A/n: So... I was writing this chapter and one thing kept popping into my mind. The lyrics to the Linkin Park song "Somewhere I Belong." Not the whole song, but one of the verses where it says, "And I've got nothing to say, I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face. I was confused, looking everywhere only to find, that it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind. So what am I? What do I have but negativity? 'Cause I can't justify the way everyone is looking at me...." ::Sigh:: Poor Ponyboy gets the bunt of my imagination.... Oh well. Lol.
Well, yeah, I know this chapter is bit overdue, and you'd think that since all my friends are gone for the week I'd have plenty of time to write, right? Yeah, I have more than enough time, it's actually writing that's the hard part for me. My goal was to write a chapter for every story I have up, and I could do it EASILY, but it's not happening. For some reason I write better when I'm busy. I don't know why that is. But, at least this is coming along, right? Yeah, I hope someone out there is pleased.
Dedication: To Tens who has made my week bearable. I don't know what I would've done without her, her talks, her stories...everything about her. She's great. This is for you, babe. And this is most certainly NOT to Alli who said she'd call again but hasn't yet... and probably won't ::glares::. Jk.
R.R.s at the bottom as always.
Enjoy!
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Chapter Ten
It wasn't any more than a couple of minutes later when I woke up. There were several reasons I knew this. One, the night's lighting hadn't changed a whole lot, although it was getting darker and quicker. It was definitely winter. Two, the fumes from Jimmy's car was still faintly in the air, and it was a very recognizable scent. Three, the throbbing on the back of my head wasn't any better. If anything, it was getting worse, stronger.
Blood was pooling in my mouth. It tasted bitter, like copper, and droplets were trickling down my throat in a very unpleasant way, making me even more sick to my stomach than I already was. I rolled onto my side and spit out as much as I could manage. I hoped it wouldn't make me sicker later. That's the last thing I needed. Especially now that I ached all over.
I had no clue what I actually looked like, but I was starting to get ideas with the various throbbing and bleeding areas. If, come the next morning, I looked like road kill – it wouldn't surprise me. No, I more or less expected to look like vulture food. That was my lot in life. I mean, this is me we're talking about.
After resting a minute I slowly pushed myself to my feet, struggling all the way because my legs were shaking like mad. It would be a miracle if I made it to the gas station before it was completely dark. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Darry found me before then, or sent someone else to search for me. I'd bet anything that he was already rounding up a search party. I was at least an hour late, and he worried more than a mother hen. You couldn't exactly blame him, living where we do, and it's times like these where it might actually come in handy. Of course I had to get to somewhere that they could see me in the first place. I figured that the closer to the gas station I got, the better off I'd be.
So, I picked up my duffel bag and started the trek, again. It wasn't much further now and I wouldn't have any traffic to busybodies to deal with. Hopefully. Although, along the way I kept jumping at everything that moved, regardless of whether or not it could attack. I guess I half expected Jimmy or one of his crew to pop up somewhere and finish the job he started. But thanks to good grace and reality, it didn't happen. Nor did I get the honor of being tracked down by one of the gang before I reached a pay phone.
Putting a shaking hand into my pocket, I felt a few coins and pulled them out. I placed them into the coin receiver and dialed home. They had better pick up. I had no more change and I refused to go indoors looking like I did. The last thing I needed was to get the fuzz called on me for disturbing the public, if that was even possible.
On the fourth ring, Darry answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Darry?" Damn it. My voice was quavering.
"Pony? Where the hell are you?" He didn't sound mad. More relieved I think. "You know we started without you because we didn't know when you'd come home? I even had Soda go check at the school and he said you weren't there, but the car was. What happened?"
"Sorry. Can you come and get me, please? I'll explain later."
"Why? Where are you?"
"Will's Pit Stop. Look, I accidentally locked the keys in the car. I knew nobody would come for me for a while, so I started to walk... Jimmy Crystal found me."
"He what?" The tone of his voice completely changed. "When? Now?"
"No, when I was walking over here, man. He caught up to me at the overpass... Why didn't you come looking for me?" I squeezed my eyes shut against a sharp pain that ran up my leg. My voice was shaking even more now and I hated it. I wanted to blame it on the cold, but I couldn't kid myself. I was freaking out. I was losing it.
