Hereafter

Chapter Six

For The Star Of County Down

I opened the door and I immediately smelled the good ol' comforting scent of beer. I waltzed over the to cute bartender with a sly grin.

"Hey there, Barb," noticing me she smiled back. Barbara was a good friend of mine; way back when I was a freshman at high school. She was no older than 22, though she could easily pass up for younger, and she was still in college. She took up bar tending to help pay the bills and her tuition fees. She had some nice brown eyes and curly hair to match. Again, very cute even though she wasn't a blonde. Though not the most well off people out there, she would seem loaded compared to most other Greasers.

"Hey, Keith," I didn't mind so much when girls would use my real name around me. "What cha' looking for?" As if she didn't already know.

"Oh y'know. The usual, Barb." She cocked her eyebrows and grinned at me. "What do ya' mean there, Keith? I'd reckon you were only 19 or something, especially by the way you look." Her voice was now heavy with sarcasm, but in a playful way.

"19? Nah girl, you better get yer' facts straight. I'm 21 years old." I handed her my fake ID. It was a real good one too; by that I mean it looked real and slick. It was a bit dusty and some small tears on the sides; all just to make it look authentic. I was also sure to put a funny picture on it.

Now her grin was real wide and her eyes rolled. "Okay then, one beer it is for you, Keith." She responded while still holding onto my ID. Before I let her do anything else, I got up a little closer and now, I was smiling real cool like and said,"Ya'know. It's got my number on it, if ya' want." And it did; I swear she just grew a little red.

"Nah Keith, sorry but you're too young for my blood." I wasn't really surprised.

She got up and walked over to get me my beer. I could pass up for 21, I'd say so. I've been drinking way before I was 18 anyway, it's not like this isn't new for me. I'm 19 and now I've only got 2 more years until I can drink legally; not that that's even gonna change much of anything. Hm, maybe I should throw a drinkin' party on my birthday.

She scooted closer to as if to whisper,"Hey, Keith. Ya'know that cute-looking colt at the one DX around the corner?" (Soda) "What about him, Barb?"

"I hear a girl's after him." I looked jokingly disappointed at her. "Dang Barb, I didn't think you of people would stoop down to a guy whose like 5 years younger than you." I cocked my eyebrows.

She gave me an irritated look,"I ain't talking about me, Keith. I hear this girl's a cut above the rest, or somethin' like that." "Well, Barb, that ain't new. You know ol' Sodapop's gots lots of girls falling for him. Even a lot of Soc girls flirt with the guy." I mused and gazed into the air above me. "And who can blame the guy, anyway. I bet he could make even a Soc girl faint just by winkin' at them."

Barb's face was perplexed as if she were trying to recall something. "No, this girl's different," even though her voice was uncertain but calm, I sensed I wasn't gonna like these news. I needed a freakin' drink, so I started chugging the beer bottle that I still had.

"I'm pretty sure she's pregnant." (WHAT?) I split out some of the booze in shock. Though I wasn't really looking at anyone, my shocked expression only turned sour.

(Oh God, could it be? It better not be her. That skank better not be here to ruin things all over again. I mean after she sent that letter back to him...

Man Soda was so down, he took all of his money that day and he left. He fuckin' left Tulsa just to go see her. That week me, Darry, an' Steve looked everywhereto find the guy. He wasn't in any place we knew of and he didn't contact us at all. Pony was gone the whole day too; I don't think he was aware of it and I still don't think he knows what really went down then. Soda did finally find a place to stay, all the way to Virginia. I think he hopped on a train to the East and like overslept or something. He was staying a place where a family like brought him to the hospital. They were kind enough to pay the bill fully. Soda was in pretty bad shape, they say didn't eat for like a whole day or two. We was also jumped by a gang around the town, he ended up being fine though. They didn't beat him so bad.

Dammit Soda, why the hell did you have to leave like that? All of us (but Pony) were like worried to hell. After Soda got better, he called us and we went and we got him by plane. Darry was the only one to go since those damn plane tickets cost so much money. That was real rough for all of us, and it was all in one week! He came back even worse than when he left, that could only mean one thing...

