Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, I wouldn't be writing on here.

Chapter 4-Twelve Hours

Ponyboy POV.

The street was quiet as I crossed over to Delaney Street. The fact that not a soul was walking around made me even twitchier. People were always walking around this time of night and walking by my lonesome was just asking to get jumped. Especially since I was so close to The Bulldog's, my gangs rival gang, territory line. My fears were confirmed a second later when a quick shadow passed to my right. The Bulldog's must've scared everyone away from here, probably waiting for me to come. They don't like to jump you in broad daylight, with so many people to witness it. I looked at my watch again. Forty minuets to ten. Crap. Mom and Dad would flip if I was late again. I didn't have time to fight right now. I turned onto Welders Street. Ten blocks and I was home. I could here The Bulldogs were scuttling around, tracking me and waiting for the perfect time to jump me. I wasn't going to make it. I sighed and stopped. Better to stand up to them and get beat then to keep walking when I knew they were coming. That would make me out to look like a wuss. I didn't have to wait long. Jimmy, The Bulldogs leader, walked out of the shadow across the street and slowly walked toward me. I could see various Bulldog members coming up behind him.

"Hey punk. You know you're on our territory right?"

"No." He raised his eyebrows and stopped just short of the sidewalk on my side of the street."

"Oh?"

"Your territory ends in the middle of the street. I'm on my side of the line." I knew this wouldn't matter, but might as well tell him. He just smirked.

"You that shrimp kid in Tom's gang, ain't you? Yeah, Johnny told me you were a little smart ass. Guess I'm going to have to fix that, ain't I?"

I had just enough time to ready myself when he punched me in the gut. Any normal person would've been wheezing on the ground with that punch, but in my gang, we to tough to be knocked down with just one punch. I steadied myself and return his gut punch with a hit to the face. I felt with satisfaction, his nose break under my fist. Ha! Bet that'll leave a mark. The rest of The Bulldog's were there now and they landed all over me. I could barely hold up on my own with two people fighting me, definatley not a whole gang. Every part of me was being hit as I went down. They kept this up for what seemed for hours, but was probably just a few minuets. Suddenly, it all stopped. It took a minuet to register this. I looked up and saw the face of my gang leader, Tom, or Four Eyes as we call him, looking down at me.

"Hey Four Eyes." I said weakly. The guys had done a number on me, I was lucky to be conscious.

"Hey Bulls-Eye. You ok?" I nodded and got up with a bit of help from Lizard and Peachy, two more of our gang. Miraculously, I was able to stand and walk on my own. I knew that by tomorrow I would not only be sore, but extremely bruised up. How the hell was I going to explain this to Mom? She was going to freak when she saw me.

"So what did you do to piss of The Bulldogs now?" Four-Eyes asked as we began to walk down Welders Street.

"Guess I was walking too close to the line again. That and think they've been after me for awhile, you know, since I messed Johnny up." About a month ago, Johnny, a member of The Bulldogs and one of Jimmy's many little brothers, had had a run in with me not too long ago, and the result was me breaking his nose, four ribs, and several other small things. The idiot should have known better than to mess with me. Four-Eyes nodded.

"Knew he would get you back. Ain't it passed your curfew?" I looked at my watch and shook my head.

"Nah I got thirty minuets to walk home. That or I'm grounded for about the bazillionth time this month." Lizard chuckled at this. I looked behind me at the sound and realized that the entire gang excluding Lizard, Four-Eyes, and I had just disappeared into the shadows. It's funny how easy that is in New York.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, thinking about our own personal things. I was thinking about the gang. We were a large group rough teenage boys who fought for control over downtown New York. At first, in earlier years, we had just been a small group of friends, always hanging out, but then at age ten, that had changed. That was when the Allens had moved in downtown. The Allens were a large family who had about a gazillion kids. That's when the street war started. The Allen Kids wanted control, to bully people I mean. They loved to pick on the smaller people. Unfortunately, the whole gang, excluding me, lived in the general area that The Allens, later known as The Bulldogs on account of their looks, and were constantly getting jumped for money or just for fun. Pretty soon, it had gotten so bad that Four-Eyes had got the gang together so we wouldn't be beat up so bad. The Bulldogs saw us as a threat and had immediately turned enemy to us. Now every chance they got, they tried to beat the snot out of us. Usually while we were separated like tonight. Sometimes I wished in the poorer section of New York. It's not that I was ungrateful or anything, but I didn't really like my dad's money. What was the point of it. If I indulged like all the other boys I lived near, I would turned spoiled like them, always wanting more and more. The gang got that about me and were able to see around the fact that I was a rich kid. I almost never asked my dad for money, only for emergencies which usually involved the gang. My thoughts were interrupted by Four-Eyes.

"Hey Bulls, we're here man. Hurry inside. 'fore your mom flips out again." I nodded and walked through the white picket fence surrounding my fathers large estate. I waved goodbye to Lizard and Four-Eyes before running inside. Just as I opened the door, the clock chimed ten o clock. I breathed out a relieved breath. My mother was sitting on the couch, obviously making sure I got home on time.

"You're right on time." She said, looking a the chiming clock. I nodded and was about to head up the long staircase when she saw the numerous developing bruises I had all over me. Shit. How was going to explain. Looked like I was going to have to lie again.

"I got jumped." It wasn't a total lie. Technically I was jumped.

"By who?"

"I don't know. Couldn't see their faces." Okay, that was a straight up lie. Thank god I was such a good liar. She seemed to believe me.

"Well maybe we should take you up to see Doctor Eisner." I shook my head. Every time I got even a scratch on me, my mother would take me up to the expensive doctor just to make sure I had no infections. Maybe I could convince her I was okay. I hated the doctor's office more than anything. She got that look in her eye, the one she gets when she's ready to argue, so I intervened before she could put her foot down.

"Look mom, I'm alright. Just a few bruises. Not even some open wounds. I'll be okay." I gave the smile, the one that she just can't refuse. She sighed and I knew I had won.

"Alright, but at least put some ice on those bruises." I nodded. If I didn't she might have changed her mind. I ran into my father on the way to the kitchen.

"Whoa son. What happened to you?"

"Jumped on the way home. Mom says to put ice on the bruises." He raised his eyebrows.

"She isn't making you go to the doctors office?"

I shook my head. His eyebrows went up further, he was obviously surprised by my mom's leniency. Truth be told, so was I, I was sure she was going to drag me down to Dr. Eisner office by force. I moved around my dad and into the massive kitchen. I took a ice pack my mom keeps in there and pressed it to my eye, which was bruising the worst. While holding the ice pack to my face I picked up the book I had left on the counter. Sighing I put it back down. Another book I've read a dozen. I really needed to go to library. We had one her at the house, but it was full boring books about law and stuff. Not that I haven't read most of them, there just boring. After just sitting in the kitchen for a while doing nothing but trying help swelling go down, I finally decided to go to bed. Lord knew this was going to hurt worse in the morning, but I was really tired and wanted to go to bed. Since tomorrow was Friday, I planned to hang out at he gang 's apartment. I climbed upstairs and went to bed thinking about the gang again.

So, how was this one? I hope it was better than the last chapter. More of Pony's life in the gang coming up soon! Please, please, please, please review!