"Damn it, Ponyboy. I told you, Soda went looking for you. What the hell were you walking by the overpass for? How was he supposed to find you there?"
"I don't know. It was faster. C'mon, Darry, just come get me..." I started to plead. I knew he'd come and quick, I just wanted him to come sooner and quicker.
"All right. Are you okay, though?" He was genuinely concerned, and I couldn't be more grateful right then that he was my brother. There was something about Darry being concerned that made you feel a lot better than just about anyone else. It was probably because he wasn't easily bothered with that at all times.
"Nah, man... I ain't." I sniffed and I could've died right then. "I think I got a concussion or somethin'..." I sniffed really obnoxiously at that point, almost half choking on a cry that wanted to escape, and I think he got the point.
"Damn it... I'll be there in a few minutes, okay? Why don't you go wait inside or something?" I could here Soda in the background and Darry started to whisper something to him that I couldn't make out, but I was sure it was about me.
"No, I'll just wait outside. Hurry." Man, I hated being easily moved. Especially in out in public.
"All right, just... stay there."
"Okay."
"Bye."
I hung up and went to sit on the curb of the parking lot. I figured right then that the only thing that would calm me down some was a cigarette, so I found one and lit it up. Sure enough it helped. I flipped up the collar of my jacket and hunched over, trying to look as tough as I could. Hopefully all my visible injuries made me look tougher than weaker. But as far as I had learned in my life – it didn't matter if it made you look weak or tough, it scared people anyway. They didn't want anything to do with you, unless they already knew you or had something against you. Unfortunately, all of those things applied to me.
For as far as Darry had to travel to get to me, I was surprised to find him there by the time I finished the cigarette. He screeched to a halt and leaned over to open the door for me as I got up and hurried over, bag slung over my back, fists stuffed in my pockets, and head bent. That was by far one of the most humiliating moments of my life.
"My God! Pony, your head..." He reached over and moved my head just a little to look at the back of it. But even that much hurt like a bitch.
"Ouch! Darry, not now. Let's wait 'til we get home, 'kay?" I winced as he let go and thought about starting up the truck again.
"Right... What happened?" He sat back, acting like he was making himself comfortable, waiting for the story.
I closed my eyes and started to shake my head, but quickly realized how badly that hurt, again. "Ahhh!" I winced again. "I don't know, man... It's not like I didn't try... You've seen him. I didn't have a chance. The..." I stopped there, not wanting to send myself into swearing a blue streak when I knew it would probably only make things worse.
Darry didn't push it any further. I didn't know why, but I assumed he thought that if he gave me more time or let me talk to someone else, I would be more open about it. He started up the car and began to talk himself.
"So, I dropped off Soda at the school and he's taking the car home. And I told Steve to set aside from food for you... Two-Bit attacked the pies like a wolf, so I don't know what's left of them, but..."
I laughed, or tried to at least. That was Two-Bit for you. It amazed me that with how much he ate he always maintained the same body weight. I wished I were the same way, but with track to keep me in shape, I was pretty safe, good metabolism or not. Anyway, I could only image Two-Bit pigging out at our house only to go home and stuff himself beyond the bursting point with his mom's own cooking. She was a good cook, I'll be the first to tell you. She's great. It made me wonder why he ate at our house as much as he did.
"Okay." I leaned my head, gingerly, on the window and watched the scenery roll past. We'd be home soon, and I couldn't wait to eat. I was starved. But even more than that, I couldn't wait to take a shower. That was the first thing I was going to do. I felt like crud like this. I hate being dirty. It's so...disturbing.
"Do you know what you're going to do about this?"
"What do you mean?" Was Darry suggesting that I take action against Jimmy Crystal? Was he mentally inept?
"I mean, he's obviously not going to leave you alone until he get what he wants. He's bull-headed, Pon. If he's that mad, this isn't going to be the last time you see him." From what I gathered in the last few months, stories and different things that I had heard about Jimmy, he and Darry went to school together. They were never friends, but they knew each other. Jimmy was older than Darry by two years and always acted like it. They were never on good terms, but never on bad ones. In the few classes that they ever had together, they butted heads all the time. So, whatever Darry had to tell me, I was going to heed it, because he had much more experience with the guy than I did.
