Chapter Text
On the Sunday after her sixteenth birthday, Pony Curtis woke early, a smile still on her face as she rolled over and wrapped herself in blankets, staring out at the bright sunlight already streaming in through her gauzy white curtains. Her clock told her it was just past eight, which was a lot earlier than she’d been waking up over the last few weeks of her summer vacation, but she was fully awake, and she figured her brothers would be awake soon too, even though neither of them had to work on this particular day. The DX was closed on Sundays, and Darry’s warehouse job had been cutting back on everyone’s hours.
Of the birthdays she’d had without her parents, of which this was the third, she thought that sixteen just might have been her favorite. It was still hard, though. Sixteen was supposed to be special. She was sure her parents would have thrown her a big party like they had for her brothers. There would have been bigger presents than usual and her friends would have come over…her mom would have taken her picture while she’d opened her presents, and her dad would have made her something special for breakfast…whatever she wanted. Sodapop had gotten pancakes. Darry had wanted the biscuits and gravy that had come from a recipe passed down from their great grandparents. And they all would have gone out somewhere kind of nice for dinner. There would have been cake, probably not from a bakery or anything like the ones the girl on her track team who were more well off talked about, but a homemade one with her name written in icing on top.
But her brothers had still done a real good job.
Ever since they’d lost their parents, birthdays had been smaller. A little quieter…especially that first year. But for Darry’s 22nd birthday, Pony and Soda had scraped together as much money as they could, Soda by working a little overtime and Pony by cleaning the house of the elderly lady a few doors down who’d been friends with their mom and who had just lost her husband, and they’d taken him to dinner at the diner and had gotten him a couple of things. For Soda’s, they’d all gone horseback riding together out at the stables where Johnny worked with Dally, and Darry had given him a little money since he was trying real hard to save up for a car.
Both of her brothers had worked on her actual birthday, which had been on Friday, so Pony had woken around noon to an empty house. She had a little over a month left of summer vacation, and had gotten used to staying up late and sleeping in. The first few days of her summer vacation, she’d woken up to a list of things to do around the house, and now she did most of the stuff on autopilot. She didn’t mind too much…she liked cleaning just fine, and kept her room real clean, so it wasn’t much trouble to vacuum and dust and take out the trash. Her brothers helped a lot too, and Soda mowed the lawn most weeks since she had a feeling Darry got nervous about her using their gas mower, especially when she was on her own. And Darry did a lot of the cooking since he was the best at it, although Pony was getting better.
On that morning, though, Darry had left her a note wishing her a happy birthday, along with enough change to go out and get lunch with Susie, and to go to the city pool. Grinning, she’d pocketed the money and changed into her swimsuit, calling Susie and planning to meet at the street corner halfway between their houses. She’d called a couple of her other friends too…ever since their big fight about two years ago, she’d made friends with some of those girls from Susie’s class and even one or two from her own, along with some girls from the track team, making an effort to go out with them more.
Susie was still her best friend, though.
It had taken a few weeks after she’d gotten out of the hospital for her to feel well enough to do more than go to school and work on homework, with the occasional visit from Susie thrown in. On weekends, Sodapop had kept her entertained, and Darry had given her rides to the library whenever he could so she could get more books. It hadn’t been until late January that the doctor had cleared her for PE class, and even then he’d told her to start slow, something Darry made sure all of her teachers understood real well. She’d gone to Susie’s a few times, the two of them playing around with makeup and painting their nails, and Evie had come over a couple of times to see her, bringing her own makeup and magazines.
So she thought she’d done real good, waiting until a Friday in February to ask Darry if she could go out with friends that weekend. They’d all been sitting around the table eating dinner when she’d chanced the question.
“A couple of girls from the track team are going to the bowling alley tomorrow night. Can I go? I can probably get a ride with one of them…”
Darry had looked up at her, eyebrow raised like Keith did sometimes. “Depends. Are they real, or are they friends of Janet and Lucy?” he’d asked, and she’d winced a little at the names of her made-up friends.
