As Riff caught up with the rest of his gang, he decided to not mention the conversation he had just had with the Officer. Before he could take another breath, Geetar and Action had him pinned against the brick wall. "What the hell are you doing, chasing after the Officer's daughter? You get knocked out or something?" Action sneered, holding on to Riff's shirt. Geetar nodded, in agreement with Action. Riff pushed Action's hand away and stepped towards the rest of the group.
He had a few decisions to make, he would have to cut back on his nightly visits and probably avoid Krupke. He would do anything for Anna, truly. But he wasn't sure how far he'd go for her; he didn't want marriage or anything, 'cause marriage was for wusses. At least, that's what he'd decided. No sooner had he stormed off, and then he felt a strong grip hand on his shoulder. He turned his head slowly to meet Ice's to liquid blue eyes staring in to his face. "Hey pal, listen, uh, I, uh, gotta a few things to do." Ice smirked and said, "Not without me, you ain't gonna do nothing."
Back at Doc's, Anna popped a stick of bubble gum into her mouth and watched for Riff out of the shop window. Doc came up from the basement, where he was surprised to find the young girl staring into space. "Anna, he isn't coming here for you." Doc said, as he opened a pop. "He isn't worth it Anna, he doesn't deserve you. At one point, he's going to have to make a choice. You or his gang, and a guy like him will stay true to his pals." Doc tried to read Anna's face as he spoke, but she wore a blank expression.
Tony climbed the stairs, humming to himself. He set a carton of crackers behind the counter and grinned at Anna. "Who might you be?" He asked her, taking a pack of crackers from the crate. "Oh, me? I'm Anna Krupke." Anna was a bit startled by Tony, for she hadn't seen him around before. She thought she had recognized him as one of Riff's friends, but she knew the boys of New York only from school and the pictures her father brought home after a long day of chasing gangs around. Tony knew perfectly well who she was, but he was testing her to see if she'd admit to her last name or not.
"Oh, bet you're waitin' for Riff." Tony said, turning towards Doc to ask about a shipment of peanuts that had been delayed. "Yea…do you know where he is?" Anna asked, not particularly caring about how the boy was related to Riff. "Uh…I think he may be playing games with the boys." Tony joked, and started down the steps. "Tony, don't do that to the girl!" Doc called after him, but Tony didn't respond.
Anna waited for a little while, and stared down at her nails. She realized then that she couldn't possibly fall in love with Riff after just two days, though he was everything she had ever wanted, she barely knew him. She had learned early on that there was no such thing as love at first sight, still, something about Riff seemed to make her change her mind.
She was interrupted from her pool of thoughts by the bells on the door handle ringing, in her mind she imagined the sound to be like a stone dropping into a pond of thoughts and disturbing the calm water, making ripples of awareness. She often imagined things like that, but had never admitted to doing so. Surely, Riff would think she was crazy for doing such a thing. She decided to look up, and much to her delight, saw a very familiar sight. "Hey, it's you!" She grinned, taking her purse off the stool next to her allowing Riff to sit down. To her surprise, a taller boy, whom she had known to be called Ice, accompanied him.
"I've been thinking…" Riff began, nodding at Doc as he took a seat. "Well it's about time." Doc muttered and turned back to unpacking candy bars. "Haha. No really, I've decided that it ain't such a good idea for us to be…you know…hanging out and all. Your daddio isn't the nicest of guys, and he don't like me too much." Riff said, studying his sneaker. Anna looked into Riff's eyes, really looked; in a way that creeped both Ice and Riff out. "He doesn't have to know a thing!" She concluded, and spat her gum into a nearby trashcan. Riff liked this side of her, one he had seen more of after hanging around her for quite some time now.
Later on, Krupke spotted the boys playing basketball at the park. He grinned mischievously and approached them. "What do you boys think you're doing, and don't you even say what I think you're gonna say." Krupke stole the ball from Snowboy, who was about to make a basket. "Well, officer, we were just being like normal boys. Playing a civilized game of basketball." Riff grinned and turned his back to the officer.
"I'm sure you were." The officer sneered and threw the ball to Action, who failed to catch it and shook his fist at the officer. "Ah, don't get angry now." Krupke joked and continued down the street. "Ah, don't get angry now." Snowboy said, mocking the officer. They returned to their game and before long, got awfully bored and set out to find something exciting. "How's it goin' with the dame?" Action asked Ice, once Riff was occupied by Anybodys. Ice stared into the sun, which made him blink as the powerful rays glared back at him. "It's bad. He's done for. We're done for. Damn hoodlum." Ice replied, still staring up at the sky. Riff got rid of Anybodys and came over to Action. "She's a real pain, you know that?" Riff said as he watched Anybodys run off. Action nodded in agreement.
As they continued down the alleyway, Action and Riff hung back a little. "Riff, don't ya see what you're get yourself into?" Action asked Riff, shielding his eyes from the sun with his left hand. "Yea, I'm screwing with the Krupke's daughter and he's all mad about it." Riff replied, without thinking. "Is that what you're in it for, boy? To piss off Krupke?" Once Action asked this, Riff stopped walking all together and turned on his heel to face him. "No, man, no. It's almost like…like I'm…" Riff trailed off and shook his head in disbelief of the words he was about to say. "Like you're in love? Oh, no, Daddio, you can not fall for this dame!" Action said, leaping towards Riff. Once they caught up with the rest, Riff went silent.
It became pretty clear to him, the fact that he only had two choices. But for Riff, there was always option C. Ice had laid the options out for Riff as they were walking, Option A: Save the Jet's from the slammer and forget the dame all together. Riff didn't take much liking to that one. Option B was to betray his boys and be thrown in the can, which would leave him without the dame and without a gang. Everyone knew that once you betrayed your gang, you were out and there was no turning back. In fact, Riff had been the one to enforce that rule. But now he regretted it. He didn't like the sound of the option either. Ice hadn't given him and Option C, but Riff created it in his mind. Option C: Secretly see the dame and keep outta Krupke's sight, while still being good to the boys. There was only one problem, one of the few rules enforced in a gang was this: Never lie to the gang. And if Riff were to go with Option C, he would have to lie just a little.