For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 49
Frankenstein
"It really is good to see you again, Darrel," Marcus smiled, handing the bowl of beans over to his wife.
"I know what you mean," Darry replied.
"Would you like some honey?" Mary offered after raking some onto her plate.
"Oh, yes, thank you," I smiled, reaching forward and taking the bowl from her.
After that, I took the large spoon from the bowl, scooping a pile of beans out and onto my plate. I always did like baked beans. Especially with corn bread.
"Darry?" I offered, a smile on my face.
"Thanks," he replied, carefully taking the bowl from my hand, our fingers brushing.
He poured out more than I did, before handing the bowl off to Eric, his next quest being the bowl of corn for which he held for me.
"Thank you," I said, raking some onto my plate, the juices slowly soaking into the slice of bread that was occupying the side. "This smells so good."
"Well, it should. I worked hard on that food," Mary pointed out, before placing a small bite in her mouth.
"So, Abigail, Darry ever tell you about our days in school?" Eric asked suddenly, a grin on his face as he looked between us.
"No, I don't think he did," I replied, looking over at Darry for a moment.
"It's not that great Eric," Darry sighed, before taking a bite of his own food.
I did the same, placing a spoon full of beans and corn into my mouth, flavor exploding on my tongue.
"Are you kidding me?" Eric exclaimed. "Oh, come on, Darry. Remember that time in science class, when Mr. Robinson was making us work with those weird chemicals?" he asked.
I watched as Darry nearly choked on his food, coughing after a moment.
"Don't even think about it," Darry warned, giving him a hard look.
Now I was interested.
"I want to hear this," I said, trying not let the fact I was really interested catch on.
"Well, you see," Eric started, grinning as he looked over at Darry, the man face in his hand. "I really don't remember what it was that we were doing, but it was this weird chemical reactive project," he told me, leaning forward on the table. "We were broken off into partners and of course I was Darry's," he grinned. "The teacher told us to mix about three of the chemicals, but us being who we are decided to mix things up a bit. As a result, it ended up exploding in our faces," he laughed. "Or at least in Darry's anyway."
"Seriously?" I asked, looking between the two as I shook my head.
I never pictured Darry for messing around like that.
"Yeah, but that was only because you mixed the two that he told use not to mix," Darry pointed out in annoyance.
"But it was worth it though. Remember, you came out looking like Frankenstein for about a week," he snickered.
Now, it was my turn to choke on my food.
"Wait, that was you?" I said, eyes wide with shook. "You were the green kid walking around the halls?" I asked, trying to wrap my brain around it.
"Guilty as charged," Darry sighed, trying to hide the embarrassment that he now held at the thought of me seeing him like that.
Truth be told, I remembered it. Me and Darry were in the same grade back in high school. Even though we didn't have any classes together that I knew of. I still remember that day my Sophomore year, a big guy walking around the halls. His face looked like it had been painted green, almost as though he thought it were Halloween. Kids were making fun of him for weeks. I just never realized that it had been him. Not that it would have made a difference at the time. I had my own problems at the time and wasn't about to take on someone else's. Granted, I had shut a few people up because it was annoying me, but still.
"Oh and remember that one time, Jimmy Johnson took your underwear and hung it up on the flag pole?" Eric howled with laughter, my eyes going wide.
"Eric, can I talk to you outside for a moment?" Darry asked, trying to calm himself.
"Sure."
T
Once outside, Darry grabbed his friend in a headlock, tackling him down to the ground.
"What in sam hill is wrong with you?" Darry asked, his voice raising a bit.
Eric merely laughed, wrestling around with Darry on ground.
"What?" he grunted, flipping them over. "I was just having a bit of fun," he laughed.
"Yeah, at my expense," Darry scoffed.
"But it's funny as hell," he laughed, getting tossed onto his back a moment later.
"I don't care. She doesn't need to know Johnson prided himself in tormenting me!"
"Yeah she does," Eric laughed, moving out of the way as Darry made to grab him again. "Besides, that was your football initiation anyway," he snickered.
"The hell it was!" Darry cried, lunging at him.
T
"What are they doing out there?" I asked, turning toward Eric's parents.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," Marcus assured me. "Boys will be boys."
"Yes, something that I know all too well," I sighed.
"That reminds me, how did you two meet anyway?" Mary asked curiously, leaning back in her chair.
"Well, actually, it was because of his brother," I told her, laughing lightly as I thought about it.
"Really?" Marcus asked.
"Yes. You see, I work as a waitress at Joe's Diner," I explained, reaching up to brush a bit of hair away out of habit, only to remember that it wasn't there. "There was a problem there one night with a few Social's as you can imagine," I said nervously.
"I see. Such a shame that people act that way," Mary commented.
"Well, luckily, Ponyboy and Johnny helped me out. After that, I sort of ended up at Darry's house fixing up Ponyboy from a few scrapes that he'd gotten. That's how I met Darry," I smiled, looking back on that night.
I could still envision the sight of him walking in, his hair slightly limp from working all day in the afternoon heat. It had been fairly warm that day. I also remembered taking notice to his arms and handshake, a faint blush dusting my cheeks as I thought about it. I'm just glad that Mary didn't tease me about it.
"All three of them were always good kids," Mary told me, a thoughtful smile on her face. "I actually have a few pictures of Darry when he was younger if you'd like to see them?" Mary offered.
My eyes lit up upon hearing this. I'd never really seen many pictures of him, leaving me to wonder what he looked like when he was a child. Granted, I knew that he wouldn't look much different than he did now, but still.
"I'd love to."
