Simply a Greaser

Chapter 44

"This is his?" I asked, looking down at it. It was grey with the name of his high school written across the front in red letters. It was big on me, loose on my frame and long. "Why does he even have a school hoodie?" 

"It was part of a prank," Dally explained shortly. 

"What does th-" 

"It doesn't matter." Dally rolled his eyes. "Why are you in it?" 

I shrugged. "I can't remember." 

"You can't remember?" 

"That's what I said." 

"How much did you drink last night?"

"Too much," I replied. "Now please let me shower and take some Advil." 

"Okay." He stood up and walked to the door. "I'm goin' to Two-Bit's house." 

"Wait for me," I said, shaking my head. "I'll just be a few minutes, and I'm sure Two-Bit isn't awake." 

"Nah, I'm gonna go now. See you later." Dally opened and slammed the door before I could get another word in. 

An hour later, I walked into Two-Bit's house. The smell of pancakes was in the air, making my mouth instantly water. It'd been literal years since I'd had a pancake that was cooked right- the last time was in New York. 

"Hello?" I called out. 

Two-Bit's mom stepped out of the kitchen. "Hi, Ava!" She looked tired, and I wondered what time she had gotten off of work. "Your brother and Keith are in the living room." 

I walked into the living room where Dally and Two-Bit were sitting. They were quiet when I entered the room, which wasn't usually a good sign. 

"Hey guys," I said, sitting down on the couch. "What's up?"

"Mom's makin' us food," Two-Bit reported happily. 

"Does she usually do that?" I asked. "If she does, I might have to come over here more often." 

Shrugging, he said, "She feels bad for me 'cause I have this cast." 

"We were just talkin' about what happened last night," Dallas said, cutting into our conversation. 

"Great." 

"Nothin' happened," Two-Bit explained. "I stayed sober so I could watch everyone." 

"Really?" I asked, my voice showing my disbelief. Two-Bit taking on the role as the responsible one was something completely out of the ordinary, especially if that meant avoiding drinking. 

"Yeah, really," he mimicked. "And I wasn't sure how I'd do with these crutches drunk." 

Dally scoffed. "They aren't hard to use, man. I've had them before." 

"That's what I tho-" 

"Anyways, you got my hoodie because you were cold. I drove you back to Buck's and you slept there. Darry passed out a about 11, but woke up sober enough to go get Dally." 

"You can drive with a cast?" I asked. 

"Yeah, dumbass. You only need one foot," Dally explained. "It's probably not the most legal thing ever, but it can be done."  

Two-Bit's mom yelled from the kitchen, "Pancakes are ready!" 

Dally left Two-Bit's house after eating, saying something about needing to see Tim. Katie had woken up by that point, and she was in full-sugar rush mode after drinking a quarter of a cup of straight syrup. Two-Bit's mom was trying to sleep, so Two-Bit and I took Katie outside to play. 

She was climbing a tree while Two-Bit and I sat on the sidewalk. His crutches were lying by his side and his leg was extended awkwardly because of the cast. 

"I didn't tell Dally everythin' that happened last night," he said casually. 

"Do I want to know?" 

"You got cold 'cause you were drenched. That's why you have my hoodie. The fuzz came to my house 'cause the neighbors complained, and you gave Darry, Pony, and Soda a chance to escape." 

"What did I do?" I asked, dread dragging along the pit of my stomach. I could've bee arrested and never gotten to tell Dallas about mom. And, the embarrassment I was going to feel for dong whatever I had was going to be monumental.   

"It was these two younger cops. You said somethin' about havin' met them before and all this shit. You told the Curtis' to leave while you talked to the cops so they didn't get in trouble. Then, you went up them and started to talk to them." 

"How did that help anythin'?" I asked. 

"I don't know how you did it, but you convinced the cops to leave. But-" he smiled "-after you insisted on goin' on a 'victory swim' and swam in my neighbor's pool. They found you and chased you around for a good 20 minutes, then I gave you my hoodie and took you to Buck's."   

"That's why I'm sore." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "Why is drunk me so fucking stupid?" 

"We all do stupid shit while drunk," Two-Bit said, shrugging. 

Katie dropped down from the tree and ran over to us. "I wanna go inside and play with Rose!" 

"Then go inside!" Two-Bit replied, rolling his eyes. 

Katie stuck out her tongue and marched inside, arms crossed. 

"She's tired," he explained shortly. 

We sat in silence for a few minutes. 

"Are you ready for tonight?" 

I shrugged. "I guess. I'm tryin' not to think about it." 

"It'll be alright." 

"I keep tellin' myself that, but I can't help but think of the worst-case scenario. I mean, what if she doesn't show up? What if she's drunk or high? I-I don't think this is gonna work out. It can't work out 'cause mom or Dally or I will fuck somethin' up and ruin everythin' like we always do." I started to freak myself out. Once my mind started to spin on things, it would just going and going. 

"Just give it a chance," he said. "You never know what might happen." 

"Yeah, exactly. The whole not knowin' what might happen part is givin' me anxiety." I frowned, looking at the ground. "I don't know. Maybe it will work out." 

"After you see her, I can come to pick you up and take you wherever. You can spend the night at my house if you need to get away from Buck's and the Curtis'." 

"Thanks," I replied. "I don't know where I'll go."