We were so engrossed in Gone with the Wind that we were oblivious to the sound of an engine shutting down and then the slam of a car door. But when we heard the whistle, we were aware of everything. Johnny and me jumped up when Dally walked into the old church.
It was only Thursday. Earlier than Dallas said he would be here. But I'm not complaining. The sooner I get out of this place, the better. I just was kind of anxious to hear what Dally said. He might say that the cops will be here in a matter of seconds. Or he'll say that we're free to go. But I didn't care what happened. I wanted out of this place!
"What are you two Greasers doing hiding out in an abandoned church, eh?" he smirked. "And better yet, what happened to your guys' hair?"
"We tried disguising ourselves," Johnny answered quietly. "We may not look tuff, but we had to do it."
"Well, you sure don't look like yourselves anymore," Dally replied. He kept staring at my hair like it was some strange object.
Trying to distract him, I asked quickly, "What's going on with the cops man?"
He smiled dangerously, "Hauled me into the station for questioning. Couldn't blame them. Some dead Soc, I must have had some connection to it… When I was there I kind of let it out that you guys were headed to Texas," he smiled at his genius idea. "So they're all out looking in Texas, figured I had me a good time to steal away and see ya'll. Not only have the cops been watching me- the gang's been pretty suspicious of me. I told them I didn't know where you were, but they knew I was lying…"
He suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, "Gotta letter for you Pony."
I was shocked, "Who from?"
"President of the United States…" He smirked again. "You're brother Sodapop."
"Soda? How'd he know where I was?" Glory, I was happy to have some type of communication with my brother. I sure missed him an awful lot.
Dally lit up a cigarette before answering me. "Came over to Buck's a couple days ago and saw that shirt of yours. I told him I had no idea where you were, but he didn't believe me. Gave me that to give you…" he shook his head slowly. "Kid, you oughta see Darry and Soda. They both look horrible…"
I started to read Soda's letter. It said how much he missed me and wished I would come home. He then started talking about Darry and how sorry he was an all of that. I read it over several times. It made me want to go home even more.
When I came back to reality, Dallas and Johnny were deep in a discussion. Johnny was saying quietly, "We're gonna turn ourselves in."
Dally looked like he had been splashed with water. "What? You wanna go to jail? Johnny, I can't let you do that."
"Well, what else are we supposed to do? We can't stay here forever…"
"That's why I came today, Johnny. I got you another place to stay for a while. It's a lot better than this shit-hole," Dally explained. "You can stay there for as long as it takes for all of this to blow over. Trust me, Johnnycakes."
Johnny sighed in defeat, and then replied, "All right. But… is it safe for Pony to go back? I mean- he's got Soda and Darry worrying about him. He didn't do nothing and can't go to jail…"
I looked over to Johnny, questioningly. He just answered by looking at me with those dark eyes of his. He didn't want me to have to hide all my life. But I wasn't sure I wanted to leave him all alone to deal with this.
Dallas finally gave in and said, "Okay. I'll take Pony back home and bring you to the new place. The only thing is Pony," he looked at me, "you can't know where we're going that way both you and Johnny will be safe from the police."
I nodded my consent, and we walked out to the car. Nothing we had was worth taking except for Gone with the Wind. I realized that it was Buck Merrill's T-Bird. We climbed in and Dally pushed the pedal to the floor. We were going so fast it made you wonder if we were in a drag race or something. But it just meant that I was going to get home that much sooner.
Dally and Johnny was holding a conversation, but I was completely tuned out. I was too busy worrying about what it was going to be like when I get home. What am I going to do about Darry? What will I say to him? Vice versa? I was worrying so much that it wasn't making me feel too hot on an empty stomach filled with nothing but cigarette smoke.
When we got closer to town, Dallas reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses and handed them to Johnny. He then told us, "I didn't tell ya'll, the Socs and us are having an all-out warfare all over the city. That kid you killed had plenty of friends," Johnny kind of paled when he said that. "And all over the town it's Soc against Grease. We can't walk alone, Two-Bit almost got jumped yesterday, but Darry and me were close behind…" he seemed to take a deep breath, "I started carrying me a heater."
