SE Hinton owns The Outsiders

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Chapter Two-

At 12:15, Tim walked through the front gate of the Oklahoma State Prison at Macalester and looked out across the parking lot. It was nearly full, and it made him tense. There were horse trailers, a couple of prison busses, and cars full of women and kids. There were a million and one places for someone to hold out and hide, waiting to strike.

It was hot as hell on the pavement, too. He'd have preferred to sling his leather jacket over his shoulder while he cruised the parking lot, but he put it on over his t-shirt in order to have both hands free.

He ignored the first whistle from the northeast side of the lot. He figured it was someone moving horses. When the whistle came again, he looked and saw Two-Bit waving. Tim nodded and jogged towards the car. Two-Bit wasn't alone. There was a girl sitting next to him on the hood. Tim didn't think he knew her, but as he got closer he thought maybe he'd seen her around. She had nice legs, in any case. She probably smelled good. She'd be worth sneaking a look at every now and then while Two-Bit was chattering all the way back up north.

He let his guard down thinking about it. He nearly walked right into a couple of sinewy- looking cowboys when they stepped into his path.

They both hitched their thumbs into their belts and looked down at Tim, blocking his path.

"Rodeo's that way," Tim said, jerking his head back towards the prison.

"We're friends of Simon's."

"Didn't know he had any."

"I think he was hoping to still count you as one," the second cowboy said.

Tim let his arms hang loose. He cracked his neck while he thought of a reply.

"I woulda thought that had been obvious," he said. "Since he's running around Tulsa scot-free and ain't back there behind me in the joint."

"Well, as a gesture of his continued friendship, he sent us to give you a ride back up."

So this was the plan, Tim thought. This was how they intended to do him in.

"I got a ride," he told the cowboys. "And, no offense, but there's a girl in that car that's a helluva lot better looking than either one of you."

"Well, maybe she'd like to ride with us too."

"Why don't you give me a minute, and I'll go ask her."

"That's a hard 'no'," said a voice from behind the wall of cowboys. They turned, and there was Two-Bit, grinning with his arms hanging loose like Tim's. "God's honest truth, boys, I asked her, and she said 'hell, no', and it's her car, so I'm obligated to comply with her wishes."

"You don't think Shepard here is obligated to comply with ours?" The first cowboy said.

"From what I understand, as of seventeen and a half minutes ago, Shepard is a free man. He's legally an adult, and he's of sound mind and body...I'm assuming. They seen him fit to stand trial anyways. It's a free country, gentlemen. As I see it, Tim ain't obligated to comply with anyone's wishes other than his own."

Tim looked up at the sky and blinked. Two-Bit was incapable of giving a simple 'yes' or 'no'. It felt like it was getting hotter by the second standing on the concrete.

The cowboys turned back to Tim.

Tim shrugged. "You know where my head is, y'all. I'm getting in the car with the pretty girl in it."

"Yeah, you and I might have to talk about that," Two-Bit said, but he was still grinning. "I mean, where your head's at with that and all."

"We got us ninety miles back to Tulsa to figure it out," Tim said. He told the cowboys. "Tell Simon I said thanks for thinking of me. I'll pay him a courtesy visit once I get settled."

He pushed his way between them and followed Two-Bit towards the car.

"Jesus Christ," Two-Bit said. "Simon think you got him over a barrel yet? If that's who he sent to sort it out, the pickings must be slim among the gangsters these days."

"Ease up on the 'g' word, will ya?" Tim said. "I don't know this girl of yours, and I don't need her knowing anything more about me other than I'm tall, dark, handsome and charming as fuck."

"You want shotgun or the back?'

"Can I sit in the back with her?"

"Ask her. I dare you. If you thought those two back there were soulless, man, you this one'll eat you alive."

They reached the car, and Hazel stood up. Tim would've expected her to ask what the business with the cowboys was all about, but she didn't.

"Tim, Hazel, Hazel, Tim," Two-Bit said.

Tim held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, sis."

"You want the front or the back?" Was all she said.

"I'll sit up front with him," Tim told her. "I'd guess he and I got some things to talk about."

Hazel paused before heading back towards the rear door. She looked Tim dead in the eye, and he couldn't for the life of him guess what she was thinking. When she turned to get in the car, he jumped forward a step to open the door for her. She was still eyeing him as she slid inside almost to the middle. Tim shut her door and got in. Two-Bit bounced in behind the steering wheel, laughing at Tim.

"Charming as fuck, alright," he said. "That's you all over , Shepard."

Billy Simon hadn't expected much from the cowboys, but he had been confident that they would be able to strong-arm Tim Shepard into a car in the Macalester parking lot and then leave his lifeless body somewhere in or around Lake Eufaula. A quick call from a source at the prison had revealed to him that not was this not going to occur. Instead, Tim had got in a car with a guy and a girl and headed east towards 69. The cowboys had then got in their truck and headed south. Where they went from there was anybody's guess- the road connected with 270 running east and west. What was certain is that they had headed out with Simon's money.

"Christ on the cross," he grumbled as he hung up the phone.

Billy's wife- Eleanor- looked up from the dishes she was washing.

"Don't blaspheme."

Billy and Eleanor were something of an anomaly in the Tulsa underworld. They were legally married, even filed their taxes together. Eleanor was a member of what Billy referred to "one of them snake-handling, Pentacostal clusterfucks" behind her back, but in her presence he typically towed the line.

"Not right now, Nellie," Billy said.

"Only when it's convenient then, hmm? Ain't the way it works, Bill."

Billy drummed his fingers on the kitchen table. He had no inclination to explain to her that the way it worked was he paid a guy and the guy got the job done- especially if it was a job that involved intercepting a smartass kid who thought he was a gangster before he returned to Tulsa with a headful of information that could send Billy to the State Pen, possibly to Leavenworth. If Tim Shepard had just disappeared, no one would have been surprised. Most likely his own mother wouldn't even miss him.

"What time is it?" Billy asked.

"Ten to one."

"What time does school get out?"

"What do you need to know for?"

"Was gonna trade you in for a younger model. Thought I'd cruise by the high school and check out this year's crop."

Eleanor chucked a damp dish towel at him.

"School's not out till three," Eleanor said, not rattled a bit. "Means I got plenty of time to prove to you the benefits of age and experience before beauty."

"Those Shepard boys from downtown- what high school is that?"

"The one in the center of town? That's Central, Bill."

He muttered "wise ass" under his breath and took a swipe at her with the towel.

"What's the little Shepard kid's name again? Do you remember? He was here one time. Ate everything in sight."

"That's boys for you. Charlie? Cary? Curly. It was Curly."

"Yeah, it was."

Billy stretched back with his hands behind his head and scowled at the opposite wall.

"What are you thinking, Bill?"

"I was thinking about paying Curly a visit. Maybe he'd like to join me for a bite to eat."