Chapter 3
Virginia didn't know how she ever doubted, a week or so ago, that she had lost Two-Bit Mathews's interest. He was now pestering her before the bell would ring in the morning and passing her notes in class (it was all the more amusing to him when their science teacher, Mr. Thomas, would snatch up the note and throw it away mid-conversation.)
The attention hadn't gone unnoticed by others either.
Virginia and the other girls were invited to go over to Connie's to study, but once they all arrived, it was obvious there were ulterior motives.
"So, you and that boy going steady now?" Connie asked as soon as they were settled up in her room. Virginia rolled her eyes, not even fully taking her history book out of her bag yet.
"Pretty sure the next test is about the Civil War, remember?" she tapped on the hardcover of the textbook. She'd rather they talked about homework than her love life any day.
"Which boy?" asked Barbara. She wasn't helping. "Keith Mathews?"
Virginia almost asked, "who?" but then it struck her. Keith was his real name, wasn't it? For as long as she knew about him, he had been going by Two-Bit. Even the teachers called him that. She had not once questioned it, seeing as that two boys with the Christian names Sodapop and Ponyboy also went to Will Rogers, why couldn't Two-Bit be his real name, too?
"Keith," she repeated with a snort. It sounded all kinds of wrong.
"Yeah, Keith," and Barbara was chuckling too. "Whatever you call him, you're going out with him now? Congratulations!"
Virginia wasn't getting out of having this conversation, was she? She sighed and set her book next to her on the end of Connie's bed.
"We're just…friends," she said.
"A dirty greaser like him is never going to be serious with you, Ginny," remarked Connie, who was sitting cross-legged on the opposite end of the bed. If her nose was any higher she'd go cross eyed, Virginia thought. "He's gonna go running back to Kathy Summers before too long, those kinds of girls always end up putting out."
Two-Bit was a greaser, and while she was giving him the benefit of the doubt on all things (unlike Connie), she sometimes had to stop and wonder if being exclusive was even in his vocabulary.
"No he won't," said Virginia. She left it at that and didn't bother to let them in on the insider information she had gained about he and Kathy's breakup.
"Please," Connie continued, "you can do better than him."
This touched a nerve.
"Maybe I don't want to do better," bit out Virginia, "and maybe it's none of your business."
"You're hardly an angel yourself, Connie," muttered Barbara. Connie shot her a glare and Viriginia wondered what the girl knew that she didn't.
"I'm your friend, of course it's my business," said Connie, ignoring the previous comment. She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them the opposite way. "If you have to get hitched, there are plenty of good boys in town."
"I'm hardly planning on getting hitched," Virginia burst out, a harsh, incredulous laugh coming with it. What on Earth was she talking about? "Just cause you've got all your baby names picked out, doesn't mean the rest of us are there yet."
"You don't have names picked out?" Joann had finally spoken up, and it was awkwardly out of place.
Virginia rolled her eyes, electing to ignore that as well.
"He's going to treat you dirty," warned Connie condescendingly.
"What is your deal?" Between this conversation and the one at the drive-in, Virginia was at a complete loss for how her friend had been acting. She was sick and tired of the judgmental attitude, especially when it was, in fact, none of her business.
Virginia began to pack up her things in a huff.
"I'll have you know, I'm not an idiot. If he started treating me like dirt, I'd get out of there. I don't put up with stuff like that." She paused. "But the real issue here is you thinkin' you've got every person on the East Side figured out already. Why don't you give him a chance?" She gave a big huff and pulled her sweater on. "Not that we're even together in the first place so I don't know why you're makin' that much of a fuss.
"Don't invite me over if you're just gonna pick me apart."
The tension in the room could be cut with a knife after that. A few minutes passed in an awkward silence, and, as always, Joann always knew how to make it worse.
"You think your mom will do my bangs?"
Virginia decided to walk home.
It seemed Virginia was once again taking Two-Bit's interest in her for granted, because the next day he showed up at the store after dinnertime. Between customers, the girl found herself venting about the entire Connie situation to him, since he seemed happy to listen.
