Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Outsiders'

Chapter 12:


"Well, at least drop me off at my brother's," I teased, making it to Tim's car, walking around to the drivers side. "And let me drive."

Tim smiled, stopping in front of me and putting his hands on the sides of my body. "You're never gonna drive my car." He took a step forward, pressing his body against mine. "Curly told me about your driving skills."

I pushed him. "Oh, shut -"

Tim kissed me, cutting me off. His hands were off the car and on me, hugging me close to his body and my own pressed up against the car. A couple of whistles made us break apart and Tim gave the guy the finger, and then he turned to me, spinning me around and slapping my behind. "Alright, get in the car."

I laughed, walking around to the front, but I stopped when I saw Tim lean down by his tire. "What?"

"Ray."

"What?" I asked again, walking back over to him and looking at the tire over his shoulder, only now noticing that the tire was flat. "Shit."

Tim stood, not saying anything. His face was red and his hands were wrapped up tight in a fist. He kicked the dirt on the ground and spun around, slamming his fist into his car door. "Damnit!"

"Hey, hey -" I grabbed his arms, pushing him against the car. "It's okay."

Tim's face was still red, but he didn't move. "Do you know how expensive tires are, kid? Real goddamn expensive!"

I glanced down at the tire and the back one that was flat too. I assumed the other two tired were also slashed. I sighed before I put my hands on his face. "Look, I'll call the shop and then maybe I'll see if you can get a discount." My hands left him and I shrugged. "Soda really likes me."

"Alright." Tim sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stared down at the tire. "Okay."

I nodded, walking over to the phone booth.

Shit, Ray. Ray Tanner sucked. Tim knew it was Ray, and even though Tim didn't know that I knew, I also knew it was Ray. And tires were expensive. I also knew that. Ray was out to get Tim - he was making that much obvious.

I waited for Tim to tell me about it, but he never did.

Once my phone call was over, I walked back to Tim. "They're on their way. And you can get ten percent off if you're not a total dick. Steve Randle's words, not mine." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. When Tim didn't laugh, I asked, "You said Ray."

"What?"

"You think Ray did this?" Tim nodded and I pushed a little more. "Why?"

"He's been givin' me some trouble in the last week or two," Tim replied. He was leaning against the car and looking me in the eyes and I knew he was gonna tell me a little bit of the truth. "He came to me last week and asked me for somethin', said he needed to prove himself to other gangs and I could help him out."

"What'd he ask for?"

Tim stared at me intensely, pressing his lips against each other tightly. He reached out for me, pulling me closer by the loops in my jeans. "Somethin' I won't let him have."

I tried not to smile. I tried to be oblivious to what he was saying. He didn't know he was being sweet, but he was. I kissed him quite passionately, figuring he deserved it just then. When I pulled away, I ran my pointer finger over the bridge of his broken nose. "You're not gonna get in another fight, are ya?"

Tim looked down at me, shrugging. "If it comes to that."

I shook my head. "You're not gonna. I don't know how much longer that nose can hold up."

Tim chuckled, slapping me behind, making me squeal and giggle like a girl.

The truck from the shop did come, but by that time, I was already walking to my brother's.

I got there eventually, walking inside to see Paul, David and Molly already at the table. Molly put her hands on her hips, staring at me. "You're late."

I jogged to the table, sitting down beside Paul. "Sorry. Tim...Tim just - something happened."

"Something bad?" David question, reaching for his drink.

I shook my head. "Oh, no, nothing bad between us."

Paul snorted beside me. "Everything is bad between you two."

I reached over and pushed his head roughly, hoping it hurt him. "We're fine."

"Alright." Paul smirked, picking up his fork and twirling the spaghetti around it. "Do you loooooooove him?" Paul started to tease me, making me groan. "Do you want to maaaaaarrrryyy him?"

"Paul," I said tightly, turning to him. "If I want to marry Tim, that's none of your damn business."

