A/n: Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long to update... two weeks has it been? Well, that's a long time for me. I hope you all like this chapter. Not much happens in it, but it sets a few things up and finalizes some stuff. Oh, you all might be happy to know that I have finally made a decision on where this story is going to end up. I am no longer "making it up as I go along." I don't know if that's good news to anyone, but it makes me happy. I'm not nervous about it anymore, lol.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone except for the plot and Rob. Yes, he is back!
Dedication: To the Goddess of Sarcasm who, even though she isn't reading this, or hasn't read it ::looks a little hopeful::, helped me out with the latter part of this chapter when I was WAY stuck. Thanks!
RR's at the bottom...yeah....
Enjoy!
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Chapter Ten (yes, I know last chapter was "Chapter Ten," but I messed up again ::looks guilty::)
Darry didn't let me eat dinner. He said it wouldn't rest well, and I agreed. I started not wanting to eat, period, once I got home. The, I could relax and how shitty I felt finally washed over me. I could barely stand and talk. There was no way I could eat a feast or eve a bite of it.
Two-Bit raved about my face. He said I looked like a classic hood. Both eyes were nearly swollen shut, purple and puffy. My nose has a nice cut across the center, on top of swollen skin, and my lips looked like they belonged to Donald Duck. In short, my entire face was swollen, cut, and bruised. It's sad when the worse you look, the cooler you seem to be. I found many other bruises and lacerations around my body, but nothing hurt worse than my pounding migraine and aching legs.
By the time I was done cleaning up and soaking in an Epsom Salt bat, I was ready to hit the hay. But Darry had other ideas and sicked Two-Bit on me. It had to have done with the fact that I had a very possible concussion. It only made sense. I mostly moaned and whined for him to leave me along, but he was very adamant about telling me every single thought he had for Jimmy – and he intended to tell him some day soon. Anyway, I fell asleep a while into it and luckily no one woke me up.
When I woke up in the morning, I was pissed to see that I had five minutes to be in Stillwater – an hour away – for the track meet.
"Darry!" I jumped out of bed and stopped immediately as my stomach lurched and my legs barely bent. "Darry!" I yelled frantic.
"What?" He appeared in the doorway, wearing khaki pants, a blue dress shirt, and tying a dark blue tie around his neck. Hen ever dresses up like that...
"I'm late!" I sat back down and grabbed for my shoes, sharp pains shooting up my sides. I gently bit my lip, trying to be inconspicuous.
"Ho... no," he sing-songed. "Pony, you ain't gonna go. I'll talk to your coach, but you sure as hell aren't going to run. I want to take you to a doc and get those ribs x-rayed."
"What? No, Darry, I need to be there." I looked at my clock. "I'm supposed to run at 10:30. If we leave now –"
Darry laughed. "Pony! You aren't hearing me. You're not running. And even if you were, I don't have the time to take you. I've got to be there in twenty minutes."
"Where?" Once again I found myself in the dark.
"You know... my interview...?" He was trying to ring a bell that wasn't there. What for? You quit your job or something?" I was lost. I knew he didn't quit and he never said anything about taking on another job or anything.
"No," he sighed. "There's an opening for an assistant supervisor. My interview is at nine forty."
"Oh..." That sounded a lot more important that my track meet, although I wasn't about to admit to that. "Soda can't take me?"
"No, Pony." He shook his head. "You end up there and I'll skin you."
I rolled my eyes and he left.
And there went my shot at the scouts. I was still too young to get a scholarship, but everyone knows they start looking early. Darry knew that too. He had them checking him out since he was a freshman. And he knew what a scholarship could do for me. I could get into, and work my way through, college on one of those.
I laid back down for a while and listened to Darry and Soda talk for a few minutes before Darry left. At least Soda was still home. I hated to be home alone. It didn't always bother me, but I could deal without it right now. Even when Soda went to work, I hoped one of the gang or someone would come by. I could always find out what Rob was doing and get him to come over. I hadn't seen him in a couple of days. But for now I was just enjoying lying down and going in and out of sleep. If I had to stay home, I was going to try and keep my mind off of track.
Soda was serious about the rumble. Before I went to sleep, and in between listening to Two-Bit, I could hear them talking about how they could arrange one. I knew Steve didn't care all that much that the rumble was for me. He just wanted to fight. And if I was the cause he'd do it anyway. A fight was a fight to him. It didn't matter what it was over. Not most of the time, at least. Darry wouldn't be in the rumble. He was thought he was too old. He wasn't going to stop us, but he didn't want any part in it. Soda tried to convince him, but he flat out refused.
After a few minutes of relaxing, I found myself antsy. Time to bug Soda.
"Hey, man." I found him at the table, eating a bowl of cereal, drinking coffee, and looking through the classifieds. Was everyone out for a new and better job? I could live with that. As long as it didn't mean that I had to get one myself. I wasn't going to complain. "What are you doing?"
