Miss Marley |The Outsiders|

05. Home In Time For A Lecture

Sometime in the night, Ponyboy's fingers entangled themselves with his sister's, just like they had when they were younger. It was a calm night in March, dozens of stars littered the sky as a gentle breeze ran through the trees, shaking their budding leaves. The door was unlocked, as always, but it would be another two hours until anyone entered the still, sleeping house.

Sometime in the night, Darry couldn't sleep. He sat at the foot of his bed, rubbing his tired eyes and staring at his bedroom door. Directly across the hall, his sister was gently brushing her fingers through Ponyboy's hair, promising she was to stay in Tulsa. Her room was beside Sodapop's, the room across from Ponyboy's. At the end of the hall, was their parents' bedroom. The door had been closed ever since that day in January when the accident occurred.

It was an unspoken rule in the house, no one entered the bedroom. Darry himself hadn't stepped inside since he had to find the financial records back in February. He kept the door to Marley's room shut too, but it never received the same courtesy.  

He couldn't remember the last time he stepped inside, but there were times when Darry would stand in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Each time, he still expected Marley to be sitting on her bed, brows furrowed in concentration as she tried to make sense of her math homework.

Everyone knew the Curtis parents would die someday. That was just how the world worked. Of course, no one expected them to die so young, and no one expected the Curtis brothers to lose their sister hours after burying their parents.

Sometime in the night, Darry held his head in his hands. He knew it wasn't fair to blame her, but the question he thought he'd forgotten came back. Why did he have to give up everything and Marley got to run away?

The rational part of his brain knew it's what his parents wanted, it was stated in their will. "Under the circumstances of their untimely death, Marlene, Sodapop, and Ponyboy Curtis are to be placed in the care of their eldest brother, Darrel."

He was only nineteen when his parents died. He was nineteen when Coach Henry ushered him off the field, pointing towards the phone hanging on the wall. He was only nineteen, still young and foolish when he felt his world fall away at his feet, listening to Marley sob into the telephone.

"T-there was an accident, Darry. The police came to the school and took me to the morgue since they couldn't find you. It's them, Darry. I saw Mom and Dad...they're d-dead."

He was only nineteen when he stood in front of the caskets. He kept one hand on Ponyboy's shoulder, letting him sob into his jacket while Marley did her best to comfort Sodapop. He argued that was the worst day of his life, but it didn't hold a candle to what was about to come.

Darry was only nineteen when he pushed open Marley's bedroom door. He was prepared to tell her about the social worker's visit, he was ready to prepare her for the worst. "Whatever happens, to you, Soda, or Pony, I'm gonna get you back. We're a family, no matter what."

The worst was when he pushed open the door and her bed was empty. Her school books sat abandoned on her desk, clothes were strewn carelessly on the floor. There was no note or phone call, no explanation. But Darry knew there was nothing he could do. What would the social worker think if Darry told her he lost his sister?

Begging Sodapop and Ponyboy to pretend Marley was staying with a relative out of town was more difficult than he imagined.

He tried his best to provide for his brothers. It meant tucking his dreams of college or university in a box in his closet and working six days a week, but it kept them together. Darry tried to be a good person, even when Ponyboy got on his nerves, or when Sodapop made the decision to drop out of school. Even after all those years of Sunday school, he still hoped that good things were to come to good people.