Ring RING RRRRIIIINNNNNNNGG!
I had decided to assassinate our telephone if this call wasn't important. Unfortunately, it was. I knew this prior to even speaking to the other person on the line because the moment Two-Bit heard the person's voice, his face froze like stone.
I stared at him, wondering who it could possibly be. All day long we have been receiving phone calls from people wanting to express their sorrow. It didn't surprise me in the slightest when we started to receive the calls, having an image of what her father was like. I guess the whole town saw us as her family, and that her father was a lost piece of the puzzle. It was only by the thirteenth call that I made Steve sit in the kitchen next to the phone to answer it. The whole gang would be sitting in shifts, and when it was Two-Bit's turn they decided to call.
Two-Bit nodded while he listened. He then heard something on the other line that shocked him and he gave a small gasp that I only could hear. I was startled by the sudden change in emotions, as an angry disgusted look covered his face.
"WHAT?" Two-Bit exclaimed in such a loud voice that Johnny woke up with a start fell off the sofa. "They can't do that! He can't do that!" Two-Bit's shouts into the phone made Soda run into the kitchen with only a towel round his waist, since he hadn't taken a shower this morning and he settled for an afternoon wash off. He was immediately intrigued by what all the commotion was about, he failed to notice his lack of clothes. Thankfully, Johnny noticed the uncomfortable look on my face and silently made Soda aware of the situation. His mouth formed an O shape and he ran out of the room. He changed fairly quickly though, for he returned to the scene in less than two minutes. If only girls could get dressed that quickly.
Two-Bit looked up with a worried and angry stare. He the thrust the phone into my hands and stormed out of the house. As Two-Bit left, Dally entered. Dally glanced at Two-Bit with curiosity, and then turned to me for an explanation. I simply shrugged, but I figured I would find out why he was so enraged in a moment's notice.
"Hello?" I asked. What could have possible gotten him so angry?
"Autumn?" The caller asked. I recognized this voice, with its sweet and airy sound. It was Cherry.
"Yes. What's going on Cherry? Two-Bit is really angry about whatever you told him." I pressed. Next I heard a sigh on the other end.
"That's why I called Autumn. It's about Bob." I held my breath. His name was not one I wanted to hear right about now.
"What about him?" I muttered.
"He's on the run. When my parents told the boys to leave he knew what was coming, so he ran out with them. I'm so sorry. Then, when the police came, they wouldn't believe me or Randy."
"Wait, Randy? What was he doing there?" I could barely contain my emotions. Randy stood there and watched Valerie go down. He watched his best friend stab her, and he pushed her towards him. To hear him try and get Bob arrested enraged me. I may not have wanted him to be arrested, but that doesn't mean I have forgiven him.
"He was the one who picked up the phone when I called over at your house. I heard his side of the story and he agreed to help the best that he could. He was also the only witness at my house who saw Bab stab her." I sighed. "But that isn't all of it," Cherry continued.
"What's the rest of it then?" I asked. I had to know everything.
"I'm not comfortable saying over the phone right now. Can you meet me at the library? Marcia's meeting me there in half an hour, and I would like you to be there too. And can you bring Dallas Winston with you if he's there?" This had to be important, if she couldn't say it over the phone, and she wanted Dally to come. I thought she hated him.
"Yeah okay. I'll be there in half an hour." I responded.
"Okay, great. Let's meet up next to the encyclopedias."
"Why there?"
"Because NO ONE looks there."
"Oh," I replied. The importance of this was rising each minute I sat here waiting.
"See you then," Cherry spoke with fake enthusiasm. Perhaps someone was in the room because she hung up quickly.
I glanced back to the living room where everyone was staring. It took me a moment to realize however that it was me who they looked at with curiosity.
"What the hell is going on here?" Dally demanded. I almost forgot that he was in the room, along with Johnny and Soda.
"You and I are going the library to meet Cherry and Marcia in half an hour," I answered.
"Wait what? How did I get involved in this? I just got here when Two-Bit stormed out." Dally demanded.
