Disclaimer: I don't own anything. At all. Well. I do. But not this. So yeah.
JUVENILE DELINQUENTS TURN HEROES
By Cathy Simmons
On a particularly cold fall night seven young boys got into a vicious fight. The end result; one dead teen and two runaways. Robert Sheldon, 17, was stabbed in the back by Jonathan Cade, 16, who claims to be defending his friend Ponyboy Curtis, age 14, as Robert and four other young men beat up on him and shoved him into the fountain in our own neighborhood Tulsa Central Park. The five boys who attacked Jonathan and Ponyboy have all been identified through a source that has not been revealed to the public at this time.
Scared, and lonely, Curtis and Cade enlisted the help of their friend Dallas Winston, age 17. Their friend gave them three tools to help with their getaway-fifty dollars, a gun, and careful instructions. The two younger boys, scared, hoped a train and rode into Windrixville.
Once there, they loaded up with food and headed to an abandoned church. They stayed there for a week, eating mostly bologna according to Curtis who states he will never eat it ever again. Then Winston came for his friends and they went to get some real food from a nearby Dairy Queen. When they returned, their hideout was up in flames. Two adults stood, huddled, with some school children. The woman, Mary O'Briant, exclaimed to the man, Jerry Wood, that some of the children were missing. Soon after this discovery horrific screams from the church could be heard.
At once Curtis and Cade jumped out of the car and burst inside the church, despite pleas not to by the surrounding citizens. Inside was smoldering hot and both boys were wearing jackets. They ran throughout the church and found the lost children, taking them and setting them out the window. Soon after, Winston came to help. The church roof started to cave in and Winston dragged Curtis out, knocking the flame out from his back. He then proceeded back inside the flaming church and attempted to drag Cade out, as the roof collapsed.
At the hospital, it was diagnosed that Winston had a second-degree burn on his arm, Curtis was fine with only slight burns, and Cade may not survive. He and Dallas are still in the hospital. Cade has a slim chance of survival. His back is severely burned and if he survives, he will never walk again.
Curtis sat in the waiting room, waiting to hear about his friends, and while he was waiting, his two brothers Sodapop and Darrel Curtis came to greet him with a big hug and many shed tears.
The boy's parents died in a car accident, and since then they have been living with the oldest brother, Darrel, age 20. Darrel was an outstanding student in his time and decided against going to college to take care of his two younger brothers. He works two jobs to earn just enough money to pay the bills and put food on the table. Sodapop Curtis, 17, the middle brother, dropped out of school to get a job at a local DX gas station to help his brothers. Ponyboy Curtis is a good student, who has been on the honor roll several times and, according to his coach is a "future track star."
If Cade survives, he will have to attend a trial. He is currently going to be charged with manslaughter. Ponyboy will also have to attend a hearing for running away where a judge will decide whether or not he and Sodapop should stay in Darrel's custody.
"I think they should," Sherri Valance, a classmate of Ponyboy's and Sheldon's old girlfriend, "The Curtis brothers are so nice and all they want to do is stick together. They've given up so much."
Randy Adderson, 17, and Sheldon's best friend, agreed, "I mean, why shouldn't they? They're good guys. This is just one big mess, but it's not their fault. They deserve it."