Chapter 4: Jet and Cooking

We were probably only walking for five minutes when we heard barking and saw a flash of grey and black streak past us.

"Hey Tator – ain't that your dog?" Two-bit pointed in the direction the mass had disappeared in.

"Yeah. Dammit Terror come back here!" Victoria yelled chasing after her dog.

"You have a dog?" I asked, running beside her.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Just didn't know that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me kid."

"Yeah and there's a lot you don't know about me – let's start with the fact that I'm not a kid." I stressed the word not.

"That's to be debated." Victoria muttered.

Just then we saw Victoria's dog – he had a black cat backed into the corner of the alley.

"Jet!" I cried out – scared of what the dog might do to my cat.

"Jet?" Two-bit asked. I guessed they must have been following us the whole time.

"Yeah, my cat."

"You have a cat!" Victoria asked me surprised.

"Yeah, there's a lot you don't know about me."

"So my dog has your cat backed into the corner of the alley?"

"Yeah."

"Will your cat scratch my dog's eyes out?"

"I don't think so – he's more scared then anything else. He hasn't met many dogs in his life and the ones he did were playful puppies not growling dogs."

"Oh, good. Terror will be ok."

"Will your dog eat my cat?" I asked worriedly as he lunged at Jet.

"Nope. Terror, come here!" Victoria called. "Terror! COME, HEAL!" The dog turned his head towards Victoria, looked back at Jet, and then came running to his owner. Hmm. Faithful dog.

I ran over to Jet and snatched him up before he could run off.

"Shhh Baby, its okay, shh Baby. He's not gonna hurt you." I covered his eyes with my hand and whispered softly to him, petting him and kissing him – it always calmed him.

When his heart slowed down he wiggled his head out of my hand so he could see, sniffed my face and jumped down out of my arms. He didn't run away, though, he just rubbed up against my feet.

Victoria scolded Terror, then took off the scarf she had on as a belt, slipped it through Terror's collar, and used it as a leash.

"Your dog's pretty obedient." I commented.

"Yes." Then as an after thought she added, "Your cat is pretty loyal to stay right by you even though Terror isn't gone."

"Yeah, I've had him since he was a kitten – found him on the streets when I was 8 ½. He was a really tiny kitten – probably the runt of the litter. I snuck him in the house sometimes – mom eventually noticed, she didn't care, though – but mostly he just wandered around the neighborhood, catching and killing birds and mice – he was a real good hunter. But he never actually ate what he caught – he'd wait till the end of the day – right around the time I was eating supper and come home for the cat food I had given him when I first found him. Mom said he was a strange cat, and I had no other explanation at the time except for that he loved me – I mean I was only 8 yrs old, I didn't know that pets don't love." I rambled a bit.

"But they can." Victoria argued – nodding at Jet who was sitting at my feet gently rubbing his head against my legs, but watching Terror warily.

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"Well, I'm hungry – can we go now?" Two-bit asked impatiently.

"Sure Two-bit." Victoria said.

"Hey Em – how you gonna get that cat to follow you home? Is he like a dog – you call him and he comes?" Two-bit laughed.

"Sometimes, but I think I'll just try and carry him home – if that doesn't work I'll just try to lure him home with my shoelace." I picked Jet up and held him the way he liked; my hand under his bottom, his front paws over my shoulder and his face against my shoulder facing behind me.

"What if neither of those things work?" Two-bit was so argumentative. I sighed.

"Then hopefully he'll find his way back to the Shepards' and I can pick him up from there later." What Two-bit hadn't realized was that while he was asking questions we had already started walking and were now almost to the Curtis'.

"Hey, how'd you get him from New York to Tulsa anyways?" Pony asked.

"I just took him with me." I scratched Jet's ears.

"How'd you get here?" Johnny asked.

"I hopped a couple trains, hitch-hiked, etc." Jet dug his claws into my shoulder as he began to purr. "Ouch, Jet! Gentle, buddy." He just looked at me and purred more, rubbing against my cheek.

"How did the people working on the trains not notice two stowaways – a cat and a 14-year-old girl?" Pony asked in disbelief.

"When that girl is me – it's easy for them to miss me." I smiled. "I'm good at hiding – my favorite game is hide-and-seek."

"How did you manage to hitch hike with someone who didn't mind your cat?" Two-bit asked, as we got closer to the house.

"While I was on the trains I let him free, but the rest of the time I had him in my duffel bag – I just left it unzipped a bit so he could breathe. And you'd be surprised how many people will stop to pick up a skinny girl on the side of the road with no coat."

"You don't have a coat?" Two-bit asked shocked.

"I do, well sort of, but I just didn't wear it – I was making them believe I was worse off then I actually was – to make them feel sorry for me." I replied.

"Why would you need a coat in the middle of summer?" Pony asked, unconvinced.

