As the days and weeks passed, I noticed the black cat hanging around more and more. First, it would show up in the morning, sitting on our front porch as I left for school. Then it would be there, when I came home, waiting by the back door—its shifty blue eyes glaring at me. I wasn't quite sure what it wanted—it only seemed to show up when I was alone and no one else was around—but it didn't give me a creepy feeling until one night…

Things had cooled down a bit with the Socs. and it was becoming safe again for a single Greaser to walk the streets. I hadn't been jumped since the time I caught the Paul Newman movie at the moviehouse, and I was becoming more confident in myself. Not only could I hold my own in a fight, but I had gotten a little bit bigger over the course of a year and could run like the wind too. So, the night I walked back from the Nightly Double on my own, I didn't feel jumpy or anything, not until I neared the vacant lot.

Even though the vacant lot was familiar territory to me and the rest of our gang, I didn't like being there at night. A million thoughts came flooding back—Johnny covered in blood and crying like a baby the day we found him after his beating, the rumble where our gang finally chased the Socs. from our side of town, Sodapop running away, distraught from always being caught between Darry and myself—but mostly I thought of Dally breathing his last and crumpling beneath the lone streetlight. Ever since that night, I hadn't been able to look at the lot the same way again. Although we had won a crucial battle with the Socs, I had lost a buddy—we all had. Sure, Dallas was a jerk sometimes, but he was a Greaser and we all mourned for him. We all wished that his phone call would have come sooner, that we could have been there earlier to hide him in time.

So this night, no different from any of the rest, I approached the lot and tried to avoid looking at the single pool of light. I tried to keep my head down and get straight on home, but I couldn't—a slight rustle of movement caught my eye. I stopped, turning slightly to see what it was.

It was the black cat.

Sitting silently, in the glow cast by Dally's streetlight, the black cat just looked at me. The shadows moved around it eerily as the wind picked up the crispy fall leaves and whirled them around in miniature tornadoes. Although it was dark, and I could barely make out the shape of the animal that seemed to be stalking me, the blue of its eyes was unmistakable. It was the same cold blue color that stared lifelessly at me a year ago as I watched my friend fall to the ground. The same blue color that vanished forever, the moment the cops swarmed around his body and closed his eyelids one last time…

I squinted at the cat—could I really see its eyes from this far away? The notion that I could scared me. If it was any other cat, any other place, I could have pushed the feeling away, but something about the entire situation made me break into a cold sweat.

I turned on my heels and ran toward our house. I burst in through the unlocked front door, merely giving Darry a cordial wave as I silently retreated to my bedroom. Sodapop was out on a date—I had seen him and Steve pull up with two girls at the Nightly Double earlier—so I shut the door behind me and sat on the edge of the bed. I was breathing hard, as if I had just run a marathon, and my eyes were starting to fill with tears. I held my head in my hands, hunched over slightly as I tried to regain my composure. I was overwhelmed and I didn't quite understand why. It was only a black cat for cryin' out loud! I took a deep breath and sat up straight.

This is stupid, I thought to myself. You're fifteen now, not a kid anymore. Get a hold of yourself!

I opened my eyes slowly, staring at the wall in front of me. I focused hard on the curling wallpaper, attempting to erase the thoughts that were flooding my mind. When I felt like I had it together, I flopped back onto the bed, stretching out my legs and then relaxing them. Why had that cat freaked me out like that? I could barely remember. I smiled to myself and got up, preparing to head into the living room with Darry. As I exited the room, I looked back behind me, catching my reflection in the glare of the window. As my eyes focused farther, I noticed that I wasn't the only thing in the window—the black cat was sitting on the outside ledge, silently staring in at me, it's blue eyes blazing. I quickly slammed the door and ran out into the living room.

"Hey Darry," I nearly shouted. "Is there anything good on TV tonight?"

I didn't hear his reply as I sat down on the couch, happy that I wasn't alone.