I spent the entire next day with Sodapop. Darry had to work all day (as usual), so Soda and I decided to have dinner ready for Darry as soon as he got home.
"What do you want to make?" Soda asked, searching through the kitchen cupboards.
"I don't know... what do you wanna make?" I giggled and elbowed him. He turned around abruptly and tickled me until I fell to the ground screaming. I stayed there laughing and Soda turned around with a smug grin, starting to walk away. I was too quick for him, though. Before he had taken three steps, I wrapped my foot around his ankle and tripped him. He fell to the floor, yipping in surprise.
Just then the phone rang. I scrambled to my feet.
"Hello?" I answered, a little bit out of breath.
"Yeah, is this May Curtis speaking?" a bored female voice asked.
"Yes," I said hesitantly. "This is her."
"Well I'm calling to tell you that you've just scored yourself a job at Go-Mart. Congrats." My mouth dropped open.
"Really?" I squealed.
"Yep," the girl answered, in the same monotone. "You start September third at three-thirty PM sharp. We'll mail you your schedule."
"Thank you so much!" I practically screamed.
"No problem. See you then," she answered, hanging up. I started to turn around.
"Soda, guess what! I..." but before I could finish my sentence, a stream of extremely fizzy and cold Coca-Cola was sprayed all over my face. I frantically wiped my eyes just in time to see Sodapop shaking up another bottle of pop, snickering to himself. I dove toward the fridge, pulling out the first thing I saw: ketchup.
"Shit!" Soda yelled when he saw what I'd grabbed. "That's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair!" I roared, squirting ketchup just as he ducked out of the way. Great. Now there was a big, slimy red mess on the floor. I didn't have time to worry about the ketchup for long, though; soon Soda was coming at me with a bottle of mustard. "Is this seriously happening?" I yelled, holding my hands in front of my face. Soda squirted mustard all over me, the counter, and the floor.
I made my way to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of syrup, immediately chasing Soda with it.
This went on for a little while longer until I stumbled backward, bumping into a crate of coke bottles, a couple of them falling and smashing on the floor. "Sodapop!" I yelled, looking down at the thousands of shards of glass on the floor.
He didn't have time to apologize. You know why?
Because right then, right at that exact moment, the back door leading into the kitchen opened up. Do I even have to tell you who had just come home from a long day of work to find a kitchen that looked like it had been uprooted by a tornado? I am so grounded.
"Hey, Darry," I said in a shaky voice. He was just standing there in the doorway, mouth hanging open. "Guess what; I got a job at Go-Mart!"
For a little while Darry didn't respond. He took a couple of steps into the kitchen and I watched as his face turned bright red and a vein started pulsing in his neck. He was practically shaking. I almost wished that Darry would say something; the silence was eerie and nauseating. Finally, he got a word out. One word. "How?"
"Well, I walked to Go-Mart and filled out an application! They called just now..."
"Not the job," Darry said slowly, articulating each word as if he had just learned to speak. He looked like he was ready to explode. I got that horrible feeling of shame in my lower stomach, like I was about to get explosive diarrhea.
"We'll clean it up," I said in a small voice. I glanced over at Soda, seeing him shaking his head solemnly. He looked kind of ashamed. Or maybe it was just the reality of how much trouble we were in crashing down on him.
"Sodapop," Darry said loudly.
"Yeah, Darry?"
"You wanna tell me how the hell you let this happen?" Darry demanded. For a second I thought I might be in the clear. But only for a second.
"Darry, come on, don't blow it out of proportion..." Soda started.
"Blow it out of proportion?" Darry repeated. This was almost comical to him, in a sick kind of way. "Okay, neither of you are going anywhere until this kitchen sparkles. Got it?" Soda and I both nodded. I didn't want to look Darry in the eye. "And then you're both going to your rooms for the rest of the night while I think of a suitable punishment. No dinner for either of you."
"Aren't we a little old for that?" Soda grumbled.
"It's okay," I shushed him. "I'm on a diet, anyways."
Two hours later, when the entire kitchen was clean, Soda and I sulked into our rooms.
I didn't feel like what I'd done was that awful! So I'd made a mess of the kitchen, big deal! We cleaned everything up, didn't we? Plus, Darry hadn't even acknowledged my job! I'd worked so hard to get it and he wasn't even proud.
Feeling rebellious, I opened my door a crack and sneaked into the hallway, slipping into Pony and Soda's room. Soda was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Aren't you supposed to be in your room? It hasn't been longer than five minutes," Soda said.
"I don't think we did anything wrong," I said confidently.
"Yeah?" he smirked. "Try telling Darry that."
"What's the worst he can do?" I walked around the room, opening drawers and peering inside. I found a copy of The Call of the Wild. "Hey, Soda? What's this about?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Dunno. Ponyboy had to read it for his English class last year and I guess he liked it so much that he got his own copy."
"Can I read it?" I leafed through the book.
