Hey, everybody. Long time no see. I hope everyone enjoys this one, it was a fun one to me.
Disclaimer: I own my characters and S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders.
J.C's POV
"Knock, knock."
"Ring, ring."
"No, Daddy! You're p'usposed to say 'who's there?'" Summer directed
"Oh! I thought we were playing a different game. Run it past me again," I said from over my mound of paper work
"Knock, knock!"
"Ding Dong," I answered
"Daddy….." Summer whined
"Ok. I say 'who's there', right?" I said, trying not to smile
"Knock, knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Kanga"
"Kanga who?"
"Kangaroo!"
I looked up from my seismic reports and smiled. She was a real chip off the old block. Now if he mother would only get her head screwed on right…
"Kangarooses live in Australia," she said coloring at the coffee table
"Really?" I said trying to make heads or tails of one of our off shore reports "I thought they lived in Canada."
"Where'sat?"
"North of here," I said looking for my sandwich
"Where Santa lives?" She asked
"Yeah, that's where Santa lives," I said, still looking for that sandwich. I had it a minute ago and it didn't just grow legs and walk away...
"Hey, J.C.?"
I looked up to see Darry with his head through the door. I smiled. It was nice to have people around for once.
"Come in, Darry. Door's always opened, except when it's closed. Just watch where you take a seat. I can't find my egg salad sandwich," I warned him
He looked at me quizzically and sat down in one of the clean, leather armchairs. I was amazed at how much he reminded me of his father. Except, I found myself liking Darry's personality much more than Darrel's. Darrel Sr. never dropped anything, not even if it had been years.
"How can I help you, son?" I said, still looking for that sandwich
"Just looking for some company," he said, looking around the office
"The spread gets pretty quiet during school hours, huh?" I smiled, understanding fully
"They've only been gone an hour," Darry said, sounding embarrassed
"Just wait until you have children," I said "You treasure many moments with them and miss them when they're gone, but when there is work to be done, school can be a wonderful thing, especially with scrappers like Rain and River."
"I guess I'm just not used to sitting around and doing nothing," he shrugged
"I'm sure Brand would do something with you. He used to throw a pretty good football, but then again, he used to be a lot easier to get along with. There it is!"
I picked up the half eaten sandwich from my desk drawer and munched on it. I was starved. Getting the kids together in the morning can do that to you. I know I should be like most dads and let them get it themselves, but then, I didn't want to be like every other dad. I liked bringing them things back from Hong Kong and Australia. I liked being up to make them breakfasts and see them during the day. I liked the fact they were all here most of all.
"Hungry?" Darry asked
"Starved," I said wolfing down the sandwich "In a couple hours I'll take you and Summer out for some lunch."
"Where is she?" Darry asked
"Boo!" She yelled and Darry looked surprised
"First thing about having children, play to their strengths. All mine seem to be artists." I smiled and Summer went back to doodling
Darry nodded, like he had no idea of what to say and I smiled. I took a look at the paper work on my desk and shook my head.
"Summer? Why don't you and Darry go paint pictures on the back deck until I'm done here?" I suggested
"Yay!" Her face lit up and she grabbed Darry's hand enthusiastically "I like to paint!"
Darry looked doubtful, but I smiled my thanks to him and Summer dragged him out of the office. I shook my head and picked up the surveys again. Why couldn't I hire anyone that spoke just plain English? Sure, I liked how professional they were, but geophysicists liked really big words. For some reason, the silence was worse than having Summer talking to me. I groaned and put them to the side. The one thing I love about having kids at home is that you always have an excuse to stop working and go paint out on the back deck.
Ponyboy's POV
River drives like a maniac. That's the only word I can find to describe the way River was driving. She was taking corners so she was almost on two wheels and I swear if the fuzz were around she would have out run them. Soda and I gripped our seats most of the way and Rain, I don't know how he did it, read over something while drinking a pop. Just the thought of it was enough so I wouldn't even look at him.
When she pulled out in front of the service station, I assumed was the Texaco, Soda and I scrambled out as if our lives depended on it. River smiled at us and Rain dumped what was left of his pop on the street. They were acting like it had been a nice Sunday drive. Even Two-Bit didn't drive like that when he was drunk.
"Welcome to the Texaco," River said gesturing to the building "It's not much, but it's a place to be away from school and not at home five days a week."
"Do you both work here?" Soda asked
"No, this is River's thing," Rain said taking the keys from her "She works after school and I head home to relax before I go out. So, you can either come with me or stay with her."
I looked over at Soda, who I could tell was feeling more comfortable with a garage so close. I knew that he would want to stay and I wanted to be where he was.
"I think we'll hang out here," I said after a while
"Suit yourself. What about you, cuz?" Rain asked
Soda figured he was talking to him and nodded.
"I'll stay here," he said and Rain shrugged before driving off
I didn't know how long we would be here, but it was a little more like home. River led the way into the garage where there were three cars, two of which were being worked on by three guys. They all looked up and River looked right back at them until something clicked.
