Ok guys, last chapter. Still debating an epilogue, so we'll see.
Disclaimer: I am Tens and until S.E. Hinton changes her name, there's no money to be had, so I'm claiming nothing but a bratty Canadian.
On with the show!
Chapter 10
After we'd gotten back from Darry's house, we'd been at a loss for what to do until Steve commented on how bright the stars were. So I'd grabbed my big red sleeping bag and here we were, laying in the back yard finding constellations. I knew a lot of them from lying out in the backyard like this with my brother. Dad had showed him when he was little and he'd passed it on to me. Now I was doing the same to Steve. It was harder since we were so far south of everything I knew, but I was managing.
"I kind of see it," Steve said with a shrug. "You really have to picture it to make it look like it should."
"That's half the fun. Those Ancient Greeks didn't have TV, radio, cars, poker…"
"I get it. Show me another one," Steve suggested and I nodded.
"Ok, look right up and then to the left a little. There's three stars in a row that join onto four making a box shape. It's kind of hiding behind the house."
"I see it."
"They call that the Little Dipper," I explained. "See, because it looks like a little ladle."
"Is there a Big Dipper?" he asked and I nodded.
"You can see it in the winter time," I told him. "And that really sums up all the ones I can see tonight. I think Hercules is behind that cloud."
"Well, that was kind of cool," Steve said and I smiled.
"Just kind of? I think they're amazing."
"You're a chick. The only thing guys are allowed to call amazing are cars, fights, and parts of chicks," Steve pointed out and I elbowed him playfully.
"I'll keep that in mind," I commented, looking up at the stars again.
"You know, I used to make up my own pictures," Steve commented a few minutes later and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "Can you show me one?"
He nodded again and looked up at the stars carefully before grabbing my hand so he could point out the shape like I had with his hand.
"Those four stars are a car," he said, showing me the shape and I smiled. "Then those five there are a guy playing pool."
"A guy playing pool," I repeated, squinting at it.
"Well, a guy with one arm and no legs," Steve clarified and I nodded. "Plus he's only got two balls to hit."
"Ok, I can see that," I told him and he set my hand down, scanning the sky again. "I think it's really tuff that you made up your own constellations."
Steve smirked and I wondered if I had used the word 'tuff' right. Two-Bit had taught me it last week. It was like 'cool' or 'neato' and other nerdy expressions I had grown up with. Or at least I hoped it was. Two-Bit had a habit of telling me one thing and meaning another.
"Thanks, Brat," Steve finally replied and I smiled.
"I'll have to show off those Steve originals when I get home."
"You do that," he answered absently. "Can you see the same ones up north?"
"Yup, just they're not in the right place. All the ones in the north are the south ones to me. You should come on up and see for yourself at some point."
"Sure," he offered, not really listening anymore.
"I'm serious, Steve. If you ever need to get out of here or draft dodge or anything, my house is your house."
He looked over at me then and I hoped he knew I was sincere. After seeing Tony and Laurie on their finest behaviors…well, I wouldn't blame him for ducking out. I just didn't think he could leave his friends. Those boys were more a part of Steve than he was willing to admit.
"I can't leave, Becca," he told me and I bit my lip. "This is home."
"So? Toronto is home and I can think of a hundred other places I want to be."
"Well, I can't think of a single one," he replied and changed the subject. "If you look over the fence, you'll kind of see six stars. They make up a dog I named Two-Bit."
I decided to just sigh and go along with him. Steve was like that. You could talk to him until he stopped the conversation. After that, you had to respect him.
"Does Two-Bit know?" I asked and Steve shook his head.
"His head would swell if I told him there was a group of stars up there named after him," Steve replied with a small chuckle.
"Call it Keith, just to confuse him," I suggested and Steve smiled then.
"Yeah, that would do it."
We both looked up at the stars again and a wide yawn escaped my lips. I was tired, I was falling asleep and I absolutely hated it.
"Hey Steve?" I asked sleepily. "Do you think I have to call Mark 'Dad' now?"
"Do you still have a dad?" he asked and I nodded. "Then no. It'll get too confusing."
What did I tell ya? Steve always had an opinion on everything and he was normally right. I smiled and let my eyes close, giving up the silent protests about this being my last night with Steve and wasting time. I'd wasted enough of it already, but I'd be pretty miserable without sleep. Besides, it would probably be a few more minutes and Steve would be suggesting sleep anyway. He looked just as beat as I felt.
