Disclaimer: I don't own; I borrow with the odd exception.
Author's Note: Flames are welcome. Here's to taking a decade to update. Dotty and Jane both belong to Cheap Indifference. I would also like to thank this lovely lady and everybody else who helped me out here. Point out any mistakes, and as always, reviews would be just lovely!

Feb. 1964

There weren't many things I couldn't handle. Seeing my mom with a black eye was one of them. I didn't know what kind of man put his hands on a woman like that, especially one he was supposed to love. But love had never really been the reason our parents had gotten married.

"Dotty invited us for dinner," my mom was saying as she leaned into the bathroom mirror, trying to conceal her black eye with some of Janice's cover-up. "She wants to know if there's anything special you and Jan want."

I folded my arms over my chest and shook my head as I leaned against the doorframe. "Whatever Mrs. Mathews is cooking is fine, Ma."

The last thing on my mind right then was eating. I was too disgusted to want to sit down with the Mathewses and be surrounded by all their pointless yammering when there were more important things that needed my attention. But around here, you didn't refuse someone's hospitality, because Lord only knew when they'd offer it again. Mrs. Mathews worked two jobs and had a hard enough time keeping food on the table for herself and her two kids, let alone another three mouths. It was admirable, her wanting to lend a hand and save my mom the trouble of cooking for a night, but it was stupid. I knew how tight things were at their place; Two-Bit and I talked about it sometimes.

He and his sister were holding up pretty well, from what he said, but he was worried. Their dad handn't left them with so much as a pot to piss in, and Two-Bit wasn't stupid. He knew the cost of living was high and that it was expensive trying to keep two kids clothed and fed, and that there wasn't any way his mom made enough to pay the bills and make the rent every month. But Dotty was a prideful woman and would sooner pick up another job than ask for help. If pride really was a sin, then both her and my mom—and probably every other person on our side of town—were going to hell. I just hoped whoever got there first saved me a seat.

Janice came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder, which reeled me back into reality. She gave our mom one of those stupid grins of hers, and I about told her to fuck right off. There was absolutely nothing she needed to be happy about, and if she thought any of this was even remotely comical, or tried to make of light of the cluster fuck of a situation that she caused, I was going to lose it on her.

"Does it hurt very much?" she asked, motioning to her eye.

She was so obnoxious and callous sometimes that it made me question the existence of this supposed thing called humanity she was always talking about, and whether or not she really knew the meaning of it, the way she always fucking claimed to. I gave her a hard look and had to remind myself that this was her way of coping. She wasn't like me and our mom. When things got hard, she tucked tail and ran, and that was why she took off all the time. She was selfish and had no consideration for anybody other than herself. The contempt I held for her right then reached what I would swear to was an all time high.

"Did Mom tell you?" I asked, finally shrugging her off. "Dotty invited us for dinner."

She beamed at me. "That was awful nice of her."

"I'll say." I gave her a pointed look. "Try not to fuck it up this time, huh? I happen to like these people."

Janice swatted me in the chest and scoffed. "If anyone is going to mess anything up, Dallas, it's you." She winked at me and ruffled my hair. "You have the mannerisms of a savage."

I flicked Janice in the arm and smirked. "Go ahead and be jealous, Jan," I said. "But you know they like me better."

"Yeah, maybe when pigs fly."

Our mom smiled widely and glanced at us through the bathroom mirror. "You already have wings, sweetheart," she said.

Sometimes my mom was even worse for trying to make light of a situation. But I had to humor her, and I laughed the way I figured she was hoping I would. In all honesty, it was too weird standing there and watching our mom try to pretend like everything was okay. As much as she tried, she couldn't even fool herself, let alone the people around her. Her attempt at saving face was commendable, but it irritated me how she thought she had to hide things and do everything herself. I wanted her to know that it was alright to ask for help; nobody would think any less of her. But she always said it wasn't anybody's burden to bear but her own. I had to agree with her there, even though I knew there were a few people who were willing to bend over backwards for her if she needed them to.

Dotty was one of those people. I remembered taking refuge at her house a lot of nights, when my mom and dad were at their worst, and I always remembered thinking how lucky Jane and Two-Bit were to have her.

My mom turned around then and gave both me and Jan a hopeful look. "Well?"

I grimaced and tilted her face toward the light, shaking my head. "Still too swollen."

She sighed and swept her hair back without saying anything. There were some things that couldn't be covered up. I'd heard from someone that it was the emotional abuse that was hardest to hide and took the greatest toll, and looking at my mom right then, I knew it was true. I wanted to tell her how sorry I was for leaving her on her own the other night, but I didn't think she'd want to hear it, but it wouldn't actually fix anything or undo any of what had happened. Words never fixed a goddamned thing, and sorry was just that—a word that got thrown around too much to mean anything. I wanted her to stop hurting and finally be okay, because she hadn't been in so long. None of us had.

I cleared my throat and scowled when Janice looped her arm through mine. She seemed stiff and uncomfortable suddenly, like she knew what I was thinking. It irked me how she could get into my head so easy; I couldn't keep anything from her and my thoughts weren't my own.

