The Outsiders Part Two: The Nightly Double

            That night, me and Saria met Ganondorf under the lamp post outside of the Bazaar, where both me and Saria stuffed our jackets full of cigarettes.

            There are lots of drive-ins in town but the cheapest and best is the Nightly Double. You just park your cart and hook up the stereos to the side. It's free with a cart but it's 20 rupees without one. We could all easily afford it but Ganondorf doesn't like to do things the legal way. We hopped the fence and walked over to the rows of seats by the concession stands.

There were two girls sitting in front of us. One had bright long red hair and the other had the same red hair but not as long.

            "Hey Bond. Watch this." Ganondorf said and put his feet up on the long-haired one's seat. The girl turned around and glared at Ganondorf. I recognized her. She was a cheerleader at my school. Glory, she was pretty.

            "Can you please put your feet down like a civilized person?" She asked. Ganondorf smirked.

            "We're not civilized people. We're Greasers." Ganondorf laughed. The girl got angry and pulled up on his legs. Ganondorf's seat tipped over and he fell flat on his back. Ganondorf stood up and brushed himself off.

            "What'd you do that for? Just for that I'm going to sit with y'all." Ganondorf sneered and sat right beside the girl and put his arm around her. She slapped him.

            "Why can't you just be nice?" She asked.

            "I'm never nice." He smirked. Saria was getting angry. She stood up and walked right over to Ganondorf.

            "Cut it out Ganondorf." She said in her tiny voice. If it had been me or Slim or even Two-Bit we'd be decked in a second but this was sweet little Saria. Everybody's little sister.

            "All right, all right. You little shit." Ganondorf growled and stumbled off into the darkness. I stood up to go apologize to the girls.

            "So I guess you're going to pass on us now too." The girl said.

            "No, actually." I said, taken aback by her comment. She smiled. She had pretty teeth.

            "You don't seem the type to bother a lady. Why don't you come and sit up here with us. The little girl too." She said. Saria's face fell at this comment. She was sixteen yet she still looked ten. We came up and sat with them. Me beside the girl with the long hair and Saria beside the other one.

            "So, what are your names?" The pretty one asked.

            "I'm Bond Hero and this is Saria Sage." I answered. Most people have a surprised look when they here my name. They're always like 'You're kidding!' or 'That's your real name?' but instead Malon smiled.

            "That's a very original name." She said.

            "My dad was an original person. I've got two brothers named Tie and Link." I said.

            "You're kidding! Link Hero is your brother? The hero of time?" She gasped.

            "Yeah." I said. Finally Saria said something.

            "How come you're not scared of us like you were of Ganondorf?" She asked.

            "You two seem too sweet to scare someone. First off, you didn't join in Ganondorf's dirty talk. And when we invited you to sit with us you didn't act as if it was an invitation to make out for the night-you I mean. Not Saria. Besides that, I've heard of Ganondorf Dragmire and he looked hard as nails and twice as tough. Besides that, you two don't look mean." Malon said.

            "Yeah. Sure. We're young and innocent." I scowled.

            "That's not what I meant. You've seen too much to be innocent. You're just not dirty." She explained. Finally, Anju changed the subject.

            "How old are you two?" She asked.

            "Fourteen." I answered.

            "Sixteen." Saria reluctantly said.

            "That's funny. I thought you were both'' Anju got out before Malon cut her off.

            "Sixteen." She said although we knew Anju meant we both look ten. We know it. We get it all the time.

            Halfway through the movie, Ganondorf came back with an armful of cokes. He handed one to each of the girls.

            "Maybe this will cool you off Greaser!" Malon screamed and tossed it in his face. Ganondorf shrugged and looked around. Tim Shepherd was coming straight towards us. Ganondorf ran off. That was the last we saw of him that night. Later we learned that the reason they were alone was because they came with their boyfriends but the boys had brought along ale so they ran off. Just then I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder.

            "All right Greasers. You've had it." A cold voice boomed. I turned around to see Two-Bit grinning impishly at us.

            "Hey Two-Bit." I smiled, relieved that it was him and not some Socs. I looked at Saria. She was all pale and shaking.

            "Sorry kid. Didn't mean to scare you like that." Two-Bit said, feeling bad that he had scared Saria out of her mind. He climbed over the seats and sat in between Anju and Saria. "Who's this? Your great aunts?"

            "Great grandmothers, thrice removed." Malon giggled.

            "Glory, you're ninety-five if you're a day." Two-Bit played along.

            "I'm a night." Malon said.

            "Sister, you are a sharp one. What're you doing getting picked up by a greasy hood like Bond?" Two-Bit joked.

            "We actually picked them up." Anju said. "We're Gerudo slave traders and we're thinking of shanghaiing them. They're worth ten ponies apiece."

            "They ain't worth five. Say something in Gerudo, Saria." Two-Bit joked.

            "Aw cut it out. Ganondorf was bothering them so they asked us to sit up here with them to protect them. Probably against wisecracking hoodlums like you." Saria said.

            "Where is old Ganon anyway?" Two-Bit asked.

            "Tim Shepherd started chasing him so he ran." I said.

            "Bond, will you come with me to get some popcorn?" Malon asked sweetly.

            "Sure. You all want some?" I asked.

            "Yeah. Get Saria something too. I'm buying." Two-Bit said and flipped me fifty rupees.

            When we got to the concession stand there was, as usual, a line a mile long so we had to wait. Lots of people were staring at us. It's not every day you see a Greaser and a really attractive Soc standing together. Malon didn't notice though.

            "Your friend, the short one. He's okay right?"

            "He's not like Ganondorf if that's what you mean. He's okay."

            She smiled and I could see in her mind that she was thinking about something else.

            "Saria's been hurt badly, hasn't she?"

            "Her old man's beating her up all the time and she got jumped a while ago by some Socs." I said and began telling the story. I didn't like to tell it but she wanted to hear it.

            It was almost four months ago. Me and everybody else were hanging out at the empty lot drinking soda. Slim finished his last bottle of coke when he noticed something laying on the ground. It was Saria's green jacket. Her only jacket.

            "Looks like Saria forgot her jacket." Slim said until he noticed a stain the colour of rust. Then we noticed some more stains on the grass leading to a small lump. It was Saria. Tie reached her first. He turned her over and I almost got sick. Someone had beaten her badly.

            We were used to seeing Saria bruised a lot but it was nothing like this. Saria's face was cut up and swollen and there was a large gash from her temple to her cheekbone. She never got rid of that scar. I stood there trembling. I thought she was dead until she started crying. It took a lot to make Saria cry. Finally, she managed to get a story out between sobs.

            "There was a whole bunch of them. They jumped out of a blue cart and started beating on me. One of them was wearing a bunch of rings. It's not that they beat me half to death. I can take that. It's just that they scared me. I can't take that. They threatened me with everything under the sun." That's what she said before she passed out.

            She almost died that day. It's a miracle that she's still alive. She now carries a six-inch switchblade in her back pocket. She would kill the next one who jumped her. They would never hurt her again.

            Not over her dead body.

            When I finished the story, I looked at Malon. She was pale and looked like she was going to be sick.

            "You've got to believe me, Bond. Not all Socs are like that. That's like saying all you Greasers are like Ganondorf Dragmire. We have troubles too."

            Sure, I thought. Troubles like fancy carts and fancy clothes. If I had troubles like that, I'd consider myself lucky.

            I know better now.

Next chapter, Bond and Saria go through a life-changing event that will scar them forever.