Ponyboy and I washed the dishes after dinner while Sodapop took a shower. As I finished up the last pan, Darry stuck his head through the kitchen door. I looked over at him and he told me he needed to talk with me in his bedroom. Darry walked away and I looked to my twin. Our eyes met, subconsciously saying, now what's wrong.
I dried my hands on the tattered dishtowel and walked into Darry's room. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. Darry reached over and shut the bedroom door for privacy then his blue eyes met with mine. "Scout, you're not going with us to the rumble. You're staying here and I don't want any arguments." Darry noticed me take a breath to respond, so he threw up his hand to stop my words. "Rumbles are tough, and they are no place for a girl. Savvy?"
I pleaded for my brother to consider more options. "Darry, just let me go along, I aint going to fight. I just want to be there. Besides, I've been to rumbles before."
"Sure you've been to some small neighborhood fights, but this is a different kind of fight. There's gonna be a lot of rough boys there on both sides and Soda and I aren't going to be able to keep a close eye on you. I really want you to stay home."
"What about Ponyboy?" I asked, thinking the two youngest children in the household should be considered equal.
"Scout," Darry's blue eyes held a special concern as he leaned down in front of me, "you're my little sister. Things are just different with you. If something were to happen, I couldn't forgive myself. I can't see you hurt the way I have before. I don't want to go through that again."
I blinked the surprise from my eyes as Darry inadvertently told me how much he cared for me. I didn't have a good reason to argue, other then my fear of the unknown, so I didn't. "Okay Darry…I'll stay behind so you don't have to worry."
"Thanks Sis," A smile graced Darry's face and he patted me lightly on the shoulder.
I stood up and walked out of his bedroom as Steve walked in through the front door with an ear to ear grin. "Hey Sissy! Bet you are glad you're not a Soc tonight cause we are going to pound their heads in something good!"
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt and spoke slowly. "I never said I wanted to be a Soc."
Steve wasn't listening. "Where's Soda at?"
"I think he's in the bathroom."
Sodapop yelled from behind me. "No I'm not!" My brother sauntered into the dining room.
"Look here buddy!" Steve raised his hand to show a deck of cards. "I brought my own deck of cards. We aren't using that cheatin' deck of yours."
"You calling me a cheater?" Soda asked with a laugh.
"Yes I am!" Steve responded. Not liking the answer, Sodapop ran toward his best friend throwing playful punches and trying to wrestle Steve to the ground. I watched for a few seconds then saw Darry go into the bathroom for his shower. Bored with the rough housing, I walked back to Ponyboy's bedroom to find him lying on his bed with his arm covering his eyes from the overhead light.
"Ponyboy you okay?"
"Yeah, I just got a headache." I reached over and flipped off the bright light. With only the light from the hall shining through the doorway Pony uncovered his eyes. "So what did Darry want?"
I sat down on the bed and rested my back against the headboard. "He aint going to let me go to the rumble, not even to watch."
"That aint so bad."
I looked down at my brother's pale face. "Yeah? Well, I think it is. I don't like being home alone anymore. It gives me the willies."
Pony turned his head in my direction and curled his lip a little. "Come on, you've stayed by yourself plenty of times."
I reached down and fiddled with the zipper on my hooded sweatshirt. "It's just different now. With all that's been happening…I spook myself so much."
Ponyboy sat up and looked at me with a devilish grin on his face. "Well, quick looking in the mirror so much and you won't get so scared!"
A grin filled my face as I reached behind me, picked up Sodapop's pillow and swung it at Pony. He grabbed it and hit me back. Then Darry called Ponyboy and told him it was his turn to shower. Ponyboy walked out of his room and I went to mine. I picked up a book from my bookcase and flopped down on my bed. It was Ponyboy's book of Robert Frost poetry; I had taken it from his room when he was missing. I read through a couple dozen poems trying to decipher their true meaning. I didn't understand or enjoy poetry as much as my twin, but I tried.
A while later I could hear Soda and Steve fighting again, so I walked out into the dining room to find the Steve dealing cards. In the living room Darry laid down on the floor to do some push ups before the rumble. I ran over to him and stood on his back. For years he had me stand on his back so he could lift more weight. He was sure strong as he continually raised me toward the ceiling and I struggled to keep my balance. Darry finished his workout and lightheartedly tossed me from his back then stood up to put his shirt on.