The next thing I knew it was morning. I was still laid out on the sleeping bag with Steve's jacket thrown over me. I pushed it away and wondered where Steve had gotten. This was my last day here, so I knew he wouldn't have gotten far.
The weight of that thought hit me and I felt myself blinking back the sudden flood of tears. This was my last day here, possibly forever. I was not going to cry, not yet anyway. I had to find Steve before I did anything. So I put the water works on hold as I rolled my sleeping bag, gabbed Steve's jacket, and went through the kitchen door. Steve was standing in front of the stove, only wearing jeans. His hair was wet and it looked like he was just fresh from the shower.
"How long have you been up?" I asked and Steve turned to look at me.
"Not long. Just grabbed a shower and started breakfast." Steve shrugged.
"Uh huh," I said and Steve sighed.
"You were fine. No one was going to touch you."
"You don't know that," I replied and he shook his head at me.
"The fence is six feet tall off the alley. No one was going to touch you because no one could see you."
I glanced out the window and looked over at the fence. It was pretty high…
"What's for breakfast?" I asked and Steve scraped something onto a plate.
"Eggs, bacon, and leftover potatoes."
"Well, you'll never manage to go hungry. Why does Darry feed you again?" I teased.
"Shut up and eat, Brat," Steve advised, setting a plate down in front of me.
"Hey Steve?"
"That's my name," he shot back and I frowned at him, wondering if he was in a bad mood or something.
"If I write you, will you write me back?" I asked and he sighed.
"I'll try, ok? No promises."
That summed up pretty much everything Steve did: no promises, but he did the best he could. I nodded and plopped egg in my mouth. It seemed like Steve knew how to cook eggs like no one else.
"So, any new projects waiting for you at the DX?" I asked reaching for the water glass Steve had set out in front of me.
"No."
I looked down at my plate and plopped another bit in my mouth. It was pretty obvious that something was bugging Steve and he was doing his best to hide it from me. This was a first since we'd decided to get along. He was acting like the same Steve I had met on the first day here, but he didn't seem mad at me this time.
We both sat there and I finished my meal in silence as Steve picked at his. When I was done, I leaned my chin on my knee and stared at Steve until he looked over at me with an annoyed expression.
"Why don't you go take a shower?" he suggested and I blinked. "You're covered in dirt."
I glanced down at my clothes and pulled my hair in front of me so I could get a good look at it. Yeah, I was covered. I guess I must have rolled off the sleeping bag at some point.
"Go on," Steve urged. "Mark'll be here in a bit and it'll look silly if he has to wait on you to shower. That or you'll look silly getting on a plane with grass through your hair."
He had a point.
"I looked silly getting on the plane coming down here," I told him. "I was painting until Mark yelled that it was time to go."
"You like to paint a lot, huh?" he more pointed out than asked and I nodded.
"Painting is my cars," I replied.
He looked back down at his breakfast and I got up to go and shower like he suggested. I was not going to try and clean myself up in the airport bathroom again. That was embarrassing enough the first time. So I took a shower and changed into an actual skirt. I preferred Pony's shorts, but if we were going to be traveling, it was better to look like I was somewhat presentable.
Steve's door was closed when I went to look for him and that was a first. So I knocked.
"Steve?" I asked, opening the door.
"Yeah?" he asked, not looking away from the wall.
"Did I…umm…do something to make you…mad?" I asked, biting my lip anxiously after I'd spoken.
"What?" Steve asked, finally looking up at me.
"Did I do something to make you mad at me?" I repeated, shifting from foot to foot in the door and Steve sighed.
"C'mere, Brat," he offered and I climbed up beside him on the bed. "I'm not mad at you."
"Are you sure?" I asked and he slung an arm around my shoulders.
"I'm sure."
"You're in a mood," I pointed out, laying my head on Steve's shoulder and he sighed again.
"What did you expect?" he asked, looking at the wall again. "I got used to dragging around a bratty girl who didn't know a thing about anything I cared about. I got used to having someone around who needed babysitting half the time so she didn't get in trouble. And I got used to having someone in this house that didn't treat me like I ruined their life."
