I cannot wait for this story to unfold, do not fear, I will be following the story line, so as we near closer to that you will start recognizing what is happening. I hope you are starting to see development in Sylvia, no matter how small. Also, I just hope you are enjoying your reading! Give her a chance, she isn't all awful!
Love to all,
Dedicated
"Sylvia, six on twenty two is all yours." Bev calls to me as she passes with what must be a whole apple pie sliced and plated on her tray.
I look at her with a questioning glance, but I understand when I look over and see Dan and his gang sprawled around the booth. I get quite nervous walking over to them. Danny wasn't all too happy when I stayed away two nights, but I think that he was more worried about how Tim would react.
By some stroke of luck, Karen managed to convince Joan Darcy to have a slumber party, girls only of course, and I 'stayed over at Joan's' the second night. Karen has a real talent in lying for sure.
"Well, would you look who it is." Curly hollers, giving me a big smirk. The whole lot of them reek of cheap alcohol.
Tim glances up at me, he's still upset about what happened the other night. I wish I could say he's real upset about the nasty bruise that still paints my arm, but he's really mad about the fact that old Dallas Winston managed to take me out. I can't imagine what he would do if he knew I stayed two nights with him.
"What can I get you hoods?" I joke, but I could cut the tension with a blade.
When no one answers me, I look to Tim, but I shrink under his stern stare.
"Timmie? What can I get you?" I ask meekly, nervously chewing in my lip while I wait for him to answer.
"I ain't hungry." He responds, and I nod quickly, looking around the table.
Rudy saves me and orders his usual, a coke and the special of the day. I jot down the orders real furious like and run it to the kitchen.
"Golly, Sylvia, you'd think Tim was made of ice the way he's glaring at you." Mara stops leaning against the counter to get closer and hear all the gossip. She's a real sweet girl like that.
"He's plain mad as a bull at me." I sigh, tossing a look in her direction as I start to stack plates on my arms to carry out.
"Well, well, well, little Miss Sylvia, I do sense something rebellious in you." Her face lights up in a smirk, she can barely contain her excitement as she steps closer to me.
"All I did was go away for a weekend." I pause, looking down and adding "with Dallas Winston." As quiet as I can.
"Sylvia, you minx." She squeals. I want to run as far away from that deathly sounding squeal as possible.
To her utter disappointment I don't give her anything more, running the hot plates to a family sitting in my section.
The night seems to drag on, and as it does and my shift comes to a close, Tim and his boys get rowdier and rowdier. I just pretend not to notice the flask that Danny has been passing around. Curly is the worst off, he rambles loudly like he doesn't have any proper manners.
I start closing down my tables, introducing Darlene, another waitress on the shift after mine, to all the folks still eating.
When I'm done, I hurry to take off my apron, excited to get home to Charlie. I don't bother walking by the boys out front, nervous that they may just try to follow me, and that's the last thing I need. I sneak out the back door, nearly getting knocked over by one of the line cooks. He doesn't bother with me though.
I cross my arms as I walk. A cool breeze shakes me to the core. The walk isn't a long one, but by the time I reach the dark street and up to our torn screen door, I'm plain exhausted.
I toss my purse to the side table, surprised when I don't see my dad working at the table.
"Charlie." I call up the stairs. Relief floods me when his blond head pokes from around the wall, looking down at me.
"Sylvia." He shouts, bounding down the stairs and taking quite the leap to land in my arms.
"Where's daddy?" I ask him as I carry him into the kitchen to start some fried potatoes.
"He had to go, it was working time." Charlie mocks our father perfectly, giggling to himself as he does.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me then." I smile, squeezing him tight.
He nestles into me, feeding off our embrace. My heart aches over his crave for love and attention.
"Go on and get yourself washed up for dinner, and if you hurry back, we can watch your cartoons." He hits the ground running when I set him down, hustling upstairs to get ready for dinner.
I fry the potatoes, humming some song the diner has on record moving to the beat.
"Sylvia, Sylvia, dance with me." Charlie shouts, storming back into the room in his pajamas with arms outstretched like he's ready to dance.
Laughing carelessly, we waltz across the kitchen. He does his best to keep up and not step on my feet or trip. Its moments like these that I am so thankful I have my Charlie to keep me smiling.
"May I cut in?" a deep voice asks from behind me, and I nearly jump right outta my skin.
I sigh when I see that it's just Tim. He doesn't look near as mad as he did earlier, but his eyes are dazed, so I'm sure he's proper plastered.
"Here." I hand Charlie a plate "go watch your show, I'll be in right quick."
"Yes, Sylvia." He hurries on out, but not without looking between Tim and me with real wide eyes.
When he's gone, I turn to the countertop and rest my hands on it. I watch the ground like it's as fascinating as a picture at the drive in.
"Sylvia," he starts making his way to me, forcing himself right up in front of me.
"Tim." I whisper back, fiddling with my hands.
"I'm real sorry for grabbing your arm like I did. I really am." He frowns "If you just wouldn't have said yes to a date with that hood, then we wouldn't be in this mess. You're my girl, and I won't stand for you running around with the likes of him."
My face falls, and I wish I could escape his claim. I don't know what else to do other than apologize, so I do.
"I'm real sorry, I didn't mean no harm." I tremble as he runs his hands over my arms.
"Alright." He whispers, touching his forehead to my own and pulling me close.
We stand like that, locked in a strange embrace for what feels like eternity. I can tell he's completely comfortable with the turn we took, but something ain't sitting right with me.
Eventually he kisses my forehead, and leaves through the backdoor, and I move to put an already sleeping Charlie to bed.
. . .