Paul scoffed, boldly looking right at me. "As if someone would want to marry you."

"Speaking of marriage!" Molly said loudly, standing up suddenly. Everyone looked at her as she smiled very widely. "David proposed!" She held up her left hand, a tiny ring on her ring finger that I didn't notice before.

"Oh, shit," Paul said in a low voice, eyes widened at the ring.

My eyes were wide too, but I had managed to stand, running over to her and hugging her. "Oh, my god! Congratulations!" I pulled away from her, hugging a smiling David. "Congrats!"

Paul was hugging Molly when he said, "You know, Molly, you don't have to settle." That earned him a punch in the arm from David, but they both laughed and hugged each other. "Congratulations," Paul said genuinely.

David's arm came around Molly's shoulders, his face bright and happy. "Yeah, that's right. We're getting married. Probably around February."

"Maybe March," Molly added, smiling up at David. They kissed.

Paul sighed, and his arm came around my shoulders. "I was just joking earlier, Janey. Maybe you will get married one day. Maybe Tim'll find it in himself to want to stick with you forever."

I pushed his arm off of me. "I don't wanna talk about it," I said to him, walking back to my seat, noticing that David and Molly were gone.

"What's wrong?" Paul sat back down in his seat, going back to eating.

I shrugged. "Tim doesn't seem so serious about us. It's been almost a year and he still doesn't introduce me as his girl. He never talks about the future."

Paul shrugged, proving himself helpless, but they he said, "Tim's just that kind of guy, sis. Tim won't say he loves ya, but he does."

"How would I know if he's never told me?"

"He's never said that?"

"No," I said angrily and embarrassed.

Paul's eyebrows rose. "I've told a girl that I've loved her after three days."

I glared at him. "That's just because she made out with you and let you get to second base within twenty minutes of knowing her."

Paul smiled smugly, pointing his finger at me. "Exactly."


I spun around, Curly's arm around my shoulder, his other around Pony's. He spun, shouting the lyrics to the song, the cold beer in his hand touching my cheek. Curly was shouting the lyrics, not singing. Pony and I were laughing really hard and my stomach was even hurting. Also, all three of us were drunk off our asses.

"More!" Curly yelled, holding up his empty beer bottle.

Pony grabbed it quickly, holding it over his head so Curly couldn't reach. Pony was really tall. "No way, man, you're off your rocker!"

Curly tried to reach for it, tripping over his feet and - "Whoa!" - falling to the ground. I laughed loudly, nearly falling over myself.

Everything was so dark, but I felt so light. My brain swung back and forth in my head and I liked it.

Pony bent over, laughing as well. The beer bottle slipped out of his hand as he tried to help Curly up. "Alright, I got you, buddy."

Curly giggled, going limp as Pony pulled him up. "I love you guys," he said, arms coming around us again. Curly kissed Pony's cheek before Pony could stop him and then Curly's lips came for me.

"Alright." A big hand pulled Curly away from me. Tim grabbed Curly's arm, putting it around his shoulders. "Let's get your drunk ass home, Curly."

"Hey, it's my big brother!" Curly smiled, pointing at Tim. "It's my big brother."

I moved to Curly's other side, putting his other arm around me too. "I can see." I giggled, looking at Tim over Curly's hanging head. "What a cutie."

Tim looked over at me. "God, you're smashed too, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

We exited Bucks and I heard a loud smash. Soon, all of Curly was being pushed onto me and I saw Tim run off. I saw under the dim street lights that Tim was chasing after a group of people, some of Tim's gang joining him just a second later.

"I wonder what that was about," Pony slurred from behind me. He walked passed me, not helping me with Curly and he started to sway the closer we got to Tim's car. "Whoa, I feel..."

"Pony," I begged, Curly's weight depending on just me. "Help -"

Pony fell to the ground, eyes closed. He seemed to be passed out, but then he started to giggle. His hand found the dirt on the ground and he played with it with his fingers. "Oh, I love the world."

