Author's Notes: If Vance is your favorite manwhore in the game, I apologize: he was going to be a lot in this chapter, but I replaced most of him with Ricky.
Chapter 3: Hearing the Violins
Ricky Pucino had volunteered to keep an eye on the much weakened, much shaken Larry. The rest were out there, busy pretending to be searching for the two and dropping false clues. It was probably the first time ever that all of Johnny Vincent's underlings were working against him, Ricky reckoned as he climbed up the stairs to the temporary hiding place.
The younger greaser had looked up to Larry for a long time. At first, he had thought of him as a total buzzkill though – he had seemed just a bit too eager to sabotage any other guy's chances with Lola. It also had seemed that he hovered over the royal pair's relationship, ready to swoop down and take Lola if something went wrong. Ricky couldn't have had been more mistaken about that though. Larry's allegiance had always been first and foremost with Johnny, as Ricky had been bound to notice when things went awry. Whatever happened, Larry was there to support Johnny; even when he was in one of those moods when you couldn't tell whether he's going to break up in tears or lash out at you and gouge your eyes out, Larry took one for the team and went first to talk to him. Having gone through a painful break-up or few in his life, Ricky knew that friends like that were a privilege.
"Hey, Peanut?" Ricky asked carefully as he peeked through the door to the run-down apartment.
The elder greaser was sitting on a dirty mattress, leaning with his elbows on his knees and supporting his face with his hands. He looked crappier than at Blue Balls Pool Hall, if that was even possible.
"Gotcha some food", Ricky announced and held up a plastic bag emblazoned with the logo of the newly reopened Chinese restaurant.
"Thanks Ricky. I'm starvin'", Larry said while rubbing his temples. He sighed deep.
Ricky looked at him with concern. He looked more vulnerable than before.
"Y'know Peanut, they're probably expecting us to think of some sorta plan to keep you from becomin' Johnny's new chew toy", Ricky reminded bleakly.
"I know. I know... Whatcha think I'm doin' right now?" Larry responded, his voice cracking slightly.
The younger greaser walked up to him and handed him a take-away box and a pair of chopsticks. Then he took the same for himself and sat on an old coffee table that stood near the mattress. As Ricky ate, Larry simply stared at his food blankly.
"Oy. Peanut. Your engine won't run without fuel", Ricky scolded.
"Sorry. I just realized the shit I'm in, Ricky. This could be the last meal I eat."
"Don't be such a drama queen. We're gonna sort this out. Besides, Johnny ain't killin' a friend either way."
"I think I'm already dead", Larry said with a shaky voice.
Abruptly, he screwed his eyes shut and dropped his chopsticks in favor of rubbing his hand across his eyes. He did it with considerable force, maybe trying to keep tears at bay. Ricky saw a bit of himself in him: the resemblance to him during his post-breakup trauma was uncanny. But, the circumstances were all different. How do you console a person during times like this? The younger greaser felt useless as he looked at his senior fighting back an emotional breakdown.
No amount of comforting would've gotten through to Larry even if he had known what to say, though. Larry was in the pits, so far down that his heart was splitting out of anxiety. He had been in sticky situations thanks to Lola before, but this was all different. He had never had to speak against Lola when it came to her infidelity.
"What the hell did I do to piss Lola off?" Larry asked from himself, catching Ricky off guard.
A sliver of doubt sneaked into the younger greaser's mind. Ricky's eyebrows twitched and he fumbled for words. He had to be careful about what he said.
"So, um. Peanut, I hate to ask this... But..."
Hell, he had to get it over with.
"Are you sure there ain't somethin' goin' on with you an' Lola?"
Larry raised his head to look at Ricky with his tired, desperate eyes. The junior immediately felt bad about asking that.
"There's nothin'. There couldn't have been anythin'."
This was true. It was perhaps hard for anyone else to believe, but it was true. There occasionally were rumors going around saying that he was boning Lola behind Johnny's back, but they were always false and the three people concerned knew it. Those had been the only kinds of rumors concerning Lola that Johnny never really swallowed even though he gave a lot of crap about them.
