I was sitting on the couch while the boys were getting ready for the rumble that night. I still didn't like that Pony was going, but I wouldn't hear the end of it from him if I insisted he stayed.
“You gonna be okay here by yourself, sis?” Soda asked, playing a game of poker with Steve while they waited for Two-Bit to show up.
“We'll be alright, Shante and Nicole should be on their way back from work. Might be here a little after you guys head out,” I reassured. “I'll keep the door locked until they get here and Rocco's here.”
“Alright,” Soda said, before answering Pony's poll for the night.
“How come you like fights, Soda?” Pony asked, leaning up against the couch.
“I don't know,” Soda answered honestly, before thinking a bit, racking his brain for a better answer. “It's action. It's a contest. Like a drag race or a dance or somethin'.”
“Shoot,” Steve said. "I wanna beat those socs' heads in. When I get in a fight I wanna stomp the other guy good. I like it, too.”
“Easy there, Steve, no need to get graphic,” I said, covering Jonathan's ear, with the other gently pressed up against my chest. “Gonna give the kids nightmares.”
“Right, sorry,” Steve apologized. “I'm just ready to go.”
“How come you like fights, Darry?” Pony asked, looking over at Darry, who was in the doorway drying his hands off, having just finished up the dishes. Darry began thinking about his answer, until Soda chimed in.
“He likes to show off his muscles.” I chuckled a little at his answer because he wasn't wrong. Darry played football in high school and lifts weights, pretty sure back then he would pick up girls by literally picking them up.
“I'll show 'em off on you, little buddy, if you get any mouthier,” Darry said, fixing the sleeves on his black shirt. He looked over at Pony and said what I had been thinking. “I don't know if you ought to be in this rumble, Pony.” He said it slowly, like he did when he told me about Johnny having to stay in jail until the trial. He always had a way of telling us bad news in a calm manner, most likely to keep us from freaking out, something he picked up from Dad. Pony looked at him in confusion.
“Why not? I've been able to come before. Why not now?” Pony asked.
“You fight real good for a kid your age, but you were in shape back then. You've lost a bit of weight, and you ain't lookin' too good. You're tensed up too much,” Darry said. This made me look at Pony again and notice what Darry was talking about. I hadn't noticed how much thinner Pony was. I had been around him all this time and was just now seeing it, I felt even more worried about him going.
“Shoot, Darry,” Soda said, trying to sneak an ace out of his shoe without Steve seeing him. “We're all tense before a rumble. Let him fight tonight. Skin never hurt anyone, no weapons no danger.”
“I'll be okay,” Pony said. “I'll get hold of a little one.”
“You won't have Johnny or Curly there this time,” Darry said, walking over to Pony. “We need every man we could get, though.” I could tell Darry was torn between wanting to win this rumble and keeping our kid brother safe. I wish they would have asked me what I thought, I would have been able to say what I really thought, but I said nothing, I couldn't. Pony had his heart set on helping tonight, and who was I to stop a growing boy from wanting to follow in his brothers' footsteps.
“What happened with Curly? Why isn't he comin'?” Pony asked.
“He's in the cooler,” Steve said, kicking the ace out of Soda's shoe. “In the reformatory.”
“Again?” Pony asked.
“That's a normal occurrence?” I asked. I had only met Tim Shepard once, but I had never met his kid brother Curly, he never seemed to be out long enough for me to actually do so, before I left. He and Pony seemed to be good friends, though, doing a lot of stupid things together. The day I met Tim, he was telling Darry that Pony and Curly were burning each other's hands with cigarettes or something. Oh boy did Darry and Dad let him have it that day.
“Kid practically lives in the reformatory,” Steve said.
“Come on, Darry. Let me fight, if it was blades or chains that'd be different. Nobody ever gets really hurt in a skin rumble,” Pony said. Kid was really trying to plead his case. Darry looked at him and finally gave in.
“Well…alright,” Darry agreed. “I guess you can, but be careful, and if ya get in a jam, holler, and I'll get ya out.”
“I'll be alright,” Pony said. “How come you don't worry about Sodapop as much? I don't see you lecturin' him.”
