Well, it has been a while for this one. I do apologise. It's been a crazy year with all the school things I have been doing, and I've been pretty sick lately, on top of trying to move! Yes, relocating sucks. My gorgeous mountain view will have to make up for it!
I am working on new chapters for The River King, Different View, and Half as Much, so hopefully those are up soon and everyone enjoys!
Disclaimer: The usual
Chapter 6: Friends Like These
/Steve's POV/
Since I had been old enough to have a full time job, I had learned to enjoy any day I had off, especially during the summer months. I don't think Two-Bit understood that, or maybe he just didn't care if he was tugging me out of bed before ten on my day off. It irked me that he just wanted to "hang out". We could have hung out later and did nothing together then. My theory was that he spent so much time bouncing between jobs that he just didn't remember what a day off was supposed to look like. So far this summer, he'd been employed at the hardware store, the Diary Queen, and finally out at Bell's. The way I had it figured, he's had more time off this summer than I'd gotten in a few years.
But this sudden push to start the day and have fun wasn't just out of nowhere. The kids had been home for a week, and they had both been working for a couple days now. Two-Bit, who was still the biggest kid of all, was missing their company. It happened every year. The kids would get jobs, Two-Bit would get bored, and he'd take out his boredom on everyone else. This year was worse, what with the kids in New York for a month, then for them to find a job before Two-Bit was situated was hard on the old guy.
And that was a big part of why he picked today's adventure. I liked the idea behind it; don't get me wrong, I just didn't want to end up sitting beside him in the cooler, especially on my day off.
It was almost noon when we walked into the swanky dining room of the local country club. The tables all had fancy green linen on them, and the glasses all had golden rims. The floral arrangements were even fancy white and gold flowers. I didn't think that putting flowers together could ever look that rich, but I guess you learned something different every day. I took Two-Bit's cue and sat down across from him at one of the tables close to the windows. I looked around warily, not seeing anyone, but that could change fast. Once it did, we were going to be in a lot of trouble.
But it would be worth it if we saw what we'd came to see.
A waiter was wandering around, making sure that all the pristine tables were still perfect. He was hard to miss with his bleached white shirt, black vest, and a tie that matched the tablecloths. What made him really hard to miss was the look of pure shock on his face when he caught sight of us.
Two-Bit grinned and I returned it. Now, this was better than I had hoped.
"What are you doing here?" Aries hissed, looking around to make sure that we were still the only ones in the dining room. "The club members will be in for lunch in less than ten minutes!"
"The service around here is very quick, huh Stevie?" Two-Bit commented lightly.
"Pretty good," I agreed. "And don't call me Stevie."
"What are you doing here?" Aries asked again, eyes pleading with us to go.
"Why, you said it yourself – it's lunchtime," Two-Bit replied with an innocent look that rivalled Jackie Morrison's from back in high school. That girl could convince you she was surprised we were breathing air.
"Well, as you can see, I am working," Aries pointed out. "This is not a good time for a lunch break."
"Well, we'll just have to dine without you." Two-Bit shrugged, opening up the menu. "What's good here?"
"A burger – over at the Dingo. It's on me," Aries pleaded, looking over to me. "Please, Steve?"
"Don't look at me. I spent the whole drive over here trying to convince him that this was insane," I told him, opening up my own menu. "You're on your own, genius."
"I think I am peckish for a peasant," Two-Bit declared with a flourish. "Leave it to the upper crust to turn into a bunch of cannibals."
"Don't say stuff like that!" Aries pleaded. "It's Pheasant, not peasant. Do you even know what that is?"
"Expensive?" I chanced.
It had to be. Nothing on the menu had prices beside it. When there were no prices, it was because you were so rich that you didn't have to ask how much things cost. You just ordered and ate whatever and didn't even blink at the bill. We definitely were not in that boat.
"I am trying something new. Does it come with fries, or is that a substitution?" Two-Bit asked, looking as serious as I had ever seen him.
"This has to be a record. Two days and I am going to get fired," Aries groaned.
I smirked at the look of agony on the kid's face. It wasn't often that anyone could pull one over on him. He was normally too clever to let things like this happen to himself.
"They won't fire you," Two-Bit dismissed. "They'll probably lecture you about rif-raf, social status, and the like."
