Chapter 4: Jumped Again
March 15, 2003
A/N: Thanks to MaverickGirl for being my only reviewer last chapter. This one's got some more action, I hope y'all like it. I do realize ff.net was having issues though, so I forgive you.
Disclaimer: Same old same old. Don't own it, yadda yadda yadda.
**Darry**
I craned my neck to see who Nina was pointing at. My mom had taken the picture Nina held about two years ago, when we were all playing football in the lot. Johnny had just tackled Pony and the two of them lay in a heap on the ground, laughing.
"That's Johnny," Soda said a bit sadly. Nina was quiet for a moment, then said, "He looks kinda like me." Niko looked at her picture, then back at the one he held.
"Yup," he agreed. "Just older. And a boy." Then he looked up at us with a grin. "No wonder you guys looked so freaked out the day we met you."
"Hey, we weren't freaked out," Steve defended us hotly. "Just surprised is all." Niko just grinned knowingly.
"Well, little one," Niko sighed, "we'd better get home and do our chores, or Aunt Charlotte will kill us." Nina made a face.
"Do we hafta?" she whined in typical eleven-year-old fashion. Niko just looked at her. "Fine, fine," she huffed. "Bye, guys."
Everyone said their goodbyes and the newcomers left. Ponyboy turned to me after we heard them go down the stairs.
"This is too weird," he said seriously. Soda nodded.
"Yeah," he agreed. Soda is seldom serious, but right now was one of those times.
"We've got something to consider," Two-Bit said, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Are we gonna make them part of the gang?"
"Niko's okay," Steve said thoughtfully. "I dunno about the kid though. She doesn't seem like the type to keep her mouth shut."
"She's never had to," Pony pointed out. "I bet she could learn."
"I like 'em." That was Soda, blunt and honest. They all turned to me. As the oldest, I tended to be left with the final decisions. I thought about it for a minute.
"Sure," I finally said. "Let's give it a try."
**Nina**
"Can I get some popcorn?" I asked, tugging at my brother's sleeve. The boys in our neighborhood who had chased the Socs off the other day had invited us to come to the movies with them. Niko had agreed and off we went. One of them, Two-Bit had steered us away from the main entrance, instead showing us a hole in the fence that he said they usually used to get in.
"Closer to the seats," he cheerily excused our sneaking in. I slipped through easily, since I'm so small, but everyone else had to struggle through, especially the biggest one, Darry. He was muttering the whole time about this not being right, but since everyone else was ignoring him, I did too.
"Sure," Niko finally answered, reaching for his pocket. "Hey, where's my wallet?" I couldn't help it. I squirmed. My big brother narrowed his eyes at me while the rest of the gang looked on curiously. "Nina," my brother said warningly, holding out his hand. I sighed and pulled the missing wallet from my pocket and dropped it in his hand. I snuck a glance at the others, but they all looked pretty impassive. Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and I remembered that I'd been trying to steal his knife when we'd all met.
Niko just gave me a look before pulling out some money and handing it to me. "Don't get into any trouble."
"I'll go with you," Ponyboy said suddenly, to everyone's surprise. The two of us took off for the snack bar.
I was still trying to figure out how I felt about everybody. Ponyboy was pretty nice, but he acted a little weird around me. Niko says it's because he's used to being the baby and now I'm the baby. I liked Two-Bit well enough, he was funny and smart and easy to like. Soda was a bit on the wild side, and hyper. Darry was hard to get to know, since he's hardly ever around and way older than me. Older than Niko even, but Niko really seems to like him. He says they have a lot in common. And then there's Steve. Niko may think I don't pay attention, but I can tell when someone doesn't like me, and Steve doesn't. I can tell by the way he glares at me when I'm around, and I heard him muttered something about a tag-a-long before we left Ponyboy's house.
Pony kept glancing at me as we walked into the snack bar. By the time we left with our sodas, popcorn, and a pack of M&M's hidden in my pocket, I was a little annoyed.