He put down the paper, picked up a pen and circled a box. "Getting myself a decent job." The way he said that, I knew he was throwing it back in my face as nicely as he could. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he definitely wanted me to eat my words. I should've known that at one point or another he would make the move to get another job. Marriage was a good time for that, and he knew it. I shouldn't have said anything.
"Nice. Found anything you'd like, yet?"
"Yup. There's three places looking for a lube tech." He circled another box. "Four."
"Good. Good luck." I got up to go take a couple Aspirins. My ribs were aching and my head was still throbbing. I might get Soda to tape up my ribs later. It all depended on how fast Darry got home.
I wasn't even half way to the cupboard before he spoke up again.
"I was going to do this anyway, you know." He almost sounded hurt.
"I know," I said quietly. I really didn't want to be sent on a guilt trip, although I definitely deserved it. I kept going and found the medicine. "How IS Karli?"
"Good, I guess."
"You don't know?"
"I haven't seen her since Wednesday night. Haven't talked to her since, either. I tried to call her yesterday, but you know, we kept missing each others calls." He didn't sound too sad about it. Of course he was bummed, but I would've expected that he was even more pained than he was coming off as being.
"You're engaged and you haven't seen her in over a day?" That didn't sound right to me. It wasn't like Soda to stay away from his girls. Certainly not a girl he likes that much.
"It was Thanksgiving. We were both busy. I mean, what do you expect?" He got up to get himself some more coffee.
"Perfect time to meet the rest of the family, isn't it?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't know if they know yet. And I don't want to be the 'freeloading' new boyfriend." He took a sip of the hot coffee and made a face. He forgot the cream.
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess."
"Yeah."
The phone rang and he went to answer it, anxiously. Probably hoping it was Karli. Oh well. I didn't care. It was time to find me some food. I was starving.
"Pony, it's for you." He came back through the kitchen to the table. I went to answer.
"Hello?"
"Pony! How's it goin', man?" Rob's voice nearly boomed through the ear- piece. Good ol' Rob.
I laughed. "Eh, I've been better." I didn't exactly want to start off our conversation talking about Jimmy. "Want to do something today?" I had nothing to do, or that I could do, but I'd rather do nothing with my best friend than alone.
"Sure. But, wait. I heard you and Crystal had run in. You okay?" How the hell did he hear that?
"How did you know?"
"I called last night, but Darry said you couldn't talk. He told me," he explained. "So, are you all right or is the street gonna be chalked up for Cyrstal's body?" That was Rob for you.
I chuckled apprehensively. "Both, according to Soda. He's planning a rumble."
"No shit?"
"No shit," I sighed. "I ain't read for a rumble, or nothin'. I don't want this. I mean, God, can't anyone cut me some sort of a break? Lord knows I could use one right about now." I knew the rumble was intended to help me, but was I the only one who saw that it could possibly hurt me even more?
"Hey, man. When the guy screws up, you've gotta give him what he's asking for." He was serious. "Don't worry. I'll help."
That would be a huge mistake. Rob Thickens was nearly a legal midget and could probably barely be qualified for the lowest weight category of the wrestling team. I don't even know if I remember ever watching him take part in unit of P.E. The teacher probably wouldn't have let him. He's so small. It would be like a repeat of what happened to me at Johnny's rumble.
"You sure about that? Your mom would –"
"Fuck my mom. She don't have to know! I don't plan on her findin' out either."
Lately he and his mom hadn't been getting along too great. Not since that first fight with Mutt Crystal at school. She didn't trust him all the much anymore. He wasn't allowed to do hardly anything that she wasn't aware of. But little did she know that we always found ways to fool her. She was really getting on his nerves lately, and I couldn't say that I blamed him. But damn, if I had a mom around still who told me what I could and couldn't do, I'd sure as hell listen to her. So, I wasn't ever really clear on what I thought about Rob's rebellion. I was fine with it, I guess. Just as long as it wasn't me.
"Okay. Come if you want. I ain't going to stop you. But we don't even know who's going to be in it yet." Unless Soda knew something that he wasn't telling me, but I doubted it.
"I don't care. I'm gonna be there anyway."
"Cool. So, you want to come over or what?" I said, trying to get off the topic of the rumble.
"Yeah, I'll have my ma drop me off before she goes to work. She's about to leave."
Soda came back into the hall and held out his hand. "Pon, I need the phone."
"Okay, hold on." I brushed him off. "Okay. See you then, I guess. Soda needs the phone now anyway, so..."
"All right. See you."
"Bye." I handed the phone to Soda. "What do you need it for?"
He looked at me funny. "For one, I need to see if I can't get myself a couple of interviews, and then I need to call Karli and ask her what she wants to do when I get off work." He hung it up to disconnect from Rob's line and started to dial one of the numbers from the paper.