She still couldn't wrap her head around why Connie was so determined to hate Two-Bit from the start. Why couldn't she just leave well enough alone, or at least pretend not to suddenly think of all the boys slightly poorer than her as scum? Two-Bit just said that he was used to it, and reminded Virginia that he was a "dirty greaser" after all. It came with the territory.
Virginia could see with her own eyes that he was a greaser, but he wasn't dirty. Two-Bit offered, with a deepened voice, that he could show her dirty, if she wanted him to.
She slapped him on the arm, even if she had set herself up for that one.
"Do you even like your friends?" asked Two-Bit in seriousness. He took a swig of the root beer he had bought as an excuse to hang around.
Virginia thought it was a very good question.
She still liked Barbara, that was for sure. They had always gotten along best. Nowadays though, sometimes Barb would just disappear for days on end. She'd still show up to school, but she would leave as soon as the bell rang and no one would see hair nor hide from her off campus.
Joann had her moments, but was mostly just there. She'd follow the others around like a dog and was completely lost on her own. Her awkwardness used to be endearing when they were younger, but lately Virginia had been quicker to get annoyed at the things she said or lack thereof. She felt guilty everytime she snapped at Joann, but that didn't stop her from doing the snapping.
Connie… She'd said everything she could about Connie already. Maybe there was a reason people had taken to calling her "Novich the Bitch" behind her back.
But still. She didn't have the heart to abandon them.
"We've been together since elementary school…" Virginia sighed.
"If they're makin' you miserable that's not a good reason," said Two-Bit.
"You're right," she relented with a sigh. "That's rather insightful of you, Mr. Mathews,"
"I have my moments," he smirked, then changed the subject. "When d'ya get off here?"
Virginia glanced at the clock up on the wall.
"Half hour," she answered. It couldn't come soon enough.
"You're gonna come meet my pals," he announced with a grin. "You already met Soda. The rest of the fellas like to bum around his house when they're not out causing trouble."
Another few customers made the last thirty-minutes go by quickly.
As soon as they stepped out of the front door, Two-Bit opened his leather jacket and retrieved a glass bottle of Pepsi from the inner pocket. Virginia made a wide-eyed face at him. She thought she was clever enough by now to catch him doing it every time, but no, he was still swiping things right from under her nose.
"You gotta stop doing that!" She smacked him on the arm again but still took the soda.
"You gonna snitch on me?"
She sent him a playful glare for the smirk he wore.
"No, I'm not," she said hesitantly. If she had caught him doing it months ago, or if he hadn't been so charming when she did catch him, she absolutely would have. "I don't care if you swipe stuff, but you gotta stop doing it while I'm working. My dad keeps track of everything, and if it goes missing during my shift, then it's my fault." She hesitated for a moment, not knowing how much was oversharing. "He docks my pay and doesn't let me hear the end of it."
"Your old man treat you okay, Ginny?" He did the thing again where the smile completely wiped from his face and his eyes were stern. Virginia was glad he had the ability to be serious, but it almost scared her how fast he could change his moods.
"Yeah-" she let out the words then caught herself. Two-Bit was studying her expressions. He could see right through her. "-He used to."
For once, Two-Bit seemed to leave it at that, though Virginia could tell the thin line he pushed his lips into meant he was thinking hard on what she said.
The Plymouth wasn't parked outside today, so Virginia and Two-Bit walked their way to the neighborhood. It went smoothly, aside from one shiny, red car that honked as it drove past the two of them. Virginia's heart beat out of her chest the second Two-Bit flipped them off, but luckily, the car kept on going.
The houses here weren't too different or too far away from Virginia's own. Though, the deeper they went into the neighborhood, the smaller and more decrepit the houses became. Busted windows and broken down cars looked to be the norm.
Before too long, they came upon a dull, white house on the corner. It had a fenced-in yard and a familiar GMC truck parked around the back. The front door was open, pushed inward, leaving the screen the only barrier from the outside world.
When the two got up on the front porch, Two-Bit told her to wait for him there.
"Lemme make sure everyone's decent," he said before heading inside. Virginia suddenly felt guilty, showing up unannounced. It better have been okay for her to be there or she'd have an embarrassing walk back home.
"I brought company," she could hear Two-Bit say, "so everybody behave." Someone on the other side, close to the door, scoffed.
