Disclaimer: I own anyone S.E Hinton doesn't. That makes me feel special!
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Darry's POV
I stared at the cup of coffee in front of me, now gone long cold, not even seeing it. I wasn't up to drinking it and I was more than willing to watch it cool. I'd had the palm of my hand pressed to my forehead since I sat down a few hours ago and I know it's going to leave a red mark when I do decide to move. I just couldn't bring myself to it. I just wanted to sit and feel nothing for as long as possible. I just didn't want to remember.
The funeral was today and I knew there would be no more pretend and no more real smiles for a while. It hadn't really sunk in yesterday. Yesterday we could put on plays and wrestle for the phone, but not today. Today we all knew we would never see them alive or dead again. It was far from a comforting thought. It had been far from a comforting day.
I had stood there, tall and strong for Soda and Pony and everyone around me during the whole service. Soda had broke down and bawled harder than I'd ever seen him while Pony whimpered from time to time between silent tears. It was the worst day of my life, even worse than when we heard they died. Today it was final. No return and I was absolutely helpless. I couldn't move to comfort either of my brothers in fear I would let go of all the control I had and in turn I felt like I had let them down. I just wish there could have been someone there to be strong for me.
It started to get even darker in the tiny kitchen and I raised my head to look out the window. It was still pouring rain and I couldn't help but wonder if someone had planned for the weather to match my mood. If they did, they were doing a pretty good job. I sighed and stood up, just not wanting to be sitting anymore. I wandered around the house aimlessly, not letting myself get comfortable anywhere. I poked my head in Pony and Soda's room. They were both asleep on their beds in their clothing from the funeral. I realized I hadn't bothered to change out of mine. I'd only got as far as loosening my tie and wanting a cup of coffee.
I went to my room and changed into some more comfortable clothes and felt just a little more normal. It was going to be a long time before I felt comfortable in this house again, that is if we lived in this house long enough for that.
I reached a hand into my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper I had written all the information about my uncle on. I hadn't bothered to call before the funeral. For some reason I knew he wouldn't come and he wasn't supposed to. This was our good bye. He'd had his twenty years ago.
I moved to the phone and hesitated. What was I supposed to say to him? 'Hi I'm your nephew and my parents are dead...' That was the start to a great phone call. I considered writing him a letter, but Mr. Allen had meant it when he said the state wouldn't let us be on our own for long. They had called this morning. I couldn't believe how inconsiderate they were and, if I had anything to do with it, neither of my brothers would end up in their hands. I guess it was that thought that finally made me pick up the phone and dial the number. It was a Texan address and I wondered how much this call was going to cost.
"Hello?"
I sat on this side of the phone with nothing to say. I hadn't expected a girl to pick up the phone. She sounded around five years old and I wondered how much about my uncle I really knew. If you want to know the honest truth, I was half hoping no one would answer.
"Hello," I said back "I'm looking for Jason Curtis."
"Yep. Just a minute," she said and I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see me.
I waited in anticipation for a few minutes wondering if I had been forgotten. I got nervous waiting there and I didn't like the feeling. Finally someone else picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
I was even more shocked than when I heard the girl's voice. He sounded like my father. I cleared my throat and tried to think of something to say.
"Is this Jason Curtis?" I asked "Jason Collin Curtis Jr.?"
"I haven't been called that in years," the voice answered "How can I help you?"
"This is Darry..." I trailed off feeling like I was five years old talking on the phone when my parents told me not to
"Darrel's boy?" he asked and I nodded again, remembering he couldn't see me either
"Yes," I answered getting a bit of my usual tone about me
"You'd be getting about twenty now, wouldn't you?" he asked more to himself "How have you been, son?"
"My parents died four days ago." I got right to it
There was silence on the other end for a minute and I wondered if he was waiting for me to say something.
"They were in a car wreck," I went on "The reading of the will was two days ago and the funeral was today."
"I'm sorry," he said dully. "Your parents were good folks, even if your dad and I didn't get along as well as most. They went too damn soon."
"That's why I'm calling."
I was prepared to get the story straight in my mind for the first time since it happened and tell him at the same time, but it was hard. How do you sum up everything? I couldn't, so I told him everything. He listened quietly while I went on. I felt a lot better when I told him, but I wondered how I could tell a stranger all that and not one of my friends. Maybe it was just easier to tell someone you couldn't see and could hang up with at any time.
"So you have two brothers?" he asked
"Yes." I expected him to ask about anything else "Sodapop and Ponyboy."
"He really used those names?" he asked
"Yeah." I grinned in spite of myself
"I remember when he thought those up. He was a unique guy," Jason commented
We were quiet for another minute and I got the feeling he was just as nervous as I was.
"Do you all still go to school?" He asked to make conversation
"Soda is in High school and Pony will be joining him next year because he got bumped up a year in school," I explained
"You in college yet?" he asked
"No. We didn't have the money and we really don't now." I was still disappointed in not going, but there was no changing that.
"Listen, I'll give Mr. Allan a call and get some things straightened out," he said and I realized again this was long distance "I'll try and call you back tonight before I leave."
"Ok," I agreed wondering where he could be going and how he knew Mr. Allan was Dad's lawyer
"I truly am sorry," he offered again and I put on the front I'd worn all day
"It's gonna be hard," I sighed
"We'll figure something out," he stated briskly "Then we'll talk."
