NINE
When I woke up the next morning my arm was so stiff and hurt so bad I knew there was no way I would be able to use it anytime soon. It didn't feel like it was broken though, so I rolled off my bed and took a tentative look out into the hallway to make sure my mom wasn't around, before making my way through the cluttered hall into the bathroom. Looking at my reflection in the cracked and dirty mirror, I was glad I couldn't see myself clearly, I could tell I looked awful.
Pulling open the medicine cabinet, I searched the near empty shelves, occupied only by a bottle of my mother's anti-depressant pills and a half a tube of old toothpaste lying beside a handful of old cotton swabs, I don't know why I thought I'd be able to find Tylenol in there, I'd have to go to the Curtis', but one look at my wrist and Darry would send me straight to the hospital and Amber would give me that sad pitying look. I could barely stand the thought of looking at her anyhow, I could only imagine the pain she must be in this morning.
I realized that I had been absent-mindedly fingering the scar that ran down the side of my own face, another reminder of how far fighting…or not having the chance to fight back, would get you.
My wrist gave another painful throb and I sighed, there was no avoiding it, I had to let Darry have a look at it. I wasn't supposed to work until the night shift, so I hastily changed my shirt, dropping the dirt and blood stained one from the night before onto the floor. Fixing my hair with a little grease, I ran a comb through it a few times before abandoning the effort and leaving the house.
I found Amber sitting on the front porch of her house in front of her rickety old art easel that Soda had bought for her at a garage sale a few months before.
She turned to look at me as a started up the stairs, "hi Johnny."
"Oh, Amber," I couldn't keep the surprise out of my voice.
"I know, I look awful," she said turning back to her painting and swirling her brush in a cup of dirty water without letting her eyes meet mine.
I sat down on the swinging bench and lit a cigarette opting to stay quiet instead of telling her that she could never really look awful to me.
"Nobody is home right now, Pony is at track practice and Darry took Soda food shopping, Darry won't let me go anywhere because he's afraid someone will see me and report it to the state," she offered, "I had to fight with him just to be able to stay out here."
I didn't have anything to say to that so I stayed quiet, but she just smiled. She was used to me not knowing what to say.
"So are you going to the dance this Friday?" she asked.
I had forgotten that the spring dance was coming up, I had no real intention of going what with not having a girl to go with and Pony most likely going with the newest girl in school to have declared her affections for him – Pony sure was popular with the girls. I could never figure out if it was his good looks, or him being on the track team, or being so brainy or maybe all three, but he was never short on attention. He didn't flaunt it though, he might not have even noticed.
"I hadn't really thought about it," I mumbled, "are you?"
"Fred asked me to go with him, I told him I had to think about it."
"Are you still mad at him for acting like you were going steady in front of everyone?" I asked.
"No, not really…" she said "I was just hoping to go with someone else," she said looking embarrassed.
"Oh." I knew she was thinking of Dallas, and I also knew that she would have an easier time getting Elvis to be her date to that dance.
"Well have you asked him?"
"No, not quite, Johnny, stop laughing at me!"
"I'm sorry Amber, but you can't really think you have a chance of getting him to go, do you?" I asked choking a little on the smoke that I had inhaled before I started to laugh at her.
"Just forget it," she snapped, "what do you want anyway?"
I knew she wasn't really mad at me and I had stopped being afraid of her outbursts a long time ago – a part of her would never stop being the spoiled girl she was brought up to be, and being petted and smothered by her brothers didn't help that part of her personality any.
"My wrist hurts something awful," I replied dropping my cigarette on the ground and grinding it against the worn wooden panels of the porch as she stood and came over to me.
Her face softened instantly, "why didn't you say so before? Come into the house and I'll get you Tylenol and an ice pack," she said looking at me with worry.
I followed her into the dark house and waited while she washed her hands and then produced a few pills and a glass of water. "Sit down," she commanded pointing to the kitchen table.
I dropped down obediently and took the pills while she moved around the kitchen.