"After they kick us out," I added.
"Good point. You'd better order before they get wise." Two-Bit nodded.
Aries groaned again, turning away from the table.
"Hey! What about my order?" I called after him.
"Pheasant for both of you with sides of fries!" Aries called back, looking very annoyed.
"And extra ketchup!" I hollered.
"Bring the bottle!" Two-Bit added.
I started to chuckle and Two-Bit burst out into loud howls. Oh, this was too good.
"I think that we'll be dining here more often," Two-Bit declared, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
"And next time, we bring Soda," I started to wipe away my own tears.
We were left to sit for a few minutes before Aries came back. But he wasn't alone. The snooty guy leading the way had to be the manager or something. He looked less than impressed when he saw us. I glanced at Two-Bit, sharing a huge grin with him.
"Gentlemen, I am afraid this is a members' only establishment!" he declared in an even snootier voice than I had expected. I was biting my lip to keep from laughing.
"It is, indeed!" Two-Bit didn't miss a beat. "That's why I would like to speak to your manager."
"I am the manager," the man replied, looking ruffled that we had assumed otherwise.
"Good, then I'll ask you. I see here that you have peasants on your menu, and I'm just curious – who exactly are these poor people?"
The manager gaped for a moment, his mouth moving like a fish just yanked out of water. Aries was three shades of red behind him, a hand covering his face, like he could hide from all this without physically leaving. As for Two-Bit, he had his hands folded on the table, eyebrow poised, serious expression on his face like he was waiting for a serious answer.
"Excuse me?" The manager finally sputtered.
"You heard me. Do you have the cook drive around looking for hobos, or do you just throw in anyone who makes the place look less than picturesque?"
'Picturesque'?I had no idea where he'd learned a word like that. He really did spend too much time with the kids.
"We do not serve people here!" The Manager looked like his head was about to explode at the thought.
"No, you serve cannibals. I don't think they're really people once they willingly sit down to a Timmy T-Bone."
I was trying not to laugh, but this was hilarious. Small sputters were making it out, but the guy didn't have eyes for me – he was too busy trying to figure out what he was going to do with Two-Bit. From the looks of things, he was about to be the next Timmy steak.
"Two-Bit," I finally managed. "If that's true, we're gonna end up on the menu."
Two-Bit sent me a grin, his face morphing into one of mock horror. "We'll be Socy dinner, Stevie!"
We both glanced at the manager was making, and it looked like he was about to either unhinge his jaw or have a stroke. Even though we could have kept pushing, we both knew the signs right before someone hollered for the cops.
"Well, we hate to eat and run," I started.
"But we really hate to be eaten and not able to run," Two-Bit finished.
We both darted up right then, dashing around the manager and an embarrassed looking Aries, running like our lives depended on it. Two-Bit was laughing madly as we burst out into the fresh air and darted for the parking lot. We were both up and over the back fence, easily scaling it with all the gymnastics Darry'd taught us years ago. We both huffed for air when we leaned back against Two-Bit's car. Once we could breathe, the laughter came back, and we both just howled. God, it was good to have a little fun for a change. It was just too bad that Soda was running the shop today – he really would have gotten a kick out of that.
"Well," I finally managed. "That was great!"
"Wait until you see what I do for an encore," Two-Bit panted, opening up his door.
"Encore?" I asked, climbing into the car, too.
"In an hour, we dress up as circus clowns and go bug little Curtis."
I laughed. "And where do we get the costumes?"
"That's why I gave us an hour. Shouldn't be too difficult." He shrugged.
"Man, am I ever glad that you come to the garage as yourself," I chuckled.
"Never expect the expected," Two-Bit chirped happily.
Especially when it was Two-Bit you were expecting it from.
/Pony's POV/
When I walked in the door at four thirty, my feet hurt, I was hungry, and I felt drained. I wasn't all that surprised when I spotted Aries sitting on the couch, looking like he felt about the same. His tie was loose, his vest was unbuttoned, and he was leaning with his head in his hands as he sat on the couch in the quiet living room.
"Rough day?" I chanced, flopping down beside him on the couch.
"Horrendous. Yours?" he replied, sounding wiped.
