The news of Johnnycake's death surged numbness through my body. My mouth dropped open as I stared at Ponyboy. He held back tears then backed away as Soda attempted to comfort him. I couldn't find the words or emotions to deal with the news. Johnny was a tough kid. He had gotten through hard times before and I figured he'd get through this. For a long time I sat on the floor in shock. Noises and voices from the room swirled around inside my head until the shrill sound of the telephone ringing rattled me back to the present. I stood up, frightened by who might be calling. Darry hung up the phone and turned to the gang.
"That was Dally! The cops are after him. We've gotta hide him!"
Darry's words were urgent and no one in the house hesitated to follow him out the front door. Together, we sprinted down the damp, dark streets to the park. In the distance, we saw Dally running in our direction, police cars chasing him down. The scene was surreal as the approaching squad cars trapped Dallas like an animal and our friend resorted to his "bluff" for escape.
"It's not loaded!" Ponyboy shouted when he saw the gun Dally had held up toward the officers. The other boys yelled out the same warning to the policemen, but the words fell on deaf ears. Shots rang out! I watched as Dally's body was jerked to and fro from the bullets until he lay dead in the street, beneath the eerie glow of the street lamp.
"No!" Two-Bit screamed. "He's just a kid!"
The sound of the shots echoed through my mind. I heard Darry berate the officers then Ponyboy mumbled. "… Johnny, now Dallas…" My brother's words caused me to turn toward him, the sound of bullets whizzing through the air, still clear in my ears. I watched him collapse to the pavement. I turned back toward the approaching officers and saw Duke Dobbins standing among them. I saw the smoking gun in his hand and the edges of his black handlebar mustache curl up as he smiled. I convinced myself Duke had killed Dally! He had shot Ponyboy! He had driven Casey from my life. "You bastard!" I screamed with every ounce of energy and hate I had in me. "You killed her! You killed her and now you killed them!"
Hot tears flowed from my eyes and each of my muscles filled with rage as I charged at the man. I grabbed a hold of him, punching, kicking and scratching as violently as I could. I yelled at the murderer. "She was my best friend and now she's gone!"
Quickly, his friends grabbed my body and pinned me to the wet street. I struggled to get free but the men seized my arms and pulled them behind my back. "NO! I screeched in terror as the men bound my wrists with metal handcuffs. "Let me go you murderer!" I kicked and struggled to free myself.
Darry watched in shock as the officers wrestled me to the ground. "Let her go! She didn't mean it, let her go!" He begged the policemen, but kept his distance just enough to not anger the officers.
"Get her in the car!" One angry officer yelled as he wiped a stream of blood from under his nose.
"You can't haul her away!" Two-Bit's voice cracked as he walked up to Darry's side.
In the darkness, I could see Ponyboy's body lying unconscious on the ground, Sodapop by his side. I sobbed and screamed with my hoarse voice. "No… no…. you shot Ponyboy. Not him… why him too?" Then two of Duke's friends picked me up by the arms and pulled me across the street to a parked car. I dully heard Darry's voice pleading in the background for them to let me go.
Darry followed behind the officers. "You can't do this to her. She didn't mean it. She's confused! You don't understand!" He cried out as the officers ignored him.
One man opened the squad car door. I fought and kicked wildly for my freedom. No matter how hard I fought, they fought harder. There was little I could do without the use of my arms. Soon, I was trapped inside the backseat of the car. I screamed uncontrollably for my mom and dad to save me. When they didn't come I yelled for Sodapop and Darry. Inevitably, no one came and I was sure Duke Dobbins would kill me by morning. In fear, I cowered to the floor resting my back against the other door. With my hands bound behind my back I stared at the windows praying Duke wouldn't show his face. "Please don't kill me…" I repeatedly cried for my life, "…I won't tell anyone you did it … I don't want to die."
"Just let me talk to her!" Darry howled a few dozen feet from the police car I was in.
The lead officer in charge of the crime scene stepped in front of my brother, not intimidated by Darry's size. "Listen, we've got a real mess here. I got one dead juvenile. I got an ambulance on the way for the boy over there and we will deal with the girl when we have everything else figured out. Now get back over to that side of the street or I'll have you arrested for disturbing the peace."
