"Zeta, wake up, time for school."
I groaned and buried my head in my pillow. "Darry, come on, not today," I pleaded.
"Zay, get up, you are going to school," he said.
I got up and took a shower then got dressed. Ponyboy was dead asleep in his room.
"Why don't he gotta go?" I complained.
"He just got home; he needs some rest, he's been through a lot," Darry said, not even looking up at me.
"So have we all, I'm going back to bed."
"Zay," Darry warned.
Two-Bit drove Steve and me to school. Like most days, I was totally uninterested in being there. I couldn't wait until it was time to go home. The day pretty much drug on, and then mercifully ended.
When we got home, Johnny and Pony were outside throwing around a football.
"PONYBOY! JOHNNYCAKE!" Two-Bit and Steve shouted, running towards them. Both Johnny and Pony had been sleeping when Two-Bit and Steve came over this morning, so this was the first time they were seeing them. I lit up a cigarette while they had their little reunion.
"What do you guys want for your first real home-cooked meal?" I asked.
Pony and Johnny looked at each other. "A home cooked meal," Johnny said, his face lighting up.
"Johnny, you decide, what do you want?" Pony asked.
"Man, I'd like some of your fried chicken just fine," Johnny said, looking at me. I did make a pretty wicked fried chicken. It was mom's recipe.
"You got it," I said, smiling at Johnny.
"Pone, you want anything special?" I asked.
"Anything besides bologna," he said.
"Done," I said.
I went to the kitchen and started making dinner. The whole gang ended up coming over, and Johnny and Ponyboy ate more than I've ever seen them eat before.
I ran upstairs to put my hair up and when I came back down, I heard Soda say something about a rumble.
"Rumble? Where? When?" I asked. Everybody was silent.
"What's going on?" I asked, turning to Soda.
"There's gonna be a rumble Friday night, socs versus greasers," Soda said.
"No way!" I said, growing very excited. Finally!
"You're not going, Zay," Darry said.
"Oh yes I am," I responded.
"No, Zeta, I'm serious. You could get really hurt. Pony, you ain't going either."
Pony squinted. "Darry, please?"
"You ain't in that good of shape, you look weak," Darry said to Pony.
"But Darry, this is huge, come on, I can't miss it," Pony said.
"I'm not weak, I can't miss it either," I said.
Darry appeared to be in deep thought for what seemed like forever. "Pony, you can go; Zeta, you're staying home. You're still grounded anyways," he said.
"This is NOT FAIR!" I screamed. "This is like the biggest thing that has EVER happened, and I can't go?? Why, because I'm a girl? Darry, you know I can hold my own in fights!"
"I know you can, Zay, but this is different. This is going to be worse than any fight any of us have ever been in," Darry said. "You're not going, that's final."
"That's not fair!" I shouted again.
"It's too dangerous," Darry said. It was his way of ending the conversation, and I knew by his tone that the topic was closed.
I looked at Soda. "Sorry Zay," he said softly. "I don't think you should go, you could get hurt."
"So could you," I said. I went up to my room. How could Darry tell me I can't go? I was serious when I said that this was the biggest thing ever, it's huge! I can't not be in this rumble! The Socs had affected my life just as much as anybody else's.
I put my pajama pants on and lit a cigarette. Someone knocked on my door.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"It's me," Soda said. "Can I come in?"
I opened the door and went back to my bed. He sat down next to me.
"Don't be upset with Darry, okay? He really doesn't want you to get hurt."
"But I won't. I'm a good fighter, you guys know that," I said.
"We know you are, but Darry's right, this is going to be a huge rumble, and it's just too dangerous. We could all get in a lot of trouble. Darry doesn't really even want Pony in it."
"This is not fair," I said.
"I know you want to be a part of this, but it would be better that you're not," he said.
Soda was siding with Darry on this. I sighed and laid down.
Darry stuck his head in the door. "I don't think it would be smart for you guys to go to school tomorrow, somebody might try to start some jazz before the rumble, and that's the last thing we need."
I shrugged. Any excuse to get out of school.
The next morning, I came downstairs to see Ponyboy and Two-Bit wrestling on the ground. I kicked Two-Bit in the shoulder lightly and tried to step over them but he let go of Pony and grabbed my leg, causing me to fall, and then grabbed my arm and pinned it behind my back.
"Say uncle!" he shouted.