"Sure," he said. "You're gonna need something to occupy yourself for the rest of the night." I sighed dramatically and headed for the door with Ponyboy's book. I stood in the doorway, feeling like I needed to say something.
"Darry and I really clash sometimes," I finally concluded. I shut the door behind me.
"Morning," I grumbled to Darry, sitting next to him at the kitchen table at breakfast the next morning.
"Hey," he said distractedly. His face was buried in the newspaper. I rolled my eyes and turned to Ponyboy.
"Pony, you know that book, uh... The Call of the Wild?"
"Yeah," he grunted into his cereal bowl.
"I hate the damn thing!" I exclaimed, then turned red when Darry gave me a look. "Sorry..." I mumbled. "Anyways, I read like half of it last night and it didn't make any sense! First of all, how the heck did Buck think in complete sentences? Last I checked, dogs aren't that smart." Ponyboy made a face.
"No, no," he fussed. "It's not like that. Buck's not portrayed as having a human thought process."
"He actually is," I argued.
"Well, it's only so that you can understand the hidden messages in the book," Pony explained.
"Hidden messages? Like morals of the story?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Survival of the fittest. Whoever's the strongest is the alpha-male, ya know? What they say goes." I let my gaze land on Darry when Ponyboy said this. Survival of the fittest. Who was going to win in the end: Darry or me? After all, it's not like I was trying to defy him! I was... right! And that was that.
Soon Darry felt me staring at him and looked up from the paper.
"Yes?" Darry asked.
"Nothing," I said quickly. "Just thinking."
"Listen." He put down the newspaper. "I've been thinking too. Since you and Sodapop cleaned up so well yesterday and barely complained... I guess yer off the hook." I found myself grinning stupidly up at Darry's passive expression. "For now," he added, his face hardening. "Don't you guys ever let that happen again, ya hear?"
So I had won? Was I learning to manipulate Darry? But wait... I hadn't done or said anything that might have swayed him. So maybe I was just really starting to grow on him. Okay. I'd won the battle... but I hadn't won the war. I nodded vigorously.
"So, uh... you got a job?" he asked, and my whole face lit up.
"Yeah! I start in a couple of weeks. I can't wait, Darry! I can help you guys with the money and get outta your hair," I laughed a little bit. Just then the phone rang. I jumped up. "I'll get it!" Darry chuckled and shook his head before returning to the newspaper.
"Hullo?"
"Hi, May!" Lisa Mathews exclaimed.
"Hi! What's up?" I leaned against the wall. Lisa and I had hung out a couple of times since that day when I admitted that I liked Jimmy. She'd told me a lot about her life, about all the awful guys that had hurt her or her friends that I should definitely stay away from (Jimmy was on this list, but I didn't care), how Two-Bit always got drunk and brought home trampy girls, and her mom's late-night job at a bar. We'd begun to really trust one another.
"Well, a bunch of people are going to go see a movie today. Would you want to come with us?" she asked. I silently cheered, overjoyed that Darry had decided not to punish me.
"Yeah, of course. Definitely!" I said eagerly. "Who's going to be there?"
"A bunch of people. Melissa, Sharon, Kate, Curly, May, maybe Tim..." she continued while my mind raced with the excitement of finally meeting the Shepards. I had heard they were really handsome. "Michael, Jimmy..."
"Jimmy?" I cut her off. "Really? He's going to come?"
"Maybe," she said. "He was kinda unclear about whether or not he would, but he'll probably end up going."
Lisa told me the rest of the details about the get-together. I couldn't wait. I really had a social life. This was awesome. And I was going to see Jimmy! I had to look perfect.
At around six o'clock that night I slipped into the livingroom and tried to make a quick getaway.
"I'm going out," I called, trying to pull the same thing Ponyboy had on one of my first couple of days in Tulsa.
"Where to?" Darry asked in a quiet voice from the couch three feet from me. Shit. I'd been hoping that he would at least be in the kitchen, if not in his room.
"Oh... just a get-together at the movie house," I answered. I turned around to see Soda and Steve sitting on the couch, also staring at me. Their gazes, however, weren't dripping with harsh accusation.
"Mhm, and who's going?" Darry didn't change his tone.
"Umm... well, Lisa's going to be there!" I said quickly, knowing that he was aware of Lisa's squeaky-clean reputation. "And a lot of her girlfriends... and," I tried to look uninterested, "a couple of guys, probably."
Darry nodded slowly. I could see that he was thinking this over very carefully. Although his brow was knitted, he looked to be giving in.
"Okay," he finally said. "Have a good time. Be back by ten."
"I will." I beamed. Wow. I had won again? This was amazing. I was about to leave when remembered something important.
"Sodapop?" He and Steve both looked up at me again.
"Yeah?"
"Okay, so let's say there's this really cute girl." I walked back to the couch and sat down next to him. He gave me an odd look. "She's smart, pretty, and funny. But she's really flat chested. That wouldn't matter to you, right?"