Sandy doesn't deserve anything from us, especially not from Soda. He was willing to throw his life away for her, more than once and she turned him down. It annoyed the hell outta me when we all find out she got pregnant. Why should he help her? The kid's not even his! Damn, she all had us fooled thinking she was just a nice Greasy girl. That was rare come by any day and I always had a weird feeling around her. The way she never laughed his jokes, the way she never really seemed to really take an interest in his life. Sandy always bailed out on him, even when she planned out the date. But she'd call him expecting that he'd be willing to drop everything he's doing just to be with her, he most of the time he would. If he didn't, she'd probably flip. And I seriously doubt the girl even knows the name of his little brother!

All this time, she was just using him...

That bitch should never should that face of her's around here again...)

I looked at Barb again who was worried sick since my minded wandered off. "Keith, are you okay?" I snapped outta my thoughts.

"Oh...Yeah I'm fine, Barb," I gave her a reassuring grin.

"Wait, did you say that this girl was a Greaser or a Soc?" I had to know, I don't think anyone could mistake her for a Soc. Unless this is someone else.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's a Soc, Keith." She seemed like she was waiting for me to respond but I didn't do anything except take more of my drink. Finishing up the rest of my beer bottle, I said to Barb without looking at her,"Okay, thanks Barb, I'll be seein' ya."

"Okay. Wait, Keith." (Huh?)

"Tell ol' Darrel Curtis that Barbara said hi, m'kay?" (Barb knows Darry?) I smiled back at her,"Sure thing."

(I did Darry. Get an A on that project, that is.) Boy was I proud of that grade. I mean, me and Sarah worked hard on this so why should we expect less.)

We just got the report cards back and I looked at mine for what seemed to be hours. The first quarter read: C (Math), D (Science), D (Social Studies), D (Auto-mechanics), B (P.E.), and A (English). Damn did those grades suck. But the second quarter was much better. B (Math), A (Science), B (Social Studies), A (P.E.),and A (English). They were great, as far as I or any other Greaser was concerned. Much better than before but there was still one that really annoyed me. I had a C in Auto-mechanics, the first D was embarrassing enough for me to be a Greaser and get anything worse than a B in it. But even though I'm trying real hard, I still get a C in it. I don't know how they all did it; all of them, even Johnny, Darry and Dally got As here without so much as breaking a sweat. I don't know what it was about it, the class was just so confusing for me. Especially the maintenance part, if I ever want to like get a job (preferably at certain DX), I may as well start with our family's proud occupation. I know Dad was a part-time auto-mechanic back in the day. I remember how he got Soda a car before he could even drive it; well he could drive it real well, but not legally then.

(Great, I'm smart in just about everything a Greaser wouldn't be, but a dumbass in the one thing they would be...I swear I'll never hear the end of this from Steve and Soda. At least I can prove to Darry that I've been improving here, though. I wonder what Johnny and Dally would say about it...

Johnny never paid too much attention to his grades though once or twice he'd try real hard to make the honor roll. And he did once, you'd think it'd be a good thing for ol' Johnnycake, but it wasn't. The whole thing didn't change a thing, God I hate his parents... How could someone like Johnny come from people like them? And why the hell did no one ever notice? I know Johnny would never tell. Whether or not it was because they would skin him if he did, or it was because he'd never accept anyone's pity, was beyond me.

And Dallas...I wonder just when he dropped out. Well, but dropping out didn't really change much of anything anyway. He'd skip classes almost every day, usually by hanging around the lunch room or just by walking outta school. Auto maintenance was the only class he didn't fail; in P.E., he really refused to work hard unless it was a competition or something. Dally could play football and basketball real well (Johnny was more for soccer like me). But only if and when he wanted to, if he was there that day to begin with. He usually wouldn't refuse a game against a bunch of Socs, he and Tim were notorious for being rivals and pretty much crushing most people who got in there way. It was far from uncommon for Soc and Greaser basketball or football teams to go head to head. Sometimes they made bets, they were said to bet pretty high; it's no wonder where Tim Curly and Dally got a lot of their money from. Well, a lot for a Greaser, not so much for a Soc.

