Author's Note: All credit and characters go to SE Hinton.

Black Coffee

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, Mr. Curtis, I can't help you." The officer across from him shuffled through disheveled stacks of forms and reports littering his desk, whichever one he wanted obviously lost in the mix. "We're still interviewing other witnesses involved from that night. Until the investigation is complete, there's nothing more I can say."

Admittedly, Darry didn't really expect a lot of progress since his last trip to the precinct two days ago, but he had to make sure that the search hadn't ground to a halt either. He looked at the officer, Officer Martin per his name tag, and wondered if he even cared at all that two kids from the poorer East side had vanished after that Soc got killed in the park or if he'd already put a "guilty" stamp on Ponyboy and Johnny's file and had moved on to other things.

So far he'd only gotten mumblings of "we don't know" and "haven't heard anything" from everyone he'd asked, ranging from the neighbors on his block to the hoods milling about on the streets. Desperation even led him to start asking the homeless stretched out in alleyways, but their answers, when they gave any, were always the same. Simply put, no one had seen Ponyboy or Johnny. Worse, not many seemed to care.

To those who didn't know the kids, they were just two more runaway JD's. Few even bothered to look at the faded school pictures Darry'd held out. Still, he refused to give up hope. At least the gang was still searching; still checking the train and bus stations, breaking into abandoned buildings, scouring homeless shelters, and calling hospitals for kids with no names who might fit their descriptions. They were somewhere, after all.

"This is my brother I'm talking about. Him and Johnny are just kids..." Darry could read the boredom in the officer's face. He wiped his hands nervously on his jeans and started to get up. "If anything changes, will you please call me? You have my number, right? It's 918-"

"We have it, Mr. Curtis," Officer Martin interrupted with finality, looking slightly annoyed. "We'll call you."

That was that. Darry turned and headed out, weaving his way through the corridors of the precinct. People hustled by him, some coming, others going, some in handcuffs with escorts leading the way. The exit doors were nearby and as Darry turned the last corner he suddenly stopped. Ahead of him, also leaving, was a gangly Soc teenager, vaguely familiar from the grainy photos in the newspaper about the murder. He watched as the teenager crossed the street and headed into the corner coffee shop. Suddenly he had a craving for something to snack on as well.

"Sit wherever you like," the waitress called absentmindedly from behind the counter. He did just that, sliding into a booth already occupied by the Soc. The look of shock, fear and fury suddenly swirled together behind the Soc's eyes as he stared back at Darry's icy gaze. The Soc was no match and they both knew it, Darry was bigger and brawnier and any action would be over quick. The Soc made a move to leave but Darry suddenly put his boot up on the seat, blocking him in. The Soc glared.

"Whadda you want?"

"What can I get you boys?" the waitress cheerfully asked as she made her way over, unaware of any grievance as she approached her newest customer.

"Coffee, black," Darry answered, his boot still visible but now off the seat. A forced friendliness came out in his voice. "And my friend here, what was it you wanted?"

The Soc stared a moment at Darry. "Coke," he answered.

The waitress looked at both of them, sizing them up. "We don't want any trouble here, you gentlemen got that?"

"No trouble intended, miss," Darry replied. The soc said nothing. The waitress gave them both another once-over then disappeared behind the counter.

"You got nerve, what with the cops right next door."

Darry looked out the window at the station. "Only two types of people have no fear of the cops, honest... and desperate." If it had been any other time, he'd have found some humor in watching the Soc turn pale just then. "Relax, like I told her, I don't want trouble."

"Then what do you want?"

"Answers. I saw your picture in the paper, you were there that night. What happened to those kids?"

"Why don't you ask the fuzz instead," he retorted, looking around as if searching for someone.

"I have. I don't want that bullshit half story you and your buddies were feeding them to keep your necks out of jail," he improvised, "I want the truth. And knock that off. No one is here to help you. It's just you and me and all I want are answers."

The waitress came back, drinks in hand. "You two sure you're okay?" she hesitated, feeling the tension between them.

Darry nodded, adding a packet of creamer and stirring it slowly. "Yes, thanks."

The other teenager blinked, reaching for a straw to stick into his cup. She turned and left them, still not convinced at their motives but glad the police were mere yards away if necessary.

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"No, you don't. But you will."

"Just how do you propose to make me?"

Darry smirked at the Soc as he sat taller, his size answering the Soc's question. "What happened to those kids?" he repeated softer this time as he took a sip of his coffee, finding it too bitter.

"I don't know."

"Bull. You were there."

"I'm telling you, I don't know."

"Too drunk to remember beating up two kids half your size?" Darry mocked. "I thought you lived for that."