"What?" I snapped the next time he looked at me. His ears turned pink.
"Sorry, it's just, well…" He took a deep breath. "It's just, Johnny was my buddy, my best friend, I was there when he d-died" – he nearly choked on the word – "and then you guys show up, and you look so much like him, and your brother looks like Dally, it's easy to forget sometimes that they're gone and with you around, it's like a constant reminder and I miss Johnny so much…" Pony finally trailed off, looking miserable. I slid my arm around his waist and gave him an awkward one armed hug.
"It'll get better," I said wisely, sounding old even to my own ears. "How long did it take before you stopped being mad at Soda and Darry for looking like your parents?" Ponyboy looked at me wide-eyed. I'm sure he thought no one else would know about that.
"About five months," he answered glumly after a long pause.
"Lucky you," I said with a half-smile. "I hated Niko for at least eight. He doesn't look so much like Mom, but his eyes are hers."
"You're pretty smart for a little kid," Pony told me, eyes still wide.
"I know," I said easily, tossing my head. He grinned just as we rejoined the others.
I shoved the popcorn and soda in Niko's hands before plopping down next to him and pulling out my M&M's.
"I know I didn't send you with enough money for all of this," he said skeptically, gesturing with the two containers I had given him.
"I know," I said tearing open the package.
"Nina," he sighed, but didn't continue.
"Geeze, kid, you must be good," Two-Bit said, sounding impressed. "They really keep a close eye on everyone in there." I shrugged.
"They were too busy watching the older kids to pay attention to me. Besides," I added, tossing a candy into my mouth, "I'm a girl. I can do no wrong." The guys all laughed.
"Man, you sure figured that out quickly," Soda said with a grin.
Two hours later the movie was over and we were walking home. Or rather, the guys were walking home. Niko had offered a piggyback ride home, since I was more asleep than awake anyway. He said it was just easier to carry me instead of trying to hold me upright the whole way home. In my defense though, it was late, well after midnight.
Cars zipped past us on the road, but I paid no attention until a voice called out, "Hey, greasers." I was suddenly wide awake and scared to death. The gang stopped and turned, Niko carefully letting me slip to the ground as he turned. He did keep a hand on me, though, keeping me somewhat out of sight behind him.
There were two dark colored cars, four guys in each, which meant they outnumbered us by two, since I didn't really count. I wanted to run, but the guys were all holding their ground, so I did too. Plus I couldn't remember how to get home from there. The Socs piled out of the cars and were on us in a second, fists flying, people cursing and shouting. I tried to stay out of the way, but there were two guys going after Pony and I had to do something.
I jumped on one guy's back and grabbed a fistful of his hair. He let go of Ponyboy, who was still wrestling with the other one, and yanked me off his back. I fought like a wildcat to get out of his grip, but he slugged me across my cheek. God, that hurt.
I started screaming, so the Soc put a hand over my mouth. I promptly bit him and he pulled the hand away, cursing at me. Everyone else was busy with their own fights, I was on my own for now. The Soc slipped an arm around my neck and lifted me off the ground, choking me. I clawed at his arm, but all he did was wrap his arm around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides. Bracing one foot against his thigh, I stuck my other foot between his knees and brought it up swiftly. Bingo! I thought gleefully as he groaned and dropped me. We must have been closer to the street then I thought, because when he dropped me, my head hit the curb kinda hard. I just laid there for a couple of minutes, watching the stars floating in front of my eyes, until someone pulled me to my feet.
"Hey, you okay?" It was Darry. I looked around to see Soda fussing over Ponyboy and Steve and Two-Bit helping my brother to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, a bit giddy. Darry let go of me and I almost fell over. He caught me and scooped me up like I weighed nothing.
"Let's get you home," he said.
"You must be Superman," I responded as though that were there right thing to say. Things were a little fuzzy and I couldn't think straight. Darry grinned at me. I settled in for the ride, and next thing I knew, I was waking up in somebody's bed.
