Cinnamon & Rubies // The Outsiders

twenty

"Where is she?"

Sneakers squeaked along the hospital floor as she turned the corner. Caroline practically collided with the nurse's desk and planted her hands on the counter.

"I got a call that my sister is here. Louise Montgomery," she stammered out. The second she had gotten a call at the Dingo, Caroline had been out and running towards the hospital. She had woken up that morning pressed against the steady, warm form of Darry Curtis. They ate a quick breakfast before he drove her home to get in uniform and then dropped her off at work with a quick kiss and the promise of more to come. It had been a good day until that damn phone rang and Mr Armstrong said it was for her.

Caroline tried to catch her breath as she followed the nurse who led her back into curtained rooms. Helen already stood at the curtain, her white nurse dress looking pristine compared to the frazzled look to her face.

"What happened? They didn't tell me anythin' over the phone."

"Broke her arm at school. Won't tell me how."

An understanding passed between the mother and daughter in one simple look and Caroline straightened her spine with a sharp exhale. The cinnamon haired girl rounded the corner and found her nine-year old sister staring down at the blanket that covered her legs, a thick cast covering her right arm.

"You wanna tell me how you got that? Or you want me to go to school and ask your friends?"

"Ain't got no friends," Louise muttered. Caroline sighed and took a seat at the end of the bed, clasping her hands together and setting them in her lap.

"So who did this?"

"No one. Just me an' my dumb self."

"Louise Anne Montgomery, you can lie to anyone but me, you hear? I've spent a lot of time lyin' about injuries and I know what it looks like when someone hurts you so you're gonna tell me and you're gonna let me fix it, got it?" Caroline's voice dropped to a low, tight growl that captured Louise's attention. The dark haired girl shrugged and looked away as tears filled her eyes. Caroline grasped her sister's uninjured hand and squeezed it.

"Hey, just tell me. It's okay."

"There's these girls. They hate me an' I don't know why. They've been shovin' me around and hittin' me. I thought I could push past it and ignore 'em. Be strong like you an' momma. But today they pushed me off the swings. It hurts, Care."

Caroline's heart shattered. The one thing she had been trying to avoid was now hurting Louise. She gathered her sister in a hug and pressed her cheek against Louise's dark hair. Caroline looked at Helen and the older Montgomery nodded.

"Okay. Alright. It's okay," Caroline soothed. "I'm gonna fix this. I swear to you. Ma's gonna stay here with you, alright? She'll make sure you get home. I gotta pick up Teddy and I'm gonna go talk to your principal. You're gonna be okay, Louise. I'm gonna need names of the girls."

With the names tucked in her mind, Caroline hurried back to her house. Her feet ached thanks to her shoes pinching her toes. She honestly preferred her roller skates over her worn oxfords that rubbed wrong against her ankle. It was about forty degrees outside and her thin sweater wasn't doing much to block out the bitter wind that nipped at her skin. She had run out of the Dingo so fast that she hadn't thought to grab her coat, not that it would have helped a lot thanks to its many patches and rips.

A car pulled up next to her and she bit back a groan. Really, the last thing she needed was some Soc or Greaser trying her today. But instead she found Tim Shepard watching her warily.

"Get in," he ordered. Caroline raised a single eyebrow at his statement and planted one hand on her hips, leveling him with a chilling glare.

"...Please."

Caroline acquiesced and climbed in the passenger side. The car was low to the ground and she could feel every rock and bump and pothole in her teeth as they clattered together.

"Curtis would have my head if I let you walk in the cold," he offered as an explanation. "It's fucking cold out. Why you walkin' around in this?"

"Ain't got a car."

"Well I know that. But ain't you got work?"

Caroline huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest to ward off the cold and his narrowed stare.

"I was heading back from the hospital to the school. Gotta pick up my brother."

"You sick?"

"My sister got her arm broke at school. Some girls been targetin' here."

He let out a low whistle and shook his head. "They're startin' younger and younger. The school, you said?"

"Yes please. Gotta talk to the principal."

"You got names?"

Caroline regarded him with suspicion as he drove towards the elementary school. Tim shrugged at her inquisitive look.

"You helped my kid brother. I owe you."

"Patricia Raleigh."

Tim grimaced and let out a muttered curse that Caroline picked up on easily.

"You familiar with her?"

"Her mother, Mary. She's a Greaser. Spends a lot of her time at Buck's. She's pretty well liked by a few of us, if you get what I mean."

"So I shouldn't involve Principal Summers is what you're sayin'."

"You'd have to go to Mary if you want something done."

Caroline kissed her teeth and let out a sigh. "She'll be at Buck's tonight?"

"Oh hell no. I ain't letting you within ten feet of that place. I like my balls where they are."

"I wasn't asking your permission."

"Fuck. Fine. We make a deal. I'll take you to Buck's tonight so you can talk with Mary."

"And what do you want out of it?"

"Curtis can't know I took you there."

Caroline smirked. "You're scared of Darry."

"I ain't scared of no one. But I do know that he would raise hell and high water if anyone looked at you the wrong way."

Caroline swallowed past the lump of emotion that built in her throat. "Alright then. You've got a deal."