Switchblades and Cigarettes
Chapter Three
Disclaimer- the only ones that are mine are the ones I made up.
As Andy and I made our way back towards the house, I could hear the sound of boys yelling. As we approached the empty lot I'd seen earlier I realized it was coming from there.
We walked past the lot and I looked in to see a group of boys running around playing football. I studied the group. There were seven of them. They all looked around my age, some a little older and some a little younger. I was so wrapped up in trying to decide just how old these boys were that I didn't even see it coming, the football, that is. It smoked me right on the side of the head and I fell to the ground.
"Marie!" I heard my brother call. I could hear people running towards me. People were asking me if I was alright and someone kept apologizing. There was also manic laughter coming from somewhere.
I groaned and sat up, holding my head. "Ow," was all I said.
"Are you okay?" an unfamiliar voice questioned.
I opened my eyes. There was a bunch of guy standing around me and two crouched down beside me, Andy was one, but I didn't know who the other was. I nodded my head slowly.
"I'm really sorry," the boy apologized.
"It's okay," I assured him. "Really, I'm fine."
I looked around at the other boys. They didn't really look too inviting. They all had greasy hair except for two, one who looked like the oldest and one who looked even more dangerous than the others. They were wearing blue jeans and t-shirts, one of them had a jean jacket on and two were wearing leather jackets. One of them, with long reddish-coloured sideburns and wearing a black leather jacket, seemed like he couldn't stop laughing. I gave him a funny look. The rest of the boys followed my gaze.
"Nice, Two-bit," one of them said sarcastically. The boy, Two-bit, stopped laughing. He looked around at us all.
"Aww, c'mon guys. She ain't dead," Two-bit said. "Lighten up."
The boy sitting beside me shook his head and looked back at me. "M'name's Sodapop Curtis," he grinned then turned to his friends. "That's my older brother Darry and my younger brother Ponyboy. That's Steve Randle, Johnny Cade, Two-bit Matthews and Dallas Winston."
"Marie Stewart," I smiled back. Hooking my thumb in the direction of my brother I said, "This is my brother, Andy."
"Are y'all new?" Steve asked. "I ain't seen ya before."
"Yeah we just moved in up the street," Andy answered, pulling me back to my feet.
"So you live across the street from Johnny then?" it was a question but I don't think Sodapop really expected us to have an answer for it. Andy and I both just shrugged.
"If you say so," I replied.
"So, where ya from?" Darry questioned.
"Windrixville," Andy and I both sighed at the same time, I guess he missed home as much as I did.
"Ain't that where dad used to take us huntin'?" Ponyboy asked, opening his mouth for the first time. I assumed that he was quiet, Johnny too. I don't think Two-bit was talking because of his earlier humiliation, and Dallas, well he was the only one I wondered about.
I'm usually pretty good at reading people, but Dallas stumped me. He just stood there with a sly look in his cold eyes. His faced showed no emotion, except perhaps danger, if that even is an emotion. He scared me, to say the least. He made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time he looked at me but I couldn't help but be intrigued by him.