"Nope!" I shouted back. I started squirming to try to break free and he tightened up his grip.
"Now?" he asked.
"No!" I gathered up all of my strength and rolled over on my other side, forcing Two-Bit to loosen his grip, and then I kicked him in the stomach. He let go. "I win," I said, walking towards the kitchen. Two-Bit laughed and then went back to wrestling Ponyboy.
"Hey, y'all want to walk up to the gas station?" Two-Bit asked.
"Sure," Pony said.
"No thanks," I answered. I was still mad about not being in the rumble.
Two-Bit laid off Pony and sat down next to me.
"You shouldn't be mad at Darry," he said quietly.
"Why does everybody keep saying that to me? I'm sick of hearing it!" I shouted. I grabbed my sweater and walked out the door. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. I walked for about half an hour.
"Zeta!" I heard a familiar voice shout. I turned around to see Tim Shepard. "Where you goin?" he asked.
I didn't even realize where I was. I was downtown, maybe half a mile from the DX station.
"Just walking," I said. "What are you doing out here?" Tim lived pretty far from us.
"Getting ready for the rumble tonight, man. It's gonna be huge," he said.
"Yeah, I hear. Darry won't let me go," I said.
"Smart man. Rumbles are no place for girls."
"That is such bullshit, Tim. I can hold my own in fights, I'm a better fighter than Pony and he gets to go. Maybe I'll go anyways."
"Do what Darry tells you to," Tim ordered.
I flipped him off and walked away. I could hear him laughing behind me and I didn't care. I took out a cigarette. I might as well go see Soda while I was here. I hung out at the gas station for a few hours helping Soda work on the cars and then went back home.
Darry and Soda left work early and came home to get ready for the rumble. I kept hoping Darry would change his mind, but he didn't.
"So you're really not gonna let me go?" I asked him.
"I'm really not letting you go," he replied. "It's too dangerous. Stay here, and stay otta trouble," he ordered.
I sat down in a chair and watch them all leave for the rumble. I knew that if I went there, Darry would kill me, but at the same time, I couldn't resist, I HAD to be a part of this. I changed into a black t-shirt and left for the lot.
When I got there, it was a big mess, everybody piled on top of everybody else, and it was raining so the ground was starting to turn into mud. I saw some Soc clobber Pony so I ran towards him. I grabbed the guy's arm and swung him around, knocking him square on the jaw. He stumbled backwards, and then looked at me. I guess he was surprised that he just got hit by a girl. He took a swing at me and I ducked, and then punched him right in the ribs. Someone hit me hard across the back and I fell onto the ground, disoriented for a few seconds. I rolled onto my back and got kicked right in the stomach. I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming, then kicked the back of the guy's knee, and he stumbled backwards, giving me enough time to get up. I kicked him in the head. Just after I did, someone else came up from behind me and I distinctly felt cold metal against my throat, which could only mean one thing: he had a knife. I grabbed the guy's hand and tried pulling it away from me but it wasn't working, he was too strong. I tucked my elbow in close to my body and thrust it backwards, hoping to nail the guy in the stomach. With his free hand, he grabbed it and pulled it behind my body, so I was now almost totally defenseless. I screamed for Darry, and he heard and looked over at me, then rushed over, but it was too late. The guy dug his knife in lightly and I felt a little bit of blood running down my neck. He let go and put the knife in his pocket before Darry reached him, and Darry punched the guy right in the stomach, and then another blow directly to his face. I saw Pony getting the living daylights beaten out of him, so I rushed over to him and jumped on the guy's back. He backed up and flipped me over his head onto the ground, then kicked me in the stomach, right where the first guy had kicked me. I cried out in pain, and he tried to do it again but I caught his foot and pulled him down onto the ground. I wondered if I was as covered in mud as he was. I slid over and sat on his back, forcing his face down into the mud and punched him a couple times in the middle of his back. When I got up, I was kind of dizzy. Someone punched me right in the face and then again in the stomach, in the exact same spot the other two had gotten me. I screamed in pain and the guy took advantage and did it again. I doubled over and fell on my knees, and the guy jumped on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He slugged me a few times in the stomach, sensing that he had hit my weak spot. I reached back, looking for something, anything to help defend myself, but all I could feel was mud. He stopped and suddenly I felt the skin on my stomach ripping open. He was cutting me open. As luck would have it, my hands landed on something hard and I picked it up and brought it down with all my might onto the guy's head. He dropped like a fly onto the ground. I felt somebody grab my arm and pull me away. I looked up. It was Tim. The next thing I knew, I heard somebody scream "Look at them run!" I came to and saw the Socs running to their cars. They were leaving. Two- Bit came over and helped Tim pick me up. I looked down at myself and I was covered in mud and blood was soaking through my shirt. I was mad, mostly because I really liked this shirt. The Socs are gone. We beat them. Everybody started cheering and screaming and celebrating.