Soda had snorted and she’d elbowed him, her own lips twisting into a smile when he’d laughed. It was nice, she’d thought briefly, to actually get along with her family again. She didn’t think she could ever stop appreciating it.
“They’re real, I swear! Susie knows them. I’ll ask Mary to give me a ride and she can come by the house so you can meet her.”
He’d agreed that she could go out with them as soon as he verified they were actually real people (she couldn’t blame him, she supposed), and soon it was a running joke between Susie and her new friends that anytime Pony wanted to spend time with anyone, they had to meet her brother first. None of them minded, and pretty soon she had to sit and listen to all of them talk about how handsome and nice her big brother was.
Sadly for them though, her oldest brother was, in fact, off the market. That conversation she’d had with Jess two years ago hadn’t led to anything for a while…in fact, she’d almost forgotten about it by the time she’d written her English paper that had been just close enough to the official story of what had happened to her and Bob Sheldon that she’d been allowed to turn it in. She was pretty sure she’d seen Darry wiping his eyes while he’d been reading it, but she’d pretended not to, and he’d just kissed her hair and told her she’d done a good job.
Jess had graduated that spring, and Pony hadn’t really seen her around since. But then one day a few weeks into their summer vacation, Soda had told her that Darry was meeting a girl over the weekend, and she’d found out it was none other than Jess’s big sister Barbra. Two-Bit had agreed not to tell Darry about her conversation with Jess, but apparently that didn’t mean he wouldn’t tell anyone else, and soon the whole gang was joking behind his back that Darry had gotten a girlfriend thanks to his baby sister.
Almost two years later and thankfully he still hadn’t caught on.
Her and her friends had all met at the pool on Friday, swimming and goofing off and gossiping as they’d taken up spots in the shallow end, then laying out in chairs in the sun to dry off. It had been real hot that day, and when she’d gotten home and looked in the mirror after they’d all gone out to lunch together, taking up three booths at the diner where Evie worked now, she’d winced at the sunburn that ran across her cheeks and nose. She thought it had been worth it though, since she’d had so much fun, even if one of the girls did tease her that a boy from their class had been watching her.
“I’ll bet he likes you,” she’d whispered, elbowing Pony with a grin, and she’d flushed, dropping her eyes and wishing she’d worn a one-piece all of a sudden. “You should go talk to him!”
“No way,” Pony had told her, shaking her head and feeling a thrill of discomfort that she hadn’t thought too hard about as she’d slid a little further down in the water, not wanting him to look at her anymore if he ever had been. She never did gather up the courage to catch his eye. Susie hadn’t asked her about it even though the two of them had walked home together after lunch, their hair wet but drying in the bright sunlight, and she’d managed to push the thought away.
On Saturday, Darry had woken up early to make her pancakes, and Soda had gotten her up by jumping on the bed and tickling her until she’d screamed with laughter, finally managing to shove him off the bed. He’d be nineteen soon, but he was still just about the same. Sometimes she wondered if he was thinking about moving out soon…he hadn’t mentioned it, but Steve had moved out the day he’d turned eighteen to get away from his shitty dad, and she figured he might have asked Soda if he wanted to room together. Then again, she didn’t know if Darry would be able to do it all on his own, and she didn’t think Soda would move out if Darry needed him.
Hopefully, she’d thought as she made her way into the kitchen, she could get a job soon and start helping out, and then they would be okay if Soda moved out. She’d miss him like crazy, but she knew she’d still see him, and besides, her and Darry had been getting along real well for the most part. Even when they did argue, it was never as bad as it had been before, and never like that night he’d hit her. She knew he loved her, and it was like that one thing made all the difference, even when he got on her nerves and even when he was in a bad mood, which seemed to be a little less now that he had a girlfriend and since they all got along pretty well…he still worried a lot though, mostly about money, which only made her want to get a job even more.
When she’d come into the kitchen to find him at the stove making her pancakes the day before, it had hit her that he looked just like Dad. It still hurt sometimes, how bad she missed her parents, but Darry had turned after a second, grinning at her and pulling her into a half hug, then pressing a kiss to her hair. And he’d reminded her of Dad then too, but in a good way. She didn’t have her parents anymore, but she’d always have Darry and Sodapop.