"Ah." I nodded. "Fun."
I left to go change and eat before Rob came over. I had to think about doing a load of laundry. All my clothes were strewn over the floor, worn and grimy. Darry kept threatening me to do them, but I hadn't still. Today would probably be a good time for that. It wasn't like I was going anywhere. Besides, who wants to wear dirty clothes if they don't have to?
I was stuffing the last of my clothes into the washer when the doorbell rang. It seemed surprisingly too soon for Rob to be here, but I quickly finished with the load and went to answer it. I was slightly confused as to why Rob hadn't just come in, until I got to the living room and saw Soda letting Tim Shepard in.
"Soda?" I asked, slipping into a chair, ready to make myself comfortable. I had every feeling that this was about me. Soda didn't look alarmed that Tim was at our door, even though it wasn't all that often that Tim came over anymore. Shoot, he didn't hardly ever come over when Dallas was alive. He really did have much of a reason to be over here anymore. It surprised me, at times, to find him on the couch in the mornings, but not enough to question anything. But he was over here now, and that could only mean one thing.
Soda waved his hand to shush me. Not in a rude way, but just to let me know that he had some talking to do.
"Curly gave you the message?"
"Yeah. What's this I hear about a rumble? No one told me about it before." He sat sprawled out on the couch, making himself more than comfortable.
Tim was now about twenty or twenty one, I would say. He was tougher and dirtier than ever before. I don't think a minute ever passed when he didn't grow colder. He had spent a year in prison for severely jumping a kid grease, which almost killed the kid. I was surprised that he got off with only that much, but because he was the only one of his gang that was caught, they couldn't pin him with it all, I guess. He claimed to be drunk and that he didn't know what he was doing. Anyway, he was tougher and meaner now. I didn't know anyone quite like him. It made me wonder how Dally would be if he were still alive.
"You see Ponyboy here?"
"Yeah?" Tim glanced at me.
"Crystal nearly killed him last night, and I want vengeance for him," he stated simply. "I'm sure you've heard about Libby and Pony...?" Soda was actually really good at this taking charge stuff. I never realized that he would have the guts to call up Tim and arrange a meeting. I didn't know he even had it planned out. No one told me anything.
"Of course I have. It's all Angela talks about these days." By the sound of it, he wasn't too happy to have his little sister talk about it. "All I know is the bitch got herself knocked up and Pony here is to blame." He shrugged like he couldn't care any less, or that he had enough in him to care that his step-sister was in trouble.
"He isn't." Soda shook his head. "The kid ain't Pon's, so don't think otherwise. But, Crystal thinks it is and he just about beat the shit out of him because of it."
"Yeah?" Tim shook his head slightly. "Sounds like something James would do," he added bitterly.
I could be very wrong, but from what I was gathering, it sounded to me like Tim didn't care at all about this newer family of his. Talking about Libby he gave off the impression that he couldn't careless about her, like he'd like nothing more than to dispose of her. And talking about Jimmy you knew he hated him. I hadn't the faintest idea why, but he did, and that could only mean we had this in the bag as far as the Shepard's gang was concerned.
"We need some help in this rumble. We ain't got enough guys, and you know the Raves have more than the two of ours combined. Are you game?" Soda took a daring stab.
Tim grinned dangerously. "Sure, man. We're in." His eyes danced like nothing made him more happy than the thought of facing Rave, with or without us. "You have any rules?"
"No weapons. Just skin against skin," Soda said quickly. "Can't afford anything else."
"All right." Tim nodded. "Sounds fair enough Your rumble, your rules."
The doorbell rang again and I knew it was Rob. Tim looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time. It was probably in a hurry to get somewhere else. He stood up and held out his hand. That was quick. Not even a few minutes. I didn't know rumble counsels only lasted so long.
"You'll get back to me and let me know more?" he asked.
"Sure thing." Soda shook his hand. He got up himself to answer the door and let Tim out. "I'll call tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks, man."
Tim stiffened some. He wasn't used to the ways of Soda. But he knew that's how Soda worked, luckily enough, and he nodded.
Rob stepped back, almost wide-eyed with surprise as Tim passed him by without giving him enough time of day to even look at him. It wasn't often that Rob interacted with other gangs, not to mention their leaders. Lucky for us, we went way back with Tim.
Soda shut the door after Rob came in.
"What was Shepard doing here?" Rob looked excited.
"Rumble," I muttered, still not too happy about the idea.
"You wanna be in it?" Soda asked, stupidly.
"Yeah!" Rob grinned. "Man, I'd be offended if I couldn't be," he joked.
"Good. You're in then." He went to go finish his phone calls.
"When?" Rob called after him.
"Sunday at nine." Why he hadn't told Tim that, I couldn't tell you. Maybe he just made it up off the top of his head. But either way... it made me freeze in place.
