Author's Note: Hello all :) I'll just make this short, lol.
I've come back once again with an idea that I really wanted to take a shot at. I'm not gonna spoil it here, so you'll just have to read. Hehe.
And concrit is much appreciated, I accept it all. Except flames ... I won't tolerate them unless they're useful.
Thank you :D Enjoy and Stay Gold.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders in any way. It belongs to S.E. Hinton.
Title: Disturbing the Public Peace
Summary: Two-Bit Mathews and Sodapop Curtis were having a great day. Back flips, handstands, and cartwheels downtown sounded like a good idea ... until this happened.
… but it also got Two-Bit and Soda jailed once. They were doing mid-air flips down a downtown sidewalk, walking on their hands, and otherwise disturbing the public and the police …
"Man, I'm thankful Darry gave us that acrobatics lesson last summer!" Two-Bit shouted happily while doing a no-hands cartwheel down the street.
"Yep," Soda grinned. "It sure does come in handy when you're in a fight."
"Fight? I just like it 'cause it's real fun—" Two-Bit bent over and started walking on his hands as Soda chuckled.
Soda went to do the same when he bumped into an older lady, middle-aged, not that old. She scowled as he fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he apologized, rubbing his head.
"You boys shouldn't be playin' around like that." It was more of a command than a suggestion. She huffily walked across the street to keep away from them.
"What's her problem?" Two-Bit mimicked a dirty look. "Ain't nothin' wrong with havin' a good time." He performed another mid-air flip and continued down the sidewalk.
"I dunno." Soda shrugged, and did a back flip right into someone else.
Two-Bit laughed. "Soda, you gotta watch where you're goin' or—" His smirk quickly disappeared when he noticed the badge on the man Soda bumped into. "… or we can get caught," he finished quietly.
"Excuse me boys, do we have a problem here?" The cop stood tall, glaring at the younger boy in front of him.
"N-no sir," Soda stuttered, while he raised himself up. "We was just …"
"Committing disorderly conduct? Disturbing the human peace? Acting recklessly, disrupting a lawful assembly of persons?" The cop rattled on and on about other things, taking down a few notes.
Soda and Two-Bit exchanged looks, and each of them had no idea what the officer was talking about. They both shrugged.
Two-Bit still believed there was nothing wrong about having a little fun.
"I believe both you boys have the right to remain silent," the officer said, and the boys felt cold metal on their hands, but didn't react in time as the cop closed the handcuffs with a snap.
"What?!" Soda swiveled his head around to see himself in handcuffs, and Two-Bit was in handcuffs also. He groaned.
"I said, you have the right the remain silent," the cop stridently said, leading them toward and pushing them both into the police car.
"Shit," Two-Bit muttered. "Just what I need …"
XXX
The officer closed the cell. The door made a shrill, echoing noise that caused both of the boys to jump.
"Now you two just stay there while I make some phone calls," the cop said as he locked the cell, and the keys jingled as he walked back to his desk.
"Are your parents home?" he asked Soda, as he picked up the phone from it's cradle.
"Well … not exactly. But my brother Darry's home, try him." Soda thought about what Darry would say when he found out about this.
"I'm gonna be in deep shit when I get home …" He sighed.
"Yeah. If we go home, and Mr. Do-Not-Disturb-the-Public lets us outta here," Two-Bit shot the officer a biting glare.
"Call me Officer O'Connell." The cop must've heard Two-Bit's rambling.
"Connell O'Shmonell … ya still put us in the jail," Two-Bit said to himself quietly, and crossed his arms.
"Boy, is there anyone I can call at your house?"
"You can try my old lady, but I don't think she's home …" Two-Bit prayed that his mother wasn't home.
The officer dialed Soda's number first, and looked over to Soda. "Hello, Mr. Curtis? This is Officer O'Connell with the Tulsa County Jail … Yes, I have your brother Sodapop Curtis here with me …"
The officer kept talking to Darry while Two-Bit sat on the floor, and slowly swayed back and forth. Soda leaned against the wall, with his arms crossed.
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer, take one down, pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of beer on the wall …" Two-Bit sang lousily, as if they'd be there all their lives.
