Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders.
Saturday, September 25th, 1965
"And done," Lynch said sitting down on a stool and finished writing the last word in his little journal. He had just spent a good two and a half hours beating them both with his whip as well as stomping on them. "Thank you for your patients. Now, would you boys like to hear the little poem I wrote?" he asked but neither Ponyboy nor Johnny spoke.
"Wonderful!" Lynch continued clearing his throat before putting the pencil on the table and stood up.
My waiting has paid off for now I have; the ones who will help me find what I desire.
You should have heard how much they assured me that their idols would come. You would have been proud.
How wonderful it was to hear their screams, when I held up the knife and cut into their skin; the most gorgeous sound I've ever heard.
Experiencing the feeling that one boy had, as he held a mouthy Greaser under the water; it was glorious.
Remind me to tell you all about the workout we did; the one where I whipped the boys in shape. Now you don't have to feel hesitant to bring them to a rumble anymore.
Overall, I still consider myself the happiest man in the world.
Even though our time has been short and you already seem like giving up, know that you have done a miracle and made me laugh.
Society does not understand the way I think and joy is not so easily achieved. Only a few have the talent to give me that joy, and you boys have it down to a tee. I really admire how both of you have stayed alive while still fighting back just for me. I'm truly honored to have you here. You boys are without a doubt,
My Heroes
"Well, what do you think?" Lynch asked. Johnny and Ponyboy didn't say a word but still kept their eyes on the murderer. "I think it's beautiful," he said and tore out the dreaded piece of paper and put it on the display table.
"And since you both did such a wonderful job today, I'm giving you both a treat," Lynch said and pulled out a bag.
'Ohgodohgodohgodohgod!' Ponyboy thought still shivering; whether from the cold water from yesterday or fear of the bag was unknown to him. Lynch reached in the bag and pulled out a piece of bread. Johnny and Ponyboy looked up at the food in awe.
"Most people that are in my care don't normally try and fight back as you have. They just sit there screaming and wiggling their bodies like idiots, but you two not only fight back, but you do it for yourselves and each other. That, in my opinion, deserves a reward; that and I don't want you starving to death on me," Lynch said and started walking towards Ponyboy step by step. Ponyboy squeezed his fingers together and started kicking the ground to try and push him past the barn wall that held his shackles on. "Neither of you are allowed to die until I say you can. Trust me, I've been doing this for a year and a half and I know the limits the body can and can't take. You try and escape early again and I'll bring you back and punish you so badly, your brothers will feel it too. Is that understood?" he asked now inches away from Pony's face. Ponyboy slowly nodded still breathing short gasps of air. "Johnny-boy?" Johnny just stared at Ponyboy breathing loud breaths through his mouth and nodded as well.
"Good," he said and backed away from him before tossed the bread a few feet in front of the teen and then did the same for Johnny. Ponyboy was eying the bread a few feet in front of him until Lynch came back and towered over him.
"Come on now. Don't be shy," Lynch said again. Then he looked straight into the eyes of Ponyboy. "Ok, I see how it is." Lynch then reached into his red jacket and pulled out a pistol aiming it right at Ponyboy. The fourteen-year-old gasped and froze never for an instant taking his eyes off the gun.
"Get it! NOW!" Lynch yelled. Ponyboy jumped and dived for the bread but was immediately jerked back by the chains.
"HAHAHA! I love that trick. Go on Ponyboy, get the bread," he said. Ponyboy pulled and tugged to reach the food but it was just out of reach from his fingertips. "You try Johnny-boy." Johnny slowly scooted as far as the chains would allow and reached out for the bread that was just out of his grasp as well. "Come on, you can do better than that Johnny-boy," Lynch said now aiming the pistol at Johnny rolling his eyes. Johnny looked at the gun and his face went pale. Then he too pulled on his chains but never took his gaze off of the pistol.
"Is this how you thank me after giving you a little treat? You don't even try to take it?" Lynch asked.
"I…I can't reach it," Johnny stuttered.
"Really? You're useless," he said taking the safety off the pistol still aimed at Johnny.
"AH!" Johnny screamed covering his face with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut waiting for the sound of a gunshot.
"WAIT!" Ponyboy screamed now reaching across the way towards Johnny and jumped when he heard a 'click' from the gun. Ponyboy stared at Johnny who was still cowering and then slowly looked back at Lynch still aiming the gun. He had a big grin on his face and then suddenly pressed the trigger again getting the same results as before; a soft 'click'. Both boys were startled again and Johnny was shaking still covering his face. Lynch quickly ran for his camera on the nearby table and took a bunch of snapshots of the two boys leaving the gun in its place.
"Perfect. Those are definite keepers," Lynch said. "I'll get these developed for our scrapbook later," he said as he set the camera back on the table near the poem. "Alright, now I gotta do some training in here for my second job before it gets too dark. You boys don't mind do you?" he asked while picking up the pieces of bread again and tossed them closer to the boys. This time, Ponyboy was just able to reach and grab the food. Johnny on the other hand still didn't make a move from where he sat. With that, Lynch put the pistol in his pocket again, grabbed the poem, and also grabbed one of the belts that were hanging up on the bulletin board caked in their blood. After that, he headed for the barn door and opened it letting in some rare sunlight. "Sweet dreams," Lynch told them and then took the pistol out of his pocket again and fired outside.
