Chapter 9: Safety
Danny couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was Matt doing here? Then he remembered, they were outside of Tulsa, right near a jail. Matt had probably gone there for attempted murder.
He kept his face straight. The situation just got worse. He knew Maria was behind him shell-shocked. He didn't dare turn around to look at her; he wanted to keep all his eyes on his old enemy.
"Fancy meeting you here," said Matt with a toothless grin. Danny guessed that it was from the jail.
"How'd you get out?" asked Danny in a low, cold voice.
"Simple and fate."
"Quit talking in riddles and make better since."
"Heh, heh. I ran into an old friend of your dad's. Seems he was sent here from a jail in Georgia. Turns out that we both wanted revenge on some Curtis boys. We both escaped and he promised to get you here. Didn't think it would be so soon."
Danny surveyed his nemesis. He looked slightly different. A little buffer, longer hair and a ragged looking face. Just about the opposite of a clean soc. Matt continued.
"Don't know how he got you here, but I don't care. He promised that I would get to fight you a little, and hold you for ransom, and we'd kill both you and your dad."
So that was the game plan. That guy chased him out of his house and out of town for ransom to kill him and his father. Danny let it marinate and remarked,
"Well you aren't gonna hold me for ransom."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because to my knowledge, I've whipped you already."
"That was then, plus I've done a little jail time. Nothing like it."
"Try it then!"
Matt ran towards Danny and Maria moved out of the line of battle, knowing that the battle was now about to break off. Danny ducked Matt's swing and gave him a tackle. They both hit the rocky road below them and the Atlanta boy gave his foe some swings into the face. But like the words that were exchanged between the two, Matt had gotten stronger.
He rolled and to Danny's surprise he ended up on the ground with Matt on top of him. For defense, he quickly put his arms up to block any blows to his face. The former soc tried to hit Danny's face, but saw that he was blocking every way. He decided to take shots at his ribs.
Danny felt hard punches into his side and saw that this match would be difficult. He remembered quickly his fight with Tay. He hoped that his dad would follow the right jail and help him out. Except he knew his chances were one out of four.
Unexpectedly, Maria came at the two and smashed a large stick into the side of Matt's head and he was knocked off of Danny. He got up abruptly and was about to continue his bout but heard sirens suddenly.
Matt's head leaped up and he ran off into the woods. Danny knew what was happening; it was like killing two flies with one swat. Matt was off of him and he would get to turn himself in.
The cop got out of the car, recognizing Danny and yelled,
"Hands up!" while pulling out his pistol.
The seventeen year old was happy and he gladly reached for the sky. Before he knew it, he was getting escorted into the cop car with handcuffs tight around his wrists. He sat in the back and noticed Maria talking with the cop.
The cop seemed to be doing a seires of nods and then walked to the car with Maria. Maria got in the front of the car with the cop, but Danny didn't even ask why she was riding. He guessed that if he asked, the cop would get smart with him. That's happened before, and it's not the best feeling in the world.
The officer had to stop for gas and pulled into the nearest station, paying from the outside. When the cop was pumping his engine fluid, Danny asked Maria,
"So what's up? Why are you riding?"
"I told the cop that you didn't do it and he wants to question me. I also let it know that someone is after you. They want to get to the bottom of what's going on."
"Okay. That's good. Do something for me."
"What is it?"
"Call my uncle's cell phone. Ponyboy. Remember they're out looking for us. I wanta let them know that we're fine right now."
"Okay. What's his number?"
He gave Maria his uncle's cell phone number. When he finished, he sat back and thought in his mind that it was all over. The cop finished pumping and got back into his patrol vehicle. The drove for eight more minutes before they reached the jail. It was a small one in the middle of no where.
He was escorted down a hallway and into a jail cell, where his hands were finally free from the painful handcuffs. He was in a cell all by himself. No one else was there. He was glad. No telling what kind of people you would meet in here. Danny looked at his wrists, there were red marks from the tight cuffs.
There were bunk beads against the wall and he hoped that no one else would get arrested any time soon. Danny walked over towards the bed, tired from his last fight. The rocks on the ground didn't really help his back when he hit them.
He lied down on his back on the bed. It was dirty and rough, but he would manage. Not as comfortable as his bed at home. He thought about everything that had happened to him. This was the third time that he had left town. Once with Alex, another with his family and friends and this one tallied as third. Danny fell asleep thinking about his friends.