Curly Shepherd, just three months older than I, had quickly become one of my good friends after moving to Tulsa. He had been one of the boys on the monkey bars with Pony that day, and later that night, had come over for dinner. He was the one that planted a rubber snake on my seat and earned quite the scolding from Mama as Pony and Soda both laughed and even Darry and Dad both cracked smiles.
"What're you doing outside of church?" I grinned as Curly wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Shoot kid, can't a guy just say hello to God?" I laughed as I shoved him off of me and he walked with us away from the building and the crowd of people. "Normal guys can, but not the kid that tore off his Wise Man costume during the Nativity play when he was eight, yelling that there was no way he'd be giving gold to a, and I quote, 'stupid baby!'' Curly shrugged but gave me a sly smile. "Where are your brothers?" I shook my head. "The state lady came today and they weren't exactly in the mood for singing praises"
Izzy giggled and let go of my hand, running to him and attaching herself to his leg. "Curlyboy can you please give me a shoulder ride?" She begged, sticking out her bottom lip like Soda had taught her to do in order to get away with bossing the boys around. "Works like a charm!" He had told her, as they practiced, and practiced. The lip pout even worked on Dallas.
"Curlyboy?" He asked, leaning down to look her in the eyes. "That's not my name, Dizzy Izzy!" I smiled. "She's gotten into the habit of adding "boy" after everybody's name over the last month or so. Of course, you would know that if you weren't in the reformatory!" I mocked. He grinned at me and she giggled, pulling on his hands. "Please please Curly Shepherd? Can you please give me a shoulder ride?" He jokingly sighed, but picked her up, making her squeal as he lifted her onto his shoulders and she grabbed the top of his head, giggling. "I'm so tall now!" She exclaimed, making Curly and I laugh, and Hudson smile.
"So where are you ragamuffins off to today?" He asked, the three of us, but keeping his gaze on me. "Home I guess," Hudson spoke up. "Avie's gotta watch Izzy all afternoon." "Does not!" Izzy shot back, sticking her tongue out. "I don't need a babysitter Huddy, I'm a big girl now, I can go on dates all by myself!" Hudson had a sly smirk on his face, one that reminded me so much of Dallas. It was no secret that Izzy had a big crush on Curly, and all of us knew it. "With what money, shrimp?" He mocked, making her narrow her eyes at him, and Curly laugh. "Woah, hold up kids. How about this, I take the three of you out to the Dingo for lunch, my treat-" "yay!" He was interrupted with happy cries from the kids as Izzy scrambled down his shoulders and grabbed Hudson's hand, both of them jumping up and down.
"You don't have to do that," I said quietly, as he fell into step with me and we watched the two children chat with each other about what food they wanted to order. He smiled, wrapping his arm around my shoulder once again. "And disappoint them? Avery Jane, what kind of man do you think I am?" He grinned. "Sides, like you said, I was in the reformatory for a month. I owe my best girl a catch up." I smiled and rolled my eyes, as we arrived at the Dingo. Curly opened the door and Izzy grabbed Hudson's hand, bounding up the steps.
"Thanks," I said softly, as the door closed behind us. "No problem" he replied.
...
Kathy, our waitress, was the kind of greaser girl that bleached her hair too blonde and snapped too much bubble gum, but she was alright I guess. She gave me a smirk as Izzy and Huds crawled into one side of the booth and Curly and I into the other. I gave her a look that clearly said, 'Don't even, this doesn't mean anything!' She grinned and took our drink orders, Curly and I getting root beer, Hudson getting Chocolate milk, and. Izzy getting strawberry milk.
After receiving our drinks and placing an order for our food, burgers and fries for the boys and grilled cheese with tomatoes for the girls, Izzy and Hudson dew with the crayons they were given all over their placemats, giving Curly time to say quietly to me "So how're you doing kid? Tim told me about what happened, I'm awful sorry" I shrugged, taking a sip of my root beer, watching as the kids started a game of tic tac toe. "It is what it is" I said softly, glancing at his face. Curly may have been a hood, but he wasn't as hard as Dallas and Tim. Neither of them would've showed emotion during this conversation, but he did, and he gave me a sad smile.
"Remember the day Dally tried to kill me?" He asked, laughing. I grinned as I recalled it.
Curly Shepard was the one who taught me how to skateboard when I was eleven. He had stolen one off a caravan of hippies that had come through that summer for the rodeo in town, and one day after a game of touch football in the lot, he pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to try it with him. We practiced for hours in an alley about two blocks from my house, just he and I, for four days after that. By the fourth day, my brothers and friends had gotten suspicious of where I was spending my time, Dallas included, and had come looking for me.
