Mon. Oct. 18, 1965
It was now Monday and I had to go back to school. I was in no mood to learn or be around Socs. I lollygagged around the house, just wasting time so I wouldn't have to get to school on time. Soda would probably be at work by now.
I sat on my bed and waited for time to pass. It was almost nine o' clock so I was going to be late. I was ready and everything but I was just too lazy to get up and go to school. I didn't have any homework done and I was not mentally prepared for school.
Finally, I got in my truck and went to school. It was late but really what's the point in going to school. I really only took so long so I could get out of school. But I'm still going. Better late then never. It was second period when I got there. I snuck into Mr. Carson's English class. I got Steve's attention through the window so he could distract the teacher so I could sneak inside.
I came in through the door silently and luckily my seat was near the front and easy to get to. I easily got to my desk but Mr. Carson said, "Thank you for joining us Ms. Taylor. Now you can explain to the principal why you're late. Please go to the principal's office. And I already took the courtesy of calling and telling him you would be giving him a visit. Better luck next time, Mr. Randle. "
I walked out of the classroom and dragged myself to the principal's office; the lady at the front desk was the first to greet me. "Can I help you, miss?"
"I'm here to see the principal."
"Are you Typhani Taylor?" She asked.
"Yeah."
"Okay, go right on in." She pointed the principal's office.
I slowly walked to the door and silently opened it up.
"Hello Ms. Taylor, have a seat. Why might you be here today?" Mr. Gordon greeted.
"I came in to school late and tried to sneak into class without Mr. Carson seeing me." I explained.
"That didn't go too well, did it?" He joked still with a serious tone.
"No sir."
"And why were you late?"
"I didn't want to come to school. I was too lazy to get up."
"So sneaking in came to you as a better idea than facing the teacher?"
"No sir."
"Then what were you thinking?" He knew to be stern with me because if he wasn't, I'd do it again.
"I wasn't thinking sir." I snapped.
"Well, for being late with a horrible excuse, your punishment is a week of detention, starting today in Mr. Carson's room for an hour. Thank you Miss Taylor, you are dismissed. Let's not make this a habit, shall we?" The principal dismissed me.
The bell rang for third period. My class was chemistry and I had that class with Steve as well. I met Steve at the door and we walked in together.
"So what happened?" Steve asked.
"Well I didn't want to come to school today so I ended up coming in late. Now I have one week's detention with Carson." I sighed.
"That stinks." Steve said in sympathy. "A lot of the times Carson makes you do work for detention."
We all took our seats when the teacher came in. The class started slow and ended slow and boring. The teacher dismissed us five minutes after the bell because we were being noisy. So we ended up missing part of lunch and a Greaser-Soc fight in the quad. The fight was happened because some Greaser was talking to this guy's girlfriend. Socs and their girlfriends.
Steve and I met up with Pony and Two-Bit at the lunch table. Two-Bit was there with Pony and they were already at the table.
"Hey guys. Can you give me a ride home, Typh?" Pony asked as I sat down.
"Can't, I have detention after school with Carson." I said.
"Oh, what'd you do?" Pony asked.
"I came to school late. Then Carson caught me."
"But didn't you have someone distract him?"
"Yeah, I did but somebody isn't a very good distracter." I looked at Steve.
We stopped talking about it and ate lunch. It was silent for a moment then some Soc came by and teased us. "You're cute, so why you hanging out with Greasers like them?"
"You're smart, so why do you act like you have no brain?" I shot back.
"Ohhh!" Pony and Steve laughed.
"Now beat it!" Steve shooed.
We laughed a little longer then the fun faded. It was silent again.
"Steve, can you take Pony home since I can't?" I asked breaking the silence.
"Why, I'm not his taxi driver?" Steve snapped back.
"Just drive him home." I urged.
"I'll just walk home since it's too much of a hassle." Pony butted in.
"Walk, are you crazy? You remember what happened after you walked home from the movies? You got jumped and I got a bloody nose. I'll drive you back to the station and you can hang there unless some girls come to visit."
"What girls?" I said with a hint of anger and in my voice.
"Don't' worry about it; they only come to flirt with us." Steve shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.
