Chapter Six: The Man?

Disclaimer: Outsiders belongs to S.E. Hinton. But you knew that already.

Darry glared at his new roommate. "Well, clean up your side of the room! You're a slob!"

Lucky glared back at Darry. "It's my side of the room! If you don't like it, you clean it up. Want some pizza?" he added, picking the box off his bed, taking a slice and offering the box to Darry.

Darry shook his head disgustedly. "No thank you. How can you live like this? I'm surprised you don't have ants all over the place!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to be civilized, ya know, since we have to be stuck together all year. Seriously, you would be the last on my list of roommates. But we're stuck. So let's at least try to be semi friends, you dig?" Lucky finished his speech and held out a hand.

Darry looked at it for a second, and then sighed. He knew Lucky was right. He shook Lucky's hand. "By the way," Lucky said, grinning. "You're cool and all, but don't try to be like my old man and act like you get it."

"Act…? Like I get it?" Darry said, confused. "Yeah, you know," Lucky said, still smiling in a way that reminded Darry strongly of Two-Bit. "My old man, he thinks he knows everything about our generation. Like, he tries to talk, act, dress like us, be cool. He doesn't get it. He had his generation, this is ours."

Comprehension dawned on Darry's face. "Yeah, I get it. I know what you mean. But how old do you think I am? I'm not much older than you."

Lucky threw his head back and laughed, long and loud. "Not much older than me? You're what, forty?" This time it was Darry's turn to laugh. "Do I really look that old?"

"Naw, I was exaggerating. How old are you?" Lucky inquired, kind of curious. "I'm only thirty," Darry said defensively.

"Only!" Lucky snorted. "Yeah! And don't tell me about 'your generation'. It's my generation too! Believe it or not, I was a greaser until about five years ago, when the whole hippie scene took over."

"For real?" Lucky asked, shocked. "For real," Darry answered. "Got into rumbles and everything." He got quieter as he remembered the last real rumble he had been in, the one right before Johnny and Dally died. They had been just kids. They didn't deserve to die.

"Well, you're what, twenty-three? That's not that much of a difference," Darry said.

"Twenty-five," Lucky corrected. "I got held back twice." Darry nodded slowly. "They haven't thrown you out yet?"

"Nope. Search me why," Lucky added. "So, tell me," he said, sitting back. "How come you're here so late?"

Darry took a deep breath and told Lucky the entire story. When he finally finished, Lucky was gaping at him. "Wow," was all he could say. "You really gave up college for your brothers like that?"

"Yeah," Darry said. "I couldn't let us be separated. I mean, sure, there's times when I want to kill them, but I love them. They're all I got left." Lucky nodded contemplatively.

"So, Roger, what's up with your name? Why does everyone around here have nicknames? I mean, does no one use their real name?" Darry asked.

"Well, see, it's like this," Lucky began.

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Lucky hadn't realized Darry could be such a cool guy. Lucky still couldn't get over the fact that Darry had been a greaser! This old, uptight, neatfreak, dude, had gotten into rumbles and all that? No way.

Then again, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it could be true. Darry was big. Not fat, but muscled. Like a football player. Darry interrupted Lucky's thoughts when he asked about the nicknames.

"Well, see, it's like this. No one around here really likes their real name. Only our parents and teachers call us by our real names. I mean, they're boring. Nicknames are just another way to bring down the man."

Darry looked confused. "The…man? What man? The principal?" Lucky rolled his eyes. A.J. was rubbing off on him. "Come on. You said you knew our generation, old man," he teased. Darry scowled. "I don't know everything, but it's not that different. Just explain."

"The man. The man is just…I don't know. Authority in general. Whatever holds back our freedom is 'the man.' And you can't let the man keep you down," Lucky explained.

"Okay," Darry said, trying to digest this. "Keep going."

"Well, like I said. Dressing grungy, doing weed and stuff, breaking rules. It's not to be cool…well, maybe it is if you're a poser. But it's about freedom, doing what you want, when you want." Lucky finished, satisfied.