He was soon pushing the screen door so that it would stay open long enough for Virginia to slip inside. She did just that, all while holding a deep breath for whatever awaited her on the other side.
Once inside, she didn't have time to take in the room, only the several pairs of eyes on her at once. She raised her hand to do a quick wave and wiped her shoes on the mat under her feet.
"Hey, Ginny," caught her attention first. She was glad someone else had spoken up before she rambled through some overly formal introduction. It was Sodapop who did, sitting on the floor in front of the television. Rawhide was playing and he scrambled to turn the volume down.
"Hi," she said back plainly. She hoped her smile did something to hide her nervousness. Unless it was coming off as a grimace instead…
"Ginny," said Two-Bit, scooting her by the shoulders so he could better enter the room, "this is the gang; minus a fella or two." A few of the boys lifted a hand or nodded their heads, but didn't say much. They must have known Two-Bit would do the talking for them.
"You know Soda by now," he said. Sodapop, who had returned to his spot on the floor, looked at her with his head tilted back and gave a pearly grin.
"That's Johnny-" Two-Bit pointed to a boy in the corner. He was sitting in the middle of the couch with his feet on it curled underneath him. Virginia recognized him from the other day at school. He was the boy with the tanned skin and long hair that fell into his eyes. Only now, in just a t-shirt, his denim jacket laying across the back of the couch, she knew where else she recognized him from.
It was evident from the twisted, rosy scars that ran up his arms and down his neck that this was the boy who had accidentally killed Bob Sheldon last September.
He had looked up and forced a small smile in her direction.
Virginia was suddenly remembering the commotion around school when the news about Bob had come out. It was a terrible tragedy that became less black and white when it was revealed that it was in self-defense, and that Bob and some of his soc friends had been the ones to start a full-on attack. Then, before the trial, they put another article in the paper, about how Johnny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis were heroes and saved a number of children from a burning building out in the countryside.
Johnny was out of school for a long while after that. Virginia wasn't sure if it was on account of him healing from his burns or if he ended up doing some time.
"-and that's Dally," Two-Bit finished, his finger sliding to the boy on the left end of the couch.
The infamous Dallas Winston, Virginia assumed, lit up a fresh cigarette and didn't bother with a greeting. It took her only a few seconds to read on his face, cold blue eyes and all, that he wasn't interested in formalities, and much less in her. He was slouched back so far into the couch that it and his brown leather jacket almost blended together.
That was all the boys in the room but it looked like Two-Bit wasn't done yet.
"WHERE'S THE KID?" he shouted and it nearly echoed through the small house. Virginia flinched at the volume.
Two-Bit disappeared into a doorway and started causing some kind of commotion behind the wall. Less than a minute later, he poked his head back out and pulled along someone with him, the other boy from the parking lot. He was a spindly looking kid who was fighting for dear life to pull his head out from the crook of Two-Bit's elbow. He had odd hair. It was an unnatural blonde on top and brown at the roots, like it was growing out from being dyed. Despite all the grease, it was falling out of place from how he was being manhandled.
"Lemme go, Two-Bit," he grumbled.
"You gotta introduce yourself to my girl, Ponyboy," said Two-Bit. He ruffled the boy's hair and that must have been the final straw. Ponyboy shoved Two-Bit in the ribs, which did very little to move him. Instead, Two-Bit took it upon himself to pin Ponyboy to the floor, nearly dropping the two of them right on top of Soda.
Virginia would have overanalyzed Two-Bit saying "my girl" to death if she wasn't so worried about the impromptu wrestling match on the rug below.
The boys laughed and fought until Sodapop broke them up. Ponyboy was laid out flat on his back now and gave a "hey" to satisfy the introduction Two-Bit wanted.
"What're you doing all cooped up?" asked Two-Bit, pushing himself up off the ground. He reached out a hand and pulled Pony up behind him.
"Homework," said Ponyboy flatly, "ever heard of it?"
"Don't need to," shrugged Two-Bit, who had a glint in his eye. "They're gonna pass me this year just to get rid of me."
"We all can't wait to see 'Super Senior Keith Mathews' get his own section in the yearbook."
