Chapter 4 - Disappear

Dally walked Rae back to the Curtis house after he'd forced her to eat some fries. Eating made her stomach churn- but she didn't have the strength to be stubborn. She watched the run-down sidewalk go by under her feet as he talked.

"He disappeared," Dally explained, sucking on his cigarette. He exhaled the smoke over his shoulder so it wouldn't be in her face. "Buck and I went all over town lookin'. Prob'ly layin' low with one of his dealers in case we went to the cops." She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and nodded. "He can't have gone too far. We'll get him soon. Ya know that, right?"

"'Yeah," she answered him, but she knew the disappointment was spelled out on her face.

"Hey, kid," her brother started, flicking his smoke out into the road. "It's okay." He reached out and patted her back, then rested his arm across her shoulders. "I...I know it's been shit, but it's gonna turn out fine. Would I lie to you?" The edges of her lips tugged upwards a little, and he nodded approvingly, even if his eyes seemed downcast. "That's it. Now, get inside," he ordered, squeezing her with the arm draped around her and then shoved her inside the gate.

Rae watched him walk away from her again, torn. She wanted him to catch their father and put the fear of Christ in him, for sure. But, she also really wished he'd just stay put for a while. The edges of her mouth drooped back down. The turmoil she'd felt the night before started rising up again and she tried to push it back down. Or maybe it was the fries. When she came back to reality, she was white-knuckling the links of the fence. After releasing the metal and shaking her cramped hands out, Rae closed the gate and turned to go up the worn-down wooden steps but the screen door slammed shut and Two-Bit appeared in her way, slinging her backpack over his shoulder. The sight of him helped turn her mood a little.

"We're gonna drop your stuff at my place and then go do somethin'," he said, skipping down the steps. He threaded his arm through hers as he passed, forcing her to turn with him, and headed down the sidewalk.

"What?"

"Oh, hell, I dunno. Somethin' fun?"

"Knowin' you, Two-Bit, 'fun' is walking around a store for an hour just so you can lift somethin'."

"It was two hours and it was damn well worth it," he replied, patting the pocket he kept his prized blade in.

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Ya know, I can carry my own bag," she said, and tried reaching for it.

"Nope," he simply said, and switched it to the other shoulder. Rae wanted to argue, but she let him do as he pleased.

When the pair reached Two-Bit's house, she took in the sight of his large room.

"You never did tell me how you managed to steal the biggest room in the house," Rae mused as he tossed her backpack onto his unmade bed and grabbed some money from the top drawer of his dresser.

"My mom said she didn't need such a big room when my dad ran out, so she gave it to me. I think she just didn't want to be reminded of him. Suzie was awfully jealous." He paused for a moment and looked around at his little collections. "Shit, even with the couch and the king-sized in here, I still can't seem to fill it."

"Surprising, considerin' all the stuff you steal," Rae said with a snort. She followed him out of his room and to the front door.

"It's mostly small shit," he said, with a laugh, as they made their way back outside. "Hard to loot large stuff."

"So, where we goin'?"

"Hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. Where do you wanna go? Nothin' wild. You heard Dally." Rae thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I dunno. When you said we were goin' out, I assumed you already had somethin' in mind." They started walking in a random direction, both silently thinking. "How about the roller rink?" she suggested. "Haven't been there in ages."

"You sure? It's a pretty big Soc hangout," Two-Bit reminded her.

"Mm…" She bit her lip in thought and put her hands in her pockets.

"And you're feelin' up to it?"

"Well, I'm a little sore, I guess, but I should be okay."

"Not-uh-not really what I meant."

"I know what ya meant."

"Alright," he relented. "Let's go. But we're gonna get the boys to come so we won't be amongst the bless-ed elite by ourselves." They headed back towards the house again. "If it's too much, you let me know and we'll go right away," he stressed.

Once back at Two-Bit's, they called up the Curtis's house to see if the brothers wanted to come. Johnny was already there, doing his homework with Ponyboy. Steve was getting ready to head home, but Darry said he'd send them and Soda over. Darry himself had a rough day at work and didn't feel up to showing.

