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Family had always been one of Virginia's top priorities. Oftentimes, it competed with the magnitude of her dreams and how determined she was to achieve her chosen destiny. Virginia knew her heart would belong to her brothers and theirs would be hers. Words were small but the Curtis brothers realized her return was laced in a gentle dedication to their welfare.
They first got the notice when the three of them returned from Buck's bar Sunday evening, seeing her in the kitchen. Ponyboy thought it was the end of the world. Sodapop, sober, was stunned. For a moment, Darry regretted that second beer— he never expected his sister to become the next Betty Crocker. However, the haze of alcohol nearly had him picturing their mother. It was that moment that made him realize how similar they looked. Virginia even wore her frilled apron.
And noting the dilemma concerning her marriage a month back, Darry may have been scared if it wasn't his pride holding him back.
In a span of four hours, she had cooked three chickens, an array of quartered potatoes, and green beans. For dessert, Sodapop had baked a chocolate cake the night before that she took out. Ponyboy secretly wished his sister made a new one and used buttery cream cheese in the frosting. However, he couldn't get over his current frustration to scrutinize the dinner preparation.
Ponyboy was paying a lot more attention to his dinner plate was strictly necessary. Moving his potatoes around with his fork was a lot better than listening to Darry lecture, and besides, he really got pissed whenever Pony didn't look him in the eye when he was talking to him. He'd been getting a kick out of getting Darry mad lately. Soda said it was his age.
"Are you even listenin' to me? Or isn't anything getting through that thick skull'a yours?"
Virginia frowned helplessly when she heard Soda's chair screech. He pushed away from the table to clear his plate and Ponyboy looked up real slow. "I ain't gotta be lookin' right at you to hear you, Darry."
The look he got back could've killed him on the spot. Fortunately, the sound of the telephone ringing broke the tensed silence. Virginia got up to answer it, grateful for an excuse to leave the table as well.
"Don't be giving me lip, kid, I mean it," Darry warned. "Goin' around and startin' fights in the goddamn drive-in ain't a joke— hell, it ain't even like you. You ain't some Tiger or King or did you forget?"
Darry stabbed at his chicken so hard he may have killed the bird twice. The plate almost cracked and Ponyboy felt pressure start to build in his chest, the kind that was a telltale sign of his explosive anger. "I didn't start nothin'! I only hit the guy because he was all over little Jenny DeMarcus, y'know, Jenny? She's sixteen?"
"And you're twenty-one, I'm twenty-eight and goddamn Richard Nixon's sixty! The hell does that have to do with anything?" Darry finally stood up to clear his own plate, hollering over his shoulder as he did. "And y'know what? It should bother you a helluva lot more than me, you're the one that's missin' work for tuition, that oughta be real good for you, huh? Payments due right around the corner and you're pullin' this stunt..."