“Happy birthday, kiddo.”
“Thanks,” she’d whispered, squeezing her eyes shut hard so she didn’t cry. She’d almost blurted it all out then, that he looked like their dad and that she loved him so much and that sometimes she was scared to death she’d lose him too, but she hadn’t wanted to think about stuff like that on her birthday and besides, it would have worried him, so she’d just taken the plate of pancakes he’s made her, Soda hot on her heels to get some breakfast of his own.
Darry had still had to go to work at the warehouse, but Soda had stuck around as their house had filled with more girls than Pony thought had ever been inside, and every surface of their living room had seemed to be covered with people. Johnny had showed up too, and Keith with Susie, both with cards and presents for her. Soda had been as charming as ever, and she swore that by the time the party was over, the handful of her friends that didn’t already have a crush on him did now.
Ever since Evie had brought her makeup kit to school and showed her and Susie how to make their makeup look nice like hers, her and Susie had been getting together sometimes to practice and look at magazines they either bought from the drugstore or that Keith swiped for them, so lots of her gifts were makeup. One of her friends got her a cute journal, while another had given her a bracelet. From Keith, she’d gotten another magazine and some chocolate, probably all stolen, and Johnny had given her a book, which had been real nice because she knew he didn’t have much money.
By the time Darry had gotten home that afternoon, all her friends had cleared out. Soda and Darry had given her their presents then, all of them on the sofa with her in the middle. Mostly they’d gotten her new clothes, but nice ones, and she’d felt bad when she’d seen the tags that told her that the two shirts were brand new and not from thrift stores or anything. Darry had gotten her a new pair of running shoes for track too, and Soda gave her two dollars because he knew she hated having to ask him and Darry for money to do stuff.
Darry had taken her and Soda out for dinner after as one last present, and as they’d been eating their burgers, she’d finally brought up the question she’d had for a while now.
“You know…I’m sixteen now.”
“You don’t say,” Darry had asked dryly, lips turning up into a smile.
“You know what that means?”
“He’s only got to put up with you for two more years?” Soda had put in, grinning and then laughing outright when she’d kicked him under the table.
“It means I’m old enough to get a job!”
“Does it?”
“Come on, Darry! You and Soda both had jobs when you were sixteen!”
“She’s got a point,” Soda had put in mildly, only for Darry to roll his eyes.
“When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.”
“I’ve got a month before school starts again! I can start saving for college, and I won’t have to ask you guys for money anymore.” It was left unsaid that she almost never asked them for money now, too guilty at the thought of spending Darry’s money that he worked so hard for, especially when things were still so tight that there were weeks when he couldn’t afford Pepsi or even chicken, and they ate cornbread and beans for days until Soda got paid. “And I can give you some money too!”
That had made him look sad, jaw tightening a little as he’d stared at the fries on his plate. “Pony…”
“Please? I want to help out too.”
He’d looked up at her then, eyes going so soft he looked even more like their dad than usual. She remembered a time when she’d honestly believed he hated her and wondered what she’d been thinking. “Alright, kiddo. But only part time. And if it’s too much when school starts, you can wait until after you graduate, okay?”
She’d nodded, wide-eyed and enthusiastic, and Soda had grinned. “Did you have a place in mind?”
Pony had shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe Evie can help me get a job waiting tables here.”
Darry had screwed his mouth up a little, and she’d known he was thinking about the way guys would harass the waitresses, and how they’d pat them on the butt or try to flip their skirts when they walked by.
“Or I can work with you at the DX,” she’d teased, and Soda had chuckled, both of them knowing that his boss wouldn’t hire a girl to work on cars, even though Soda and Steve both had taught her how to do things like fill up wiper fluid and change a tire. She knew how to change the oil, too, and one day when she was bored, Steve had even let her watch him change the breaks on Two-Bit’s car, telling her what he was doing the whole time, so she thought she might be able to do that too.
Of course, Steve was pissed at her at the moment, so she didn’t think working with him would be a great idea anyway.
