Chapter 18 (please, keep reviewing! You've all been great!)
"They're not far behind us, Darry, and they don't look too happy." Twobit was assigned to keep us updated on how close the dealers were behind us.
Suddenly, Darry pulls off of the road onto a small alley-way. "We're almost out of gas, and the closet gas station's at least thirty miles from here. We'll just have to see if we can get these guys to leave us alone."
The dealers' pickup truck pulls onto the alley-way and their gang get out real fast. "You weren't kidding when you said they had guns, huh, Pony?"
One gun, I silently prayed, I only saw one gun, let there only be one. But instead, each member of the gang has a large lump in their jean pockets. "Shit," is all that Darry can manage.
"Would we be better off staying in here, or should we go ahead and get out?" Soda asks.
"Let's get out and make a break for it." We all agree that strategy will work the best, and we hop out of the car.
But our plan is interrupted when one of the dealers walks up to Twobit, just like an old pal. "You part of this gang, Keith?" Twobit nods. "Better than yours ever was. Safer anyways. I've only been in jail twice in the past three years."
By this time, every eye is on these two, the link of the gangs.
"Still wearing that dumb Mickey Mouse shirt, I see." Twobit shakes his head. "Nope, that one was blue, this one's white. You never did have an eye for fashion, Blake."
Blake ignores him. "Now, what are you going to do? Huh? We've got guns, Keith. We could kill you all in five shots. Don't you wish you were on our side now?"
"You wouldn't kill me. You don't have enough guts to kill me."
Nice time to be putting the guy down, I think to myself. Let's make him really mad, that way we won't even have a chance!
"You're right about that, Keith. I've known you too long to be able to kill you. Your friend here, though," Blake points right at me, "I can kill him. He stole my money."
Twobit smiles, "Pony didn't steal your God-damn money. He wouldn't even know where to start being a pick-pocket. Nope, that's my own talent."
I never did tell them exactly why these guys were against us. But I'm guessing now that it wasn't only cause of me. It must've had something to do with Twobit, too.
"You're right, Keith, he didn't steal my money strait-out, he stole my drugs. His little girlfriend gave him the money to pay us and he went and probably spent it on someone else's drugs. I don't really give a crap where he spent it; I just want my money back."
There's something about Blake's eyes. It makes him look real mean, not just worn-out mean like Darry and Dallas, but deep-down mean. He probably didn't ever have nothing make him hate the world, he just woke up one morning and thought it'd be cool. And once you convince yourself that you're cool, almost always other people will start thinking you're cool, too.
Darry decides to get in about this time. "About how much money are we talkin' here? $100? $200?"
"Try $405.96!" One of the other dealers says.
"What? $0.96? Where'd that come from?" I ask foolishly.
"Interest, pal. It'll be more since we had to go out of our way to get it from you. I think total, with shipping and handling and interest, we're talkin' a little over $900.00." Blake says as a big wad of his spit lands right in front of my feet.
"Nine hundred," Darry whispers Blake's calculations to himself. He's a bit pale right now, more worried than I've ever seen him. But I'm guessing this is just what he was like when me and Johnny were in Windrixville. "Well, can you pay it? We don't have all day, here!"
Sodapop gets a determined look on his face and says, "I seriously doubt that Kayla gave Ponyboy that money, and I doubt it because Pony's a real smart and responsible kid. If Kayla had given him any money, let me assure you, he'd be sure you got it." He turns to me. "Now, Ponyboy, did you or didn't you get the money from Kayla?"
NO! I want to scream. But I know I can't do that. Kayla's in big trouble if I do that, and I couldn't stand it if she ended up dead because of my being a coward.
So I nod, "Yeah, I got it."
"They're not far behind us, Darry, and they don't look too happy." Twobit was assigned to keep us updated on how close the dealers were behind us.
Suddenly, Darry pulls off of the road onto a small alley-way. "We're almost out of gas, and the closet gas station's at least thirty miles from here. We'll just have to see if we can get these guys to leave us alone."
The dealers' pickup truck pulls onto the alley-way and their gang get out real fast. "You weren't kidding when you said they had guns, huh, Pony?"
One gun, I silently prayed, I only saw one gun, let there only be one. But instead, each member of the gang has a large lump in their jean pockets. "Shit," is all that Darry can manage.
"Would we be better off staying in here, or should we go ahead and get out?" Soda asks.
"Let's get out and make a break for it." We all agree that strategy will work the best, and we hop out of the car.
But our plan is interrupted when one of the dealers walks up to Twobit, just like an old pal. "You part of this gang, Keith?" Twobit nods. "Better than yours ever was. Safer anyways. I've only been in jail twice in the past three years."
By this time, every eye is on these two, the link of the gangs.
"Still wearing that dumb Mickey Mouse shirt, I see." Twobit shakes his head. "Nope, that one was blue, this one's white. You never did have an eye for fashion, Blake."
Blake ignores him. "Now, what are you going to do? Huh? We've got guns, Keith. We could kill you all in five shots. Don't you wish you were on our side now?"
"You wouldn't kill me. You don't have enough guts to kill me."
Nice time to be putting the guy down, I think to myself. Let's make him really mad, that way we won't even have a chance!
"You're right about that, Keith. I've known you too long to be able to kill you. Your friend here, though," Blake points right at me, "I can kill him. He stole my money."
Twobit smiles, "Pony didn't steal your God-damn money. He wouldn't even know where to start being a pick-pocket. Nope, that's my own talent."
I never did tell them exactly why these guys were against us. But I'm guessing now that it wasn't only cause of me. It must've had something to do with Twobit, too.
"You're right, Keith, he didn't steal my money strait-out, he stole my drugs. His little girlfriend gave him the money to pay us and he went and probably spent it on someone else's drugs. I don't really give a crap where he spent it; I just want my money back."
There's something about Blake's eyes. It makes him look real mean, not just worn-out mean like Darry and Dallas, but deep-down mean. He probably didn't ever have nothing make him hate the world, he just woke up one morning and thought it'd be cool. And once you convince yourself that you're cool, almost always other people will start thinking you're cool, too.
Darry decides to get in about this time. "About how much money are we talkin' here? $100? $200?"
"Try $405.96!" One of the other dealers says.
"What? $0.96? Where'd that come from?" I ask foolishly.
"Interest, pal. It'll be more since we had to go out of our way to get it from you. I think total, with shipping and handling and interest, we're talkin' a little over $900.00." Blake says as a big wad of his spit lands right in front of my feet.
"Nine hundred," Darry whispers Blake's calculations to himself. He's a bit pale right now, more worried than I've ever seen him. But I'm guessing this is just what he was like when me and Johnny were in Windrixville. "Well, can you pay it? We don't have all day, here!"
Sodapop gets a determined look on his face and says, "I seriously doubt that Kayla gave Ponyboy that money, and I doubt it because Pony's a real smart and responsible kid. If Kayla had given him any money, let me assure you, he'd be sure you got it." He turns to me. "Now, Ponyboy, did you or didn't you get the money from Kayla?"
NO! I want to scream. But I know I can't do that. Kayla's in big trouble if I do that, and I couldn't stand it if she ended up dead because of my being a coward.
So I nod, "Yeah, I got it."