"Cherry asked for you to come to the library with me so she could tell us something that she wasn't able to say over the phone. I don't know why she asked for you, but she did. We had better start walking or we'll never make it in time." Dally was exasperated. He then began making motions with his hands and arms and tried to get the others to understand his dilemma.
"Sorry man. What she says goes," Steve shrugged. Dally was still exasperated, and shoved his hands in his pockets. As we left the house, I could still hear Dally swearing under his breath.
By the time the two of us arrived at the library, we were late. It took much longer to walk to the library than I expected. Of course, it didn't help that I've never been to the library before in my entire life. If Cherry had asked Ponyboy to come along we would have found a shortcut or something of the sort to get there faster. However, in this situation, being late wasn't all that bad.
When we reached the library, I spotted Marcia outside smoking a joint. Why was she doing that in public? Was something the matter? Marcia spotted us to and waved us over.
"Hey Autumn, Dallas." She greeted. I could tell she was trying way too hard to look cheerful.
"Hi Marcia. What's the matter? Why aren't you inside?" I asked her. She looked around before she answered.
"I'm worried about Cherry." She admitted.
"Why? Isn't she here?" I pressed. She shook her head.
"Great. Dragged here for nothing." Dally grunted.
"Actually Dally, I think that because she isn't here right now might be a great reason for you to be here." He gave a quizzical look to her and she began to explain.
"I have a habit of getting to meetings and places extremely early. Cherry knows this. So I was here about an hour ago, and Cherry called the library to get me to talk with her." I was getting worried now. Marcia looked really nervous. "Anyways, Chery told me that if she didn't show at most an hour late to go and look for her." Marcia took a deep breath. "She sounded really scared on the phone Autumn. I just didn't know what to say other than alright. When I tried to get her to explain herself she wouldn't tell me. We have to look for her!" I looked at Dally. He simply shrugged.
"Look, I don't really want to be here right now. You two are leading the way." Dally responded.
We had been walking for about an hour all over town. We had finally made our way downtown when Marcia spoke up. "How are you holding up?" She asked us. I looked at her and smiled feebly.
"As normal as you can be right now, to be honest." I responded.
"What about you Dally?" Marcia asked him. He looked at her, sort of stunned that she recognized him. He shrugged.
"I feel like shit. I just…I mean…I didn't…I didn't even get to say good bye to her." Dally was struggling to keep on his tuff face. "You know, I never got to tell her what she meant to me. And just…now I'll never be able to." Dally looked to me with sad eyes. He looked defeated. I walked my way next to him and put my arm around his shoulder and gave him a side hug.
"It's alright Dally. I feel the same way." I tried to soothe him.
"You can't even imagine what it was like to get that phone call." I looked at him. I had almost forgotten that Soda and Darry called the others to tell them about what had happened. "Me, Two-Bit and Steve were all just boozing at Buck's for the night when Buck came behind the bar. His face really startled me ya know. He had a fearful look in his eyes. Told me that Soda was on the phone and he was freaking out. Buck said that we could use the phone upstairs to hear it better. So up we went. When we answered the call Soda was crying and yelling into the phone so loud that all three of us could hear it just fine. His words were all muffled together. We heard the words, 'Ponyboy' 'Socs' 'Jumped' and 'dead'. I thought at first that something happened to Pony, ya know. I mean, that would explain why he was all a wreck. Steve tried to get him to calm down, and Soda spoke a little clearer. He said, "Valerie was stabbed by a Soc in the park and didn't make it. COME QUICKLY!" Well I'll tell ya, hearing that was the most terrifying thing I've ever heard. Steve was shouting and cussing up a storm. Two-Bit shed a silent tear right then and there, even though we all cried much later. I had almost forgotten that Two even knew how to cry. I was just staring at the wall trying to take it all in." Dally looked at the two of us. His eyes were tearing up. "I thought about the heartless soul who could've done something like that. Man, I thought that it must've been a lie. I mean, Soc or not, who would kill someone like her. Someone who saw the best in everyone."
