I'm getting good at this uploading quickly stuff! Hope ya'll like this chapter, the big rumble scene! -Disclaimer- I own nuffin'!
When we arrived at the vacant lot Tim Shepard and his outfit were already there waiting for us, along with the Brumley Boys. Tim and his outfit were lean, catlike who look like the model JD you see in movies and magazines. Like Dally, Tim's smile was grim and bitter. Tim was one of those that enjoyed been a hood. The rest of his bunch were the same. The boys from Brumly too.
Tim and the leader of the Brumly boys moved forward to shake hands with each of us to prove we were fighting for the same side. Me and Steve were standing next to each other and I prop an arm on his shoulder and survey the scene coolly. I have to admit the adrenalin pumping through my veins was addictive. I hadn't been in a rumble in some time and to blow off some of this pent up stress and steam sure sounded amazing. Tim was saying something to Ponyboy but I couldn't hear what.
When Tim got to me and Steve he shook our hands and nodded. The leader of the Brumly gang shook our hands and looked at us interestedly.
One of the Brumly guys call Pony over to him and starts talking to him. All three of the outfits were standing on separate sides of the lot. Tim was watching us from his side.
"Hey, Curtis!" He calls to us.
I look over to him, a reflex reaction to calling my last name. I'm not sure whether his calling for me or Darry. "Which one?" I yell back.
"Not you, pretty boy," and I roll my eyes as he calls me pretty boy. "The big one. Come over here."
Darry walks over to Tim and Ponyboy comes to stand next to Steve me and Two-Bit. The Socs had started to arrive. They arrive in car loads of four and all hop out at the exact same time.
None of them talk and all move in sync. They were dressed like they were going to the movies, and that's one of the reasons why we greasers were always getting the blame for things. Socs dress well and innocently, where as we greasers look like hoods twenty-four-seven. There looked to be around twenty two of them and there were twenty of us. A guy in a gay lookin' shirt stepped up.
"Let's get the rules straight, nothing but fists and the first to run, lose right?"
Tim flicked away his beer can and rolls his eyes. "You savvy real good."
There was deathly silence. Who was gonna start the rumble? Darry solved the problem. He stepped up under the street lamp. I hear Ponyboy gulp and I look at him. He looks scared and worried for Darry. I pat his shoulder. I wasn't worried about Darry.
"I'll take on anyone," he said. Darry stood there, tall broad shouldered, his muscles taut under his T-shirt and his eyes glittering.
For a second it looked like there wasn't anyone brave enough to take him on. Then there was a stir in the pack of Socs, and a blonde wanna-be Beetles looking guy stepped forward. He looked at Darry and said, "Hello, Darrel."
Something behind Darrys eyes flickers before turning back to ice. "Hello, Paul."
I squeaked in the back of my throat from shock and fear. Steve and Two-Bit looked at me curiously. Paul Holden. He had been a real good footballer when he went to school with Darry, they used to be pals. I hear Tim ask Two-Bit what the story is.
Paul had the look of hate and pity on his face as he looked at Darry. Maybe it was cause' Darry was standing here representing us hoods which he hated been. Darry hadn't changed or moved a muscle, but you could see he hated Paul's guts. It wasn't just jealousy-Darry did have a right to be jealous, he was ashamed to be on our side, ashamed to be seen with the Brumly boys, Shepard's gang, maybe even us. Nobody realized it but me and Ponyboy.
Then Paul said in a low deadly voice, "I'll take you."
Something that almost looked like a smile crossed Darry's face. Darry knew he could take Paul on and win years ago. What if he was stronger now? Neither me nor Darry had ever been beaten in a fight and I'm not exactly itchin' for someone to break the record now. They moved around in a slow circle, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
Suddenly a familiar voice yelled out, "Ain't no rumble a rumble without me!" Darry turned around to see who it was.
Paul punched Darry hard on the jaw that would have had anyone on the ground but Darry. Out of the corner of my eye I see it's Dal hurtling towards us and I smirk at the shocked and fearful look on the Socs faces. The rumble was on.
As usual, me and Steve stayed close together. I surveyed the scene for half a second. Darry was taking on Paul and winning by the looks of it, and Ponyboy had jumped onto a smaller size Soc next to Dally who was slugging it out with a larger sized Soc. Two-Bit and a Brumly boy were back to back fighting off four at once. Steve had three Socs on top of him and was doing his best to strangle one of them.
I jump on top of one of the meaner looking Socs that was punching Steve. I punch him hard in the mouth, then another to the nose. He dropped to the ground and I kick him a few times hard in the ribs and dimly hear the sound of a few ribs breaking. One of the other Socs who were on top of Steve reach for me from the back but I'm one step ahead of him. As his hand goes for my shoulder, I grab it and pull him forward, flipping him onto the ground and then kneel on his chest and punch him hard in the face.
