From Weakness to Strength

Stop Fighting!

When Darla and the Curtis's got home, Darry started to make dinner and Darla sat at the couch, reading a book. 
Once dinner was finished, the Curtis boys sat to eat while Darla just laid down on the couch, not moving. She hadn't eaten anything since the ice cream she got the day she got out of the hospital. She didn't feel well. She felt dizzy and sick. She heard Darry blab to Ponyboy about grades. 
"Listen, with your brains and grades, you could get a scholarship and we could put you through college. Isn't that right Soda?" Darry asked. Soda said nothing. He was awfully tense. "You live in a vacuum, Pony. And you're gonna have to cut it out. You just don't stop living because you lose somebody. I thought you knew that. Anytime you don't like the way I'm running things around here, you can just get out. All right?"
Ponyboy burst from his chair. 
"You would like that wouldn't you? You'd like me to just get the hell out. Well, it's not that easy, is it, Soda?" Ponyboy asked. 
"-GOD DAMN, YOU GUYS! LEAVE ME OUT OF IT!" Sodapop screamed, running for the door. 
"What's wrong with you?" Darry asked. Darla popped her head up ans saw Sodapop slam the door behind him. Darry and Ponyboy ran after him, leaving Darla on the couch. 

Darla was already frustrated as it was. And the fact that she hear the three boys argue instead of spending her last three days with them in peace, she had to hear them fight and she was tired of it. Shouldn't they have focused on her instead of fighting for once? 
Darla felt so frustrated she got up and limped her way to the door. 
"I'm not gonna put up with this shit anymore," Darla muttered angrily. She then three her crutches and started to limp towards the direction of Two-Bit's place. Her ankle started to hurt, but she didn't care at this point. If she was going to spend time with her family, she'll go to someone who didn't fight with their family. 

She knocked on the door and luckily Two-Bit answered. 
"Hey, Darla. Where're your crutches?" Two-Bit asked as he looked Darla up and down. 
"Screw the crutches. I don't need em," Darla scoffed. 
"What's wrong? Did something happen at the hearing?" Two-Bit asked. Darla couldn't say anything. Instead she engulfed Two-Bit in a hug. 
"I can't take it anymore. I just can't!" Darla sobbed. 
"Can't take what, doll?" Two-Bit asked, rubbing circles on Darla's back. 
"Everything! I can't live when people are dead. When people are fighting! When I'm gonna be taken to a girl's home!" Darla continued.
"Wait, what?" Two-Bit stopped and broke the embrace, looking into Darla's helpless eyes. He could tell there was a whole other story in her eyes. 
"Come inside. You can tell me everything. I just put my kid sister to sleep, so we have time," said Two-Bit.
Darla and Two-Bit walked inside. Two-Bit helped her do so since she didn't have her crutches. The place was a pig sty, but that was normal for Two-Bit's place. His mom worked almost all the time and Two-Bit always had to watch his little sister and didn't have time to clean because he spent most of his free time with the gang. 
Darla sat down on the couch and told the story. All the way from entering the courthouse, to throwing her crutches on the front porch. 
"Don't worry, Darla. Everything will be okay," Two-Bit said, placing an arm around Darla's shoulder. 
"No it won't. They're taking me away, Two-Bit. And I don't know when I'm coming back," Darla cried. 
"But, you know Darry will do everything in his power to take you back, right? And Darry sucks at losing fights. He got you once and he will do it again."
Darla said nothing. She stared blankly across the room, not moving a muscle. 
"Let's watch some Mickey Mouse. Try and cheer up a bit," Two-Bit said before grabbing the remote and turning on the tv where Mickey was on. 