"Worse than yours," I told him, earning a huffed chuckle that was more exasperated than amused.
"Alright. Let's play that game."
"Well, inventory all morning."
"Poor baby," Aries commented dryly, not meeting his usual sarcasm because he was so worn out.
"Not everyone likes counting boxes and making monthly orders up," I reminded him. "But that was the fun part of my day, believe it or not. Right after lunch...I don't know what gets into those two."
Aries looked at me, his chin resting on the palm of his hand now. "Those two?"
"Two-Bit and Steve showed up in gorilla costumes and made a mess of the place," I sighed, thinking about how I'd only been able to tell it was them because of the way Two-Bit was laughing. "My boss chased them around for a solid ten minutes before he got them out. I spent the afternoon cleaning up after that."
"At least they wore masks when they came to see you. They nearly made my boss have a brain aneurism before tearing out of the club like...a pair of gorillas." Aries shrugged a little then. "My whole afternoon was spent going over protocol and polishing silverware."
"Good thing they're our friends," I sighed and Aries nodded in agreement. "And good thing we're both out of here in September.'
Aries hummed in agreement, and I gave him a prodding look. He returned it with a tired one that asked me to drop it before I even started. He was my friend, practically another brother to me, but I was getting tired of keeping this secret for him.
"When are you going to tell Darry and Layne what you decided?" I asked.
"I have been pondering the possibility of sending them a post card when I am safely away from Oklahoma."
If that was his idea of a joke, it wasn't funny. I gave him a hard look then. Darry would be madder than hell if he did that. And Layne would be upset beyond measure. He sighed to himself because he knew that just as well as I did.
"August. A couple weeks before I leave," he finally stated.
"You better follow through on that," I warned him.
Aries hummed in a non-committal fashion, pulling his tie off. "I thought it would be wise to do it after your birthday."
"Why?" I asked, frowning.
"Because Darry and Layne are looking forward to it. I don't want that to change."
I shook my head, wondering what he was on about. He was the kinda guy who wasn't all that great at talking about just one thing. Everything flowed into the other fifty things going on in his head. Following a conversation with him needed more thinking than I was willing to do right then.
"I don't think that would change," I told him.
I knew for a fact Layne and Darry were planning a party. It was my eighteenth, and it was a big one. Aries had spent his in New York, and his brothers had thrown a party like nothing else I had ever been to. I wasn't expecting anything that...wild from Darry and Layne, but I didn't want that. I wanted my family and friends together, having a good time. Once September came, a lot would change. Aries had a point about things changing, but I doubted it would affect how Darry and Layne felt about my birthday.
Aries sent me a look I had gotten used to over the years. It was that look that said he was disappointed I wasn't following the conversation the same way that he was. I was more than used to it. The best way around it was to shift the discussion to something else along the same lines, but less uncomfortable for me.
"Speaking of my birthday, don't tell me what you got me this year."
Aries frowned. He hated having to wait for his birthday to find out what he was getting. He didn't think anyone else should have to wait, either. He was terrible for telling people what he got them weeks before he gave them what he had bought. The rest of us hated that, thought it was a tease or something. So none of us ever told him what he was getting. He never seemed to catch on.
"I haven't gotten you anything yet," Aries huffed.
"When you do, don't tell me."
"I'll manage to refrain."
I felt like laughing. "No you won't."
"You're right – I won't." He smirked a bit and I did laugh then.
"Well, you two must have had a good day," Darry commented, walking into the house.
We both glanced up. Darry he made it a habit to walk Choc immediately after he got home from work. Aries took one look at the string of drool hanging from the dog's mouth and darted up the stairs. Darry looked confused as he let the dog off his leash. I just shook my head.
"Do I want to know?" Darry asked.
"It might ruin all the dinner conversation he'll be up for."
Darry nodded, watching as Choc wiped his mouth on my jeans. I didn't let it bother me – not after four years. Aries, on the other hand, had his boss flip out today. I imagine he would be really upset if the dog got drool on his uniform.
And I knew come September, I was going to miss all of this, dog drool and all.
Well, one more down! And I have the next chapter started, so hopefully it will be another update soon!
Any comments are welcome and flames accepted.
See ya in the funny papers!
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