"Ice cream or chicken?" Steve asked.
"Ice cream," I replied.
"Salad or burger?"
"Burger."
"Me or Sodapop?"
"Sod. you."
"You were gonna say Sodapop."
"No wonder you wanted to play this stupid game. You."
"Well, now I know that you like Sodapop better than me."
He seemed calm about it, but I could see in his eyes that he was full of rage. He put a fist up, and then put it back down and left. I could say that I was scared. Steve was dangerous, very dangerous. I hoped to God he wouldn't do anything stupid. Oh my God! What if he committed suicide? Or go crazy and kill someone? Maybe I was thinking too much of this. I just needed to relax.
I decided to take my mind of reality I would go to my friend Belinda's house. She was an old friend, who had come to Oklahoma from Oregon. She came about a week ago. She also came with my other old friend Crystal. I didn't call them by their real names though. Belinda was Pepsi and Crystal was 7-up.
I walked to her house and rang the doorbell.
"Hi, Kaity. Are you looking for Belinda?"
"Yes, Mrs. Horsempa."
"Well, I'm sorry to say, but she's not here right now."
"Do you have any idea where she is?"
"Uh.yeah. I think she said she was going over to the Dingo with Crystal."
"How long ago was this?"
"About three minutes before you came. If you hurry up I think you'll catch up to her."
"Okay, thank you Mrs. Horsempa."
I ran as quick as I could to the Dingo, but before I got there I saw that they had stopped and were flirting with some guys. I was about to go join them, but the guys left before I could.
"Hey! I haven't seen you all week," Pepsi said.
"Sup Peps? Sup 7-up?"
"Suppy Cokey-Coke?" 7-up said.
"Where were you all week. I only managed to catch a glimpse of you in class. I knew it was you, and then after that I didn't see you so I couldn't talk to you," Pepsi said.
"Yeah, sorry. I was gonna talk to you too, but I was sorta busy with other things. Well, any ways how have you guys been?"
"Great. Oregon wasn't as great as New York, but it was okay. A little too peaceful though. New York was fun and wild, but we managed to spice Oregon up a little," 7-up said.
"Well, if you're looking for trouble then you've come to the right place. Us greasers, the poor people, are always getting jumped by the Socs, the rich kids."
"When was the last time you had a rumble?" 7-up asked.
"When a friend of mine, Johnny killed a Soc. He died though, and so did another friend, Dally."
"Oh, how did it happen?" Pepsi asked.
"It's really a long story."
"Well how about we go over to the Dingo first, and then you tell us," 7-up suggested.
"Okay we'll do that," Pepsi agreed.
As we walked to the Dingo we talked about the good ol' days. When we got there they begged to hear the story of how everything happened.
"Please tell us. But since it is a long story try to make it short."
"Okay here goes. One day my friends Ponyboy, Johnny, Dally, and I were going to the movies. Then there's this redhead sitting in front of us. Dally starts flirting with the girl, she gets mad, so on and so on. Later that night Dally leaves, and another friend, Two-Bit, comes. He starts flirting with the redhead's friend. Oh yeah the redhead's name is Cherry and the friend is Marcia. Any ways it turned out the two girls had boyfriends, but they both had gotten in a fight with them because the guys were drunk.
"Later the guys find them hanging out with Ponyboy, Two-Bit, and Johnny. They get in a little argument, but Cherry and Marcia went with them any ways. You with me so far?"
They nodded.
"The next thing I know they come to Buck Merril's house, that was the place I was gonna crash in that night. They came looking for Dally, saying that they killed Bob, the boyfriend of Cherry, and that they need a plan. So then he told them to run away and you know all that stuff. They then were gone for a week then Dally and me went to go pick them up. Then there was a fire and there were kids trapped in the building so Johnny and Ponyboy went to go save them. Johnny got hurt and then later died and after that Dally committed suicide because Johnny died. I ended up in the mental hospital because Dally died. I loved him soooooo much."
"Wow, you in a mental facility?"
"Yeah, just don't remind me of it."
"Coke! Coke! Where are you!" I heard a voice calling to me. It had been Ponyboy.
"I'm right here!"
"Hurry! Come here!" He grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the store.
"What's going on? Where are you taking me?"
"Hospital."
"Why?"
I noticed that he was crying. "What's wrong, Ponyboy?"
"Soda.he.he's in the hospital."
I felt a knot coming up my throat. I felt the hot tears running down my cheeks. I felt the pressure in my chest and I had trouble breathing. I managed to say, "Why?"
"Steve tried to run him over. The doctors say he is in critical condition, they don't know if he'll."
