My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter XXVIII

"That's something everyone—especially Dally—liked about you: you were diligent and never gave up," Steve said.

I digested that for a moment. Diligent... "Are the phones back up?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"I just know you were wanting to call people."

My cousin laughed. "Well, I don't think the phones will be up soon. The tornado wreaked havoc on the whole west side of town."

I gasped. "The whole west side?"

"Yeah. That's where the rich kids live—maybe they'll be a little more grateful for what they have, now that they've lost so much."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Steve opened it to find a young man—tall and muscular, and probably played football in high school—at the door.

"I'm just checking up on everyone, making sure everyone's alright after last night, helping with repairs and such, ya know," the guy said.

Steve looked grateful. "Thanks, Darry. I'm alright but listen. I gotta talk to you... in private."

The two boys went into the other room, leaving me alone again. I wandered around in boredom, not sure what I liked to do. I noticed a broken window in the kitchen, and mud and debris that had flown in through the broken glass. Without giving it a second thought, I swept up the mess, and went back into the living room.

The mantel was covered in pictures of a family—two parents, four sons, and a daughter. The girl in the picture was me—at least, it was the same face that had stared back at me from the mirror. Next to one picture frame, there was a stack of envelopes from the army. I was about to open one and read it, but I got distracted by the boys talking in the other room. I started to listen in on their conversation, secretly.

"So, Penny can't remember anything?" I heard Darry ask.

I could hear Steve sigh. "Well, she remembers basic things—history, things, and such—but anything about herself, or her family, or her friends... she didn't even know where she was or what her name was. But that's how amnesia usually goes."

"We should've followed her out sooner."

"I don't think we should tell Dally yet, though."

"Steve, he's got to know. We can't keep him in the dark forever."

Steve's voice became unsteady. "I just don't know what to do."

"Do her parents know?"

"No. They're out of town for who knows how long, and we don't have a number to call."

There was a pause before Darry spoke again. "That would make a doctor's visit difficult."

"I wasn't planning on taking her in yet, anyway. She had a dream last night about the rodeo. No, it wasn't a dream—it was a memory."

"Well, you have work today—I'm sure trees fell on plenty of cars, so people will be pouring into the DX."

"I'm sure you'll have more roofs to work on than you've ever had before," Steve laughed.

"What's Penelope going to do all day? She likely doesn't remember what she likes to do, and she certainly has no idea who Ponyboy and Two-Bit are."

Ponyboy and Two-Bit? I had never heard such strange names before. I wondered for a moment if the two were brothers—certainly, no two people would be as interesting as to name their children like that. One seemed unbelievable.

"Well, I think I'll go to work this morning, but I'll work a half day. I'll go to the police station this afternoon, so I can try to get a hold of her parents."

"I'll take this morning off, then."

"Darry—"

"I'm just doing what I can to help."

"But you have things to do—ya know... that stuff."

"This is what he would've wanted."

There was silence. I pulled my ear away from the wall—it had been easier to hear like that. It sounded like someone had died—someone close. Why didn't Steve mention that? I wandered around again, bored, and ended up on the couch. Not sitting on the couch—I was upside down with my legs draped over the back of the couch, and my head was hanging off.

The boys came back into the room. "Fancy meeting you here," I said with one eyebrow raised.

Steve looked at Darry and gestured towards me. "Then she goes and says stuff like that, and I think, 'It's a wonder she doesn't remember anything.'" Steve looked at me. "Penny, I've got work today—"

"Yeah, I know. You're only taking half a day, right?"

"Yeah."

"And it's not like I know you a whole lot better than anyone else.

"True."

"So I'll be fine for a few hours. You'll be okay, too, if you don't worry so much."

Darry grinned and put a hand on Steve's shoulder. "He usually isn't so much of a worrywart. He's a good kid."

So, Steve got ready and went to work, leaving me alone with strangers. I figured I'd have to get used to it, though, seeing that everyone I met was a stranger. The weirdest thing, though, was they all knew so much about me, when I didn't know anything about myself.

I ended up at Darry's house for a time—Darry's brother was there, and another one of their friends ended up hanging out there.

"Well," Darry started. "I feel like we should go visit Dallas before Steve gets off of work. He seems... quite against it."

"Where would we be going?"

Everyone went quiet immediately. "You don't know what happened, do you."

I shook my head. "I don't."

"Alright, then. Buckle up—it's not a fun story. My younger brother, Sodapop..." Darry got quiet. "He got real sick after an auto wreck. I was out of work, and he wasn't going, so your fiancee worked my job for a bit. It wasn't bringing in enough money for us, so he started robbing places all over town for extra money. Well, he got arrested not long before Sodapop... it's just... he didn't make it."

I was silent for a moment, trying to understand what was being said. My supposed friend died, and my fiancee was in jail. I didn't know how to feel.

Before long, we were at the jail. I was unfamiliar with how prison visits worked—of course, it was monitored. There was a wall of bulletproof glass between the visitor and us, and we used telephones to speak to each other.

A blonde-haired, blue-eyed man was escorted into my view, and quickly picked up the phone. "Penny?"

All I did was smile. I didn't know what to do. Luckily, Darry took over. "Dallas, Penelope hit her head and lost her memory. She doesn't remember anything."

Dally's jaw dropped. "She doesn't remember me?"

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Author's note
Hehe 😈

Your friendly neighborhood greaser, signing off...
Stay gold y'all ⭐️