That was, however, until the evidence had come prancing along. Happily provided by Lola, it seemed. The worst part was, there was a very logical explanation to why Larry would absolutely never touch Lola in the first place and it was tempting to announce it to the world now just to escape suspicion. But, it would ruin him and his status quo with both Lola and Johnny.
"All I can think of is that I've pissed Lola off somehow and she don't want me to be Johnny's friend no more", Larry huffed.
Ricky shook his head irately.
"This fuckin' sucks man. I'm gettin' so tired of that skank", he grumbled.
Ricky's words stung, but what he said mirrored Larry's feelings to a tee.
Way back, right after Johnny's rise to the lead, Larry had actually become friends with the greaser queen. He had become both Johnny's and Lola's respected confidante: a diplomat between them. He'd listen to their worries and in turn they would allow him to reason with them. While Johnny was often oblivious to what was happening below him, Lola and Larry had always had a quiet agreement about how things worked. Unexpectedly, that had become fruitful grounds for friendship. Lola actually reminded Larry of his older sister who had gone to a college on the other side of the country during the beginnings of Johnny's leadership. Larry, on the other hand, was one of the very few gents who didn't want to get into Lola's pants. They had become rather comfortable with each other.
Perhaps too comfortable. With the way he had been around her, he had probably been begging for something like this to happen. A long, frustrated sigh rippled through Larry's throat when he counted the ways that he had set this thing up with his very own actions.
"I don't even know if I can hate Lola. It's like hatin' lighting for strikin' people down", he said, rationalizing with himself.
Ricky nodded.
Suddenly, the two heard a rattle from the door. Larry's heart jumped into his throat and Ricky took to his feet cautiously.
When the door opened, Vance came in.
"Whoa, easy guys", he said as he saw the boys' alarmed expressions.
"Whew", Ricky said, chuckling at himself for being so easy to scare. Larry mumbled something incomprehensible, relieved.
"So, have ya found anythin'?" Ricky asked.
Vance swallowed and looked at his fellow greasers. His troubled, apologetic expression made Larry lose all hope.
"We went to the bar and tried to figure out what happened there. But all we found out was that yes, you and Lola were there on Friday, and that the bartender that had his shift during that time is outta town."
"Shit", Ricky cursed and ran his hand through his slicked hair.
"There's more... Johnny knows we're shelterin' you. He lashed out at Norton and told me to tell ya that he expects you at the Hole tonight. At midnight."
Vance bit his lower lip and watched as Ricky's eyes shot wide open. Larry's eyes did the exact opposite.
"But Peanut's in no condition to fight!" Ricky objected.
"I know, it's not like I called the shots or anythin'! I mean, we're tryin' our best to get Johnny calm down but he don't listen! We barely managed to stop him from bargin' in here!" Vance barked back angrily.
After that, the three were in total silence. Ricky and Vance looked at their friend and respected senior with all their sympathies.
"Better try eatin' up, then. I wanna be able to walk there with my own feet", Larry said and picked up his chopsticks. He took a bite of his food, now cooled down and not at all appetizing to him.
Come midnight, Larry "Peanut" Romano was feeling strangely numb again. In turns, he felt like breaking down, then like nothing at all. Calm before a storm, as the saying went. He looked to his sides as he marched forward: students regardless of age, sex, and social class flowed towards the Hole at the same time as he did but they stayed away from him. The way others looked at him was as if he was a ghost. Well, he would soon be one, so maybe that was appropriate.
"Hum... Sorry Peanut, but I don't think I can cheer for ya 'cause... Y'know", Hal said apologetically.
Vance, who walked next to him, nodded sadly upon hearing those words. Johnny would skewer them if they were to do that.
"It's alright Hal. It's alright", Larry said understandingly even though the reason why Hal had to tell him this beforehand eluded him.
"Well, we'll patch you both up when you're done. We're all be laughin' at this some day, I know it", Vance said with a high-strung, forced laugh.
"Yeah, totally", Hal agreed nervously.
These guys were clueless.