Chapter Five: Her or Us, Boyo
"This is where you hoodlums belong!" Officer Krupke grinned, and watched as the boys, all sixteen boys, were hauled away by his team of policemen. "Good job, boys, good job."
He gloated. And continued to gloat. He slapped his officers on the back, and winked at the boys as they stared at him, cold angry stares.
"You can thank Riff here, for this." The other boys stuck their tongues in their cheeks, clenched their jaws, smacked their gum, or coughed. Riff just stood, looking at his feet. His dignity, his fight, his nonchalant ways, they'd all failed him now.
He had nothing left.
And he had even less, if that was possible, in the cold dark cell, in the cold, dark jail, locked in with his boys.
There was a long, icy silence.
And then Baby John stepped into the center of the cell, looked Riff directly in the eye, and spoke. "You know, I always looked up to you, always wished I could be more like you, stronger, you know? Not let anything or anyone take me down." He paused to bite back tears, and after a few shaky breaths, he continued. "I never thought I'd see the day that you were defeated, the day that you just surrendered. And if I ever, ever had to see that day, I thought you'd be half dead, or worse."
Riff saw several boys nod from the corner of his eye.
"And now we're here, and there's nothing for us to do, we can't fight no more. And, and I thought it'd be my fault, because I was always messing it up, you know? But it was yours, and it was dame, a GIRL. Just a silly girl."
Action mumbled under his breath, and Ice joined Baby John in the center, looking at the faces of his friends.
"Hey, boys, we're all family here, huh? We're all we got going for each other. And, and I mean Riff here finds something else, something more, and you guys just…" He couldn't finish.
"Yea Ice? I know where you're gonna go with this. You want us to feel for him, eh? But we're here, boyo, and we ain't going nowhere, not for a long time. I've got a life ahead of me, we all do, and we're gonna waste it in this place? All because of him and his dame? And you expect us to care? When we didn't even have a chance to find ourselves what he found?"
They're were grunts. Some agreeing, some disagreeing, some not knowing what they thought.
"No, we've got a right to be angry. But family helps family out. And what'd we do? Nuttin. And that's what got us here boys, we didn't put up no fight for Riff to be happy! We didn't do nuttin for him, at all. We were just so wrapped up in ourselves, huh boys?" He had nothing else to say, so he took a seat again.
"No, it's my fault. Really. You guys should be out there, and I should be in here." Riff said quietly, not daring to look anyone around him in the eye. To his surprise, only one person agreed. He looked up. Action.
"No, Riff. Because you were our leader. And you shudda been more responsible, you know? You shudda cared. We always thought you cared. It was her or us, and you thought you could do both. There's always an option C for you, huh buddy? But this was real, boyo, this was big. And you lied and you didn't think twice bout it." Action spit onto the cement and stared at Riff, waiting.
"Responsibility is a grown up thing, Action. Thought we were all kids here? I do care, alright? But I care about her too, is that so horrible? So what, I took my chance, and I made a mistake, and you boys will be out of here soon." The boys opened their mouths to ask questions, but Riff put up a hand to silence them all. "It's me he wants. He knows you boys won't be half as strong without me." Riff said calmly.
"Since when are you Peter Pan? Since when are we the Lost Boys, fighting for you, following your every command?" Some one said in the corner.
"That's what a gang is. And hey, I didn't watch you boys as you fought, I was there alongside you, every moment, every second, alright?" Riff was angry now, when he spoke he was louder, and he looked everyone in the eye.
No one said anything.
For three, long days.
"You're outta here boys, except for Riff." Officer Krupke said, through the bars.