"Oh. Jimmy, Duke, Tom; meet my cousins Sodapop and Ponyboy," she introduced
They all looked at us then and I knew my ears were burning bright red. Then one of them walked right up to us. He was Soda's height with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. I was ready for the usual 'Are those your real names?' that followed out introduction, but he was sizing us up, by the looks of things.
"Duke," he finally said and offered his hand to Soda "Nice to meet River's family."
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Soda said, shaking his hand
"Where do you figure this family of theirs gets all these crazy names?" one asked, grinning like that was supposed to put us down
"Unless you've go something nice to say, shut the hell up, Jimmy," Duke snapped, "You'll have to excuse my kid brother. He was born without manners."
"Well, now you guys know you guys, so let's get to work," River said going into a side office
"Sure thing, boss," Tom said and leaned back over the truck he and Jimmy had been looking at earlier
I looked at Soda, who merely shrugged and started looking at the car Duke had been hunched over. Before long they were talking about what was going on under the hood and River came back out in some overalls. She spotted me, just hanging off to the side, and came over to where I was standing.
"If you're not interested in the cars, we have a lounge in the back corner there," River pointed to a couple couches and a crate that were over there "I'll turn on some music in a minute and you can do whatever you please."
I nodded and she grinned at me.
"You definitely are the quiet one in the family," she commented "It's about time we got one of those."
I just looked at her blankly. What was I supposed to say? I had never really had a reason to talk. Johnny and I understood each other well enough with out words and I had gotten good at keeping my trap shut good. I guess being the quiet one wasn't so bad.
River jogged over to where Soda was already getting his hands dirty. She shook her head at him and told him to go and slip into a pair of overalls. Soda grinned and went into the room River had just come from. When he came out, I had already made myself at home on the couch and River had the radio on. I guess now a time was as good as any to start my homework.
My first day of school had been awkward, to say the least. A new school, I assumed, always was, but I had always had someone in the past; either one of my brothers or one of the gang. I didn't know anyone in my classes and I had no idea how to act around these kids. For the most part, they all seemed like they came from a farm or were middle classers. There didn't seem to be many Soc types there, but there are a few in every group. There weren't any greaser types and I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Before we left this morning, Rain had asked me why I was greasing my hair. Soda and I had just looked at him, dumbfounded. Then Rain had said he had never seen anyone grease his hair before and it was interesting. I should have taken that as a hint that no one else around here had, but it was just so normal, just so part of home. Soda hadn't either, but everyone liked Sodapop. I heard girls in my second period Math class gossiping about him. It didn't take long for girls to gossip, not in Tulsa or here. I guess girls were the same everywhere. Well, not quite the same. None of the girls here dressed like the greaser girls back home. They all wore long skirts or blue jeans and their make up was tasteful. I guess it was a different world, after all.
Throughout the day, River and Soda had been the only ones that talked to me and that was just at lunch and while River was shuffling us between classes. She sure knew her way around the school and everyone seemed to know her. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that half the teachers who read my name off the attendance list looked close to tears. I guess the name 'Curtis' meant trouble around here and they assumed that the more of us there were, the more trouble they would have.
I didn't like being labeled like that. It was just like home in that way. There, if you were poor, you were a greaser; if you were rich, you were a Soc. Here, if you were a Curtis, you were trouble; if you didn't look and act like all the farm kids or middle classers, you stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn't fair, but I was just going to have to get used to it.
"How's the Math coming?" Soda asked, sitting down beside me a while later
"Not so good," I said "This teacher doesn't explain this stuff as well as my old one."
"Well, I'm sure Darry will explain it when we get home," he said looking over my trigonometry "I like this place."
"Does it remind you of the DX?" I asked and Soda's face fell a little
"It's different, but it's cars, you know? It's something I get and it's something to keep my mind off of home. I miss Steve and Two-Bit and even ol' Dallas, too"
"I do too," I said, looking back down at my papers, so he wouldn't see me fighting back the tears.
It was just a few tears, but Greasers didn't cry and I may not have been where everyone knew I was a Greaser, but I knew I was one and I couldn't lie to myself. Soda knew it, too and I couldn't lie to him, either. He ruffled my hair and headed back to where Duke was waiting for him. I sighed. Everybody liked ol' Sodapop, all right.
"Hey, Kid?" Tom called over to me and I looked up, surprised "Throw me that bolt, will ya?"
"What bolt?" I asked
"The one between your feet," he said, pointing a wrench at me
"Oh," I said picking it up and brining it over to him
"You sure do get lost in your thoughts, don't you, Kid?" he asked
"How could you tell?" River asked, passing us on her way to the office
"Hell, everyone in the place heard that bolt clank on the concrete and roll over there," Tom said after her and I wondered if he caught her sarcasm.
River grinned at him and disappeared into the office. He sighed and started fastening it back to the engine. He cursed then and glanced over at me, like he had forgotten I was there. He couldn't be a day older than 18, but his eyes seemed older. They were a dark blue, like the Shepard boy's. He had blonde hair and seemed like the quiet one of the bunch.