I sat down in the middle of the sidewalk dumbstruck, and crying like I never had before. I didn't even cry like this when Dally died. I couldn't see anything because the tears clouded my eyes. I could barely breathe because of the knot in my throat and the pressure on my chest. I could barely hear anything. I totally zoned out from reality, and the next thing.black out.
"Coke? You okay?"
"Huh? Yeah. How long was I out for?"
"Not long, now come on hurry up."
I was still half dazed. I didn't know what was going on around me. The only thing I could kind of make out was Ponyboy pulling me, but that was it.
We were finally at the hospital. Everyone was there, everyone except Steve. Darry was sitting down crying. Two-Bit was leaning against the wall, an expression of horror on his face. Ponyboy sat down and had a smoke. I sat down too. I sat thinking what would happen to him. What would happen to me if something happened to him? Would I go crazy again? Would I live my life in sorrow and pain? Would I live life on and take another chance like Soda told me to?
The doctor said we could see him in twenty minutes. He said that he needed a little break and said that he would be okay. He would have a broken leg and arm, but nothing beyond repair. After the leg and arm got healed he would be normal again.
"Then why was he in critical condition?" Two-Bit asked.
"He hit his head. We thought he might go into a coma, but it was a minor hit, and he just got knocked out."
The doctor went back into Soda's room, and then came back out.
"He can only receive two people today. One at a time. He requests that it may be his brothers."
"I'll go in first," Darry said.
He went inside the room and came back about half an hour later. We then saw Ponyboy disappear into the room.
"How is he?" Two-Bit asked.
"Well in physical state he could be better. In mental state he is normal. Just like he always is."
I was relieved. I couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk to him. Although I was happy I was also mad. I was mad at myself because it had to take a life threatening experience to show that I did love Soda. Actually when I thought about it, I realized it didn't take a life threatening experience. I thought of all those nights I thought of him, dreamt of him, desired him even. I knew I loved him, I just tried to lie to myself by saying I didn't love him.
By the time Ponyboy got out of the room I was half-asleep. I wouldn't get off my chair, actually I couldn't. Darry had to carry me to the car. After he burst the radio real loud then I woke up. I stayed awake long enough to get ready for bed and go to sleep. As soon as I was tucked in I fell asleep instantly.
"Ice cream," I replied.
"Salad or burger?"
"Burger."
"Me or Sodapop?"
"Sod. you."
"You were gonna say Sodapop."
"No wonder you wanted to play this stupid game. You."
"Well, now I know that you like Sodapop better than me."
He seemed calm about it, but I could see in his eyes that he was full of rage. He put a fist up, and then put it back down and left. I could say that I was scared. Steve was dangerous, very dangerous. I hoped to God he wouldn't do anything stupid. Oh my God! What if he committed suicide? Or go crazy and kill someone? Maybe I was thinking too much of this. I just needed to relax.
I decided to take my mind of reality I would go to my friend Belinda's house. She was an old friend, who had come to Oklahoma from Oregon. She came about a week ago. She also came with my other old friend Crystal. I didn't call them by their real names though. Belinda was Pepsi and Crystal was 7-up.
I walked to her house and rang the doorbell.
"Hi, Kaity. Are you looking for Belinda?"
"Yes, Mrs. Horsempa."
"Well, I'm sorry to say, but she's not here right now."
"Do you have any idea where she is?"
"Uh.yeah. I think she said she was going over to the Dingo with Crystal."
"How long ago was this?"
"About three minutes before you came. If you hurry up I think you'll catch up to her."
"Okay, thank you Mrs. Horsempa."
I ran as quick as I could to the Dingo, but before I got there I saw that they had stopped and were flirting with some guys. I was about to go join them, but the guys left before I could.
"Hey! I haven't seen you all week," Pepsi said.
"Sup Peps? Sup 7-up?"
"Suppy Cokey-Coke?" 7-up said.
"Where were you all week. I only managed to catch a glimpse of you in class. I knew it was you, and then after that I didn't see you so I couldn't talk to you," Pepsi said.
"Yeah, sorry. I was gonna talk to you too, but I was sorta busy with other things. Well, any ways how have you guys been?"
"Great. Oregon wasn't as great as New York, but it was okay. A little too peaceful though. New York was fun and wild, but we managed to spice Oregon up a little," 7-up said.
"Well, if you're looking for trouble then you've come to the right place. Us greasers, the poor people, are always getting jumped by the Socs, the rich kids."
"When was the last time you had a rumble?" 7-up asked.