Like I said; I don't like him but I did respect him...Like some other people...)

Well now that I think about it, Steve did well with most of his classes too; he never really got a D in any of them, usually just two C's and the rest were B's except in P.E. and Auto Maintenance. (What were Two-Bit's grades?) I never knew them, he also never really showed it to us. I never took him for one who cared about this, like at all. Maybe he doesn't and just throws it away without even looking at them first.

I looked at my report card again, still hoping that C would magically turning into a B. No luck.

Either way, I kinda felt bad about not getting all A's. (Well that would be something huh? Some guy who barely gets a C average in one quarter but gets straight A's in the next. Especially a Grease in advanced classes.) I know Darry usually got straight A's; he worked hard for it too. Like he does with everything, he really wanted to get a scholarship and imagine Mom and Dad's faces when they finally gave him one (but this was in football).

But then, Darry dropped his scholarship for me and Soda since Mom and Dad had died. And Soda just plain dropped out.

...

After Science class, I went towards English class again. English was far from here and I had to pass some Soc hallways to there.

I still thought about what Steve said earlier. "I mean, the kid hasn't even kissed a fuckin' girl, yet. And he's what, fourteen and a half already?"

(He doesn't know does he? Two-Bit does, I know that. But I don't think Soda or Darry know either. Well maybe it's for the best they didn't know, after all, it didn't mean anything anyways. Now that I think about it, the whole thing was rushed; I can't believe Two-Bit's never told anyone; I can't believed she hasn't told anyone yet. I'm pretty sure that was her first too,I wouldn't be surprised at all...I thought that first kiss was supposed to be like some magical event that you'd never forget. Y'know sparks would fly; the two of you, holding each other with your arms; laughing quietly while looking getting lost in each other's eyes as the night fades into darkness...

Shit, that's a seriously fucked up lie! Hell yeah I won't forget it! And dammit I can't believe I did something so stupid! Ugh! Why do girls have to be so fuckin' confusing!

...Oh, well, she's gone now and I won't have to worry about her ever again, I hope.)

Three, big guys blocked the doorway in front of me. I recognized one of them alright.

"Where do you think you're going Grease." I didn't have time for this, I'm going late for class. Right now I glared at them. To a lot of Socs, I'm still a possible murderer and I used that thought to my advantage in more than one occasion. Even though I'm not, most Socs left me alone because of it, but even so, not all of them were scared off. These guys were in the football team; there was way more than one reason why I never tried out, unlike Darry. Soc's couldn't scare Darry off, and if there were a scrap between any of the players, then they got kicked off the team immediately. Besides, they were way more scared of him than vice versa, it is Darry after all.

"Leave him alone, Alexis," a voice behind me spoke. It was Arthur Lee Sinclair or just Lee. "My name's not Alexis," he sounded like brat. (Isn't he, though?)

"Right, right." Lee's voice grew sarcastic and for a brief moment, joined me in glaring at them. The three Socs didn't look like they were gonna fight us. Not only were they afraid of me, but they were also afraid of him. Lee was and is a Soc, he looked like, acted like it, and was smart like one. But he kinda has a hatred for certain (a lot, if I'm not mistaken) Soc guys. They say he's pretty famous in a few of the Soc fight clubs, though I doubt he's jump a Greaser for a while, if ever. I wasn't his only Greaser friend, he a few others too including some Soc friends too. He can be seen around some Greasy hang outs, most of them don't really mind him since they see him a lot, but quite of few don't like the idea of a Greasy Soc. If that was even possible.

The two argued for a while; though Lee remained very calm, the big Soc got angrier and angrier.

They eventually left but not without glancing back at us to make sure we didn't jump them. We wouldn't, we had better things to do.