"Yeah, I know." I ducked my head and scratched at the top of my neck where some dried blood was caking.
"Not in the car! Pony, you're getting that everywhere!" Darry reached over and brushed off the seats where it had landed.
"Oh...sorry..."
"Well, do you have any plans?" He pushed the mess out of his mind to help me out. I hoped he had some good advice, because I was clueless as to what to do.
"No. Not really."
"You'd better come up with one quick." He warned. "I'm serious, Ponyboy. James Crystal is a nasty person. He's ten times worse than Dally ever was. And you know that's saying something, so don't push yourself into a tight spot again."
Like I hadn't caught on to any of that? There's very little a person can do when they're in a situation like mine. Not many people can come out on top when just about everyone is rooting for them to lose. Not in my case anyway. I can try, I want to try, but there's going to be a time when I'll give up if I don't get what I strive for. I know it'll happen if something positive doesn't come soon. I can't take all of the negativity. And I certainly can't take how everyone treats me. The looks, the stares...the loss of friends. Everything about this was a tight spot.
"Yeah, well that's great and all, but what do you expect me to do about it? I can't help what I can't control."
"No, you can't. I fully understand that. I just want you to be more prepared next time, kid. Tonight was a perfect demonstration of what can happen if you're not prepared. I want you to have a plan. I'll help you if you want, but somehow you've got to come up with a plan."
I nodded and the subject was dropped. Both of us were uncomfortable with, I knew that. It was obvious. But I didn't know... I couldn't think straight anyway. My head was pounding and there were these funny red lines jumbling across my vision. I definitely had a concussion – the headache was getting bigger and more powerful. And as much as I was starving, I didn't honestly think I could hold anything down. More likely than not, I was green around the gills and I could feel it, completely.
Soda was already home when we pulled up to the house. Just when I thought that Darry had been driving fast... But, this was Soda we were talking about. He was known for his excessive speeding habits.
Apparently Darry didn't trust me to make it to he house on my own. I knew that I could, and he didn't say anything about it, but I knew exactly what he was thinking. He waited for me to get out of the truck, standing on the sidewalk, then walked next to me until we reached the house, when he put his hand on my back and pushed the door open.
Soda and Steve were waiting for us on the couch, Soda fuming and Steve watching the evening news, muttering words of condolence to Soda while his eyes were fixed intently on the television screen. Soda jumped to his feet when we came in and suddenly looked sick. Two-Bit walked out of the kitchen with a large slice of pumpkin pie ready to be eaten, but the fork only got part way to his mouth before he stopped and gaped at me. Finally Steve gave me his attention and even he looked marveled.
"Damn," he breathed and shook his head in disbelief. "... Damn," he repeated.
"Do I really look that bad?" I asked Darry and he just looked at me and raised his eyebrows. And what he meant by not saying anything, was yes.
"Soda, help he clean up in the bathroom, 'kay?" he asked, sounding as if he was handing me off to someone else, and went to the kitchen. I didn't like the feeling of being passed off. It made me feel like some infant that everyone wants to hold until he starts crying and then suddenly no one wants him anymore.
"Yeah, sure." Soda draped an arm across my shoulders and we started to the bathroom. "How you feeling?"
"Like a tetherball." I was probably hit as hard as one too. "God, I hate him."
Soda started to fill up the bathtub with water and got out some rags to wet down in the sink. I went to study myself in the mirror and found myself face to face with the spiting image of ground beef with freezer burn, stuffed with various colorful objects. My eyes were swollen up now. I guess I hadn't really noticed before.
"Yeah, well we aren't all that giddy about it either, Ponyboy." He wrung out a rag and handed it to me to start wiping off my own face. He hopped up and sat on the counter. "Look," he started again, "you don't have to take this. We're not going to let you take it."
"But I need a plan," I mimicked Darry.
"Yeah, and I think we got just the plan for ya."
"Oh yeah?" I looked at him through the mirror and continued to scrub off dry blood and dirt. Soda decided to grab a rag himself and help me. My eye and coordination wasn't going all that well. "And what would this be?"
He grinned crazily and wiped down my ear and neck. "Steve and I are thinking of a rumble."