"Yeah, me neither," he laughed. "They better get my good side." Then he changed the subject. "Darry workin' still?"
"Yeah, they got a late start this morning," answered Soda. He turned to look at Virginia again, who was more than aware she was sticking out like a sore thumb, standing perfectly still in the doorway. Soda pointed to the spot on the right side of the couch, next to Johnny, and urged her to have a seat.
She took it, offering a smile to Johnny who was looking at her more and more skeptically the closer she got. She sipped at the dregs of her Pepsi and couldn't help but keep looking to Two-Bit, her only lifeline in the unfamiliar place. No one was shooing her out, which she was thankful for, but she had no idea what to do in a house with five boys. Nothing good, she assumed.
Before she could hint at Two-Bit that she was at a loss for words, he was dipping through another doorway and out of her line of sight.
She took another sip. Soda turned the volume back up on the television to catch the ending and it looked like Pony went to turn the light in his room off before returning and finding a seat in the armchair against the wall.
Movement in the corner of her eyes caught Virginia's attention. She instinctively turned to look.
Dallas had pulled his feet down from where they were propped up on the coffee table and was leaning forward, elbows lazily on his knees. He took another drag before turning to look, past Johnny, at Virginia. He blew out his smoke in her direction, eliciting a cough from the boy between them.
"What's ya name?" asked Dallas. His voice was heavy and she wasn't sure yet if it matched his face. She was sure, though, that he was being difficult on purpose in asking her name again.
"Virginia," she answered frankly.
The boy let out a curt laugh that didn't match his speaking voice.
"That really opens you up for some unfortunate nicknames," he said and Virginia instantly rolled her eyes.
She had heard it all before. Virginia the Virgin had been easy-pickins since late junior high. Her sex life (or lack thereof) hadn't been an important topic of discussion amongst a bunch of teenagers, she wasn't popular enough for that, but the name was such an easy one to abuse that she did occasionally get harassed because of it.
"My friends call me Ginny," she said, doing anything in her power to redirect the conversation. He was the type who would end up calling her the foul nickname until one of them was blue in the face.
Dally scoffed and leaned half across Johnny, as if the boy wasn't even sitting there.
"Am I your friend?" he taunted, much too close for comfort. Virginia couldn't help but flush at his contrary behavior. He wasn't worth giving a response to. She turned away. As she did, she could see Two-Bit, now back in view and leaning against the far doorway with a bottle of beer at his lips. His jaw was set, and his eyes narrowed in on Dallas.
"Lay off, Dal," Two-Bit spoke up.
"I'm just trying to get to know the broad," Dally defended himself, as if he'd done nothing wrong at all. Two-Bit's previous comparison to James Dean might have been correct in appearances, but with every word Dallas spoke, Virginia was more and more likely to want nothing to do with him, unlike if he was the actual movie star.
Maybe it was hypocritical to make such a quick judgment, since she had done nothing but tell Connie off for the same thing, but Virginia didn't care. Just the tone of his voice made her skin crawl. Maybe some girls went for aloof and uncaring, but that certainly wasn't for her.
Her eyes focused back on Rawhide. It was the episode where Gil had to be a banker for the day.
"Lo siento por Dally, es duro con gente nueva." Virginia's brows shot up hearing Johnny speaking quietly in another language towards her. She caught the first half, the "sorry about Dally," but the rest was lost.
"Hey," Dallas cut in, "if you're gonna talk about me you can do it to my face." Whatever it was Johnny said, it made him mad enough to stomp out his cigarette on the hardwood floor, fling the door open, and leave for the evening. Soda shook his head and Pony got up begrudgingly to clean up the ashes that were left behind.
"I'm sorry I-" Virginia was still more caught up in Johnny speaking to her than in Dallas Winston's temper tantrums, which must have been a fairly common occurrence. She hadn't heard anyone speak Spanish in such a long time. She felt guilty that she didn't know enough to say something back to him.
