Good morning Vietnam! Yeah, I know, odd start, but I'm entitled to my eccentric moments, especially before coffee. And apparantly through my first cup of it...
Alright, because I love you all, a chapter. This is the third draft of it, so hopefully I finally managed to get it right! We're into the book now, people. The end is...well, not near, but in sight!
So, what am I waiting for? On with the show!
Steve's POV
You know, there's something to be said for being a nice guy. People like Sodapop were nice guys. I wasn't, but I had my moments. Today was one of them. Aries had asked me at lunch if I would come back and pick him up an hour after the bell. Apparently he was tutoring some Soc and needed a ride home. Normally I would have told him to go ahead and walk if he was gong to bust his ass for a dumb Soc, but instead, I told him I would and thought that he was at least learning something. I mean, before he got jumped, he probably would have just walked home and got himself jumped and beat up something awful. Now he didn't go anywhere alone. No one could say the kid wasn't a quick study.
So that was why I was sitting in the school parking lot, leaning back in the driver's seat of my car, an hour and fifteen minutes after school let out. I'd decided to just sit here and wait for the kid instead of going to the DX or something. Not that the DX was my favorite place these days. Things hadn't been right there since the night Mike got shot. But Mike was back after a week of bed rest and he wasn't ready, no matter how he tried to swing it. Walking, sitting, standing…it all still looked painful. But this was Mike. He always seemed to find a way around everything. I suppose that's what made him such a good hood in New York City. Needless to say, Jack wanted him nowhere near the till, he was too caustic to the customers to pump gas, and he couldn't bend over the cars without nearly passing out. So he decided to make the DX a miserable place to be by ordering Curly Shepard in there to do the bending for him. I don't know; I could see where he was coming from. Curly'd caused him to be out of work, so Curly might as well do the work and it wasn't like he was going to learn anything by going to the reformatory again…but he robbed the place and almost killed Mike for six dollars. I just wanted to throttle the kid and I know Jack, Soda, and Starkey felt the same.
I sighed, stretching in the seat. The kid was fifteen minutes late and I was starting to get fidgety. I was tempted to go and look for him when he finally strolled out the door to the parking lot with only his coat slung over his shoulder. He looked tired as he opened the passenger door and leaned back into the worn leather.
"That bad?" I asked and he nodded.
"He gets the math, but not the application and physics is all application," he explained. "It's like trying to teach someone with only half the instructions in English."
"Well, at least he's paying you."
"Yeah, it's good review for the test on Monday, too." He nodded. "Have you been waiting here the whole time?"
I nodded and started up the car as he sighed."It was no problem. If I'd gone off somewhere, you can bet I would have probably forgotten about you all together."
Aries nodded and was quiet after that. The kid was always like that, though. He'd learned over the last few weeks to stop asking questions and just accept things they way they were. I guess getting jumped was a learning experience for anyone who didn't grow up in the neighborhood. He was a quick study since then and seemed to be catching onto being a Greaser, finally. Well, with everything but the hair. It was long enough so he was tying it back. It was weird, but he seemed to like it.
A few minutes later, I pulled up behind Finn's truck in the driveway. It looked like she was going to be home for once this week. Aries could probably get away with murder with how often she was working nights. I glanced over at where Darry's truck was pulled up, too, and wondered where we'd be eating dinner tonight. I normally didn't let my life revolve around where there was a meal to be had, but today was payday for the old man and I wasn't looking to go home for some time.
"You want to stay for dinner?" Aries asked like he knew exactly what was going through my head.
The kid was pretty smart. He probably had it figured out when my Pop's pay day was just by my bruises or when I turned up on the couch. He probably had it all mapped out in that freaky head of his. But at least he wasn't dumb enough to say anything.
"Dunno, kid. We'll have to see who's cooking tonight."
"Well, since both Darry and Layne are home, it won't be Mike."
Mike had been doing a lot of the cooking lately so he could eat what he wanted without Finn on his back. That meant we were doing a lot more eating, too. It was a wonder the kid was still skin and bones.
"Well, chicken or potato soup then," I joked and he smiled before hopping out of the car.
"I think we're out of potatoes."
"Thank God," I replied and he nodded.
Yeah, I think we were all getting tired of Finn's potato kick.
We both headed into the house and I glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was nearly five o'clock. That meant Sodapop would be coming home. I made a note to touch base with him about tomorrow night. We were taking the girls out to the football game and Soda was really excited when we'd made the plans. Sandy had been avoiding him for the past week and it had him thinking a lot more on her than the cars. Needless to say, it would be good for everyone if he and Sandy figured things out. Sometimes I wished Evie had that problem. She was alright most of the time, but she whined. And when she whined, I really didn't want anything to do with her. Then that usually caused her to whine a lot more. It was a cycle, but Evie was one of those good things in my life that I wasn't going to give up just because she got on my nerves sometimes. Heck, if I did that, Two-Bit would be long gone by now.