From the corner of my eye I see a huge Soc coming for me. I jump up and turn just as he punches me hard on the left check and another on the same spot. I feel my lip cut open a little knowing my cheek is going to bruise. Son of a bitch!
As the guy goes to hit me again I punch him in the nose then knee him in the head. Steve is next to me now and we back each other up. Paul is on the ground now and Darry is kicking him while another Soc is hanging from his back trying to pull him to the ground. Two-Bit is fine with hardly a mark on him and Dally is belting up one of the Socs that were trying to go for Ponyboy.
The Brumly boys seemed to be winning and Tim Shepard was holding his nose that looked broken again. It looked like we were winning but the Socs weren't giving up that easy.
I look for Ponyboy but can't see him anywhere. It was raining heavily, the mud making it hard to stay steady on my feet as I slip and slide a little. I look for Dally again, knowing that Ponyboy would be somewhere near him- Pony was backing Dally up since he couldn't use his arm fully yet.
Then I see a crumpled up boy on the ground not moving. Two Socs where kicking him hard in the head and I could hear the boy screaming out, "Darry! Soda! Sodapop!" And realise that it's Ponyboy.
Something inside me clicked. Seeing my kid brother been kicked in the head time after time by our enemy, just sent me right of. Animal instincts kick in and I feel a pool of hot lava run through my veins as anger exploded in my heart.
"Ponyboy!" I scream to him as I ran forward towards Ponyboy, dodging punches and people grabbing for me.
One Soc stands in front of me and I punch him hard in the mouth. I see the blood go flying as he drops to the ground and see Darry watching me as he throws two Socs to the ground. Ponyboy is still been kicked in the head and all over his face and body.
"Ponyboy!" I scream again and finally reach him.
I jump ontop of the Soc that was kicking Pony. We fall to the ground. I right hook him on the jaw before punching him under the chin. I stand up and kick him hard as I could in the ribs a few times. He manages to get up and punches me in the stomach twice, so I grab him and throw him on the ground, stomping him on the chest, punching him over and over in the face.
I feel Darry pulling me off the guy and I manage to get lose and punch the Soc the hardest I think I've ever punched a guy, and I feel the skin across my knuckles split. He falls to the ground, unconscious.
The other guy who was kickin' Ponyboy round had ran off and I see Dally throwing him on the ground. I turn around to face Ponyboy. Pony looked alright now, he was sitting up looking a little dazed, but alright. He has cuts and bruises all over him.
Then I hear a gleeful shout coming from Two-Bit. "They're running!" he shouted. "Look at the dirty sons of bitches run!" and sure enough the Socs were running for their cars and driving off.
Tim Shepard was swearing black and blue because he had broken his nose again, and the leader of the Brumly boys was working over one of his own for using a piece of pipe to hit someone.
Everyone was standing around cheering and yelling and throwing their hands in the air swearing at the Socs as they run through the mud and rain to their cars.
I stand there watching them get into their cars with Steve grabbing me around the shoulder screaming gleefully. Two-Bit was bleeding everywhere, but was grinning happily because the Socs were running
"We won," Darry announced in a tired voice. He was going to have a black and there was a cut across his forehead. "We beat the Socs."
By the looks of Ponyboy and Dally, they had gotten the worse beating of all. Dally grabbed Ponyboy by the shirt and hauled him to his feet, dragging him away towards Buck Merrill's car that he must have borrowed.
I have no idea where they're going but I don't have time to think about that, if Pony's with Dally he will be fine. Tim and his gang were already starting to leave, and a few of his boys had to be carried by others. The Brumly Boys were talking to Darry and Two-Bit before slapping them on the back and leaving.
That's the way every rumble ended. As soon as it ended, we all left. We didn't want to socialise with each too much. Steve was holding onto his side and gasping, even though he still had my by the shoulders laughing and whopping.
"Soda man, I think those fucking arses broke some more of me ribs," Steve gasped between breaths.
"Don't worry man, we'll get you back to the house in no time," I said to him waving Two-Bit and Darry over for help.
Ponyboy and Dally were gone, and it had stopped raining but the ground was muddy. Two-Bit put one of Steve's arms around his shoulder and I do the same with the other. We start walking home.
As we slowly make our way back to our house Darry is quite and looking at me strangely. "Soda, are you alright?" He asks me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I shrug.
"It's just that you landed all over that Soc that was kickin' Pony. . . I've never seen you so mad. I think you could have killed someone in the state you were in. I was even almost too scared to go near you," he tells me slowly.
I don't say anything and just think about what he said. Finally we get home and lay Steve down on the couch. It had taken us a good half an hour to carry Steve back to the house, and since all of us were a little beat up it had taken even longer.
