was yelling, but he sounded further away.

"Hey kid. It's Dallas. How's it going? How's Johnny."

"I'm good, Dal," Johnny spoke up.

"Hey…can both of you hear me?"

I could hear Darry yelling something in the background and grinned. "Yeah, Dal. We can both hear."

"Alright, listen up then. James keeping an eye on you?"

"Yeah," Johnny told him.

"Good. You two staying out of trouble?" he demanded

"Yeah," I assured him.

"Keep it that way. I mean it, you two. It's a miracle you've lasted this long alone."

"Hey!" Soda yelled, and Johnny grinned at me. "He's a smart kid. Both of 'em. They'll be fine."

"Sure." Dally was rolling his eyes…I could hear it in his voice. "Look, that cop's still just looking into things. Tim and his guys too. So nothing new there. They're talking about Richard getting a new foster kid."

"Shit…" I muttered under my breath, exchanging a worried look with Johnny. "They can't…right? I mean…he…they found Lianne," I choked out, running a hand through my hair. "Right?"

"Yeah," he told me, sighing.

"They…they can't give him more kids!"

"The cop, Officer Charlton, is trying to stop it. He ain't got much to go on, though."

"I'll talk to him. Hell, Dally, I'll come back."

"No you won't. Even if you talk to him, what's he gonna say? That he knew you were alive and didn't say anything? Then the rest of us will get dragged into it…just stay put, kid, and let us take care of it."

"But if I come back and they catch him hurting me…"

It hadn't worked with Two-Bit but maybe Dally would realize it was a good idea.

He did not.

"Don't even think about it!" he growled. "Kid, I swear you try something stupid like that, I'll beat the shit out of you! You savvy?"

"Dal…"

"What? What did he say?" Soda was demanding in the background.

"Something stupid. Don't worry about it."

"Dally…"

"I mean it, Ponyboy. Let us take care of this."

Glory, I was sick of letting them 'take care of it.' The thought of going back was even worse, though. Richard would kill me.

Johnny took over the conversation, then, telling Dally about the store, then Dally handed the phone over to Soda and Steve. Soda wanted to know all about work and questioned me until Steve butted in, telling us it sounded boring, but he was grinning, I could tell, and not being mean, so we laughed too. Then they told us all about the station and the cars and all the details I'd tuned out ever since they got jobs there.

I closed my eyes and dropped my head back, just listening to my brother and Steve talk. I missed them so much. I wanted to be in the room with them! I wanted Steve to make a smart comment and for Soda to smack him…I wanted Two-Bit to ruffle my hair and for us to wrestle until Darry yelled at us to knock it off before we broke something. I wanted to exchange books with Susie and read with Johnny…I wanted to go home.

I opened my eyes and Johnny was watching me real close, looking sad, and I forced a grin, cutting Steve off in the middle of a story. "Yeah, yeah. You stole their hubcaps and hawked 'em for beer money. I know this story."

He snorted while Soda laughed out loud. "You little shit. Just when I was starting to miss you."

"You still miss me." He chuckled. "I miss you too," I murmured, meaning it, and he stopped laughing, sighing instead.

"Shit, kiddo," he murmured. "We're gonna get you two home soon, you know that right?"

"Yeah, we ain't worried," Johnny spoke up, patting me on the shoulder.

"Hey, you know anything about that girl? Rita?" Steve asked. "Tim and his guys are trying to talk to her, but she don't seem to want to talk."

"Nah. We never really talked." I brushed off the question, feeling my stomach tie itself into a knot. That was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. I wasn't about to give him the whole truth, though. It wasn't my truth to tell. "Hey…can I talk to Susie?" I asked, and Johnny lifted an eyebrow at me.

I ignored him.

"Uh…sure, Pone," Soda told me. They must have been shoulder to shoulder like me and Johnny, listening as best they could at the same time, and then there was shuffling and quiet talking, and a new voice came on the phone.

"Ponyboy?"

I relaxed a little and Johnny moved away a little, giving me some privacy. "Hey Susie."

"Hey! Where you been?"

I grinned. "Away. Are you okay?"

"Sure." Her voice was light and carefree…I didn't buy it.

"Are you okay?" I asked again. "Really okay? I know those guys, Susie. I know what they do."

"Yeah…" She sighed, and I knew she wouldn't say much in front of the guys. Still, she went on. "It was…bad. But everything's fine. I swear."

"I'm so sorry, Susie."

"I know."

I was glad she didn't say it wasn't my fault. It didn't matter. "Did they hurt you?"

"Not much."

I rubbed a hand over my face. "Glory, I'm so sorry."

"I know," she told me again. It sounded like she was smiling. "I forgive you."

Grinning at the floor, I squeezed the phone. "Thanks."

"Anytime. You wanna talk to your brothers again? I think Darry wants to talk to you. Dallas kind of took the phone away from him."

"Sure. Thanks, Susie."

"Here's Darry…oh, wait. Can I borrow some of your books?"

"Yeah, Susie. Take whichever ones you want."

"Thanks. Here's your brother." With that, she handed the phone over, and I got to talk to Darry again, the whole time trying not to start crying with how bad I missed all of them. Johnny kept his shoulder against mine, chiming in and carrying the conversation when I couldn't. And when we finally said goodnight, he put his arm around my shoulder, reminding me that we could go home just as soon as this was all over.