S.E. Hinton , owner etc.
I figured I had a couple of options regarding this evening.
I could engage Steve in a sulking battle. He'd effectively insulted me about my motives for being in the car with Dally. And he'd walked out on me. But, he'd sort of apologised and it was probably my own fault for bringing up the subject of his mom. That was obviously a touchy subject. I wasn't going to make more out of this than was necessary. I would rather see Steve happy again tonight.
So, option two. Smile and wear the new dress. I had enough time to dive in the shower just before Sarah got in. Might have let the water run a little longer than I really needed. I was still pissed with her for what she'd said about Steve. And I hadn't had the nerve to sneak him in again overnight, so I had her to blame for any less than comfortable moments in the back of the Chevy since then.
I was real careful with my makeup. Extra lashes, the whole works. The dress was worth it and so was Steve. I looked in the mirror and smiled. It was red, sleeveless and it fitted like a dream. I nearly kissed my friend Paula when I saw what she'd done. She was a real good dressmaker and she'd copied the magazine picture perfectly. It was the shortest dress I'd ever worn.
I hesitated between my white go go boots and a pair of patent stiletto pumps. I knew which would be sexier but I also knew which would be easier to walk home in and I wasn't sure if we'd need to. Depended how ripped everyone got.
Much as the guys loved their cars, plenty of times we still walked places, especially if there was a whole lot of us, or everyone who could drive was too out of it. Not because anyone cared about being picked up, just because they didn't want to risk the kind of dents that occur when you're too blitzed to park straight.
It was interesting to watch the guys out walking. Every time we passed a car parked up, Steve's eyes flicked to the hubs, the bodywork and the hood, in that order. If it was a real sweet model, his hands twitched as he imagined lifting the hood.
Two-Bit tilted his head further, looking inside the car without breaking his stride. It was highly unlikely that anyone in our neighborhood would leave anything worth lifting on display, but I guess he couldn't stop himself checking.
I saw Dallas key the side of a Buick once, for no reason at all. He didn't even know the owner.
Sodapop was as likely to climb on a car, for the pure joy of jumping off it, as he was to check it out. Especially if he'd been drinking. The first time he did a back flip like that, I nearly died laughing. Naturally, that led to an acrobatic competition between them all. Who knew? Two-Bit was surprisingly good at walking on his hands, even if his switchblade did fall out of his pocket and knock him on the head.
If there was a crowd of us, any passing Socs usually had the sense to leave it, drive past without making into something. More than one greaser was more than the lousy cowards could handle.
This party was in aid of Two-Bit's birthday. I'd found out it wasn't actually his birthday for a week or so, but Steve said Two-Bit usually treated the whole month of June as a celebration and this year was no exception.
I heard the Chevy come up the street. And I heard the driver's door slam. Steve didn't always come to the front door, mostly I was on my way out by the time he pulled up. Tonight, he was obviously playing at being gallant. I wondered if he felt guilty about leaving abruptly before.
He was hovering outside the screen door as I came down the stairs. He'd changed into clean jeans and a black shirt, which was about as dressed up as I'd ever seen him.
His eyes were all the reaction I needed, although it was kind of nice that he whistled and said, "Holy shit!" The heels were working then.
The moment was spoiled a bit, by Sarah coming into the hall and bitching at me that I hadn't put the water heater on, after using up all the hot water. Whoops. She glared at Steve for good measure.
He was oblivious to her though. He opened the screen door for me, his wide eyes matched by the sexiest grin as he looked me over. I yelled goodbye to Ma over my shoulder.
As we walked away, Sarah muttered, "Evie, that dress is..."
"Fuckin' dangerous." Steve finished, so only I could hear him.
"You like?" I teased, as he opened the car door for me. Hell, he was on a roll with the chivalry stuff tonight.
"Like?" He looked at my legs as I sat down real careful – and there's an art in that, I can tell you – "Baby, I'm having trouble walkin'. You wanna go up to the lake, instead?"
