𝐏𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓 [𝟏] | 𝘿𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣

18

          Of course the whole gang is here. Lounging in the living room with beer. When are they not here at the house? Dally looks cleaner than he was yesterday. Mostly thanks to me. He told the gang what happened at it was clear that they all got a bit heated. They act like the socs would listen to us and not mess with us anymore after kicking their ass during the rumble. I had a feeling that the rumble would not end the feud between us.
      I'm reading on the couch, Dallas sitting with me and smoking a cigarette. Blowing the smoke out the open window behind us. Johnny sitting on the other side of him. The guys all chat as the tv played Mickey for Two-bit. Darry was sitting on the arm chair and reading a news paper. Relaxing on his first day off in a long time.
      "I could really go for some chocolate cake right now." Steve hinted from where he was sitting in front of me on the floor, between my legs.
      "Well, if you didn't inhale each one I make, it would last longer Stevie." I say, glancing down at him. He just looks up at me with those blue eyes of his. God dammit Steve. I sigh. "There's a spare piece I was saving for myself, hidden in the fridge, behind the milk."
       He shot up and ran into the kitchen. "Thanks, Peggy!" He yells excitedly. Making me chuckle.
      "I want a bite!" I call back.
      He comes back with the plate and a fork for me to use. Since he just uses his hands. I set my book on my lap as he handed me the plate. Getting situated on the floor again. I put equal amount of cake and frosting on my fork and take a bite of it. Perfect, as always. My eyes dart over to Dallas to flicked his cigarette butt out the window. He turns to see me watching him. He leans in and open his mouth. Asking for a bite of cake. I put some on the fork and feed it to him.
      "Hey!" Steve protests.
      I chuckled. Pulling my fork from Dallas' lips. "Chill, we only had two bites." I hand over the plate so he can enjoy it. I lick the remaining crumbs and frosting from the fork before setting it aside to put in the sink later.
       It was clear the boys were getting antsy. They never are able to sit around the house for long. They talked about going to the lot and hanging out there. Or maybe just causing some trouble. To which Darry showed his opinion on that idea with a hard stare.
        "Okay, not a good idea." Soda joked.
        "We could go and play football." Pony suggested.
        "But our running back is supposed to take it easy." Steve nodded his head back towards me. Shoving another handful of cake into his mouth.
         I give my shoulders a light shrug. "I'll be fine."
         Steve turns to look at me. "Doctor's orders, Peg."
        I looked to Darry. Giving him a say in this. He glanced between my and Steve. "If she says she'll be fine, then she'll be fine." He nods. Getting up from his chair.
        "Told ya." I ruffle Steve's hair before getting up with my book. Rushing into my bedroom to change for football. I put on a pare of shorts and a muscle shirt. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, as usual.
         It's hard to play a full game of football with eight players. So, usually what we do is run plays. Soda is our quarter back, Darry, steve and two-bit our offense and I'm running back. Pony and Johnny only sometimes playing with us as our tight end and wide receiver. Pony as the wide receiver because he's fast.
      We make it to the lot and see that there was another gang hanging around. Jim Shepard's gang. My eyes land on the guy I meant the night of the movie and the accident, Jake.  With everything that's happened, I had completely forgot about him. I had only met him once.
    Shepard gets up and walked to greet Darry. The two shook hands. "Curtis." He greeted.
   "Shepard." Darry greets back with a nod.
   "We can leave if you need us to." Jim offers.
    That's another difference between us and the socs, we respect each other.
    "No, that's alright." Darry said. "We were just going to play football." He paused for a moment. My eyes meet Jake's gaze from where he was lounging against a tree. "Care to join us?" Darry asked.
     Jim turns and looked to his gang. Who all give a nod of agreement. Now we could actually play a full game of football. Curtis gang vs Shepard's gang. Shepard gave us a few of his guys to complete our team. Darry and Jim flip a coin. We get the ball first. Everyone gets in position. Jake and I exchanging glances every so often. 
      Because of how much we practice, it was easy to run plays and score. Unfortunately being the primary carrier of the ball to score means that I get the brunt of being tackled. And after a few times, I started to feel it in my back. I tried my hardest to land on my shoulder or my hip. To make sure that I don't make anymore damage. What was left of the burns on my back are feeling it. But like I said in the house, I'll be fine. 
        Johnny kept score for us. Counting each touchdown as a point. Which we know isn't accurate but this is just a silly game in an empty lot. We are winning by two points. Soda gets handed the ball and I take off running through an open path. Leaving me wide open. I make eye contact with my brother and he throws the ball towards me. I catch it in the crook of my arm. As my head turns to focus on scoring, Jake suddenly appeared in front of me. Tackling me to the ground. He hit me like a ton of bricks as I was knocked on my back. A sudden burst of pain shoots through me from the impact and from sliding back on the grass. He gets back on his feet and extends a hand out to me. I grab it and he pulls me to my feet. 
        "You alright, Peggy?" Jake asked. Looking a little worried. 
       "I'm alright, you just caught me off guard." I say. 
         He nods and pats my shoulder before turning and rushing back to the gang. I toss the ball to Darry. He could sense something was up. Like the rest of the gang. My whole back stung. They all surround me. 
         "You okay?" Darry asked, hand on my shoulder. 
        "Yeah, I'm okay." I nodded. 
         "I told you, Peggy. Your burns are still healing." Steve said. 
         "I'm okay, Stevie!" I say. 
         Even though the gang was skeptical, we continued the game. Which went on for a little while. All of us were covered in grass stains and dirt. That's a sign of a good day. By the time we decided to call it, us winning by three points, I had gotten used to the pain. But the sun was setting soon, and I had a date to get ready for. It wasn't until Dal said he was going to head home that I realized this. That made everyone else split as well. Shepard's gang all say how much fun it was and how we needed to again. Jake waved goodbye to me and I waved back. While Steve and Two-bit went home, Johnny came home with us to hang out with Pony. When I made it home, I called the shower first, rushing to the bathroom to clean up for my date tonight.