"I only hitch-hiked at night."

"That's crazy – someone could have kidnapped you or… or… raped you!" Pony exclaimed, hesitating at the last part.

"I was careful. I always am. I know better than to get in a car with a drunken teenager or a creepy old man."

Just then we got back to the Curtis'. When we got in the house Victoria went and put Terror in the backyard. "I don't know what you're gonna do with that cat." She said when she came back.

"Darry might let you keep him if you suck up to him." Pony said flopping on the couch next to Johnny – Two-bit was already in the kitchen raiding the fridge.

"Then what's the best way to suck up to Darry?" I asked, struggling to hold on to Jet, he was squirming to get away, but if he got down he'd probably run and hide – and then there'd be no asking Darry if I could keep Jet here, because there'd be no getting him out of hiding.

Victoria must have noticed this because she spoke up. "You can always lock him in our room till Darry gets off work." She suggested.

"Ok, good idea." I ran into our room as Jet accidentally scratched me while trying to get away. Once I was in the room I shut the door behind me and quickly dropped Jet. He shook his fur and started to give himself a bath.

"You stay in here buddy and be good." I patted him on the head, and then before I slipped out the door I shut the window so he wouldn't chase birds and fall out the window.

"A good way to suck up to Darry would be to do some chores." Pony said as I came back into the living room.

"Like washing the dishes, taking out the garbage, and cleaning?" I asked sitting down in Darry's big chair.

"We don't really do much cleaning but maybe if you cooked supper and had it ready before Darry gets home, you might have a better chance of keeping Jet." Victoria suggested.

"I can do that." I was a pretty good cook.

"Cook or have "supper" ready before Darry gets home?" Pony asked.

"Cooking and having a GOOD meal ready before he gets home."

"Are you implying last night's meal wasn't GOOD?" Victoria asked, raising her eyebrows and using an accusing tone – she was testing me.

"No, I loved the chili – it was much better than I could ever make." I must have passed the test, because Victoria seemed satisfied with my answer.

"You can make chili?" Johnny asked surprised.

"No, that's partly what I meant when I said it was better than I could make. And partly that even if I did or could make chili, it would not be that good." I added the last part hastily, not wanting to make Victoria think the wrong thing; I had to please Victoria, I really wanted her to think highly of me and to trust me.

I wanted everyone to trust me, Tim, Curly, Angel, Dally, the whole gang, but most of all I wanted Victoria to trust and respect me. Dally, too, but I had a feeling I might never have any kind of relationship with him at all; he just seemed like the type that didn't care about anyone. But I hoped with everything in me that someday Victoria would see me for who I was and like me. Until then I'd just have to go out of my way to earn her trust.

"Emma? Emma...!"

"Huh? What? Yeah." I looked up.

"I said – do you want left over chili or a piece of chocolate cake?" Two-bit said, somewhat annoyed.

"Bu..." I started to say that we had eaten up all the chocolate cake last night.

"Soda made a new cake this morning for breakfast, there's still half a cake left." Pony interrupted, reading my mind.

"Oh." I said. "Can I have both?"

Two-bit laughed. "Yeah, we all are. I just thought that…"

"Because I'm so skinny I don't eat much." I finished for him before he could struggle the words out.

"Yeah, pretty much." He admitted.

"I eat like a pig. I'm just skinny because my mom was, too. So was my grandma." I laughed – "As my best friend Stasia used to say – I'm a skinny kid that eats like a fat kid."

"Ha ha. Okay, I'll go heat up the chili." Two-bit stood up.

"It's okay Two-bit. I'll do it, don't want you burning the house down." Pony said quickly as he got up.

"Thanks." Two-bit sat back down. Then – "Hey!" – he realized what Pony had said.

"Sorry Two-bit it's true." Pony shrugged and went into the kitchen.

Two-bit turned on the TV and Mickey was on, so Victoria and him were totally zoned into the TV.

"So Johnny, what do you guys do when Darry, Steve and Soda aren't working?" I tried to make conversation.

"SHUT-UP MICKEY'S ON!" Victoria said harshly.

"Sorry." I apologized quickly, but very quietly.

"Shut-up!" She snapped again.

I was going to say sorry again, but decided against it. After Mickey ended Pony announced that our chili was ready.

"Hey Pony – did Darry happen to have a separate container of chili without beans for me?" Victoria asked examining our bowls.

"Not that I saw, I think he just made that one separate bowl, sorry Tore." Pony apologized, handing Two-bit, Johnny and me each a bowl of chili.

"Oh, well. I'll just have a sandwich." Victoria shrugged, going into the kitchen.

She came out with her sandwich just as I finished my bowl of chili. I noticed as she sat down to eat it that I was the first one done. I also noticed that Johnny was looking at me with a shocked expression, but he wasn't saying anything. I blushed and went to put my bowl in the sink.

