I do not own The Outsiders. They belong exclusively to S.E. Hinton.
Before
Lana came to the funeral. I'm not exactly sure why someone thought that was a good idea, but she was there. It was open casket, which was another bad idea. Lana started bawling the moment she saw the casket. She had already lost so much, and now…this. Another death, another person gone, someone else she would never get to see again for the rest of her life. Soda held her while she sobbed. The memories were too fresh, the pain too real. Darry tried to get her out of there, but she refused to leave. When it came time to come up to the casket and say your last goodbyes before they closed it, Lana went. That was the worst idea of them all.
They had fixed him up, even greased his hair. Lana didn't like that. The first thing she did was mess up his hair to try and make it look normal again. The sobbing got ,worse. She threw her arms across the casket and just laid there, sobbing. Soda and Darry got up to carry her away, and she let them. I think she knew that she couldn't handle anymore, that she would lose her mind if she stayed any longer.
After the grave-side portion, Sylvia had the gall to show up.
She went straight to Lana. "I'm really sorry for your loss. I know how great he was."
Lana punched her in the mouth. Two-Bit and Steve had to restrain Lana while Soda helped Sylvia up and into the church to fix her up.
"AND DON'T YOU EVER SHOW YOUR FACE AROUND ME AGAIN!" Lana yelled through her tears. Two-Bit carried her to the car, kicking and screaming.
. . .
The night was dark, but it was bright inside Buck's. I was at my usual place at the bar, waiting. Dallas walked in the door, and I smirked. I saw him here just about every night. He nodded in my general direction, and I smiled back. If I had a bad night, he knew I would come find him, but I wasn't going to have a bad night tonight. I knew it. I could feel it.
I ordered another drink from Tony, the bartender. He slid it down the bar and I caught it easily. I turned my back to the bar and took a swig, tossing my head back to expose my neck and arching my back. If I didn't attract any attention soon, I would have to go find Dally, and I didn't feel like doing that tonight.
Sure enough, someone walked up to me.
"You're Stacy, right?" He asked.
"Sure am," I replied. "Watcha need?"
"Listen, my girlfriend, just broke up with me, and-" I put a finger to his lips.
"Say no more. Break-ups are my specialty. How about you and I," I was running my finger slowly up and down his arm, "head upstairs and get…acquainted?"
He smiled and nodded.
"C'mon. I'll show you to my room," I hooked my arm around his, "and we'll make arrangements."
We passed Dally on our way upstairs. He looked up at us and smirked. I winked in reply. If this didn't take too long, maybe I would go see him tonight, just for the heck of it.