"I'm going, just let me get my keys dad!"
"Don't fucking bother! You're grounded from your car!"
"For what? Because you're in a bad mood?"
"I say what goes, now get the hell out!"
Not wanting to deal with anymore, Steve marched out the front door and heard his dad slam it shut behind him. He wasn't surprised he was getting kicked out. His dad had been in a bad mood all evening, so Steve knew what was coming.
"Screw you," Steve muttered as he fished out his pack of cigarettes. He lit a cigarette and began walking towards the park. He knew he'd end up at the Curtis house, but he always took a stroll through the park to cool off first.
He paced around the park, taking drags off his conversation. He'd pick up some sticks and rocks to throw them as hard as he could, burning off the angry energy. The conversation he had with Tim was still going through his head. He hated to admit Rachel was right. Even though he was able to tell Tim no, it wasn't the end of it. Not just because Tim claimed it wasn't the end of it, but Steve couldn't stop thinking about it. He thought about all the scenarios and the "what ifs." There was definitely the side of him that wanted to go for the action, the challenge of his worth with vehicles, and just the simple fact that it'd be fun as hell. That side of him easily pushed away the other side, the side that told him the risks he was gambling with. If Soda did find out...but does Soda have to find out? If Pony found out...but does Pony have to find out either? Steve's concerning questions constantly got interrupted by the questions that could get him out of those concerns. He knew this was going to be a tough battle to get himself through.
Steve's head shot up and turned as he heard a common sound approaching. A car was driving down the road, slowing as it approached the park. What stopped him in his tracks was how nice the car looked. It was too nice.
"Ah shit," Steve muttered tossing his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. The car pulled into the grass some, came to a stop, and the doors opened. Steve straightened himself up, standing his ground.
"There he is," he heard someone say.
"Even better, I'm being searched for," Steve rolled his eyes, getting himself ready for defense. He didn't think anything of the statement right away. There were plenty of times Socs thought they found a greaser they claimed to be looking for, but in reality they were drunk and found a random greaser to jump for kicks. Three guys stepped out of the car and walked towards Steve. He was taking back when he saw one of them automatically flip a blade. That was bad news. Maybe someone was specifically looking for him. They got closer, and Steve continued to stay on guard while keeping his cool. "What do y'all want? You're pretty far out of your territory."
"Well, we're pretty sure you were out of yours the other night," one of them smirked. They got right up to Steve, only feet away.
"Says who?"
"Don't play dumb grease," the tallest Soc snarled, as the other two made their way around to the sides of Steve, clearly wanting to keep him from running off. Steve kept his eye on each of them.
"We know you were seen at Yale with Sheppard," another Soc said.
"You really thought you were going to get away with my brother's car?" the tallest Soc said, "Big, big mistake getting involved with Sheppard."
"You got the wrong guy," Steve said. If there's anything any greaser knew, it was to never admit what someone was accusing you of. Whether it was a Soc, or the fuzz, or even another greaser, you don't admit shit.
"Everyone knows you Randle," the Soc on Steve's right side said, "Everyone knows you would know how to get away with this."
"And Sheppard seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth," the tallest Soc kept talking, "So we'll send him a message this way."
Before Steve could respond, all three lunged at him at the same time. He attempted to grab at them, but they were too quick on him. The two side Socs got him held down while the big one held the blade and stood over. Steve tried to get out of the grips, but was stuck.
"Do you want to tell us where Sheppard is? So I can give him a good beating, again," the Soc snarled, "And save your own ass?"
Steve didn't say a word. Even if he did tell this Soc where Tim could be at, he knew the Soc wasn't going to go easy on him. It wouldn't save his ass at all. More importantly, even though he may have been a little mad with Tim, he wouldn't rat him out to a Soc. Tim wouldn't rat Steve out to a Soc either.
"Well, easy enough," the Soc got closer and pushed the blade against Steve's arm. Putting pressure down, he slid it across the skin, causing Steve to yell. He began thrashing around, trying to fight back. His heart was jumping as he knew the Soc was cutting near the long scar he already possessed. The Soc tossed the blade to the side, and began throwing fists. The other two Socs let go and joined in to the hits. They were too quick for Steve to get out, so all he tried to do was bring his arms up to cover himself.
"Hey! What the hell are y'all doing over here?" a voice yelled, "Get the hell out of here!"
The hits stopped instantly, and Steve heard the footsteps run off. He brought his hands closer to his head, covering as much as he could, unsure what was coming next.
"Come on you cowards!" a second voice yelled, "Can't take us on when it's an even number!"
"Steve?" the first voice got closer, "Steve? Are you alright?"
Steve removed his hands, and looked up to find Two-Bit and Johnny standing over him. Figuring it was safe now, he slowly sat up and saw Dally chasing the car off.
"You're bleeding," Two-Bit said motioning towards Steve's arm.
