What to Do with Darla

"Jay? You ready to go?"

"There's my little jailbird," he said, thoroughly relieved. He stood and stretched, putting an arm around his sister's shoulders. "How you feelin'?"

"Worn out," she replied, as they walked out.

"Was it terrible?" he asked. She didn't look too bad, sounded a bit subdued.

"Wasn't any fun. They weren't mean, I guess."

"Were you like, behind bars and stuff?" he asked.

"No. I had to sit in a little room, an interrogation room, I guess. I hardly ever even talked to anybody. Just sat there," Darla replied as they walked out to Jay's car. They got in and headed for home. "They wouldn't tell me what's happening with Lisa," she added.

Jay thought that they could send Lisa to the gas chamber as far as he was concerned, but thought that it probably wasn't the best time to be totally candid with his opinions. "Are you mad at her?"

Darla laughed without humor, and watched the buildings go by out the window. "I don't even know."

"Well, she obviously didn't want this to happen. I talked to her parents. They're pissed. Her father thinks she ought to stay in jail," Jay said.

"Yeah, she doesn't get along with her parents. Um, you talk to Mom?" Darla asked.

"She called. I didn't tell her anything."

"Are you mad at me?" she asked.

"What? You didn't do anything wrong," Jay said.

"I kinda ruined our day. And our night. She's my friend," Darla said.

"Yeah, and you were just trying to keep her safe. I didn't have any plans past lunch, anyway. At least you picked something exciting," Jay said.

"Exciting? Are you fucking kidding me? That could have been really bad, Jay," Darla said.

"That's what made it so exciting. I know I got pretty excited there for a minute."

"Oh my god. I don't believe you," she said. Darla knew that her brother was trying to lighten the mood, and she appreciated that. It was just taking her a lot more effort to make light of the situation considering that it was her ass that ended up in cuffs.

"Heh, I'm sorry. That whole thing was scary. I'm just glad that we're going home. I was worried about you. Sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, you were so worried that I had to wake you up to leave," she said.

"Oh, come on, hey...,"

"I'm just kidding. It had to be super boring waiting for me. Were you there the whole time?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Thanks. I mean it. Want me to buy you a burger or something?" she asked.

A burger sounded like a great idea now that Jay's nerves had calmed to the point where he could digest food again. "Sure."

Jay hit a drive-thru and though Darla was ever so conscious of her diet, she splurged and got a big, greasy burger and a milkshake. She and her brother ate at the kitchen table once they got home. They didn't speak much until they were finished, dining in a sense of quiet relief.

"Well, behaving like an old, married couple should, I vote that we go to bed," Jay said.

"We're gonna get fat if we keep eating a meal right before we go to sleep," Darla warned.

"I love ya, Darla, and I know I'm hard enough to look at without getting fat, but I'm tired. You are too, I can see it in your eyes. Do you need to talk about anything?" he asked.

It was nice that Jay worried about what was on her mind, but Darla didn't think that there was anything new to talk about, really. There wasn't any reason to rehash what had already been said.

"Na. We can go jogging or something tomorrow," she said.

"Let's not make any plans, huh? Tomorrow's a new day," Jay said. It wasn't only that he hated the idea of jogging, it was also because their plans seemed to constantly get interrupted lately. Sometimes in a really terrible way. Maybe it was bad luck to announce their intentions to the universe.

"You don't want to do anything with me tomorrow?" Darla asked.

"Not what I meant. I'm game for whatever, I just don't want to think about anything tonight," Jay said.

"Oh. Coming to my room?" she asked.

"If you'll have me. Mom won't be back until the afternoon. We can sleep in."

"That sounds good to me," Darla said.

*****

If the incident with Lisa's stolen car didn't totally cement the position that Darla was taking with her life, then what happened to Lisa afterwards certainly did. Convinced that her parents wished her nothing but ill, Lisa moved in with Josh. That lasted about a week, then she moved to another guy, then another, then anyone that would take her, then Darla lost track of her. Lisa stopped showing up for work at the restaurant, lost her phone since she couldn't pay the bill, and there wasn't anyone in Darla's circle of friends that had much of an idea of what the girl was up to. Word had it that she skipped town with some bartender that was twice her age.

It didn't take a stretch of imagination for Darla to realize that something similar that happened to Lisa could have happened to her. Most probably, the only thing that stopped it was Jay. People might think that having a romantic relationship with your brother was pretty fucking twisted, but Darla thought that what Lisa was doing to herself was far worse. Jay made her a better person, and she liked to think that she did the same for him. Not in the same way, of course, but he ate better and he wasn't so much of a lazy pig around the house.

The dynamic between Phylis and Darla didn't seem to change a whole lot. Though appreciably less hostile toward one another, they still found mundane things to argue about when they had run out of more serious issues. Jay thought that the two subconsciously needed the conflict in their lives in order to function normally. Phylis and Darla thought that the other was ridiculous and unreasonable, and they couldn't understand why Jay couldn't see it.

Jay and Darla kept day to day things simple and the more spicy things secret. Jay spent most of his free time with his sister, which really wasn't a lot, but enough to keep each other happy. Darla had more time on her hands than her brother, but managed to stay out of trouble. She still hung out with her friends once in a while without doing anything that landed her in jail, and was sometimes even able to get Jay to leave the house.

*****

"You're gonna need more things than you think to get started, so here," Phylis warned setting a large bag on the rickety kitchen table. "I didn't wrap it."

"You didn't need to get us anything, Ma. We already stole most everything we need out of your house," Jay said.

"This isn't for you, you probably won't know what most of it is," Phylis told her son.

Darla gingerly peeled the bag down over the box to reveal a set of pots and pans, along with some utensils. They didn't come from the Salvation Army, either. "Wow, these are really nice, Mom. I like it, thank you." Darla turned to Jay, "They're really expensive."

"Well, you're cooking pretty good now, and these'll last you a long time if you take care of them. I now it's not something flashy like a big TV..." Phylis began.

"I think they're great, thanks so much," Darla repeated.

"Yeah. We can always pawn it and buy a TV," Jay said.

"You better watch it," Phylis said, cracking a grin. She paused a moment, growing more somber. "You guys didn't have to move out. We had plenty of room, didn't we?"

"Sure we did. It was just time, Ma. We're only across town, we can still send you a postcard or something," Jay said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better. I can see you wanting to get out, with your new job and all, but Darla didn't have to go with you," Phylis said.

"If Darla didn't come with me, you guys would kill each other, for sure. Just think, if you meet a nice guy at the old folks home or at the bingo parlor, you'll have the house to yourself," Jay said.

"I never thought I'd say this, but you're an awful son, Jay. I have to go to work. You guys will be good, right? I know you will. I'll see you later," Phylis said. She was sincerely a little sad at them moving out, but had it in the back of her head to stop by quite often on her way to work, if only to remind her kids that she was still alive.

Darla and Jay walked their mother to the door, wishing her well. When she was gone, they turned the lock and set the deadbolt. "Our own place, Jay. Won't it be exciting?" Darla asked.

Jay turned his head, glancing through the clean, but nearly barren apartment. He sighed. "You know how I feel about excitement. Let's try and avoid it, okay?"

Darla giggled her sexy little giggle. "I don't care what you say, I'm excited. I think you are, too. You haven't stopped smiling since you signed the papers."

"I've a good reason," he said, putting his arm around his sister and depositing a quick kiss on her cheek.