They found me at what had been the most in-opportune time. I was standing on the board, trying to practice keeping my balance, and Curly had his hands on my hips, helping to keep me steady. I had gotten pretty good over the last couple of days but we were running through a trick, hence the help. We were talking with each other and laughing as he walked and the board rolled, until it hit a crack in the concrete and I slipped, falling into his arms. Both of us blushed, realizing the position we were in, and immediately were stunned as shouts of "Hey!" Rang out from the end of the alley.
There they were, like raging bulls. I could hear Curly gulp as he realized he was outnumbered by two twelve year olds, a thirteen year old, and a fourteen year old. Steve and Soda weren't necessarily very intimidating at that age, but with Dal and Two Bit there as well, things weren't looking very good for my friend.
"Get your hands off my sister Shepherd!" Soda yelled, the angriest I had ever seen him. Curly and I pulled away from each other as quickly as possible and immediately tried to explain. "He was just teaching me how to skate is all!" I yelled, as Curly said, "We're just skating man!" The boys stopped about six feet from us, and Dally stared him down cooly. "Doesn't matter whatchu were doing" he mumbled, flicking out his blade. "You're dead meat!"
I grabbed Curly's arm and pulled him back. "Dal, come on man, are you serious?" I spat, angry at how protective he was over literally nothing. I glanced at the others, hoping they would realize just how ridiculous he was acting, but soon understanding they were just as mad. Footsteps were heard, and pretty soon, Tim Shepard himself was standing in front of Curly and I, facing off with Dally. Tim had just turned 15, and was at least six inches taller than Dally at the time.
"Do we have a problem here?" He asked, not even trying to sound intimidating but thoroughly succeeding. "Your kid brother had his hands on my sister!" Dallas pointed his knife towards Curly. "And now, he's gonna pay!" Tim turned to glance at us and grinned. "This true?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Curly and I both shook our heads. "No Tim, we were just skating" Tim nodded, and glanced back at Dallas.
"So, we still gonna have a problem Winston? Or are we going to walk away?" I felt Curly grab my hand, squeezing it, as I stared terrified, at the situation. "Oh we still have a problem!" Dally shouted angrily.
"Hey!" We heard the squeal of tired and saw a red convertible pulling over on the street, Darry and his buddies Mike and Paul climbing out and running over. "What's going on here?" Darry stood between Tim and Dally, daring both of them to step over the invisible line and make the first move. "Curly had his hands on Avery!" Dally snarled. "He did not!" I yelled back, hands on my hips, annoyed we were even having this conversation. Darry glanced back and forth, and shook his head, annoyed, before grabbing my elbow.
"Avery you're coming with me. The rest of you better scram!" He gave a pointed look to our buddies. "Come on Darry!" Soda protested, and he shot him a dirty look. "I mean it, scram!" Darry dragged me back to his friends car, and shoved me in the backseat, where I sat between him and Lewis, another one of his buddies.
Darry had been going through a phase where he thought I should no longer be running around with the guys, saying that as a young lady I had a reputation to uphold. It wasn't my reputation he was concerned about, it was his own.
Paul was in the drivers seat and mike was next to him.
I crossed my arms over my chest and refused to look at my brother as I steamed. "Avery Jane, we're taking you home and you best stay there. I don't understand you. I told you before to quit running around with the boys, you have a reputation to think of!" I snorted at that. "No Darry, I just have your reputation to think of. You don't want a greasy little sister running around and getting her panties in a bunch. You could care less what happens to me, as long as it doesn't come back on you!"
Paul stopped right outside of our house, and I stood up in the seat, climbing over a shocked Darry and dropping to the ground. The door opened and he grabbed my arm, whipping me around to face him, anger written on his features. "Stay at home!" He seethed. I gave him a dirty look and ran into the house, running up the stairs into my room and throwing myself onto my bed.
About an hour later, a ruckus was heard downstairs and I carefully walked to the kitchen to find Dally sitting on the counter, a bag of frozen peas on his left eye, red and swollen shut, as mama cleaned out some cuts on his arm.
"What happened?!" I exclaimed, running over and pushing through the boys. Dallas grinned as mama shook her head, and the rest of the gang shouted over each other as they explained Dallas had gone after Curly and ended up fighting Tim instead, skin on skin.
I sighed and sat next to my brother as mama continued stitching him up. She had given him a small cup of beer to loosen him up and douse the pain, but he still flinched, gritting his teeth, so as the boys kept blabbing, I reached over and grabbed his hand, making him look down at me. "Thanks" I said quietly. "Curly didn't do anything, and I'm gonna have to apologize to him tomorrow, but it's nice to know I have someone sticking up for me if something really did happen."
"Tim wouldn't let me hang out with you guys for a week" he laughed, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "But the two of them made up in three days" I grinned at the thought of the two hoods that were both best friends and best enemies.
