Switchblades and Cigarettes

Chapter Four

Disclaimer- I do not own the Outsiders.

Andy and I had stood their talking to the boys for nearly half an hour. When it started to get dark, Soda suggested that we head over to his place. I turned to my brother.

"Do you think we should stop by the house and tell mom and dad?" I asked.

"Well, we could," he began. "But if we did, than they would probably make us stay and help unpack."

I nodded my head, seeing his point, "True."

"So let's not," he suggested. I laughed and agreed.

We began the walk to the Curtis', it didn't take very long. Only about two minutes. Turns they lived on the same street as us. Turns out they all did. On the way we stopped at Two-bit's.

"Why don't y'all come in?" he invited. "You can meet my mom."

We entered his house. It wasn't very big, but it was alright. We stood in the living room, Two-bit had gone to put the football away. A girl, about my age came into the room. She looked at us.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Hey Carrie," Sodapop greeted. She was about to leave the room again when she saw me and Andy. She gave us a funny look.

"I don't know you," she said, confused.

"Yeah, that's Andy and Marie Stewart," Two-bit informed her, coming back into the room. "They're new."

"Well, hi," she said happily. "I'm Carrie Matthews. I apologize that you had the misfortune of meeting my brother before you met me."

I laughed, "Nice to meet ya."

"So what are you boys up to tonight?" she asked, then looked at me. "And girl, sorry."

"We're just going to Soda's," Two-bit replied. "Wanna come?"

She shrugged, "Sure. I ain't got nothing better to do."

When Carrie agreed to come I couldn't help but notice the small smile that crossed Johnny's face. He hadn't said anything yet, but I could tell from that look alone that he liked her. I told you, I'm really good at reading people.

Carrie pulled on her tennis shoes and slipped into her jacket and followed us out the door. She ran to catch up with me, and we began to walk behind the rest of them. Andy seemed to really hit it off with these guys and I was glad. He didn't have very many friends back home, I had always been more popular than him. So I was glad that he was having fun and making friends.

"So where ya from, anyways?" Carrie asked.

"Windrixville," I replied simply. She just gave me a blank stare. "It's a little over three hours away."

"Oh, okay," she said, but I still didn't think she had any idea where it was. "So, what'd ya move for?"

"Our parents decided that we weren't gettin' enough money with the farm and all," I sighed. "So they decided that we could have it better here."

She laughed when I told her that and I gave a confused look. "Better here?" she laughed. "Better on the east side? Let me tell you, this is the worst place you coulda come to if you were lookin' for better."

"How come?" I asked, confused.

"Well, it ain't exactly the safest place in the world," she explained. I just gave her a blank stare, wanting her to continue. "The boys didn't tell you? Well, ya see, there's two different groups in this town. The greasers, us, and the Socs. The Socs are the rich kids that live on the west side, and they hate us. They'll come over here and look for a lone greaser to jump just for fun. And, of course, nobody ever sticks up for us, at least nobody that can do anything about it, because we're greasers and they're Socs. We're trash and they're gold. We're the spawn of Satan and they're Gods."

I sighed, "I guess life ain't fair, huh?"

She laughed, "That's an understatement."