Who Knows || Riff (West Side Story 2021)

Chapter 38

𝟺. 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟷𝟿𝟻𝟽

The Jets weren't as tough and as bad as they first appeared. Rose remembered the days clearly just after she had met them for the first time. There had never been a more welcoming group of human beings.

     Ice had always been a little bit of a show off, it didn't matter to who. He just liked being known, being remembered. No one wanted to be forgotten.

     Mouthpiece tried to make her laugh as often as he could. All of them had been told so much about Rose that it was like knowing her for years by himself.

     The two of them enjoyed her company, and she enjoyed theirs. That was why, when Riff was busy, she was assigned to be looked after by one of them. It could have been worse. It wasn't as if she disliked any of the Jets, but there were a few she wasn't fond of. Numbers was one of them. He was far too vulgar for Rose's liking.

     And of course, there was Baby John. She had a different relationship with him than with the others. It wasn't like a friendship. Rose felt a maternal instinct to protect him, even if there was barely any years between them. He was fourteen, she was twenty. But she loved him the way that siblings might, or should, and the way a mother loves a child.

     But because of the oncoming rumble, Rose was nervous, and she could sense it in the boys too. None of them would admit to it, but they were afraid. This was the worst they had ever faced: The Egyptian Kings, The Bishops and The Emeralds were nothing in comparison.

     Baby John rested his head on Rose's lap, his hands shaking on his legs. She did her best to calm him, running her fingers through his hair.

     Mouthpiece and Ice were sat with them too. But no one would say anything. It was sort of scary.

     Riff wouldn't do anything yet, though. He was thinking, preparing his things for when the other boys arrived.

  "You'll be fine." Rose told them, patting their backs and legs, trying her best.

  "Course we'll be fine." Ice smirked. "We're Jets."

  "An' if you get hurt, you come to me. Right?" She pushed them to answer. "Cos I'll take care of you."

  "You always takes care of us." Baby John looked up to her with dark, sad eyes. "Thank you."

  "Yeah, thanks, Rose." Mouthpiece nodded, a smile somewhere distant in his memory.

     Before the other boys arrived, she knew she had to talk to Riff. After leaving Tony in the street, he had been sort of quiet. He wouldn't say anything to Rose, that's how she knew there was a problem.

     She excused herself from the boys, and went over to him. Riff was sat on a stepladder, and when she approached him, he looked up.

  "Hey, Rosie." He said, lazily.

  She just offered a hug, which he took. "I love you." She whispered into his ear, kissing his cheek lightly.

  "Love you too, darlin'."

  "No lil'?" Rose chuckles trying her best to make light of the situation.

  Riff just pulled her tighter, never letting his eyes fade from her face. Like it was the last time he was ever going to see her. "Nah, you're all grown up now, anyway. You're taller too."

  "You're an idiot." She scoffed.

  "Only for you, Rosie."

Eventually, the others started to filter through and into the garage. None of them were too excited about the whole thing. Rumbles were life and death. They didn't seem to grasp that until now.

"Oh come on, it's our day!" Ice tried to force their excitement. The tension kept building in the air.

"The Puerto Rican's grumble, fair fight." Riff grabbed onto his baseball bat, and stood, swinging it like a champion. "But when they start the rumble, we'll rumble them, right?"

The Jets burst through the garage doors. It had been raining. Pools of water gathered in the crevasses, and they trod through it, wetting the canvas of their shoes.

"They began it!"

And between the grumbling and moaning, they came up with their own solutions. All of which were terrifying.

"Yeah, and we're gonna stop it!"

As they trekked to the spot, the sun was setting. The sky was filled with oranges and yellows of beautiful shades. Nothing like they had seen before. It blended into the deep purples of the night. And soon, it was pitch black.

Riff and the boys were jumping all over the place. They marched like it was all they had. Perhaps because it was.

"The Jets are coming out on top, tonight!" He landed on the hood of a rusty car. "We're gonna watch Bernardo drop! That Puerto Rican punk'll go down! And when he's hollered uncle, we'll tear up the town!"

Ice nodded, solidly. "We'll back you boy."

"Right."

"We're gonna flatten him good."

"Womb to tomb?" Riff asked, knowing that there was only one answer.

Ice understood. "Sperm to worm!"

"And then we'll have us a ball tonight."

     They arrived at the salt shed, and the brashness suddenly stopped. Riff became quiet, and stepped towards his wife. There was a tired look in his eye, one of hatred and uncertainty.

  "Stay here, girly girl." He whispered, taking her hands in his, messing with the ring on her finger, ever so slightly.

  "But-"

  Riff snapped before she could say anything else. "I want you safe."

  "I want you safe too." Rose scoffed, shaking her head. It wasn't fair.

  "Please, for me. It won't be long."

     Riff Lorton never said please. She had known him for years and he had never once said please in front of her. This meant a lot to him, more than anyone else would ever be able to understand.

     She kissed him, delicately. A meeting of their lips in a perfect harmony. In a way, it felt just like the first they had shared. In others, it was much more beautiful than anything they had experienced before. This was the only 'I love you' that mattered. The only one that would ever mean anything.

     Still, she pulled away, not a fan of the boys witnessing them.

  "I love you." She promised, and he nodded.

  "Love you too."

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Disclaimer!!!
I do not own West Side Story or the characters originally from the book, play, or musical. I do not own Riff, or any events from the 2021 film that this book is based off. However, I do own Rose, her friends, family, and her relationship with Riff prior to the film.
All of this is purely fictional, anything that relates to real life is purely coincidence.