Two-Bit put his arm around me and helped me home, I was barely able to stand up straight because of the cut on my stomach and it was sore from all the time I'd been punched there. When we got home, I crawled upstairs and changed into a different t-shirt and some clean pants. Downstairs, Darry was playing doctor. He was bringing ice to Two-Bit to put on his hand, which I saw was busted wide open, and he brought ice to Steve, who had his shirt off and I could see his ribs were already turning blue. Soda was in the bathroom, putting a cold washcloth on his lip, which was busted open. Ponyboy didn't look too good either.
"Go lay down on the sofa," Darry said. Why? I wondered.
I laid down and he knelt down next to me with a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"You're bleeding through your shirt," he replied, soaking the cotton with the alcohol. He pushed my shirt up a little and put the cotton ball against my skin. Instantly, I felt it sting. "You should have stayed home like I told you to, young lady," he said.
"I couldn't," I said, wincing in pain from the alcohol.
"This cut is pretty deep," Darry said, studying it carefully. He poured more alcohol onto the cotton and continued dabbing it into the cut. He lifted my shirt up a little more. "Zay, this is pretty bad, I should take you to the doctor. I think you may need stitches."
"No," I said. "No doctor." I have always hated doctors, one of them was real mean to me once when I was a kid.
"You really should get stitches," Soda said, walking by.
"I'll be fine," I said. Darry dabbed on more alcohol and it started burning again. "Are you done yet?" I asked.
He helped me sit up. "Be careful, that could split further open," he warned, putting a thick gauze bandage over it. I went into the bathroom and saw the shape and size of the cut from the bloodstains on my shirt, it was pretty long. It started at my belly button and went up about seven inches. It looked pretty tuff.
I groaned and buried my head in my pillow. "Darry, come on, not today," I pleaded.
"Zay, get up, you are going to school," he said.
I got up and took a shower then got dressed. Ponyboy was dead asleep in his room.
"Why don't he gotta go?" I complained.
"He just got home; he needs some rest, he's been through a lot," Darry said, not even looking up at me.
"So have we all, I'm going back to bed."
"Zay," Darry warned.
Two-Bit drove Steve and me to school. Like most days, I was totally uninterested in being there. I couldn't wait until it was time to go home. The day pretty much drug on, and then mercifully ended.
When we got home, Johnny and Pony were outside throwing around a football.
"PONYBOY! JOHNNYCAKE!" Two-Bit and Steve shouted, running towards them. Both Johnny and Pony had been sleeping when Two-Bit and Steve came over this morning, so this was the first time they were seeing them. I lit up a cigarette while they had their little reunion.
"What do you guys want for your first real home-cooked meal?" I asked.
Pony and Johnny looked at each other. "A home cooked meal," Johnny said, his face lighting up.
"Johnny, you decide, what do you want?" Pony asked.
"Man, I'd like some of your fried chicken just fine," Johnny said, looking at me. I did make a pretty wicked fried chicken. It was mom's recipe.
"You got it," I said, smiling at Johnny.
"Pone, you want anything special?" I asked.
"Anything besides bologna," he said.
"Done," I said.
I went to the kitchen and started making dinner. The whole gang ended up coming over, and Johnny and Ponyboy ate more than I've ever seen them eat before.
I ran upstairs to put my hair up and when I came back down, I heard Soda say something about a rumble.
"Rumble? Where? When?" I asked. Everybody was silent.
"What's going on?" I asked, turning to Soda.
"There's gonna be a rumble Friday night, socs versus greasers," Soda said.
"No way!" I said, growing very excited. Finally!
"You're not going, Zay," Darry said.
"Oh yes I am," I responded.
"No, Zeta, I'm serious. You could get really hurt. Pony, you ain't going either."
Pony squinted. "Darry, please?"
"You ain't in that good of shape, you look weak," Darry said to Pony.
