Hoodlum Tragedies (Old Version)

B U S I N E S S

"You'll be careful..right?" Daisy asked, but it sounded more like a plea with her big brown eyes staring over at him.

"Yeah..I know, Dais. I'll be careful." Curly reassured.

Curly had been sitting next to Daisy in the car Jose let him borrow. It was still fairly dark outside, Curly had convinced Daisy to let him take her to get breakfast. Daisy sipped on a coffee as she moved along to the beat of the Supremes. They had been going "steady" for only about a few weeks, it wasn't long but they were just beginning to know each other. Daisy had a kind heart and she made him happy when they were together.

"How's Angela doing? You seen her?"

It had been a few weeks since Curly had been kicked out of his house, and a few weeks since he had seen Angela. He didn't intend on avoiding her, he didn't want to, but he knew after a while she'd break down crying and start begging him to come back. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle the water works, and there wouldn't be anything to say to console her.

"She looks alright. She comes in with her girlfriends every now and then. I could talk to her..if you wanted." She suggested.

He quickly shook his head, "Naw. You don't have to.."

Daisy pulled at her cross and nodded slowly. "It's okay..I get it. Y'know, I'm real sorry about your brother."

"It's alright." Curly said while sporting a weak smile. "People fight."

Curly chuckled when he felt Daisy pinch his cheek. "Alright kid, I should get you to school. Gotta learn and all that."

Daisy let out a soft laugh as Curly changed gears and began driving in the schools direction.

"You'll call me right?" Daisy pressed as she grabbed her bag.

"I dunno. If I'm not with my other girlfriend I will." Curly laughed, earning a soft punch in his shoulder from Daisy.

"You'd better not be, Curly Shepard." Daisy giggled as she had her hand on the door. Curly grabbed her other hand before asking,

"You ain't gonna give me a kiss?"

Daisy turned towards Curly as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, the kiss was spirited, borderline passionate he had his hand on her back. The kiss lingered after they had pulled away and Curly could see the pink tint showing on her cheeks. As much as he kissed her, she would always be flustered afterward.

"Bye," Daisy said as she scooted out the car. "I want a rematch in spades!"

Curly watched as she ran up the steps into the school. Her hair swaying behind her as she disappeared in the building.

After she left, Curly went driving back to his Tio Jose's place. He had been staying with him ever since Tim gave him the boot. Curly hadn't seen the gang at all, and if he was being honest he felt unofficially shunned. Aside from only speaking to Angela once in the weeks he had been gone, he didn't have contact with anyone from that side of town. He knew Tim was avoiding him and he was probably glad he didn't have to deal with Curly's wild antics anymore. Curly felt somewhat relieved too, it felt good to not worry about the growing gang war, being that he barely crossed over that territory and when he did he was driving the car. He heard it was getting bad but he didn't know much of the details.

Curly earned his keep from selling and pushing the product for Jose and his Boss. It was easy and Curly was good at it, for once, he got to call the shots and it felt good to have some kind of power. Curly always pocketed some extra cash for himself, it would be a fat chance if Jose ever noticed. Jose was too occupied about receiving the money in general. From the few weeks Curly had lived with him, he could gather Jose was lazy and if he could make cash sitting on his ass then he would. The only thing on his mind was putas and having enough money to keep up with his lavish spending. For the most part, Curly and Jose got along okay, he had been the only person to treat Curly like a man and enjoyed it. Jose was always reminding Curly of his birthday that would be coming up, a chance for him to have new opportunities.