Wow! I cannot believe it! I have 260 hits on this story! I guess people must like it. Thanks, Skeledog Lover, Kyori Uchila of the Sand, fantoallwrotertonone, bunny94 and soda-me! Your reviews were very nice. Oh, and Skeledog Lover, you'll just have to read and find out! And thanks for saying Jesse is cool! And, soda-me, thanks for the good call. Okay, without further ado, the third chapter of Jesse! Enjoy!!! ;P
3
I stared wide-eyed at Johnny. We were lucky to get him to talk once in a while; the kid's quiet, what can I say? But talking back...Johnny never liked to argue. And the fact that it was Dallas! Dally was Johnny's idol! He honored the ground Dall walked on.
I guess Dallas was thinking the same thing, cause he stopped and looked at Johnny. "Huh?" he said, dumbfounded. If it had been any one else, any one in the gang, Dallas would've cracked a couple ribs without a moment's hesitation. If it had been anyone, Dall would've cracked a couple ribs. He slugged a guy in a store once cause he told him to move. Dally didn't even know the guy.
"Come on man, leave her alone." Johnny said, turning a little pale.
But he knew Johnny, and couldn't slug him, ever. Johnny was the gang's pet, everyone's little brother. Anyone else would have felt Dally's fist. But not Johnny, not Johnnycake.
Dally looked angry for a minute, cussed in a low tone, then got up and walked away. Johnny sat back down. Chery looked at him. "Thanks, he had me scared to death."
"No one talks to Dallas like that." Johnny said quietly, smiling.
"Seems like you do." she replied.
I watched as Johnny's ears turned a bright red. To tell the truth, I was still a little bewildered that he had mustered all that nerve to confront Dally.
The short haired girl, I think her name was Marcia, smiled. "Why don't y'all come and sit with us so you can protect us?"
I looked at Pony and Johnny as they raised their eyebrows at each other. I rolled my eyes, I could tell they would be bragging until their mouths were blue, but Pony said "Sure," and I sat down next to Johnny who had settled himself next to Cherry, and Ponyboy was sitting between the two.
"Why aren't you scared of us like you were of Dallas?" Johnny asked.
"Y'all didn't help him talk dirty, and that Dallas Winston has a reputation."
"Dall's alright. He's tuff, but he's a cool ol' guy." Johnny said.
"He wouldn't be like that if he knew you." Pony agreed.
I nodded my head. "He can be a real asshole, I admit it, but he's okay once you get to know him."
It was true. What Ponyboy said. I remember when Steve's cousin came to Tulsa. Dally was alright to her. We all were. We're cool with family and cousins and stuff like that.
"Well, good thing he doesn't know us." Marcia said.
I thought I heard Cherry mumble something about admiring Dallas, but I don't think a girl like her could find anything admirable in a greaser like Dall.
We also found out why they were here without a car. They had come with their boyfriends, but left when they found the boys had brought booze. The boys got angry and left. Marcia and Cherry decided to stay and watch the movie anyway. "I don't care if they like it," Cherry had said, "I don't find getting drunk and watching a movie a good time."
So, we were sitting and watching the movie, when suddenly I saw a hand on Johnny's shoulder and a hand on Pony's, and a deep voice said, "That's enough, greasers."
I slowly looked to see no other than Two-Bit standing there. "Goddamnit, Two-Bit Mathews!" I said, trying to slow my heart down.
Johnny took a deep breath and said, "Hey, Two-Bit."
Two-Bit needs to use his head. Johnny had had problems with Socs in the past, and he scared mighty easy. I think Two-Bit realized this, seeing as Johnny had turned pale. Two-Bit cracked a grin, "Sorry, buddy, I forgot...Now who are these lovely ladies with you? Great grandmothers?"
"Actually grand-aunts twice removed." Cherry said smoothly.
"Shoot, you're 90 if you're a day." Two-Bit said.
"Well, I'm a night." Marcia replied.
"Boy, you two are sharp. How'd these two greasers pick you two up?" Two-Bit said, climbing over the seats and sat down next to Marcia.
"We really picked them up. Secretly, we're Arabian slave traders, and we thought these two could be worth," Marcia looked us over, "At least ten camels apiece."
Two-Bit shook his head. "These kids can't speak Arabian. Hey, Jess, say something in Arabian."
I grinned a wicked grin. "You're a smart-ass, Two-Bit Mathews."
Two-Bit smiled. "That's not Arabian."
"But it is the truth." I replied coolly. I had learned how to handle Two-Bit over the years, and this isn't the first time he's been called a smart-ass.
"Come on, now," Johnny said, "Dall was bothering them and we stopped him so they asked us to sit with them. Probably to keep away greasers like you."
"Smart-ass greasers like you." I added. We actually don't mind being called greasers by other greasers. It's just joking then.
Two-Bit smiled, though. We were lucky to get Johnnycake to say a couple words to us. "Where is Dally anyway?"
I shrugged. "Walked off. Probably looking for the fight, and if we know Dallas, he'll find it."
"Oh, he'll find it. A certain Tim Shepard is looking for whoever decided to get wise and slash his tires. Just so happens, Mr. Curly Shepard saw Mr. Dallas Winston doing the act," Two-Bit paused, "Does he have a blade?"