I heard Darry sigh heavily. Yes Darry. I did remember to talk to Soda about this issue.
"Hold it," Steve butted in. "I thought you said she was cute!"
"She is!" I insisted.
"But she's flat chested?"
"So that cancels out the cute?" I gasped.
"Definitely!" Steve said confidently. "It's a deal breaker."
I looked at Soda for help. He could see how distressed I was.
"It's not a deal-breaker for me!" Soda said. "If she's cute and funny, the chest size doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for a lot of guys."
"Yeah, the desperate guys that never get any," Steve mumbled. Soda turned to him slowly, fake anger evident on his face.
"Are you saying that Sodapop Curtis doesn't get any? Is that what you're trying to say, punk?" He stood up, puffing his chest out.
"That's exactly what I'm tryin' to say!" Steve stood up, laughing, and gave Soda a hard shove in the chest. Sodapop wrestled Steve to the floor, snickering the whole time. I decided that that was all I needed to hear.
I didn't want to date Steve Randle, anyways!
"You want a drink?" Lisa asked me. I shrugged as I tried to discreetly spot where Jimmy was sitting.
"Sure," I replied. Lisa made a face.
"Lighten up, May! A watched pot never boils." She smiled and then skipped off with a few of the girls to go buy us drinks. Who says that? I thought to myself.
I stared up at the big movie screen against the cloudy sky. The film would probably start soon and I'd have no chance to talk to Jimmy. I finally spotted him, sitting two rows below me. His jet-black hair looked great, all greased back and combed perfectly. I didn't care anymore what Lisa said.
Before I could lose my nerve, I got up out of my seat and shuffled through the people in my row. I walked over to Jimmy. Lucky for me, he was sitting on the end of his row.
"Hey there," I greeted and immediately flinched at my choice of words. "Hey there?" Nice one. I shook my head. Then Jimmy turned to look at me. He had the most beautiful deep brown eyes.
"Hey," he said. I watched him look me up and down a couple of times. Soon he was smiling at me, a crooked smile. "Do I know you?"
"Not yet," I said a little too quickly. "I'm May." I held out my hand. He stood up and got a little too close to me, then took my hand and shook it. His whole aura was so domineering: his voice, the way he stood towering over me... It kind of made me wet. It also scared me. But you know what? I loved it.
"Jimmy," he said. "Jimmy Crandle."
"I know," I whispered, my eyes flickering up to meet his. His breath smelled so strongly of whiskey that I almost gagged. But somehow he was so intoxicating. Such a babe!
He looked like he was about to say something, but then loud music started and I knew I had to get back to my seat to watch the movie.
"It was nice meeting you," I said shyly.
"Hey, you too," Jimmy replied, nodding at me. "I'll talk to you after the movie."
When the movie was finally over, Lisa, Tim, Curly, Kate, Jimmy and I all walked home together as a group. I couldn't stop sneaking looks at Jimmy. He had his own walk, too, like nobody else's. And once in a while I even caught him staring at me too.
I was fuming when he pulled Lisa aside and started talking to her about something. I watched her face light up and I got even more mad. But then she ran over to me.
"Jimmy just asked me about you," she whispered. She wiggled her eyebrows at me. I gaped.
"Really? Nuh-uh. ...really?" I looked over at Jimmy and he smiled at me.
"Mmhm!" Lisa answered confidently. "He wanted to know if you have a boyfriend."
"What did you say?" I demanded, smiling like an idiot.
"I told him you're engaged and don't want his trashy ass. Whaddya think I said? I told him you're not seeing anyone right now!" Lisa giggled. "He wants to ask you out."
I felt like I was floating. I just couldn't believe that I was that lucky! I didn't completely believe Lisa at first. I didn't want to get my hopes up. I stayed quiet and out of the way as the rest of the group talked and laughed together. I was about to get worried when Jimmy finally wandered toward me.
"Hey babe," he said, standing really close to me. He was too darned handsome!
"Hey Jimmy," I tried to sound as indifferent as possible.
"I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime. Like this Friday? We could get to know each other." Jimmy looked at me, his eyes discreetly darting up and down. He was checking me out. I nodded slowly.
"Okay. Yeah. Sounds good," I said. "I'll have Lisa give you my number." I felt like I was flying. I was on top of the world! Absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong! I was going to go out with Jimmy Crandle. We were going on a date on Friday. Jimmy and I were going to fall in love and be the cutest couple in Tulsa!
I suddenly realized that I wouldn't have anything to wear for our date. But wait, that wouldn't be a problem! I'd just ask Darry to... Darry. Shit. Oh, shit. What would Darry say about me dating a hood?
I was quiet for the rest of the walk home. Darry couldn't say no, he just couldn't! It would ruin everything!
He wouldn't say no. I'd make sure of it.