I laughed, the alcohol still swirling inside of me. Curly slid from me a little, making me grip Tim's car door frame. His window was unrolled, giving me something to grab onto. I let Curly slide the rest of the way out of my arms and onto the ground. I leaned up, feeling a sharp pain in my hand. I held it to my face, seeing a small piece of glass wedged into my palm.

Oh, shit.

Tim's window wasn't unrolled, it was broken. Oh no. And he had just gotten new and expensive tires. Now he needed to get his windows replaced. Ray was such an asshole.

"Whoa," Curly said loudly from the ground, wiping a thick drop of blood from his face.

I took a step back, holding my bloody hand out. "What do I do?" I asked desperately, starting to panic.

"I don't know," Curly said frantically.

Pony was still giggling on the ground. "This was a really good night, guys."

I started breathing heavily, staring at the blood dripping from my hand, the pain increasing as I sobered up more and more. "Do I pull it out, what do I -" My eyes weren't closed, but the corners or my eyes started to look black. Soon, the darkness covered my whole eyes and I was confused. "Guys, what should I -" I felt nothing for what seemed like two seconds. I came to, my chin hurting and my hand nearly numb.

Pony was lying down about twenty feet away, up against Tim's car. That was when I realized that I was leaning up against Bucks, further away. I was about to stand when I saw Curly beside me.

"Curly..." I started to say. Curly was punched in the face, although he was already unconscious. I screamed, scurrying backward. I didn't get very far, being grabbed by the front of my shirt and yanked upward to meet Brent from Ray's gang.

"Nice to see you again, Jane," he said to me, nasty smile on his face.

I tried to pry his hands off of me, but he did so himself, pushing me harshly. And when I tried to lean up again, he had punched me in the face. I tiredly lied on the ground, my head pounding and my chin hurting. I blinked rapidly, my vision blurry.

The sounds of fist hitting bone was painful and made me sob on the ground

"Brent, let's go!" some guys yelled.

Brent, thankfully, left. He left me with one last kick, running off and away from Bucks.

I cried for a couple more seconds, moving only slight, feeling the aches in my body. I managed to switch my head so that my other cheek was resting on the ground. I looked over at Curly, who was still sitting up against the building. His head was down, but I could see the blood dripping from his nose and mouth. It was everywhere - all over his face, shirt, pants, shoes and ground.

"Curly," I whispered, getting no response. I leaned up, crawling over to Curly and getting on my knees. I reached out and grabbed his face.

Curly was almost unrecognizable. His face was covered with blood and it was all puffy and purple. A tooth on his bottom set of teeth was hanging loosely over his lip. His neck was all bruised up and his arm was bent at a weird angle.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, shaking him. "Curly! Curly, wake up!" I sobbed, shaking him violently, desperate for him to wake up. "Curly!" I cried, letting go of him and managing to stand. I ignored every pain in my body and I walked over to the street. I walked past a seemingly unharmed Pony, noticing that no one else was around. As I walked down the road, I also noticed the sun peaking up in the distance.

I made it to a telephone booth a little ways away, pulling a dime out of the jeans and pushing it into the slot. My shaky finger pressed those three buttons and it started to ring.

"911, what's your emergency?'

I breathed out. "I'm down at Buck Merrill's place. There's been a fight. He's gonna die. He's gonna -"

"Ma'am, I need you to tell me exactly where you are."

"I'm at Bucks Bar and he's gonna die. Shepard," I said, feeling my legs start to shake. "Hurry please."

"Ma'am -"

"Please," I begged, falling backward onto the ground. My back hit the hard road and I looked up to see the phone swinging back and forth. There was a voice coming from it, but there was no way in hell I could find the energy to get it.

Tulsa had never seemed so empty before. It must've been real early in the morning. There we no people and no cars at all - not even men gettin' going to work. The only people around were me at the phone booth, Pony at Tim's car, and Curly against Bucks. I didn't know where Tim was. I didn't know where Buck Merrill was. I didn't know where anyone was.