"Don't worry about it," the boy mumbled. He was back to looking somewhere between the floor and the tv set. "I thought you were-"
"-I am," she laughed before he could even finish. Looking at Johnny now, it was obvious he was Latino. How he could tell she was, though, she had no idea. She did have the stereotypical brown eyes and dark hair, but so did loads of people. Very few folks in her past had figured it out, and that was only after meeting her mother. Her mother, who had an audible accent but refused to speak Spanish even in private. Her mother, who never told her a thing about Puerto Rico other than the fact her own parents lived there once. Her grandparents, who weren't allowed to contact the family anymore, for reasons she didn't know.
"Are what?" Two-Bit had interrupted, rounding the couch and having Johnny scoot over so he could sit down as well.
Virginia hesitated one second and felt guilty the next.
As a child she was never explicitly told to keep her heritage a secret, but she wasn't taught enough about it to share. As she got older, she could read between the lines. The few Chicano in town caused trouble, or so her father said, and it was a good thing she had his last name. She didn't even bother taking Spanish classes at school for fear of him finding out.
"Hispanic," she finally told him. The word was quiet as it escaped her mouth. "Just on my mom's side." She held her breath waiting for his reaction.
"I knew there was something," announced Two-Bit, like he'd had a revelation on something that had been bothering him for a while.
"No you didn't," said Johnny with the smallest of smirks.
"Nope, I didn't," agreed Two-Bit, taking another swig of his drink. He offered the glass to Virginia. She took it from him even though she knew exactly what was coming. She took a sip and her face instantly scrunched up at the bad taste before passing it back. Two-Bit cackled wildly at her reaction.
"Tequila next time, then," he said.
She and Johnny both rolled their eyes.
Despite the assurances that the gang was more interesting than an old lady's book club, they spent the rest of the night in the Curtis house watching television. Virginia didn't mind. She didn't need a bar fight or a bank robbery to keep herself entertained. Watching Two-Bit plow through his third beer during the Red Skelton Hour was more than enough. He was guessing the punchline to half the jokes on the program and holding his stomach at all the others. Somewhere along the line, he had slid down to watch from the floor and, not long after, fell asleep.
At some point, the front door swung open, and another boy entered, or more so a man. There was a family resemblance between him and Ponyboy, only he had darker hair and the biggest arms Virginia had ever seen on a real person. He was introduced as Darry, the eldest Curtis brother. He shook her hand delicately and had an expression that was impossible to read when Sodapop said she came over with Two-Bit.
Darry looked tired. He scooted Ponyboy out of the armchair after changing out of his sweaty work clothes. He asked his brother if he had finished his homework, who begrudgingly retreated back to his room after a "no."
The rest of the group finished the comedy program quietly. Johnny announced he was going to get going, dipping into the bedroom to, Virginia assumed, say goodbye to Ponyboy, before heading out. Darry straightened up in his armchair as well and got to his feet.
"You been drinkin', Soda?" he asked.
"You know I don't," replied Sodapop.
"Why don't you give her a ride home then?"
The clock had hit nine. Virginia knew she'd be getting in trouble with her parents if she turned up any later on a school night. She wasn't sure if she should shake Two-Bit awake to come with her, or if being escorted home by a sleepy, tipsy boy was an even worse idea.
"I can just walk," she waved them off, not wanting to put them out any further. She got to her feet. "I'm just a couple blocks away." It was more than a couple, but they didn't know that.
"No, Soda'll drive you," said Darry, and the command in his voice made the decision final, "A girl doesn't need to be walking around on her own this late at night."
She didn't appreciate him making that call just because she was a girl, but... He was right. She never had too much trouble (she'd been whistled at before, nothing worse), but there was always a chance. Maybe they knew their neighbors and knew they were no good.
"Yeah, I got you, Ginny," agreed Soda, hopping up from the floor. Darry tossed him the keys from the end table.
Virginia inched her way towards the door. She delicately stepped between Two-Bit's limbs, sprawled out on the rug.
"Nice to meet you all," she said, just above a whisper. "Goodnight."
Soda actually led her out the backdoor instead of the front. The backyard was lit only by the moon and the light creeping out of Ponyboy's bedroom window. It was half grass and half concrete, with weeds coming up through the cracks. Backed up against the fence was a car, completely rusted and scrapped for parts. In the driveway proper was the pickup truck Soda had come to her and Two-Bit's rescue in the other day.
The two climbed in and it started right up with a rumble.
