"The Price We Pay"
Disclaimer: The Outsiders is copyright (c) S.E. Hinton and all others associated with legal rights.
"Sylvia...!"
The gentle sounding voice could only belong to one of the only decent girls living in the neighborhood.
Sylvia lounged on the front steps of her dilapidated home. There, she watched as the blonde haired, blue eyed Sandy cautiously approached. She couldn't help but loudly snap her gum in her mouth as Sandy walked along the cracked and weed infested sidewalk like it was a frozen lake ready to split under her weight.
Sandy was a girl that Sylvia could never become: sweet, kind, and honest. She came from a broken home like all greasers, but unlike Sylvia and the rest of the greaser girls, Sandy had class. She didn't pancake her face with cosmetics; she didn't spit on the ground with every step she took; she didn't curse out loud just to look tough; and her natural beauty made even the Soc boys look twice at her. Meanwhile, Sylvia was attractive but at the same time sassy and vigorous. She wore the heavy makeup; she wore the inappropriate clothing to show the boys what she had to offer; she hung around with plenty of questionable characters to where she gained a colorful vocabulary of swear words that were ready to use against anyone she pleased.
"Heya, blondie," Sylvia greeted casually as she crossed her long legs and sat back on her hands. She spat out her gum into the nearby dead bushes and fixed her sights upon the newcomer. "What are you doing here?"
The two females were hardly the best of friends. In fact, they were friends only because they belonged to the same clique, and they knew many of the same people. It was through mere convenience that they actually got to know one another. Otherwise, Sylvia would probably have nothing to do with the classic beauty. If anything, she would've seen her as a target to pick on.
"I was on my way home from the gas station and I saw you," Sandy explained as she took Sylvia's silent invite and sat on the steps beside her. She kept her legs together as she wrapped her arms around her knees.
Sylvia ran her fingers through her shortly cropped, dirty blonde hair. Her stormy gray eyes reflected with curiosity. "You sound like somethin' is troublin' you."
"... Maybe..." Sandy bowed her head.
"Make it quick. Daddy's gonna be home soon and he's gonna expect dinner. Wait until I tell him that he was s'posed to be the one to buy the food in the first place."
Sandy sighed miserably. "Sylvia, can I ask you for some advice?"
"Me? Advice?" Sylvia mentally assured herself that it wasn't going to be about boys or make up. In her opinion, Sandy had it made with snagging a boyfriend like Sodapop Curtis. Plenty of chicks, greasers and Socs, crushed over the handsome teen who worked at the DX gas station.
"I messed up," Sandy blurted out as she buried her forehead into her arms.
Sylvia cocked her head to the side. "Whaddaya mean?"
"I... I..." Sandy refused to look over at her. Reaching into her pocket, Sylvia took out a cigarette and matches. Seconds later, she was puffing away. She offered a stick to Sandy but of course, the offer was declined. Sandy hardly, if ever, smoked - if she did, it was probably only around Sodapop and Evie.
"If you want my advice, you need to spit it out, honey," Sylvia said as she stood up and yawned. "I've got my own problems."
Sandy lifted her head and gazed over at her, momentarily forgetting about her own dillema. "What happened?"
"Dallas dumped me," Sylvia replied matter-of-factly. She flicked her ashes to the side, took another hit, and blew the smoke out through her nose. "He accused me of two-timin' him while he was in the cooler."
"Were you?"
Sylvia shrugged. "Nothin' serious. I just wanted to get back at Dallas for being stupid lately."
Before Sandy could ask, Sylvia started to pace back and forth in front of her. "He's always taking off and leaving me behind: robbing, stealing, cheating, and lying. Does the idiot bother taking me along half the time? Nope! He leaves his old lady behind to rot and die of boredom! I told him if he were to get caught by the fuzz next time that he was gonna be sorry! We've been together for two - no, it was gonna be three years this coming month!"
She stopped pacing, took her cigarette out of her mouth, and pointed it accusingly at Sandy. "You think he gives a care? NO! How was I s'posed to know he was gonna get out early? I woulda planned my little operation better if I did!"
"Operation?" Sandy asked as she raised an eyebrow at the notion.
Sylvia placed her cigarette back between her lips. "It was only to make him jealous. Me and the guy – I can't even remember his name – was just makin' out behind Jay's and that's where Dallas and Tim Shepard found us. Like I said, it was nothin' serious. I wanted to show him what he drove me to because of his lack of attention for me."
"What happened, then?"
Sylvia snorted with disgust as she took a long, boisterous drag and exhaled just as noisily. "You shoulda seen the look in his eyes..." She smirked. "Oh god, his eyes are so gorgeous. I love that shade of blue he has goin' for him."
She chuckled to herself as she took a last drag of her cigarette and let it drop from her fingers. Once it hit the ground she smashed the butt with the toe of her sneaker. She couldn't help but think more and more about her ex-boyfriend. He was so gorgeous and so dangerous. She'd always been attracted to bad boys. In her book, Dallas Winston had to be the baddest of them all.