"I don't think so," Pony said, "He might have a piece of pipe, but he busted his blade this morning."
Two-Bit nodded knowingly, "Then Tim'll fight fair. As long as Dallas doesn't pull a blade, he'll be fine."
"Y'all don't believe in playing rough, do you?" Cherry asked.
"Fair fighting ain't rough." Two-Bit said, "Blades, pool sticks, heaters, pipes, rumbles, now those are rough. But skin fighting ain't. Nothing blows off steam better than a couple punches. The Socs are the ones who are rough. They gang up on each other, throw beer blasts, have a rumble between themselves. We greasers mainly stick together, but when we do fight, it's always a fair fight. Truthfully, Dallas deserves whatever he gets. Slashed tires ain't no joke, and he got caught doing it. The two rules of greasers, Stick together and Don't get caught. He could get hurt, he could not. Either way, there's gonna be no feud between our outfit and Shepard's. If we needed them tomorrow, they'd be here. If Tim busts Dally's face, and needs us to show for a rumble, we'd go. Dallas was having fun, he got caught, he pays. No sweat."
"Yeah, boy," Cherry said sarcastically, "No sweat."
"If he dies," Marcia said, "You just bury him, no sweat."
"You dig okay, baby," Two-Bit said, smiling, lighting a cigarette. "Who wants a weed?"
I gratefully agreed. I hadn't had a cigarette all day. I watched Johnny, his hand was still trembling. A cigarette would calm it. Marcia and Cherry didn't smoke.
"Hey, Pony, wanna come get popcorn with me?" Cherry asked, standing up.
Pony jumped up at the offer. "Sure. Y'all want some?"
"I do." I said, standing up. "But I don't trust you with my money, Ponyboy. I'll come with."
"I want some." Marcia said, finishing her soda. Cherry wasn't anything like Marcia. I realized it then. Cherry wasn't going to drink anything given to her by a hood like Dall. But Marcia saw no harm in a good, free Coke.
"Get some for me and Johnnycake." Two-Bit said, tossing us a fifty cent piece, "I'm buying."
The line was horrendous, so we would have to wait together. We got a lot of stares; you usually don't see a grease girl, a grease boy, and a Soc girl together. I could see Ponyboy noticed, but Cherry acted as if nothing was wrong. "Your friend, the sideburns one, he's okay?"
"He's not like Dallas, if that's what you mean." Pony said.
"Come on, Pony, no one's like Dallas." I said.
Cherry smiled, but there was something else on her mind, "Johnny, he's been hurt, real bad, hasn't he?" It was more stated than asked.
"It was the Socs." Pony said, quietly due to the many Socs here. As he started the story, I began to think of what happened.
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About four months ago, me and Pony had walked to the DX where Steve and Soda worked. We could always get a couple of free bottles of Pepsi. Soda and Steve let us work on the cars too. It was a really nice day, but darker and chillier when we started walking. We had left Steve's car at the station. As we passed the lot, a big park where we play football, fight rumbles and hang out, Steve noticed something on the ground. Picking it up, we all saw it was Johnny's denim jacket, his only jacket. "Johnny must've lost this." Steve said, slinging it over his shoulder to bring by Johnny's house. But, then he stopped and looked at the collar. There was a rust colored stain. Looking at the ground, we saw there were more. They led across the lot. We all heard the moan and saw the lump at the other side. We all broke towards him at a dead run. Soda reached him first. He rolled him over and I had to choke back tears and bite my tongue so I didn't cry. Johnny was beat up all the time by his dad, so he was beat up before, but now...his white shirt was splattered with blood, and his face was banged up, bruised, swollen and cut up, a wide gash spread from his temple to his cheekbone. The scar would never heal. I think the whole gang sensed what was wrong. Suddenly Two-Bit was there, his smile gone for once and his dancing, happy eyes were solemn. Dally was there, and he looked sick. I pondered that, Dallas had witnessed brutal murders in New York, yet he looked sick now. Why? Darry must've seen from his porch and he came too.
"Johnnycake?" Soda asked, bringing Johnny's body to his shoulder and hugging him to it. He pushed Johnny's bangs out of his face. He gave Johnny's body a slight shake. "Hey, Johnny."
Johnny's eyes stayed shut but his soft voice came. "Soda?" It was weak.
"Yeah, it's me. Don't talk. You're okay, Johnny cake, you're okay." Soda said.
But Johnny spoke, "There was a blue mustang full...there were so many...I was so scared..." Then he tried to cuss, but he started to cry. And he tried to stop, but it made him cry more because he couldn't. Sodapop just hugged him closer to him. Finally, between the sobs he told us what had happened. He was looking for our football to practice some kicks when a blue mustang with four Socs in it pulled up. They had grabbed Johnny and beat him up. One of the guys was wearing rings and that was what had cut up Johnnycake so badly. It wasn't the beating - Johnny could take that. The Socs had threatened him, badly. They had scared him. And Johnny was already a nervous kid from getting a beating every day from his dad. Soda just hugged him closer. "It's okay, Johnnycake, it's okay. They're gone, you're safe..."
After that, Johnny, the most law abiding of all of us, started carrying a blade. No one would ever hurt him like that again. Never. Never again...