All I knew is that I was tired and I was sad. I forced myself to stay up until I heard sirens in the distance. Only then did I allow myself to fall into a deep sleep.


I sat up in the bed quickly, paying no mind to my spinning head. I looked around the room, recognizing it quickly as a hospital. I seethed, looking down at my hand, a nurse wrapping it up in some thick gauze. "Uh -" My voice was cracked and dry. My throat hurt.

"Would you like some water?"

I stared at the old woman. "What I would like is to know where Curly Shepard is."

She shook her head. "I can't speak about that with you at this moment."

"Why not? Is he okay?"

"Your other friend is waiting outside for you. He seems untouched."

"Good." I sighed in relief, thankful for one person being okay. "And you can't tell me anything about Curly Shepard?"

The woman finished fixing the gauze up. "Why don't you just lie back and rest up. You lost quite a bit of blood."

"From my hand?" I held my hand up, assessing the pain. "It doesn't seem that bad."

"From you head, nose, and hand." The woman walked closer to the door. "I will be back."

"Have you contacted my mother?" I asked her before she could walk out.

Her eyebrows rose. "You're 18, are you not?"

"Oh," I said aloud, putting the pieces together that I was old enough to not have to tell my mother everything. "Right." I leaned back on the bed like I was going to relax and I waited for the nurse to be gone. I stood up very quickly, grabbing my jacket and slipping it on, walking outside into the hallway.

"Jane."

I looked to my side, seeing Pony sitting in a seat. He stood and I hugged him tightly. "Pony." I sighed, feeling his strong arms wrap around me just as tight. "You're okay."

Pony pulled away, taking my hand in his. "You're not."

"I'm fine," I reassured.

Pony gave me a serious look. "Jane, you managed to wake up from being passed out and walk a mile to the nearest phone."

A mile? It didn't seem that far.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't -"

"Jane, Curly could've died," Pony said heavily, his hands landing on my shoulders. "You probably saved his life."

I shook my head, not liking the sound of that. "No, I'm not a hero. I just called the police." I wanted to change the subject as quick as possible. "Have you heard anything about Curly? Is he okay?"

Pony sighed, shaking his head. "They haven't told me anything and they won't talk about it anywhere near me."

I looked around, figuring we were probably in the wrong hallway, or at least on the wrong end of it. "Let's go." I started to walk, Pony quickly grabbing my arm.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I turned to him, brows furrowed. "To find Curly."

"You need to rest and -"

"I need to find Curly," I said, very determined. I stared Pony in the eyes until he gave up and we both walked down the hallways, peeking into a bunch of different rooms before we landed in one with a curly-headed kid in one bed.

Curly's face was less puffy, but more purple and blue and yellow than I had ever seen before. He had something on his nose and another thing and a cast around his arm. His hair was crazier than usually, making him look almost sickly - as if the black eyes, chapped lips and pale complexion weren't sickly enough.

"Holy shit," Pony whispered from behind me.

I walked closer with caution, feeling my eyes start to tear up. I couldn't help but the have a wave of sadness overcome me. All of this was my fault. Everything that was happening was completely and totally my fault. Everything with Tim -

"Tim!" I spun around to Pony. "Does Tim know Curly's here?"

Pony nodded. "I called him about an three hours ago."

I nodded, turning back to Curly. I touched his arm cautiously, looking at his face damaged face. "He's gonna live, isn't he?"

"He has to."

I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't help but to sob, my knees shaking. I gripped the side of the hospital bed, kneeling and pressing my forehead agains the side rails of the bed. "This is all my fault," I vocalized through another sob. "This is -"

"Hey, hey -" Pony's soft voice and strong arms were starting to calm me down. He grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Curly. "None of this is your fault. This is Ray."

"The only reason Ray gives a shit about the Shepards is because of me! God, and this thing with Tim. It's about me and that's why this is happening."

"Wait, what?"