Darry looked down at the unsympathetic officer. "She's my little sister." He said calmly and fought back tears. "She didn't mean to hurt anyone. She's been through a lot lately and she's just confused."
The officer didn't care. "Go away! You can deal with her after we haul her down to the juvenile detention facility!" Darry stood in shock for a moment debating if he should grab me and flee or just do as he was told. Eventually, he turned and walked away from the officer and the squad car. Faintly, he could still hear my cries.
Darry joined the gang and waited on the side of the road. Sodapop held Pony's head in his lap and tears in his eyes. "Darry…what's going on? What are they going to do with her?"
"I don't know little buddy, they won't talk with me right now." Darry held his lower lip as tight as he could to hold back his emotions. "How's Pony?"
"Not too good." Soda answered and his voice cracked. "He won't wake up."
Darry crouched down next to his youngest brother. "Come on, little buddy…wake up and be all right…okay?"
Steve stood near Two-Bit, his arms wrapped around his chest, shaking like the rest of his body. He and Two-Bit watched as the crime scene was marked and photographed. Two officers arrived and callously searched Dallas' dead body. Two-Bit looked on in horror as his cherished black handled switchblade was pulled from Dally's back pocket.
"That's my blade." Two-Bit muttered and became upset. "I can't believe they're taking my switchblade!"
"Is that all you're worried about?" Steve snapped, his eyes red from crying.
"No!" Two-Bit quivered and bit his lip to calm his nerves, "but that's what I'm wishing was all that's bothering me!"
"You two knock it off." Darry warned them and breathed in deep to calm his sobs. The first ambulance arrived and two medics approached the gang, pulling a gurney for Ponyboy. After the medics checked him over and lifted his body onto the gurney, a tall gray haired man in a tan trench coat approached the boys.
"Darrell?"
Darry looked up from Pony's side and recognized the man. Quickly, he stifled his crying and stood up tall. "Mr. Ottavi."
"I was called here because the officers shot that boy." Mr. Ottavi looked around at the sorrowful, dirty, bruised faces of the boys. He tried to put the pieces of the story together then he noticed Ponyboy lying on the gurney. "Oh no." Mr. Ottavi muttered and pointed to Dallas' body. "This is the boy who rescued the children from the church fire, isn't it?" Everyone in the gang shook their heads yes. Mr. Ottavi turned to Darry with empathy in his eyes. "What can I do to help?"
Darry looked away to wipe his eyes then turned back to the City Attorney. "Scout's here too." Shame seemed to fill Darry's body. "She aint doing too well though. I think the sound of the gunshots messed her head up. She thought one of the officers was Duke Dobbins and she attacked him." Darry was a bit embarrassed by my behavior. "They got her locked up in a squad car over there. Mr. Ottavi… she didn't mean to harm anyone…"
Mr. Ottavi stepped close to my brother and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know, I'll go see what I can do about getting her out of this mess." Kathryn's dad looked down at my twin. "What happened to Ponyboy?" Mr. Ottavi looked up at the gang. "You all look like you've been in one hell of a fight."
Darry avoided responding to the fight comment. "Our friend, Johnny Cade, died in the hospital about an hour ago, now Dallas… I think it was too much for the young ones to handle."
Mr. Ottavi looked to the medics, "you boys take good care of that one." The attorney turned back to Darry. "Let me go see what I can do for Scout," and he walked away from the gang.
Sodapop pulled Darry close before he spoke to him. "Do you think he'll be able to help?"
"I sure hope so." Darry muttered back. "Listen, I want you to ride along to the hospital with Ponyboy. I'll stay here with Scout." Soda agreed and hugged his brother. Wiping more tears from his eyes, Sodapop walked along side the gurney and climbed into the ambulance with his younger brother. Darry, Steve and Two-Bit watched as the first ambulance rolled away with Ponyboy inside and the second rolled away with Dally.
"We'll stay with you Darry," Two-Bit said, "till you find out what they are going to do with Scout."
