For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 2
Checking the Roof?
Trying Falling Through It
The next morning I awoke to the sound of knocking at my front door. When I got up and looked out my window, I found Darry standing at my front door and his truck parked out in front of my house.
"I'll be right down!" I called, shutting my window and going over to my dresser.
I grabbed my jeans from the dresser and pulled them on, hopping around a bit in the process. I then grabbed my red sleeveless shirt and pulled it on before running down the stairs. That was my first mistake of the morning as missed the second to last step and feel, tumbling down to the floor on my back.
"Ow…" I groaned out, laying there for a moment.
"Are you alright in there?" Darry called from behind the door.
The only thing that I could do was say yes as I rolled myself over and got up. At least I made a decent first impression I guess. With that in mind I went to the door, turning the lock and opening it. Darry stood there rubbing the back of his neck, a slightly awkward smile on his face.
"Are you alright?" he asked, coming inside once I moved out of the way.
"Yeah, I'll be fine…in a hour or two," I muttered at the end, turning back around and going to the refrigerator. "Please, make yourself at home," I told him, gritting my teeth as I did it to try and hide the pain.
A sore back and head was the last thing that I needed.
"You sure that you're alright?" came Darry's voice.
I turned my head to find him standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a look of concern on his face. I just waved it off, grabbing a bottle of aspirin off the top of the fridge. Darry came over with a skeptical look on his face, before going and taking the bottle out of my hands.
"Hey, give it back!" I cried, jumping to try and get it back, but only ended up wincing pain as he held it out of reach. "Ow…" I groaned. "Okay, okay, you win," I said with a sigh.
Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Darry sat the bottle down on the counter, allowing me to snatch it up and pop open the lid. I grabbed to aspirin and popped them in my mouth, grabbing a glass and turning the sink on. I was met with an onslaught of water as it sprayed me in the face.
Glaring, I went over to the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice, twisting the lid off and taking a swig.
"This house hates me," I said bitterly, screwing the lid back on and nearly tossing the carton back in the fridge.
"It can't be that bad," Darry tried to argue.
I just turned toward him, a dry look on my face.
"Darry," I started, taking a few steps toward him. "I haven't been able to take a proper shower in over a month because the water doesn't stream out properly," I told, walking past him and up the steps.
I then walked into the bathroom and turned the sink on. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, groaning at what I saw. My hair was a bit of a mess, though I could have cared less about that. What I did care about was the face that I had rings under my eyes at this point. I just splashed water onto my face, scrubbing a bit, before grabbing a towel and drying my face off.
"You look tired," Darry said as I came back down the steps, the wood creaking under my feet.
"I don't sleep well anymore," I told him, this time being careful not to miss the steps.
It was true though, I didn't sleep well anymore, I haven't in a long time. Most times when I do I have nightmares, either that or I'm always waking back up to check on Eden and make sure that she's sleeping okay. I nearly drive myself to exhaustion at times even because of it. It was even worse before Dad left. I was always worried for Eden. I was never really worried for myself, always Eden.
"So, where would you like to get started?" I asked, moving to slip my shoes on.
After this, I had to go to the store anyway. We still needed more milk and I had to pick up the groceries.
"Well, do you have a ladder?" he asked, his tool belt laying on top of his shoulder.
"Actually, I do, and you're lucky since that's probably the only decent thing in this whole house," I said, tying up my shoelaces.
Once I was done with that, I went around back, pulling the ladder out of our little shed. I didn't realize that Darry was so close, so I nearly hit him with the ladder by accident. He caught it though, stopping it from hitting him in the head.
"I'm so sorry," I said frantically, trying my best to apologize.
"Don't worry, you're fine," he assured me, taking the ladder from my hands and carrying it back toward the house.
I just stood there watching him walk away, almost dumbfounded for some reason or another. I guess I just expected him to be made like most others got after something like that, but after being around him and Ponyboy last night I knew that that wasn't the case. When I realized how far ahead of me he actually was, I ran after him, following behind him at a safe distance to make sure I wouldn't get hit with the ladder like I did with Darry.
"First I'm going to have to check the roof over and then we'll go from there, alright?"
I nodded my head in response, watching him as he sat the ladder down against the house and started climbing up. I held the ladder still as he went up though, seeing it wobble a bit. I definitely didn't want him falling, that was for sure.
"I'm going to go back inside for a minute, I'll be right back!" I called up to him.
"That's fine," he called back, starting his examination of the roof.
I went inside and back up stairs to my room. I could hear the roof creak as Darry walked around, making me a bit wary. It was already bad enough that I had a spot in my ceiling where water dripped from after each rain. I even had a tin can in my room that collected the water and kept it off of the floor. The thought itself irritated me as I pulled a jar out from under my bed. It was filled with change and bills, it was all that I had. Just as I was taking a few bills out though, I heard the sound of something cracking, only to look up and find Darry coming through the ceiling.