I blinked. Steve had gotten used to me. I made a small dent in his life and he was going to miss having me around. I could understand why that would put him in a mood. I mean, if I thought it would have made things easier, I would have tried to put some distance between us, too.
"I got used to you," he sighed.
"I got used to you, too," I told him. "Hanging out with you was kind of like having my big brother around again."
He snorted. "Just what I needed – a little sister."
"Hey! I'll have you know little sisters are a precious commodity. Just ask Two-Bit or…Does Dally even have a family? I could see him with a little sister."
"Two-Bit hides from his family half the time and Dallas doesn't really have one anymore," Steve told me. "So if they both had little sisters…"
"Ha ha," I replied. "Little sisters don't drive their brothers off, at least not intentionally."
"No, of course not," Steve drawled and I elbowed him in the side.
"Hey, where'd your mom get to?" I asked, wondering where she would be so early in the morning.
"She didn't come home last night," he offered with a shrug. "She doesn't sometimes. She says that things get hectic at Bingo."
"Steve," I winced. "Do you know what we use Bingo as a code word for up north?"
"Probably the same thing she uses it for."
"You know?" I asked, surprised.
"Of course I know. I'm her kid. I know my mom better than she probably does. You probably know your mom better than anyone, too."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I do miss my mom and even Mark. He's not so bad, you know?"
"I don't really know him."
That wasn't surprising when you looked at how different life turned out for Mark and Tony. Mark designed office buildings all over the world and Tony built them right here in Tulsa. One of them got out and the other was stuck here. The different paths were definitely reflected in their current lives.
"I hope someday you get the chance to get to know him. He's the only one out there that I thought was good enough for my mom. And it took him a while to get there, too. But he held out. It's his stubborn trait – a Randle trait."
"Me? Stubborn?" Steve snorted. "It's not just a Randle trait, unless you're planning to go by Randle."
"Jerk."
"Brat," Steve replied with a shake of his head.
We were quiet after that, talking about whatever came to mind, but mostly just sitting on Steve's bed. We heard Laurie come home sometime later and the postman even came by, but we didn't move. It seemed like only a moment had passed before there was a knock on the front door. It was the knock we'd been waiting for all day, I knew it. I climbed off the bed to look out the window and wasn't surprised to see the top of Mark's light head. I left the room and made my way downstairs in time to see Laurie let Mark into the house.
He looked…I don't know. Different, for sure. Like he was well rested and…happy. His smile softened as he looked over Laurie's shoulder at me and I felt a grin touch my own lips.
"Hi there, Captain," he greeted.
"Hi," I replied.
"And here she is!" Laurie beamed. "She's been packed and ready to go since yesterday."
"Really?" Mark asked, smiling a little still. "She didn't get that from her mother. Sharon was still packing ten minutes before we had to leave for our return flight."
My mother. I missed my mother.
"Come on in and sit a spell. Rebecca has to fetch her things still and I'm sure you're thirsty after the flight," Laurie directed Mark, gripping his arm so she could pull him into the room.
"Thank you, Laurie," he said in a faked polite manner. It sounded real enough, but I could tell he was faking. What? He learned it from me.
Mark stood by the couch and Laurie trotted into the kitchen to find him something to drink. That left the two of us staring at each other.
"Wow. Look at you. You must have grown a foot," Mark commented. "Your skin's darker and your hair's even blonder. I don't think your mother is even going to recognize you."
"How is she – Mom, I mean?" I asked.
"Good. She misses you like crazy. She was going to come and pick you up herself until her assistant had a bit of a break down over one of the new designs in production."
I nodded. Gordon got like that when Mom was away too long.
"How'd things go here?" he asked and I shrugged. "Just ok?"
"Just ok."
"Well, that's an improvement from the sullen kid I left here," he commented and I glared at him.
"Not that it was fair of you to leave me here with perfect strangers."
Mark was about to say something when Laurie came into the room with iced tea. She was smiling that same phony smile she'd had on every day since I got here. It was getting on my nerves a little.
"Well, you should go get your things, Rebecca," she suggested and I rolled my eyes before getting up to do that.
Mark snorted into his glass. Oh, he was definitely in a good mood.