“Man, this is one kid brother I don't have to worry about,” Darry said, putting an arm around Soda's shoulder when he stood up from his game with Steve. Soda punched him in the ribs affectionately. “This kiddo can use his head.” Soda gave Pony a look with mocking superiority, until Darry went on: “You can see he uses it for one thing, to grow hair on.” I laughed a bit, as he ducked Soda's swing and took off for the door, doing some acrobats off the steps, my ramp having been moved, since I had no plans of leaving the house that evening.
“Welp, seems you guys are ready to go,” Two-Bit said, poking his head through the door.
“Bye, sis!” Soda called, before chasing Darry outside, most likely trying to beat Darry's performance off the steps, show-offs.
“Good luck, y'all,” I said, watching them leave the house, hooting and hollering down the street. I shook my head a little and climbed into my wheelchair carefully, Jonathan resting in the baby sling across my chest. Rocco got up as well, seeing me on the move. I wheeled over to the door and closed it, locked it, then wheeled myself back over to the couch, and grabbed the remote to see what was on that night. I needed something to take my mind off this rumble and Johnny, hopefully Nicole and Shante were coming soon, after the guys left the house was quiet, too quiet. I watched TV quietly, until I heard someone at the door. Rocco's ears perked up and he barked a little. I gently hushed him, since Jonathan was still sleeping, and wheeled myself over to the door.
“It's us, Shawna,” Shante said, from the other side of the door. I unlocked the door and opened it for them. “Hey.”
“Hey, come on in,” I said, wheeling out of the doorway. Shante stepped inside, Nicole following behind. “Are you guys hungry? Darry made dinner tonight.”
“We'll eat later. You doing okay?” Shante asked.
“Yeah, I'm okay. Still sore, but we're doing alright,” I said, wheeling myself back over to the couch. Nicole closed the door behind her and pet Rocco, whose tail wagged behind him. “How was work?”
“Same old same old,” Shante said, sitting on the couch. “Lot of greasers came in talkin' about the rumble. Gus and some of the kitchen staff are goin' too.”
“Did Pony go with them?” Nicole asked, looking at me, as she sat down on the couch.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Oh…” Nicole said, before she pursed her lips a little. I could tell she was worried about him fighting tonight, I'm sure if she said something, Pony would have had second thoughts about it.
“I can't believe they actually let him go. I get that they need every man they can get, but he wasn't lookin' too good,” Shante said, rubbing Nicole's arm a little to comfort her.
“Yeah,” I said, cradling Jonathan. “I hope he'll be okay. Darry says he'll help him if he needs it, but he can't keep his eyes on him the whole time.”
“You have bandages here, right?” Shante asked.
“Yeah, we've got some stuff in the bathroom. Under the sink,” I said.
“Good, they're gonna need it,” Shante said, getting up from the couch to go get it.
“It won't change, you know,” Nicole told me quietly. “If they win tonight, it'll just be a temporary thing. Socs are still socs, and greasers are still greasers.”
“I know,” I said. “I think this whole thing is stupid. Fighting isn't gonna do anything. It never does anything.”
“Maybe it's just a guy thing,” Nicole said. I chuckled a little and thought about Cherry and Marcia, how they didn't treat us like greasers and actually had a good time with us.
“You may be right, Nicole,” I said, before looking down at Jonathan as he slept. Deep down, I did wish that this rumble would end it all, all the violence against us. I wanted things to be safe for Jonathan when he grew up. I didn't want him to have to worry about getting jumped for just walking home. I didn't want what happened to Johnny or Pony to happen to him. “It just reminds me of something Johnny, Pony and I talked about that night. We sat in the lot and talked about goin' somewhere where there weren't problems against social class. Where people were just people.”
“Sounds nice,” Nicole said. “Maybe we could do that someday.”
“You think so?” I asked, looking over at her.
“Yeah, we're still young. We work hard, I'm sure we could do it,” Nicole said. I smiled at her softly and nodded, holding her hand.
“We could,” I agreed. “We should work on it.”
“What would we do?” Shante asked, walking over with some bandages and other basic medical supplies. “Would we buy a plot of land? Build houses on it?”
