To Say Goodbye to Friends
The whirring of machines, the beeping heart monitor, the smell of disinfectant, and the faces of loved ones hovering above were all that kept me from peaceful oblivion. The bullet in my chest, once hot, was now only an uncomfortable nuisance, like that piece of hair you can't keep out of your eyes. I wanted to tell each of them that I loved them for their own special reasons, but I just couldn't find the words or the breath. As I lay on my death bed I looked at each of them in turn and focused on what I'd say to them.
I was kind of glad Cherry Valance was here; something about her just calmed the atmosphere and numbed the pain. We hadn't kept in touch over the years until a couple of months ago at our class reunion. Twenty years did nothing to her red hair or beauty; if anything it only added a womanly sophistication. She had a steady boyfriend now, and she thought he might propose soon. She had moved out of town shortly after graduation day all those years ago, and had only moved back four months ago. It was a shame we couldn't have taken more time to catch up.
Among those faces gazing down at me was Two-Bit. Of all the things I would have thought he might have done with his life, he didn't do any of them. Instead, he went on to run a pizza parlor, Two-Bit Mathews running a business of all things! He claimed it's only because he gets free pizza, but since Dally and Johnny's death, he has to keep his mind busy or else he goes out and gets drunk and picks fights with the new generation of Socs- trying to relive that night. One time we found him half dead in a sewer pipe; he had four broken ribs, a concussion, and a fractured pelvis. He was recovering nicely, but I knew my death would set the recovery back. Oh, sure he would crack jokes at my expense, but he wouldn't mean them, just like he didn't mean them about Dally.
I tiredly lolled my head towards Darry who tightened his hold on my hand. How ironic it was that he flown in from his busy schedule in Texas to see me get my award for helping the community only to see me get shot instead? Darry was a successful lawyer now, and he lived in Austin, Texas with his wife and two daughters. After Soda had married Sandy, and since I had gotten a scholarship, we had enough money to put Darry through law school. After I left home, Darry moved to Austin with his degree and started slowly drifting apart from the rest of us. We all knew it would one day happen, but it still tore my heart out; to think he was ashamed of us.
Soda was pretty torn up too, even though he had Sandy. He wasn't with me in my final moments because he was on his second honeymoon with her. I felt horrible with myself that I would ruin that for them, but it wasn't like I really had a choice at the moment. Him and Sandy made up and sorted out their differences about two years after Johnny and Dally's deaths. They were the perfect couple too, it sometimes pained me to see them and know I probably wouldn't ever find anything like that. He still lives close by, but had moved to a bigger house for him, Sandy, and their newborn son, Johnny.
Steve was also missing, though he was only in the floor below me, tending his half dead son. Darren was shot the same time I was at the new community center during the drive by shooting. He was expected to make it, though he would have to undergo several surgeries. Steve wasn't married or even had a girlfriend; his sixteen year old son was the result of a one night stand. Though Darren would never know the truth; Steve loved him too much to hurt him like that. Steve still lived in the same house he had when he was seventeen. Really nothing in his life had changed other than Darren, and he had got a promotion and was now the manager of the gas station he used to work at. Even though he probably was by definition a 'washout', no one would dare call him that to his face. I felt awful for Steve, for he would grieve the most tonight.
I couldn't say I was unhappy with how my life had gone, I went to college, got my degree in social services, and returned to my hometown to do what no one had ever done for me and my friends. I helped the Greasers like us who needed someone to believe in them, tell them that there is good in the world and force them, if need be, to watch sunrises. I wanted all them to know that I was proud of what I'd accomplished, and who had been there when I was doing it. But as my reflections came to an end, my vision started to blur, and thoughts slipped away; I knew it was the end of me. I heard someone whisper the words "stay gold" before I finally slipped into death.
Maybe by some twist in fate they had heard every bit of what I was thinking, because I didn't mind if I left this hate-filled world while things were finally going good; for I had died a gallant death doing the things I wished someone had taken the time to do for me.