The guys didn't let go of Dally till the Socs were out of sight. Once they did, Dally yelled and kicked over a garbage can. Before returning to the car, he slammed his fist into a telephone poll.

"Were heading over to Merils." Tim said once Dally got back.

Dally gave him a short nod and climbed into the driver's seat. KJ, Two-Bit and Steve reluctantly climbed in after him. They knew that Dally tended to take his rage out while he was driving. Sure enough he tore out of the Dingo and headed down to the Buck Merils. He pulled in and they climbed out. Once inside, Steve called Darry to let him know what had happened. The house soon filled with Greasers and Hoods. All of them had heard what happened that night and all of them had the same look on their face. They all wanted to make the Socs hurt, but none more than Dally.

Once Tim had made sure that Wade was asleep upstairs in one of the rooms, he came back down and everyone got quiet.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say, I'm sick of waiting on these Socs." Tim started "They still have Kent's Brother and Tia. At the rate they are going, it could be days or even weeks before we get ours back. Frankly, one more hour is too God damn long for me."

There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of them. Tim looked at the faces watching him. KJ's eyes were on the floor, his shoulders saged and he was quiet. Dally on the other hand, his eyes were blazing with hot fury and his fists were clenched.

"Why should we wait any longer, we already know that we can take them down. We've done it before. They have no right to be trying this shit with us." Dally said through gritted teeth "I say that we get everyone together tonight, we go through the town and tear every Soc apart till we get them back."

"Why'd you move out when you were only 14?" Tia asked Mitch, accepting a lit cigarette from him.

Almost an hour had passed and the two were sitting on the bedroom floor in the dark talking. Mitch was surprised that we was not just willing, but wanting to talk to this young girl about his life. He found the more he told her, the more she told him. In short, she was fasinated with her. She had told him how she came to Tulsa and what her life used to be like. A small bit light from the moon shone through the window, casting a glow around Tia as she waiting for an answer.

"Me and my old man didn't get along." Mitch hesistated before answering. "He blamed me for my mom leaving us the year before, so she would take it out on me."

What he really meant to say was "My old man beat the tar out of me", but he hated telling people that. It made him sound so weak, even though he knew Tia had been throw the same thing.

"So what did you do?" Tia asked, not wanting to push the topic of his father.

"I moved down here to live with my Aunt and Uncle, Paul's parents. They are quite wealthy and took me in. They are nice people, but they really don't know much about life. They are always working and if they aren't working, they are out with their friends. Fake friends as I like to call them. They are all wealthy and they just spend their time drinking and trying to impress each other. It makes me sick." Mitch explained, he had never told that to anyone before.

"It seems so silly." Tia replied with a small chuckle "People work all their lives just to make money and for what? Not to travel the world or help others. They use their money to impress other people."

"Exactly." Mitch replied with a small smile, she was a smart kid.

"How did you get caught up in all of this?" Tia waved her cigarette around, meaning the whole Soc vs. Greaser business.

"Paul." Mitch replied darkly "He is a couple years older than me and when I first got here, all I wanted to do was impress him. So I would fight when he told me to and go where he wanted me to go. I never really thought for myself until a year or two ago. I started to see that what he was doing really had no use what-so-ever. I don't understand why we fight, we're not fighting for anything. When he came up with this whole scheme to get back at the Hoods, I knew that I couldn't say no. I could never live it down if I didn't help them."

Mitch shook his head and sighed. He was so stupid to have agreed to this. Screw them if they think he is too scared to fight this stupid war they have going on with the Hoods.

"Sometimes I fight just for the sake of fighting." Tia said quietly after a minute "Other times, I am fighting before I believe in what I am fighting for and that it is worth it."

"How do you know what is worth fighting for?" Mitch asked.

"You just know it. My friend's are worth fighting for. My life is worth fighting for. My freedom is worth fighting for. Socs, they aren't worth fighting for." Tia replied darkly "I just get so tired of fighting sometimes."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes I just wish I would have stayed with my old man. There were no Socs and Hoods there. They were just teenagers trying to make it." Mitch said.

Tia's cigarette was also gone. Mitch slid her an astray and she put her smoke out. She looked at Mitch for a minute, straining to see him in the dim light.

"I don't care what the rest of those guys out there say." Tia said with a small smile "You're not a Soc. You're just a guy who's caught up in something he should have never been."

Mitch felt his throat get tight for a second. He wanted to tell this girl that she shouldn't be here. She should be in a home with people who love her.