"Thanks, Lee ," I said with a hint of sarcasm not well hidden in my voice. "You didn't have to do that, y'know."

"Yeah, whatever man. C'mon let's get to class already." His tone grew into a happier one. He was usually pretty cheerful and joked around sometimes, but not so much around other Socs.

Lee kinda glorified me for saving all those kids way back when. Though I'm not so sure how I felt about it, not so bad but definitely not good. It was never good to be reminded of Johnny and Dally's death. And I told him something similar to what I had told Steve then, "I'm not a hero at all, Lee . But I wasn't gonna let all those kids die and besides, my friend went out there too. Being a Grease had nothing to do with it; either you'd save them or you wouldn't. I know Dally wouldn't but Johnny would've. He's the real hero here, him and Dally both. I'm sure you've done the same." He looked away in disbelief, "I dunno, man. I'm not like you, especially not then." Back then, I didn't really see Lee around except in my classes (we share some classes together, he is a Soc after all). So I don't know what he was like before we were friends.

But either way, I gained his respect because of the whole thing, and I wasn't gonna argue with him about it.

While we were getting through to English class, a lot of Soc girls started looking at me for some reason. They would smile at me and it made me feel real weird. (I don't get it...What's different now about me that I didn't have back then. Appearance wise, that is.)

In class, a couple of Soc girls said hi to me with a curious grin before leaving to go to their seats. I swear I grew quite a few shades of red. I looked at Lee and he didn't seem to really notice or care so much.

Lee already had a girlfriend, Andrea. She was a nice girl who never swore and didn't wear makeup even if Lee wanted her to. She was not like most Greasy girls in that sense. It's just like him to go after a girl like her, I always thought. But I liked Andrea, all of us would watch movies together sometimes. Like I said before, I don't really like going to the movies too much with other people around. But they didn't bother me so much, they rarely flirted in front of me and when they did, they were subtle about it. They'd just watch the movie, hand-in-hand, and quiet for most part. And I was fine with that.

I guess when some guys already have a girl, they don't really go after any others...Some guys, that is, not most.

"Alright, class. You know I don't like having to give y'all speeches but I'm getting paid so sucks to be you!" He was grinning ear to ear and a sarcastic, prideful tone overtook him.

"And besides, as you're English teacher, I think you have the right to know-" He got louder and the trickster-like vibe that very commonly emanated from him was gone.

"That I really don't care if y'all want to go fuck up your lives by bummin' around, throwin' parties like there's no tomorrow, and by living off your parents wealth." I don't think anyone else noticed it but he seemed to be very critical of a very specific group of people.

"I don't care if you live to be homeless and penniless because you never did anything. Because you should and will be held accountable for everything it is that you do." Mr. Vallen was real good at bringing my class down. But they've always phased me and Lee , his rants like these actually gave me a bit of a good laugh when looking at the faces of the others. Especially the Soc girls here not named Cherry Valence.

"I mean, look at me." His smirk reformed and the sarcasm returned.

"Granted somethings in my life were not in my control, but I made some really stupid decisions and now I have to be paying for it even still to this day. I mean look where I'm at." Mr. Vallen didn't finish, but he was laughing again.

"I'm here teaching a bunch of no-talent losers about world literature."

Much of the class groaned quietly in unison. Bell was of course rather flustered by this since she kinda had a thing for our teacher. "Uh, that's not so nice Mr. Vallen."

The side of his face turned until he saw her. His eyebrows elevated and formed a devious look in his face.

"Well neither are you!" hah, I was thinking the same thing when he said it, only I would've another added a word at the end.

At the near end of class, Mr. Vallen gave us an article to read at home, so I did. The article was pretty long and it was published only a couple months ago.

It was titled, "Our Fallen Star." It was about a pretty famous kid from the East Coast. His name was Jason Lenyx. I remember he got put on like a lot of reports on T.V. right after his death. Which was pretty close to the end of the school year.