“It's possible,” I said. “May take some time, but it could be possible.”
“You two have got big dreams,” Shante said, sitting down. “But so do I. Let's start saving up money somewhere.”
“Already on it,” I said. They both looked over at me.
“You are?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, I use a bit of money here and there to help with bills and keep food on the table, but since there are three of us with income coming in, I've got a bit left over. Whatever money I have left after bills and groceries, I split. One of my friends in Louisiana taught me how to do it. I keep half for things I wanna buy and the other half I keep in a box in case we're short on cash,” I explained.
“That is a really smart idea, Shawna,” Shante asked, looking surprised. “Why didn't I think of doin' that? I could have been sittin' on good money by now.”
“Well it's not too late to start now,” I said. “Especially when you never know what could happen. If I started working sooner here, I'm sure by the time this little guy came along we would have been set for some time.”
“Let's do it,” Nicole said happily. “By the time we're in our twenties, we should be pretty set.”
“Yeah,” Shante agreed. “We would just need to think of places to move to.”
“Was Windrixville okay? Were the people there nice?” Nicole asked, looking at me.
“They were very nice. I hadn't met them myself, but Pony and Johnny said they were really nice. One of the locals even bought me this baby sling. Took time out of her day to help Pony find things for Jonathan, and even helped him pay for it. She didn't even know us, but she wanted to help us,” I said.
“Aww, that's so sweet of her,” Nicole said.
“Yeah, I wouldn't mind goin' back. Hopefully for more of a vacation than hiding out,” I said. “Or we could go back to Louisiana. I'm a lot more familiar with the people there and know my way around.”
“We'll keep those places in mind. We'll need to go to the library one of these days and do some research,” Shante said, before looking at Nicole. “Maybe you and Pony could do that after classes or somethin'.”
“I'll have to see if he's okay with it,” Nicole said, nodding in agreement.
“Just think about it, in a few years we could be rid of this town. Of those darn socs and the unnecessary violence. Just in the back of our rearview mirrors and out of sight,” I said, looking down at Jonathan, as he began waking up. “Hey, kiddo, did you sleep well?” Jonathan yawned softly, rubbed his face with his tiny hands, and looked up at me. I smiled softly and gently kissed his forehead, before hearing someone else knocking on the door. I looked over at them, a little nervous of who could be on the other side. It had begun to rain a little bit after the gang left, so it was a little creepy, like in those scary stories that start with a dark and stormy night and end with someone being murdered.
“I'll get it,” Shante said, getting up. She looked a little nervous, as she walked over to the door, Rocco standing beside her. The stranger knocked again and Shante opened it. A lady stood on the porch. She looked young, about Darry's age, with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. She was very pretty and seemed soaked by the rain, shivering a little from the cold air. She looked like she had been out there for a bit.
“Hi, I'm sorry to bother you. My car broke down, can I borrow your phone?” she asked.
“Um…” Shante said, before looking over at me, unsure if she should, since it wasn't her house. I nodded, keeping Jonathan close, while Rocco looked at the strange lady in the doorway. “Sure, come on in.”
“Thank you,” she said, stepping inside once Shante moved out of the way, closing the door once the stranger was inside.
“Oh, you're soaked, did you walk all the way here?” I asked, looking concerned.
“Yeah, I tried knocking on other doors, but no one seemed to be home,” she said.
“Let's get you a change of clothes,” I said. “You'll catch a cold wearing that. Are you hungry?”
“Oh, I'd hate to be a bother,” she said.
“It's no bother,” I reassured. “Nicole, can you go into Pony and Soda's room and see if you can find anything for her? Check the closet.” Nicole nodded and got up, heading down the hall to the bedroom.
“Thank you,” she said. “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Crystal.”
“That's a very pretty name,” I said. “I'm Shawna, that's Shante, and the girl in the back is Nicole.”
“It's nice to meet you all,” Crystal said, letting out a small yelp when she felt Rocco sniffing at her foot.
“Rocco, no,” I said. “Sorry, he's like that with new people. He's well-trained, so he won't bite.”
