Summary: "I wondered about them... The girls, I mean. Did they cry when their boys got hauled in, like Evie did with Steve, or did they run out on them, like Sylvia did Dallas?"
Evie tells what happened on the night Steve got arrested. and I suck at summaries

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "The Outsiders"; That's SE Hinton's job. I don't own "As Tears Go By", either. I have a hunch that Mick Jagger owns that, but Marianne Faithfull might. Hmmn.


In our neighborhood, when you gotta problem, everybody knows about it real fast. Like when Curly got sent to the reformatory for the 10000th time, near everybody heard about it. We all know when Dal and Sylvia are together, and when they're at each other's throats, and who's mad at who, and who's going with who, and who's in prison. When you get a cold, it's the entire East Side's cold, just about. So it was only natural that when Steve got hauled in, everybody heard.

Me and Steve was down at Buck's. Not exactly a romantic date or nothin', but we do what we can. He was drunker thenna skunk, which wasn't nothin' new. I was sittin' with Kathy, watchin' Two-Bit play pool. So we didn't see how the fight got started. But the next thing we know, Steve's getting into it with some other guy, slingin' punches like it's the end of the world.

I hate when he fights. Fightin' in general don't bother me none, but I can't stand to see Steve hurt.

Fights at Buck's happen a lot. Little fights, he don't mind. But when they get outa hand, he makes the people fightin' take it outside. Even the real drunk ones do it, 'cause Buck's scary when he's pissed. But Steve and whoever that guy was were on a mission to take the other one down, and didn't leave when Buck told 'em to.

And there I am, screaming at him to listen to Buck, on the verge of tears. Kathy was squeezing my hand, and telling me to, "Shut the fuck up, Evie. Steve can take care of hisself.", even though she knows that fighting bullshit makes me crazy.

I don't know how long they fought like that, with Buck an' me tryin' to holler over 'em. A lot of people had crowded around, and were either cheering for Steve or that guy, calling him Rob, or just watching the action. And I guess Buck just got really hacked off with 'em, 'cause he eventually called the cops.

"Break it up!" he yelled for the millionth time, over that God-awful Hank Williams of his. "Ya know I don't like doin' this to y'all, but the Fuzz is on their way!"

Most people went back to do their own thing, but Steve and Rob was still fightin' when the Fuzz showed up.

When we heard the sirens, I was really slingin' snot. Steve couldn't get arrested. He... He couldn't. But sure enough, he got cuffed, and so did Rob. Their charge was somethin' about disruptin' the peace and injuring others. Even though I knew Steve had been in way worse fights, and I'm sure Rob had, too. So, y'know, they got hauled in... All that shit... And I just cried into Kathy's arm, trying not to make a mess of mascara on her low-cut blouse.

That was a few weeks ago. Sylvia told me to suck it up and be tough. She also said I may as well find somebody else, 'least while Steve is in the Cooler, anyway. But it just ain't that simple, you know? She might be able to fuck every male in Tulsa, but I just... Can't. She don't really... She don't make attachments like me. She just messes around with people when Dally gets hauled in, and sometimes when he's out, too. But I do make attachments, and I wanna cry all over again when it hits me that he's in for some un-Godly amount of time. And if I know Steve, he won't be getting' out early on good behavior.