"Here," she said coming back with an ice pack which she placed on my swollen wrist, and a quarter of a chocolate cake which she placed in front of me.
She went back to the sink and came back with two forks, wiping them on the long shirt that I recognized as Pony's.
I accepted the fork in my left hand rather clumsily and dug into the cake, "how on earth are you going to get your homework done with your wrist banged up?" she asked "there's no way you can write with it, I bet Darry will bandage it when he gets back."
I shrugged, "I guess I won't be able to finish my composition, maybe I'll be able to make it up next year."
"I thought you had to hand it in so you could pass English and make it to next year," Amber pointed out none to gently, taking a bite of cake.
"Well it's started and it's not like this is my fault," I said "I'll just go talk to him tomorrow and hope for the best."
"I'll go with you," Amber said, "after all, I'm the one who fell on you and then he won't even have to know about the fight."
"Will Darry even let you go to school tomorrow?"
"Probably not, but I figure by Tuesday I'll be ok with some makeup."
I seriously doubted that but I didn't want to get snapped at again so I kept quiet and continued to shovel cake into my mouth as best I could with my left hand.
The screen door slammed and Darry yelled for Amber to get her easel out of the way and to help bring in the groceries.
"So much for keeping his sympathy," Amber mumbled grumpily, but she touched my shoulder as she passed with a smile, and I tried my best to ignore the chill it sent down my back.
On Wednesday when she was finally back in school, a thick layer of makeup covering the last of the bruising and cuts, she went with me to speak to our English teacher who flat out refused to release me from the assignment.
"But sir!" Amber argued "what do you expect him to do?"
"Well perhaps since you seem to have taken such an avid interest in Mr. Cade's academics, you can help him out Ms. Curtis"
I flushed red, there was no way I could tell Amber the thoughts I was having and have her write them down on paper, it was bad enough doing it myself. But realizing arguing wouldn't get us anywhere I nodded and beat it out of there, Amber close on my heels.
"I'm sorry Johnny," Amber said as met up with Pony who was hovering outside the door.
I shrugged, "it was worth a shot" I said as we made our way down the hall toward our lockers.
"Hi Johnny"
I whirled around and saw Kathy leaning against a bank of lockers, "Hi Kathy," I managed to get out feeling shy with Pony and Amber turning to see who I was talking to.
"This is Ponyboy and Amber Curtis," I said even though I knew she already knew who they were.
"Hi ya'll, I'm Kathy," she said with an easy smile, but I didn't miss the narrowed eye look that she gave Amber as she took in the plaid skirt and buttoned blouse, and it didn't seem like Amber missed it either.
"I work with Kathy," I said to help fill the awkward silence.
I heard Amber's soft gasp and her hand covered her mouth, "sorry," she squeaked "I um, I just remembered something."
"So how long are you out of work?" Kathy asked, pushing hair off her shoulder. She was wearing an old baseball t-shirt and a skirt that didn't fit right.
I looked at my bandaged wrist "a few more days at least, Mr. Martin was really angry when I told him."
"He'll get over it," she said. "I'm heading over there now, actually – Norma called out sick today, so I can pick up a few more hours."
"What about the rest of school?" Ponyboy asked
She looked at him with a sarcastic smile, "it'll still be here…I'll see you around Johnny."
"Bye," I said as she walked away and Amber grabbed my arm, "oh my god, Johnny, is that the same Kathy who has a baby?" she asked in a whisper.
I squirmed uncomfortably remembering Kathy's words about Amber being a gossip, I knew all along it was true – when we were dating she usually had more to say about everyone else's relationship than her own, but I never thought it was her being mean. But the light in her eyes now, and the way her face had lit up and knowing that she and someone else or multiple someone elses had been talking about Kathy bugged me a little.
"Yeah, that's her."
"Well do you know who the father is?" she asked
"No, I didn't ask," I said as we approached our lockers and I started looking for my biology text book.
"Well I've heard that it's…"
"Amber, I'm not really interested," I said a little more rudely than I had meant to.
