Chapter 12 The Mother

Everyone stared as I walked through the halls at school the next day. Word of the shooting spread like a bad rash. A few greasers asked how I was doing and when Jesse wound be getting out of the hospital. Socs just sneered at me. I missed Jesse so much! Our lab table felt so lonely without him. After school, I got Two-bit to drive me to the hospital. Jesse was supposed to be getting released around three o'clock.

When I got there, I was shocked to see an older woman helping Jesse out of bed.

" Hey baby." Jesse greeted me. " I want you to meet my ma."

" It's nice to meet you m'am." I greeted her nervously.

" Please, call me Darlene." She smiled at me. She had a pretty smile. It was like Jesse's. She even had that on dimple on her right cheek like he did. She was a pretty lady. Her hair was dark and pinned up, she had a slender figure and her eyes were the same crystal blue as her sons. " Wow Jess! She sure is a beauty!"

" I know ma." Jesse laughed as he took my hand. " How was school?"

" Lonely." I mock frowned.

" Aww my poor baby!" Jesse played along.

" Well all the papers are signed so we can get going." Darlene said.

" You got a ride home?" Jesse asked.

" No, Two-bit had to pick up his sister."

" We can give you a lift." Darlene offered.

" Thanks that would be great!" I smiled.

I thought Two-bit's car was a mess. But Jesse's moms car was a disaster! I mean the thing looked like it was made from bits and pieces of about fifty different cars. It took about fifteen minutes to start and when it did I don't think it went over twenty miles an hour. Jesse sat in the back with his arm around my shoulder. He looked a little embarrassed.

" Want to come inside?" I asked as we pulled up in front of my house.

" Sure, I'll be home later ma." Jesse said as he followed me out of the only working door.

" You thirsty?" I asked. We were the only ones in the house.

" I'll take a cola." Jesse flopped down on the couch.

I went into the fridge and got him his coke and a piece of chocolate cake.

" Mmm That looks good!" Jesse liked his lips with a wolfy grin.

" Mamma's famous recipe."

" I wasn't talking about the cake." He winked at me. I swatted at his arm.

" Now Ms. Curtis, it ain't polite to hit an injured man." He teased, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me onto his lap.

" I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you," I sighed into his chest. I lifted a hand to gently brush it along his cheek. He grabbed ahold of it and held it to his chest.

" Daisy, stop." He said firmly. " I'm here and I'm fine."

" I know." He leaned in and gently kissed my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. My lips tingled from the contact with Jesse's.

" I love you so much." He sighed. My eyes opened wide with shock as he flipped me over and hoverd over me. Our lips crashed together. We stayed like that for quite a while. We stopped when I heard a truck pull up in front of the house. I pushed Jesse off and hurried to flatten down my hair and my top.

" Hey Dar." I greeted him as he came through the door. Soda and Pony followed behind.

" Hey babygirl." He smiled. That smiled disappeared when he took his eyes off the mail he was sorting and noticed I had a visitor sitting on the couch with me. " I think we gotta talk about a few things."

" What do you mean Dar?" I tried to act innocent.

" Well to start, you and Jesse should not be in this house alone. For that exact reason." He pointed at Jesse's face which had my berry lip gloss all over his mouth.

" I'm sorry Mr. Curtis." Jesse blushed, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

" Don't let it happen again." Darry warned, walking off to the kitchen.

" OOOOO.." Soda teased as he flopped down on dad's chair. " You got caught red liped there Jesse!" He then went into near hysterics over his own jokes. Jesse looked like he wanted nothing more then to fall into a black hole and die.

" HAHA Soda very funny." I rolled my eyes at my idiot brother.

" How's your shoulder feelin' Jesse?" Pony asked.

" Like a bullet went through it." Jesse answered.

" You got a scar?" Soda asked when he calmed himself down.

" Yea man, check it out!" Jesse lifted his shirt to show off the small bandage with a large purple bruise surrounding it.

" That's tough man." Soda gawked, leaning in to get a closer look. I couldn't take anymore.

