Maggie sat on the ouch as she anxiously waited for the everyone to get home so they could start talking about what was going to happen for the rumble. She was more excited than anyone, after all this was technically her fight everyone else was just fighting it with her.
After a while Maggie got restless and stormed outside to sit on the porch. There she waited for a complete 2 hours before anyone finally came home, and that any one just happened to be Dallas. She looked up wearily when he got out of his car, waiting for him to tell her what was going on with the Brumely boys.
Dally walked up to her ans sat next to her on the porch. He didn't say anything for the first few minutes but finally he turned to Maggie.
"Their commin'." he said simply. Maggie nodded.
"Why aren't you at school?" he asked suddenly as he stared at her.
"Tests." Maggie said softly as she leaned her elbows on her knees.
"Oh." she heard Dally say from behind her. She nodded slowly. "You scared?" Dally asked suddenly. Maggie looked up at him in confusion.
"About the rumble or about the tests I just had?"
"The rumble idiot!" Dally said as he shoved her playfully.
"Just checking." she told him before turning serious again. "Yeah, a little bit. Its gonna be my first rumble ever. I'm excited in all, but I'm still scared. Dally nodded as he looked down the street.
"It'll be fine." he reassured her as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get something to eat."
Maggie nodded slowly it would at least give her something to do. Dallas got up from his spot beside and pulled her up too. They spend the next 3 hours or so playing pool and talking to people in the Dingo, just blowing off steam before the big rumble.
Around 11:30 they were all back at the Curtis' anxious to get the rumble started.
"Hey, Soda," Pony said from the bathroom. Soda looked up from his cards at Pony.
"When'd you start shaving?" Pony asked. Maggie snorted as she snuck her 2 aces in her shoe to her hand. That had to be on of the weirdest questions ever to come out of Ponyboy Curtis' mouth!
"When I was 15." Soda answered simply
"You expecting to grow a beard before the rumble little buddy?" Darry asked as he laughed, Maggie laughed a little too as Pony continued to look at his chin and cheeks.
She got back to her cards almost immediately. She knew Soda and Steve were both hiding aces in their shoes but she had 2 aces in her hand now that she snuck them there. She was gonna win no matter what.
"Read em and wheat boys!" she howled as she layed her cards down. It was a full house with 3 aces and 2 kings. Soda and Steve stared at her for a minute, not believing what they were seeing.
"They ain't fair!" they both said at almost the same time. Maggie laughed wildly as she grabbed the contents in the middle of the table. It was just odds and ends like hair gel, a comb, some weeds, a couple dollars. It wasn't much but at least she had still won.
"Alright," Darry said finally as she looked at the clock. "Johnny and Pony I want you two to stick together. Its easier for the both of you that way. Maggie I want you to either stick by Steve or Dally and if you can, stay in between the two! I want Steve and Dally to look after Maggie. She's already gotten beat up once this week, we don't need it to happen again. Other than that, we're home free!" Darry whooped and was soon joined by the rest of the gang. They all jumped up from their seats and made for the door, Maggie in last as she watched Steve and Soda and Darry do back flips.
"I am a greaser! I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!" Soda started the chant. Maggie smiled and leaned up against the fence as she watched them all get riled up. Deep down inside though, she was a mess. She was scared of course, this was going to be her very first rumble. She was more excited than she was scared and she knew that she would have all her friends there to back her up in case something crazy happened or she got hurt. She would always have her friends to back her up.
"Greaser...greaser...greaser...O victim of environment, underprivileged, rotten, no count hood." Steve chanted with him and howled. Maggie laughed as he did another back flip.
"Juvenile delinquent, you're no good." Darry added with a unique smile.
"Get-" Two Bit started to say in a girlish voice but Maggie cut him off.
"Get the hence, white trash. I am a Soc. I am the privileged and the well-dressed. I throw beer blasts, drive fancy cars, break windows at fancy parties." Maggie flicked her wrist and acted like she was some sort of rich snob. All the guys laughed and pointed at her.
"And what do you do for fun?" Pony asked as he shoved Maggie playfully.
"I jump greasers!" Maggie howled and threw her hands up. Ponyboy pushed her again and laughed. They all started making their way slowly towards the lot where the rumble was going to be. Howling and make all sorts of noise.