"When a friend of mine, Johnny killed a Soc. He died though, and so did another friend, Dally."
"Oh, how did it happen?" Pepsi asked.
"It's really a long story."
"Well how about we go over to the Dingo first, and then you tell us," 7-up suggested.
"Okay we'll do that," Pepsi agreed.
As we walked to the Dingo we talked about the good ol' days. When we got there they begged to hear the story of how everything happened.
"Please tell us. But since it is a long story try to make it short."
"Okay here goes. One day my friends Ponyboy, Johnny, Dally, and I were going to the movies. Then there's this redhead sitting in front of us. Dally starts flirting with the girl, she gets mad, so on and so on. Later that night Dally leaves, and another friend, Two-Bit, comes. He starts flirting with the redhead's friend. Oh yeah the redhead's name is Cherry and the friend is Marcia. Any ways it turned out the two girls had boyfriends, but they both had gotten in a fight with them because the guys were drunk.
"Later the guys find them hanging out with Ponyboy, Two-Bit, and Johnny. They get in a little argument, but Cherry and Marcia went with them any ways. You with me so far?"
They nodded.
"The next thing I know they come to Buck Merril's house, that was the place I was gonna crash in that night. They came looking for Dally, saying that they killed Bob, the boyfriend of Cherry, and that they need a plan. So then he told them to run away and you know all that stuff. They then were gone for a week then Dally and me went to go pick them up. Then there was a fire and there were kids trapped in the building so Johnny and Ponyboy went to go save them. Johnny got hurt and then later died and after that Dally committed suicide because Johnny died. I ended up in the mental hospital because Dally died. I loved him soooooo much."
"Wow, you in a mental facility?"
"Yeah, just don't remind me of it."
"Coke! Coke! Where are you!" I heard a voice calling to me. It had been Ponyboy.
"I'm right here!"
"Hurry! Come here!" He grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the store.
"What's going on? Where are you taking me?"
"Hospital."
"Why?"
I noticed that he was crying. "What's wrong, Ponyboy?"
"Soda.he.he's in the hospital."
I felt a knot coming up my throat. I felt the hot tears running down my cheeks. I felt the pressure in my chest and I had trouble breathing. I managed to say, "Why?"
"Steve tried to run him over. The doctors say he is in critical condition, they don't know if he'll."
I sat down in the middle of the sidewalk dumbstruck, and crying like I never had before. I didn't even cry like this when Dally died. I couldn't see anything because the tears clouded my eyes. I could barely breathe because of the knot in my throat and the pressure on my chest. I could barely hear anything. I totally zoned out from reality, and the next thing.black out.
"Coke? You okay?"
"Huh? Yeah. How long was I out for?"
"Not long, now come on hurry up."
I was still half dazed. I didn't know what was going on around me. The only thing I could kind of make out was Ponyboy pulling me, but that was it.
We were finally at the hospital. Everyone was there, everyone except Steve. Darry was sitting down crying. Two-Bit was leaning against the wall, an expression of horror on his face. Ponyboy sat down and had a smoke. I sat down too. I sat thinking what would happen to him. What would happen to me if something happened to him? Would I go crazy again? Would I live my life in sorrow and pain? Would I live life on and take another chance like Soda told me to?
The doctor said we could see him in twenty minutes. He said that he needed a little break and said that he would be okay. He would have a broken leg and arm, but nothing beyond repair. After the leg and arm got healed he would be normal again.
"Then why was he in critical condition?" Two-Bit asked.
"He hit his head. We thought he might go into a coma, but it was a minor hit, and he just got knocked out."
The doctor went back into Soda's room, and then came back out.
"He can only receive two people today. One at a time. He requests that it may be his brothers."
"I'll go in first," Darry said.
He went inside the room and came back about half an hour later. We then saw Ponyboy disappear into the room.
"How is he?" Two-Bit asked.
"Well in physical state he could be better. In mental state he is normal. Just like he always is."
I was relieved. I couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk to him. Although I was happy I was also mad. I was mad at myself because it had to take a life threatening experience to show that I did love Soda. Actually when I thought about it, I realized it didn't take a life threatening experience. I thought of all those nights I thought of him, dreamt of him, desired him even. I knew I loved him, I just tried to lie to myself by saying I didn't love him.
By the time Ponyboy got out of the room I was half-asleep. I wouldn't get off my chair, actually I couldn't. Darry had to carry me to the car. After he burst the radio real loud then I woke up. I stayed awake long enough to get ready for bed and go to sleep. As soon as I was tucked in I fell asleep instantly.