"You and Dallas," Sandy began thoughtfully as she rested her cheek on the side of her arms, "always seem so... I don't know..."
"We fought like cats and dogs," Sylvia stated as she walked back to her spot on the steps. She stretched her legs out as she tilted her head up to stare at the dull, gray afternoon skies. "I hear it all the time from the girls, y'know. That no matter how many times we break up, we're always gonna get back together. It was like we're meant to be."
"You think you'll get back together after what you did to him?" Sandy asked innocently as she stared at the cruder female with questioning blue eyes.
Sylvia shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably."
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if we did, even if Dallas went and told everyone that this was the last straw. See, you gotta learn somethin' about men, Sandy: they like women who can take control but they don't wanna admit it." She pointed to herself. "Me? I don't put up with nobody who can't try to control me. Dallas calls me a hellcat and I believe it suits me. Why? I do things MY way. Pushover guys bore me to tears. Now Dally..."
Sylvia beamed to herself as she lowered her head and dropped her hand onto her lap. "He has this command about him. You look into his eyes and just melt. I'd never felt that way about any man before. He's strong and fierce, just like me. He has to wrestle me down to get me to listen to him and that's what I loved about him. It's that New York blood. It just makes me hot all over!"
Sandy frowned. "If you loved so many things about him, why did you have to cheat on him while he was in jail?"
"I told you!" Sylvia suddenly exploded as she threw her hands up in the air, turned her head to the side, and spat on the ground. "The idiot didn't pay any attention to me! It wasn't like the way it used to be! He used to spend most of his time with me! Remember how we used to go on those group dates? Me, you, Evie, Dally, Sodapop, and Steve? Lately he's been gettin' lazy and hangin' out with his boys so much that he acts like he don't got a girlfriend! It made me mad!"
She displayed one hand at Sandy and wiggled her ring finger in particular. "See that ugly pale band on my finger? He took his stupid ring back when he dumped me. Can ya believe him? He demanded it back from me. What nerve!"
Sandy said nothing as Sylvia withdrew her hand. Sylvia folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the front door. She closed her eyes for a few moments, as if she were trying to collect her thoughts.
"Times like this," she finally admitted as she opened her eyes, "I see me and him actin' like an old married couple. No matter how many squabbles we get into, we're always comin' back to each other. It's like we can't escape the fact that he and I are so drawn to each other. I can't do no better or no worse than Dallas Winston. Yeah, he's had other broads when we weren't together, but... In the end, it's always the two of us..."
She ran her fingers through her short hair once again and suddenly gasped. She unleashed a string of curse words before shifting her attention back to Sandy.
"I forgot that you wanted advice," she laughed as she adjusted her legs so they were tucked under her bottom. "Okay. What'd you want to ask me?"
Sandy sat up and hugged her stomach. She bowed her head some and her light blonde bangs shadowed her eyes. The focus was back on her now and it made her nervous all over.
"I messed up," she began shakily. "I really messed up, Sylvia. I don't know what to do or who else to talk to."
"What about Evie?" Sylvia asked as she reached into her pocket for another cigarette. "You must've done somethin' pretty low if you went to me of all people instead of your best friend."
She took another match and lit up her second cigarette when Sandy abruptly stated: "I'm pregnant."
A long pause settled between the two teenaged girls. Sylvia's cigarette fell from her lips and landed lamely next to her foot. Sandy buried her face into her hands and started sobbing miserably.
Sylvia picked up her cigarette and scooted closer to the sobbing girl. She reached out with her hand and played with a lovely lock of Sandy's hair. "Honey, you picked a good lookin' guy like Curtis to be the father of your kid. What're you so worried about? Y'know how lucky you are to have a guy like him? He's got all these pretty little girls staring at him at work but he's only got eyes for you. What're the tears for?"
"Because!" Sandy gasped as she lifted her damp eyes from her trembling hands and stared straight ahead. "Because it's not his!"
Sylvia let the hair slip from her fingers as she stared dumbfounded. "Huh?"
She almost dropped her cigarette once again as she heard the words "it's not his" echo in her mind.
"Hold on, Sandy. It ain't Dally's is it? 'Cause if that's the case..."
"No! It's not!"
Sandy bolted from the steps and started to take off. But Sylvia jumped to her feet and grabbed the girl by the hem of her skirt, forcing her to stop.
"Calm down, honey," Sylvia admonished as she yanked the girl back and forced her to sit down. "I won't hit you. I could never."
Sandy continued to weep as Sylvia stood at the foot of the stairs and smoked her cigarette. Never in a million years would she have dreamed of innocent little Sandy cheating on her beloved Sodapop. It was also silly of her to think of Sandy and Dallas together. If anything, Dallas probably scared the living daylights out of Sandy, even when he was acting on his best behavior.