"Now if the fuzz shows-" Darry started to say.
"There ain't gonna be no fuzz!" Two Bit cut him off.
"Yeah!" Steve added. "Ain't no one in this neighborhood that would call the fuzz on us." Darry nodded but he kept his point down clear.
"But, if they show I want you three," he said as he pointed to Maggie, Pony, and Johnny, "to run. The rest of us can take care of ourselves." Maggie nodded but she could tell Pony wasn't pleased with Darry's idea of running. Pony was always like that though. Wanting to be tougher than he was.
Maggie got more and more shaky and excited as they got closer to the lot. Her heart was beating almost as hard as it had been when she was with Tim, but not quite that hard. She moved closer to Dally for comfort, hoping maybe if she was as close to him as she could be right now than she wouldn't feel so bad later. Dally looked at her and nodded his head for reassurance. Maggie took in a sharp breathe when she finally stepped into the lot. She took in the sight of everyone. All the Brumely boys were there, looking as tough as ever, and the Shepard's gang was there, too. Needless to say, she was the only girl at the rumble and was getting lots of looks from the guys, which only made her more uncomfortable. She followed the rest of the gang as they took their spots spread out amongst the other gangs. Maggie did just as Darry had told her and stood in between Dally and Steve. She watched just like everybody else as they watched for the Socs to show.
Before Maggie knew it Tim was standing in front of her, a cold look on his face. She looked anywhere but in his eyes, she was still too hurt for that.
"Watch your back." he said gruffly before disappearing again. Maggie smiled cruelly to herself. He had come up to her to give her a simple watch your back.
"Heads up." Dally warned as he pointed to a long line of Soc cars coming towards the lot. Maggie let out a long string of curse words when she recognized Jim's car among the ones coming towards the lot. Dally looked over to her but she just shook her head at him, hoping that he wouldn't know she was there. She pulled a dark blue ragged hat out of her back pocket and slipped it on. She knew it would probably come off during the fight but at least it would keep Jim from noticing her for the time being.
"Pair up with someone that's about your size, Mags. I know that's going to be hard but you gotta get it as close as you can. The numbers are gonna be about even." Darry told her as he stopped in front of her.
"Your starting it?" Steve asked. Darry nodded. Seeing as how he was the biggest he always got to start the rumbles. Maggie looked at all the Socs and caught site of a scrawny 15 year old that was only a little bigger than her. He seemed to see her too and stood across from her, ready to fight. Maggie watched as Darry and another guy circled each other with their fists up. Her pounded against her chest and her breathing sped up as she waited. The waiting was probably going to be worse than the actually fighting was going to end up being.
Finally, after what seemed like a million years the other guy took as wing at Darry which Darry ducked. Maggie immediately ran towards the guy she had matched up with and started to watch his every move. She could hear guys groaning and yelling all over the place. She watched as the guy in front of her made a quick step forward and through his weight into a punch. She turned at just the right moment and watched as he slide past her and fell in the mud that was quickly forming from the ran. He growled angrily at her and got back up hurriedly. They continued to circle each other and Maggie watched him as a hawk. She saw her first chance to strike when he turned his head to look at Steve, Maggie jumped forward and through a punch at him. It wasn't as nearly as hard as she could punch but she was trying to save her energy. A wave of relief flew through her when the guy fell back onto his butt grabbing his nose. She ran up to him and kicked him a good one in the side, leaving him to curl up in a ball on the ground. She looked up and around her waiting to see who else she could take on.
She noticed Pony was trying to beat down a Soc about twice his size and decided to go over and help him.
"Look out, Pon." she told him as she kicked her leg out aiming for his groin. This guy was quicker than she expected and grabbed her leg at the same time he swung his fist out and punched her right in the eye. Maggie stumbled back and tripped as she held her lip. Her whole face was screaming with pain and all she could do was sit there. Suddenly she was being grabbed and pulled up by her jacket and pushed away again.
"Stay on your feet. Your gonna get squashed." Dally told her angrily before he tackled a Soc to the ground. Maggie nodded and ran and jumped onto the back of the Soc Pony was trying to take out. She put her arm right around his neck and kept yanking backwards trying to give Pony some room to punch him or kick him or something. What she hadn't realized was that the Soc was actually trying to tip backwards by the time she realized it she was on the ground and the Soc was on top of her.