T
By the time that Darry and Eric were done messing around, Abigail and Eric's parents were in the living room, Marcus sitting in his armchair as he watched his wife quietly. Marcus had always been a fairly soft spoken man for the most part, but he still knew how to hold his own in a fight if need be. His son on the other hand, he loved causing trouble for people every now and then.
"Hey, Ma, what are you guys doing?" Eric asked, walking into the living room with Darry, both looking a bit dirty as they stood there.
"I could ask you two the same thing," she countered, looking at the two standing there. "Marcus, be a dear a get Darrel a clean shirt to wear?" she asked, sifting through the box of photos on her lap.
"Of course honey," he complied, getting up from his seat and walking toward Darry. "Come on, Darrel, let's get you cleaned up," Marcus said, dragging him upstairs with him.
That left only three: Mary, Eric, and Abigail. Eric being who he was got curious, coming over to sit on the couch on the other side of his mom. He couldn't help, but to raise an eyebrow in question at the pictures she was going through. From what he could tell, they were of him and Darry when they were younger. He spotted one when they were about eight. Back then, Darry's hair had been a longer, his mother occasionally tying it back with a thin black ribbon. It had been one of the reasons why a few of the kids and school had picked on him, but he never really cared much. In fact, Eric's cousin, Cindy, had braided Darry's hair from time to time for the fun of it. Most of the time it was random braids here and there, tiny ones sticking out all over the place. Looking back, Eric was actually surprised that Darry had allowed it. Darry had drawn the line though the first time that he woke up with makeup on.
"Oh yeah, Mom, show her the one of Darry after Cindy got done with him that one time," Eric laughed, nudging his mother.
"That's right," she laughed, thinking back on it. "He wasn't very happy, was he?"
"No," he snickered, trying not to laugh too much.
"Huh? I don't get it," Abigail said, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"I'm sorry sweetie, here, this should explain it," Mary told her, handing her a picture.
Both Eric and Mary watched as Abigail looked it over, holding in their laughter. It didn't take long before she joined them, a hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter. It didn't do her much good though because there in the picture stood Darry, a sour look on his face. The poor kid was covered in makeup, lipstick smeared messily upon his lips, the red marring his skin. There were also bright circles of blush dusted on his cheeks and a little bit of eye makeup as well. He definitely didn't look happy.
"What's everyone laughing at?" Darry asked curiously, coming down the stairs with Marcus in tow.
At this, everyone burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer. Not that anyone could blame them.
"Abigail, what is that?" Darry asked slowly, drawing closer as he did another button up on the red plaid shirt Marcus had given him, making him look like some sort of lumber jack of something.
She didn't answer though, merely holding the picture up for him, his eyes going wide upon seeing it. His face drained as well as he stared at it.
"You got to be kidding me," he breathed, moving to snatch it out of her hand as his face started to heat up.
The last thing that Darry wanted was for her to see that picture. It was not something that he wanted his girlfriend and hopefully soon to be fiancé to see.
"Where did you find this?" he asked slowly, feeling a lump in his throat as he stood there.
She let a giggle escaped as she sat on the couch, hand now gripping her side as she tried to hold it in. Just having him walk in like that after seeing such a picture was too much for her.
"I'm afraid that one is my doing honey," Mary admitted sheepishly.
"Why?" he asked, raising a brow in question as he tried to keep his composure.
"I told her to pull it out and show her," Eric chuckled.
"Eric?" Darry twitched.
"Yeah, man?"
"You might want to run," Darry told him, more than ready to grab him.
"D-Darry, don't," Abigail said, standing up and grabbing his hand, her laughter slowly dying. "I'm sorry, I really am, but to be honest with you Darry," she started, placing a hand on his cheek. "I think it's cute," she admitted, watching his face turn red.
"This isn't cute!" he sputtered. "This is embarrassing!" he said, waving the picture around.
"Darrel, calm down," Marcus said, grabbing the picture from his hand and going back to sit in his chair. "Besides, I thought it was funny," he smiled, looking it over in his hand.
"Come on!" Darry cried, running a hand through his hair.
This made Abigail laugh, her hand coming to press upon his mouth, quieting him.
"Calm down," she said softly, watching as he exhaled, a small smile gracing her lips. "Mary, Marcus, it was nice to meet you, but I think we should be going now," she told them, allowing her hand to fall to her side.
"Yeah," Darry nodded, grabbing hold of her hand in his. "We should get going. After all," he looked down at her, "I have a few things to take care of."
"Well, alright then," Mary breathed, standing from her spot on the couch. "It was nice seeing you again Darrel," she smiled, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Take care of him, won't you dear?" she asked, turning toward Abigail.
"Of course," she promised, receiving a hug from the older woman.
"I'll see you later Darrel," Marcus waved, leaning back in his chair a bit more.
"Yeah, you too," Darry nodded, turning toward the door.
"Bye Darleen," Eric called, watching as Darry tensed, a glare set on his face.
"Darry, lets go," Abigail instructed, pulling him out of the house and into the sunlight.
T
"Well, that was fun," Eric grinned.
Alright everyone, that was chapter 49. Next one with be number 50! I can't believe that I'll finally be at 50! Anyway, what did everyone think about the whole Frankenstein thing? And Darry and the makeup mishap? I'd love to know your thoughts on it especially, since it was so FUN to write. Lol. Please, REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and feelings on this chapter/story? I REALLY need FEEDBACK!
Remember, EVERY REVIEW and MESSAGE helps me help YOU! So, don't be scared to leave one. I won't bite, trust me. The more the REVIEW the faster the next one will be posted. Thanks everyone!