"Oh my god, you have to tell me about Dallas, what was he like?" Joan squeals next to me.
Karen's eye roll doesn't go unnoticed by me as we sit around a table at the Dairy Queen. Joan somehow managed to get Karen to come with her, and Karen can't stand Joan, so she had to drag me along. Then just for good measure she invited Dianna and Kim along as well.
To my disgust all they want to talk about is Dallas Winston. I reckon most of it is because they want to go to bed with him but have never gotten the chance to.
"It was fine, he's rather vile though." I turn my nose up, pretending that a little part of me doesn't find his aggravating appearances quite entertaining.
"Come on Sylvia, you have to give us more than that. Linda Meeks said he can kiss like a movie star." She continues to pry.
"Joan, we both know Linda Meeks ain't been kissing anyone, let alone Dallas Winston." Karen fires looking entirely disinterested in our conversation.
Joan just shrugs, starting a conversation about some new picture playing at the drive in.
There's a huge crowd in the DQ for a Wednesday night, but it's no one I would be acquainted with. Most of the boys are just hitting on girls who order ice cream cones and bat their eyelashes until the boys pay. It ain't exactly my game.
"Kare, want some ice cream?" I ask, pushing away from the table with a sigh.
"You know I do." She grins, following me up to the counter.
The line is awful long, so we just chat while we wait, and I pretend not to be bothered by the fact that I haven't seen Dallas since Sunday afternoon. I was getting used to seeing him at every corner, and now all I'm hearing from him is word on the street, which is never trustworthy.
"Sylvia, you ain't listening to me, how many times I gotta tell you he's just trying to play it cool." Karen rolls her eyes.
"Sorry, I guess I just don't know how this whole thing works." I sigh, scuffling my feet on the ground.
"Just stop worrying, okay?" her face softens as she reassures me.
"I will, now what were you jawing about anyhow?" I ask, even though I'm not sure how much I'll like her answer.
"Look over in the corner, that's Sandy." She hisses, cocking her head to the right.
"Ain't she going steady with the good looking Curtis kid?" I whisper back, trying to see who she's sitting so close to.
"Mhm, but she's been going out with Jonathan Yancey. Dangerous game." Karen turns back around to face the counter.
"How do you even know so much? You must be the queen of gossip." I kid, looking up at the menu.
"Golly, I wish." She chuckles "I just knew that one because Joan was trying to tell me about it earlier, glory she can be a real hag."
I don't bother responding, knowing that any conversation about Joan will just rile her up more. Karen cannot stand her, and the poor girl hasn't got a clue. She just follows Karen like a lost puppy. It just about drives Karen right over the edge.
We get up to the counter, and when I go to pay for my cone, Karen gives me a look and slaps down two nickels, covering for both of us. I don't bother arguing with her, ever since we were little she's been this protective.
"Thank you." I smile as the man behind the counter hands me a vanilla cone.
"How about we ditch those losers, and go hang at the park instead." Karen has a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Okay." I shrug, following her out the door of the DQ and out onto the darkening street.
"So, tell me what it was really like, what was he like." She turns giddy, smiling widely at me, it's a complete shift in mood, but I'm grateful for it.
"Well, we went to St. Louis, and Karen I loved it. We saw the new arch, and Kare it was so shiny we could see our reflections in it. There were no greasers, or Soc kids. People were just people." I finish in a whisper, almost wishing I could go back and live there forever in a place with no greasers or Socs.
"What was that like?" she asks curiously, tossing a glance my way.
"It was just good, I ain't gonna be able to do it justice." I pause "Sometimes I just wish, ya know, that there was no such thing as greasers, or no such thing as being a Soc we're just stuck here." I frown.
"You'll get out someday, Sylvia, and then you ain't gonna ever be stuck again." She grins, but I can hear the serious tone in her voice.
I smile at her, wishing that she could be right.
"Now, I know you at least kissed him." Her eyes widen and she scoots closer to me.
My cheeks flush and I look to the ground, unable to keep a smile off my face.
"Oh my, Sylvia Winters, you're sweet on him." She exclaims, throwing her arms around wildly as she squeals something about something.
"I am not." I try to convince her, but I don't even convince myself.
She doesn't even have to shoot me the look she gives Curly when she knows he's lying to get me to fess up.
"Okay, well maybe a little sweet on him, but don't you be blabbing that to Curly. I think Tim is already on edge, I don't need him knowing I'm not digging him like he's digging me." I sigh, messing with an old twig on the ground.
"Sylv, you know you're gonna have to tell Tim sometime, he does think you're smitten with him." She rolls her eyes.
"How was he, that night after I left?" I ask softly, and she refuses to make eye contact with me.
She sits silently for a moment, and regret bubbles in my chest.
"He was real mad, throwing stuff all over the place. He tried to go after me, but Curly stopped him. They had it out right in my backyard. Curly managed to run him off by some miracle, but it wasn't good by any means." She sighs, looking over at me.
We watch each other for a bit, just sitting in silence.
"I just don't know how well Tim would treat ya, I know you don't need to go through that all over again. Don't go telling on me, but I'd much rather see you with Winston or no one at all." She rests her chin on her knees.
"Hey, I'll be okay." I reassure her, resting my head on her shoulder for comfort. She's rarely this emotional.
"I know, I just worry is all." She nudges me with a smile.
"Let's go home." I move to stand. She agrees, and we help each other up, ice cream long gone.
We walk mostly in silence until we reach my street.
"I'll see you." She yawns, giving my hand a small squeeze.
"Be safe." I call after her, watching as she disappears into the distance.
I walk down the dark street with only two things on my mind, Dallas Winston, and a city where people are just people.