fic: sibling rivalry (the black donnellys, joey ice cream gen, ~450 words)
(Sorry I'm kind of spamming today, guys. I'm just trying to get my fics from big_little posted to this journal now, 'cause I like having all my stuff in one place. I don't have high control needs. What are you talking about?)
"Sibling Rivalry"
The Black Donnellys. Joey Ice Cream gen.
PG. ~450 words. No spoilers, but takes canon through 1.03 into account.
"...But my sister, she's back in town and I've gotta get her from the airport."
"I thought you said you were an only child."
"Did I? I don't think I did. No, I definitely didn't. I said I wished I had brothers like that, since I don't have any. Good as bein' an only child, running with that gang. But I've got a sister. Her name's Mary. A good name for a good girl, right? And is she ever good. The best. First in our family to go to college. And a good school, too. Growin' up, she was like a saint, 'specially compared to all the messes I got into with the Donnellys. My ma was pregnant with her the same time Mrs. Donnelly was pregnant with Sean. They got to be real good friends."
"Yeah, yeah, that's great, but the bodies, Joey. The bodies!"
"Right. So I've gotta get her from the airport..."
But Joey's still thinkin' 'bout why Mary had to be a girl. A boy wouldn't have needed picking up from the airport and Joey could've been there when Tommy needed him, and neither of them would be in this mess in the first place.
It's always been like that. Tommy'd be tellin' him about playing cops and robbers with Jimmy and Kevin and Sean, or cowboys and Indians, or forts, but Mary never wanted to do any of that. And even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't, but it would've been better for Joey's self esteem if she had. If she'd cried and screamed and went to Ma, and Ma made him let her play, 'cause then Joey maybe would've ended up feeling important. Maybe then he wouldn't have spent his whole life tryin' to be what he wasn't-- a Donnelly. Wouldn't have gone for Tommy where even Donnellys feared to tread. Wouldn't have gotten arrested the first time, tryin' to impress Kevin, or the second time, tryin' to show Sean how it's done. Maybe he wouldn't be in jail now. Maybe he could've been the first in his family to go to college, instead of the next in a long line of convicts.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe he'd have died when Eddie's gang beat him up in the third grade, 'cause Jimmy wouldn't have come along and scared 'em off. Maybe he'd have died after Huey did, when Dokey was choppin' legs off left and right, when he was runnin' around with Kevin gettin' Kosher wine. Who the hell knows, right? A thousand other things could easily have happened in the time he spent with Tommy and Jimmy and Kevin and Sean.
But at least a real brother, a blood brother, would've visited him in prison.
"Sibling Rivalry"
The Black Donnellys. Joey Ice Cream gen.
PG. ~450 words. No spoilers, but takes canon through 1.03 into account.
"...But my sister, she's back in town and I've gotta get her from the airport."
"I thought you said you were an only child."
"Did I? I don't think I did. No, I definitely didn't. I said I wished I had brothers like that, since I don't have any. Good as bein' an only child, running with that gang. But I've got a sister. Her name's Mary. A good name for a good girl, right? And is she ever good. The best. First in our family to go to college. And a good school, too. Growin' up, she was like a saint, 'specially compared to all the messes I got into with the Donnellys. My ma was pregnant with her the same time Mrs. Donnelly was pregnant with Sean. They got to be real good friends."
"Yeah, yeah, that's great, but the bodies, Joey. The bodies!"
"Right. So I've gotta get her from the airport..."
But Joey's still thinkin' 'bout why Mary had to be a girl. A boy wouldn't have needed picking up from the airport and Joey could've been there when Tommy needed him, and neither of them would be in this mess in the first place.
It's always been like that. Tommy'd be tellin' him about playing cops and robbers with Jimmy and Kevin and Sean, or cowboys and Indians, or forts, but Mary never wanted to do any of that. And even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't, but it would've been better for Joey's self esteem if she had. If she'd cried and screamed and went to Ma, and Ma made him let her play, 'cause then Joey maybe would've ended up feeling important. Maybe then he wouldn't have spent his whole life tryin' to be what he wasn't-- a Donnelly. Wouldn't have gone for Tommy where even Donnellys feared to tread. Wouldn't have gotten arrested the first time, tryin' to impress Kevin, or the second time, tryin' to show Sean how it's done. Maybe he wouldn't be in jail now. Maybe he could've been the first in his family to go to college, instead of the next in a long line of convicts.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe he'd have died when Eddie's gang beat him up in the third grade, 'cause Jimmy wouldn't have come along and scared 'em off. Maybe he'd have died after Huey did, when Dokey was choppin' legs off left and right, when he was runnin' around with Kevin gettin' Kosher wine. Who the hell knows, right? A thousand other things could easily have happened in the time he spent with Tommy and Jimmy and Kevin and Sean.
But at least a real brother, a blood brother, would've visited him in prison.