"What?" I turned to him. A rumble? He really thought that this was worth a rumble? Who did he expect to be on our side? The Shepards wouldn't – Jimmy was family. The Brumly Boys, maybe, but... "Soda! You're crazy! You're...!"
"A genius? Yeah, I know." He smiled for only a few more seconds than his expression turned back to that of coldness and loathing. "Pony, take a good look at yourself."
"I know what I look like, Soda..." I sneered.
"Yeah? Okay, imagine one of us looking as bad as you do now, for something that was completely out of all of our control and no one's fault but the other guy's." He put down the rag and waited a minute to continue. "Would you not want to do something about it?"
"Of course, I would!" If he was trying to send me on a guilt trip of some sort... It wasn't going to work. "But, it's me."
"And I ain't gonna stand for this anymore, Pony." He sounded a bit like Darry. "Jimmy Crystal won't be bothering you again."
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A/n: TO BE CONTINUED!
Jk, of course it is. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you, so please drop me a line.
Review Responses:
Two-BitGortez: Thanks! I'll definitely do my best. My best is all I can offer, so I hope it's good enough :D
Rock: kill me now, it could do us all some good: Well, I'll be updating this while I you are gone, so I hope I'm in enough of a mood to bug you about it when you get back! Yeah, I did change it on you, didn't I? Sorry about that. I know we discussed it for a while and it kinda went in vain, didn't it? I hope you're still happy with it anyway. I really did like what we discussed, it just didn't come out that way and it decided it wanted to go in a different direction... You know how the story takes control over itself. Anyway, yeah, I'll see what I can't do about putting 'one' in every chapter. That would be funny actually. I dunno if this chapter has one besides the first, but you know... Love you!
Bobby'sgirl51: Thanks! Yeah, don't worry, Pony is okay... for being Pony ;)
Tensleep: HAHA. I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, I don't like the coach or Jimmy either... they both take the piss. I mean...grrr... lol. I love that saying. I was so pleased to finally learn where it came from. Yeah, I knew that Jhon hadn't been reading, and I'm all good with that, I just thought of him when I got ready to write the last chapter and while writing it. I also knew it wouldn't satisfy him enough, but that's a risk I was willing to take ;) I'm not a very graphic, violent, descriptive person when it comes to fights. That's Allison's job. Thanks for reading (both of you)! I love you guys!
Sodapop02: Yeah, some coaches can really take the piss, but there are some that are cool... I've had a few teachers/coaches that just rocked. I mean, I loved having them and I hated leaving them behind. And then I've had some that hated my guts and wanted to make my time with them completely miserable. They never succeeded. And about Ponyboy... don't worry, he'll be okay.
BoBoTheSemiDeadCat: A new reader! YAY! This totally excites me! I'm thrilled that you like it. This is the most I've ever slacked on updating this, so I'm sorry about, but I hope you're happy with what I have to offer in this next chappie.
steves-girl: Steve was in this! Are you happy or what?! HAHA, I thought you would be. I know how much you like him. I always meant for him to be in more, but could you see how in the last few chapters it just didn't work out? I'm hope you like this! Thanks.
Fyre: Wow, I actually never really thought about that before... The role being reversed... That's a really cool thought! Well, no... actually now that I think about it, I HAVE thought about it. Quite a bit actually, just in a different way. Yeah, so I have my own version of how Darry would handle it, but that's a secret between me and...well...a few select people that know very little of what other people know... ANYWAY, thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter!
CiCi: I'm glad you like my story even though it's how it is. I'm glad that as many people do do. It pleases me much, lol. Well, I checked out Crimson Cross and I have to say that I was impressed! Very original idea! I would've never thought of doing that myself. It's interesting what different people can come up with, isn't it? Thanks for reading!
Oblivious Misconception: Ahh, well, I'm thinking that the coach is the least of Ponyboy's worries at this point. And the coach is just going to have to live with the idea that Pony is injured and that he, himself, is a dipshit. I'm so happy that you liked the fight scene! I was very skeptical about that, but I put it up anyway. I'm glad that you liked it. I really am. Yeah, it's probably a good idea if you didn't tell me what you think is going on. I don't think I'd steal the ideas though, just because I've had so many people pitch ideas to me that I think I'll use, but then the story goes in a different direction than I planned. It ALWAYS does that, without fail. So, you'd be safe telling me, but then again, if I had never thought of those before, I wouldn't want you to feel guilty or for me to feel guilty for stealing your idea. So thanks!