I looked at Pony. "Ray wants to take me from Tim. He feels like he needs to prove himself, you know, showing he can take something from other people. He said he wouldn't stop until Tim gave up. The tires, windows and Curly - it's all Ray." I sighed, sitting down in the nearest seat. "Maybe I should just go with Ray."

Pony shook his head. "No. Come on, Jane, we can figure this out."

I nodded lightly, glancing over at Curly. I groaned, putting my face in my hands. "Jesus. This is all so fucked up."

Pony opened his mouth to say something, but he was cutoff by the door opening.

At first I thought it was a nurse or a doctor, but it wasn't.

Tim strode across the room within the second, right to Curly's bedside. He stared at Curly for a couple really long seconds before he turned to us, face red and eyes angry. "What happened?"

"We have no idea," Pony answered for me.

Tim's eyes fell on me, scaring me a little. "Jane?" His voice was tight and he was the angriest I had probably ever seen him.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"How do you not know?" Tim yelled. "Where the hell were you when my brother was gettin' beat?"

Pony put his hand on Tim's chest and pushed him away from me. "Hey! Jane was passed out, Tim, how could she have done anything?"

Tim growled, pointing a finger at Curly. "My brother almost died and no one knows what happened."

"Brent was the one who beat him up," I said softly, scared to speak as loud at Tim was. "I don't know where Ray was."

"He was with me," Tim answered, voice still loud. He ran a hand through his hair, starting to pace. "If I had just looked around sooner."

"Pony," I said, turning to Pony, glancing at Tim. "Could you give us a second?"

Pony looked at Tim skeptically before walking past me. He squeezed my arm comfortingly before walking out the door.

I walked closer to Tim. "Tim, I -"

"Don't," he said to me, still pacing. "Where were you when this was happening?"

"I was right next to him."

"And you didn't stop it?"

I didn't know if Tim had noticed or not, but I was a little bruised as well. I had passed out. I couldn't help it. Or maybe I could have. Shit. I could've done something. Well, it was a little late now, but there was still something I could do. But should I -

"Jane!"

"Huh?"

"Are you listening to me?"

I nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Tell me more about the night!" He was yelling now for no reason. He was irrationally angry because someone he loved was hurt. I knew he couldn't help it, but I really didn't like the yelling.

"Why are you yelling at me?" I asked, my own voice rising.

"Why aren't you paying attention?" he screamed.

I felt the hotness in my body. "Why are you being such an asshole?"

Tim's hand rose quickly and he didn't even notice until I had flinched. His hand fell and he looked less red than before. He sighed and his hands reached out for me once more. The look on his face told me that he had finally noticed my wrapped up hand and bandaged face.

I backed away from him, breathing heavily. I watched him as the doorknob poked into my side. I grabbed it and turned it. "I think I need some space," I said to him, opening the door and running out.

"Jane!" Pony called from behind me.

"I'm going home!" I yelled back, going right out the doors, ignoring the yells of Pony and some nurses somewhere behind me.


As soon as the door opened, I slapped him. "You asshole! You could've killed him!" My arms were swinging.

Ray ducked, laughing to himself. "Hey, hey, it was Brent who did it, baby." He grabbed my swinging hand, pulling me to him. "Alright, why are you here?"

I looked him in the eyes, yanking my arm away from him. "I want to get back together."

"Oh, Jane," Ray sang lowly, smirking widely. "You want to protect your boyfriend."

"Not my boyfriend."

"He tell you?"

"He didn't have to," I said to him.

Ray continued to smirk, reaching out and touching my cheek. "You're a smart girl, Jane, and I need you by my side. Can you do that?"

"Will you give this shit up?"

"Yes."

Ray stared me down. "Close the door."

I didn't turn around, pressing my body against the door to close it. When I heard the click, I sighed. "Now what?"

"Take off your clothes."

It was simple and it was painful. But as long as I was with Ray, no one else would have to get hurt. I could protect Curly. I could protect Tim.