(Bexley's POV)
(August 28th, 1965, 2:14 am)
From a far distance, someone was calling our names. The voice was distorted and hard to make out. But I felt someone shaking me awake by my shoulders. However, I was still so tired that my eyes refused to open. It was as if they were nailed shut. There was a frigid chill in the air, causing me to shiver under my denim jean jacket.
"Ponyboy! Bexley! Wake up!" the voice said again, this time more urgent than before. That made me wake up, a shot of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. From beside me, I heard Ponyboy gasp for air as he woke up from his slumber. When I was awake finally, I could see that the voice belonged to Johnny, who was hovering over the both of us. I don't know how long we'd been asleep for, but I could tell that the stars had shifted a little bit.
"Oh damn, what time is it?" I asked, pushing my stiff body upwards, rubbing my eyes with balled up fists. "I don't know. I fell asleep too." Johnny replied, yawning in the process. "Bexley, we gotta get home. Darry's gonna kill the both of us." Pony cried, his eyes widened and full of fear. Dread filled my entire being. Being around Darry when he's pissed off wasn't ever a good thing. If you made him upset, you'd just signed your own death wish.
"Yeah, the two of you get home. I'm gonna stay out here all night. Who'll care anyway?" Johnny said, laying down by the abandoned car seat. I get to my feet and help Ponyboy up by his hand. "Alright, come to our house if you get cold." Ponyboy said, being more wide awake as he looked around the lot, which was blanketed in darkness. "Yeah, alright." Johnny said, falling back asleep.
Both of us were wondering the same thing, how pissed off would Darry be if he knew that we spent the entire night out here in the lot with Johnny? The thought of it made my stomach churn. We could've stayed here, but honestly, it was way too cold to do so. I could see goosebumps forming on Pony's bare arms. We could at least be prepared for the storm that would soon come.
And with that, the two of us bolted towards home, running down the street like the devil was after us. Pony and I were all alone in the streets, and I saw how afraid he was. He was afraid that the Socs were waiting for him in the darkness. And to be honest, I was kinda afraid too. It'd be the perfect opportunity for them to get us; would they take that chance if they wanted to? They knew about me, meaning that I could be next.
The more we ran, the more afraid I was feeling. I couldn't panic now, I had to remain calm for my brother at this moment in time. When I looked at him, he was much more afraid that we were out here all on our own with no protection. It looked like he was going to throw up.
The street lights above us lit only a small portion of the streets and the shadows around us were too thick for our liking. The way they lit the street gave both of us an unsettling feeling that made my stomach rise in fear.
Soon enough, we reached the house. The lights were on inside, meaning that either Darry or Soda were still awake. We leapt onto the front porch and waited a moment before going inside. To say that we were nervous to face Darry was an understatement. We were expecting him to be mad at us for being late, but neither of us were prepared for what happened next.
The minute we walked through the door, that's when Darry blew up at us. He threw his paper down on the floor and rose to his feet, practically towering over Pony and I. The icy look in his eyes would scare anybody. "Where the hell have you two been!? Do either of you know what time it is?!" Darry shouted, his harsh voice cutting through air. Ponyboy tried to hide behind me, trying to avoid the fury coming from our eldest brother's eyes.
Well it's 2 in the morning, kiddos. I would've had the cops after you two if you stayed out another hour. So tell me where in the hell were you two?" Darry barked, his voice rising. His voice was so grating that I actually got scared. There were times where Darry was upset with us, but this was a whole new level. Shivers went down my spine.
"We… We fell asleep in the lot." Pony flinched, looking away from him while he began to tremble. Darry looked as though he was gonna strangle the both of us. "You two did what!?" Darry bellowed, waking up Soda, who was sleeping on the couch. Soda sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hey, Pony. Hey, Bex." Soda said with a yawn, "Where ya two been?" "Look, Darry, we didn't mean to. It's not our fault that we fell asleep." I said, walking towards the bathroom with Ponyboy behind me.
"Not y'all's fault?! What in the hell's the matter with you two?! Don't you two ever use your heads?! The next time, you three might end up in a youth's home so fast it'd make y'all's head spin! Did you two happen to forget that you two have brothers, who are up half the night worrying their heads off?!" Darry continued to shout at us.
I squeezed my eyes shut and huffed, trying to keep the tears from falling. But they were stinging both of my eyes and I felt the pressure on the bridge of my nose and my jaw. "S-She said we didn't mean to… We were talking to Johnny and… we sorta dropped off." Ponyboy said, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. Despite that, Darry wasn't having any of this; he threw his hands up in the air in a frustrated way.
"We didn't mean to!" he scoffed, turning around to face us, "The problem is that you two always forget! That's all I ever hear out of the two of you! And after what the Socs did to you, Pony! They could come back and do the same thing to you, Bexley! Or much worse! The two of you should know better!"