Maybe not so gallant, after all.
"I do not. I wanna go to the party. Think I got dressed up like this just for your benefit?" I smiled at him cheekily though, as he swung into the driver's seat, so he knew that's exactly why I did it.
We swung by Soda's house first. He came out, leaping down the porch steps in one jump. He had a really white shirt on and I smiled as I wondered how long it would stay that way.
Soda scooted into the middle of the back, arms hanging over the front seats, as Steve took off again. We were heading to Sylvia's house, to pick up her and Sandy.
I'd surprised myself when Sandy had called and said she was going over there, to get ready. I wasn't as jealous as I would have been a couple of months ago. I still wasn't Sylvia's biggest fan but I was getting used to her. And, honestly, when it came to the way they talked about Dallas and Soda, they were better off alone. I couldn't sit comfortably and listen to them run the guys down. And I had nothing to contribute.
"Did Two-Bit persuade Johnny to come?" Steve asked. Twice. He glanced in the rear-view, then over his shoulder quickly. Then he reached back and slapped Soda on the head.
Soda squawked and lashed back reflexively. But he stopped looking at my legs. "Huh?"
Steve asked about Johnny for the third time.
"Oh. Nah. He ain't feeling in the party mood. He's gonna hang at ours, watch TV with Pony."
I wasn't sure Johnny had been out at night at all since he was jumped in the lot. I hadn't seen him. I felt bad for him.
Steve sounded the horn outside Sylvia's house. Several dogs started barking. Soda climbed out as they came down the path. They looked smoking hot; Sandy was wearing a skirt I'd never seen before - which I figured to be Sylvia's – and Sylvia had plenty of cleavage on show. But then she had a lot to work with.
Sandy kissed Soda enthusiastically as Sylvia slid into the car.
"Hey, you're wearin' it!" Sylvia greeted me, the alcohol on her breath giving the lie to the idea that vodka is undetectable. "Looks cool." I thanked her. I might not love her, but I got manners.
Steve barked at Soda to hurry up, so we could get going. Sandy giggled as they joined us and they were immediately all over each other again.
When we pulled up outside Buck's place, I saw the red T-bird parked outside. Well, I'd already put that particular two and two together. I tried to ignore the fact that Dallas had casually involved me in whatever scam he had going with Buck's bootleg liquor delivery.
Sylvia darted inside ahead of us. As we reached the steps, Steve looked back, expecting to talk to Soda. What we saw was a flash of his white shirt in the back window as he dived horizontally, presumably onto Sandy.
"Dear God, he's gotta get his own car," Steve muttered in an exasperated tone. I smoothed my dress down. Stepping up to the door had reminded me how short it actually was. Steve grabbed my hand as we went in.
It was hard to know what hit harder, the hot atmosphere, laden with smoke of all kinds, or the noise of everyone struggling to make themselves heard over the music. The laughter and the clink of glasses was like sprinkles on top of the main sundae.
Two-Bit was holding court on a bar stool, his back to the bar and a beer in each hand. He had a blonde on both sides, although from the dirty looks they were giving each other I wasn't convinced that was going to end as well as he might have hoped. Whatever story he'd been telling, it provoked a howl of laughter from the people around him.
His face lit up when he saw us and he waved us over, his beer bottle tilting dangerously in the air.
"Hot damn, Jiminy, you look good enough to eat!" He leered at me.
"You can look after your own conscience, real boy." I tweaked his nose. "'Sides, don't think there ever was 'I'm no fool with beer'."
"See." He grinned. "That's what's been missing in my life, a little guidance regardin' appropriate alcohol consumption levels."
Steve had rustled up a couple of beers for us and I took mine, saluting Two-Bit.
"If you can still string those words together, I'd say you're fine." I smiled. Two-Bit blew me a kiss, at which point Steve steered me towards a table on the other side of the room.
Dallas was tilting his chair back towards the wall, with his feet up on the table. Sylvia stood next to him, although she was chatting animatedly to a couple of girls I didn't recognise, seemingly ignoring Dallas's arm around her hips. I wondered if he'd fall off his chair if she suddenly decided to walk away.