Today was Friday. That gave us three days.
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A/n: ::Sigh:: That took me a real long time to write, so I hope you enjoyed it! Please review. I'll love you for forever if you do!
Review Responses:
Bobby'sgirl51: Thanks! I'm so glad you like it. Yeah, Soda and Steve have themselves some plans for Pony's revenge. It'll be fun to see, won't it? I can't wait myself, lol. I know, that probably sounds really weird, but I'm honestly very excited to write it all out. It brings me more pleasure than I can even explain.
Tensleep: Aww, girl I love you. Lol. Yeah, I agree about Tim. Tim doesn't exactly strike me as the type to always choose "family" over friends and alliances. Yeah, I'm not so sure if Soda had his head totally screwed on when he said it all, but you know, he's the older brother and he's going to do what it takes to get revenge, and plotting is the first step. A lot of people wouldn't have expected that from Steve, either, but you've got to remember that he likes to fight just for the mere fact that he can fight. No other reason. And whatever it takes to get him into a fight, he'll use the excuse. Lol. I love him. Thank so much for reading and reviewing! I always look forward to your reviews the most!
Fyre: LOL! Lovely review that was. And thanks for the compliment. I try to be descriptive. Sometimes I'm better at it than others. But you can guarantee that I won't ever be lame with it. I can't stand that type of writing either. To me, that's just the mark of someone who doesn't care enough. I hope you like this chapter.
HotSpot1988: I hope this chapter helps to satisfy your want for more description of Pony. I took what you said and tried to describe him a bit more without making it sound too repetitive and stupid. Thanks for reading!
steves-girl: I love how devoted to Steve you are, lol. Yeah, he isn't in this chapter. Sorry. I'll see what can't happen next chapter. I would love for all of them to be in all of the chapters, but sometimes it just isn't all possible, you know? And since Steve and Pony avoid each other like the other is a leper, they don't always like to be in the same place, you know? But I think Steve is in the next chapter. I'm pretty sure he is anyway. And if he isn't, I'll see what I can't do about mentioning him... Thanks for reading.
Kay: It's all right that you didn't review. I hope you do review this one though! I really love to get reviews from all the norm, you know? And when I don't get one from someone who I'm looking forward to seeing from, it's kinda sad... But it's okay! I'm really glad you read it and liked it. I try my best, and I hope that's good enough for most. Thanks!
DaNNi BaBezZz: HAHA, I love the name game! My cousin and I have a joke about that (for names with only one syllable). ::Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh:: Memories... Anyway, I'm SO excited for the rumble myself! Don't worry, Pony will be healed in time. And even if he wasn't, he would fight anyway. I've got some fun times planned for that chapter... Hehe. I can't wait. Thanks for reading.
GothDarryluver118: Lol. New reader/reviewer? Awesome! Yeah, there's a reason Soda's my favorite... just the fact that he's... Soda. ::Sigh::. A couple of people I know wouldn't be too happy that I said that, but you know, it's TRUE. I take it Darry is your favorite? I love him too. He's so... so... Darry. That's the only way to describe him. Lol. I'm glad you like this!
Rock: LOL. Yeah, I know... I TRIED to call you every day I was gone, but you were gone more often than not... And even though I could only call at night... But that's besides the point. Geez, at least you were doing stuff while I was gone. I was just sitting here staring at the computer screen, praying that someone would come on to talk to. Anyway, yeah, I'm glad you can see it now. Especially now that you know what's going to happen... Tens helped a bit with her review (go read it if you haven't already), and the Goddess (who hadn't read this) believe it or not was the inspiration for the latter part of this chapter where Tim comes in. Man, can you believe this chapter took me over a week to write? Serious, can you believe that? FOREVER. At least it is for me. You know how that goes... Thanks for putting up with this and reading. You're the best!
shyXshortieXbabe: I love you reviews, lol. You tell me a lot of the things I want to hear – like the comment about being emotion packed. THANK YOU. I tried so hard. I just hope that everyone saw it being that way too. Thanks for reading.
Oblivious Misconception: ::Sniff:: Reading your review again I almost cried, lol. Really, I got all tear-eyed at your compliments. Thank you so much! That all means so much to me. You know, I FINALLY figured out what's going to happen with Libby and everything, so if you want to tell me what you think is going to happen you can. It's not going to budge me at all. I told my partner in crime of my idea and she loved it and told me if I didn't stick to it, it was my head... yeah. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want. Although I'd really, really, really like to hear what you have to say about that. Thanks for what you said about the dialogue. I was honest worried about that, but I didn't want to change it. I really appreciate all you have to say. You are one of those reviewers that I can't WAIT to see what you have to say. I anticipate your review like I do Rob Lowe movies coming on TV...