" No it's not tough! It's horrible!" I yelled as I got up and stomped all the way to my bedroom. I couldn't believe they would treat Jesse's scar like a badge of honor. He could have died because of it. I didn't he anything to be proud of when I saw that scar. All I saw was my guilt symbolized.

" Daisy?" Jesse called as he opened my door and peeked in. He sighed and walked in when he spotted me sitting on the end of my bed with tears running down my face.

" Go away!" I cried.

" No." He said. " Daisy, we're guys. Scars and stitches.. we brag about them. It's just the way it is."

" I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that." He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close.

" I'm fine, you're fine. Everything is fine. Just relax." He kissed me.

" Daisy Lynn Curtis that door better be open!" Darry yelled from the kitchen.

" ooo Jesse!" I moaned. I heard a spoon drop to the floor and the hard fast paced pound of Darry's boots on the wood floor. I laughed when my brother appeared in the doorway. His face was red, teeth clenched and eyes hard. I looked over at Jesse who seemed to have just seen a ghost.

" Living room. NOW!" Darry demanded. Jesse jumped upright away. I followed him down the hall and sat beside him on the couch.

" Why would you do that?" He whispered.

" It was funny." I laughed.

" I didn't find that funny young lady." Darry called as he looked through the fridge.

We sat on the couch for a while, watching TV. I draped my legs over Jesse's and leaned my back on the arm of the couch,

" I got it!" Soda said. He got up and answered the door. " Hey baby." He said, disappearing behind the door for a brief second before coming back in. Sandy in tow.

" Hey Daisy." She said. She came over and gave me a hug. " Look at the love birds!" She stood back and smirked at me and Jesse.

" What are you doing here?" I asked.

" What? I can't visit my man?" She walked over and say in my brothers lap, giving him a big kiss. I gagged and threw a pillow at them. They laughed.

" You're still coming this weekend right?" She asked.

" Yea, of course!" I smiled. I was really looking forward to this sleepover.

" So I'll come to your house after school on Friday and help you get your stuff together. Then we'll head over to Evie's."

" Sounds good to me."

" Aw look at you girlies!" Soda laughed. Sandy and I swatted at him.

By nine the house had cleared out. Darry had settled into dads chair with the newspaper. Pony was in his room doing God knows what. My best guess was reading. I wasn't sure where Soda had gone off to. I took my shower and got myself settled in bed with the book I was currently reading. I had read the Catcher in the Rye about a million times. I remember the very first time. I was ten years old . Daddy and I sat out on the porch every evening. We..

" Can I come in?" Soda's head popped in my door.

" Sure." I smiled at my brother as he came in and jumped on my bed like an overgrown six year old.

" You ready for bed?" Soda asked.

" Yea, I got school in the morning." I said. " You need something?"

" No, just wanted to talk."

" About?"

" You… and Jesse." He sighed." Daisy mamma's not here and I figured it's better to have me talk to you instead of superman in there."

" Soda, mamma already gave me the talk. And Darry tried. I think I got it."

" Well that's a relief." He laughed." But still Daisy, if you ever want to talk to anyone I'm here. I won't judge. I swear." I knew he wouldn't. Out of all my brothers. Soda would probably be the one I'd go to.

" I know So."

" I want you to have this." He reached into his pocked and pulled his wallet out. " I ain't givin you permission to go do anything. But I want you to be prepared." He handed me a flat square package. It was a condom! I felt a slight blush creep onto my cheeks. " Do you know what that is?"

" A condom." I said awkwardly.

" Listen Daisy, I was your age a few years ago and I know how gys think. I just want you to be safe. But please, wait And if you use that condom I want you to tell me."

" Soda…" I wined.

" Please Daisy. I just need to know you're safe. But your way too young so don't do anything anytime soon."

" How old were you?" I asked.

" Thirteen. But the girl was sixteen." He said." It's different for girls. A lot more special."

" Soda, Jesse and I haven't even talked about stuff like that. We just started going out." I assured him.

" You sure have grown up quick." He shook his head.

" I'm not completely grown up yet." I winked at him.

" Goodnight Daisy." He walked to the door.

" Night Soda."