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𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑧
ANA WOKE UP AND saw sodapop sitting next to her. she looked at me weirdly before giggling to herself, she got up to roam around the toys that the hospital laid out for the children who get bored. eventually, she was joined by a few of soda's friends and his little brother. i watched them play trains with her and even played with the barbie dolls she brought with her, the ones she can't leave without unless she's in school.
"oh no! don't get hit by a train, barbie!" two-bit shrieks in a mickey mouse voice, ana laughed.
"how are you so good at mickey mouse voices, two-bit?" she asked him.
"it's called studying mickey mouse, maybe when you're old enough you can come study with me." two-bit told her.
"i will, you will see me as old as mar and studying mickey mouse." she nodded.
soda and i laughed while we looked down at mario who was fast asleep, his curly hair caused my leg to itch but if i moved him then he would've gone all poco loco on me. my fingers ran through his hair, the same way abuela would do when he was fast asleep in his bed. whenever she would stop early, he'd complain and say he can't sleep so she spends a good 20 minutes stroking his hair until he's dead asleep.
"okay so what went down with antonio and dallas?" i began.
"i don't know but all i could make out was dally jumping on him and pounding his face in." he said, "then david was all hands on me until we heard dally scream like he was in psycho."
"you think your friend will be okay?" just as i asked that, a doctor with a clipboard came out.
"you related to dallas winston?" the doctor asked darry.
"no but i'm his friend and his family is out of state." darry lied.
"well since you're mature and old, i'll tell you that your buddy is gonna be okay." the doctor told him, "he lost a lot of blood and will be scarred from that wound for good but other than that he's a strong guy, he made through."
"it's dally, unless his good friend johnny died then he'd be dead too." darry chucked, "also thank you for helping him. i know he won't thank you so i'll do it for him."
"anytime, it's practically my job." the four eyed white coat wearing nerd said.
soda still looked anxious after overhearing the news so i just held onto his hand, he eased up a bit but still looked scared. i just sat there while we watched darry drop his head into his hands and mumbling a small prayer.
mama came out of abuela's room in tears, i shook mario awake not caring if he was gonna be mad at me. i let go of soda's hand before mama got to see his hand in mine and ran up to her. the balled up tissue covered her nose, i had a feeling she was gonna collapse in the middle of the hall.
"mama, what's wrong?" i asked her.
"it's nothing, i just hate seeing her like this." she explained.
"will she be okay, will she live? tell me!" i pleaded.
"yes, mar! abuela's gonna live, now quiet down." mama said, "if you want to stay here you can but just make sure you walk home safely from here, we don't live far but please be safe."
"i'll stay here for a little but not too long." i said.
"alright, i gotta take ana and mario home, they look pretty worn out." mama looked at ana who was yawning in between her barbie fantasy.
"see ya, mama." i pecked her on the cheek before going back to my seat. "bye ana."
"when will we be able to play barbie's again?" ana asked two-bit while she was being dragged away.
"another day, princess." he told her before she exited the hospital.
i could tell by mama's face she didn't really like two-bit playing with ana, especially by looking at his face and thinking he was someone to not trust. two-bit looked like a genuine guy who loved kids, mostly because his entire personality is goofy and he loves mickey mouse as much as kids do. i even thought ana had a small crush on him but we all know he's with kathy lewis.
"your mom doesn't like us, doesn't she?" soda huffed.
"i mean, she's had a rough past with white boys but i don't think she hates you guys." i said.
"what do you mean rough past?" soda asks.
"my dad was white but he left us when he found out my mom was pregnant with ana and mario." i explained, "she loved him too much that she almost traveled everywhere to find him but never heard from him again. she later found out he married another woman and had kids with her."
"oh, now i feel bad." he softened his eyes.
"it's worse than it sounds, she lend us to my abuela until she could fully heal her broken heart, we didn't see her for months." i remembered me asking my abuela when i was gonna see her again.
soda and i sat in silence like the rest, the clock had already struck 1 am and i was still at the hospital. he wrapped his hand around mine as his friends began falling asleep, they all slept with no blankets or pillows, just the plastic armrests that the chairs come with.
i wanted to leave but soda yawned as soon as the thought came in. i changed my mind and chose to stay at the hospital, i pushed his head gently towards my shoulder. he was already sound asleep when his head hit my shoulder, no one noticed him being nice to me since everyone was asleep and if they weren't, he would've gotten the worst earful by his friends about how he shouldn't be near someone like me.
