Hoodlum Tragedies (Old Version)

T R A G E D I E S

"They're throwing me a little welcome home party." Curly sighed as he rested his hand on his palm and carefully observed Daisy as she worked.

She cleaned the surface of the counter with a rag before flashing Curly a sympathetic look. "I'm sure it'll be a gas, what's worrying you?"

Curly shrugged and sipped on his milkshake. "I'll be seeing everyone and they'll be treating me different."

"How so?" She challenged.

Curly looked around the diner for what must have been the billionth time. Pouring his feelings out like some hung-up poet made him feel vulnerable, but with the diner being near empty, and the sight of a waitress and customer not raising many eyebrows, he didn't mind it too much.

"I dunno." He sighed. He checked his watch and noticed he was more than twenty minutes late showing up at the lot. "I've gotta get going.. You sure you don't need me to walk you?" Curly asked.

"Nah." Daisy replied as she hung her apron on the back hook. "Unless you wanna get better 'acquainted' with Willy." She joked lightly, but the both of them knew they dreaded the situation. The thought of the Shepard Gang and Brumley Boys knowing about their relationship put Curly on edge, as if he wasn't tense enough.

Curly's attention shifted from Daisy to the window, squinting so he could get a better look outside. He noticed that Jimmy's car had circled around the diner a few times. "Ha, it'd be a real blast." Curly smiled before gulping down the rest of his milkshake. "I'll see you later, Dais."

"Have fun!" She said to him.

"Don't miss me too much." He winked before getting up from his stool and walking out the diner, running quickly to flag down Jimmy. He sped over and the screeching sound of breaks filled the air.

"Angie told me you'd be here." Jimmy said through the rolled down window.

"Course she did." Curly grumbled as he jogged over to the passenger side, Jimmy not even waiting for him to close the door before speeding off.

"Man, everyone's here." Jimmy said as he pulled up to Curly's house.

He waited until Jimmy opened the car door for him to do the same, his heart was pounding through his chest as his hand reached the handle. Jimmy motioned for him to move faster but everything felt strange to him. There were strong traces of firewood and joints filling the air. He could hear loud laughing from the back of the house.

He moved closer to get inside the house first, to try to give himself a pep talk before reuniting with everyone but everyone seemed to notice him in that moment. The whole gang circled him and embraced him in a quick hug, he could barely stand his ground with everyone slapping him around like a Raggedy Anne.

"Shit, guys. Ease up a bit?" Curly chuckled.

There were some kids Curly hadn't recognized, rugged and tuff looking, standing a few feet away, carefully keeping their distance. He figured they were the new recruits. His heart rate had gone back to normal but the tense, anxious feeling hadn't ceased. He still felt on edge, like he didn't belong there.

"It's good to have you back, ese." Ed said in a hushed tone once everyone scattered away.

Curly stood in the outskirts of the bonfire, taking everything in and nursing his beer. Surprisingly, he had grown a strong dislike for it but beer was the only thing they had. He needed to have some sort of liquor to get him through the night or else he'd be chain smoking like a fiend.

Curly tried not to stare too hard at Ed's left eye, which he noticed had discoloration and hung lazily. Ed noticed the staring but shrugged it off. "I went blind in my left eye after I got jumped. Must've kicked me real good."