"But Darry, this is huge, come on, I can't miss it," Pony said.
"I'm not weak, I can't miss it either," I said.
Darry appeared to be in deep thought for what seemed like forever. "Pony, you can go; Zeta, you're staying home. You're still grounded anyways," he said.
"This is NOT FAIR!" I screamed. "This is like the biggest thing that has EVER happened, and I can't go?? Why, because I'm a girl? Darry, you know I can hold my own in fights!"
"I know you can, Zay, but this is different. This is going to be worse than any fight any of us have ever been in," Darry said. "You're not going, that's final."
"That's not fair!" I shouted again.
"It's too dangerous," Darry said. It was his way of ending the conversation, and I knew by his tone that the topic was closed.
I looked at Soda. "Sorry Zay," he said softly. "I don't think you should go, you could get hurt."
"So could you," I said. I went up to my room. How could Darry tell me I can't go? I was serious when I said that this was the biggest thing ever, it's huge! I can't not be in this rumble! The Socs had affected my life just as much as anybody else's.
I put my pajama pants on and lit a cigarette. Someone knocked on my door.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"It's me," Soda said. "Can I come in?"
I opened the door and went back to my bed. He sat down next to me.
"Don't be upset with Darry, okay? He really doesn't want you to get hurt."
"But I won't. I'm a good fighter, you guys know that," I said.
"We know you are, but Darry's right, this is going to be a huge rumble, and it's just too dangerous. We could all get in a lot of trouble. Darry doesn't really even want Pony in it."
"This is not fair," I said.
"I know you want to be a part of this, but it would be better that you're not," he said.
Soda was siding with Darry on this. I sighed and laid down.
Darry stuck his head in the door. "I don't think it would be smart for you guys to go to school tomorrow, somebody might try to start some jazz before the rumble, and that's the last thing we need."
I shrugged. Any excuse to get out of school.
The next morning, I came downstairs to see Ponyboy and Two-Bit wrestling on the ground. I kicked Two-Bit in the shoulder lightly and tried to step over them but he let go of Pony and grabbed my leg, causing me to fall, and then grabbed my arm and pinned it behind my back.
"Say uncle!" he shouted.
"Nope!" I shouted back. I started squirming to try to break free and he tightened up his grip.
"Now?" he asked.
"No!" I gathered up all of my strength and rolled over on my other side, forcing Two-Bit to loosen his grip, and then I kicked him in the stomach. He let go. "I win," I said, walking towards the kitchen. Two-Bit laughed and then went back to wrestling Ponyboy.
"Hey, y'all want to walk up to the gas station?" Two-Bit asked.
"Sure," Pony said.
"No thanks," I answered. I was still mad about not being in the rumble.
Two-Bit laid off Pony and sat down next to me.
"You shouldn't be mad at Darry," he said quietly.
"Why does everybody keep saying that to me? I'm sick of hearing it!" I shouted. I grabbed my sweater and walked out the door. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. I walked for about half an hour.
"Zeta!" I heard a familiar voice shout. I turned around to see Tim Shepard. "Where you goin?" he asked.
I didn't even realize where I was. I was downtown, maybe half a mile from the DX station.
"Just walking," I said. "What are you doing out here?" Tim lived pretty far from us.
"Getting ready for the rumble tonight, man. It's gonna be huge," he said.
"Yeah, I hear. Darry won't let me go," I said.
"Smart man. Rumbles are no place for girls."
"That is such bullshit, Tim. I can hold my own in fights, I'm a better fighter than Pony and he gets to go. Maybe I'll go anyways."
"Do what Darry tells you to," Tim ordered.
I flipped him off and walked away. I could hear him laughing behind me and I didn't care. I took out a cigarette. I might as well go see Soda while I was here. I hung out at the gas station for a few hours helping Soda work on the cars and then went back home.
Darry and Soda left work early and came home to get ready for the rumble. I kept hoping Darry would change his mind, but he didn't.
"So you're really not gonna let me go?" I asked him.
"I'm really not letting you go," he replied. "It's too dangerous. Stay here, and stay otta trouble," he ordered.
I sat down in a chair and watch them all leave for the rumble. I knew that if I went there, Darry would kill me, but at the same time, I couldn't resist, I HAD to be a part of this. I changed into a black t-shirt and left for the lot.
