Cuts like a knife
The firelight glinted off the blade, shining a warning into the night as the dark haired boy turned it in his hands. He stared at the knife intently, seeing his brown eyes reflected in the knife blade as flames licked near his shoes. Other greasers were standing around him, their chatter indistinguishable from the music playing from the radio of a car parked on the lot. Johnny started from his engrossing thoughts as he heard a noise behind him, and relaxed with relief as Two-Bit Mathews sat next to him on the dusty ground, nudging him softly with his shoulder and offering him a can of beer.
Johnny shook his head and the older greaser sighed, "I've been looking all over for you Johnnycake. Went over to the Curtis's place but Pony was stuck doing some homework so I figured you'd be out here at the lot. How are you doing?" Johnny simply shrugged in reply, his shoulders lifting up and down as he stared at the knife once more. Two-Bit scolded, "Aw, Dally won't be pleased that you're carrying a knife."
"Would he rather I ended up dead?" came the curt reply and Two-Bit looked at him sadly.
"Johnny, ever since I saw you lying there, all bloody and still, it really shook me and I know it scared you so bad, but you can't let it ruin your life. At least let me look at the knife, if you have to carry it, let's make sure it's a decent one or it won't be a Soc ending up dead if Dally finds out I knew you were carrying a knife that couldn't protect you."
Johnny handed the knife over; secretly glad to be rid of the heavy weight and turned to look back at the fire, the flickering flames hypnotising, glad of something to look at so Two-Bit wouldn't see the tears welling up in his eyes as he remembered how he felt after getting jumped. But the allure of Two-Bit's studying the knife was too much to resist so he quickly wiped his eyes with his dirty denim jacket sleeve and turned to watch as Two-Bit scrutinised the knife, turning it round, looking at the hilt, the blade, weighing it in his hand, checking the mechanism on the handle.
"You could do better than this piece of shit, it'd snap as soon as you stuck it in some Soc. Who'd you get a knife from anyway, why not come to me?"
"I was hanging with Ponyboy at the Dingo and Curly Shepherd came up, he showed…"
"Aw, what does he know?" Two-Bit interrupted, "he's dumb, and he'll probably get picked up by the fuzz sooner or later."
Johnny wanly grinned.
"We'll get you a proper knife tomorrow, kid." Two-Bit lifted up his hand and waggled the fingers as well as his eyebrows, "what do you say to a five-finger discount?"
Johnny laughed at Two-Bit, "you just want to show off your stealing skills!"
"Damn right I do! What's the point of being good at something and not showing off? It's not like you guys can see how good I am in bed so you all marvel at my shoplifting instead!"
Johnny bit back a good natured retort at what he'd heard about Two-Bit in bed and raised his hand, copying Two-Bit's moving fingers.
"Five fingered discount it is!" Two-Bit whooped as he grabbed Johnny's hand and shook it, standing up and pulling the smaller boy to his feet.
"I'll walk you home since I'm such a nice gentleman and all but don't get any ideas about me showing you my bedroom expertise," he chuckled.
Johnny rolled his eyes and stuck his hands deep in his jean pockets, as they walked off the lot, Two-Bit cat-calling at the other greasers gathering around the fire.
The next day Johnny found himself shielding his eyes against the sun shining off the storefront window, peering closer in until his hair touched the window.
He stared at the various knives on offer, ranging from the mild pocket knife to the smaller version of Two-Bit's knife, he idly wondered if this was the shop Two-Bit had got his own knife from. He heard a low whistle next to him.
"Boy, look on the curves on that one, that baby ought to be illegal in several states, hell, probably is." Johnny grinned to himself and was about to make a point regarding knives and just how legal are they when Two-Bit continued, his voice louder than before, "Hey baby, can I check your curves out later?"
Johnny looked up in time to see a Soc looking girl disappearing round the corner of the block hastily followed by Two-Bit's raucous laugh, and punched Two-Bit playfully in the shoulder. "I thought we were here to get me a knife, not to pick up girls!"
"Who says I can't do both?" Two-Bit replied with a good natured shrug of his shoulders, turning to the store window. "So any of these knives caught your attention yet Johnnycake?"
"I like that one, the one in the middle" he looked up to see Two-Bit's opinion on the one he'd pointed at but the other boy had already gone in, the door swinging shut behind his leather jacket.
Johnny swallowed nervously and pushed the door open. He looked around him at the other people milling around in the general store. Two-Bit was nonchalantly loitering at the back, his back to the knife display. Johnny wondered why he wasn't looking at the sales clerk behind the till or the old man stocking up one of the shelves. Two-Bit's steely grey gaze was locked on Johnny as he edged back to the knives, sliding an arm behind him, Johnny could see the reflection of Two-Bit's fingers in the window, they were caressing each knife gently, feeling for the one Johnny had chosen. Johnny couldn't watch anymore, he decided to pretend he was buying something, he dragged his feet towards the lady at the till, sure that talking to her would distract her attention from the busy hands of Two-Bit, his eyes wildly looking for something to ask for... Cigarettes. There were cigarettes behind her. . He could always try asking for something else though. He opened his mouth as she stared at him, waiting expectantly.