"Fine, I just thought you might like to know who she's been with when she's so obviously into you," Amber said moving down the row to her own locker and switching her books, "I'll see you guys at lunch," she said slamming the door shut and walking away.
I looked at Ponyboy who shrugged, he may have girls buzzing around him all the time, but he didn't understand them any better than I did.
After school on Friday I walked to the Curtis' with Pony, Amber and Two-Bit, all of whom were planning on going to the dance that night. I had been talked into going, or more like begged to go, by Amber.
"I can't go alone Johnny, and Dallas refuses, he said he'd rather be killed than be seen at something like a high school dance," she had said wringing her hands together and looking so entirely pathetic I couldn't bring myself to say no. Besides, Pony was only going with his date as "friends" and when Two-Bit said he was going – drunk of course – but going, I figured the night might not be a total loss after all.
"Amber, come eat!" Darry yelled a few hours later as he worked his way around the kitchen. "Come on Ponyboy, get all of this out of here," he said indicating to the mess of papers scattered across the table.
"Sorry," Ponyboy grumbled sweeping the papers up into a messy pile and dropping them in the living room on the overflowing coffee table.
"Amber!" Darry called again
"Darry, I'm not eating here tonight, remember – I'm supposed to go to Cherry's to get ready for the dance," Amber said coming out of her room into the living room holding a yellow dress in one hand and her hairbrush in the other.
"Cherry's?" Darry asked with a skeptical look that didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.
"Well, yeah…all of the cheerleaders are going there, they were talking about it after practice yesterday and when Cherry saw I was still there, she asked me to come too," Amber said picking invisible lint off the dress she was holding. "Please let me go Darry, I really want to."
Darry looked torn and I didn't blame him, there was no logical explanation for Cherry befriending Amber – whether she was on the cheer team or not – it just seemed like a good way for Amber to end up getting hurt. Or maybe it was something different, maybe it was the fear that the more time she spent in a nice house, driving in a nice car, surrounded by people with money and all it had to offer, the more dissatisfied she would be when she came home.
Still, it was hard to deny those begging green eyes anything, I ought to know, getting roped into this dance and all, and once again Darry relented, "how were you planning on getting there?" he asked
"Soda said he would drop me off on his way over to Steve's,"
"Alright, you can go, but I want you home by midnight, Ponyboy you too," he added
"Thank you, Darry, thank you!" Amber said wrapping her arms around his middle and hugging him tightly.
He smiled ruefully and ruffled her hair, "have fun kiddo."
"Johnny, are you going to this dance also?" Darry asked as Amber rushed back into her room to finish getting ready.
I nodded "what are you up to tonight?"
"I have a date," he said but couldn't get much further before he had Soda and Ponyboy on his case
"Ooooooooooooooh," Soda crowed "who's the lucky lady?"
"Shut your mouth little buddy," Darry said, but he couldn't quite hide the pleased smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth "she's the daughter of a client, actually"
"Flirting on the job again, huh Darry," Soda said with a grin narrowly avoiding a thrashing as Amber came skipping out into the living room, "come on Soda!"
"Home by midnight!" Darry called again as the screen door slammed shut behind them.
"Alright you two, get in here," Darry said moving back into the kitchen and scooping potatoes onto plates.
"Thanks Darry," Ponyboy said as we sat down around the table and dug into our food.
"I ironed some clothes for you for tonight, you were planning on changing weren't you?"
Ponyboy rolled his eyes, "yes Darry, I was gonna change. You didn't have to iron though…why are you eating anyway if you have a date?" Ponyboy asked watching Darry shovel potatoes and chicken into his mouth.
"Because, little man, it's expensive to eat out…this way I can take her out and just have a salad or something," he explained.
Ponyboy's cheeks flushed to match Darry's, "we really are poor, ain't we Darry."
"Don't worry about it kiddo," Darry said standing up to clear our plates, "just have fun tonight, and remember…"
"Home by twelve," Ponyboy droned.