The way Darry screamed was loud enough to shake the whole house. Pony cowered down a little at being reminded of being jumped by the Socs. And I didn't even want to think of what would happen to me if the Socs got a hold of me. The thought made my stomach turn uncomfortably.
Soda stood up and started, "Darry, I don't think this is best-" Darry turned around sharply to face Soda, and he jabbed a finger hard into Soda's chest, the force of it causing him to stumble back a little. "You shut your damn trap! I'm getting sick and tired of you sticking up for them, do you hear me?!" he yelled at him.
Anger washed through me. I couldn't believe that Darry just yelled at him. Nobody yells at Sodapop. Before I could say anything, Ponyboy couldn't hold his tongue. "Don't you yell at him!" Ponyboy shouted, anger flaring in his eyes. What happened next seemed to happen too fast.
Darry whirled around and backhanded Ponyboy across the face. It was so hard that he was hurled against the door. Deathly silence filled the air. Seeing my twin brother getting hit like that set me off, "What the hell, Darry?!" When I tried grabbing Darry's arm, he ended up throwing me off and I tripped over the coffee table. The landing hurt like hell, and it was hard to stifle a cry.
I looked up at Darry, who had a look of horror on his face. He looked back at Ponyboy and I, eyes widened. We couldn't believe what just happened. Darry hit us; nobody ever in our family ever hit us. And Darry just crossed that line. There was a red mark forming on Darry's hand from where he slapped Pony. "Pony… B-Bex, I…" he started.
Pony grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet. Luckily, I didn't break anything on my body when I fell. The two of us bolted out of the door and back out into the cold night. Darry screamed from the house, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" But we didn't listen to him, we just kept on running. Tears were in my eyes and they kept coming despite me wiping them away.
The whole time, we believed that the person we had called Superman, always there for us when we needed him. We thought he would always be there to protect us from harm, not bring harm to us.
'He didn't show up when your brother needed him. Hell, you didn't even bother to invite him to The Dingo. You couldn't be bothered to stay with him. Both of you let the Socs get him.' the voice in my head taunted me, making my heart wrench in profound guilt.
I started sobbing, not because Darry had hit the both of us. It was because I felt so guilty for leaving Ponyboy to get jumped by the Socs. If anything, I was partly to blame for Ponyboy getting hurt like that.
(At the Park)
Pony and I bolted passed the lot and found ourselves in the park. By this time, my face was wet from all the tears that flowed down without my consent. Sobs racked through my body as we collapsed by the fountain, which lay in the middle of the park.
We sat down on a bench that was a car length away from the fountain.
I turned my body away from Ponyboy, who had his knees pulled up to his chest and he was sobbing in his arms. The way he sobbed, it broke my heart into a million tiny pieces. Each cry he made had shattered it even more.
I couldn't take it… Even though the guilt was still lingering in the back of my mind, I still had to be there for him. I turned my body around and put my arms around his body, scooting as close as I could to him. I rested my chin atop his head and let the tears fall from my eyes.
(Ponyboy's POV)
Bexley had her clothed arms around my shaking body. She was hugging me close to her, which I needed. Heavy sobs rattled my small being, feeling so helpless. My head was hurting so much from the constant crying, but I couldn't help it now. I couldn't believe what just happened.
Darry hit us… he actually hit us. He made us run away, scaring us. When he did that, I couldn't but help but picture him as one of the Socs. Not only did he hurt me, but he hurt Bexley as well. That's what I wanted to avoid… She got hurt because of me. I didn't want her to get hurt.
After a bit, I had calmed down just a little bit after crying all the tears that I could cry. "Are you okay?" Bex asked, noticing that I had stopped crying. I sniffled and wiped the tears from my face. "I-I don't know…" I replied, my voice shaky, "How could he do that to us?" Bexley knew that I needed a smoke, she didn't even need to ask.
She handed me one and lit it up for me. Afterwards, she lit up a cigarette for herself. I took a drag of my cigarette and laid down on the bench, using Bexley's legs as a pillow. I felt her fingers comb through my hair gently. She is always there for me when I needed her.
"Pony, I hate what Darry did. He took it too far, but… we're gonna have to return back home. After we cool down, of course." Bex said, taking a drag of her cigarette. I sighed heavily and shut my eyes for a moment. "Y-Yeah… you're right." I say, opening my eyes again. Having that cigarette helped the both of us calm down a bit. However, nothing prepared us for what was about to happen next.
There was the blast of a car, causing both of us to jump. I shot upwards and looked behind me. Bexley looked over her shoulder. A familiar red Corvair appeared through the shadows. The blood from both of our faces drained, mostly me. The two of us were vulnerable out here, completely alone. Bexley quickly grabbed my hand and I squeezed it thinking, No… please god no.