According to the article, this boy was a child prodigy with a very long list of talents. Jason was apparently the president of school when he was a junior. The school was one of the smarter ones, I don't know if there is a name for them. He got real popular there when he and his best friend Kenny Sanchez won a basketball game against the school's team captains somehow. They're school was always around the top of the district, and event shook the school up. They were asked to join the basketball team, but they both refused. Kenny was already well known mostly for his art and a few of his sports. Jason was know to dislike playing the game, for some reason.

Jason never got in trouble for anything, at all. But one day he died in a fire, it was caused by a cigarette. Though it's been confirmed that he had been offered drugs by some of his classmates before, he was never really known to use any, at all.

He was still about 16 and a half when he was going to graduate high school. He must've put up a grade or two. They say he was very stressed out before he died. It was commonly know with his friends that he held a tremendous hatred for his mother. He often joked about it, but none of his friends really knew how bad the situation really was. But he would almost never complain to his friends about it. But he truly hated them; you can tell if you look in his journal. He hated how they were never proud of him, no matter what he did or how great it was. They could always find fault in everything he does and irritated him constantly. He also had an unhealthy relationship with his siblings; they never got along and would avoid each other at school. In an effort to detach himself from his family as much as possible, he often stayed at his friends' houses for as long as he could. As long as he could still keep a 4.0 GPA, that is.

If home life wasn't bad enough, school wasn't much better. He many friends or supporters but he also had a lot of close friends. He greatly valued each and everyone of them too, but a lot his friends were getting mad at each other or breaking up. He is constantly left to pick sides between the two, but he could never really chose from them. So in the end, neither him or any of the two others were friends anymore.

He was well acknowledged in the community, however. He participated in track, swimming, chess, tennis, and spent over 50 hours of community service, every year since the 6th grade. But all of these after-school activities only made things worse. He'd get less sleep and less time to do homework and got chronic exhaustion. That and two of his closest friends died that same year. One was his best friend and the other was like a big sister to him.

They say that with all of his services, activities, and good grades. He could've gotten into just about any college or university he wanted. It's so confusing as to why someone who always seemed so happy, competent, and secure could really be so troubled. It's curious as to why no one was able to notice any of these problems. Not even those he could call friends knew about it; then again they were the ones forcing him to take sides with no regard to his own feelings. If anyone should feel bad about it, it's them. They were the only ones who he actually cared about what they thought. The reason why he never told them and that he always hid it from them all was because of how they saw him. A loving, happy-go-lucky, pretty boy who was also intelligent and talented. He was always the problem solver, they would go to him and basically dump their problems on him. Though Jason never did the same to them. His friends saw him as infallible, so basically, the weight of their expectations of him was tearing him apart. They also knew that the thing hated most was pity. To him, pity from them would've been worse than anything...

In his journal, he wrote about what his friends and family would say or if he did something that he's proud of. He seemed to value small things, like making a girl laugh after she cried, or if someone would give him a dollar for lunch when he had no money. And some close experiences he had with some of his friends. But his journal often had things written in them that he didn't do but he speculates what would've happened if he did.

His body although burned pretty bad; it was found with quite a few tattoos, some of his friends knew but he rarely ever showed them. It was like he was ashamed of them, or something. The tattoos and an earring that he wore both seemed to be affiliated with a local gang. There was one account that almost got him expelled, however. In the lunch room, he yelled the words 'yo jackass!' and ran up to someone and punched them, knocking the guy out. The guy he knocked out was a well known delinquent; skipping class, bullying and harassment, and real bad attitude.

However, whether or not Jason had any real connection is unknown. Though, if he had been affiliated with some gang, perhaps his death wasn't just a coincidence.

...

I knew what Mr. Vallen was trying to get at when he gave us this. That no matter who you are, how great your future could be, it could all still be ruined by your own poor decisions. And that no matter what fucked up shit life throws at us, we are still responsible as to how we handle it. It also said that, you never know just how much trouble someone has in their lives just by looking. I mean this kid could probably be accepted to any college he wanted. They said that his future was very promising, but I guess that can't really matter if you have no present.

The big idea here? Get to fixing your life now.

