No Permanent Death (The Outsiders)

It Must Suck to be You

10:23 am
12.14.41
New York City
Curtis's Secret Base

I awoke to the sound of Darry's crazed ramblings outside of my room, and I was almost positive he had that stupid corkboard out. I got up from my bed with a sigh. I didn't bother changing from my sleepwear, stepping out of my room tiredly. Sure enough, Darry had the corkboard with all the photos and red strings in-front of him, and he was looking over it angrily.

"G'Morning Pony." Soda smiled over to me. I smiled back, heading to the kitchen for some coffee. Darry ruffled my hair as I walked by, grumbling something about being too old to sleep in.

The three of us live in a rather small flat. We are all still recovering from the Depression, but we were doing rather well compared to some of our old pals. We were currently living off the reward money for whatever crooks Darry and Soda could catch. The kitchen and main room were connected, so I could still see Darry fuss over the board while Soda laughed at him.

"I still cannot believe you ran into the entire Shepherd family on your first outing." He muttered while ripping down a photo of the man I recognized as Comma. Soda turned to me with a goofy grin. "Darry has been trying to take them down for years, you know." He explained. I shrugged in response.

"I don't know why, they seemed like pretty mellow people. I talked with that 'Bambi' guy-" I was interrupted by the sound of ceramic hitting the floor. I looked over to Darry with wide eyes, who had just dropped his cup of coffee onto the floor. He was looking at with the same crazed look he had the night before, mouth agape.

"You talked to him?!" He asked incredulously. "Yes? He seemed like a normal guy." I replied while nodding slowly. Darry groaned, rubbing his temples with his hands. "You... You spoke to the Boss of one of the most notorious crime families in the country." He turned to Soda, who looked rather surprised himself. "Our little brother had a civil conversation with a mob boss." He muttered. Soda nodded with a chuckle. "I know Dar, I heard."

"He was the boss? Didn't look like one." I murmured to no one in particular. Which, somehow, sent my eldest brother off all over again.

"You saw him?!" He gasped out, staring back at me now. I nodded. "You've gotta be kidding me! You saw his face?" Darry asked again, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Yeah? I kinda had to see him to talk to him- Why's that such a big deal?" I questioned. Darry mumbled something to himself, ripping a photo of his board. "This," He handed me a black and white photo. "Is the only picture ever taken of him. And they aren't even really sure that it is him."

The photo showed a man in the exact suit the boy was wearing last night, with his hat covering half of his face. An evil, crooked grin peeked out from underneath. I could easily tell it wasn't the boy I spoke to. This man was huge, suit sleeves pulled taut around his large arms. He had a stubble and a mole that Bambi also did not have, including a tattoo on his neck that read 'la famiglia'.

"Can't be. That guy's... forty somethin' years older than the boy I talked to." I paused, handing the photo back to my brother. "But that is the suit he was wearing." I added, making Darry crinkle his eyebrows in confusion. He put the photo back on the board in a completely different place, pinning a piece of paper with a question mark next to it.

"I think I should make some calls." He muttered, heading over to the ameche. Soda threw me a 'what the fuck' look, and I just shrugged in response. I sat down with my coffee just as the person picked up.

"Hello. I'm calling for- dammit I don't know his name." Darry turned to Soda, placing a hand over the receiver. "What was the name of the man you worked with last May?" He whispered. Soda thought for a moment. "I dunno' his name." Soda murmured. "I think his callsign was, uh- Hothead... or somethin'." Darry rolled his eyes, turning back to the phone.