Virginia relayed her address and Soda told her to pick something on the radio. The rock station it defaulted to was fine for the short ride.
"How old are ya?" Sodapop strummed up conversation.
"Seventeen."
"Hey, me too!" he replied. "My buddy, Steve, turned eighteen last month. He's been worrying himself to death that the next time he gets in trouble they're gonna try him like an adult."
"It seems like y'all are always out looking for trouble," Virginia snorted. Was this Steve the type who was going to get in trouble with the law? If he was, would it be for shop-lifting like the boy she was most familiar with, who was, technically, an adult as well, or did he get up to worse?
"We're not looking," Soda mused, "it just finds us."
"So," she could see the cheeky grin he was shooting her way while he changed the subject, "are you and Two-Bit going steady?"
She laughed. Were all these boys this forward?
No, her and Two-Bit weren't a couple. They were just friends she supposed. Friends who had gone on a couple dates and where at least one of them was attracted to the other.
"He hasn't asked me about it..." she said.
Soda nodded along.
"He's no good at committing to anything," he said. "He can't imagine being at a job for more than a week; won't sleep in the same place more than two nights in a row."
Virginia didn't say anything. Her stomach instantly turned in knots. Two-Bit was just stringing her along for the time being and would lose interest soon. Either that, or he'd keep her around but would never be serious with her. She should have known better.
"Hey," Soda caught her attention again. He was looking at her, not the road. "I'm not telling you that to worry you, or turn you off him or something."
"Then you're doing a lousy job," she said. She didn't mean for it to come out as curt as it did.
"I'm tellin' you because he's been talking about you nonstop for the past month," he said, "and it sure takes somethin' special to hold his attention."
"Oh." Virginia's face turned red. She'd really jumped the gun there.
"Don't worry about it," he said, his voice soft and comforting. "You seem like a nice enough girl. We'll holler at him for you if he takes too long."
Virginia didn't want anyone to pressure Two-Bit into something he didn't want to do. She'd rather not date him if he was going to feel trapped the whole time.
Was that her admitting she wanted to date him at all? Her chest hitched just a little at the thought. Maybe she was getting to the point where she needed to sit down and figure out what she wanted at the end of it all. There were some sort of feelings in her head, at the very least.
She was so busy turning things over in her mind, thinking about what Sodapop had said, that she didn't realize they had turned onto her street and were pulling up in front of her house.
Her father's figure was standing in the window, hands on his hips and illuminated by a lamp from behind.
Shit, was her first thought. She wasn't home on time and there was no getting away with it when he could see her outside, clear as day.
Soda must have followed Virginia's eyes after putting on the brakes, or maybe he saw the grimace she was wearing.
"He gonna chew you out?" he asked carefully.
"Yeah…" she quietly answered. Her tone was anything but convincing.
"I know you don't know me that well but," Soda paused in uncertainty, "anything ever happens, we leave the door unlocked. I know you're a girl 'n all but the couch is open if you ever need it for the night. You're ever in trouble, call. Me or Darry'll come get you."
Virginia offered a half-sided smile. That was offering so much for someone he admitted to hardly knowing. She didn't expect things would ever get that bad at her house. They must have been at some of the other boys' homes, for Soda to be so familiar with it to immediately make the offer.
"Thank you," she said, "and thank you for driving me."
"My pleasure," Soda grinned. He put the car back in drive when she exited. "Goodnight."
She wished him goodnight as well, taking a deep breath when he drove away, preparing the courage to walk up the driveway.
The weather was getting nice enough to linger outside at night, and Virginia wished she could wait a little longer, but the sound of the screen door opening behind her was a warning to book it inside before things got worse. Her father was there, still standing inside with a sturdy arm outstretched to keep the screen open until she approached. His features became clearer the closer she got, all etched in a passive aggressive anger.
"Whose truck was that?" were the first words out of Edward Campbell's mouth when his daughter got inside. His eyebrows were knit together harshly, causing the lines across his forehead to turn into valleys.
Virginia flinched as he closed the door roughly. She was already debating on what to say, what names to change, and whether she could figure them out quick enough to not raise suspicion.