"Quit singin'," Soda barely held in his smile. It only encouraged Two-Bit to go on with the second verse.
"Alright, now for you," Officer O'Connell looked over at Two-Bit.
Both of them stopped laughing, and masked on some tough-looking faces toward the officer.
They didn't scare him though. Lucky for Two-Bit, his mom didn't pick up. "You're lucky, Mathews. She doesn't seem to be home."
"Yes," Two-Bit cheered quietly to himself.
"As for you, Curtis, your older brother doesn't seem too delighted …"
"I ain't so thrilled either," Soda said inaudibly, and paced around the jail cell.
XXX
"Hello?" There was a knock on the door. "Anyone in here?"
Officer O'Connell spun around in his chair. "Mr. Curtis?" He stood up.
"Officer O'Connell?" Darry asked.
"Yes," the officer replied. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah … same," Darry blandly shook his hand. His eyes wondered to the jail cell where Two-Bit and Soda were fast asleep.
"I guess you're wondering why they're here," Officer O'Connell broke through Darry's thoughts.
"Yeah. Why are they here, officer?"
The Officer went over his notepad and read. "Disorderly conduct. Nothing major … but they were still disturbing the public peace." He gave Darry a disappointed look, and Darry was already wide-eyed.
Oh, glory. What if the social workers find out about this? I'll lose Soda and Pony for sure …
The Officer grinned. "But, I'm gonna let them off the hook this time," he said as Darry sighed in relief. "Hopefully it'll scare 'em enough not to make 'em do it again."
Darry cracked a smile, in total relief. "It should. Thank you Officer, thank you …" Darry was more than thankful and shook the officer's hand again.
Soda heard Darry's voice and slowly opened his eyes. "Darry? That you?" he asked tiredly.
"Hey little buddy, looks like you got yourself into some trouble, huh?"
"I'm sorry, Dar." Soda looked down at the cement floor, and then pointed his finger at Two-Bit. "It was his idea."
"What was whose idea?" Two-Bit rolled over, yawning.
"Nothing," Darry laughed softly. "C'mon, let's go home."
"W-wait?" Two-Bit said. "You're not gonna tell my old lady, are ya?"
"Naw," Darry shook his head. "I ain't like that."
The Officer unlocked their cell, and the boys ran out like a ghost was chasing after them.
"I ain't ever goin' back there again," Soda sighed. "How does Dally sit in there all the time?"
"Dally, as in Dallas Winston?" Officer O'Connell asked, like he knew Dally or something.
"Yeah, how d'you know?" Soda furrowed his eyebrows.
"That's a stupid question," Two-Bit snorted. "Every cop in the state of Oklahoma knows who Dallas Winston is."
O'Connell laughed. "Well, I mean a friend of mine knows him. He deals with him and Shepard over there a lot."
XXX
"Alright, so what were you boys' doin' downtown that pissed off that cop over there?" Darry asked, on the way back home. He acted serious, as if it were a real arrest and it wasn't only to scare them.
"Well, Darry. We was just doin' some back-flips and cartwheels when Soda bumped into the fuzz," Two-Bit jerked a thumb toward Sodapop. "If he weren't so damn clumsy ..."
"Hey! It ain't my fault—" Soda argued back.
"I knew that acrobatics lesson was a bad idea …" Darry shook his head, and gripped the steering wheel as they pulled into the driveway.
XXX
I was doing my homework when I heard the door slam. I peered through the crack of the door and I saw Two-Bit slump himself onto the couch, and turned on the TV. "Thanks for bein' so cool about this, Darry."
Being the curious person I was, I walked on inside and saw Two-Bit, Darry and Soda. "Cool about what?"
"Hey, Pony. Uh, nothin'. Me an' Two-Bit just got jailed, that's all," Soda said, without any expression. Jailed? That's all?
"For what?" I asked.
"We was doin' acrobatics downtown and I don't know, somethin' like, disturbin' the public peace?" Two-Bit shrugged.
Darry hung up his coat. He walked over to me, and whispered. "Cop was just playin' a joke on them. He said it'd make sure they don't do it again. Let's just hope they don't."
Acrobatics?
Leave it up to those two to pull something like that.