"Dal!" Johnny exclaimed, "You kill people with heaters!"
Dallas looked over at him and stated, "You kill them with blades too!" Johnny grew even paler, and Dallas quickly recovered, "It ain't loaded. I'm not aiming to get picked up for murder. But it sure does help a bluff… Tim Shepard's gang and us are having it out with the Socs Saturday night at the vacant lot."
Dally paused for a moment and then must have realized something else, "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you that we got us a spy."
"Who?" Johnny asked.
"That good-looking red-head that I tried to pick up the night you killed the Soc. Cherry what's-her-face," he stated.
Johnny and me both gasped. But I recovered first, "Why's a Soc helping us?"
Dally smiled in that dangerous way of his. "She drove up to the lot in that little Stingray of hers and starts talking to us. Says that the whole thing was her fault, which is truth enough, and that she'd keep an eye on the Socials and tell us if anything starts up. Even said that she'd testify for you that the Socs were drunk when they attacked you and that it was only self-defense… I tried to ask her to go to the Dingo with me but she told me to go to Hell." He let out what must have been a laugh.
When he said that I remembered what Cherry had told me after the Drive-In. I wondered how she felt about it now that Bob was dead. But I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts.
We were now driving through town, but Dally wasn't taking any of the busy roads and Johnny kept his head down, and he was kind of slouched in his seat. I doubted anybody would recognize me with my new blonde hair.
Next thing I knew, we were pulling up in front of my house. I climbed out of the T-Bird and gave Johnny something. It was Gone with the Wind. I told him, "Finish it and tell me how it goes."
He smiled up at me briefly. "See ya later, Pony."
"Yeah. See ya," I stood there and watched as they drove off, wondering if I would ever see Johnny Cade again. I shook my head ridding myself of such a horrible thought. I turned and walked up the steps slowly. The truck wasn't parked out front, so Darry couldn't be home. But Soda might be, or any of the gang.
I pulled the door open and walked in. Nobody was in the living room. "Hello?" I called. No answer. Looking at the clock I saw that it was only three-thirty. Soda wouldn't be home till five, and Darry till six.
I took off Dallas' leather jacket and tossed it on the couch. I was looking around the room when my eye noticed something. The newspaper was lying on Darry's armchair, but it was opened with the headline, No Progress in Murder Case. I picked it up and read the story, which was about Bob's murder.
What surprised me most was the fact that there was a Soc, Randy, who was also saying that we fought in self-defense. That's two Socials vouching for us Greasers. It was better than nothing.
After laying the paper back down, I walked down the hall. It would be a while to before somebody showed up, so I decided to take a shower. When I stepped into the water, and turned the hot water on, it felt wonderful. The water dropped onto my skin and washed away all of the grime I'd accumulated from being in that church. When I was thoroughly refreshed, I dressed in clean jeans and one of my own shirts. But it seemed to hang off of me; I thought it funny since it used to fit real well. It could actually show off the little muscle that I have.
Standing in front of the mirror with some hair grease sitting on the sink, I was attempting to make my hair look better. I started combing it and slathering on a good amount of grease. By the time I was done, it looked a little better, but man, it made my ears stick out something horrible. Oh well…
Walking out of the bathroom, I noticed that it was almost five o'clock. I figured it would be a good idea to start up dinner. That way Soda wouldn't be able to add any food coloring, and it would be done by the time Darry got home. I pulled some chicken out of the fridge and put it in a pan and slid it into the oven. It was going to take them a while to cook, so I poured me a glass of chocolate milk and sat down at the kitchen table.
I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat down. I hadn't been able to sleep a lot in the last few days. Who could? That floor in the church was hard and uncomfortable, but I was always constantly thinking and worrying. Trying to fully comprehend what had happened to get me out there in an abandoned church, wanted by the police. But I'm pretty sure Johnny wasn't sleeping either.
My head was starting to droop pretty bad, so I turned the timer on to wake me up, and dragged my feet towards my room. I dropped onto the bed, remembering what an actual bed felt like.
I lay down, only going to rest my eyes for a few minutes, but as soon as my eyes closed, I was out like a light.