It's funny how the world keeps going on. Thanksgiving and Christmas, they came and went. We didn't pay much attention to them, but then I guess no one really ever pays much attention to time and it still goes on. Ponyboy, he came back to school. Boy, did he ever mess things up for a while there. He forgot things, he was failing. I thought it was real funny because I was doing better than I ever had in school.
Pony wasn't trying to get tough like I was, though. He didn't have to pretend like he wasn't okay, because he still had his brothers. After a few weeks, people started to believe my lies. I would too, if I were on the outside looking in. Makeup kept people from knowing how often I didn't sleep. When Dad wasn't around to make sure I ate, Darry, Evie and Karen were. I did my schoolwork just because I knew if I did, it would make me tired enough to maybe get an hour of sleep.
Breaks from school were hard for me. I took up reading, actually. Ponyboy fed me a steady stream of novels, but I swear I wouldn't be able to tell you a word of what I read. I was lucky Pony was so quiet that he never asked. Things were going okay. Not good, but okay. We had all hit a routine. We were moving forward. And then I went with Karen to a New Year's Eve party out on Tim's side of town.
Shepard gang parties were always wild, and I have no idea what I was thinking. Well, yeah, I do. I was thinking I'd like to beat Buck's face in.
"It's not bad, Brookie," Curly said, his arm wrapped around my waist. I'm not sure if he was using me to stand, or if he really wanted to hold on to me. I lean towards the first, because he was terribly drunk.
"I don't want to drink your beer, Charles." Curly hated when I used his first name, and I knew it. I also knew I was pushing my luck, talking to him like that with him so soused up, but I honestly didn't care. If he hit me, he hit me. That's when Buck, that good for nothing, bow legged cowboy, walked up to us.
"Broads don't like beer, Curly. Not the classy ones, anyway. Reckon this sweet little thing would rather have this." He handed a brown paper bag over to me. Buck was dead sober, and I could see the challenge in his eyes. I looked inside to find a Mason jar. Moonshine, of course. Buck was like Dally, refusing to do anything the legal way.
"Your brother, rest his soul, could knock that back like no other. What do ya say we find out if it's a family talent?" I know I shouldn't have done it, but there was Dally's voice again. Get tough. Instead of crying like I knew Buck wanted me to, I unscrewed the lid and started to drink straight from the jar. I was half way through it when Curly jerked the jar from my hand.
"Son of a bitch, Buck, I can't believe you did that! It's damn low, even for you." My stomach was rolling and I suddenly found that walking was no longer easy. I wanted to ask Curly to take me to Karen, but he could hardly walk himself and I was so scared that if I opened my mouth, I would puke.
"You should have let the little thing keep drinking. Maybe then she'd give you what you want." Curly let go of me to throw a right hook towards Buck's jaw, but it never did connect. Buck moved and Curly fell flat on his face. I was very wobbly without Curly to hold onto, but for some reason, I thought Curly falling was so funny that I fell back laughing.
"Brooklyn Paige!" I cocked my head back to see Karen, and then I had to laugh some more because she was upside down. Then I had to laugh more because she looked so serious and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. When I had myself under control, I copied her.
"Karen Diane!" She hooked me under the arms and pulled me up, wrapping her arm around my waist as Curly had. It occurred to me that I had lost him, so I stretched onto tiptoe to look for him. He was with Tim, ice pressed to his eye. Buck had belted him across the face.
"We need to find Angela." Both of us knew exactly where Angela was at these kinds of parties, and it was nowhere good.
"Why Ange?" Karen looked at me like I was speaking Spanish and shook her head. We found Evie and Steve before we found Angela. Steve choked on his beer when he saw me.
"Lordy, what happened to you, Brookie?" Karen kind of handed me off to Evie, and she said something to her before leaving, but I didn't catch it. The lights were way brighter in the kitchen where they were, and it was making me want to puke again. When Karen came back, she had Angela with her. Angela's hair was nothing short of a mess.
"We ought to make her puke it up. Let's get her to the bathroom. Bring some water, would you, doll?" Puking did not sound like fun at all to me. Who would want to puke? Besides, Angela had always told me that pretty girls don't puke. When I told her as much, she gave a hard laugh and forced the cup to my lips.