Curly and I talked a little more about Dally, until a voice called out "well, well well, what have we here?" The smiles on Izzy and Hudson's faces turned to fearful frowns as they looked behind us. I turned to see who it was, but didn't need to. Mitchell Logan and his band of socs were at our table. Mitch was a an absolute jerk. He was blonde and tall and cruel, in his letterman jacket. With him were Tony Lombardi, Jack Hinkle, Mickey Todd, and a few others. Behind them were a few soc girls, Cherry included, and she gave me a sad look that clearly said, "I'm sorry". She wasn't sorry, if she was, she would've stopped it.
Curly tightened the arm around my shoulder and gave a cold stare as Mitch grinned. "Out for a little family lunch, I presume?" I shifted my gaze from the band of merry dopes and caught Hudson's eye, silently communicating to him to stay put. Hudson may have liked to think he was just like Darry, and in many ways he was, but he also had Dallas' fighting blood, and I knew if things got ugly and given the opportunity he would jump up and go after a guy twice his age and size.
"Why're you hanging out with trash like Shepard, Avery?" He questioned, his eyes raking over my body in a way that made me feel so dirty I had to look away. I wasn't a soc by any means, but just because I was a greaser doesn't mean I looked like one. I wore church type clothes to school and it wasn't a secret the boys had been talking about me, more so now with Dallas and Johnny's deaths.
"The only trash I see here is you" Curly said coldly causing Mitch to give him a dirty look. "You hear that guys?" He grinned. "Talking trash bag, what do you think? Maybe we could sell him to P T Barnum or something" they all laughed and Izzy screwed up her face, standing on the booth before I could reach over and pull her back down. "Leave him alone!" She yelled, her face so dark it would've made Dally proud.
Mitch grinned evily and leaned across the table. "Who's this pretty little beaner?" "You stay away from her!" I snapped, ready to pounce. Nobody went near any of my kids on my watch. "I only want to say hello-" he reached out a hand and in an instant Curly was up, pushing him away from the table, and Hudson was climbing out of the booth, standing behind him, ready for whatever happened next. I was up and grabbing Izzy, pulling her close to me as she burst into tears. In the scuffle, Mitch had knocked over both glasses of milk, and Izzy's beautiful purple dress was now stained with chocolate and strawberry. "My dress is ruined" she cried to me, burying her head on my shoulder.
I tried to quiet her and put a hand on Hudson's shoulder, pulling him back to me as Curly and Mitch stared each other down. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mrs. Richards at a table with what appeared to be her husband and a couple of their friends. I leaned forward slowly and touched Curly's shoulder. "Not here," I whispered.
"Alright Logan, quit harassing my customers. Go sit down in the back or leave!" Rhonda, the manager, stated as she, Kathy, and Ike, the cook, stood staring at the group of privelaged jerks. Mitch held up his hands innocently with a wicked grin, and motioned for the group to follow him as they walked away.
I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding, as Curly turned around and wrapped his arms around me. "Are you alright?" He asked, and I nodded, grabbing my little brothers face and asking him the same question. "Quit your nagging sissy, I'm fine!" He grinned, making Izzy giggle, before she started crying again about her dress. "I know sweetie, I'm sorry," I started, realizing we would probably be better off going home. I noticed Curly step to Hudson and whisper something in his ear, and both of them unbuttoned their flannel shirts, their plain white t shirts all they had on underneath.
Curly handed me Hudson's and nodded his head towards the bathroom. "Go change her, I'll watch the kid." I went to speak up, but he then handed me his shirt, and grinned. "That blouse was awful pretty, but this'll have to do for now" I looked down to see my shirt was also stained, and had to laugh to myself as I took it, saying "thank you" as I walked past him and patting Huds on the head, making him beam. He really was a good kid.
In the bathroom, I changed Izzy out of her dress and pulled Hudson's shirt over her. It covered to her knees, and overtop of her tights, almost looked like a dress. "It's still pretty, right?" She asked me, a smile on her face as she twirled around and I took my blouse off quickly, buttoning Curly's shirt over myself. It didn't exactly go with my black skirt, but it would have to do.
"Beautiful Izzy, always" I smiled, unlocked the stall door and heading to the sink. Izzy twirled around, giggling to herself as I tried to wash the milk off our clothes. The door opened, and without turning around, I called out "Hey Izzy, stay next to me alright?" There wasn't an answer, and when I looked in the mirror I saw it was Cherry who had come in.
I turned to face her and she gave me a sad smile. "I um, I asked the kitchen for some baking soda and a plastic bag" she handed a little cup to me. "If you rinse with cold water and pour it on, then keep it in the bag, when you get home you can soak it in the tub. The stain should loosen up" I gingerly took the cup from her. "thanks" I said softly, returning to the sink and doing what she said.