Ponyboy walked into the living room. "Darry, how come you like fights?" Darry didn't answer, but Sodapop piped up: "Cause he likes to show off his muscles."
"I'm gonna show'em off on you, little buddy, if you get any mouthier." Darry warned Soda then looked to Ponyboy and you could see the worry on his face. "Pony, I don't know if you ought to be in this rumble."
"Good idea!" I sang out from the couch and ignored Ponyboy's dirty look as he questioned Darry. "How come? I always come through before aint I?"
"Yeah," Darry said with a proud grin, "but you were in shape before and you aint looking so good. You're tensed up too much."
"Shoot!" Soda walked over and defended his little brother. "Everyone's tensed up before a rumble. Let him fight. He aint gonna get hurt. It's skin against skin."
My jaw dropped and my words were filled with jealousy. "Soda, why are you sticking up for Ponyboy to go to the rumble and not me?"
Two-Bit laughed out loud and Soda turned to me with his million dollar grin. "Cause you're a girl! Girls are supposed to only fight girls, and they only fight when they have to. Boys'll fight anywhere, any time and for any reason." I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, it'd be different if it were knives or chains or something." Ponyboy said to Darry, "I'll get a hold of a little one."
"Well," Darry rethought his earlier suggestion. "We'll need every man we can get." I threw my head back into the couch and realized my chances of being left home alone were now at one hundred percent.
"I'll be okay." Ponyboy said wearily and pointed to Sodapop. "How come you never worry about him so much?"
"Man," Darry grinned and put his arm around Soda's shoulder, "this is one kid brother I aint gotta worry about. This kid can use his head!"
Soda smiled with pride, playfully punched Darry in the ribs, and looked at Ponyboy with mock superiority, but Darry continued, "You can see he uses it for one thing, to grow hair on!" Darry grabbed his little buddy and rubbed his fist into Soda's well manicured hair.
The boys laughed and cheered as they followed Sodapop and Darry out the front door to the rumble. I trailed behind just in time to see Steve flip through the air and the boys whistle and shout as they walked down the middle of the street. Alone in the yard, I folded my arms across the cold bar of the fence and laid my head down on my hands. In less than a minute the boys had grown smaller and smaller then disappeared around a corner. I sighed heavy and looked to the sky. Well Scout? I thought to myself. Looks like it's just you and me and we better get used to it.
I walked back up the steps to the porch and sat down on the bench underneath the living room window. The night was quiet. I pulled my sweatshirt closer to my body for warmth as my imagination began to worry me. I looked left then right into the darkness of the yard. It's nothing Scout, I said to myself again, it's just the wind. Darry's right, Duke is behind bars and there is no one here to hurt me. I smiled hoping that would trick my brain into calming my nerves.
I looked off toward the lot wondering what my brother's were doing. I wished Darry had let me go, at least to watch. Standing up, I looked through the front window into the house. The lights were still on in every room and I wondered dully why it was okay for my brothers to leave every light on, but Darry chewed me out for doing the same thing just over a week ago. Another strong Tulsa wind blew a chill of cold air across the porch, so I decided to wait in the living room for the gang to return. I pulled open the rusty storm door and stepped inside.
Outside a car engine roared up the street toward my house and the squealing of tires made my heart begin to pound with a fear of the unknown. I turned around to find Buck Merrill's Ford T-Bird outside and Dally whipping open the metal gate of the fence. I darted out the front door. "Dally! I thought you were suppose to stay at the hospital!"
"Where is everyone?" Dally ran up to meet me on the front porch and looked into the living room through the screen door.
I could sense the urgency in his voice. "Is Johnny all right?"
"Nah, he aint." Dally said hurriedly, his mind occupied with other things. Helooked down at me and asked again. "Where the boys at?"
"In the lot at the rumble." I said, wondering how Dally didn't figure that out.
"Let's go!" Dally grabbed tightly to my arm and pulled me down the porch steps and through the gate.
My tennis shoes pounded on the pavement as I ran up the street by Dally's side. As we neared the lot I questioned why Dally had pulled me to the rumble. Slowing, I fell back a few steps as Dally entered the lot. What was I doing here? What would Darry say? I wondered and stopped in the darkness by a row of trees. I bent forward, resting my hands on my knees, to catch my breath and looked up to watch Dally run across the hood of an abandoned car. My vision focused to see dozens of young men standing together. One side dark in drab colored shirts and dirty blue jeans. The others decked out in expensive light colored pants and shirts and sweaters of all colors.
