Chapter 14: Anger

Steve and Sodapop drove back to their neighborhood in silence. Soda looked at his best friend. He had a plain look on his face. That meant he was angry.

"Steve. Are you going to be okay?" asked Soda with a worried look.

Steve gave a slot nod. Soda still didn't buy it. He knew that if something else bad happened, Steve wouldn't be able to take it.

Steve drove up in front of the Curtis house. Soda got out of the car.

"Bye Steve."

"Bye," said Steve quietly. He then drove off. Soda looked at the beaten car driving down the street. He hoped his friend would be okay. Racing was something that he loved. And he had just been thrown out of it.

"Soda?"

Sodapop turned around to see Mr. Curtis walking down the porch.

"What are you doing out here? It's too cold."

"Oh. Sorry."

"C'mon and get to bed. We're going to be up early tomorrow."

"For what?"

"For hunting. You forgot?"

"Oh. Um. I guess I did."

Mr. Curtis looked at his second son strangely. He was only quiet like this when something was wrong. He put his hand on Soda's forehead.

"Are you feeling well? You're not hot."

"I'm just tired, I guess."

"Well let's get inside. You know how hard you are to get up."

The two walked inside and went to bed.

Steve parked his car outside of his house. Then he took one good look at it. To see what he would need to repair.

The window was completely gone; there was a big dent on the side and a scratch at the bottom of the car. This would take a lot of work.

Steve sighed and turned around towards his front door. He entered his house and went towards the bathroom. He was going to wash his face, but he noticed his face in the mirror. His eyes were a little red and he had bags under his eyes. He needed sleep. He would start on the car on his free time at the DX.

Steve went towards his room, and threw off his shirt. He lied down on the bed. Later on that night, he woke up in a cold sweat. He just had a dream. One that he had never had before.

He had a dream about his mother. That they had found each other. He had woken up right when they noticed each other's presence.

Steve fell back on the bed. A tear slid down his cheek. He rarely ever cried. That was his only weak spot his mother.

……

"Steve!"

Steve's eyes shot open. His old man had just screamed his name. Steve groaned and turned over. He didn't feel like getting up.

"Steve! Get out here right now!"

"What!" yelled Steve sitting up.

"Get out here now!"

Steve got up and walked outside to see what his dad was screaming about. Steve walked outside to see his dad right next to Steve's car.

"What did you do!" yelled Mr. Randle.

"What? It's my car!"

"I paid for it. Don't expect me to pay for this!"
"I don't expect your lazy butt to pay for anything that's mine!"

"Excuse me? But don't I bring money into this house?"

"You're not the only one who makes money you know!"

"Like you've spent it on anything useful! You and you're little hooligan friends rob half the thing around here!"

"Shut-up! I can't stand you! I wish Mom was still here! She at least cared about me!"

Steve snatched the keys out of his dad's hands and got into his car.

"Steve. Get out of there now!"

"Shut-up!"

Steve put the car in drive and drove off. He was going to follow his dream. He was going to find his Mom.

He ran by the Dingo first. He felt uncomfortable for some reason. Was this the right thing to do? Then he figured out why he was uncomfortable. He had no shirt on. He didn't want to walk in the restaurant topless, so he searched in the back of the car for a shirt or something. He found one of his dad's business shirts, he put it on. The sleeves were a little long. He just rolled them up. He got out the car and walked inside the Dingo.

He got a Pepsi and was about to walk outside, but Johnny caught up with him.

"Hey, Steve," said Johnny. "Where's Soda?"

"Hunting."

"Oh. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find my mom."

"Your mom. Where is she?"

"I don't know."

"H-how long are you going to look for her?"

"I don't know. Until I figure out where she is."

"But-"

"Look Johnny. I don't have time for talks. I have to go."

Steve walked towards his car and got in it. He took one look at Johnny's blank face, and drove off.