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Chapter 14: Straight Revenge

Danny finally woke up. He was in his bed. He looked over and saw Houston asleep in his bed. He quickly got up and ran to the living room. He was hoping that last night was a dream. He was wrong. There was nobody asleep on the couch. He stood there for a while. He finally went to go take his shower.

When he got out everyone was up and about. It was different this morning; everyone was quiet. He went and sat down on the couch. Waiting for everyone else. Sodapop came in and sat beside Danny. Danny didn't even turn his head.

"Do you think you can go to school today?"

Danny nodded his head. Soda suspected something.

"Kid, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Danny knew what he was talking about. Soda was afraid Danny was gonna go and fight Matt. Danny didn't care. He wanted to beat the heck out of that guy. Pretty soon everyone was ready to go. Steve offered to take the kids to school. He thought that would cool off Danny a little bit.

Steve dropped the teens off and said to Danny, "Don't do anything crazy."

Danny didn't even say anything. He was focused on finding Matt and beating him down. The other teens must have noticed this and they followed him. Danny found Matt and called him out.

"Matt!"

Matt turned around and smiled when he saw Danny.

"I see you're angry about something."

"Why did you lie to the cops!"

"I said that you would be sorry. Now you know not to mess with me."

"They'll find out you're lying!"

"Not when my dad's lawyer is in there. I know your greaser family won't have a good lawyer to hire. You can't win. This is perfect!"

"No. You took it too far. That was my dad they hauled off!"

"Well he can go back to jail where he belongs!"

Danny then gave Matt a good swing across his good eye. He was gonna have another black eye. Danny just kept swinging and kicking at the guy. His friends and cousins ran to hold him back. Danny had too much rage. He pushed both Rachel and Houston back. He kept going at the guy. It took Rachel, Houston, Jack and Keith to get him off of Matt. Danny was struggling to get out of the grip. He kept yelling,

"I'm not finished! I'm not finished!"

Matt was taken to the clinic while Danny was taken to the principal's office. He sat there in the principal's chair. The principal was rattling on and on. Soon, Ms. Richardson came in. Danny was surprised to see her.

She whispered something in his ear and the principal nodded. He then said,

"Danny. Ms. Richardson just told me about what happened. Since this is the first time I've seen you. I'll let you off. You are suspended for the rest of the day though."

Danny didn't say anything. He just go up and walked home.

"I didn't think I'd see this place ever again."

Danny visited his dad in the prison. They were talking through glass and on the phone. Danny was trying to hold back his tears. It was so unfair, he had just met his dad after he left jail, and now he was back in for something that he didn't do.

"Danny. Why did that kid lie about us?"

"We've had beef ever since he got here."

"Over what?"

"He was picking on Houston before I got here. Rachel used to defend him then. He didn't do anything to her because they used to go out. Plus he was a former best friend of Jack."

"I see. Son, don't worry about me while I'm in here. I'll be fine. I've survived before."

Danny sniffed for a second and tears strolled down his face. He couldn't hold it any longer.

Trix saw this and put his fist up against the glass. Danny did the same and they put their fists up against each other's. They both felt each other regardless of the glass between them. Danny had to leave. His time was up.

Danny had to hitch a ride to the jail. It was a long way from town. He walked about a quarter of the way home, but caught a ride on the way back. The guy dropped him off at his neighborhood and Danny walked the rest of the way back.

He still couldn't believe what had just happened. He stopped and sat down in the lot. He reviewed everything that happened last night. Everyone sitting peacefully watching the movie. The cops showing up. He had saw Trix talking to the cops. It seemed like the entire world fell apart when they slammed him onto the ground and threw handcuffs on him.

It was all because of the socs. He thought about what had happened to his uncles and dad when Pony was fourteen. All of that tragedy. He had never known anyone personally to die. He thought for a second. How would he react if Houston died some way? Would he do the exact same thing Dally did? He was like what Dally was to Johnny. Always by his side.

Right then, he almost felt what is was like to be in that gang. Houston was a mixture of Ponyboy and Johnny, always shy but had relatives to protect him. Rachel was kind of like Steve, always mad at something, but cool to hang out with. Jack was just like his dad, you could be comfortable around this guy. And Keith was an exact replica of his uncle, ready to crack jokes.

He then realized he had been sitting in the lot for at least thirty minutes. Danny looked at his watch. It was 7:45. Everyone usually gets home around 6:00. Danny got up and walked to his house. All the cars were there, so he knew everyone was home. He walked in the door. Ponyboy, Sodapop, Cathy and Two-Bit were on the couch. Jack, Keith, Rachel and Houston were on the floor playing cards. They all looked up at him when he entered. Just light when Ponyboy walked in the night of the rumble; after Johnny died.

"Where you been?" asked Soda.

"To the jail to see dad."

"How did you get there?" asked Cathy concerned. "You didn't walk did you?"

"I hitched a ride. Two-Bit what were you smiling about yesterday? When you picked us up."

Two-Bit then remembered.

"Oh yeah. It's kind of lucky about this. Your uncle, Darry is coming home tomorrow."

"Okay. But how is that lucky?"

Sodapop spoke then.

"Darry went to a different college before he left for his next one. Said he wanted to have two professions as a back-up plan."

"What professions did he take?" Danny was getting frustrated of them beating around the bush. Ponyboy answered him.

"Darry went and graduated from law school."

Danny then got the idea and a shine of hope brightened inside him.