"When is Dad coming home?" she asked, and our mom bristled visibly, her eyes turning into two dark buttons.

"Later," was all she said, shooing us out of the bathroom.

As she locked the door, I felt something unsettling creep into the house.

Dotty was all smiles when we showed up. There were the standard how-do-you-dos and the murmurings about the weather, but I could tell my mom felt at home here. Mrs. Mathews always told us that when we entered her house, our problems were left at the door.

But mine stuck to me like flypaper that night. Even though I tried to focus on other things and not lose myself in my own little world, the nagging at the back of my mind that something somewhere was going to go wrong made it impossible. Janice kept throwing me these careful looks every so often, in what I assumed was her way of making sure I was still functioning behind the stupor. Things were moving around me, but I couldn't keep up.

"Christ almighty, Dallas, aren't you getting tall?" Dotty said, while we were in the kitchen. It took me a second to collect myself and realize that she was talking to me, and I nearly forgot why I was there in the first place. She looked at my mom and motioned at me with an empty glass. "What are you feeding this kid, Anais?"

Anais. I hadn't heard anybody call my mom that in a real long time. She was Annie to most people, except her mom and dad.

"Beats me," she said, taking the glass from Dotty and handing it to me. I was supposed to be helping set the table, but I needed some air and a smoke. "He needs to start putting on some weight. Nothing I feed him seems to make a difference."

"I don't know what the hell y'all are on about." I opened the back door and spotted Two-Bit over by the gate with his sister, finishing off his cig. He was looking like he hadn't quite recovered from the other night. "Just 'cause you ain't nothin' but a couple of old, fat hags…"

I meant it just joking. Dotty gave me a light cuff upside the head, but she was grinning just the same.

"Get those kids of mine in here," she told me, holding open the screen door as I started across the yard. "Dinner's near ready."

I waited until she had disappeared back into the kitchen before lighting my smoke. It wasn't that she didn't know I smoked, I just didn't like her watching me, because I thought maybe it'd make my mom look bad or something.

Two-Bit nodded at me as I made my way over to them. The air was cool against my skin, and I shivered, looking at the sky. Dark clouds were rolling in, and that meant one thing—a storm.

"Good to see you made your way home."

He grinned and crushed his cig under his boot. "Yeah, and it wasn't no thanks to you."

Jane snorted at the both of us and shook her head. I think she thought we had a couple screws loose at times, and I blamed that on hanging around Two-Bit too much for my own good.

"At least they had the decency to let you sleep it off at Buck's and not with the rats," she told him as I offered her one of my smokes. "Even though that's kinda where you belong..."

He grabbed at my pack of Kools and rolled his eyes at her. "How can you say that when you're the one who looks like a rat?" He dug through his pockets and pulled out his lighter. "Shoot, Janey, you'd fit right in with 'em."

I scratched the back of my head and took a long drag off my smoke, hoping like fucking hell they didn't decide to stand here and try and duke it out. They must've known my patience was wearing thin; that seemed to be the only time they really went at it. Jan and I weren't much better, and I was silently grateful she was still in the house. There was no way I'd be able to handle all three of them at once.

"Hey," I cut in quickly, tapping my ashes off to the side. "You ain't gonna guess who I ran into today."

"Your better half?" Two-Bit winked at me. "I knew there was somethin' goin' on between you and Tim…"

Jane smacked him in the chest and narrowed her eyes at him. "Let the guy finish," she said hotly. "Not everyone likes the sound of your voice, you know."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a few deep breaths. She was right—sometimes I couldn't stand the sound of Two-Bit's voice. He never let anybody get a word in but himself.

"Bobby Huff." I had to try and talk over them, but once they heard, they both went quiet, which was a first. "Slimy fuck's got somethin' up his sleeve."

Two-Bit got real serious all of the sudden. He gave me an even look and pointed at me. "Be careful, Dal," he said, because he knew that sometimes my curiosity got me into shit. "I know I ain't gotta tell you twice."

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

Dinner started and ended without anything out of the normal. Two-Bit cringed when he saw my mom's face, and Jane kept her hand on my knee the whole time we were sitting at the table. She knew I was all wound up, and most days, I thought she was the only person who understood what was going on in my head.

Two-Bit and my mom were in the middle of some conversation that I was only half listening to.

"I don't say dirty things about you, Anais," he was saying, leaning up beside her while she was washing dishes. "Steve, on the other hand…"

I put my head in my hands. It wasn't any secret that Two-Bit had it hard up for my mom, and I think even she knew.

"I'm sure." She handed him a plate to dry, half smiling, rolling her eyes.

"Well, unless you count talkin' about how good-looking you are something dirty…" he trailed off, smirking to himself as he put the plate away. "Then yes, I say real dirty things about you."

Janice cleared her throat a little too loudly, coming in with Dotty through the back door. "Quit hitting on my mom. We could hear you clean across the yard, Two-Bit," she told him, but she was looking in my direction. "How about we go to the drive-in tonight? My treat, since none of you other bums work."

Dotty patted Janice on the back. "Yeah, get out of our hair for a while."

Sighing, I hung my head over the back of my chair and felt Jane squeeze my shoulder. It was going to be a long night.