"Soda doesn't like any of those girls he talks to anyway." Pony said.
I got up and threw my lunch away. I had always known that girls went by the station to flirt with Soda and Steve. I was only bothered by it because I knew those girls were Socy girls and were better than I was. Steve had a girlfriend and I just can't stand to see other girls flirting with Soda.
"I'll pick you up from the station after detention. Is Soda still mad at me, Pony?" I asked.
"No, he can't stop talking about you. It gets annoying, no offense." Pony responded.
"Some taken." I said, half joking
The bell rang and lunch was over. Pony and I walked over to the language arts classrooms and then split off to our classes. After my last class I went to Mr. Carson's class to serve detention.
"Ah, Miss Taylor, thank you for joining me." Mr. Carson greeted.
"My pleasure." I said with some sarcasm. I sat in my usual desk and he leaned against his desk across from me.
"We can make this short and sweet or long and painful. It's your choice on the way you behave." Mr. Carson started. "If your behavior is fair, this will be short and sweet, but…" There was always a "but." He continued, "But if you misbehave the longer the punishment. Like I said, it's all up to you on how long this will last. Shall we start? Okay, I need these posters on the wall to be taken down, then organize my desk, make it look nice. You can get started while I'm in the office for a while."
I started taking things down from the wall. The posters seemed to never end. They literally covered every empty space on the wall and when there was an empty spot between two posters Mr. Carson filled it with vocabulary words.
Once I was done with that, I went to his desk to organize it. My way of organizing a desk was just straightening things up not necessarily put them away or cleaning them off.
Mr. Carson came back after forty-five minutes. I was practically finished when he came, just doing some last minute touch-ups. Oddly I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. I don't know why.
"Well, very nice Miss Taylor. You did good today; I'll let you off early. See you tomorrow." He dismissed.
I left the room so glad to be out. I got out to the parking lot and saw that my car, besides all the teachers' cars, was the only student car. Now to the gas station and prove some girls wrong. I started the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot.
I parked on the corner by the station and went to the gas pumps to look for them. Like Steve predicted there were some girls there to visit. Soda was with three girls and Steve with only two. The girls seemed to be Soc girls.
"Hi Soda and friends." I joked to the girls.
"Typhani? What are you doing here?" Soda asked.
"She's here to pick me up." Pony interrupted.
"No I'm not. I'm here to see my best bud… Steve." I lied. I actually forget about picking up Pony.
"Yeah sure." Steve said.
"Sodapop who is she?" One of the girls asked.
"That's Typhani, my…"
"Girlfriend, I'm his girlfriend." I finished, even though it wasn't true.
"No you're not." Steve reminded.
"Steve, zip it. No one asked you." I shushed.
"Hey Steve, I brought my car over, it needs to be worked on." One girl flirted with Steve and I almost hurled.
"Typhani, come here." Soda and Steve pulled me to the side. "What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry. I'm jealous, okay?" I admitted. I took a deep breath.
"Typh, I'm sorry about what happened the other night. I miss talking to you." Soda said.
"Alright enough with the mushy gushy love stuff, just make up with her." Steve walked away and back to the car.
"I forgive you but really there's no reason for an apology." I smiled.
"Well, Typh, since you mentioned it, maybe we should give it a try." Soda suggested.
"Give what a try?" I knew what he wanted but I didn't want to seem too desperate.
"You may have not known it but I've always liked you." Soda bit his bottom lip.
"You're willing to risk our friendship?" I asked.
"I am if you are." I nudged him on the shoulder and said, "Sure." I smiled.
"It's about time." Pony said.
"Well, I better get back to work." Soda joked.
"Oh, yeah better get back to working hard." I joked.
"I'll see you later." Soda kissed me good-bye.
"Right, then my work here is done. We can go now Pony." I said. I walked to the car and Pony followed.
"Man, those were some good lookin' girls." Pony said.
"Okay, but I guess they were cute." I admitted.
"You were jealous weren't you?" Pony accused.
"Only a little." I confessed.
"Why, you're better than them." Pony said.
"Yeah maybe but they're so much cuter than I am. Come to think of it, I would actually be one of them if it weren't for you guys." I reminded.