Ugh...Somehow, I got the idea that this was directed toward me more so than anyone else. ...I have, dammit. But I irritates me that no thinks I've changed when I worked so hard to get out of all of that. I haven't been doing any of that. I keep myself outta trouble more than ever; I watch my language; and I'm getting my grades up. I mean last night, I could've tried something but I didn't. Go back 4 months and I probably would have tried something with her, but I didn't.

Why can't anybody see that I've changed!

...

Oh well, it's not like I'm doing this for any of them, anyway. I'm doing this for my brothers. Only for them, Cherry, and me. I don't want to be that kind of person.

And who's to say Mr. Vallen has the right to tell me, anyway? He hasn't been through what I have, no one has...And hopefully no one would ever have to...

There was another, smaller article. It was about Jason's friend, Kenneth Sanchez.

Outside their appearances, Kenny was almost a mirror image of his best friend, Jason. They shared many of the same after-school activities and classes. Kenny was more well known as the artist; he could draw very well and he wrote and sang some of his own songs in the school talent show.

They were the best of buds, no doubt; Kenneth would let Jason stay over at his house sometimes. But they also had many of same problems. They're friends would get mad at them for not choosing a side, and all of their advanced classes were getting them exhausted. But Kenny and Jason always had each others' back and could count on each other.

However, unlike Jason, Kenny had no known tattoos nor did he have an earring. He didn't seem to be engaged in misconduct. Also, he loved his parents, and they loved him back. But they were getting a divorce, which he couldn't stand the idea. Now he had to choose a side not only for his friends, but with his own parents too.

So with three of his best friends gone all in one year, two of them, murdered, possibly three. That along with the pressure from his reputation, the pressure of just being in school, and the breaking apart of his family - he couldn't take it all. He justed vanished, no one knows where he is to this day.

...

I wasn't so sure how to react to that. I don't feel so bad since I didn't know the guy, but I'm not gonna happy when anyone dies. Especially not somebody like these two. Though to be honest, I'm kinda glad I read this. I know it's terrible to think that way but, I felt better knowing that some people had things pretty bad too.

The more I thought about it, these guys were a lot like Bob. Smart and talented with a seemingly flawless life. Yeah, a lot like Bob. I didn't like him and I still don't; I could never like a guy who almost killed me and ultimately killed my best friend. But I do have respect for him. I had to, I mean, he had it rough too. Though not in a way I ever thought possible.

...

I looked at the picture of him, he looked vaguely familiar but the picture was at least 3 years old. The articles were published around the first month of summer as a 30-day anniversary to Jason's death. So Kenny, he's been gone for a long time by now, at least 7 months. Anything could've happened since then, he might even be dead already.

Scrutinizing the picture, I still felt like this Kenneth Sanchez was familiar somehow. I don't know what it was. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses (stupidly enough) so I couldn't see his eyes so well.

(Who is he? I swear he seems so familiar!)

Longest chapter ever. Finally, a bit more OC's. Two-Bit gets the word around, huh? Oh and his little rant about, a certain somebody isn't for nothing, just so you know. That whole thing was a flashback. Pony's efforts are really showing now and looks like he's got some girl troubles, too. A Greasy Soc, huh? Wouldn't that be something? I guess there's still somethings left unsaid between the two Curtis brothers.

Oh, the italics in the article is actually Ponyboy kinda re-phrasing it for you. There was more to it, the articles I mean, but that'll be important later on, and you'll find out why. But that's a story I won't touch...for now.

And so why the hell did I put those articles in this story and what are they supposed to mean? Why the hell does Mr. Vallen seem to pester Ponyboy so much? If I can keep this story up, then I promise you'll find out in the later chapters. I probably won't be updating so often now. I want to keep going; this is a really bad place to stop, but I'm not sure if I can even find the time anymore after the break. I'll keep this going, I'll still try, that is.

...

So umm...Reviews? Questions? Observations? Predictions? How'd I do? Where do you think its going? All that...

Merry Christmas everyone, I guess...