"Two-Bit surprised Steve and I by running out of the room."
" 'MOVE IT YOU LITTLE SHITS! WE'VE GOT TO GET TO THE PARK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!' Two had yelled at us. We thought while we were running that maybe she was still alive, that maybe she was still with us."
"Then we heard your screams and cries." I looked up at him. "We had all stopped from jogging at the moment to hear it better. We heard you scream again. Steve mumbled under his breath your name and we all broke into a sprint. We all knew that no one was as close to her as you were. If you were screaming like that, well that could only mean one thing and one thing only." Dally gulped before he continued.
"The first thing I saw was your face. Your face probably scarred us just as much as seeing Valerie lying there. Steve turned a green and left for a minute. Two-Bit came over to comfort you. Man, I wish I did what he did then. That took resiliency, and I just didn't have that. I broke down. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle that fact that I never said good-bye…that I never said that I cared and appreciated her."
The three of us were silent. Marcia walked over to Dally and gave him a tight hug. He looked shocked at the gesture, but he didn't push her off. Next, I joined the hug and squeezed the two of them tight.
We continued to walk for a while. Up street and down alley. The three of us didn't exactly know what we were searching for. Finally, we go to the bad side of town. Not where the Curtis' lives. Even thought that was a bad area, this was where parents of Socs and Greasers alike were told not to go around. We then heard a sound. Marcia was the first to hear it though.
"Do y'all hear that?" She asked. Dally turned to her and shook his head no. I did the same.
"I didn't here anyth…"I began, but I stopped. I heard a sound too. It was a sort of ringing. Dally heard it too, and looked around for the source. He then spotted an old telephone post. As we approached it, the ringing got louder. This was the source. Daly being Dally, had the temerity to pick up the phone. Marcia and I crowed around him to hear the best we could, and he extended his arm to accommodate us. Next, we heard a low, slurry voice. There were some people laughing in the backround.
"We know what you're looking for greasers. We know that you two and the traitor are looking for Cherry. Dirty little turncoat she was." Marcia and I sucked in quick breaths. We recognized the voice. Apparently, Dally was slow. He looked at us questioningly. I mouthed his name.
Bob.
He read my lips and gripped the phone tighter. "You can find her in one of these alleys if you know where to look. It's out gift to you." I clenched my fists. What did that bastard do to Cherry.
"Ready to rumble grease? Next Friday, the park. Nine o'clock. Blades. See ya then." Dally looked as if he was going to break open the telephone post to rip out all of its wires. I turned to see Marcia. She was staring blankly at the ground with tear filled eyes. Dally then broke from his trance of rage.
"Oh, god." Dally mumbled.
"I know," I responded.
"No, no, I mean I know where she is." Dally stuttered. Marcia looked up. Dally's eyes looked worried.
"Where is she?" Marcia asked worriedly.
"Just follow me," Dally said, and began to run. The two of us sprinted after him. We had to be quick.
We were running for a while now, deeper and deeper into the hood. You could tell that the location was getting worse by the building walls alone. Windows, if there were any, where all broken. It was like the owners hadn't cared enough to fix them again. The brick in the walls was crumbling and covered in vandalism.
Dally then made a sharp turn into an alley way. Marcia and I followed, only to run right into Dally. He had stopped dead center of the alleyway. His face was like stone. With wide-eyes he stared down at a heap next to the garbage dump. I glanced over there too, as did Marcia. The three of us then walked steadily towards the dumpster. Marcia was the first to peer inside of the dumpster. We next heard her scream. The two of us walked over to see what Marcia had screamed about.
As we peered in, Dally turned away cussing softly to himself. My hand flew to my mouth as I saw what lie inside. I felt a few tears prick my eyes. Marcia stepped back and swayed in her stance. She began to sob and scream loudly as she sank to the ground. I did the same.
Lying inside dumpster was a beaten, haggard, and dead Cherry Valance.
dun duuunn DDDUUUUUNNNNN!
Sorry that it took so long for me to update! Hope you liked it. So evil!