Not even two minutes after staring at the screen, there was a knock on the door. Two-Bit got up and answered it. Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy were at the door holding Darla's crutches. 
"Is Darla here? Is she alright?" Darry asked. 
"Yeah, she's fine," Two-Bit said, crossing his arms. 
"Can we see her? We want to talk to her," Ponyboy said. Two-Bit looked back at Darla who shook her head. Two-Bit looked back at the three boys. 
"Look, guys. She isn't too happy with you guys. Maybe you should let her cool off before you talk to her. She's pretty worked up," Two-Bit replied. 
"We know. We just want her to hear it from us," Darry said. 
Two-Bit looked back to Darla who sighed, but very sternly nodded. Two-Bit walked over to the Couch and helped Darla up and helped her to the door. Once Darla approached the door, she made a very firm stance and crossed her arms, a very displeased look was displayed upon on her face. 
"Look, Darla. We're sorry. We know we shouldn't have fought," said Darry. 
"But, we made a promise that we won't fight no more to make things easier," said Ponyboy. 
"As if I hadn't heard that before," Darla replied. The boys froze. "I've had to deal with your fighting ever since I moved in and it got worse after your parents died. I get it. It's hard. Trust me. I know how that is. But, that's no excuse when you have a friend who is facing dangers of her own. When she needed you, all you did was argue. Whenever I tried to get your attention to stop, you'd talk over me or tell me to stay out of it. I'm sick and tired of getting pushed aside by the family who took me in in the first place. I don't want to go back just yet. I wanna stay the night here and cool off. Go home," Darla snapped. The three Curtis boys looked shocked, but their eyes showed understanding. Darla turned around and limped back to the couch. Two-Bit tried to help her, but she pulled herself away and plopped down on the couch. The room felt really hot for her. She was sweating. 
Two-Bit returned to the door. 
"Just make sure you give her these, okay?" Darry said as he handed Two-Bit Darla's crutches. 
"Sure thing. See ya guys," said Two-Bit before he closed the door. 
He turned around and noticed Darla was looking really pale and sweaty. 
"Jesus kid, you looked like you've been standing in the middle of the desert," he remarked. 
"I'm fine," Darla hissed, wiping sweat from her forehead. 
"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Two-Bit asked. 
"No," Darla replied. 
"Okay, well if you need anything, let me know and I'll get it for you," 
"Okay..." Darla trailed.

As she continued staring at the screen, she felt more and more worse. She tried closing her eyes for a few seconds every couple of minutes, but it didn't work. The more Darla stayed still the more sick she felt. So once she couldn't take it anymore, she stood up. But, she stood up a little too quickly, which knocked the wind right out of her and she fell forward on to the ground and she hit her head on the ground, which knocked her out cold. 
"Jesus Christ!" Two-Bit exclaimed as he came back from the kitchen with a beer. He nearly dropped it as he ran to Darla's side. He placed his beer down and felt Darla's temperature. 
"Jesus, you're burning!" 
Two-Bit picked Darla up and carried her to his bed. He placed her down and covered her in blankets. He then grabbed a cloth covered in cold water and started wiping her forehead. She had a bruise and a small cut from where she fell. 
"Don't give up on us now, Minnie Mouse. We need ya with us,"

The next day, Darla woke up. Her head was pounding. She felt cold though she was sweating like a pig. She tried sitting up, but she couldn't. Two-Bit then came in, sipping a beer. 
"Afternoon, princess," Two-Bit said. "How do you feel?" he asked. 
"I feel fine," Darla lied. "What time is it?" 
"About 1:15," Two-Bit replied.
"Jesus. I need to start moving," Darla said trying to get up. But, she couldn't her ankle was hurting way to much and she couldn't feel the rest of her. 
"I-I can't move," Darla said. 
"What?" asked Two-Bit. 
"I seriously can't move my leg. It hurts too damn much," Darla struggled. 
"Hold on, Darla. Stop struggling. I'll get you to the hospital or something,"
"No! I can do this without no doctor's help," Darla protested. 
"No, you can't. Now Imma call Darry and get his truck over so we can take you,"
"-NO KEITH!" Darla screamed. Two-Bit froze. Darla hadn't said his actual name before. She always knew it. She just never said it. Darla's expression somewhat softened.
"Please...I can't go back there. Too many bad things happened there, I just can't go back," Darla pleaded. 
"I know...but, you need to. We can't let anything happen to you. And we want you to get better because we can't lose you too," Two-Bit replied. 
Darla continued to struggle to get out of bed, the pressure in her head worsened. Two-Bit got on the phone and was contacting Darry to get his truck and to bring it over. Once he hung up, he told Darla to stop moving, but it was almost as if she couldn't hear him. In her head all she could hear was muffled voices. She was fighting hard to stay awake and managed to until the door opened and she saw three silhouettes enter the house. She lost consciousness right after seeing the silhouettes run towards her.