“Oh, it's fine. He just caught me off guard, is all,” Crystal said, as she reached down and rubbed his head. Rocco licked her hand, happy to meet someone new. Nicole came back in with a dry pair of jeans and a light orange shirt, as well as a clean towel for Crystal to dry off with.
“You can change in the bathroom. Did you want some tea? Might help you warm up a bit,” I offered, being the nice hostess I was.
“That would be great, thank you,” Crystal said. She headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I looked over at Shante, who nodded toward the kitchen. I wheeled myself into the kitchen to speak with her, making tea while we spoke.
“What should we do? She can't go back out there. Did you see how blue her lips were turning? She could have died out there,” Shante said.
“I know,” I said. “I'm going to see if she wants to stay here for the night. We can get Steve to take a look at her car in the morning. I'm sure he won't mind.” Shante nodded and helped me make cups of tea, as we waited for the water in the kettle to boil, refilling Rocco's water and food bowls as well.
“Nicole, you want some tea?” Shante called.
“Yes, please,” Nicole called back. We finished making the tea and took it to the kitchen, where Crystal was sitting on the couch in the dry clothes Nicole gave her, the towel wrapped around her wet hair.
“I left my clothes on the bathtub, so the floor wouldn't get too wet. I hope that was okay,” Crystal said. She was such a polite lady, even when she was on the verge of hypothermia, she was still apologizing for needing help. She kind of reminded me of me in that way, feeling like a bother, even when you actually need help.
“It's no problem. I'll get those dried up for you. You're welcome to stay here until the rain stops,” I offered, handing her one of the cups of tea.
“Are you sure? I would hate to impose,” Crystal said, after thanking me for the cup of warm tea.
“You won't be,” I said. “I wouldn't feel right sending you back out there with you not having a car.”
“Oh, well, thank you,” Crystal said.
“My brother has a friend who's good with cars. He can take a look at it in the morning, see what could be wrong with it,” I said.
“That would be great,” Crystal said.
“Oh, you said you needed to use the phone,” I said.
“Yes, I need to call my mother. She's probably worried sick about me,” Crystal said, carefully setting her cup down on the table, as she got up and walked over to the phone. “May I?”
“Oh, go ahead,” I said, going back to my tea, being careful, so I didn't spill any on Jonathan, not that my cup was too full to begin with. Crystal used the phone for a bit, telling her mother what happened and that she was going to be staying at our house until the rain stopped.
“I'll call you when I get an update on the car. Yeah, I will. I love you too,” Crystal said, before hanging up. “Thank you, I'm sure she would have made a missing person's report on me if I didn't call.”
“Oh, I understand completely. My brothers are the same way. I can't go to the grocery store without them thinking I've been kidnapped,” I said.
“Are you the youngest?” Crystal asked, looking at me, as she sat back down on the couch.
“Second youngest, but I'm their only sister, so they feel responsible for me,” I said.
“Oh, I understand. I'm the second oldest of five, but I was the more responsible one, so they came to me for everything,” Crystal said.
“Yep, that sounds like my brother, Darry. He's kind of the father figure for all of us,” I said. “Kind of didn't have a choice, but he's done alright. We're all here, and we're fed and content.”
“That's good. Sounds like he's doin' a good job,” Crystal said.
“So, where are you comin' from?” Shante asked.
“Nashville,” Crystal said.
“That's a long drive away, isn't it?” Nicole asked.
“Nine hours, give or take,” Crystal said. “Been driving since this morning.”
“Do you live out there?” Nicole asked.
“I did,” Crystal said. “But my family lives here, wanna be closer to home, ya know?”
“Yeah, I understand that completely,” I agreed, cradling Jonathan.
“Is he yours?” Crystal asked, looking at Jonathan in the baby sling.
“He is,” I said. “Took him a while to get here, and still had the nerve to come out not looking like me.” Crystal chuckled a little at my response.
“Probably how my mom felt when my sister was born,” Crystal said. “He is beautiful, though.”
“Thank you,” I said. “He's healthy, that's all that really matters to me.”
“That's good,” Crystal said. We sat in the living room and got to know each other better over our warm cups of tea.