A/n: Right... so... review away!
Well, yeah, I know this chapter is bit overdue, and you'd think that since all my friends are gone for the week I'd have plenty of time to write, right? Yeah, I have more than enough time, it's actually writing that's the hard part for me. My goal was to write a chapter for every story I have up, and I could do it EASILY, but it's not happening. For some reason I write better when I'm busy. I don't know why that is. But, at least this is coming along, right? Yeah, I hope someone out there is pleased.
Dedication: To Tens who has made my week bearable. I don't know what I would've done without her, her talks, her stories...everything about her. She's great. This is for you, babe. And this is most certainly NOT to Alli who said she'd call again but hasn't yet... and probably won't ::glares::. Jk.
R.R.s at the bottom as always.
Enjoy!
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Chapter Ten
It wasn't any more than a couple of minutes later when I woke up. There were several reasons I knew this. One, the night's lighting hadn't changed a whole lot, although it was getting darker and quicker. It was definitely winter. Two, the fumes from Jimmy's car was still faintly in the air, and it was a very recognizable scent. Three, the throbbing on the back of my head wasn't any better. If anything, it was getting worse, stronger.
Blood was pooling in my mouth. It tasted bitter, like copper, and droplets were trickling down my throat in a very unpleasant way, making me even more sick to my stomach than I already was. I rolled onto my side and spit out as much as I could manage. I hoped it wouldn't make me sicker later. That's the last thing I needed. Especially now that I ached all over.
I had no clue what I actually looked like, but I was starting to get ideas with the various throbbing and bleeding areas. If, come the next morning, I looked like road kill – it wouldn't surprise me. No, I more or less expected to look like vulture food. That was my lot in life. I mean, this is me we're talking about.
After resting a minute I slowly pushed myself to my feet, struggling all the way because my legs were shaking like mad. It would be a miracle if I made it to the gas station before it was completely dark. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Darry found me before then, or sent someone else to search for me. I'd bet anything that he was already rounding up a search party. I was at least an hour late, and he worried more than a mother hen. You couldn't exactly blame him, living where we do, and it's times like these where it might actually come in handy. Of course I had to get to somewhere that they could see me in the first place. I figured that the closer to the gas station I got, the better off I'd be.
So, I picked up my duffel bag and started the trek, again. It wasn't much further now and I wouldn't have any traffic to busybodies to deal with. Hopefully. Although, along the way I kept jumping at everything that moved, regardless of whether or not it could attack. I guess I half expected Jimmy or one of his crew to pop up somewhere and finish the job he started. But thanks to good grace and reality, it didn't happen. Nor did I get the honor of being tracked down by one of the gang before I reached a pay phone.
Putting a shaking hand into my pocket, I felt a few coins and pulled them out. I placed them into the coin receiver and dialed home. They had better pick up. I had no more change and I refused to go indoors looking like I did. The last thing I needed was to get the fuzz called on me for disturbing the public, if that was even possible.
On the fourth ring, Darry answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Darry?" Damn it. My voice was quavering.
"Pony? Where the hell are you?" He didn't sound mad. More relieved I think. "You know we started without you because we didn't know when you'd come home? I even had Soda go check at the school and he said you weren't there, but the car was. What happened?"
"Sorry. Can you come and get me, please? I'll explain later."
"Why? Where are you?"
"Will's Pit Stop. Look, I accidentally locked the keys in the car. I knew nobody would come for me for a while, so I started to walk... Jimmy Crystal found me."
"He what?" The tone of his voice completely changed. "When? Now?"
"No, when I was walking over here, man. He caught up to me at the overpass... Why didn't you come looking for me?" I squeezed my eyes shut against a sharp pain that ran up my leg. My voice was shaking even more now and I hated it. I wanted to blame it on the cold, but I couldn't kid myself. I was freaking out. I was losing it.
"Damn it, Ponyboy. I told you, Soda went looking for you. What the hell were you walking by the overpass for? How was he supposed to find you there?"
"I don't know. It was faster. C'mon, Darry, just come get me..." I started to plead. I knew he'd come and quick, I just wanted him to come sooner and quicker.