Aries led the way into the kitchen where Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. He nodded to us in greeting, still focusing on whatever he was writing when we came in. I glanced over at the galley and observed there was no one in there, but everything was covered in flour.
"Two-Bit baking again?" I asked and Johnny nodded.
This was just one of the random things Two-Bit did. He was bored, so he was learning something. The real surprising thing was that Finn found time around her hours to teach him. She and Darry were both working like dogs. Finn because of the school hours and Darry because cold weather would be hitting soon and they had to finish up all those roofing projects before it did.
"They ran next door for some sugar. Two-Bit put too much in the last batch," Johnny answered the next obvious question. "But they turned out better than the batch before that when he added too much salt."
I glanced over at where there were two piles of cookies on the table and figured the smaller one was the over-sugared ones since Aries grabbed one off the top of the bigger stack and immediately inhaled it. The kid didn't do sweet. He was a salt addict; it was almost painful to watch him inhale a meal. He picked up another and Johnny made a face at him. Aries shrugged and ignored him.
"They both had to run next door?" Aries asked and Johnny nodded. "Brackets first," he added absently.
"Two-Bit forgot to take over a measure for how much he needed, so Finn followed after him," Johnny explained, erasing whatever he'd had written before and looking over his homework critically.
"Sounds like Two-Bit," I said, eyeing the cookies.I tasted one of the over-sugared ones and set it back down. That was too sweet, probably even for Sodapop who liked everything over-sugared. I decided on going through the fridge and helping myself to an apple instead.
"…And you're sure we only need that little old cup of sugar?" Two-Bit's voice came from the living room.
"Yes," Finn replied as the front door banged closed.
"You sure? The last batch came out really salty."
"Because you don't add half a cup of salt," she pointed out patiently. "You never add half a cup of salt to anything."
"What about gas tanks?" Two-Bit asked as they came into the kitchen.
"No, that's sugar," she corrected. "And you generally want at least a cup if you want the prank to work."
"Where were you last week?" Two-Bit joked and Finn rolled her eyes.
"How was tutoring, Aries?" she asked and he shrugged.
"Tiring. We've been working all week and Bob Sheldon is going to have to pay to have his Physics marks changed at this point," he replied, still looking over Johnny's shoulder. "Division next."
"There has to be an easy way to remember this stuff." Johnny scribbled out something else and Aries rubbed between his eyes tiredly.
"BEDMAS."
"BEDMAS?" Johnny asked.
"Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. It's an acronym."
Johnny sighed and scribbled that down. We covered that in freshman year and I could tell him right now that he'd never use it again.
"Thanks for getting him home," Finn said, looking just as tired as her kid brother. "Two-Bit's had me tied up all day."
"No problem," I replied.
"You're staying for dinner?" she asked and I shrugged.
"Sure, as long as Two-Bit isn't cooking," I replied.
"I only bake," Two-Bit pointed out, dumping the cup of sugar into the bowl, causing flour to fly out of the bowl. "And not well."
"I'll have you up to 'passing' in no time. Chicken Casserole works for everyone?" Finn asked, pulling a dish out of the icebox.
"It's not potato," I pointed out and Aries smiled.
"Sounds fine," Aries answered for all of us around another cookie.
"Well, good," Finn said, slipping the dish into the oven. "Because the only other thing we do have hanging around are potatoes. And Aries, stop eating those cookies or you won't eat dinner."
I was about to tell her that Chicken Casserole would be great when we heard someone hollering for help. Finn went over to the back door and darted out it a moment later. Two-Bit cursed and followed her, covered in flour. The rest of us took the hint and sprinted after them and nearly crashed into Darry, Soda and Dallas in the back alley. I did a quick head count and wanted to curse. We were short one kid.
We all raced to the end of the alley and darted down the sidewalk just in time to see Ponyboy laid out on the sidewalk and a bunch of guys running away. There were five of them and they had obviously beaten up a kid. How low was that? Dallas had the right idea as he and Two-Bit charged after them, picking up rocks to throw at the car. I joined them, hoping we could completely ruin the paint job at the very least. I may not have liked the kid all the time and he may have gotten on my nerves more times than Evie, even, but he was our kid and no one messed with our kid.