A few minutes later I had my things packed by the front door and was dancing from foot to foot, anxious to leave and dreading saying goodbye to Steve. That was probably why he was upstairs he knew I was going to cry if he came down. I was going to cry if he didn't too. Mark took forever to get the hint before he stood and thanked Laurie for taking care of me again.
"Becca?" he prompted and I held in a sigh.
"Thank you very much for having me. It's been a slice," I said and Laurie moved to hug me.
"I will miss you," she cooed and I made faces behind her back that had Mark smiling fondly.
"Ditto," I assured her, hefting my backpack up on my shoulder.
"Well, I'd better get going before she decides to leave me here," Mark teased. "Take care, Laurie. Say hi to Tony for me."
Laurie smiled after us and waved until we were at the end of the yard. I saw her close the door and did roll my eyes then. Oh, that felt good. It had been a while since I had been in this bratty a mood. I blamed Mark. He was the reason I was here in the first place.
"Ready to go?" he asked, closing the trunk of the rental down after my suitcase and poster roll.
"Yeah," I said, turning from where I had been looking at Steve's bedroom window.
"You ok?" Mark asked, leaning over the roof of the car.
"Yeah. I just got used to the place." I shrugged.
He nodded and hopped in the car, staring it up a moment later. I was about to climb in when the front door of the house opened. Steve trotted out with my red sleeping bag in his arms.
"You forgot this," he pointed out and I nodded, taking it from him and setting it in the back seat. "Looks like you're ready to go."
"Yeah," I said with a nod.
"I'll miss ya, Brat."
I looked up at Steve and hugged him tight, surprised he wasn't sighing at how dramatic I was being. It wasn't like we were friends or even really family. We were something in between. Saying goodbye should have been much easier for how undefined we were.
"Bye, Steve," I sniffed, letting go of him and hopping in the car.
Steve just stood there until Mark got the hint and started driving. I wiped at my eyes as we drove down the road and sniffed a few times.
"You got used to him, too, huh?" Mark asked and I nodded.
"He's the best step-cousin I could have hoped for, even if he was a jerk," I explained, blowing my nose and tried to stop acting like such a baby. "So, another long drive all the way to Oklahoma City. Joy."
"Actually, we're boarding in Tulsa this time."
"What?" I asked, turning in my seat to look at Mark, tears forgotten. "Why didn't we land in Tulsa, too?"
"Well, I had time to kill and you've met Laurie." He shrugged. "Besides, you may not believe me, but I do enjoy spending time with you, Rebecca Brandt. I thought I would get in as much as possible before I spent a whole month abroad."
I was in shock. He'd put me through hours of boredom. He'd driven me nuts over hours of country music and then he left me in what I considered to be worse than hell. But the most shocking thing was that even with how mean I was to him, he liked me.
I really didn't know what to think of that and thought about asking Steve. That would be in my first letter to him. He'd have an opinion. He always had an opinion. And that was one of the things about Steve that I got used to, too.
We drove past the DX and I waved to Sodapop who was busy pumping gas. He hollered back and I smiled. Pony and Johnny even waved from where we passed them on the sidewalk a few blocks later. And as we got further and further out from the neighborhood and I recognized less and less, I was sure that I'd come back some day, if only to check up on Steve. Not that he needed checking up on, but...maybe I wouldn't need an excuse next time.
Mark began humming along to the radio and I smiled a little. He really wasn't so bad - a little annoying, but not so bad. I rifled through my backpack and pulled out the journal I'd been writing in all summer. I'd neglected it today on purpose, but I wanted to get it done before I left Tulsa and it became more routine than memory.
"Captain's log, supplemental. Rescue came today and I'm off home again. I am excited to see a familiar place and spend time with those who know me best, but I am honestly leaving something behind I never imagined to have – a part friend who is also a brother in a way. Our alliance will continue on through letters and perhaps some day I will return or he will make the trip across the galaxy to see where I came from. Until then, the Alien offspring will not be too far from my thoughts. As well, the newly discovered constellation 'Keith' will be added to the charts along with 'one legged and armed man playing pool' and 'lop-sided car'."
I smiled and tucked the book away again, like turning the page on my summer in Tulsa. It was time to go home.
Ok, the end!
Thankies to everyone who read and reviewed and offered suggestions and just plain turned out for the show! Special thanks, of course, to Zickachik73 for putting up with my lazy butt.
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens and Zickachik