I puked, alright. I puked for so long I thought my whole stomach would come up. Angela held my hair back for me while Karen sat on the edge of the tub, rubbing my back and telling me it was okay. By the time I was done, I was feeling lousy.
"When she sobers up, I'd give her a working over if I were you, Karen." I leaned my head against Karen's legs. My whole stomach and throat hurt from throwing up, and I really wanted to go to bed. I felt Karen start to play with my hair.
"You can't really blame her, Angela. I mean, this is the first time she's messed up since… Anyway, this has been a long time comin'," Karen said. I opened my eyes in time to see Angela stand up, make a half-hearted effort to right her hair and pull her skirt down, and leave.
"I want to go home," I whined to Karen and she sighed. She pushed me off of her legs and made me stand, again wrapping her arm around my waist. Angela's short skirts kind of made sense to me in that moment. My skirt was making it awfully hard for me to walk.
"I know you do. But I can't leave without Two-Bit, you know that. Let's see if we can't find Soda to take you home." Sodapop being at the party sure was news to me. He usually didn't show up to these kind of parties, unless it was for dancing, and New Year's was strictly a get drunk party. Soda didn't drink, so why would he be there? I found out later he was there to make sure Steve and Evie got home okay.
"Brookie… what a mess you've made of yourself," Soda said once Karen had passed me off to him. I clung to his arm, smiling up at him. He shook his head at me and started to try to get me to walk forward. I tripped as soon as we took a step.
"Whoa, there!" He caught me right before my face met the ground. I didn't even try to catch myself. I laughed, because it was funny. Soda was always saving me from danger by wrapping his arms around my waist.
"How's about a piggy back ride?" He didn't really give me a choice, all but swinging me onto his back. I was glad then that my skirt was long and I had on hose underneath. Drunk as I was, I knew the last thing I needed was for the world to see my panties.
"Pretty hair," I said, running my fingers through Soda's hair and watching the light glint off of it. Somewhere between walking out the door and getting home, I fell asleep while Soda carried me. I didn't wake up again until I was suddenly standing on my own two feet again. I almost fell, and Soda grabbed my arm.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you fell asleep," Soda whispered to me. It was dark, and I could hear fireworks going off. The city always set off fireworks for the last five minutes until New Year's. I rubbed my eyes, smearing makeup all over my hands and face.
"Where are we?" I asked. I honestly had no idea. It was too dark to see, except for when a firework burst into the air. Those were just quick flashes, though, so I never got to really look during them. Sodapop shushed me.
"Be quiet. We're outside your house. Take those heels off. We're going to climb you through your bedroom window." I tried to bend over and do as he said, but I found myself sitting on the ground instead. I smiled up at Soda and he sighed, crouching down in front of me. He pulled my feet into his lap and started to undo my shoes.
"If you were a boy," he said, sliding one shoe and then the other off my feet, "I'd bash your head in for this." I was playing with his hair again. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. When a really bright firework went off, painting his face blue, he put his finger to his lips. Shhh. He pulled his pocket knife out and started to jimmy open my window. I twirled, making my dress float out around me while he worked.
"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly; lavender's green. When you are king, dilly, dilly, I shall be queen," I sang quietly while twirling. Fireworks burst in the sky. 1964 was running out. I was twirling in a party dress. Sodapop Curtis was breaking my window pane.
My twirling stopped when Sodapop took my hand again. He put his finger to his lips again, and the lifted me up by the waist. My window wasn't very high, but I wouldn't have been able to get in without his help. I sat down on the floor, humming, while Soda passed me my shoes and then pulled himself into the room. He hooked me under the arms, pulling me up.
"Let's get you to bed." I couldn't hear the fireworks any more. For that last minute, they stop the show, and then when the clock strikes twelve, they go off again. Soda pulled my covers back and made me lay down. He started to tuck me in. I finished my song.
"Who told you so, dilly, dilly; who told you so? 'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly; 'twas my own heart that told me so." Sodapop shook his head, but I could see he was half smiling at me. I smiled back at him. He brushed my hair back off my face and leaned down, pressing his lips to my forehead at the same time the fireworks started again.
"Goodnight, Brooklyn Paige."