"Oh my Lord… Darry, are you alright!" I shouted as his lower half hung from my ceiling, his legs moving around and kicking as he tried to get free.
"I'll be fine if I can get out," I heard him say.
Never thought this would be the first time I had a guy in my room, I thought to myself, my own ironic joke.
I then turned to my dresser, going over and pulling it. I pulled it right under Darry too.
"I'm going to try and help you out okay? Just don't kick me!" I yelled, climbing up on top of my dresser and positioning myself underneath him.
From there, I grabbed hold of his leg and starting pushing upward, trying to help give him enough leverage to get out of the hole that he'd gotten himself into.
T
It took about five minutes for old Darry to work himself loose, but he couldn't have done it without Abigail's help, and he was very grateful. Once he was free he came right down off of the roof, making sure to brush himself off.
Abigail came running out a moment later looking a bit frazzled, but he couldn't really blame her. No doubt, he gave her quite the scare when he came through the roof. Heck, if he was honest about the whole thing, he'd actually scared himself too. He'd fallen through roofs before, but that one definitely took the cake.
"Are you alright Darry?" Abigail asked, watching as he rolled his shoulder a bit, trying to work out the pain.
"I'll be fine. I've had worse, trust me," he assured her. "Do you mind if I take a few aspirin though?" he asked, only to have her shove him and go back inside.
He couldn't help, but to laugh a bit. Then again, he supposed that he deserved it. After all, he did scare her and put a hole through her roof, but she didn't seem mad at him surprisingly enough.
T
I scowled at him when he laughed, but it wasn't exactly in a mean way though. I mean, he had scared the crap out of me when he came through the roof the way that he did. I had been really worried about him when it had happened, not about the roof, but him. I don't know why I was worried since I knew he was a strong guy, but still, I couldn't help it. So with a sigh, I grabbed the bottle of aspirin and threw it to him, watching as he caught it in mid air.
"Thanks," he breathed out, opening it and pouring a couple into his large hand, continuing his way to the kitchen.
I just sat down in the chair, resting my arms on the table along with my head. A moment later though, I heard Darry let out a startled sound and turned around, finding his whole front wet. I couldn't help, but to start laughing. Apparently, he forgot what happened earlier.
"Let me get you a towel," I said between breaths, getting up from my seat and going upstairs.
I came back down to find that he'd taken off his button up shirt, leaving in a white beater. It clung to his chest with how wet it was, showing off his muscles. Now, I could definitely tell that he was well built.
"I'm really sorry Darry, I should have reminded you," I said with a laugh.
He just shrugged, taking the towel from my outstretched hand and started patting himself down, trying his best to dry his shirt. It didn't seem to do much good though, but he still kept trying.
"Soda's never going to let me live this one down," Darry chuckled before looking up at me.
Now it was my turn to make a decision. Although, I didn't really know what to do, so I just said the first thing that came into mind.
"Hey Darry, would it be too much to ask for a ride up to the store?" I asked, my eyes shying away a bit.
I wasn't used to asking thing like that of people and I'm sure he has plenty to do. Then again, you don't know til you ask. The worst he could do was say no.
"I don't see why not. Besides, I need to pick up a case of beer anyway. Those kids just about run me out of house and home," he told me, running a hand through his hair to get a bit of water out.
"Your brothers can't be that bad though," I said, pretty sure that they weren't.
Hell, I'm sure that Darry makes far more money than I do even though he's looking out for his brothers and all. Me, I barely make enough money for my own self at times and yet I'm feeding two people.
"No, not them, we've got a problem with freeloads," he told me, though I caught a bit of a joking tone in his voice amongst the seriousness of it all. "Steve and Two-Bit are always coming around and taking our food," he told me.
"I'd be kicking someone out right quick if that happened here," I said, turning my eyes toward him. "Then again, we've never actually had anyone over here anyway," I told him, folding my arms behind my head for a moment.
I then turned back toward the steps, placing my hand on the railing, the smoothness of the wood meeting the sensitive skin of my hand.
"I just have to grab some money real quick," I told him, before going up them once more and into my room.
The jar was still where I left it on my bed, a few bills laid out upon the bed sheet. I didn't pay much attention to it though as I scooped them up and shoved them into my pocket, screwing the lid back onto the glass jar and placing it back underneath my bed. I made sure to shove it back all the way against the wall so that no one would see it. I mean, it's not that I don't trust my sister, but stuff has come up missing at times and there was never an explanation for it. Pushing that out of my mind though, I walked out of my room, closing the door behind me as I started down the steps.
"Alright, I'm ready. Are you sure you don't mind doing this though Darry?" I asked.
"I'm sure," he told me, before turning around and walking out my door.
