It was lunchtime, the bell rang and almost half the students rushed down to the cafeteria. The other half made their way out to the parking lot to drive down to The Dingo and get their lunch there. I didn't have a car so I trotted on down to the cafeteria with Curly Shepard and Richard Wilson.
"Ya here about Jennings?" Wilson asked Curly.
Curly began laughing and uttered "Yeah, that punk had it coming after what he did to Angela. Dirty little shit"
"Mark Jennings?" I asked
Curly nodded. "He got thrown in the reformatory the other night--Drugs. The punk was selling 'em to kids, and hippies and stuff"
That bothered me. Mark Jennings was a good guy. I knew he was a little rough, probably wasn't too honest either but I didn't know he was into drugs.
"Well how's old Douglas taking it?" I asked. Mark lived with Bryon Douglas and they were as close as brothers.
"Pretty damn good I suppose" Curly said "He's the one that turned him in. His chick, Whats-her-face Carlson, has a brother that was on a pretty bad acid trip--I reckon thats why Bryon turned Jennings in" he said in a deep voice.
I was pretty confused by now. Bryon's girlfriend Cathy Carlson sure was a nice girl, pretty outspoken too. I asked her out on a date one time, but she said she was busy. I think that was when she got pretty serious with Douglas, so I didn't bother to call her again. I hardly understood what her kid brother had to do with Mark selling drugs.
"How's Cathy taking it?" I asked
"No one knows for sure. She's been outta school for a whole week. I heard Douglas broke it off with her. She should be back Monday" Wilson said.
After school I went straight home. Two-Bit was asleep on our couch, and Soda and Darry were watching TV.
"Hey Soda?" I asked him
"What Pony?"
"When did you get your first girlfriend?"
"6th Grade. Why do you ask?"
"Well.. there's this girl... Cathy.. and--" Two-Bit interrupted me.
"It aint my Kathy is it?"
"Hell no, Two-Bit. You know i'd never steal your chick"
He just shrugged and went back to sleep.
"Soda, This girl Cathy, I like her alot and she's going through a really rough time right now. I think she just broke up with her boyfriend, and I like her a lot. How long should I wait to um... Ya know?"
He smiled at me. I knew it was because we both knew this is one of the only subjects old Soda could help me out on. He liked to feel smart about something for once.
"Well, buddy, maybe wait a couple weeks. As soon as she looks happy for once, maybe when she starts to shut up about him. Just talk to her first, become her friend." He said.
I nodded and thought about that for a minute. I liked Cathy a lot, but we hardly knew each other. I knew she was beautiful, and wasn't afraid to voice her opinion but not much else.