"Yeah," Steve said refusing to look down at it, "They pulled a blade." Two-Bit grabbed Steve's arm that wasn't cut and helped him to his feet.
"What are you doing out here?" Johnny asked.
"My old man kicked me out," Steve answered, "I needed to cool off."
"Going to Soda's?" Two-Bit asked.
"Yeah. What were you guys doing?" Steve asked as Dally walked back over.
"We were at the stables watching Dally do some riding," Johnny answered.
"It's a good thing we left when we did to save your ass," Dally commented, "What did they want?"
Steve shook his head, "They were asking where Tim was. They apparently saw us that night. Or someone did and told them."
"Ah shit," Two-Bit said, "Well let's get to Soda's to bandage your arm."
"Yeah," Steve said, bringing his one hand over to cover the cut, feeling the blood against his palm. He wasn't in the right mindset to be looking at cuts on his arm. He couldn't have an episode right there in the middle of the park.
"You know, it wasn't an even number," Johnny said as they began walking.
"What?" Two-Bit asked.
"Dally yelled at the Socs they can't take us on when it's an even number," Johnny grinned, "It wasn't an even number though."
"Oh yeah it was," Steve smirked, "I was staying on the ground."
Steve stood in the bathroom washing his arm off. The cut wasn't too deep thankfully. He tried not to look at it too much since he had been feeling sensitive about his long scar on his arm. He couldn't even dare look at it.
"Did they say anything else about Tim?" Soda asked, sitting on the toilet watching Steve clean up.
"They just asked me where he was."
"You guys didn't even take the car, and they still jumped you over it?"
"Yeah," Steve sighed, "Not too surprised. I was caught." Steve felt a little sore, and saw a couple of bruises form on his face.
"Do you think this is it? They jumped you, and it's over?" Soda asked.
Steve knew he was asking, because it was probably more obvious that it wasn't going to end with just that. "Tim will probably get jumped next if they find him."
Soda shook his head, "And then Tim will want more than ever to get back at them."
"He still does anyway. I just hope he leaves me out of it."
"Me too. You good?" Soda asked as Steve finished the bandage.
"Yeah, where's Ponyboy at?"
"He's out in the back, probably smoking."
"Alright, I'm going to go say hi. Want to get some cards and we'll play when I come back in?"
Soda grinned, "Yeah sure."
"I'm sorry you got jumped," Pony said. Steve grabbed the basketball and began dribbling it around.
"I'm fine," Steve shrugged.
"Dally came out here and was telling me about it. It sounds like you could have gotten really hurt," Pony said.
"Maybe. But hey, they got there and now it's fine. Can't dwell on it," Steve shot the basketball towards the hoop.
"So what are you going to do about all of this?"
"Tim is going to have to handle it on his own," Steve said, "I'm not getting involved. He's got himself in something deep with this guy. I don't know what the hell it is, but I can't help him out."
Pony nodded, looking down and kicking at some grass.
"God, you are the image of your brother," Steve chuckled.
"What?" Pony asked, looking back up.
"Soda can't hide his feelings when something's bothering him," Steve said passing the basketball to Pony, "Obviously neither can you."
Pony held onto the ball and sighed, "Well, you're right."
"Right about what?"
"Tim did get himself in something deep," Pony said tossing the ball back.
Steve caught the basketball and gave it a squeeze, "How do you know?"
"Earlier today, I was walking over to the DX to say hi to you and Soda. I ran into Curly on the way there. He asked how my leg was and if everything was okay," Pony explained, "He started talking about how Tim just needed to quit it with this guy. It was never going to end, they'd always hit him back with something, and then he'd get back at them. It was a back and forth thing that wasn't ending."
"Are you saying Tim has had it with this guy for some time?"
"I guess so," Pony said, "Curly said it's just some feud going on. But this time that guy took it too far by beating Tim and destroying his car. So now Tim is taking it a step further by wanting to steal a car."
Steve shook his head, "So he decided to get me involved without really being truthful."
"What do you mean?"
"He told me this Soc jumped him randomly when his car got beat up. He didn't say anything about a feud."
"Oh," Pony looked down, "No, Curly was saying this has been something going on between them."
"So why hasn't Tim told anyone else? Why hasn't he got the gang together to go beat his ass or something?"
"Maybe Tim's too proud. Maybe Tim has something going on over at Yale and knew no one on our side of town would help him with anything he got into over there. I mean this isn't the usual Soc we deal with, this is a Soc at Yale, you know how sketchy that is. Maybe Tim got into something."
Steve thought for a moment, "You may not be wrong about that one kid."
"It's just worrying me..."
"What?" Steve asked taking a shot for the basketball hoop.
"That if Tim is involved in some dirty shit at Yale, and now he got you involved, you won't be able to easily get out of it."
Steve slammed the basketball towards the ground, letting it take a loud bounce towards the sky, "He better believe he ain't getting me into some shit I can't get out of."