For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 9
I Never Said I Was A Proper Lady
The next morning, Ponyboy left with Eden, walking all the way to school together. Sodapop never did show up last night, so Ponyboy took Soda's bed and let Eden sleep in his instead. Two-Bit merely slept on the floor near Pony's bed, nearly getting stepped on in the morning when Eden woke up. He just laughed it off though as usual, not really worrying about it. In the end though, Two-Bit was left with Darry and Abigail for a time.
T
"Maybe you should call off today Abigial," Darry said from the kitchen as he cooked.
I just shook my head though. I couldn't take off, I needed the money too badly to take off. Plus, Jennifer, the other girl hasn't been coming in much lately. If I didn't come in, then Joe would be doing everything for himself and that just wasn't right.
"Sorry Darry, but I can't," I told him, stretching out on the couch. "Joe's got no one else to help him right now, so I can't just call off like that," I explained.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're stubborn before?" Darry asked, the side of his mouth tugging up a bit.
I sat there for a moment, just tapping a finger against my chin as though pretending to actually think about it.
"I don't think so," I said thoughtfully, but I knew that that was a lie, I just like being goofy at times.
"Well, you're stubborn," Darry said in a matter of fact way, a small smile on his face.
"Yeah, well you're…" I had to stop for a moment to think of something.
Normally, I could think of things like that easily, but I actually had to think about this one. I mean, what could I possibly use against Darry?
"You're…" I was completely stumped.
"Charming?" he asked, an innocent look on his face as he set my breakfast down in front of me on the coffee table.
I just stuck my tongue out at him as he sat down next to me, stretching his arm out behind me on the top of the couch. Two-Bit just sat down on the floor in front of the TV and watched Mickey Mouse, a beer in his hand like usual.
"Ya know, you two don't fight very well," Two-Bit laughed as he looked over at us, a goofy grin on his face. "You know, you should really think about marrying this one Dar, she's a real keeper," he laughed, hinting toward me at yesterdays wrestling incident.
"Two-Bit," I warned, glancing at Darry out of the side of my eye as he held a curious look on his face.
"She can really handle herself pretty good, even against me," he told Darry, a grin on his face.
"Two-Bit, what in the world are you talking about?" Darry asked as he raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"Well, little missy here don' mind gettin' down and dirty," he chuckled.
"I never said I was a proper lady," I grumbled, leaning back into the couch, the back on my head coming in contact with Darry's arm as I folded my arms over my chest.
"I already knew that she wasn't exactly prim and proper," Darry chuckled, before putting me in a headlock and pulling my head against him chest.
"Darry!" I cried, smacking at him in embarrassment. "Let go," I told him, squirming against him.
"I don' think so missy," he grinned, before ruffling my hair affectionately.
"Darry, you basically just gave Two-Bit permission to harass me," I cried in slight annoyance.
"I hate saying this, but what good would he be otherwise?" Darry asked, letting go of me as I smacked his chest.
"Now, that hurt Dar, that really hurt. Right here," Two-Bit said, pretending to be hurt as he placed a hand over his heart.
He was so dramatic at times. Then again, he wouldn't be Two-Bit without it.
"Besides, he knows when to stop, so don't worry," Darry assured me. "Now, eat your food before it gets cold. After that, I'll take you up to the diner and we'll talk with Joe."
"What? Darry, I told you, no," I whined.
"He seems reasonable, I'm sure he'll tell you exactly the same thing that I did," Darry said, sure of what he was saying.
Unfortunately, I knew that there would be no arguing with him on the matter, so I just gave in and ate my food.
"See, you two don' fight very well," Two-Bit chuckled, kicking back as he turned his eyes back to the TV.
T
Ironically enough, Darry had been right about the whole thing. Although, in a way, I kind of already knew that Joe would react that way. I was hoping that I could work and get away with it, ignoring the pain in my ankle. Darry didn't let that happen though and Joe merely pointed a finger, telling me to go home and rest, that he would take care of things at the diner.
"You know, you could have just let me go to work," I complained, walking along side Darry.
"One day away from work won't kill ya," he said.
"Easy for you to say," I said, shoving his arm slightly as we walked. "You make more money than I do."
He didn't make any comments on the matter. Instead, he just put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him as we walked. I was thankful for this, especially since it was a little chilly outside. Right now, we were actually going to meet a friend of his.
"So, who'd you say this guy was again?" I asked, looking up at him, my head resting against him.
"Tim Shepard, a friend of mine. He said he wanted to meet you," Darry told me, giving me a small squeeze.