"Take a look at this engine, Kid. See anything that you wished you could beat the owner's head in for?" he asked
"No," I said taking a hard look at it
"See, the gears that turn over the engine are all warn down. Whoever owns it didn't bother to get the oil checked and ran her bone dry," he said, bitterly "You remember that for when you get a car."
I nodded, while he loosened and tightened other bolts. It sounded like he knew all about cars. He just rambled on about different things that I should know about cars and I listened. Soda glanced over at me, from time to time, just to make sure I was ok. I knew he was really enjoying this, just doing something normal and not acting. I was a good listener and I guess it was something normal for me, too. For the first time that day, I felt like I had found a little bit of Texas that didn't seem so foreign.
"Go to hell, Scott!" Every head in the room looked right over to where River was yelling at a guy who outsized her by a good foot
"Just because your daddy pays the bills doesn't mean I'm going to put up with you being a spoilt brat," Scott snapped at her
"What's up with those two?" Soda asked Duke
"If you ever break up with a chick, make sure you don't work with her," Duke said, watching the fireworks
"…And I bet your shit doesn't stink either," River snapped at him
"Real mature, River, real mature." Scott rolled his eyes
"If you want a fight, I'll give it to you, right here, right now," River threatened
"Now is where I step in and stop World War III," Duke sighed
He and Jimmy went over there and got in between River and Scott. It was another minute later that River stormed back into the office and Scott left the garage completely. Tom shook his head and went back to work.
"If there isn't a fight a week around here, I'll be surprised," he said "Kid? Never find a girl with as much temper as you have."
I nodded and watched River. I guess Socs had it rough, too.
J.C.'s POV
By the time four thirty rolled around I had gotten a bit of my paper work done and Darry was pining like a dog at the front door. I guess he had missed those boys just as much as I missed Rain and River. I guess I was used to them going to school by now and I had one at home still, so it didn't bother me as much.
"I'm home," Rain yelled, slamming the door
"Do you always have to slam the door?" I smiled at him
"Yes. How else would you know it was me?" He asked
"The 'I'm home' is usually a good give away," I said "So, I take it your cousins decided River was more interesting."
"Yep. At least one of them has that half of the Curtis gene," Rain shrugged "Anyways, I have a date tonight."
"My little man is getting all grown up," I said ruffling his hair
"J.C.," Rain groaned and ducked up the stairs
I shook my head at him and smiled at Darry. He looked so much like his father with that look on his face. He was waiting for me to explain and I felt, just like I always did as a kid, that I was in trouble for something.
"River works down at the Texaco," I explained "She'll have your brother home by supper time."
Darry looked even more lonely and nodded. I was glad that he'd be going to university next week. He really needed to be busy, just like his old man. I never understood that one. He'd be happy though and Summer would be starting play school on the same day. She was excited for it, but I knew I was going to be bored out of my mind with no one home. I guess I was going to actually get some work done or find another loophole.
Well, there ya go. Not much action, but hey. I liked it. Ok, on to the reviews before I get babbeling.
Rock: Thanks! I'm glad it did, because I like doing that. Yeah, they are, but you know, everyone has family like that. Oh yeah, you know it. Hope you enjoyed anyways!
Chronic Sarcasm: I like that switch, by the way. Yeah, I do, but always worth it, right? Thankies, I know how that goes, I feel like I have known them for ages too. Yeah, I finally saw him and to each her own. That applies to everything! I should read up on him. Oh boy! I think we have all confirmed that for ourselves at one point. Hope you enjoyed chocolate bar!
Jenna: Thanks. Well, as you can tell, he's bored enough to. Hope you enjoyed.
Keira: University, get it right. Jk. Well, they're not supposed to, but hey. I knew you'd like that one. Thanks and thanks. I didn't think I did, but you're the Soda expert. Hope you enjoyed.
Berserker Nightwitch: Thanks! Yeah, it would, wouldn't it? I'll keep that one in mind. Actually, I don't think he would have an answer to that one, so it just slipped my mind. Hahahaha, thanks! That's always fun! Hope you enjoyed.
Pens4life: Thanks! I'm glad you thought they did. Hope you enjoyed!
k00lgirl'slilsis: Well, it never ends. Mickey mouse was not The Star Runner (totally different colors and breeds). Yes they are and we will make them some day. Thanks, but I don't go around doing that. I just go by Tens, ask anyone you like. Hope you enjoyed.
Two-BitGortez: Thanks. Hope you enjoyed.
DaNNi BaBezZz: Thanks! Well, I may see it someday, but every time I pick up that movie, something bad happened. Thanks! I love little kids like that and the older two are doing their jobs I see. I doubt he'll find one with Rain, but hey. Hahaha, maybe. Thanks again and hope you enjoyed!
NittanyLizard: Nice to see ya! Thanks, I found the idea intriguing myself. Well, definitely not. Thanks again and hope you enjoyed!
As always, any comments at all are welcome and flames are accepted.
See ya in the funny papers! Tens