"Yeah, Socy girls are pretty cute though. But as a Greasy girl you're cute too." Pony smiled.
"Thank you." I thanked him. We finally arrived at his house and I walked him to the door plus I wanted to come in for a Coke.
"What took you guys so long?" Darry complained.
"We ran into some complications at the station." I walked into the kitchen to get the Coke I wanted.
"Next time you're gonna be late, please call." Darry instructed.
"Stop being so paranoid, Darrel!" I criticized. On occasion I would call Darry Darrel, but only when he was being paranoid, like right now, or when he was getting annoying.
"I'm not being paranoid; I'm being cautious. What if something happened to you guys, well I wouldn't know where you were. So please just call me next time." Darry said.
"Okay, okay, when does Soda and Steve get off?" I asked.
"In about half an hour. You gonna stay here?" Darry asked.
"Yeah, where you going?" I asked taking a sip of my coke.
"I gotta go get some food at the store. I'll be back soon. You okay here with her, Pony?" Darry questioned grabbing his coat.
"What is that supposed to mean? Just go!" I laughed. Pony and Darry laughed too. Darry left and Pony and I were alone.
Like Darry predicted, the boys came home in half an hour. Soda came in and took his shoes off and joined Steve in the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen as well. Soda got some chocolate milk and Steve got a Coke. I sat at the table.
"Why did you really come to the station today, Typh?" Soda asked sitting across from me.
"Well, Steve said something to me about some girls being there and I didn't want you flirting with any girls. I told you I was jealous." I explained.
"Why do you care that I'm flirting with girls? Plus, they come to me not me going to them. I'm sorry it bugs you, though." Soda apologized.
"I care because I care, okay." I said so I wouldn't have to share the truth that I liked him but he already knew.
"Okay, but I know you like me, I always have." After Soda said that, I felt my cheeks turn red.
"Okay, thank you!" I said sarcastically.
"Oh!" Steve added when Soda embarrassed me. To make up for the embarrassment, he kissed me and my face got even brighter. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't be jealous anyway, they should." He apologized.
"Get a room!" Steve yelled at us.
"This is my house, so you can leave if this bugs you!" Soda yelled back.
"Fine, I'll leave. See ya guys later!" Steve left.
A couple minutes later Darry came home with boxes full of food. Pony went outside to get some more boxes. Soda and I eventually migrated to the couch. When they finished bringing in all the food, Pony sat on the other couch and Darry asked, "Where'd Steve go?"
Soda and looked at each other because we both new Darry doesn't like public displays of affection and that was practically the reason Steve left. So I let Soda do the explaining.
"Steve left early because I kicked him out. He was getting annoying." Soda lied.
"Right, I'll let it go this time but next time I'm not gonna let it go. You better watch it you two." Darry warned.
"Okay! Whatever you say." I laughed.
"If you're gonna give me attitude, you can go home too!" Darry was actually serious.
"Okay, I'll leave! See you later! Bye Soda." I kissed Soda good-bye and Darry gave me a stern look. I smiled back at him to cheer him up. I got into my truck and left. It was about four-thirty. Casey and Cherry were probably home so dinner was probably started. I was in such a good mood. I couldn't stop smiling.
I finally got home and parked my car behind Cherry's on the curb. The door was open so someone was home. I looked around trying to find someone. I eventually found Cherry in her room.
"Hi, Cherry. What are you doing?" I said.
"Oh hi, just homework." She responded.
"Soda and I are okay. We're going together now." I added.
"That's great, I'm happy for you." She mumbled.
"Alright, I'll leave you alone. I'm gonna start dinner." I said.
I left her room and went to the kitchen. I didn't know what I felt like for dinner so I made the first thing that came to mind. Five minutes before dinner was ready, Casey came home. She came right to the kitchen and sat at the table.
"What'd you cook?" Casey asked.
"Leftovers, your favorite. Can you set the table?" I asked pulling it out of the oven.
"Alright, where's, uh, Cherry."
"In her room doing homework. So how come you came home later then usual." I asked curious of where she might be.
"I was out, doing things I'm not planning to share with you." She smiled.
"Alright, don't tell me then." I laughed.