When I got there, it was a big mess, everybody piled on top of everybody else, and it was raining so the ground was starting to turn into mud. I saw some Soc clobber Pony so I ran towards him. I grabbed the guy's arm and swung him around, knocking him square on the jaw. He stumbled backwards, and then looked at me. I guess he was surprised that he just got hit by a girl. He took a swing at me and I ducked, and then punched him right in the ribs. Someone hit me hard across the back and I fell onto the ground, disoriented for a few seconds. I rolled onto my back and got kicked right in the stomach. I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming, then kicked the back of the guy's knee, and he stumbled backwards, giving me enough time to get up. I kicked him in the head. Just after I did, someone else came up from behind me and I distinctly felt cold metal against my throat, which could only mean one thing: he had a knife. I grabbed the guy's hand and tried pulling it away from me but it wasn't working, he was too strong. I tucked my elbow in close to my body and thrust it backwards, hoping to nail the guy in the stomach. With his free hand, he grabbed it and pulled it behind my body, so I was now almost totally defenseless. I screamed for Darry, and he heard and looked over at me, then rushed over, but it was too late. The guy dug his knife in lightly and I felt a little bit of blood running down my neck. He let go and put the knife in his pocket before Darry reached him, and Darry punched the guy right in the stomach, and then another blow directly to his face. I saw Pony getting the living daylights beaten out of him, so I rushed over to him and jumped on the guy's back. He backed up and flipped me over his head onto the ground, then kicked me in the stomach, right where the first guy had kicked me. I cried out in pain, and he tried to do it again but I caught his foot and pulled him down onto the ground. I wondered if I was as covered in mud as he was. I slid over and sat on his back, forcing his face down into the mud and punched him a couple times in the middle of his back. When I got up, I was kind of dizzy. Someone punched me right in the face and then again in the stomach, in the exact same spot the other two had gotten me. I screamed in pain and the guy took advantage and did it again. I doubled over and fell on my knees, and the guy jumped on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He slugged me a few times in the stomach, sensing that he had hit my weak spot. I reached back, looking for something, anything to help defend myself, but all I could feel was mud. He stopped and suddenly I felt the skin on my stomach ripping open. He was cutting me open. As luck would have it, my hands landed on something hard and I picked it up and brought it down with all my might onto the guy's head. He dropped like a fly onto the ground. I felt somebody grab my arm and pull me away. I looked up. It was Tim. The next thing I knew, I heard somebody scream "Look at them run!" I came to and saw the Socs running to their cars. They were leaving. Two- Bit came over and helped Tim pick me up. I looked down at myself and I was covered in mud and blood was soaking through my shirt. I was mad, mostly because I really liked this shirt. The Socs are gone. We beat them. Everybody started cheering and screaming and celebrating.
Two-Bit put his arm around me and helped me home, I was barely able to stand up straight because of the cut on my stomach and it was sore from all the time I'd been punched there. When we got home, I crawled upstairs and changed into a different t-shirt and some clean pants. Downstairs, Darry was playing doctor. He was bringing ice to Two-Bit to put on his hand, which I saw was busted wide open, and he brought ice to Steve, who had his shirt off and I could see his ribs were already turning blue. Soda was in the bathroom, putting a cold washcloth on his lip, which was busted open. Ponyboy didn't look too good either.
"Go lay down on the sofa," Darry said. Why? I wondered.
I laid down and he knelt down next to me with a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"You're bleeding through your shirt," he replied, soaking the cotton with the alcohol. He pushed my shirt up a little and put the cotton ball against my skin. Instantly, I felt it sting. "You should have stayed home like I told you to, young lady," he said.
"I couldn't," I said, wincing in pain from the alcohol.
"This cut is pretty deep," Darry said, studying it carefully. He poured more alcohol onto the cotton and continued dabbing it into the cut. He lifted my shirt up a little more. "Zay, this is pretty bad, I should take you to the doctor. I think you may need stitches."
"No," I said. "No doctor." I have always hated doctors, one of them was real mean to me once when I was a kid.
"You really should get stitches," Soda said, walking by.
"I'll be fine," I said. Darry dabbed on more alcohol and it started burning again. "Are you done yet?" I asked.
He helped me sit up. "Be careful, that could split further open," he warned, putting a thick gauze bandage over it. I went into the bathroom and saw the shape and size of the cut from the bloodstains on my shirt, it was pretty long. It started at my belly button and went up about seven inches. It looked pretty tuff.