At her friend's urging, Rae also dialed up the Shepard's. Just like Dally and Tim, she and Curly were friends, although they didn't get their kicks by punching each other's lights out. He was one of the first few people she'd fallen in with when they came from New York, aside from the Curtis outfit. His younger sister, Angela, answered the phone and let them know, in a very long and rambling way, that Curly was currently indisposed- sleeping off a fight and a hangover. She sounded a little off her rocker- high as a damn kite.

Rae shook her head, and hung up the phone. If that girl wasn't careful, she'd find herself back in a rehab center soon enough. She and Two-Bit left to drive his beat-up, old car to the rink. They paid to get in, rented skates, and decided to have a few go-arounds while they waited for their group to show. The Socs that were there kept a right close eye on them but didn't give them shit.

Rae stayed close to Two-Bit as they went out and rolled around a bit, grabbing on to each other as they slid around the arena. After a few minutes of fumbling around, they let go of each other, but he was still having some issues with balance.

"Just skate around edges til ya get used to it," she urged, watching him with an amused smile. She did another turn around the rink with Two-Bit holding her arm for balance. "Shouldn't they be here by now? It ain't that far of a walk."

"Speak of the devil," her friend said, nodding towards the entrance. The gang stood there, handing over their loose change to the guy behind the counter. Rae's eyes lit up when she saw them, and grabbed Two-Bit's wrist to pull him off the floor. She stopped directly in front of the others in one fluid motion, but her friend nearly ran into her back.

"Hey, guys" Rae greeted them. She heard various greetings come back her way. "Why don't ya meet us on the floor when ya got your skates on?" She turned to go back onto the skate floor, Two-Bit in tow.

"Hey, Rae-wait-" Before she could stop, she crashed into a passerby who also had on a pair on skates. They both lost their balance slid to the floor. Her elbow hit the tile pretty hard as she landed on her side. Steve immediately bent down and grabbed her arm to hoist her back up.

"Gotta careful, kid." She hissed at the pain in her arm, but it didn't seem broken. Definitely bruised.

With the help of his friend, the person she'd run into was also back on his feet. They were both tall with dark hair, wearing the clothes that Rae and her friends would usually mock. Two girls came to a halt behind the boys. All of them were Socs and that just spelled trouble.

"You okay, man?"

"Of course I'm not. I just got knocked down by this bitch!" he said, darkly, as wave his hands in her direction. His eyes narrowed in on her. "Maybe we should teach her a lesson, yeah?" She glared back at him, anger simmering under the surface of her skin. Her hands balled into fists, but before she could have a go at him, Soda stepped in between them, holding her back with his arm.

"Lay off, pal. It was an accident," he interjected. An electric tension passed between them as they stared each other down.

"Is it ever an accident with you, hoods?" The kid smirked at them. Rae pushed forward, sorely wanting to punch that smug face of his, but Soda's arm in front of her was like steel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Two-Bit's hand slide into his pocket, slowly reaching for his switchblade.

"Bob, can we not, tonight?" the pretty red-head behind him spoke up, probably sensing the wrongness in the air. Two-Bit paused. "You promised us a good night. It's no fun to watch you get into a stupid fight." He continued glaring daggers at Rae, but finally thought better of it and eased down.

"Fine. I guess you're right," he said to his girl, heaving an overly dramatic sigh. "I guess tou're off the hook for tonight, grease." As they started to skate away, the two boys shoved Soda and Rae out of their way, almost knocking her over again, and went for the other side of the rink. The two girls followed them, the red-head shooting Rae a glance with a sad smile, an apology in her eyes.

The boys glared after them, but finally sat down to put their skates on. Rae slid into the chair next to Ponyboy while she waited. She looked at the people around them. Some were still watching their group, as if they were the troublemakers. What else was new?

"How ya doin', Rae?" Ponyboy asked. She went to inspecting her elbow. It was red, but thankfully not swollen.