Tues. Oct. 19, 1965
I woke up and I slowly got out of bed. I sat on the edge for a bit, and then got up for breakfast. My stomach was growling really loud. Casey was already in the kitchen eating breakfast and I was the first to join her.
I made my usual breakfast: eggs and sat across from Casey. It was silent until someone came inside. The visitor came into the kitchen and the visitor happened to be Soda.
"Hey guys." He sat in the empty chair beside Casey. "You wanna ride to school today?" He took a bite of my eggs with my fork.
"Yeah go ahead you can have some." I said sarcastically.
"Oh, thanks." He obviously didn't get that I was kidding. "I'll go with you, just let me finish eating and get dressed. You wanna ride too, Case?" I asked.
"Sure, why not. Thanks in advance, Soda." Casey thanked.
"No problem. You guys have anything to eat, I'm starved. I didn't eat at home." Soda asked searching the cupboards for food.
"Have what you want." Casey offered.
I got up from the table and put my plate in the sink. Soda went to the living room not satisfied with not finding breakfast. I went to Cherry's room to tell her Soda was giving us a ride to school but she was still asleep and didn't want to wake her. So I got Casey to wake her up.
I went back to living room and joined Soda on the couch. I heard Soda turn on the TV as I left. When I went to Cherry's room this time, the door was closed because she was probably getting dressed. I knocked on the door and said, "Hey Cherry, Casey and I are getting a ride from Soda, are you gonna be okay?"
It was silent for a moment then she opened the door.
"I'll be fine; Marcia's coming over anyway to give me a ride." She said.
"Oh, good, then we'll see you at school. See you later." I said. I went to my room for a second to put on my shoes, and then I walked back to the living room and found that Marcia was here.
"Hi Marcia, Cherry will be out in second." I said.
"Alright, thanks Typhani." Marcia was sitting on the couch beside Soda and they were talking like normal people, not like a Greaser and a Soc. Casey and Cherry came out from their rooms and into the living room.
"Are we all ready to go?" I asked. They answered by getting up and walking out the door. Marcia's car was actually not Marcia's car, it was Randy's car, and Marcia and Cherry were just getting a ride from him. I was wondering why Randy didn't come inside, I mean, we didn't have anything against each other and he liked Casey, so I didn't know what his problem was.
I sat in the middle between Soda and Casey. Like always Soda was driving fast and Casey and I were holding on for our lives. When we got the stop light, he slammed on the brakes. I sighed a sigh of relief.
"So how is Pony getting to school and Darry to work?" I asked.
"Darry's work friends came to get him and Pony's going with Steve." Soda's said.
We finally made it to school. Casey never really said much because I think Soda intimidated her. Soda dropped the two of us off and he left for work. I found Steve and Pony at the front of the school, hanging out on the steps.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" I asked.
"Nothing much. How you doing, Case?" Steve asked.
"I'm good, but I'm gonna go over with Cherry and Marcia." Casey said, her voice a bit shaky, I think she's scared of Steve too.
"What's wrong with her?" Pony asked.
"I think Steve scares her." I explained.
"Yeah, right." Steve didn't believe me.
The bell rang and we all walked to class. My first three classes were with Steve and then we were separated for the rest of our classes. And of course Pony was all alone in his classes because he was younger. Our first class was math, not my favorite; especially when we had a weird math teacher, Mr. Yon. Math seemed to go on forever. But eventually it ended and Steve and I were out of there in two seconds, not really.
The third class, after Mr. Carson's class, of the day was chemistry. The teacher was okay. Not as weird as Mr. Yon. She was a little stricter. I took my seat beside Steve and took out my homework. I looked at Steve who didn't take out his homework.
"We had homework? Why didn't you tell me?" Steve complained.
"Tell you? Mrs. Gonzalez passed out the homework to us yesterday! Weren't you paying attention?" I shouted. People looked at me then for making so much noise.
"Is there anything you would like to share with us, Ms. Taylor?" Mrs. Gonzalez asked, commenting my loud voice.
"Yeah, anything you would like to share, Taylor?"
"I was not asking you, Mr. Randle." The teacher commented. I elbowed Steve for his snooty remark. "Okay, well, will everyone please take out your homework? I am going to come around and collect it. Make sure your name is on it." Mrs. Gonzalez announced.