"Sodapop Curtis," she answered truthfully. Virginia stood in front of the television set, the overhead light making it feel like an interrogation chamber.
Apparently the answer wasn't good enough for her father, as he scoffed hearing it.
"That's his real name," Virginia defended, feeling particularly indignant that she was getting scolded for deciding to tell the truth.
"Who is he?" Mr. Campbell pressured on. He resumed the position of hands on his hips. He was still in his button up from work, which Virginia took to mean he got home and did nothing but stew in his armchair until she returned. "Why's a boy driving you home?"
He never screamed, but the barrage of questions in the usual persistent tone was enough make Virginia want to head right for her room.
"Just a boy my age," she responded, shifting on her feet. "Barbara didn't feel well, so he drove me home instead."
She was lying now.
"You were supposed to be studying. Why was there a boy there when you're studying?"
Virginia liked it better when he stayed at work until she was in bed. She liked having a calm dinner with her mom, watching The Andy Griffith Show, and then turning in to do her homework in peace. When her dad was home, he'd find something to gripe about, whether it be food or work, and hole up in his recliner for the night. He'd force Virginia to do her homework at the kitchen table and make everyone quietly watch the news together.
It was just tense. Everything he did made her tense.
Virginia didn't know what made things change to be this way. He was always on the sterner side, even when she was little, but he at least seemed to enjoy the company of his family back then. They used to get groceries together and play catch. Mr. Campbell took his daughter fishing and enjoyed her company when he would change the oil in the car. He was pleasant to be around.
And then she became a teenager and he didn't want anything to do with her. He piled a number of household chores onto her all at once, making her scrub bathroom floors and cook full dinners with her mother, who he hardly spoke to either anymore. He wanted them cooped up in the house. He became bitter and quiet, and Virginia could only think that maybe if she was born a boy she wouldn't be getting this treatment, getting ignored or grilled, there was no in-between.
This wasn't something she could have explained to Two-Bit when he asked, because she wasn't sure herself. Maybe if she knew why her father was like this, she could have. If she knew if her father just hated women now, or if something deeper was going on, or maybe it was all on her. Maybe she was just an ungrateful teenager, and she'd grow out of the disagreements and fights one day, like he'd scolded her before that she was.
Mr. Campbell was still waiting on a reply.
"Barb wasn't feeling well so she called to ask him to drive me," Virginia was trying to work out a story as she went. Barbara lived too far to walk to, so having someone drive Ginny home was a requirement.
She wouldn't be mentioning Two-Bit or the Curtis house at all.
"Why didn't you call Arthur?" Mr. Campbell bit back. He rigidly lowered himself into his reclining chair, eyes not slipping away from Virginia's for even a second.
Why he thought Arthur Heimbach was God's gift to the Earth was beyond Virginia.
"He's Connie's boyfriend, not mine," she said. And thank goodness for that, she thought.
Mr. Campbell only let out a tsk through his teeth, one that either said "Good," -as in, "You don't need a boyfriend"- or "Unfortunately," -as in "If you're gonna have a boyfriend, he better be as good as Arthur."
There was a pregnant silence. Mrs. Campbell was sitting back on the couch knitting, eyes glancing back and forth, and mouth pressed closed.
"May I go to my room now?" Virginia chanced. It seemed like the conversation was over, or at least she hoped it was.
The silence being drawn out was thick and heavy. Mr. Campbell stared his daughter down.
"You're not going anywhere the rest of the week. You come straight home after school," was the final verdict of the conversation.
It took all of Virginia's strength to hold back at rolling her eyes.
"I have shifts." She was more than ready to bail but felt obligated to mention work. Her eyes bore into the lamp on the end table, tired of looking back into the intimidating gaze.
"I'll get someone to cover them," Mr. Campbell responded. The TV was flipped on, playing the local news a little too loud and signaling the talk was officially over.
Virginia retreated to her bedroom as quickly as her feet would take her. She didn't bother flipping the light switch up, just changing into her pajamas as quickly as possible. She pulled the comforter over her head, trying to drown out the weather report from the other room.
She was tired; tired from the day and tired of him.
AN: Please excuse the Google Translate Spanish! If you have a correction I should make there, please let me know!