"All right. Are you okay, though?" He was genuinely concerned, and I couldn't be more grateful right then that he was my brother. There was something about Darry being concerned that made you feel a lot better than just about anyone else. It was probably because he wasn't easily bothered with that at all times.
"Nah, man... I ain't." I sniffed and I could've died right then. "I think I got a concussion or somethin'..." I sniffed really obnoxiously at that point, almost half choking on a cry that wanted to escape, and I think he got the point.
"Damn it... I'll be there in a few minutes, okay? Why don't you go wait inside or something?" I could here Soda in the background and Darry started to whisper something to him that I couldn't make out, but I was sure it was about me.
"No, I'll just wait outside. Hurry." Man, I hated being easily moved. Especially in out in public.
"All right, just... stay there."
"Okay."
"Bye."
I hung up and went to sit on the curb of the parking lot. I figured right then that the only thing that would calm me down some was a cigarette, so I found one and lit it up. Sure enough it helped. I flipped up the collar of my jacket and hunched over, trying to look as tough as I could. Hopefully all my visible injuries made me look tougher than weaker. But as far as I had learned in my life – it didn't matter if it made you look weak or tough, it scared people anyway. They didn't want anything to do with you, unless they already knew you or had something against you. Unfortunately, all of those things applied to me.
For as far as Darry had to travel to get to me, I was surprised to find him there by the time I finished the cigarette. He screeched to a halt and leaned over to open the door for me as I got up and hurried over, bag slung over my back, fists stuffed in my pockets, and head bent. That was by far one of the most humiliating moments of my life.
"My God! Pony, your head..." He reached over and moved my head just a little to look at the back of it. But even that much hurt like a bitch.
"Ouch! Darry, not now. Let's wait 'til we get home, 'kay?" I winced as he let go and thought about starting up the truck again.
"Right... What happened?" He sat back, acting like he was making himself comfortable, waiting for the story.
I closed my eyes and started to shake my head, but quickly realized how badly that hurt, again. "Ahhh!" I winced again. "I don't know, man... It's not like I didn't try... You've seen him. I didn't have a chance. The..." I stopped there, not wanting to send myself into swearing a blue streak when I knew it would probably only make things worse.
Darry didn't push it any further. I didn't know why, but I assumed he thought that if he gave me more time or let me talk to someone else, I would be more open about it. He started up the car and began to talk himself.
"So, I dropped off Soda at the school and he's taking the car home. And I told Steve to set aside from food for you... Two-Bit attacked the pies like a wolf, so I don't know what's left of them, but..."
I laughed, or tried to at least. That was Two-Bit for you. It amazed me that with how much he ate he always maintained the same body weight. I wished I were the same way, but with track to keep me in shape, I was pretty safe, good metabolism or not. Anyway, I could only image Two-Bit pigging out at our house only to go home and stuff himself beyond the bursting point with his mom's own cooking. She was a good cook, I'll be the first to tell you. She's great. It made me wonder why he ate at our house as much as he did.
"Okay." I leaned my head, gingerly, on the window and watched the scenery roll past. We'd be home soon, and I couldn't wait to eat. I was starved. But even more than that, I couldn't wait to take a shower. That was the first thing I was going to do. I felt like crud like this. I hate being dirty. It's so...disturbing.
"Do you know what you're going to do about this?"
"What do you mean?" Was Darry suggesting that I take action against Jimmy Crystal? Was he mentally inept?
"I mean, he's obviously not going to leave you alone until he get what he wants. He's bull-headed, Pon. If he's that mad, this isn't going to be the last time you see him." From what I gathered in the last few months, stories and different things that I had heard about Jimmy, he and Darry went to school together. They were never friends, but they knew each other. Jimmy was older than Darry by two years and always acted like it. They were never on good terms, but never on bad ones. In the few classes that they ever had together, they butted heads all the time. So, whatever Darry had to tell me, I was going to heed it, because he had much more experience with the guy than I did.
"Yeah, I know." I ducked my head and scratched at the top of my neck where some dried blood was caking.
"Not in the car! Pony, you're getting that everywhere!" Darry reached over and brushed off the seats where it had landed.
"Oh...sorry..."