"Pony, get him off!" she growled as she struggled to breath against his weight. She squealed and wiggled until she got her knees up and pushed the Soc off of her. He landed with a thunk on the ground across from her and she straddled him, punching him again and again on the face. She seemed to loose track of time as she just sat there and pounded him with her fist. Finally, Pony pulled her off of him.
"Thanks." she said, out of breath and tired. He nodded to her before running at a different Soc. Maggie stood there and looked around. She didn't see any Soc that wasn't already running away or already in a fight and then she saw it. Jim, strait ahead of her smirking evilly. She eyed him cautiously and watched as he reached inside his coat pocket and she saw a glimpse of metal.
"HEATER!" Maggie yelled as she jumped towards Jim who was pulling a gun out of his pocket.
"Maggie, no!" she heard Dallas yelling and suddenly he was in front of her holding her back. "Don't-" he started to say before he was interrupted by 2 loud pops. Dally's face went blank and he instantly stopped moving. Maggie's whole body seemed to go limp and her hands started to sweat her knees were wobbly and everything seemed to be in slow motion.
"Dallas?" her voice was shaky, hoarse, and questioning. He looked down at her, his eyes glinting from a near by lamp post. "Dally?" she asked again, tears welling her eyes this time. She found herself wishing desperately that this was just a dream and that she would wake up any minute now. She watched in slow motion as he dropped to his knees in front of her and she fell with him. For the first time in a long time she let the tears spill out.
"Help!" she screamed as she moved closer to Dallas and held his head in her lap.
"Don't die on me Dallas! Please don't die." her voice trailed off with every passing moment and Dally continued to stare into her eyes.
"Maggie..." he said before trailing off. "I want you to know that I..I..."
"Shh, Dally!" Maggie cut him off. "Don't talk you'll make it worse." she moved quickly and put both her hands on where his chest was seeping blood. She knew she was no doctor but the holes were both really close to his chest.
"Don't give up on life, Maggie." he continued to talk. "Don't be like me." Dallas coughed a little and blood seeped down his chin. At that point Maggie had gotten reduced to full out sobs.
"Dallas, I love you! Without you I'd be dead. Your my one and only brother Dally." Maggie sobbed as she put her cheek against his. She could already feel the warmth going out of him and it scared her to the bone. She could feel as Dallas nodded his head briefly.
"Tell Johnny..." Dally trailed off again and cough a little. "Tell him he's a good kid. He ain't no hood." Maggie nodded and ran her hand down his unshaven cheek. She watched as he collapsed into her arms, his whole body limp. She looked at his chest to see that it was just barely rising and falling. She screamed loudly, just screamed.
"Pony," she could hear Darry say, "run to the house and call 911."
Maggie looked over to see Jim on the ground, tackled by Tim and a couple of his guys. Maggie got to her feet, stumbling a bit, and ran over to Jim. She picked up the gun on the ground and pointed it at Jim. Her hand was shaky and the gun was heavy. Everything around her seemed to go silent and it was just her, Jim, and the gun.
You moaned a little and more tears moved down her face.
"I should kill you right now!" she screamed loudly. "I should kill you because that's what you deserve. You belong in hell you son of a bitch!" she ran over to him and straddled him, dropping the gun. She brought her fist down as hard as she could on his face and felt pain move up her wrist but that didn't stop.
"GOD DAMN YOU!" she yelled louder, continually beating him until she couldn't lift her arms anymore. She collapsed onto the ground next to him and cried as if there was no tomorrow. And there wasn't, there was no tomorrow for Dallas and tomorrow for her without him. She curled herself into a ball, and rocked herself. Pain seeping through every inch of her body.
"GOD NO!" she screamed again. She felt a strong arm grab her hand and she opened her eyes to so Tim looking down on her. She picked herself up and clutched onto Tim like a 3 year old would clutch on to her father or mother. That's when the darkness slowly slipped over her. And she let it take. She wanted it to take her forever!
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Please don't hurt me! I know this chapter like made me cry just writing it! I'm sorry for doing this but it had to happen for my plot to work. It just had to, had to, had to! Please don't kill me and please don't flame me either! I hope you liked this chapter even though it was sad though. R&R please!