Darry and Two-Bit bandage up Steve's side and found that he had three broken ribs. Darry put a bandage over the wide cut on his head and was cleaning the bite mark on his hand where a Soc had bit him.
Two-Bit just stuck a Band-Aid on his cheek and grabbed out a bottle of whisky and took three shots before sitting down. I was probably the least beat up of all. I had a small cut on my lip and big purple bruise on my cheek and a bruise on my rib cage from where that Soc had stomped on me. We were all quite.
"Hey Soda, where did Pony and Dally run off to?" Darry asks me.
"I don't know, probably to the hospital . . ." I slowly reply.
"Yeah, I heard Dally yelling at Pony that they were goin' to see Johnny," Two-Bit said refilling his whisky glass and handing it to Steve who downed in a second. Steve groaned and rubbed his side. His a tough guy, Steve. Most people would be screaming if they had busted up side and hole in the side of their face.
"I think it makes me look tough. Whattya think Soda? Do you think it makes me look tough?" Steve asks me of the hole in his mouth.
I look up at him from the floor. "I think it makes you look different. . ." I say quietly before looking down again.
"What do you mean by different?"
"Man, that guy had sharp teeth. . . " Darry said to no one in particular, looking at the bite marks in his hand.
"I mean, you got a hole in your mouth. . ." I say back to Steve.
"Yeah, but at least you don't have a hole in your cheek. . . " Two-Bit said to Darry, taking another shot of whisky.
Darry nodded his head in agreement, running his tongue around his mouth. The door opens and in walks Ponyboy. He looks a hundred times worse than Steve.
His got two bruises covering both of his eyes, a cut along his lip and the blood had dried there black. His cheek was swollen and cut and there was blood dripping from the side of his head. His shirt was ripped and he had a stunned look on his face. Darry leaped to his feet and I stand up as well, so does Two-Bit. Even Steve manages to get to a standing position, standing on his legs shakily.
"Where have you been?" Darry asks. Ponyboy doesn't say anything, just shuts the door and stares at us, looking confused. "Ponyboy, what's the matter?"
Ponyboy looks at us frightened. "Johnny. . . he's dead. We told him bout' beatin' the Socs and . . . I don't know, he just died," Ponyboy said in a strange voice.
There was a stricken silence. Johnny? Johnny's dead? But he couldn't be dead; we needed him . . . His really dead. Reality seemed to come crashing down around me. I could feel my stomach shaking and my eyes were stinging with tears.
I made a funny noise and I know I'm about to start crying. Two-Bit's eyes were closed and his teeth were clenched together. Steve was staring at Ponyboy and he was clenching his fists.
"Dally's gone," Ponyboy said. "He couldn't take it. His gonna' blow."
I feel a tear role down my cheek and Steve was crying as well. Darry stood there motionless unable to do anything.
"So he finally broke." Two-Bit spoke everyone's feelings. "So even Dally has a breaking point." Two-Bit wasn't crying. Two-Bit never cried, he forgot how to at an early age.
Ponyboy started shaking and turned white. Darry leaned forward and said to me in a low voice, "You're the only one he will listen to right now, try to calm him down before he passes out on us."
I nod my head. "Ponyboy," I said to him softly, "you look sick. Sit down." Ponyboy backed up away from me, shaking his head.
"I'm okay. I don't want to sit down." He said. Darry took a step towards him, but Pony backed away even still. "Don't touch me," he whispered.
His eyes were wild and I swear I could hear his heart thumping. There was blood dripping down him and onto the carpet. We all stood there looking at Ponyboy. The phone rang but no one seemed to care. All I could do was stare in shock. Absolute grief was pounding through my body. Not Johnny, how come it had to be him? Another person so extremely close to me been ripped away. A whole life to live ended for no reason.
The phone continued to ring, before Steve groaned, and leaned over to the coffee table to answer it.
"Hello?" he mumbled.
The voice on the other end said something.
"No, this is Steve. Dally?"
We all turned to look at him, our eyes boring into his face.
Steve listened for a second before answering. "Yeah, sure. Darry, it's Dal. Said he wants to speak to you."
Darry took the phone quickly. "Dally."
After a second of silence, Darry hung up. "Dal's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be at the park in a minute," Darry said quickly.
We all jumped up and left the house at a dead run, even Steve. Something wasn't right with Ponyboy, and it hit me.
Concussion. When those arsehole Socs had been kicking him in the head, that's what must have happened to him. Bloody hell. We run down the road at a dead bolt, and I try hard not to think what is coming next.
Wooo, my first cliffhanger! I hope that all of you wonderful people liked it, please review as it would make my day! -Fee xx
That's all for now, ta ta my lovelies