Inside the police car was hot. The vinyl seats smelled funny, and my arms were throbbing with pain. I sat with my knees pulled close to me and my head buried between them. Unstoppable tears rolled from my eyes and clarity began to enter my mind as the red lights of sirens blinked through the sky. Slowly, I realized I was trapped in handcuffs in the back of a squad car, but I had no clue as to why. In the distance I heard more sirens leave the area and I recalled Casey wasn't dead, just gone.
I used my knees to wipe the tears from my eyes and pushed against the back door with my legs to help myself climb onto the back seat. Cautiously, I peeked out the windows looking for Duke. Instead of finding him I saw police officers, lots of them. Perhaps they have arrested him again, I thought to myself. Feeling a little braver, I scooted across the smelly car seat to the door the men had pushed me through. I looked over to the area of the street illuminated by the street lamp. Dally wasn't there, Ponyboy was gone, but Darry, Two-Bit, and Steve remained, sitting on the curb.
"Darry!" I yelled for him and kicked at the door. When he didn't hear me I screamed louder. "DARRY!" This time my brother looked up, then stood up. The boys next to him stood up too. Together the three of them walked around the marked crime scene and toward the police car that held me. "Darry! Help me… please help me Darry." I grew excited that I had my brother's attention and he and his friends were coming to let me out. My excitement turned to rage as two officers, a paramedic and a tall man in a trench coat stopped the boys half way and blocked my view of my brother. "Darry!" I screamed again and began to kick at the door. "Darry get me out of here!" Tears swamped my eyes again and blurred the image of the men.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight to clear them and noticed Darry walking toward me with the same men who had just stopped him. Looking out the window, I noticed the tall man was Mr. Ottavi. One officer walked to the door behind me, and the second pulled open the door closest to me. With one hand on the roof and one on the open door Mr. Ottavi leaned in and smiled at me.
"Hi there, Scout. It's good to see you again." He spoke calmly and kept eye contact with me. "Do you remember who I am?"
I shook my head yes, then hoarsely whispered. "You're Kathryn's dad."
Mr. Ottavi's face filled with a smile. "That's right! Listen, Darry really misses you and he wants to see you, but before we can let you go to him a nice man from the hospital needs to give you a shot in your arm. Is that okay?" I shook my head yes. Kathryn's dad asked me another question. "You promise to be good and not to hurt anyone else?"
I looked back at the man and my throat tightened with guilt. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I was just so scared to see Mr. Dobbins." My lower lip quivered, "… I think he shot my brother."
Mr. Ottavi's smile frowned. "No, sweetheart, Ponyboy just fainted and Mr. Dobbins is still locked up in jail."
Confusion filled my mind and I tried to make sense of the information but couldn't. Mr. Ottavi called for my attention again. "Scout, Officer Johnsen is going to come in the other door to be sure you don't hurt anyone while we give you the shot, if you're good Darry is right here and we will let you see him. Are you ready?"
I shook my head yes and turned to watch the officer cautiously climb in through the other door and sit by my side. He wrapped his hand around my arm and put another hand on my leg to be sure to hold me down. Turning my attention back to the other open door I saw the medic lean in. He took a hold of my left arm and pushed the needle from the syringe through my clothes and then into my skin. The liquid inside burned my arm as he pushed it into my body. I winced in pain, but didn't struggle.
"All right, young lady," The officer inside the car with me spoke. "Turn a little and I'll take the handcuffs off."
I pivoted in my seat and felt a rush of relief as my arms were freed and allowed to the front of my body. The second officer, who had been standing by Mr. Ottavi's side, reached in and helped me out of the squad car. I steadied my feet on the wet grass for just a second then looked up to see Darry waiting just a few feet away next to Two-Bit and Steve. "Darry!" I yelped and stumbled toward him.
"Oh, baby girl." He sighed and wrapped me in his arms. "Don't you worry, everything is going to be all right. They are going to take good care of you."
I heard Darry's words, but before I could ask him who was going to take good care of me, my mind grew fuzzy. The strong sedative they had administered had taken affect and the world went dark as I slumped in Darry's arms.