We pulled a couple of spare chairs up to the table.
Steve regarded Dallas. Dallas regarded Steve.
"How's it hangin', man?"
"It's hangin'. Where's Curtis at?"
"He's around."
Whether that constituted 'Sorry, I accused you of feeling up my girl' and 'That's okay', in guy speak, I could only speculate. They didn't seem inclined to kill each other any time soon.
The girls talking to Sylvia wandered off and she turned around. Dallas snapped his chair down onto four legs, pulling her onto his lap.
"Are you done yakkin', or what?" he asked, investigating her cleavage with his eyes and her thigh with his hand.
"Aw, darlin', you feelin' neglected?" Her voice sounded far less sympathetic than the words would have suggested.
"Night's early, yet." He smiled roguishly.
"You ain't even bought me a drink."
Dallas scowled and dug in his pocket, almost dislodging her as he shifted his hips to reach for the bill he then held out. Sylvia looked at him in disbelief.
"What? I gotta pay for it and fetch it?" he griped. She snatched the money from his hand and stalked off towards the bar. Dallas grinned at her back and lit up a cigarette.
The door opened and Sandy and Soda came in, arms around each other. He looked mighty pleased with himself. I noticed that his shirt was buttoned up wrong.
Sandy intercepted Sylvia on her way back from the bar and scooped me up as she passed, ushering us to the bathroom. She took a swig from Sylvia's beer, kicking the door shut behind us.
"Holy shit, that boy's persistent," Sandy said, washing her hands.
Sylvia let out a dirty chuckle."And...?"
"Yeah, yeah. Still got him waitin'." Sandy exhaled long and hard, blowing her bangs with the breath.
"He didn't look that frustrated," I pointed out.
"Well, I ain't cruel," she said, shaking the water from her hands, and holding them up meaningfully. "But at least I still got something in reserve."
Oh, shit. Meaning what? That I didn't? All I needed was her spilling what I'd told her about me and Steve. On the other hand, Sylvia probably assumed we'd been doing it from the get go.
Sandy began tidying her hair in the half a mirror that survived on the filthy wall. The amenities at Buck's were not exactly luxurious. I took a quick glance, before Sylvia elbowed me out of the way to reapply her lipstick. I realized I wasn't that much shorter than them, with my heels on. And I thought I had better legs than Sylvia, if not Sandy.
Sandy was smoothing the borrowed skirt, poking her stomach. "Thank Christ, this party's this weekend, I'll be out of commission again next week, I can feel it." She sighed.
"Come on then, let's make the most of it." Sylvia drained her beer and hurled the bottle at the overflowing trash can. "I wanna dance!"
I let them go, taking advantage of the mirror being free to double check my lashes. A girl elbowed her way in, grabbing a handful of toilet paper and scrubbing her eyes, angrily. I watched her out the corner of my eye. She had gorgeous hair, long and black, curls tumbling over her shoulders.
She was tiny, like me, but I thought she was younger. It was quite hard to tell, she was made up so heavily. She stopped sniffing and approached the mirror, cussing a blue streak when she saw her eyeliner smudged and again as she touched her cheek gingerly.
She caught my eye in the mirror. "Can you see this?" She gestured angrily at her cheek. I peered at the red mark, nodded. "Bastard!" She hissed. "I'm gonna see him dead for this. Wait 'til I tell my brothers."
"First time he put his hand to ya? You walkin' away now?" I asked. She looked at me, surprised I suppose, that I was asking about her business, then she nodded. "Good for you," I said, "only idiots go back for more."
"Fuckin' right," she said decisively, tilting her chin up.
I left her to repair her makeup, wondering if I'd have been such an idiot, if I'd had brothers to fall back on.
I was disoriented for a second when I went back out, because the table we'd been sitting at was occupied by some other guys. Someone grabbed me by the waist and I yelped, until I realized it was Two-Bit.