"Well, if he's a friend of yours, then I'm sure he's nice," I commented.
"Oh, he is, that is as long as someone like Dally's not causin' trouble and tryin' ta piss him off," Darry said.
"I'd say it's hard not to piss someone off when it comes to Dally though," I laughed.
"You've got a point there. Dally seems to have a knack for annoying people," Darry nodded.
"Well, I'm fine as long as he keeps away from me," I said in a matter of fact way.
It was true though. As long as he stayed away from me, then we'd be fine. I just didn't like dealing with him to be honest. Dallas Winston thought that he was just so great, when in reality, he really wasn't. He was just a pain in the butt half the time. Sometimes, I didn't know what was worse, his mouth or his attitude.
Those thoughts kept running through my head as we made it toward a vacant lot. There was stuff all over the place like a broken down car that had bits torn from it, the back seat thrown over against the trees. There were also a few logs laying around and a fire pit among other things even.
"So…is this some sort of hang out or something?" I asked curiously, turning my head to look up at Darry.
"I guess you could say that," he replied, walking over toward the fire pit with me and looking around for a moment. "He should have been here by now," he voiced out loud.
A moment later, I saw someone walking out of the trees and nudged Darry's arm, getting his attention. It was obvious that Darry recognized him, although, I still had no clue who this person was.
"Lookin' for me?" the guy asked as he walked over to us.
"Tim," Darry greeted.
So, this is Tim Shepard, I thought to myself, discreetly looking the man over, taking in his greasy blond hair and dark attire.
"Hello Darrel," Tim said in response.
After their little exchange, he turned toward me with a curious look on his face.
"So, this your girlfriend?" he asked, a small smirk on his face as he turned toward Darry.
"Yep, this is Abigail," Darry told him, introducing me to his friend.
"So, they weren't pullin' my leg then," Tim chuckled.
"Nope, rumors were actually true for once," Darry said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"So it seems," Tim said with a nod, before continuing with the problem at hand. "Now, Two-Bit told me that we're having a little social problem goin' on," Tim started, glancing between me and Darry for a moment.
"It's more than just a little problem," I said, putting my voice out there.
"I heard that they threatened your sister," he said, earning a small nod from me.
"They did more than just that," Darry added. "Two-Bit had to carry Abigail back to the house last night," he stated, catching Shepard's attention. "She couldn't even walk yesterday and she even has a bruise on her stomach because of them."
Now, that really seemed to get Tim's temper going, much like it had done for Darry the previous night. Although, it was still worse for Darry especially because of the fact that I'm his girlfriend and that he absolutely detests the very thought and idea of men hitting women.
"Is there any reason in particular that they came after you that I should be aware of?" Tim asked, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.
Darry was about to answer for me, but I stopped him, placing a hand lightly on his chest.
"It's because I turned Paul down," I told him.
"Wait, you mean big Paul?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"Yes, Paul Holton, Mr. Super Soc as some like to call him," I said, confirming Shepard's thoughts.
"Well I'll be," Tim chuckled in disbelief. "No wonder you got yourself in a rut missy."
"Please don't remind me," I groaned, running a hand through my hair.
"Sorry, but no one has ever turned Paul down," Tim said, stating the obvious fact that I already knew.
"Yeah, well, I did. Personally, I'm glad that I turned him down," I said, crossing my arms. "The man has been pestering me the last couple years asking me to go out with him. I'm not some shallow little girl that goes into a relationship because of money and Paul thought I was," I explained irritably.
"Definitely got yourself a keeper here Curtis," Tim chuckled.
"So I've been told," Darry said with a small chuckle of his own.
"Anyway…" I said, trying to get back on subject with the issue at hand. "We need to do something about Paul's little buddies. Paul may not try anything else with me, but that doesn't mean that his friends won't try and fix things," I expressed.
Tim stood there for a moment contemplating things.
"Well, I'll tell ya this, we'll put 'em in their place alright," Tim said firmly.
Unfortunately, that left me wondering exactly what him and his friends would end up doing. I knew exactly how guys handled things at times, heck, I'd seen it one too many times. My problem was, I didn't know what Darry's friend would do. All I could do was just hope that he wouldn't accidently end up making things any worse than they already were.
Okay everyone, that was chapter 9. I hope that everyone liked it. Also, I'm pretty sure I've chosen what the next chapter is going to be, so keep an eye open everyone. It might be out tonight, but I doubt it since I'm going to bed in an hour, so that means it should be out tomorrow. : ) Anyway, please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts on this chapter and story. Thanks everyone! :)