"Well, do you have any plans?" He pushed the mess out of his mind to help me out. I hoped he had some good advice, because I was clueless as to what to do.
"No. Not really."
"You'd better come up with one quick." He warned. "I'm serious, Ponyboy. James Crystal is a nasty person. He's ten times worse than Dally ever was. And you know that's saying something, so don't push yourself into a tight spot again."
Like I hadn't caught on to any of that? There's very little a person can do when they're in a situation like mine. Not many people can come out on top when just about everyone is rooting for them to lose. Not in my case anyway. I can try, I want to try, but there's going to be a time when I'll give up if I don't get what I strive for. I know it'll happen if something positive doesn't come soon. I can't take all of the negativity. And I certainly can't take how everyone treats me. The looks, the stares...the loss of friends. Everything about this was a tight spot.
"Yeah, well that's great and all, but what do you expect me to do about it? I can't help what I can't control."
"No, you can't. I fully understand that. I just want you to be more prepared next time, kid. Tonight was a perfect demonstration of what can happen if you're not prepared. I want you to have a plan. I'll help you if you want, but somehow you've got to come up with a plan."
I nodded and the subject was dropped. Both of us were uncomfortable with, I knew that. It was obvious. But I didn't know... I couldn't think straight anyway. My head was pounding and there were these funny red lines jumbling across my vision. I definitely had a concussion – the headache was getting bigger and more powerful. And as much as I was starving, I didn't honestly think I could hold anything down. More likely than not, I was green around the gills and I could feel it, completely.
Soda was already home when we pulled up to the house. Just when I thought that Darry had been driving fast... But, this was Soda we were talking about. He was known for his excessive speeding habits.
Apparently Darry didn't trust me to make it to he house on my own. I knew that I could, and he didn't say anything about it, but I knew exactly what he was thinking. He waited for me to get out of the truck, standing on the sidewalk, then walked next to me until we reached the house, when he put his hand on my back and pushed the door open.
Soda and Steve were waiting for us on the couch, Soda fuming and Steve watching the evening news, muttering words of condolence to Soda while his eyes were fixed intently on the television screen. Soda jumped to his feet when we came in and suddenly looked sick. Two-Bit walked out of the kitchen with a large slice of pumpkin pie ready to be eaten, but the fork only got part way to his mouth before he stopped and gaped at me. Finally Steve gave me his attention and even he looked marveled.
"Damn," he breathed and shook his head in disbelief. "... Damn," he repeated.
"Do I really look that bad?" I asked Darry and he just looked at me and raised his eyebrows. And what he meant by not saying anything, was yes.
"Soda, help he clean up in the bathroom, 'kay?" he asked, sounding as if he was handing me off to someone else, and went to the kitchen. I didn't like the feeling of being passed off. It made me feel like some infant that everyone wants to hold until he starts crying and then suddenly no one wants him anymore.
"Yeah, sure." Soda draped an arm across my shoulders and we started to the bathroom. "How you feeling?"
"Like a tetherball." I was probably hit as hard as one too. "God, I hate him."
Soda started to fill up the bathtub with water and got out some rags to wet down in the sink. I went to study myself in the mirror and found myself face to face with the spiting image of ground beef with freezer burn, stuffed with various colorful objects. My eyes were swollen up now. I guess I hadn't really noticed before.
"Yeah, well we aren't all that giddy about it either, Ponyboy." He wrung out a rag and handed it to me to start wiping off my own face. He hopped up and sat on the counter. "Look," he started again, "you don't have to take this. We're not going to let you take it."
"But I need a plan," I mimicked Darry.
"Yeah, and I think we got just the plan for ya."
"Oh yeah?" I looked at him through the mirror and continued to scrub off dry blood and dirt. Soda decided to grab a rag himself and help me. My eye and coordination wasn't going all that well. "And what would this be?"
He grinned crazily and wiped down my ear and neck. "Steve and I are thinking of a rumble."
"What?" I turned to him. A rumble? He really thought that this was worth a rumble? Who did he expect to be on our side? The Shepards wouldn't – Jimmy was family. The Brumly Boys, maybe, but... "Soda! You're crazy! You're...!"
"A genius? Yeah, I know." He smiled for only a few more seconds than his expression turned back to that of coldness and loathing. "Pony, take a good look at yourself."