I followed after him, locking the door behind me. When I turned around, I saw him pulling stuff out of the passenger seat of his truck and throwing it in the back of it. I noticed the light shade of blue that painted it, the paint chipping off in areas, while others were covered in rust. It still didn't look too bad though.
"I think that should do it," Darry said as he turned around to face me, holding the door open for me.
He was so nice. I now see where Ponyboy got his manners from. Darry was definitely a well mannered young man, and the more time I spent around him, I'd have to say a gentleman. That in itself was rare for me.
"Thank you," came the sound of my own voice, which sounded a bit on the shy side.
I wasn't used to people being so kind to me, yet here he was, doing just that.
T
"Darry, really, I've got it," I told him, doing my best to hold onto both bags of groceries in my arms.
He just kept pestering me though as went back to the car, before finally getting close enough to grab one out of my hands. He walked straight to the truck after that, placing the bag in the bed of the truck. I followed suit, before getting in the truck, closing the door behind me. I was still surprised at how comfortable the seats were. They felt so good against my back.
"Comfortable?" he asked, causing me to jump slightly.
"Oh, yes, very much so," I said quietly, closing my eyes and leaning back against the seat.
I just sat there quietly, listening to the sound of the engine as he pulled the truck out and away from the store. I could feel the slight pull of my body as the truck turned and the feeling of the cool air blow against me as Darry turned on the A/C.
It felt so nice, especially because it was so hot outside today. It was supposed to get a bit colder this week though, but I wasn't really worried about that at the moment.
"So…" Darry started, keeping his eyes on the road. "How exactly did you and Ponyboy meet?" he asked, curious as to how I came to meet his brother.
"Well, like I told you last night, a guy couldn't keep his hands to himself," I said quietly.
"There's more to it than just that though I'm sure," he said, his eyes glancing over at me every few moments or so.
"Rodney and his friends have been causing trouble for me since June last year," I told him, glancing down at my wrist to where the bruise was from last night's scuffle. "He's mad because I won't go out with him. Personally, I think he's an ass," I said bitterly, rubbing my wrist.
Darry caught sight of this and grabbed the back of my hand, pulling it toward him to get a better look at it once we got to a stop light. He didn't seem very happy at the sight of blue that clouded my normally light colored skin.
"Who did this?" he asked, glancing down at my wrist.
"I don't know… I think it was David," I said quietly my hand away and resting it in my lap.
I had issues with guys touching me at times, even though I know that Darry didn't mean any harm by it, but still.
"Wait, not David Hamond?" he asked, the tone in his voice suggesting that he hoped he was wrong.
"Yeah. Someone pretty much threw him at me and I wound up kicking him in the face. Bastard nearly broke my wrist," I told him, a feeling of bitterness welling up inside me.
"So, Ponyboy got his butt kicked for standing up for you then?" he suspected, pressing on the gas and moving the truck forward.
"He's definitely the righteous young man," I praised. "In fact, that's the reason why him and Johnny weren't spending the night in a jail cell with everyone else."
"What?" he nearly choked out, turning his head away from the road for a moment.
"I made it a point to the officer that Ponyboy and Johnny had nothing to do with it, that they were defending me while I was being harassed on the job," I explained.
Things stayed quiet for the next few minutes, not a single word being spoken until we reach my house. From there, he merely got out and grabbed my bags from the back, carrying them to the door as I followed behind him. He moved out of the way easily once we reached the door, allowing me to put the key in and unlock it.
I held the door open for him, allowing him to come inside and set everything down in the kitchen on the table. He then started helping me put things away, easily reaching the tall cabinets above my head. Before I knew it, everything was put away and I was left feeling hungry.
Hungry, I thought to myself, a smile slowly forming on my face as an idea popped into my head.
"Hey Darry?" I called from the kitchen
"Hm?" he asked, sitting there on the couch looking through his tool belt for a moment.
"How would you feel about a sandwich?" I asked, peaking my head out of the kitchen.
He looked up at me automatically, a smile starting to tug at his lips.
"A sandwich sounds nice," he nodded, standing up from the couch and walking toward the kitchen.
"One sandwich coming up," I said, sounding the way that I normally did when taking orders at the diner.
It's funny how your job always seems to follow you home. It's something that I realized quite some time ago, whether it's my problems or work habits, they still managed to follow me home.
Okay everyone, here's chapter 2. I'm sorry it wasn't longer, but I got sick agian and am unable to write properly. I really wanted to get it put out today and that's why it's here, even though it's a bit shorter than I would have liked. Please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me. I would really appreciate it. As long as I'm feeling better tomorrow, I'll likely start work on the next chapter. Either that or I will come back and add to this one, so keep an eye out everyone. Also, check out my PROFILE for other stories that you might like. Thanks everyone and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. See, I told you it would be better than the summary.