Darry nodded. "So…do kids come here with this attitude or do you get it here?"

"It's all about finding your identity. Some find it here, some find it in high school, some find it later, and some never find it. They generally end up working for the fuzz," he said, grinning.

"Like, take A.J. for example. She's Indian. Her real name's Anjali Jahaji. She comes from an all Indian family, and she lived in an all Indian neighborhood all her life. She speaks Hindi and all that," Lucky explained.

"She's an honors student, finished half her education with AP classes in high school, got straight A's, never did drugs or anything, and was basically the perfect Indian kid. But she's got her own identity. She tried a cancer stick, hated it, that's okay. She's an art major, 'cause she loves it. She's her own person," Lucky said.

Darry nodded understandingly. "I think I get it now," he said. He glanced at his watch. "Holy—!" he swore. "What?" Lucky demanded, concerned.

"It's almost eleven! And I haven't started my homework," Darry groaned. He pulled out his books and started working. Lucky shrugged and lay back on his bed. "Whatever, man. You worry too much."

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Darry tried to work, but his head was still reeling from what Lucky had told him. The man? Whatever. The world had sure changed in ten years.

He gave up at two a.m. He would finish his physics paper tomorrow. It wasn't due for another day anyway. He made short work of the rest of his work and fell back, exhausted.

It seemed that only five minutes later, the alarm rang. It was seven a.m. Lucky was still sleeping, snoring loudly. Twenty minutes later, when Darry was ready, he decided that he probably should wake up Lucky.

"Lucky? Lucky. LUCKY!" Darry yelled in his ear, shaking him. Lucky snored on. He finally rolled Lucky right out of his bed. Landing with a thump, Lucky woke up with a jerk mid-snore.

"Eh? What's going on?" He asked, his words slurred with sleep. "Wake up, dude. Class starts at eight. I'm outta here. I'm getting breakfast," Darry said, grabbing his key and his books.

"See ya later, man," Lucky said, yawning and waving half-heartedly. Darry waved back and left, slamming the door behind him.

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Darry had found the classrooms fairly quickly that morning. Now, he bought himself lunch and looked around the outdoors cafeteria for a place to sit.

He found Lucky and A.J. goofing around, throwing paper wads at each other. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked. A.J. nodded. "Whatever, man, it's a free country," she said, ducking as a paper wad flew at her head.

Darry sat down and ate quietly, not paying attention to what was going on around him. He only looked up when people started shouting. He saw a crowd of people around a table.

He went over and looked over most people's heads, seeing Lucky arm wrestling with a younger kid. There was a long line of guys waiting at arm wrestle Lucky. Lucky pinned the other guy's hand down flat. This continued for each guy, until Lucky came to the end of the line.

"How about you, old man?" Lucky teased him, grinning at him. Darry shrugged. What did he have to lose?

It was a close battle, but finally Darry managed to pin down Lucky's hand. Lucky rubbed his hand in pain. "Man. You put up a fight," he said admiringly.

Darry grinned. "Hey, I'm not that old." The cafeteria started emptying. Darry glanced at his watch. "Time for class, I guess."

Walking to class, Darry contemplated that being at college really wasn't so bad after all. A.J. hurried past him. She turned back and tugged at his sleeve. "Hurry, man! We're gonna be late!"

"What's your rush? It's just calculus," Darry said. "There's no professor."

"Not anymore! The new professor got here today!" A.J. yelped, running on. Yikes! I'm gonna be late! Darry thought, panicking, and running after A.J.

He ran up the two flights of stairs, breathing hard. He dove into his seat just in time. Phew, he thought. Just in time.

The professor stepped in, saying, "Good afternoon, class." Darry looked up and he froze. Is that our new professor?

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Who's the new professor? Is it someone from Darry's past? Read and Review. I might not update for a while because I start high school soon.