Chapter 2

After school on Friday, I went home and picked up the house and threw in some laundry before I met the boys. I was fuming the whole time. It wasn't my turn, but I didn't have any clean underwear. Boys don't care so much about dirty underwear and I was damn tired of picking up the slack just because I was the only female in the house.

I was in a foul mood. I'd hung out after school to see if Mrs. Mayron could help me with my geometry. She stammered and stuttered and finally sat down with me, way far at the other end of the table, like I smelled or something. I know we're poor, and I know most of my clothes used to be my brothers', but I use soap and shampoo, for God's sake.

Pony had left already. Darry was working. Soda was in the bathroom. After taking the longest shower known to man, he was now primping for his date. And the dryer was taking forever.

"Dammit! Cinnamon Marie!" he cussed.

"What?"

"Quit usin' my razor on your legs!"

I felt my face flush. I'd meant to change the blade, but I forgot.

Soda stuck his head out of the door, a towel around his waist, a piece of toilet paper stuck to his chin.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I don't know why you don't just ask Darry to buy you your own," Soda said. "It's not like -- " He broke off at the look on my face and shook his head, disappearing back into the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, I had clean underwear and Soda was ready to go. After what had happened to Pony the day before, he insisted on walking me down to the Dingo, where the boys probably were, even though it was only a few blocks away.

"Here." Soda pressed two crumpled dollars into my hand. "Buy a razor. And candy at the movies. Share it with Ponyboy, dig?"

I kissed him, not caring who saw. "You're the best brother in the world," I said.

"Yeah, I know," he grinned. "Y'all have fun. Be back right after and don't walk alone."

"I won't. Have fun with Sandy."

The Dingo is one of the drive-ins we go to. It's a pretty rough place, but I know most of the kids who hang there and I know when to run, so it was okay. I ordered a Coke and sat down to wait. There was no sign of Dally, Pony or Johnny.

"How y'all doin', Cinnamon?"

I turned to Curly Shepard. Curly was a nice enough guy but he had a mean streak a mile long. His brother Tim headed up the Shepard gang and while we weren't exactly their allies, we were all greasers.

"Hey, Curly," I said. "You seen Dallas?" I was a little leery of Curly and I wanted him to know I was expected somewhere by someone at least as tough as he was.

"Winston? You meetin' him?" Curly smiled at me, in his best attempt to be charming. "Cinnamon Curtis, you're a beautiful girl. Ditch that hood and come let me show you a good time."

"Curly, my brothers would skin me alive if I went out with you," I said. I was only half-joking. Darry's bark was generally worse than his bite, but he'd threatened a couple of times, and a date with Curly Shepard just might push him over the edge.

Curly laughed and shook his head. "I ain't itchin' to get my skull busted by Darry," he allowed. "Go on, there's your date."

Pony and Johnny were standing in the doorway, looking around, presumably for me. I slid off the stool and crossed the room.

"What the devil you doin' hanging out with Curly Shepard?" Pony demanded.

"Waitin' on you. Hush. Let's go."

Dally was outside, talking trash to some guy in a Mustang. As we walked down toward the movie, he said he'd seen me talking to Curly and since he was feuding with Tim, was avoiding the whole Shepard gang.

"Darry'd tan your hide if'n he saw you talkin' to him," Dally observed.

"Then don't tell him," I said irritably. He snuck under the fence, like he always did, but I went around front and paid my quarter, just to irritate him. Dallas hates doing anything the legal way.

Once inside the gates, I went straight to the snack bar. I hadn't eaten dinner and I was starving. I bought popcorn and candy bars for me, Pony and Johnny and as I was leaving, Linda Beck, sitting with Debbie Spalus, waved me over. I groaned to myself. There was no way to avoid her.

"Hey, Lin, Debbie," I said, sitting down with them. "I can only stay a minute, my brother's waiting."

"Oooh, which one?" Linda squealed.

"Pony," I said, taking a handful of popcorn. I held the box toward them but they both shook their heads, pretending not to look disappointed.

I don't have many girlfriends. And most of that is because my brothers, particularly Sodapop, are movie-star handsome and I can never tell if a girl wants to hang out with me because she thinks I'm cool or because she thinks I'll bring her 'round to meet the boys.

"How's Soda?" Debbie asked.

"He's fine."

"He here?"

"No, he's out with Sandy."

Debbie and Linda exchanged a glance. "What?" I asked.

"They got back together quick, is all," Debbie said.

"Back together?" I repeated.

Another glance, then Debbie said, "I saw Sandy with Larry Joseph, right at the start of school. Couple of times. They looked awful cozy." I felt my mouth fall open, and Debbie said quickly, "Must not have been nothin', though, if you didn't know."

"No," I said weakly. "Must not have been nothing." I stood up. "I have to find Ponyboy. Y'all take care."

Pony and Johnny were sitting in the chairs in front of the screen. Two-Bit was there, and they were talking to two Soc girls. I sat down on the end of the row, next to Johnny. "Here, I brought you candy," I said.

They introduced me quickly – Cherry and Marcia, cooling off after an argument with their boyfriends.

"Where's Dally?" I asked.

Johnny was trying not to smirk. "He tried to pick up Cherry here and she threw her Coke at him."

"And you lived to tell the tale," I said. She smiled. She looked like a nice girl. Pony was making all kinds of eyes at her, and Two-Bit and Marcia were getting on just fine. They both had that crazy sense of humor. It just proved my point, that people were just people and that stupid rivalry was just that – stupid.

We settled down to watch the movie. About halfway through, Pony and Cherry got up to get more popcorn. Johnny glanced over to be sure Two-Bit wasn't paying attention and then put his hand on top of mine. It was soft and strong at the same time. I ran my finger over his knuckles and I couldn't have told you what we were watching to save my life.