I heard Izzy start talking to her, and glanced in the mirror to watch. "Did you see what that guy did to my dress?" She asked, sticking her thumb in her mouth, a bad habit she still had. Cherry nodded sadly, and leaned over to her level. "I did. I'm so sorry that happened sweetie." Izzy held her arms out. "And now I have to wear Huddy's shirt, and it's super big on me! When I twirl around, it filed out all over the place!"
I rolled up our clothes and placed them in the garbage bag, and when I turned to tell Izzy it was time to go, I was shocked. Cherry had taken the blue ribbon out of her hair and tied it around Izzy's waist, making a makeshift belt, and making her giggle. "Look Avie! Am I pretty?" I smiled at her. "You sure are, what do we say Izzy?"
"Thank you!" She giggled, waving goodbye to Cherry as I opened the door. "Thanks," I said softly. "No problem" she smiled.
As we headed back towards the table, I told Izzy to walk directly there and kept an eye on her as she did so, before stopping at Mrs. Richards table. "Mrs. Richards, I can explain. We were coming back from church and Izzy is one of the kids I babysit. Curly ran into us and offered-" she held her hand out and shook her head, a smile on her face. "No need to explain yourself Avery, I'd say you guys handled that just fine" I smiled. "Really?" I asked. She nodded, returning my smile. "Really. Now, go enjoy yourself!" I thanked her and walked back to our table to see the milk had been cleaned up and each was replaced with a tall milkshake, whipped cream and Cherry on the top. Curly got up as I approached the booth and widened my eyes at the kids with a smile. "Wow guys! Look at you!" He smiled as I sat down and he slid in next to me, and leaned over to say, "on the house, from Rhonda" I looked over to the counter and she gave me a wink, which I returned with a smile.
Pretty soon our food was brought out, and I chided both kids, telling them to make sure they didn't eat too much, or else they'll throw up if their bellies are too full. Izzy and I both gave our pickles to the boys, who gladly ate them. I hated pickles, and although Izzy ate that at home, she liked to copy me when we went out and so she always gave them away. About a quarter of the way through her milkshake, Izzy claimed she was done and pushed it to our side of the table. "I want you to have it curly!" She grinned, taking a bite out of her grilled cheese. "But you have to share it with Avie, okay?"
...
Curly paid for our meals, at my protest, and even had Kathy put all the leftover french in a cup, which the kids were snacking on as we walked back to the house. The rest of Huddy's milkshake was also in a to go cup, being passed back and forth between the two of them.
"Thanks again" I said, after we walked about a block. Curly was carrying the dirty laundry bag, swinging it back and forth. "For what?" He asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I should be thanking you guys because I got to spend time with some of my favorite people"
I smiled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and I rested my head on his. "I feel like I need to talk to Izzy about what happened today, but I don't know how to start." "The fight?" He questioned, glancing over at where she was ticking off on her fingers all the types of plastic dinosaurs she had at home as she and Hudson talked about their toys. "And what Mitch called her," I said softly. "She's so little Curly, she shouldn't have to worry about that kind of hatred. I know I'm gonna have to tell her parents, and I know that they'll know what to say to her, but I don't know if I uphold say something beforehand."
We walked in silence for a minute, and as she giggled, Curly said, "I don't think you'll have to bring it up. She seems to have forgotten it by now. Tell her parents when they pick her up, but for now, let her be a kid"
Soda and Steve had moved from the porch to the truck by the time we had gotten home, and were currently working under the hood. Both gave us confused looks at the fact Izzy and I were wearing the boys shirts, and that Curly Shepard was walking with us.
Izzy had ran up and jumped into Steve's arms, telling him all about the fact that she got a grilled cheese AND a strawberry milkshake for lunch, and Soda ruffled Huds' hair and stole a fry as he said hi on his way inside. "Send Darry out!" I called to him, and without even turning around, he held up a thumbs up sign.
"Hey Izzy," I said sweetly, as she slightly glared at me. She also had a big fat crush on Steve (though honestly, she had a crush on most of the boys) and she could sense that what I was about to say meant she would have to go inside. "It's one o clock, I bet Two bit and Pony are inside watching Mickey Mouse!" She gasped and scrambled down from Steve's arms, yelling "Tutu!" As she slipped past Darry and through the open door.
The boys thanked Curly after we explained what happened, and we invited him to stay for dinner. He declined, but said he would see me at school tomorrow.
Two Bit and Steve went home as well, and Wendy and Julio picked Izzy up a little early at four. After I explained what had happened, she smiled and gave me a hug. "Thank you" she said. "For always looking out for my little girl"
That left just my brothers and I for dinner. And after the craziness of the day, I was okay with that.