We were both silent for a moment before he hung up the phone and I was left alone in the living room holding the receiver. He hadn't even said goodbye. Maybe he wasn't that much like my father after all. Then again my father was a very unique person and I knew there could never be two of him out there.
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Jason's POV
I had hung up the phone on Darrel...Darry. His father was Darrel and always would be in my mind. I never thought anything like that would happen to my hard headed big brother, but he was gone and I had three nephews, two of which I didn't even know about. Damn life throws you some curve balls, but this was just something I didn't need. I had to be on a plane in six hours out to the west oilfields to do the analysis my highly paid geophysicists were supposed to be doing. It was hard to find good people these days. Wally Hart was about the best geophysicist I'd ever seen, but he went and fell in love and he and his brother pulled out of the company. It was simpler when the company was a three man show and I didn't have to pay anyone...
I caught myself there. Here I was thinking about how hectic my life was and how inconvenient this all was for me. Those boys had lost their parents and I couldn't even have gotten up there for the funeral today, if I wanted to. I really did want to help them, though. I thought twenty years ago I had signed off from that family, but if I was listed on their will, I guess you couldn't leave everything behind. I picked up my phone and called the office to have my secretary find Mr. Allan's number. I kept every number I ever got and it came in handy, especially when the past came calling. I think I even had Darrel's number in Tulsa hanging around. I know that house probably wasn't theirs anymore, but I still had it.
"Mr. Allan? J.C Curtis calling," I said knowing only one way to deal with lawyers, even elderly ones
"How are you Jason?" he asked in a tone of voice that held nothing but irritation
"Not bad, except for the fact I just got off the phone with my nephew." I started walking around with the phone
"I was hoping he would call you," he replied dully
I'll bet he was. He didn't want to talk to me, if he could help it. Last time he and I talked he'd gone home and had a heart attack. Served him right, if you ask me, but not many would see it that way.
"Well, he did and I was shocked by the news to say the least." I leaned against my desk "How are things looking for them?"
"You really want to know?" he asked
"I asked, didn't I?" I replied wanting to cut to the chase
"They have little money and the State wants to separate them. If you don't take them in, they will be separated because you have no other family. Your mother died about ten years ago," he added in case I didn't know, "If by some miracle Darrel can become their legal guardian, he'll have to work two jobs to keep his brothers in school and even then he won't be making enough with their current bills unless Sodapop drops out and finds a full time job. To put it bluntly, if you don't support them, they won't make it."
Allan sounded like a damn preacher. It couldn't have been that bad for them, but I couldn't help but wonder if it was. I'd known Mom was gone, but I didn't think she was the last. I guess I thought wrong.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with them? I can't just move them down to Houston. They've had enough things happen to disrupt their lives in the last week," I sighed and looked out the window where my bags were sitting on the front porch, waiting for the car to come and take them to the airport
"Have you considered coming up here to take care of them?" he asked
"If I could, I would. I can't just pick up in Tulsa where I left off. Things have changed too much," I said remembering the past "I have a company to run and people here I can't leave behind."
"Well, Jason. This is something you owe your brother," he reminded and I wanted to hit him
"I owe him nothing, but I owe those boys something," I snapped "How long would it take for them to pack up their things and sell their house?"
I was doing some quick thinking and I knew it surprised Allan.
"Not long," Allan sounded like he was thinking, too "Maybe a week to get everything together. Are you seriously considering moving those boys?"
"It looks to be the only thing I can do right now."
"You'd better plan on taking care of those boys and find them good schools. Because if you aren't and you plan on moving those boys..."
"Don't get your heart going." I shook my head. "I'm well off and I can pull strings for them down here I couldn't in Tulsa."
"It's a decent thing you're doing, but those boys won't like it one bit," Allan warned
"I'll talk to Darry again and let him know what I think is best," I replied looking at the other number I'd had my secretary find "I have to head out of town for a few days around six tonight. So we'll have to talk about it now and come to a decision when I come back. There's just no way around it."
"You do what's best for those boys, Jason, not for you," he said sternly
"Don't worry, you old buzzard," I sighed hanging up
That man had always made me mad and it hadn't changed in twenty years. Of course I was going to do what was best for them. I wasn't a twenty year old kid anymore and I had nothing over the horizon. What did I have to loose?
Just by listening to Darry talk this afternoon I could tell he was bright and a lot like his father. I knew he could make something of himself, if he had the chance. If I let him take over this situation, he sure as hell wasn't going to go anywhere. I ran a hand through my hair. I'd like to see him get the education I and his father missed out on.
I know Darrel was happy with his life. He had a wife and three children and all he ever expected out of it, but he worked hard all the time. I'd signed on with the company and got rich the easy way, but I wonder some days what it would have been like to have worked for a living and gone to college. I know I wouldn't have appreciated all this if I wasn't in it from the beginning. I guess I had some hard work of my own.
Things were changing and the past was nipping at my heels again. I couldn't get away from it this time. Life was never going to be the same.
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Well, chapter two. I finally got around to changing the spelling of Darrel. The computer was not in my good graces by changing all of them to Darryl. Stupid pieces of tin. Anyways, that wasn't as long as I was hoping it would be but the next one will be longer I'm sure.
Well any comments at all are welcome and flames are accepted but only if they are well written and real nasty.
See ya in the funny papers! Tens