Summary: It's been three months since the end of 'Make My Car Tuff'. Now, Steve is eighteen and gets sent over to Vietnam to fight in the war. Still in Steve's POV.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.
It had been three months since my father's trial where the judge had declared me a legal adult even though I was still seventeen. Now, I was eighteen and still staying with the Curtises. I'd been working full time at the DX station so I could start saving money to get my own apartment.
"Ready for another day of work in this heat?" George asked me as we both walked out of the office located at the back of the station. It was early summer and the heat was almost unbearable. Especially when working on cars. Soda and I both had sunburns on our arms and faces that would eventually become tans and Soda's hair was already lighter from the sun.
"It's not like I have much of a choice," I replied. "Of course, I can always work on a car in the garage. It's a little cooler in there."
"Not much," George told me. "The fan we have in there just blows the hot air around. But if you want to work in there, go ahead. I'll stay out here and help the customers."
I watched as George walked to the gas pumps where a customer had just pulled up. Then taking a rag out of my back pocket, I wiped the sweat that had started to trickle down my face away as I walked into the garage. George was right about the fan only blowing the hot air around. It was almost as hot in the garage as it was outside. I moved the fan closer to the car that was waiting to be loked at so that I'd have some air blowing on me as I worked but it provided very little relief.
"Gosh it's hot," I looked up from under the hood of the car and found Ponyboy walking towards me. Normally Ponyboy doesn't come to the DX station if Soda isn't working so I was surprised to see him there.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, wiping more sweat from my face.
"I was walking to the movie house because there's air conditioning there and stopped here for a Pepsi. George told me to give you one, too," Ponyboy said, handing me a cold bottle of the soda. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "I also came to give you this. I thought you might want to read it right away."
I took the envelope from him and held it in my hand. Even before I opened it, I knew what it contained. I had seen classmates at school with identical envelpoes, showing them to their friends with a mix of emotions flashing across their faces. Now as I opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside, I knew that my life was about to change.
"Well, this is the highlight of my day," I mumbled sarcastically as I put the letter back into the envelpoe and put it in my back pocket. Then I leaned against the car and shook my head in disbelief even though I knew the letter was very real.
"It's not good, is it?" Ponyboy asked. He was finishing his Pepsi as he put an elbow on the car.
"That depends on how you look at it," I replied, adding, "I thought you were going to the movie house."
"I am," Ponyboy said. "You know, I heard Randy burned his. He's a hippie now or something."
"Isn't that the kid who was friends with that soc Johnny killed?" I asked.
Ponyboy nodded. "But he doesn't look like a soc anymore. His hair is longer than mine."
I looked at Ponyboy's hair which had finally grown out from getting bleached last fall when he was in Windrixville with Johnny. It was looking almost like it used to and I knew he was happy about it because he hated the bleached hair. He also hated the haircuts Darry made him get while it was growing out.
"Well, I'm going to go now," Ponyboy told me as he started to walk away. "I'll see you back at the house."
I didn't reply as Ponyboy walked out of the garage. Instead, I tried to go back to working on the car, but images from the nightly news kept filling my mind. Images that would soon become a reality because contained in the envelope in my back pocket was a draft notice. I was being sent to fight in Vietnam.