"I know what I look like, Soda..." I sneered.
"Yeah? Okay, imagine one of us looking as bad as you do now, for something that was completely out of all of our control and no one's fault but the other guy's." He put down the rag and waited a minute to continue. "Would you not want to do something about it?"
"Of course, I would!" If he was trying to send me on a guilt trip of some sort... It wasn't going to work. "But, it's me."
"And I ain't gonna stand for this anymore, Pony." He sounded a bit like Darry. "Jimmy Crystal won't be bothering you again."
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A/n: TO BE CONTINUED!
Jk, of course it is. Anyway, I'd love to hear from you, so please drop me a line.
Review Responses:
Two-BitGortez: Thanks! I'll definitely do my best. My best is all I can offer, so I hope it's good enough :D
Rock: kill me now, it could do us all some good: Well, I'll be updating this while I you are gone, so I hope I'm in enough of a mood to bug you about it when you get back! Yeah, I did change it on you, didn't I? Sorry about that. I know we discussed it for a while and it kinda went in vain, didn't it? I hope you're still happy with it anyway. I really did like what we discussed, it just didn't come out that way and it decided it wanted to go in a different direction... You know how the story takes control over itself. Anyway, yeah, I'll see what I can't do about putting 'one' in every chapter. That would be funny actually. I dunno if this chapter has one besides the first, but you know... Love you!
Bobby'sgirl51: Thanks! Yeah, don't worry, Pony is okay... for being Pony ;)
Tensleep: HAHA. I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, I don't like the coach or Jimmy either... they both take the piss. I mean...grrr... lol. I love that saying. I was so pleased to finally learn where it came from. Yeah, I knew that Jhon hadn't been reading, and I'm all good with that, I just thought of him when I got ready to write the last chapter and while writing it. I also knew it wouldn't satisfy him enough, but that's a risk I was willing to take ;) I'm not a very graphic, violent, descriptive person when it comes to fights. That's Allison's job. Thanks for reading (both of you)! I love you guys!
Sodapop02: Yeah, some coaches can really take the piss, but there are some that are cool... I've had a few teachers/coaches that just rocked. I mean, I loved having them and I hated leaving them behind. And then I've had some that hated my guts and wanted to make my time with them completely miserable. They never succeeded. And about Ponyboy... don't worry, he'll be okay.
BoBoTheSemiDeadCat: A new reader! YAY! This totally excites me! I'm thrilled that you like it. This is the most I've ever slacked on updating this, so I'm sorry about, but I hope you're happy with what I have to offer in this next chappie.
steves-girl: Steve was in this! Are you happy or what?! HAHA, I thought you would be. I know how much you like him. I always meant for him to be in more, but could you see how in the last few chapters it just didn't work out? I'm hope you like this! Thanks.
Fyre: Wow, I actually never really thought about that before... The role being reversed... That's a really cool thought! Well, no... actually now that I think about it, I HAVE thought about it. Quite a bit actually, just in a different way. Yeah, so I have my own version of how Darry would handle it, but that's a secret between me and...well...a few select people that know very little of what other people know... ANYWAY, thanks for reading! I hope you like this chapter!
CiCi: I'm glad you like my story even though it's how it is. I'm glad that as many people do do. It pleases me much, lol. Well, I checked out Crimson Cross and I have to say that I was impressed! Very original idea! I would've never thought of doing that myself. It's interesting what different people can come up with, isn't it? Thanks for reading!
Oblivious Misconception: Ahh, well, I'm thinking that the coach is the least of Ponyboy's worries at this point. And the coach is just going to have to live with the idea that Pony is injured and that he, himself, is a dipshit. I'm so happy that you liked the fight scene! I was very skeptical about that, but I put it up anyway. I'm glad that you liked it. I really am. Yeah, it's probably a good idea if you didn't tell me what you think is going on. I don't think I'd steal the ideas though, just because I've had so many people pitch ideas to me that I think I'll use, but then the story goes in a different direction than I planned. It ALWAYS does that, without fail. So, you'd be safe telling me, but then again, if I had never thought of those before, I wouldn't want you to feel guilty or for me to feel guilty for stealing your idea. So thanks!
A/n: Right... so... review away!