Chapter 3

He sat down on the steps of their house and looked up at the stars. "He died saving lives—."

"Oh. Pony told me about him yesterday. He...sounds like a nice guy," I interrupted. "But I don't see how I relate to 'im. I'm not brave. I'm scared of the dark and I'm fourteen. That's not very noble."
"You never know until the time comes," he told me.
I looked at him for a few long seconds. "You're not acting much like Soda," I said.
"Oh yeah?" he asked. Uh oh. The smile. He grabbed me in a head lock and messed up my hair.
"Ow! Soda stop!" I begged. I wasn't scared, of course, but it wasn't very comfortable, even if I was laughing.
Soon he let go and I glared at him.
"Sorry kid, didn't know you were so touchy!" Soda apologized, throwing his hands in the air.
"Touchy?!" I asked. "I'll show you touchy!" and I rammed him in the stomach. We tumbled in the grass and laughed.
"I think we better get to bed before we wake the others up. I not in the mood to get my head ripped off," he said, pushing me off and climbing up the stairs. "Common, shrimp."
He held the door open for me and I climbed back over Angela and onto the couch. "Night, kid," Soda whispered.
"Night," I whispered back as he went into his room.
Then next day I was rudely awakened at two thirty in the morning by Two-Bit. I groaned and turned on my side.
"Sleepy," I mumbled.
"I know, but we still have to train you for the Rumble tomorrow!" Two- Bit said, shining a light in my face.
I shielded my eyes and got out of bed, tripping over Angela and hitting my head on the table. "Ow!"
The guys ran into the room and looked around.
"What happened?" Pony asked.
"Tripped. Hit head. Pain," I mumbled as I rubbed the spot where I hit my head.
"You okay?" Angela asked. She was sitting bolt upright.
I nodded.
"Are you bleeding?" she asked.
"I'm fine! I'm not bleeding, but I am awake. Why couldn't training wait till the sun came up?" I asked.
"Cuz we got a lot a work to do, short stuff, common, get dressed." Darry pulled me to my feet.
"In what? Make a blanket into a toga?" I asked.
He threw me some of Pony's old cloths. "Angela, I think you'll have to wear Soda's cloths," Darry told her.
"Fine by me!"
It was a cold morning...one of those mornings where you sit at the table and think, 'Gee, I'd much rather be sleeping this away than sitting here freezing cold with a headache.' But, of course, I had no hope in the sleep department. I was starting to think, "Stupid Rumble." Oh well. Dem's da breaks.
There wasn't much talk at breakfast. Come to think about it, there wasn't much breakfast. Everyone ate quickly and then me and Angela were shoved outta our chairs and tossed out the door...though not literally. That would hurt, seeing as they have stairs.
I pulled my sweater closer to my body and wondered how Two-Bit and Steve could be wearing shirts with no sleeves. They musta been freezing...but they didn't look it. Then again, maybe it was just me.
"First thing we're gonna teach you...first off, you know how to fight, right?" Darry asked.
Angela nodded and I...followed her lead.
"I guess," I answered.
Darry looked at me worriedly.
I sighed. It's tough being the baby.
"Okay, so Angela, you, me and Steve will work on the gymnastics. Two- Bit, Soda and Tex'll work on the actual fighting," Darry instructed.
"Where's Pony?" I asked.
"He'll be back in a few," Soda said. "We're out of Band-Aids and iodine."
Oh. They use iodine. Shoot. You should know, back in these days, iodine hurt like hell, not like now when you just put it on, wrap it in a Band-Aid and don't give it a second thought. Back here, you give it a second thought...and a third thought, and a fourth thought, and a fifth thought. Back to the story.
"So...where does he go?" I asked.
"We'll worry about that later. We got a lot of work to do now, so let's get on with it," Darry said. We walked out the front door.
"Uh," I asked, "where are we going?"
"Lot," Two-Bit answered.
"Very descriptive," I mumbled.
Pony was waiting for us at the empty lot with a bag from Mercury Drug...the Band-Aids and the iodine. Jesh.
He stood up and handed the package to Darry. Darry pushed it back at him.
"Bring it home," he instructed. "On second thought, don't. We might need it."

"We might?" I asked.
"Don't tell me you're scared of iodine," Two-Bit said. He laughed and slapped me on the back. I stumbled forward from the impact.
"Okay," I answered. "I won't tell you."

Steve pulled the iodine out of the bag. "Hey Tex," he said. "Iodine?"
I backed up. "Don't you dare!"
"Common, Tex! Don't be such a kid!" Steve said, coming closer with the stupid medicine.
"I am a kid!" I answered.
Steve ran at me and opened the bottle.
"NO!" I ducked as he splashed the brown liquid. That woulda landed in my face...and that woulda hurt.
"Steve!" Darry took the bottle from him. "Stop teasing the poor kid."

"Angela!" I called.
She laughed. Oh yeah, laughed. My overly protective sister laughed when they tortured me. So I tried a different approach. "TWO-BIT!"
He laughed too. Every one was against me!
"Punch me," Two-Bit instructed.

"What?" I asked dryly.

"You herd me, punch me," he repeated.

"Uh…"

"Punch him, Tex," Soda said.

So I did. Not a very good punch.

Two-Bit looked at me, "Think of me as your mom. What wold you do to her?" he asked.

"Run and hide under a table?" I asked.

Pony and Soda laughed. Two-Bit shook his head.

"Work with me kid!" he begged.

"I'm trying!"

Two-Bit smirked and turned around and punched Soda in the stomach.

"HEY! That was uncalled for!" I snapped.

"You gonna do something about it, kid?" he asked angrily.

"Yeah!" I answered. I jumped on him and grabbed hold of his long, greased hair and pulled him back. He fell to the ground and howled.

"My hair's attached to my head, kid!" he yelled.

Pony laughed. "It was a test!"

"What?" I asked.

Soda got up. "Did you have to hit me so hard?" he asked.

"Sorry," Two-Bit apologized. "You're stronger than you look, kid!"

I looked up at him in disbelief. "A test?!" I asked

Soda nodded.

I looked from him, to Two-Bit, to Pony. "I hate you all."

We joined Angela, Darry and Steve about and hour and a half later. I was beat and aching all over—ready for bed and not for gymnastics. We had spent the whole time sparing. I hate sparing, cuz I have to hit the guys…and they're all 200 times stronger than I am.

"It's good for you!" Pony had said. Bull shit. I don't hit friends.

I was not looking forward to the gymnastics lesson at all. Why, you ask? Cuz I am anything but graceful. That was Angela's department. Grace, style, beauty, fashion, so on so forth.

"Let's start with the basic flip," Darry said.

"Can we start with the basic break, please?" I asked.

"Okay. Let's start with a break," Steve agreed.

We sat down in the wet grass and watched the others.

"Looks more like dancing than sparing," I said.

Steve laughed.

"No kidding," Darry agreed.

"How much you wanna bet those two will get together sooner than later?" Steve asked.

"A lot," I answered.

By the end of the day I was pooped. But I could do a front flip, a back flip, a cartwheel, a handstand, and a tow-touch. Yay me! I could also fight, which was gonna come in handy more often than I thought.

I fell on the couch.

"Dinner!" Pony called. He shook me. I didn't feel like moving, so I pretended to stay asleep. It worked. Yay! It worked.

Pony sighed and messed up my hair (I hate it when they do that).

"Where's Tex?" I heard Soda ask.

"He's sleeping," Pony answered.

"Okay, then—"

Then I really fell asleep, dreaming of the mornings out come. The rumble, what was it gonna be like. Part of me looked forward to it, the other part of me dreaded it.