Daniel: Another new reader? YAY! And a guy nonetheless. Sweet. I'm really excited here, you have no idea, lol. Thanks for reading, even though there was a lot of chapters to catch up with! That's a lot better than I can say for some people, but you know, it's cool that you did that. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone except for the plot and Rob. Yes, he is back!
Dedication: To the Goddess of Sarcasm who, even though she isn't reading this, or hasn't read it ::looks a little hopeful::, helped me out with the latter part of this chapter when I was WAY stuck. Thanks!
RR's at the bottom...yeah....
Enjoy!
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Chapter Ten (yes, I know last chapter was "Chapter Ten," but I messed up again ::looks guilty::)
Darry didn't let me eat dinner. He said it wouldn't rest well, and I agreed. I started not wanting to eat, period, once I got home. The, I could relax and how shitty I felt finally washed over me. I could barely stand and talk. There was no way I could eat a feast or eve a bite of it.
Two-Bit raved about my face. He said I looked like a classic hood. Both eyes were nearly swollen shut, purple and puffy. My nose has a nice cut across the center, on top of swollen skin, and my lips looked like they belonged to Donald Duck. In short, my entire face was swollen, cut, and bruised. It's sad when the worse you look, the cooler you seem to be. I found many other bruises and lacerations around my body, but nothing hurt worse than my pounding migraine and aching legs.
By the time I was done cleaning up and soaking in an Epsom Salt bat, I was ready to hit the hay. But Darry had other ideas and sicked Two-Bit on me. It had to have done with the fact that I had a very possible concussion. It only made sense. I mostly moaned and whined for him to leave me along, but he was very adamant about telling me every single thought he had for Jimmy – and he intended to tell him some day soon. Anyway, I fell asleep a while into it and luckily no one woke me up.
When I woke up in the morning, I was pissed to see that I had five minutes to be in Stillwater – an hour away – for the track meet.
"Darry!" I jumped out of bed and stopped immediately as my stomach lurched and my legs barely bent. "Darry!" I yelled frantic.
"What?" He appeared in the doorway, wearing khaki pants, a blue dress shirt, and tying a dark blue tie around his neck. Hen ever dresses up like that...
"I'm late!" I sat back down and grabbed for my shoes, sharp pains shooting up my sides. I gently bit my lip, trying to be inconspicuous.
"Ho... no," he sing-songed. "Pony, you ain't gonna go. I'll talk to your coach, but you sure as hell aren't going to run. I want to take you to a doc and get those ribs x-rayed."
"What? No, Darry, I need to be there." I looked at my clock. "I'm supposed to run at 10:30. If we leave now –"
Darry laughed. "Pony! You aren't hearing me. You're not running. And even if you were, I don't have the time to take you. I've got to be there in twenty minutes."
"Where?" Once again I found myself in the dark.
"You know... my interview...?" He was trying to ring a bell that wasn't there. What for? You quit your job or something?" I was lost. I knew he didn't quit and he never said anything about taking on another job or anything.
"No," he sighed. "There's an opening for an assistant supervisor. My interview is at nine forty."
"Oh..." That sounded a lot more important that my track meet, although I wasn't about to admit to that. "Soda can't take me?"
"No, Pony." He shook his head. "You end up there and I'll skin you."
I rolled my eyes and he left.
And there went my shot at the scouts. I was still too young to get a scholarship, but everyone knows they start looking early. Darry knew that too. He had them checking him out since he was a freshman. And he knew what a scholarship could do for me. I could get into, and work my way through, college on one of those.
I laid back down for a while and listened to Darry and Soda talk for a few minutes before Darry left. At least Soda was still home. I hated to be home alone. It didn't always bother me, but I could deal without it right now. Even when Soda went to work, I hoped one of the gang or someone would come by. I could always find out what Rob was doing and get him to come over. I hadn't seen him in a couple of days. But for now I was just enjoying lying down and going in and out of sleep. If I had to stay home, I was going to try and keep my mind off of track.
Soda was serious about the rumble. Before I went to sleep, and in between listening to Two-Bit, I could hear them talking about how they could arrange one. I knew Steve didn't care all that much that the rumble was for me. He just wanted to fight. And if I was the cause he'd do it anyway. A fight was a fight to him. It didn't matter what it was over. Not most of the time, at least. Darry wouldn't be in the rumble. He was thought he was too old. He wasn't going to stop us, but he didn't want any part in it. Soda tried to convince him, but he flat out refused.
After a few minutes of relaxing, I found myself antsy. Time to bug Soda.
"Hey, man." I found him at the table, eating a bowl of cereal, drinking coffee, and looking through the classifieds. Was everyone out for a new and better job? I could live with that. As long as it didn't mean that I had to get one myself. I wasn't going to complain. "What are you doing?"
He put down the paper, picked up a pen and circled a box. "Getting myself a decent job." The way he said that, I knew he was throwing it back in my face as nicely as he could. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he definitely wanted me to eat my words. I should've known that at one point or another he would make the move to get another job. Marriage was a good time for that, and he knew it. I shouldn't have said anything.