“Your boss hiring, Darry?” Soda had joked, and Darry had pretended to shudder.
“I wouldn’t let her on a roof for nothing.”
“Hey! I bet I could learn to roof a house.”
He’d huffed out a laugh, picking up his burger. “I bet you could break your neck falling off one too.”
That, she’d had to admit, was probably true.
Pony headed to the porch first, grabbing their paper, a smile still as she wondered if Susie wanted to hang out later. Her friend might know of some places around that might hire her…the sooner she could find a job, the sooner she could start helping Darry out. She’d make breakfast first, she decided, glancing down at the paper as she eased their screen door shut, not wanting it to slam and wake her brothers. She carried the paper into the kitchen, absently opening the fridge and scanning the contents. They were down to two eggs and were completely out of bacon, so she figured she’d have oatmeal and make Darry a breakfast sandwich…Soda would be fine with cereal.
Darry had been talking about hopefully getting a raise soon, but just the thought of their nearly bare cabinets made her want to get a job even more…she was daydreaming about going to the store and buying enough food to fill their fridge and cabinets too when she glanced down at the paper she’d started to throw onto the kitchen table, taking in the words on the front page and freezing in her tracks.
“17-Year-Old Girl Found Dead Behind Rogers High School.”
The article was long, but the girl’s name was right in the front paragraph.
Patty Lewis.
Her eyes skimmed the rest, stomach in her throat as she took it all in.
“Pony?” Pony had no idea how long she’d been standing there when Darry seemed to appear in front of her, brow furrowed like it always got when he was worried, and she wondered if he’d already called for her a couple of times. “Pone? You alright?”
“I knew her,” she whispered, staring at the school photo of the girl that took up a quarter of the article written about how she’d been found naked behind the dumpsters behind the school, her mouth sewn shut. Pony shuddered…she’d never even heard of something so awful. She hadn’t known her very well…they’d never hung out or anything, but Patty had been in one of her classes, and they’d talked a few times over the last year or so. They’d had friends in common! They’d sat at the same table for lunch a couple of times.
“What do you mean?” Darry asked, moving closer, and she handed him the newspaper, lip trembling as she fought not to start crying. He skimmed the story, eyes going wider and wider as he read. “Jesus,” he whispered, shaking his head.
She’d felt grown up the day before…old enough to learn to drive and get a job…about to start her senior year of high school, but she felt like a little kid all of a sudden. Darry must have seen the naked fear on her face because he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.
“You knew her?”
Pony nodded, voice coming out small. “Not real well but…yeah. She ate lunch with us a couple of times and…and we’d talked before.”
Darry considered the paper for a long time, then looked back down at her. “You don’t go anywhere on your own, you hear?” he asked softly, squeezing her hard, and she nodded. Used to, that would have made her real mad, but she could tell he was scared too.
“Yeah…I won’t. Promise.” She almost never did anyway…not anymore. Not since what had happened two years ago.
His arm was still around her when Sodapop came out of the bathroom with damp hair, a towel thrown over his shoulders, already dressed in a pair of jeans, but he stopped when he caught sight of them. “Pone? You alright?”
Pony nodded, swallowing hard. “A girl from school got killed,” she told him quietly, and Darry handed him the paper. Not wanting to watch him read it, she opened the refrigerator to grab the eggs, getting started on Darry’s breakfast and trying not to think about Patty. Her brothers huddled around the paper, reading the story as she cooked, toasting the bread too, and they didn’t stop until she handed Darry his egg sandwich.
“Thanks, kiddo.” Deliberately, Darry folded the paper and sat it story-side down on the table, and Soda jumped up, patting her back as he grabbed a box of cereal. She pulled out the canister of oatmeal, pouring some water to boil on the stove.
“What are you up to today?” Soda asked, voice forcibly light as she poured the last of the oats into her bowl, only filling it partway. She knew Darry was worried about how little food they had because he watched her throw away the container with a crease between his eyebrows. He didn’t get paid until Friday, and she wondered if he’d run to the grocery and at least get more oatmeal to tide them over. Pony tried not to think about it, or about Patty, or about what it would feel like to have her mouth sewn shut.