"Didja tell anybody yet, Sandy?"
No answer.
"I said," Sylvia said as she turned around and looked down at Sandy, "did you tell anybody about this?"
Sandy shook her head. "No. I told you that I didn't know who else to turn to so I told you."
Sylvia snorted. Of course, if anybody in their group was capable of cheating on anyone, it was no surprise that Sandy went to her.
"How 'bout the guy you two-timed Soda with?"
Sandy shamefully looked away. "It was just one time and he was gone in the morning."
"Glory," Sylvia whispered as she tugged on one of her own bangs. "This sounds like something I would do, Sandy. Nobody's ever gonna believe you pulled this off – let alone the love of your life."
Sandy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Sylvia knelt in front of her and put out her cigarette on the ground.
"Stop with the crying, Sandy," she ordered. "It ain't gonna do you no good."
"What can I do?" Sandy asked as she offered the other girl a tearful expression. "I can't do this... I just can't tell him what I did..."
"Lemme ask you this," Sylvia began as she leaned forward. "Why'd you do it?"
Sandy hesitated. She sniffed back a few more tears and quietly replied, "It was just like you said. I got tired of being ignored."
"He did?" Sylvia frowned in disbelief. "I thought Sodapop adored you."
"I couldn't stand all those girls being around him all the time. I told him once before that I hated it, but he just laughed and said that they didn't mean anything. But it bothered me a lot. I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Why didn't you threaten any of 'em? I did that to any chick that even looked in Dallas' direction. All you gotta do is bust a bottle open or even pick up a rock to show 'em you mean business."
"I couldn't," Sandy whimpered. "I just couldn't do that. Soda was happy to be with me... I thought... But... I... I still cheated on him in the end..."
Sylvia pulled away from Sandy and in a solemn tone of voice, she said, "Maybe you should skip town to save your reputation. You ain't gonna be looked well upon once everybody finds out you did what you did - 'specially Dally and his boys. If it were ME that got knocked up, well, then it'd be expected. Life would move on. You, on the other hand..."
She couldn't help but chuckled inward. So even sweet little Sandy was capable of deceit – but it was only natural. She was a girl who had her needs. She was bound to get jealous of the other girls sooner or later. Sandy was pretty (Sylvia had no problem admitting it), but even one pretty girl couldn't be a match for a whole flock of other pretty girls who were after her boyfriend. And it probably didn't help that Soda was so damn friendly to all of them. That was what probably drove Sandy to do what she did.
She suddenly paused as she thought about her former love. "Sandy, where's Dally? I hadn't seen or heard about him from quite some time."
Sandy sniffled as she rubbed her cheeks with the bottom of her shirt. "Didn't you hear? Ponyboy and Johnny ran away somewhere because they're involved with the murder of a Soc boy..."
"An' what does that have to do with Dally?"
"I heard he might've gone to look for them... But I don't know where they've gone..." Sandy's voice trailed off. It was apparent that she wasn't too interested in the disappearance of greasers (even if it involved her boyfriend's brother) or murder. She had plenty on her plate at the moment.
Sylvia frowned. Dallas? You better not be stupid to get involved in anything heavy like that. She made a face as she twisted a lock of her hair between two fingers. What am I worried about? I'll see that idiot again. I'll just wear his favorite outfit, do my hair and make up, cry a long time, apologize to him, and everything will be back to normal. If Tim gives me any lip, I'll smack him good.
Glancing aside, she stared at the finger that used to wear Dally's ring. Gotta admit that I feel naked without it.
All of a sudden, Sandy announced that she was going home.
"You gonna be okay by yourself?" Sylvia asked as her hand fell to her side, and Sandy got up and walked off the steps.
"I just live down the street," Sandy reminded her as she paused from her walk and shyly looked over at her. "Thanks for listening to me."
Sylvia shrugged. "Just think 'bout what I said and uh..." She hesitated over her words until she finally said: "I hope you work things out with yourself."
"Thank you." Sandy quickly added, "I hope you work things out with Dallas."
"Hmph. Thanks."
Sylvia watched as Sandy quietly departed from her front yard. Once she had disappeared out of sight, Sylvia looked down at her finger once more and whispered, "Dallas, you better not be doin' anything stupid..."
THE END
Author's Note: It's been quite a few years since I've written any Outsiders fanfiction. I'm still struggling with the one I started years and years ago, "What He Don't Know." Never the less, I decided to write a one-shot story dealing with Sylvia and Sandy, two greaser chicks who don't appear to have many fans. I like working with the flawed characters and exposing other possible aspects of their persona. I have no idea if these two ever hung out so I decided to play on this possible relationship.
As of 10/12/08, I made a few changes: like lower-casing the "g" in the word "greaser" wherever I found it. Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed this and PM'ed me their comments. Your critiques really made a difference :)
Please let me know what you think!