The Soc stared hard at his glass, watching condensation descend in a slow zigzag along the glass.

"What happened? Just tell me. You think those kids don't have families who are searching for them?"

"What about Bob? He was my friend, my buddy. Now he's dead. He had a family too. He didn't do anything to deserve getting killed, especially not by that grease."

"Who attacked whom that night? I doubt those kids would've fought unless they had to."

"We just wanted to teach 'em not to come on to our girls. The rest was their fault."

Darry paused, adding a spoonful of sugar to his coffee. The slight shaking of the Soc's hand was nearly imperceptible but Darry still noticed. He tried the sweetened coffee, still not liking the taste.

"Are those missing kids dead too?" he asked softly with the cup still hovering motionless at his lips.

"How would I know?"

"You were there."

"And like I said, I don't remember! Not much anyway... Jesus, those stupid grease kids!"

"Well what you do remember?" Darry demanded, his voice low. Dangerous. "Tell me."

"Why should I?"

"Because I have friends you don't want to meet and I'm not some easy 14 year old greaser you can terrorize. Now tell me what you know."

The soc blinked, trapped with no backup. "This was all Bob's idea - find the kids, work them over, let them know not to mess with our girls. Simple. Then that shit spit at Bob and it all went to hell real quick."

Darry stared at him, waiting, coffee forgotten. "They split up, making it easier on us. We worked them over then Bob screamed … I turned and saw the other kid standing behind him, his blade in his hand. Man his eyes were wild..." The Soc didn't blink. Darry recognized that far off look, the same as the one Ponyboy has when he's so absorbed in a book that the present disappears.

"Where was the other kid?" he asked carefully, his voice bone dry and hoping the Soc didn't notice.

"Huh?"

"The other kid. One had the knife, where was the other one?"

The Soc pursed his lip together and fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers. "In the fountain," he muttered.

"The fountain?"

"Yeah, two of us were trying to hold him down in the fountain while Bob and David worked him over. Wasn't easy ... kid was like a fish, stronger than what I took him for."

"You mean you held him down in the water while you beat him? Why-" A furious rage once locked within Darry began to emerge as the images of what the Soc was saying materialized in his mind. This attack was far outside the norm for Soc cruelty. No wonder one of the boys was forced into pulling their blade.

"I don't know, man!" the Soc blurted a bit too loudly. The waitresses turned in their direction but didn't approach, instead leaning into each other to whisper their disapproving opinions. Darry, forced to look natural, nodded an apologetic glance their way and the waitresses returned to their business. "Bob told us to. It was his idea, we were just following along. Stupid kid shouldn't have spit on us."

"What happened next?"

"I don't know, man. It's a blur. Blood seemed to be everywhere. Bob didn't get up and we took off, jumping in our cars and getting the hell out of there."

"And the kid in the fountain?"

"What about him?" the Soc hissed. "I already told the fuzz and now you, I don't know! We split! The end! Why does everyone care so much about what happened to those stupid kids? It was Bob who died!" The Soc slurped his Coke quickly until there wasn't anything left in the glass but ice. He started to get up but Darry still had a few more questions.

"Wait. Was he at least out of the fountain when you guys left?"

"I don't know. I guess so. Maybe." He wanted to leave, that was clear. "All I knew was I didn't want that kid putting a blade in me too, so I ran."

"Which kid had the blade?"

"What?"

"Which kid had the blade? Do you remember?"

"Look pal, we didn't exactly square off with introductions. The mouthy one was the kid Bob had the beef with, talking to our girls like that. No one expected the quiet one to have a blade, let alone use it."

Darry was going to ask more but the bell over the diner door chimed as a new customer entered. Darry looked up and saw the waitress talking to him just as they looked over in their direction. His heart sank as Officer Martin made his way over. He still had questions but the Soc saw his opportunity and bolted out before anyone could stop him.

"Mr. Curtis, I told you I'd call if we heard anything." Officer Martin didn't hide his disdain at all. "But if I hear that you're tampering with witnesses, I'll make sure -"

"Witnesses? Nothing of the sort, officer. Just stopped in for coffee before heading back home and happened to see someone I thought I went to school with. Turns out he just resembles a buddy of mine." Darry got up and took a couple of quarters out of his pocket to pay the tab having noticed the Soc skipped out on his bill. "My mistake. Have a good day, officer." He handed the waitress the money as he passed by the counter, not waiting around for Officer Martin to find something else to question him about. He'd had enough of questions for the day, the answers already too much to process.

Darry started his truck and pulled out, heading for the highway and the long ride home.

Thanks for reading,

Sorry for typo's.

Calla Lilly Rose

PS, Chapter 2 to come later...