"Nice. Found anything you'd like, yet?"
"Yup. There's three places looking for a lube tech." He circled another box. "Four."
"Good. Good luck." I got up to go take a couple Aspirins. My ribs were aching and my head was still throbbing. I might get Soda to tape up my ribs later. It all depended on how fast Darry got home.
I wasn't even half way to the cupboard before he spoke up again.
"I was going to do this anyway, you know." He almost sounded hurt.
"I know," I said quietly. I really didn't want to be sent on a guilt trip, although I definitely deserved it. I kept going and found the medicine. "How IS Karli?"
"Good, I guess."
"You don't know?"
"I haven't seen her since Wednesday night. Haven't talked to her since, either. I tried to call her yesterday, but you know, we kept missing each others calls." He didn't sound too sad about it. Of course he was bummed, but I would've expected that he was even more pained than he was coming off as being.
"You're engaged and you haven't seen her in over a day?" That didn't sound right to me. It wasn't like Soda to stay away from his girls. Certainly not a girl he likes that much.
"It was Thanksgiving. We were both busy. I mean, what do you expect?" He got up to get himself some more coffee.
"Perfect time to meet the rest of the family, isn't it?"
"I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't know if they know yet. And I don't want to be the 'freeloading' new boyfriend." He took a sip of the hot coffee and made a face. He forgot the cream.
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess."
"Yeah."
The phone rang and he went to answer it, anxiously. Probably hoping it was Karli. Oh well. I didn't care. It was time to find me some food. I was starving.
"Pony, it's for you." He came back through the kitchen to the table. I went to answer.
"Hello?"
"Pony! How's it goin', man?" Rob's voice nearly boomed through the ear- piece. Good ol' Rob.
I laughed. "Eh, I've been better." I didn't exactly want to start off our conversation talking about Jimmy. "Want to do something today?" I had nothing to do, or that I could do, but I'd rather do nothing with my best friend than alone.
"Sure. But, wait. I heard you and Crystal had run in. You okay?" How the hell did he hear that?
"How did you know?"
"I called last night, but Darry said you couldn't talk. He told me," he explained. "So, are you all right or is the street gonna be chalked up for Cyrstal's body?" That was Rob for you.
I chuckled apprehensively. "Both, according to Soda. He's planning a rumble."
"No shit?"
"No shit," I sighed. "I ain't read for a rumble, or nothin'. I don't want this. I mean, God, can't anyone cut me some sort of a break? Lord knows I could use one right about now." I knew the rumble was intended to help me, but was I the only one who saw that it could possibly hurt me even more?
"Hey, man. When the guy screws up, you've gotta give him what he's asking for." He was serious. "Don't worry. I'll help."
That would be a huge mistake. Rob Thickens was nearly a legal midget and could probably barely be qualified for the lowest weight category of the wrestling team. I don't even know if I remember ever watching him take part in unit of P.E. The teacher probably wouldn't have let him. He's so small. It would be like a repeat of what happened to me at Johnny's rumble.
"You sure about that? Your mom would –"
"Fuck my mom. She don't have to know! I don't plan on her findin' out either."
Lately he and his mom hadn't been getting along too great. Not since that first fight with Mutt Crystal at school. She didn't trust him all the much anymore. He wasn't allowed to do hardly anything that she wasn't aware of. But little did she know that we always found ways to fool her. She was really getting on his nerves lately, and I couldn't say that I blamed him. But damn, if I had a mom around still who told me what I could and couldn't do, I'd sure as hell listen to her. So, I wasn't ever really clear on what I thought about Rob's rebellion. I was fine with it, I guess. Just as long as it wasn't me.
"Okay. Come if you want. I ain't going to stop you. But we don't even know who's going to be in it yet." Unless Soda knew something that he wasn't telling me, but I doubted it.
"I don't care. I'm gonna be there anyway."
"Cool. So, you want to come over or what?" I said, trying to get off the topic of the rumble.
"Yeah, I'll have my ma drop me off before she goes to work. She's about to leave."
Soda came back into the hall and held out his hand. "Pon, I need the phone."
"Okay, hold on." I brushed him off. "Okay. See you then, I guess. Soda needs the phone now anyway, so..."
"All right. See you."
"Bye." I handed the phone to Soda. "What do you need it for?"
He looked at me funny. "For one, I need to see if I can't get myself a couple of interviews, and then I need to call Karli and ask her what she wants to do when I get off work." He hung it up to disconnect from Rob's line and started to dial one of the numbers from the paper.
"Ah." I nodded. "Fun."