BANG!
"AHH!" Both boys screamed flinching. Lynch just gave a chuckle and walked outsider closing the barn door back up stealing a rare view of outside the barn away. Ponyboy closed his eyes and took in the silence that now plagued him taking deep breaths.
'Darry and Soda will come. They all will,' Ponyboy thought. But these thoughts made Ponyboy's face wrinkled up and tears were immediately made and rolled down his face; the sobs came shortly after. The fourteen-year-old hugged his knees and just let all his emotions go.
'Darry…Soda…..where are you?'
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Meanwhile, Darry and Soda sat at the kitchen table for another quiet dinner. The two hardly had said a word to each other since being forced back home by Agent Helms and Agent Carlos.
The day before:
…I'll be watching.
H.L
Soda's face went pale and his eyes rolled to the back of his head before passing out just barely being caught by Darry.
"Dammit!" Darry cursed lowering Soda gently to the ground as he rested in his arms.
"I told you he shouldn't be here Curtis. Get some smelling salts in here!" Helms ordered one of his men. "Then I want you to take him home."
"What else am I suppose to do and don't say 'wait at home'," Darry snapped.
"Curtis, isn't this proof enough that you need to keep this from your brother as much as you can? I already told you that this isn't even a fraction of what he's going to do to you over the next week or so," Helms continued.
"I agree. It's a big game for him remember? The kid can only take in so much at sixteen. I recommend hiding anything else you happen to get from Lynch. We can take anything off your hands and will try to keep any more business we need just between you," Agent Carlos added. Then another agent came back in with the smelling salts and knelt beside the two brothers. The agent opened up the cap and then moved the bottle side to side on the bottom of Soda's nose. Soda's head unconsciously followed the sent until his eyes opened and he gasped.
"What? How did…oh God," Soda whimpered and started to cry as everything came rushing back to him. All Darry could do hold him as tight as he could without hurting his younger brother.
"Take him home Curtis and keep up with the search parties; you never know what more information they'll uncover. If you find any little thing about Lynch or Ponyboy or Jonathan then call my office and they'll let me know," Helms said handing Darry a business card.
End Flashback:
"I'm going to work tomorrow," Soda said finally breaking the silence.
"I thought we already had this conversation," Darry said.
"I can't take just sitting here anymore or going back and forth between town and the school. At least if I'm at work, I'll be distracted with the store and fixing cars instead…..of them. And we need the money anyway," he explained.
"I don't know Soda. Are you sure you're going to be alright doing that?" Darry asked.
"Beats sitting here losing my mind," Soda said taking a bite of some chocolate cake. "I can't believe it's already been forty-eight hours now."
"I know," Darry said and paused a moment before speaking again to his brother. "Okay fine, but you gotta promise me one thing Sodapop Patrick Curtis. Don't you dare pull out that radio."
"Why would I do that?" Soda asked and Darry glared at him. "So what if I turn it on?"
"Please Soda, I swear I'll call and let you know if something comes up, but you said yourself that the only reason you're going back to work is for a distracter from all this. If you listen to the radio, that 'distraction' as you say is meaningless." Soda then looked down at his plate and started playing with some of the cake. "Swear to me," Darry pleaded while holding his hand out to him.
"Okay okay, I promise," Soda said looking back up at Darry and taking his hand. The two squeezed each other's hand and looked up into each other's eyes for a moment only to break when they heard the front door opened.
"Anyone home?" someone called from the living room.
"Yeah, we're in here," Darry called. The door slammed shut and Two-bit walked in carrying a large glass bowl with a lid on it.
"Hey, guys. Um…Mom wanted me to drop this off to you so you uh, you know, have food for the rest of the week and all," Two-bit said awkwardly.
"Tell her we said thanks. You can just leave it on the counter," Darry said. Two-bit did as instructed without saying a word and then took a seat next to Darry.
"So…hear anything more?" Two-bit asked.
"Not really. 'Just keep holding search parties and they'll let us know if something else comes up,'" Soda said.
"Yeah, cause that worked so well the first time," Two-bit said rolling his eyes and neither brother said anything. "I heard they investigated all they could back at the school and they're reopening on Monday."
"You goin'?" Soda asked.
"Hell no! Are you crazy?" Two-bit asked and Soda just squeezed his lips together and started playing with his food again. "I'm gonna keep checkin' around town to see if anything comes up."
"Alright," Darry said.
"What are you planning on doing?" he asked and Soda looked up at his older brother waiting for a response.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Darry said. "I guess just keep looking for some kind of lead to where they are."
"I'm almost tempted to go to Windrexville just to see if they ran away again," Two-bit said.
"Don't waste your time. They won't be there," Darry continued. Suddenly the door was slammed open and then slammed shut.
"Jesus!" Two-bit said holding his heart. "Give a guy a heart attack will ya?!" They heard hard footsteps until in walked Dallas Winston.
Dally's back! We'll just have to wait and see where he's been and more adventures the gang will face. Don't forget to take a second and let me know what you like or don't like about it. Also just a quick heads up that some minor events in previous chapters have dates on them now and a few quick changes to the chapter; nothing major though. If you wanna go back and reread them, that's fine or you can just continue like normal.
Thanks and apologies for the long wait.
LaurenHardy13