While I was in there I decided to cut everyone a piece of cake to make up for being such a pig.

"Hey guys – want some cake?" I came back into the living room carefully balancing five plates of chocolate cake in my arms and hands.

"Wow Emma that's amazing!" Two-bit said staring at the plates.

"No it's not. I'm about to drop them any second. Quick – grab the plates someone!" A couple plates were starting to slip.

Pony rushed and grabbed two plates, as did Victoria, so that the only plate that I was holding was mine.

We sat down and ate our cake, then watched a couple episodes of Mickey and then some other stupid boring show. After an hour and a half I broke our bored silence.

"Hey guys – its 3:00 in the afternoon – what time does everybody get off work?" I asked, standing up and piling the dirty plates and bowls so I could take them to wash them.

"Steve and Soda get off at about four I think unless Steve's having problems with his car again and Darry gets off at 5:30 and will probably be home around six-ish ." Victoria answered.

"Ok I'll go wash up the dishes and see what's in the fridge to make." I said.

"I'll help." Pony said quickly, jumping up.

"Um, ok." It was kind of strange how eager he was.

"Well, I just thought since I know where stuff is in the kitchen and how to work the stove and stuff, that I would help you." Pony added, still talking quickly.

"I know how to use a stove." I replied defensively.

"Yeah, I… I just. I know where stuff is in the kitchen – you, you don't." Pony struggled, obviously not wanting to say the wrong thing and offend me.

"Good point." I shrugged and headed into the kitchen, Pony right behind me.

"Well, let's start with seeing what's in the fridge." I opened the fridge. Some ground beef, chicken, chocolate milk, beer, some fruit juice, mushrooms, green, red, yellow, and orange peppers, lettuce, salad dressing, jam, carrots, cucumbers, some other odds and ends.

"Okay, let's see what's in the cupboards." I opened the cupboards. Bread, peanut butter, cans of soup, macaroni and cheese, tomato sauce, curly noodles, spaghetti, some cans of beans, some other unidentifiable stuff.

"Well, you have a lot of good stuff. What can I make with it, though?" I thought of all the possibilities.

"I don't know – what can you cook?" Pony asked leaning against the fridge beside me.

"Is that an insult?" I asked mockingly shocked.

"Uh, no, no. No I meant, uh, that's not how I meant for it to sound. I...I" I was shocked that he hadn't detected my obvious sarcasm.

"Pony – Pony! I know. I know. I was kidding." I assured him – cutting him off of his stuttering trail.

"Ok, sorry." He blushed. What was up with this guy?

"I know!" I had a sudden idea. "Spaghetti! I can make spaghetti! You have all the stuff – and it's a simple, easy, yummy dish to make." I smiled, excited – I could already smell and taste it.

First I took the tomato sauce. Then the ground beef and mushrooms.

"Pony where are the pots?"

"Under here." He opened the cupboard beside the stove and pulled out a big pot and a frying pan.

"Thanks." I smiled as I took the pots from him. I put the big pot on the back burner, poured in a couple cans of tomato sauce and turned the element on low. "Hmm. Let's see what spices you have." I muttered to myself, opening the cupboard above the stove, searching for spices.

"Darry usually just uses the Italian spices for spaghetti." Pony said handing me a bottle of Italian Spices.

"Ok, I'll use that but I'm not just putting that." I took the bottle from him. "Do you guys have any fresh garlic?"

"Uh, yup. Right here." He handed me a clove of garlic. "This is what's left of the last one – is it enough?"

"Yeah, just perfect – thanks." I took it from him gratefully. "Um, do you have a cutting board?"

He nodded and leaned down into the cupboard, pulling out a wooden cutting board.

"And a big knife?" I laughed.

"Yeah, we got that, too." He laughed too.

After he got me the knife I put the clove of garlic on the cutting board and smashed it with the side of the knife, then chopped it up and put it in with the now bubbling tomato sauce.

"Hey – Pony could you cook the meat for me please?" I put the frying pan on the front grate and motioned toward the ground beef.

"Uh, sure?" He looked disgusted – but did it anyways.

"Whoa Pony! You only need about a quarter of that package." He would have put the whole package of beef in the pan if I hadn't stopped him.

"Whoops." He laughed and put the right amount in the pan and turned on the burner.

"Ok, keep an eye on that – it won't take too long. When it's almost cooked add the mushrooms in with it – but only just before you are ready to take the meat off. K?"

"M'kay." Pony nodded.

When I was sure he was okay with the meat, I turned back to the matter of the rest of supper. I put a tiny bit of salt in the sauce, then a bunch of pepper, then the Italian Spices. I went into the cupboard and got out the spaghetti. Then I got another big pot out, filled it with water, put it on the front grate beside the frying pan, put the lid on it and turned it on high. While I waited for it to boil Pony finished with the meat and mushrooms and I told him to add it to the sauce.