I left to go change and eat before Rob came over. I had to think about doing a load of laundry. All my clothes were strewn over the floor, worn and grimy. Darry kept threatening me to do them, but I hadn't still. Today would probably be a good time for that. It wasn't like I was going anywhere. Besides, who wants to wear dirty clothes if they don't have to?
I was stuffing the last of my clothes into the washer when the doorbell rang. It seemed surprisingly too soon for Rob to be here, but I quickly finished with the load and went to answer it. I was slightly confused as to why Rob hadn't just come in, until I got to the living room and saw Soda letting Tim Shepard in.
"Soda?" I asked, slipping into a chair, ready to make myself comfortable. I had every feeling that this was about me. Soda didn't look alarmed that Tim was at our door, even though it wasn't all that often that Tim came over anymore. Shoot, he didn't hardly ever come over when Dallas was alive. He really did have much of a reason to be over here anymore. It surprised me, at times, to find him on the couch in the mornings, but not enough to question anything. But he was over here now, and that could only mean one thing.
Soda waved his hand to shush me. Not in a rude way, but just to let me know that he had some talking to do.
"Curly gave you the message?"
"Yeah. What's this I hear about a rumble? No one told me about it before." He sat sprawled out on the couch, making himself more than comfortable.
Tim was now about twenty or twenty one, I would say. He was tougher and dirtier than ever before. I don't think a minute ever passed when he didn't grow colder. He had spent a year in prison for severely jumping a kid grease, which almost killed the kid. I was surprised that he got off with only that much, but because he was the only one of his gang that was caught, they couldn't pin him with it all, I guess. He claimed to be drunk and that he didn't know what he was doing. Anyway, he was tougher and meaner now. I didn't know anyone quite like him. It made me wonder how Dally would be if he were still alive.
"You see Ponyboy here?"
"Yeah?" Tim glanced at me.
"Crystal nearly killed him last night, and I want vengeance for him," he stated simply. "I'm sure you've heard about Libby and Pony...?" Soda was actually really good at this taking charge stuff. I never realized that he would have the guts to call up Tim and arrange a meeting. I didn't know he even had it planned out. No one told me anything.
"Of course I have. It's all Angela talks about these days." By the sound of it, he wasn't too happy to have his little sister talk about it. "All I know is the bitch got herself knocked up and Pony here is to blame." He shrugged like he couldn't care any less, or that he had enough in him to care that his step-sister was in trouble.
"He isn't." Soda shook his head. "The kid ain't Pon's, so don't think otherwise. But, Crystal thinks it is and he just about beat the shit out of him because of it."
"Yeah?" Tim shook his head slightly. "Sounds like something James would do," he added bitterly.
I could be very wrong, but from what I was gathering, it sounded to me like Tim didn't care at all about this newer family of his. Talking about Libby he gave off the impression that he couldn't careless about her, like he'd like nothing more than to dispose of her. And talking about Jimmy you knew he hated him. I hadn't the faintest idea why, but he did, and that could only mean we had this in the bag as far as the Shepard's gang was concerned.
"We need some help in this rumble. We ain't got enough guys, and you know the Raves have more than the two of ours combined. Are you game?" Soda took a daring stab.
Tim grinned dangerously. "Sure, man. We're in." His eyes danced like nothing made him more happy than the thought of facing Rave, with or without us. "You have any rules?"
"No weapons. Just skin against skin," Soda said quickly. "Can't afford anything else."
"All right." Tim nodded. "Sounds fair enough Your rumble, your rules."
The doorbell rang again and I knew it was Rob. Tim looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time. It was probably in a hurry to get somewhere else. He stood up and held out his hand. That was quick. Not even a few minutes. I didn't know rumble counsels only lasted so long.
"You'll get back to me and let me know more?" he asked.
"Sure thing." Soda shook his hand. He got up himself to answer the door and let Tim out. "I'll call tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks, man."
Tim stiffened some. He wasn't used to the ways of Soda. But he knew that's how Soda worked, luckily enough, and he nodded.
Rob stepped back, almost wide-eyed with surprise as Tim passed him by without giving him enough time of day to even look at him. It wasn't often that Rob interacted with other gangs, not to mention their leaders. Lucky for us, we went way back with Tim.
Soda shut the door after Rob came in.
"What was Shepard doing here?" Rob looked excited.
"Rumble," I muttered, still not too happy about the idea.
"You wanna be in it?" Soda asked, stupidly.
"Yeah!" Rob grinned. "Man, I'd be offended if I couldn't be," he joked.
"Good. You're in then." He went to go finish his phone calls.
"When?" Rob called after him.
"Sunday at nine." Why he hadn't told Tim that, I couldn't tell you. Maybe he just made it up off the top of his head. But either way... it made me freeze in place.
Today was Friday. That gave us three days.
---
A/n: ::Sigh:: That took me a real long time to write, so I hope you enjoyed it! Please review. I'll love you for forever if you do!
