One Step At A Time
Summary: When he was only two, a car accident took his leg, and his mother. Now, Ponyboy must learn to deal with life as a fourteen year old with only one leg. With the help six brothers and dad, he's just going to have to take it one step at a time. (Mr. Curtis is alive!)
Disclaimer: No, silly, I never have nor will I ever own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. *sighs* :( I simply borrow them for my own creative enjoyment purposes.
White collar black wolf: Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
Kas3y: Thank you for taking the time to review!
HappierThanMost: Really? That comment made my day because I felt like it was choppy and unrealistic. The girlfriend idea was not mine, it was requested. I'm so glad that you noticed the part with their worlds crumbling. I wanted to tie in Darry's heartbreak with Darrel's heartbreak, so I was glad that you caught that! I hoped that at least someone would.
Amanda (Guest): That's totally okay! Thank you for finding time to send me such a sweet review. It really made me smile, so thank you! :) Have fun on your trip!
RiceCrispy98: I'm so glad that you are enjoying! I'm going to do my best to work that in with my plan for this story, see if I can write something with it because I think that would be fun to write. Thank you so much for your review!
Chapter 10: Are you hiring, Sir?
~ Tuesday, November 15, 1966 ~
The chill of the air seemed to seep into Ponyboy's bones, through his winter jacket as he walked towards the library. The jacket was hardly built for winter, it had been Soda's jacket until he outgrew it at fifteen, and it was now Ponyboy's. The sleeves were too long and the thread was thinning, leaving Ponyboy only partly protected from the cold Tulsa wind.
For the past three hours, Ponyboy had visited every reputable business owner in the entire Tulsa area, aside from businesses on the Soc side of town. He had even gone to places in the middle class area, but no one seemed to be hiring. He left his phone number with multiple places, but they all seemed to indifferent to care about a fourteen year old who just wanted a job to finally start helping out, and saving for college.
He pushed open the door to the DX, the warm air blasting his face, relieving him from the sting of winter's grasp outside. He called out a greeting to Steve, who only grunted from underneath a car. Soda, however, flashed Ponyboy a movie-star grin as he rang up an elderly couple at the counter. Once they left, Pony walked over to his older brother and started filling him in on the day's events.
"I went to three different libraries, Dairy Queen, the Dingo, and a few others, but no one seems to be hiring," Ponyboy complained, frustration lacing his voice.
"Shoot, kiddo, why don't you apply here?" Soda suggested warmly. Ponyboy's eyebrows furrowed together.
"Really? You guys are hiring?"
"No, we ain't," Steve said from under the car, his voice muffled.
"Don't listen to him. We are, actually. He's just cranky because he got chewed out by Mike this morning," Soda sassed, kicking Steve's legs that stuck out from under the car gently. A wrench suddenly came flying out from underneath the car, barely missing Soda, but the blond-haired greaser just laughed.
"Alright," Ponyboy finally agreed, interrupting the playful fighting. "I'll apply. You guys got a resume around here somewhere?"
Soda directed Ponyboy to where the resumes were, and the fourteen year old began filling his out until it was time for Soda and Steve to leave. He placed the resume on Mike's desk as Steve finishing locking all the doors but the front one.
"Come on, kid, hurry it up," Steve complained. Pony rolled his eyes, lightly jogging to the door as Steve closed it behind him.
"Admit it, Steve, you would love for me to work here."
"You're real funny, kid. No, what I would love to see is you shutting your mouth and leaving me alone."
"Touchy. Is someone on the rag?" Soda joked, earning a swing from Steve.
"Curtis's," Steve mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes.
~ Saturday, November 19, 1966 ~
The resume wasn't thought about much for the next week. Soda and Steve went to work as if nothing happened, and Pony continued spending his days at school and his nights studying and reading. That was, until a phone call for a Ponyboy Curtis came one Saturday night.
"Hello?" Ponyboy answered as his dad handed him the phone, confusion clouding his features. When he heard the familiar voice on the other end, it sent the pieces flying together.
"Hello, Ponyboy. This is Mike. I'm calling about your resume," he explained, "I don't think there's much need for an interview. You're Soda's brother, and he's a good employee. This is the last time, however, that being a relative of one of my employees will earn you any favors, got it? I expect you in here next week, working just as hard as everyone else."
"Yes, Sir. I'll be in," Ponyboy replied, and he couldn't help but allow elation to fill his voice. Finally, he had a job!
A/N: This is short, I know, but the next one will be a lot longer to make up for it. Thanksgiving is up next!
*** I'll be honest here, I can only focus on one thing at once, and going back and forth between series has messed me up, and in all honestly I'm getting bored of this story. I know it's not as long as it should be, but I think I'm going to wrap it up in about three more chapters.
Stay Gold,
~ Alee XxX