They scrambled into their car and managed to get the engine to turn over just as Dallas caught up to the car and started punching the driver through the open window. Sodapop and I caught on quick and grabbed a hold of the passenger through his open window. You'd think they'd have had enough sense to close them. We tried to remove him from the car so we had more of him to beat on, but his friends had a pretty good hold on him.
Rocks were still hitting the car and Two-Bit was dragging over a thick tree branch when they managed to shake the three of us off. They didn't waste any time peeling out of the neighborhood with our cusses following them. Soda watched for a moment before darting back to where we'd left Ponyboy. I assumed Darry and Finn had stayed back with him, too. We'd be along in a minute.
"Looks like I got out just in time to throw out the trash," Dally commented, still watching them go.
"Yeah. You'd think they'd have learned by now to stay out of our territory," I commented.
"Good to have you back, Dal," Two-Bit said with a broad smile. "No one takes out the trash like you."
"What the hell happened to you?" Dallas asked and Two-Bit grinned even wider, if it was possible.
It was a good question, considering Two-Bit was covered in flour still.
"I've been baking."
Dallas threw him a strange look before going over to where Johnny and Aries still had their hands full of rocks.
"Let's go check on the kid."
"Yeah. Hopefully the little knucklehead is ok," Two-Bit commented, tossing his branch away. "It ain't right for them to pick on kids like that."
"It's not logical, either," Aries pointed out as we fell in step behind Dallas.
"Kid, if the world was logical, you'd have nothing to complain about," Two-Bit pointed out and Aries gave him a puzzled look before closing his mouth and keeping quiet.
Like I said, he was learning.
Darry, Soda, and Finn were all with the kid when we got back there. He looked rattled, but he was trying to brush it off. I didn't blame him. He was a tough little kid, even if I often told him otherwise. But that brought up the point that he'd be fine right now if he wasn't out here on his own. He knew better. I know he did because we always heard Darry trying to drive that fact home. He should have called for a ride. Both Finn and Two-Bit had been around all afternoon and I could have picked him up after I grabbed Aries. Basically, this all could have been avoided.
"Did you get 'em?" the kid asked, most likely to get our attention off him.
"Nah, they got away, the dirty, rotten…" Two-Bit trailed off as Finn settled her gaze on him. "Socs."
"Hey, Dally. Didn't know you were out of the cooler yet," Pony commented and Dal nodded, lighting a cigarette.
"Got off early on good behavior," he replied, handing his cigarette off to Johnny before settling down on the sidewalk.
We all followed his lead, sitting down on the sidewalk to get our fix before we did anything else. It would give the kid a chance to calm down, too. He was practically pressed up against Soda's side and as far away from Darry as he could manage. Aries sat down between the two of them and I could have told him that was asking to be in the middle of something. Finn touched knees with Darry and I, leaving Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny to stretch out on the sidewalk. Aries pulled out a cigarette from behind his ear and his sister gave him a dirty look but whether that was because he was smoking or because it brought attention to his hair was anyone's guess. I smirked as he rolled his eyes and held his hand out to me for my lighter.
"What were you doin' walkin' by your lonesome?" I asked, flicking my ashes at Pony to let him know I was talking to him.
Ponyboy looked at his cigarette like it held the answers to some pretty deep questions.
"I went to the movies. I didn't think."
Darry opened his mouth to say something and Finn squeezed his arm. They looked at each other and she gave him a pointed look. Darry frowned and glared at Ponyboy, but didn't say anything. Soda looked relieved. Darry spent a lot of his time yelling at Ponyboy lately and you could tell Soda really hated being in the middle of it, even if he wasn't. He just put himself there instead of stepping out of the picture and letting them go at it. My mother did that to me and my dad a lot. It seemed to work out just fine for her.
"Next time, ask one of us to go with you, any of us will," Two-Bit offered.
Yeah, well, I'd at least pick him up.
"Speaking of movies," Dally yawned. "I'm walking over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anyone want to come and hunt some action?"
"Me and Soda are picking up Evie and Sandy for the game," I answered, glaring at Ponyboy incase he had any ideas on coming along. The girls never wanted to fool around after he was with us all night.
"I'm working tomorrow night." Darry sighed, like we all knew he would.
"I've got a house to straighten out," Finn replied. "I should be making you boys clean it."
"Good luck," Aries stated and Two-Bit laughed.
"How about y'all? Two-Bit, Aries, Johnnycake, you and Pony want to come?" Dally asked.
"Me and Johnny'll come," Pony replied "Ok, Darry?"
"Yeah, since it ain't a school night," he answered.
Darry treated Pony like prisoner on school nights. He could barely leave the house. That was probably how he kept the kid out of trouble.
