It was around midnight when I finally stumbled up the stairs to my house. I'd spent the past three hours with Dally at Buck's party. Needless to say, I'd had more than a few drinks.
"Where were you?" Darry demanded the minute I set foot in the house. Shrugging, I staggered over to the couch to sit.
"Are you drunk?" Soda questioned me.
"Me? Drunk? Never!" I slurred, accompanying my answer with a small giggle.
"Out-fucking-standing!" Darry cried, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Hey, what was Dally's car doing here?" Ponyboy asked as he emerged from his room.
"You were with Dallas Winston until midnight: Soda yelled incredulously. Soda wasn't one to yell, so when he did you knew it was serious.
"What did I tell you about hanging out with Dally?" Darry demanded. I gave a drunken half shrug before cracking up. I couldn't help it - Darry looked so funny standing there with his arms crossed and his forehead creased. He looked like a grumpy fifty year old man. "Forget it!" he cried, getting more frustrated with my by the moment. "GO to bed and we'll talk about this is the morning when you're sober."
"Fine with me!" I yelled back as I half-stormed, half-stumbled into my room to go to sleep.
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I awoke the next morning to a blend of loud voices coming from the living room. I groaned and, holding my head, ventured out of her room. "Can you hoodlums please keep it to a dull roar?"
"You go a headache?" Steve asked, not really waiting for an answer as he turned his attention back to Mickey Mouse which happened to be on our TV once again.
Darry spoke for me. "Yeah. It's called a hangover." He turned to face me. "Sucks, huh?"
"Where the hell did you go last night?" questioned Two-Bit. Apparently the news that I had gotten drunk took his attention away from the TV. I'm assuming he found Darry beating the crap out of me, more amusing than Mickey Mouse.
I sighed. "Me and Dal went to Buck's. It's really no big deal."
"No big deal?" Darry echoed, repeating the phrase as if I'd told him that committing murder was no big deal.
"That's what I said. Did I stutter?"
"Well, you're wrong. It is a big deal. It's a huge deal!"
"C'mon," I argued. "You never get this pissed off when Soda drinks!"
"Yeah, well, he's older," Darry reasoned. "And besides, he's not out with Dally Winston until all hours of the night!" He sighed, clearly frustrated. "Look, I've got to take all these guys to work. We'll talk about this when I come home tonight. Two-Bit, you gotta drive Pony and Johnny to the movies. I don't have time. And stop for some food first." He handed Two-Bit some money. "Here, it's on me. Rach, are you going to be okay on your own?"
"Darry, I'm almost sixteen. I'll be fine."
The gang said their goodbyes and pretty soon all that was left of Two-Bits car was a trail of dust. I decided to go back to bed, hoping to sleep off my hangover.