Review Responses:
Bobby'sgirl51: Thanks! I'm so glad you like it. Yeah, Soda and Steve have themselves some plans for Pony's revenge. It'll be fun to see, won't it? I can't wait myself, lol. I know, that probably sounds really weird, but I'm honestly very excited to write it all out. It brings me more pleasure than I can even explain.
Tensleep: Aww, girl I love you. Lol. Yeah, I agree about Tim. Tim doesn't exactly strike me as the type to always choose "family" over friends and alliances. Yeah, I'm not so sure if Soda had his head totally screwed on when he said it all, but you know, he's the older brother and he's going to do what it takes to get revenge, and plotting is the first step. A lot of people wouldn't have expected that from Steve, either, but you've got to remember that he likes to fight just for the mere fact that he can fight. No other reason. And whatever it takes to get him into a fight, he'll use the excuse. Lol. I love him. Thank so much for reading and reviewing! I always look forward to your reviews the most!
Fyre: LOL! Lovely review that was. And thanks for the compliment. I try to be descriptive. Sometimes I'm better at it than others. But you can guarantee that I won't ever be lame with it. I can't stand that type of writing either. To me, that's just the mark of someone who doesn't care enough. I hope you like this chapter.
HotSpot1988: I hope this chapter helps to satisfy your want for more description of Pony. I took what you said and tried to describe him a bit more without making it sound too repetitive and stupid. Thanks for reading!
steves-girl: I love how devoted to Steve you are, lol. Yeah, he isn't in this chapter. Sorry. I'll see what can't happen next chapter. I would love for all of them to be in all of the chapters, but sometimes it just isn't all possible, you know? And since Steve and Pony avoid each other like the other is a leper, they don't always like to be in the same place, you know? But I think Steve is in the next chapter. I'm pretty sure he is anyway. And if he isn't, I'll see what I can't do about mentioning him... Thanks for reading.
Kay: It's all right that you didn't review. I hope you do review this one though! I really love to get reviews from all the norm, you know? And when I don't get one from someone who I'm looking forward to seeing from, it's kinda sad... But it's okay! I'm really glad you read it and liked it. I try my best, and I hope that's good enough for most. Thanks!
DaNNi BaBezZz: HAHA, I love the name game! My cousin and I have a joke about that (for names with only one syllable). ::Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh:: Memories... Anyway, I'm SO excited for the rumble myself! Don't worry, Pony will be healed in time. And even if he wasn't, he would fight anyway. I've got some fun times planned for that chapter... Hehe. I can't wait. Thanks for reading.
GothDarryluver118: Lol. New reader/reviewer? Awesome! Yeah, there's a reason Soda's my favorite... just the fact that he's... Soda. ::Sigh::. A couple of people I know wouldn't be too happy that I said that, but you know, it's TRUE. I take it Darry is your favorite? I love him too. He's so... so... Darry. That's the only way to describe him. Lol. I'm glad you like this!
Rock: LOL. Yeah, I know... I TRIED to call you every day I was gone, but you were gone more often than not... And even though I could only call at night... But that's besides the point. Geez, at least you were doing stuff while I was gone. I was just sitting here staring at the computer screen, praying that someone would come on to talk to. Anyway, yeah, I'm glad you can see it now. Especially now that you know what's going to happen... Tens helped a bit with her review (go read it if you haven't already), and the Goddess (who hadn't read this) believe it or not was the inspiration for the latter part of this chapter where Tim comes in. Man, can you believe this chapter took me over a week to write? Serious, can you believe that? FOREVER. At least it is for me. You know how that goes... Thanks for putting up with this and reading. You're the best!
shyXshortieXbabe: I love you reviews, lol. You tell me a lot of the things I want to hear – like the comment about being emotion packed. THANK YOU. I tried so hard. I just hope that everyone saw it being that way too. Thanks for reading.
Oblivious Misconception: ::Sniff:: Reading your review again I almost cried, lol. Really, I got all tear-eyed at your compliments. Thank you so much! That all means so much to me. You know, I FINALLY figured out what's going to happen with Libby and everything, so if you want to tell me what you think is going to happen you can. It's not going to budge me at all. I told my partner in crime of my idea and she loved it and told me if I didn't stick to it, it was my head... yeah. But you don't have to tell me if you don't want. Although I'd really, really, really like to hear what you have to say about that. Thanks for what you said about the dialogue. I was honest worried about that, but I didn't want to change it. I really appreciate all you have to say. You are one of those reviewers that I can't WAIT to see what you have to say. I anticipate your review like I do Rob Lowe movies coming on TV...
Daniel: Another new reader? YAY! And a guy nonetheless. Sweet. I'm really excited here, you have no idea, lol. Thanks for reading, even though there was a lot of chapters to catch up with! That's a lot better than I can say for some people, but you know, it's cool that you did that. Thanks for reading and reviewing!