Chapter 35
Sage P.O.V.
I had laid in bed, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. Angela managed to sneak out of the house when Curly fell asleep on the couch. She asked if I wanted to come with her, but I figured it was for the best if I didn't have her brother and mine on my case about "leaving their sight".
A knock on the bedroom door gave me hope that the endless spiral of boredom. I told whoever it was to come in and Two-Bits goofy smile is what greeted me. "Hey kid. I've come to bust you out."
I couldn't help but smile back at him. "Are you looking for a death wish? Tim told me not to leave."
He waved a hand in front of him, "Ol' Tim doesn't scare me." I raised my eyebrows at him, and he quickly said, "Last I saw, him and your brother were getting into it. Plus, Soda is also on his radar. I would be so far down this list of people he needed to kill that he would forget."
I thought about it for a second. "Let me leave a note and tell him I'm with someone from the gang. Maybe he won't be as pissed off." Two-bit helped me out of bed and found one of Tim's old jackets for me to put on. I managed to make a few steps before the room started to spin. "Are you going to make it?"
I nodded my head, "Yeah, I just need a second." I focused on my breathing and told myself over and over I was fine.
"I don't mind lending you a hand. And hey, if anyone sees you on my arm it makes me look like I have good game." I shot him a look and he held up his hands. "Just trying to help."
I let out a deep breath and told him we should go before Tim gets back. Two-bit hovered beside me as we made our way through the house. I left Tim a note and stuck it on the fridge. Knowing him, a beer is going to be the first this he grabs when he comes home.
I followed Two out of the house and asked where we were going. "I figured we could go down by the railroad tracks. Away from all of this here."
A small smile appeared on my face when he said that. He knew being around people wasn't going to help me any and getting me away from Tim and Dal would prolong any fight waiting to happen.
We slowly walked in the direction of the tracks, kicking a few rocks along the way. For once, Two-bit was silent. I had too many thoughts running through my head to really notice it, but again, he knew what I needed. As we got to the tracks, we found a spot in the grass to sit.
I didn't realize how much being sick would affect me, but I was nearly out of breath from the walk. Two-bit reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a flask. "I thought you might be thirsty after being locked inside all day and making the walk down here."
In that moment, I was too trusting in him and took a big sip from the small flask. The second the liquid hit my throat, a strong burning sensation took over and made me choke. Two-bit was laughing his ass off and patted my back a few times to try and help me out. "What the hell is in that thing?"
He grabbed the flask and took a sip, "Some whiskey. What did you think it was, water?" I nodded my head, and he laughed some more. "Now when in the hell have you ever seen me drink water?" It was a good question because I have never seen him drink a drop of water.
We settled into a moment of silence, watching the men load the train cars. For a minute, you could almost forget about the issues going on back home. Before I knew what I was doing, I blurted out a question that had been on my mind for a while. "Why did Soda go back to Sandy?"
I heard Two-bit sigh, "Honestly, I have no idea. The girl cheats on him, gets pregnant with someone else's kid, leaves town, and everything simply goes back to normal. I don't get what he sees in her."
I shook my head remembering the night Soda had told me they broke up. It was the same night he kissed me, and everything seemed like it was going to be okay. Now look where we are. "Did we ever find out what happened to the baby? I might just be blind, but I've never seen a child with her."
Two-bit shook his head, "Soda doesn't talk about it much. I heard she gave it up for adoption. Soda had told her he was okay help raising the kid like it was his own, but she still went and gave the poor thing up."
I looked back over to the trains and thought about Soda raising a child. There is no doubt in my mind that he would make an amazing father but watching him raise a kid that wasn't his own would be too much.
Two-bit pulled me out of my thoughts. "Might be for the best. I don't know if I would want to bring a kid into this world." I knew what he meant. We didn't come from money which meant our world is a lot more cruel than others.
"Do you want kids?" I was thrown off by that question and it took me a second to answer him.
"I don't see me living long enough to have kids." I could feel Two-bits eyes on me after I said that and felt like I needed to explain. "I'm a Winston. It isn't in the cards for us to live a long and happy life."
I looked back over to him and saw what looked like concern wash over his face. "Don't think like that, Sage. Living like that is what gets you killed. You and Dal both have a lot of life let to live and I'll be damned if that doesn't happen."
I wanted to point out what happened not too long ago to him because of me, but I decided against it. Two-bit isn't serious very often and I knew to step lightly. He can go from serious to pissed off in the matter of seconds and I didn't want to shift the conversation that way. "What about you, Two? You want kids?" I figured getting the attention off me was the best move.
I saw him smirk, "Hell, you gotta get a girl for that to happen."
I chuckled at his comment. "Welcome to my life."
He nudged my shoulder, "You know-". I cut him off before he could finish that statement. "Nope. Not going to happen." He threw his head back and laughed as I shook my head at him.
The sun was slowly starting to go down and the clouds were changing from a white color to a pretty orange. I smiled to myself as the thought of Ponyboy came to mind. He always dug sunsets. No one in the gang besides a few of us really know that, but you can always find that kid outside around this time staring up at the sky. Watching the sky change to different shades of orange and pink made me start to understand why he found them so intriguing. It almost gave me hope that there was something better out there for me.
Almost.
Two-bit stood up and held out a hand for me to take. "We should probably get you back before Tim sends his dogs for you."
I laughed and took his hand. "Hey what did you mean earlier when you said Tim and Dally were getting into it?" We started walking back towards the Shepard house, keeping an eye out for any car without rust on it.
"I was walking towards Bucks when I heard them yelling. Something about Tim letting things happen and Dal causing trouble for you. I didn't stick around long enough to get the whole story. But it did make me change directions and come get you out of that house. Speaking of which." The house came into view and we saw Tim standing outside talking to a few of his guys. One of them saw us and nodded in our direction.
"Good timing, Two-bit. The dogs were almost let off their leash." Tim said something to them, and they walked off.
Two-bit stopped and said, "I'm going to head on over to Buck's. I don't feel like getting my head beat in tonight. Good luck." I shook my head as he walked off. So much for not being scared of Tim.
I let out a deep breath and walked the last little bit to the house. I looked up and saw Tim with his arms crossed. "Where the hell have you been?"
I pinched my hand to stop me from rolling my eyes at him. "I left you a note on the fridge. We figured it was fine since I was with someone from the gang."
He shook his head, "I didn't see the note. After hearing from Curly that he let not one of you, but both of you out of the house, I didn't go inside."
I looked down, "Curly wasn't here when we left otherwise, I would've told him. I figured you would grab a beer when you got back, and the fridge would be the best place for you to see the note."
He shook his head and told me to get back inside. "At least you came back before the sun went down."
I looked up when he said that. "Angela isn't back yet?" I took his silence as a no. I liked to push people's buttons from time to time, but this girl had zero fear when it came to what she did.
I looked up at his face and saw bruising around his eye and jaw. "You and Dally sort things out?" He shot me a look that told me to drop it. I shook my head and went back inside. I passed Curly sulking on the couch and walked back into Tim's room. Knowing him, he's going to be out all night anyway and wouldn't need his bed. Tomorrow I'll figure things out with my brother and get out from under the watch of Tim Shephard.