Back to Protect.
The church bells rang loudly, echoing down the long ramp the casket was being carried down. The church wasn't exactly full, but all the greasers in town showed up. Even people from my school, bothered to dress up nicely, I walked down the long red carpet, following the strangers. I looked around, we were in middle class territory, so it was a decent church, the same one my mom and dad's funeral was held at. The priest was reading a scripture; he stood under a long wooden cross, behind an oak podium. His ropes were pure white with a gold outlining on the sleeves and collar. He was balding but you could still see traces of blonde hair poking out. He had blue eyes; they seemed sympathetic as the casket was finally placed down. I looked over, I could see my two brothers Sodapop and Darry Curtis, Soda was bawling his eyes out, I wanted to reach out, hold him told him it was okay and I was here. But I couldn't.
Soda had brown eyes that were always smiling and laughing, but not today. His eyes were drowned in his own tears, his cheeks turning red. He gasped for air, trying to calm himself down but I could tell it was near impossible. His hair was sticking to his face, he looked torn apart. Sodapop and I were real close, he told me everything and listened to me and stood up for me when Darry yelled at me. I was kind of his part time job; he always made sure I was happy and always on my feet. I could tell that he felt like he failed at playing that role.
Darry was our eldest brother. He had pale blue eyes that were red around the rims. He wasn't crying like Soda was, but I could tell that he wanted to. However Darry never cried in public, maybe he cried the night it happened but I'm not sure. He put am arm around Soda's shoulders I could see his hand shaking slightly. It looked like he was going to lose it at any second, and that was rare for him, Darry was always firm he didn't like showing more emotion than truly necessary. He yelled at me a lot, I never really used my head and he wanted me safe. The look he wore today showed that he felt like he had truly failed his job as my guardian.
The rest of the gang stood behind them. Johnny Cade, my best buddy for a long time was crying, just like Soda. Johnny and I had always hung out late in the lot, his big black eyes feared the world, but they didn't seem so crazed when we were together. He took a lot of shit from his home life, his father beat him and his mother cussed him out. Without me or our gang Johnny would have killed himself a long time ago.
Dally stood beside him. He wasn't crying, his face barley showed any emotion from a stranger's eye, but I knew him. I could tell he wanted to pound the soc, who did this; we were never the closest buddies. Dally had hard eyes with a pure hatred for everything and everyone, his hair was almost white, it was so blonde. He used to joke around that it was because we stressed him out so much, that his hair was losing colour.
Steve, Two-Bit and Sandy stood there. They all showed hints of tears but none were crying right now. Sandy and I were okay friends, I mean she was Soda's girlfriend we use to hang out but she didn't really know me, she was here mainly for Soda. Steve was Soda's best friend; we had an understanding when it came to friendships. Yet I could tell by how he stood here, he wasn't just here for Soda, he looked truly sad and angry. I bet he wanted to join Dally in beating the day lights out of that soc just as badly. Finally Two-Bit stood there, we were real close, he had a wacky sense of humor was a good percent of the time, was drunk. However he always knew how to make you laugh at yourself, even in the worst times. Sadly I didn't think that, he was going to be cracking any jokes anytime soon.
I sat on top of the draped alter; watching the people who came, of course they couldn't see me. All they could see was my body lying inside the casket with a bullet covered fairly nicely pumped into my chest.