“Nothing…you busy?” she asked, trying to smile.
“Nah. You want to go over to the elementary school and practice?”
Pony tried to grin…tried not to think about why they weren’t going to the high school this time. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
Soda had taken her out to the school parking lot a few times already that summer, the two of them in Steve’s car as he’d taught her how to drive. But she doubted Steve would want her using his car right now, so she figured they’d take the truck. Soda had said already that she was a good driver, and she was hoping to get her permit soon and then, hopefully, save up for a car. Or college. Or, she thought as she washed her bowl, enough groceries to fill all their cabinets so Darry didn’t have to look so worried anymore and maybe he could even take a day off.
Before she could grab Soda’s bowl from the sink, Darry came to stand beside her. For a second, she thought he was going to say something else about her not going off on her own, but he just nudged her away from the sink. “You cooked. I’ll clean up.”
Pony nodded, trying to smile and going to her room to get dressed, checking twice to make sure her window was locked before she changed into shorts and a t-shirt, then followed Soda out the door, her purse slung over her shoulder.
Outside, she could hear the new neighbors yelling, and their front door opened and shut, but Pony didn’t look up. She still liked to listen at doors, but she never wanted to get caught snooping by the guy who’d moved in next door. He was big like Darry, and him and his wife fought real loud sometimes, so she just averted her eyes and climbed into the truck. Once inside, Soda glanced over at her, face real solemn. “You gotta make sure you don’t go anywhere on your own, okay?”
“I know. Darry already told me.”
“And don’t get into cars with anyone you don’t know.”
She nodded and he gripped her shoulder.
“Dar said you knew her?”
She nodded again. “Yeah…not real good but…” She shrugged a little. “We had English together. She was nice.”
“I’m sorry, kiddo.”
She shrugged again.
“Just make sure you and Susie stick together. Or get one of us if you need a ride. None of us mind.”
Pony bit back the reminder that Steve would…Soda probably wouldn’t appreciate it and besides, it was her own fault. “You and Steve doing something later?” she asked instead, trying to keep her voice neutral.
“Yeah…we’re going to catch a drag race tonight.” She didn’t even try to ask if she could come…even if Steve would have been okay with it, Darry didn’t like her going to the races and besides, it made her nervous, all those guys pressed in real close while they watched the race.
“What about Darry?”
Soda hesitated, turning onto the street where the school was. “He was going to go out with Barb,” he told her slowly.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know…he might cancel.”
“How come?”
“I think he was going to run to the grocery when we get back,” he told her, voice soft like Darry might somehow overhear. “He wanted to get a few things to last the week. I don’t think that would leave him enough to take her to dinner.”
“I’ve got a couple of dollars,” she told him, her own voice quiet, hoping he wouldn’t realize it was the two dollars he’d given her in a card that Friday. “Why don’t we go to the store? Surprise him? Then he can still take her out.”
Soda’s smile went real soft as he reached out and ruffled her hair. “I ever tell you that you’re a good kid?”
She pushed him off, fighting a blush as she dropped her eyes. “Stop. It ain’t nothing.”
“Yeah it is, Pone.”
“I just…it ain’t fair, you know? Him working all the time and he can’t even go out and do something on his day off.”
“I know,” he agreed softly. “Alright. We’ll give it a shot. But he still might not go.”
“Why not?”
“I think he’s scared to leave you alone.” He pulled into a parking spot. “I kind of am too,” he admitted, putting the truck in park.
She wanted to roll her eyes and remind him that she stayed home alone all the time, but this was different and she knew it. That one newspaper story had changed everything. People went missing or got killed all the time, especially in a city as big as Tulsa, but a teenage girl turning up dead behind the high school, her mouth sewn shut…that was something else, and she didn’t think Darry would be okay with her being on her own for a while, especially not after dark.
“I can go over to Susie’s,” she offered. “Keith might be there for a while, and her mom too.”
“Like I said, we’ll give it a shot.”