"I was planning on getting boozed up tomorrow night," Two-Bit said "If I don't, I'll walk over and find y'all."
Dallas nodded and glanced over at Aries who shrugged, watching something over his shoulder. Mike was walking down the sidewalk towards us, looking both tired and sore. He glanced over our little congregation and stopped just outside the circle-like shape we'd made when we sat down.
"What's going on?" He asked, rubbing at his chest a little.
"The kid got jumped," I supplied, thumbing over at Pony.
Mike gave Ponyboy a long look before nodding.
"Dallas is out of jail early," Finn added and Mike nodded to him in greeting.
"About time you stopped hiding from Sev," he commented, striding between us like we were just rocks on the sidewalk. "Like being scared of spiders or something."
"Watch it, Garren," Dallas growled.
"Anywhere, anytime, Dal," Mike replied, not looking back as he made his way down the sidewalk.
"Mike," Finn warned and he ignored her.
"He's a big boy, Finn," Dallas pointed out, getting up. "If he wants to fight, I'll kick his ass."
"No you won't," she said sternly. "One punch and Mike will probably be down for the count. So lay off, please."
"Mike Garren has a glass jaw?" Dallas asked, looking like that was laughable.
"No. He has a bullet wound in his chest," Finn replied. "He's been trying to pick a fight with everyone lately so he can prove he's still tough. You want to piss him off? Ignore him."
I think it was only because Finn fed him and Dallas Winston didn't hit girls that she was still on her feet. Dallas had a temper with anyone who told him what to do. Well, not with Mrs. Curtis, but pretty well everyone else in the world. Apparently Finn was an exception. Or maybe it was the fact Darry, Soda, Two-Bit, and myself were all ready to jump up and hold Dallas off as soon as things turned nasty.
But they didn't. Finn smacked her forehead and groaned before jogging back towards home. Dallas glared after her before starting in the opposite direction. We all wandered back towards home then. Well, not my home, but it was the place most like a good home you could find around here. Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy all went back to their place, but Finn promised dinner and I was beginning to get hungry, so I followed Two-Bit up the front steps and back into the house again.
I flopped down on the couch as Two-Bit wandered into the kitchen with Johnny. Aries stood in the doorway, watching Mike like was afraid of him or something. That was silly. Mike looked exhausted after the walk home. He was already lounging in his chair and he was probably about ten minutes away from sleep. He was fingering a hole in his jeans and glanced up at us. His eyes settled on Aries like he'd never seen the kid before. He frowned a little and fingered the hole in his jeans a little more thoughtfully, like he was thinking on something weighty.
"Find me some thread, will ya?" he asked and the kid blinked at him before nodding.
The kid headed off to do as he was told as Mike sighed.
"Damn Shepard needed help under the car and I caught my leg coming up on the broken bumper of that '56."
I winced. There was a jagged tare along the bumper from the accident that Ford was in last week. Mike was lucky he came out with just ripped jeans. I also winced because he let Curly under the damn thing. That meant more wok for me and Sodapop over the weekend. I didn't bother telling Mike that since Jack hadn't had any luck and he was the boss. Mike and Starkey got away with a lot. Mike got Curly as an assistant and Starkey got to have his random vacations off. One day, Soda and I would be senior employees and we could get away with eccentric bullshit, too.
"Mike, I think the stove died," Finn called and Mike sighed.
"I've got seven years before that was supposed to happen."
I glanced over at Mike, but was distracted as Finn came into the room with that Chicken Casserole. She was practically glaring at it.
"It should be burnt to a crisp and here it's barely thawed," she pointed out.
"I'll look at it later," Mike promised.
"Try," Finn challenged. "I'm going to go borrow Darry's stove."
"Have fun," Mike replied, taking the tread Aries had found.
"At least take them off before you sew them," Finn advised.
"Why?" Mike asked, focused on threading the needle.
"Alright, just don't complain when those pants become a permanent part of your leg." Finn shrugged and left the house.
"You're one brave man," Two-Bit offered.
"She's not so bad," he offered. "You've never seen her mad."
"I don't know, she seemed pretty mad when I added that vinegar to the baking soda last week," Two-Bit pointed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not letting dinner out of my sight. Coming, Stevie?"
"Quit calling me Stevie," I said, but got up anyways.
I was going to ask Mike if he was coming, but his eyes were closed and the needle was hooked in the fabric on his knee, forgotten. I reached over and pulled it loose, setting it on the table. There was something to be said for being a nice guy and I think I'd done more than my fair share today.
Alright! That's it for now!
Any comments at all are welcome and flames accepted.
See ya in the funny papers!!!
Tens & Zickachik