Chapter 7: The First Time
"Those sleeper hold do come handy."
"Especially on the larger people."
…….
That night everyone was lounging around the Curtis house, as usual. Steve, Soda and Darry had gotten off work. Two-Bit and Steve were on the floor, eyes fixed on the television. Soda was sitting in the armchair and Darry was in front of him. Darry pulled another muscle at work so Soda was giving him a massage. Ponyboy was sitting next to the couch reading a book. They knew Johnny wasn't one hundred percent yet, so they let him stretch out on the couch. Plus, Two-Bit said that he had looked tired on the way over there.
That was true. Johnny was real tired. Probably since it was his first time doing some actual hood things. He would have to get used to it.
At that moment, Dally walked through the door. Everyone had heard about what had happened that morning. Darry was the first to speak.
"Hey Dal'. I though you would have been jailed."
"Naw. They spoke to the witness. Said I was too tall. Whoever trashed the place was a lot smaller than me."
At that moment, Johnny's eyes shot open. So someone really did see him. Crap. He could actually get jailed for this. Good and bad. It could help his rep. He seriously wanted to tell everyone that he did it. Get his rep up. But he didn't want to risk getting caught. Johnny just shut his eyes. He had to think of what to do next.
"That Officer Franklin sure does hate my guts," added on Dally.
"He really wanted me in that cell again. I know he hates all greasers. How's Johnny been?" asked Dally.
"He seems good enough for me. But Dr. Darry thinks he needs more rest," said Two-Bit.
Darry just shot him a look and responded,
"You'll need a doctor if you keep getting mouthy."
The next day, Johnny went walking around by himself. Dally offered to walk with him, but Johnny just said he needed a little space. That's when Dallas started to notice a little difference in Johnny. He seemed to have a little attitude. Maybe Dally was rubbing off on Johnny. Dally just left the thought. That wasn't like Johnny. He used to get mouthy a couple of times. No biggie.
As Johnny walked around, he ended up at the school area. He used to go there. He dropped out because of those teachers. Another addition to his old pathetic life.
Johnny continued his walk, until a car stopped up the street. Johnny looked at it. Mustang. Soc car. A flashback of the jumping appeared in Johnny's mind. He put his hand in his back pocket. And kept it there. This is what the knife was for.
Two socs got out of the car. Better than four, thought Johnny as they walked over to him. Johnny recognized one of the socs. It was the one he beat up yesterday. Must be coming back for his stuff.
"That's that little grease that took my things."
They started walking to Johnny. Johnny flicked out his blade. The socs were surprised by this move and they both backed up. An evil smile flashed across Johnny's face. He then said quietly,
"Got anymore stuff?"
The socs got the idea and pulled out their money. Like Johnny had a gun or something. Johnny collected his profit and started to walk off. He felt like doing something else. He noticed a rock about the size of his hand on the ground. He could probably heave it through the soc's back window.
Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the socs running towards him. Johnny had put the knife away so his reflexes made him swing the rock right into the soc's face as he approached him.
The soc collided with the stone and fell onto his back. His face was bleeding. He lifted his bloody hands off his face. Johnny saw that he had nailed him in the nose. The nose was bent weirdly. It was probably broken.
Johnny looked at the other soc. Who was obviously too scared to do anything.
"Do you want any?" yelled Johnny.
The soc wildly shook his head and Johnny smirked. He threw the rock at the back window and it shattered. Then Johnny flicked out his knife again and slid it across the car. Making a long scratch mark. Johnny then slashed the back tires of the car.
Johnny felt like his work was done and walked off.
"Hold it right there."
Johnny ignored the voice. It sounded familiar. He just thought it was another soc. He kept walking. Suddenly there was a bang and Johnny froze. Someone just shot at him. He slowly turned his head to see Officer Franklin with a pistol pointing towards him. He was walking up to Johnny, still with his gun drawn.
"The next one won't mix. Don't move, punk!"
The officer walked up and saw Johnny's shaken face. The officer put on a smirk of his own.
"Well. We have a first timer here. Little greaser."
Franklin slapped handcuffs on him and took Johnny to the cop car. As Johnny walked he saw Franklin's partner kneeled down next to the fallen soc. The other soc was looking at his friend. This was Johnny's first time getting arrested for something he did. All the others were for information on gangs. As Johnny sat in the back of the car, he thought,
'Bad news, they're taking me to the station. Good news, this could help my rep.'