"Um, do you have any Zippos?" asked Johnny, his voice cracked slightly under his nerves, wondering just how long it would take Two-Bit to steal the knife.
"Yes, we have a selection as you can see for yourself," the clerk pointedly said, waving her hand at the Zippo display underneath the glass front. Johnny nervously laughed and studied them carefully as he could, wondering if Two-Bit had left yet. After five minutes of intense staring at the various Zippos on display, the female clerk broke into his thoughts.
"Have you made any decisions as to whether you'll be here all day or not? I have other customers to serve, you know."
Johnny looked up, and looked around the shop, Two-Bit had gone but there was a small queue next to him, headed by a harried looking housewife. He bit his lip and turned back to the clerk, "I don't think I can afford one right now."
She immediately sighed, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "I thought so, the minute you walked in here, a foolish time wasting hood, go on, get out of here."
Johnny turned to leave, tripping over his untied shoelace. As he knelt to tie it, his slim fingers moving quickly, he heard the housewife next to him ask for chewing tobacco, he got a flash of inspiration to get some for Two-Bit as a thank you for the knife. After all, he was always chewing on something or other, and Johnny couldn't think of any other way to say thank you.
As he rose, he saw different coloured tobacco packages spread out in front of her on the counter, and as the snooty female sales clerk turned to see at which cigarettes the lady was pointing at, Johnny saw his chance. He snatched the nearest packet, shoving it in his denim jacket pocket and leaving the store quickly. He walked past the window display noticing one more empty space lying there on the knife shelf and a grin spread across his face. He broke into a run, running around the corner and bumped into Two-Bit. Two-Bit laughed as he ruffled Johnny's hair and they both started running, heading towards the lot.
Johnny had a great lazy afternoon, getting taught the basics of knife fighting by the older greaser, their knives flashing in the afternoon sunlight, Two-Bit's hand warm on his as he showed him how to do a particular move. They were both tired and thirsty after a few hours of this so they headed towards the Dingo for a few beers in the back parking lot, smuggled out by Two-Bit's mom, her laugh echoing around the half empty lot. Johnny tentatively drank the beer, remembering the last time he'd got drunk - it hadn't gone down too well, plus he didn't want to turn into a lush like his parents, whatever sorry excuse they were for parents. He wanted to show he was different from them, that he wasn't spiteful and mean and ignorant or cruel.
He grudgingly turned down the offer of Two-Bit's bedroom floor, he felt he'd depended on him too much for one day, as they walked towards his house - or rather, Two-Bit weaved across the road and Johnny made sure he wasn't run over by any cars, but their hilarity was shattered by the shouts and yells coming from the Cade household. His eyes stung with bitter tears as he heard his parents raised voices.
Two-Bit's suddenly sober voice entered his ears instead, "come on kiddo, stay at mine, I don't mind, I'd feel better if you were at mine tonight, rather than with them."
Flashes of silver, dark eyes, and pain splitting across his cheek, with a cruel voice in his ears. Johnny started awake, his breath quick in his chest. His face was sweaty and his pulse was racing. He never knew dreams could affect you like this, no wonder Ponyboy never looked well after he had one of his bad dreams. No wonder Darry always worried about him, fussing and giving him an extra plate of chocolate cake on those particular mornings and that was if Ponyboy had bothered to tell him at all.
Johnny felt so helpless and alone, even though he knew he wasn't alone. He turned around on his makeshift mattress, seeing Two-Bit's huddled form asleep in his bed, gently snoring, the early morning light playing upon his face. The new unfamiliar bulge of the knife in Johnny's jeans reminded him of the tobacco he'd stolen and he grabbed his nearby jacket, rummaging for the crinkly package. Normally, he'd be trying to go back to sleep but he was impatient to leave and to get some fresh air, get different things into his mind than the events of that day.
Tobacco in hand, jacket over his shoulder, he stepped over to Two-Bit's bed, laying the package down on the pillow next to the sleeping boy. He straightened up, making sure he hadn't woken him up and he crept over to the sash window, soundlessly sliding up the window, grinning at the silence, Two-Bit had obviously made sure it was a quiet way to come in after a night out hunting action. Hitting the ground outside, he slid the window back down and put his jacket on, shivering at the early morning coldness, hoping it'd get warmer later.
Later on, it had got warmer. Johnny was lying down in the grassy part of the lot, letting the sun dance upon his face, his eyes shut against the world. He liked it, but in the darkness behind his eyelids, memories came flooding back and flashes of silver, a rough voice and blood returned. Sitting up with a gasp, Johnny felt someone near him. He grabbed his new knife, switching the blade open the way Two-Bit had shown him. He turned, ready to defend himself against any Soc and to his surprise, he saw Two-Bit standing there, his hair ruffled by sleep and concern in his eyes.
"You alright there kid? You had me worried when I woke up just now and saw you were gone and my mom said she hadn't seen you. Do you feel alright, you look a bit pale?" Two-Bit said as he crouched down by the younger boy.
Johnny touched his cheek tenderly, wincing at the throbbing pain under the newly forming scar and whispered bitterly, "I'll survive."