TULSA - darry curtis

S I X

"Good morning." I greet quietly.

"I'm so sorry about last night, Babyblue." He sighs guiltily, rising from his seat to hug me tightly.

"It's fine." I squeeze out awkwardly, patting his back to return the hug.

"No, it's not fine," He shakes his head before sitting down at the table again. "I won't do it again. I promise."

Yeah. It's not like I haven't heard that one before.

I nod unbelievingly before pouring myself some coffee from the coffee pot. I also get a piece of bread and spread some butter across it.

This is how almost every morning around here goes. Mama is already at work at the hospital when we wake up, so Papa and I always drink coffee together; me having bread and butter for breakfast while he reads the paper.

"I'm going to a friend's house today if that's alright with you." I say quietly.

"That's fine." he says dully, not even looking up from his newspaper.

I nod even though he can't see me. At least he's speaking to me today. I choke down my breakfast and chug my coffee, nearly forgetting to grab Two's jacket from up in my room.

I bound up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I grab his jacket from where it is hanging on my bedpost and decide to grab a pair of white sunglasses to keep myself from going blind on the forty minute walk to the Curtis house.

"Bye, Papa," I say, waving at him as I approach the front door. "See you later."

"Have a good day, Bluie." He says and I walk out the door, careful to not let it slam behind me.

I pop my sunglasses over my eyes; thankful that I had brought them. I hold Two-Bit's jacket in the crook of my arm as I walk down the sidewalk. The walk there consists of me humming made-up tunes and kicking pebbles on the pavement.

A shiny car pulls up alongside me, the driver rolling his window down. I take a deep breath, hoping that he doesn't plan on giving me any trouble.

"Need a lift, Babydoll?" He asks with a smile, and I am taken aback by surprise.

"No thanks," I smile back kindly, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to get in a car with a perfect stranger. "It's not much further."

"You sure?" The young man asks.

"Yes. Thank you though," I confirm. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" He grins, waving before speeding up again and continuing down the road.

I take a deep breath, wondering what a "Soc" would be doing offering me a ride. It's probably because I'm dressed a bit preppy today. He thought I was one of them.

My family is pretty well off, but we're far from being rich. We have one car for all of us and we definitely don't live in the nicest part of town, but we have all that we need.

And I'm grateful for that because most people aren't as fortunate.