"Thanks Pony." Then I thought of something else we could have. "What does everyone like in their salad?"

"Um." He thought for a moment. "Everything."

"Ok." I took out the lettuce, red, yellow, and orange peppers, cucumbers and carrots.

Together Pony and I made a salad, and then we cooked the pasta and finished the sauce.

After about an hour and a half or so, we had a big pot of pasta, a ton of sauce, and a full bowl of salad ready to eat. We also had a chocolate cake in the oven.

"Phew. That was fun." I washed my hands to get all the food grease off. Pony did the same.

"Sure was." He replies, as we dried our hands.

"I haven't cooked in a long time." I hopped up on the clean counter. We had also done the dished – washed, dried, and put them all away.

"Me either, Darry pretty much always does." Pony said as he jumped up on the counter beside me.

That reminded me of something that had been on my mind.

"Does the whole gang always eat here?" I hoped not, that's a lot of noise; I kind of hoped life in Tulsa would be quieter and more normal. I had a feeling that would not be what I would have here – normal. From what I saw so far, the gang was here all the time – and they were far from normal.

"No, but often." The timer went off for the cake. "I'll get it." Pony jumped down from the counter, took the cake out of the oven and put it on the counter beside me to cool down. I jumped down off the counter then, too.

"Oh. I was going to get that."

"Done! Hey – you wanna go see what Two-bit is doing to torture Toria and Johnny?" Pony laughed.

"Sure, why not?" I laughed, too. "But do we have to help them?'

"Naw, we'll just watch the torture session and laugh."

"Sounds good to me."

We walked out into the living room.

No one was there – well, it seemed as if no one was there. I heard muffled giggles from behind the couch.

"Where'd they go?" I had thought that Pony was pretty smart, and more advanced than anyone else, but I really wondered when he asked that question. How could he not see Two-bit's foot from behind the chair?

"Uh, Pone? Look at the chair." The foot moved, but not out of sight; Two-bit had got it stuck under the corner of the chair.

"Oh. Hi Two-bit."

"Aww shucks. If I wasn't so big you would probably have gone searching the neighborhood." We heard the unmistakable voice of Two-bit call from behind the chair.

"Nope. I heard Victoria giggling." I informed them.

"What? How did you know it was me and not Johnny?" Victoria popped up behind the couch, followed by Johnny.

"Cuz Johnny wouldn't giggle. He might smile to himself, but he's to quiet and shy to giggle like that. Plus, even though you tried to muffle the sound, I could tell it was a female giggle."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and climbed out from behind the couch, Johnny came around it rather than over it.

Victoria plunked herself down on the couch – making a loud squeak – I had a feeling the couch was a bit old – but when Johnny sat down it didn't make a sound. I almost laughed out loud – but didn't dare too.

"So what are we going to do now?" Pony asked.

"Hey guys."

"I don't know." Victoria shrugged.

"Umm, hey guys?"

I giggled. Poor Two-bit had his foot stuck – he couldn't get out from behind the chair.

Everyone else ignored him.

"Um, guys? Wanna help me here? I'm kinda stuck…"

Pony laughed now, too. Victoria smirked and Johnny smiled.

"Johnny do you hear something?" Victoria asked with a sly grin on her face.

"No, I don't." He replied dumbly. And then smiled.

"Well, I definitely hear something." She insisted.

"Toria what are you talking about? I don't hear anything." Pony asked Victoria.

"Ha ha, guys very funny. But seriously, I'm stuck – help me out." Two-bit persisted.

"Emma do you hear anything?" Pony asked me.

"No."

"Toria are you feeling alright?" Pony asked Victoria, mock concerned.

"Yeah, I just thought I heard something."

"Aww, come on guys." Two-bit whined.

"Guess I must have just imagined it." Victoria shrugged.

"Aww come on! Please help me! I'm stuck." Two-bit said a louder – obviously annoyed now.

"Oh, I hear it now! It's Two-bit! Poor guy got his foot stuck and can't get out from behind the chair. We should help him." I exclaimed, pretending to just notice him.

"Oh you're right Emma! It is Two-bit." Pony played along still.

"Okay, okay! I get it – you see me. Now help me!"

We all burst out laughing – except Two-bit. Even Johnny was laughing a bit.

"Here Two-bit." I unhooked his foot so he could get out, still trying to stop laughing.

"Thank-you Emma for helping me – unlike Toria. I thought she was my best friend – but I guess not." Two-bit pouted.

"Aww come on Two-bit, I was just joking. I still love you Bitsy-spider." Victoria gave him a big hug.

"Ok Tator." Two-bit smiled, hugging her back.