"Starting a rumble aint a rumble without me!" Dally grabbed the attention of nearly everyone who was waiting for the rumble to begin.
Instantly, the turmoil began as the two sets of colors began to mesh together. The boys in the lot grabbed, punched, and kicked one another as they passed. In awe, my jaw dropped and my eyes searched for my brothers. Near the middle of the crowd I noticed Darry, standing tall. I watched as a Soc punched him hard. Darry stood strong and returned the action sending his recipient to the ground. A loud clap of thunder bellowed across the sky. I looked up and instantly the rain began to pour down.
I squinted through the drops and scanned the quickly dulling colors of the Socs. I wondered if the big plans Owen and his friends had were to be here tonight. No one looked like him, but there was no way to be sure.
In minutes the Socs and greasers were the same color, mud. Then the first boy began to flee to the safety of his high priced car. Others followed him and ran from the fight. I could hear the distinct sound of Steve's victory cry. As more Socs ran away from the rumble, a few stayed to finish the game. It was then that I saw Ponyboy lying on the ground. I could hear his hoarse voice screaming for Darry. My heart jumped and my feet almost did the same, but common sense stopped me. I knew better to run out there while the Socs were still throwing punches. I clearly remembered what those punches had felt like.
"They're running!" I heard a voice call, and I moved from the shadow of the trees to the side of the abandoned cars.
"We won! We won!" Another boy added to the victory screams.
In the distance I noticed Ponyboy sitting in the mud. I ran to his side and grabbed a handful of his wet sweatshirt. "Ponyboy are you all right?" Pony swayed while he sat and awkwardly shook his head yes. I was concerned by the bruises on his face and the trickle of blood that ran from the corner of his mouth.
"I got him!" Dally came up along side of us and hoisted Ponyboy to his feet.
Knowing Dallas could help Ponyboy home I walked into the crowd and became consumed by the group of muddy, cheering greasers. I weaved through their tall bodies looking for the familiar faces I wanted to find. In the middle, I found Steve, Sodapop and Two-Bit standing together.
Two-Bit looked over at me and smiled while the blood ran down his face. "Scout! When'd you decided to join us?"
Sodapop looked over at me and wrapped one of his exhausted arms around my shoulder. "Hey Sissy. Did you see us teach those Socs a lesson?"
"Yeah." I told my brother and grabbed his hand in mine. All of the boys were panting heavily with smiles on their faces.
"Sissy! I thought I told you to stay home?" Darry almost shouted as he came up behind us. I could tell he was still pumped up from the rumble.
"I thought I told you I was coming?" I good-naturedly sassed back and Two-Bit's laughed caused Darry to cease his argument.
"Where's Ponyboy?" Darry scanned the crowd.
"I saw Dally hauling him home a few minutes ago." I looked my oldest brother in the eyes.
The greasers and hoods parted ways and we headed back to our house. We walked down the street and each boy took their turn bragging about their accomplishments from the rumble. "Sissy, did you see the way we kicked those bastards right out of here?" Now maybe things will change around the neighborhood." Two-Bit flashed a glance at me and cocked his eyebrow to remind me of the past. "No more getting jumped on your way home from the bus stop."
I cracked half a smile and dashed away his optimism. "Do you really thing they'll stop coming around just cause they lost in the rumble."
"Hell yeah!" Steve joined into the discussion. "That's the agreement."
"I sure hope they feel that way." I said with doubt in my voice. We got back to our house and Buck's T-Bird was nowhere to be found.
"Where do you think Pony and Dally are?" Steve asked.
"Dallas said Johnny wasn't doing so well…" I said as the gloom fell across the boys' faces. We all knew things weren't good for Johnny, but the truth hadn't sunk in completely till we saw Ponyboy walk in through the front door hours later.
"Where have you been?" Darry slowly rose from his chair and noticed a strange look on our brother's face. "Ponyboy, what's the matter?"
Ponyboy looked worse than any of the guys who were in the rumble. I could tell from the redness in his eyes and the way his hands were shaking that the next words out if his mouth were going to be bad.
Ponyboy spoke softly. "Johnny's dead…"