"Ya know, Pone, I-I don't really know,," she replied as he bent down to tie his skates. "I sure wish Dally was here, though," she admitted, under her breath. Her brother would've beat the tar outta that stupid kid, Soda be damned. Pony stood up and balanced for a few seconds, then offered her his hand.

"Would ya?" he asked. Rae smiled softly and took his hand. He sure was a sweet kid. He easily pulled her to her feet and led her out onto the skate floor. When they'd done a few laps, the pair noticed that the rest of their outfit sat on the walls bordering the rink, making stupid faces and waving at them as they passed. Rae rolled her eyes.

"They're so embarrassing," she pointed out as she flipped them the bird. Soda pointed at her and said something to Steve, who started laughing. Ponyboy chuckled and nodded.

"No kidding," he agreed with a shake of his head.

"Hey, why don't ya'll stop standin' around and get your hides out here with us?" she called as they went by again.

"Ya know, Rae, you're good at this."

"Thanks," she said with half a smile. To show off a little, she flipped around and skated backwards. Pony laughed again, but a silence stretched between them. She sensed what was coming. She flipped herself back around and prepared for his questions. He was young and curious. And he had always come to her with questions on delicate subjects he didn't understand. Subjects he wasn't sure how to ask Darry about.

"Hey, Rae?"

"Hmm?"

"How-how can people do things like that to others?" he asked. Rae gave him a sad smile. She wasn't sure she had a good answer for him when she didn't even know herself. "Why did he do it?"

"I don't really know, Pony," she started, throwing her arm around his shoulders.

God, he was growing. Soon he'd be taller than her and she wouldn't be able to do this anymore.

He looked at her like she was the wisest person in the world, waiting for an answer.

"Someday, I think I'd like to know, too. But for now..."

"For now?"

"For now, we deal with what we got… And hopefully when it's all over, I'll come out okay."

"Are you sure?" She removed her arm and linked it through his. Rae could feel the turmoil bubbling inside of her gut. No, she wasn't sure, but it would have to be good enough to wish.

"I sure hope so. Havin' the boys around, though- that sure helps a ton." Ponyboy nodded but looked towards the floor, watching his feet move, his mind clearly still heavy.

They skated the rest of the turns in silence and when the song ended, they joined the others again for food. After swallowing a few potato chips and a couple sips of Coke that Soda had shoved her way (probably ordered by Darry), Rae still couldn't shake the feeling, so she wandered off to the bathroom to hide from her crowd of friends for a while.

After a few minutes of sitting in a stall, staring at her feet and holding back the tears that she desperately didn't want to cry, she went to a sink to splash cold water on her face. While she was drying her face, the red-headed Soc from earlier that night also exited a stall. Rae could feel the girl's eyes scanning her in the mirror as she washed her hands. She was sure her eyes were red-rimmed and her nose red, but she couldn't bring herself to look at her own face. It seemed like the girl wanted to say something, but she kept quiet, so Rae left the bathroom.

For the rest of the night, she tried to have good time, but she found herself failing. It was around nine when they decided to leave.

"See ya'll tomorrow!" Two-Bit shouted across the parking lot as he led Rae back to his car.

"Later!" Soda called back. Rae gave a short wave to everyone, then dropped into the seat, her mind still heavy and growing tired. Two-bit jumped into the driver's side and they drove back to his house. Their journey was quiet. She imagined Two-Bit was probably exhausted as he'd been back up to his normal antics that night, picking pockets and poking fun at anyone he could find. Probably trying to get her to laugh.

"Looks like my mom ain't home yet," he said when they pulled up to the dark house. The only light on was the porch light. They both got out of the car and went inside. Rae trudged back to Two-Bit's room and actually fell into his couch. It was really comfortable...

"Don't ya want a pillow, kid?" he asked. She was already halfway to dreamland and couldn't find the words to answer him. She felt him shove a pillow under her head and drop a blanket over her body, and then everything went black.