"Come dance, munchkin?" It didn't really work as a question, because he dragged me headlong into the back room before I could express a preference. Once there, I saw the others, Sylvia and Sandy dancing, the guys lounging against the wall. Soda was rebuttoning his shirt, Steve must have pointed it out to him.
Two-Bit swung me into the middle of the room, then twirled me back into his arms. Next thing I knew, Steve was thrusting his arm between us and taking my hand from Two-Bit's.
"Hey, this ain't a 'gentleman's excuse me'!" Two-Bit objected.
"No, it's a 'gentleman's fuck off and find your own girl'," Steve said with a grin.
"But it's my birthday!"
"The hell it is."
Two-Bit shrugged and grabbed Sandy into a dance instead. She was laughing as he spun her around, her hair flying out like a halo. Soda sipped his beer, watching them.
"That was mean," I teased as Steve pulled me back over to the side, slightly away from Soda and Dallas. "Poor Two-Bit just wants to dance, which is more than you usually do."
"Yeah, well, poor Two-Bit can find his own dance partner, I ain't letting go of you tonight." He leaned into me, kissing me. We hit the wall behind and he pressed up against me. He tasted of beer and desire, his lips cool and his hands hot.
When we came back to reality, I saw Soda was dancing too. He and Two-Bit were making it as much of a contest as when they'd walked on their hands. They were spinning and twirling Sandy and Sylvia in complicated moves that threatened to end in a tangle of limbs.
"What happened to my beer?" I asked Steve, having left it on the table earlier.
"Oh, yeah. Might have drunk that." He hung his arm around my shoulders.
"Jeez, how long was I gone, three minutes?"
"You want another one?"
"I want a first one! It's that, or dance..." I tried to pull him back to the dancing. He pulled a face at me, pulling in the other direction.
"Later."
"You mean 'slower'."
"Hey, I know what I mean."
We were back in the bar area, it seemed even louder, if that was possible. Steve elbowed into the crowd around the bar. I blinked at one of the figures leaning at the end.
Darry Curtis smiled at me and asked if Two-Bit was around. I told him about the dance-off. He snorted and resumed his conversation with the guy next to him.
Steve reappeared, juggling two bottles and two shot glasses, which I quickly helped him with. He jerked his head at the guy behind him. "Clark owed me for a bit of work I did on the QT, gonna pay us in drinks."
I downed the shot, smiling to show my approval of this deal. "Soda's brother's here."
"The fuck...?" Steve looked round in horror, then relaxed, "Oh. Christ, I thought you meant Ponyboy!" He nodded at Darry, then grabbed a barstool as it came free. He picked me up and deposited me on the stool, shoving a space next to me for himself. As he talked engine shit with the guy called Clark – whether that was his first or last name I wasn't sure – I downed the beer.
Darry moved round the bar, found a space next to me.
"Didn't realise, when I met you before. I musta been at school with your sister?"
"Sarah?" I squeaked. He smiled, nodded.
"Yeah, Sarah, I knew you reminded me of someone. We were in a lot of classes together. She was my biology partner, I think, for a while."
I was gaping at him. I don't know what was more surprising to me, that she would have hung out with Darry Curtis, or that there was anything so memorable about her. And then, I reminded him of her? I was nothing like her!
Another shot appeared, courtesy of Clark. I smiled and said thanks, drank it, still not knowing what to say to Darry, barely able to look at him. He smelled really...clean, like soap and cologne. I could see that Sodapop was real pretty for a guy, I totally got why all the girls I knew were into him, but seriously, I didn't think he was the hottest thing in that house. Maybe the girls who threw themselves at Soda had never met his brother.
"'Bout time!" Darry grinned as Two-Bit launched himself at us, crowing about his dancing prowess, Soda and Sandy in his wake. Darry pretended to complain. "Man, first you insist I come out, then you're not even here!"
"I am everywhere!" Two-Bit claimed, extravagantly. "An' where I am, the party is..."