My homework was all ready to go. My name was on it and it was completed. I also had some other homework of mine I didn't turn in on time. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.
"Thank you, Ms. Taylor for also including your late work." She noticed. "And Mr. Randle your work, please."
"I left my homework at home." He lied.
"You didn't do your homework did you, Steve?" She asked.
"No I didn't. How'd you know?"
"You used the same line on your homework last week." She reminded him. She kept walking on to the other tables.
Sun. Oct. 24, 1965
Around five I got ready for my date. Soda knocked on the door and I told him to come in.
When we got there I went to find a seat and Soda got drinks and popcorn. He came back with popcorn and one drink. He decided we should share the drink to save money.
About fifteen minutes into the movie most of the people there left. Soda and I held hands and I leaned on his shoulder. About an hour into the movie Soda and I were bored and just talked.
The movie was okay. Then Soda took me to a nicer restaurant but was still close to fast-food. After we ate we left. He dropped me off at my house and we sealed it with a kiss good night.
When I walked up to my room my brother was sitting on my bed, waiting obviously for me.
"Um, hi, Johnny." I looked at him confused and completely lost.
"Can you baby-sit Alice for me?" Johnny asked politely, surprisingly.
"Baby-sit? She's not a baby, she's like eight. But I can't I have to go to school, anyway."
"C'mon Jane and I just need a little vacation." He whined.
"How long?" I gave in.
"'Til Sunday." He said calmly.
"Sunday! I have a life too! That you obviously think doesn't exist!" I stated.
"Here's a list of things you will need. I'll drop off Alice on Wednesday. Good-bye." He walked slowly and quietly out the door.
"A list? Really?" I commented. I got a call:
Soda: Want to see another movie Wednesday?
Typhani: Can't, baby-sitting my niece.
Soda: Can I help?
Typhani: If you really want to.
Soda: Yeah, and if I can't hang out with you at the movies, then I can hang out with you at your house.
Typhani: Okay, suit yourself.
Wed. Oct. 27, 1965
Wednesday came so fast I wasn't ready. Soda was going to come over and hang out with me while I baby-sat Alice. I hardly knew Alice so Soda would help break the ice. Though the problem was that I didn't know what a seven-year-old kid was going to do while at my house. I didn't own any toys and I wasn't going to go out and buy some just for her to play with. But I did warn Johnny that she'd need to bring some of her own stuff.
Johnny wasn't coming until later in the afternoon so I still had time to go to school and while I was at school for Thursday and Friday, Soda was going to watch her. So I hoped that they become fast friends. Soda was good with people but I wasn't as sure how he was with kids; I guess we'd find out tonight.
Afterschool I came to find Soda at my house already. I had asked him to make a chocolate cake for Alice but he forgot. So I ran to the store for ingredients to make a chocolate cake. Right as I got home so did Johnny and Alice. I left Johnny and Alice in the living room and went to find Soda. I went to my room first and found Soda in there with Sandy, kissing. He was holding her the way he used to when they were dating. My eyes swelled up with tears. I closed my eyes to make the nightmare go away. I couldn't actually believe Soda would cheat on me when he was so hurt when Sandy cheated on him.
"Would you like me to give the two of you a moment?" I interrupted them.
"Oh, Typhani, I just stopped by to let you know I'm back." Sandy smirked.
"So you gave Soda a hello kiss?" I said sternly with a hint of sarcasm.
"Typhani, I'm so—" Soda started.
"Save it. Just go home, both of you." I demanded.
"Typhani…"
"I don't care what you have to say." Soda came towards me. "Don't touch me, please, just leave me alone!" As Soda left, Johnny came in.
"What's going on?" Johnny asked, worried.
"Johnny I just can't do this now. Can you ask Travis to watch her? I can't stay here anymore." I said.
"What's wrong with you?" Johnny kept asking questions.
"All I'm gonna say is that I am not staying here one more minute. Now just take Alice to Travis and tell him something happened with Sodapop. He'll understand." Johnny walked out, hopefully taking Alice to Travis. I started packing things up, getting ready to leave. I was thinking to myself where I would go and how long I was gonna be there. I laid down on my bed thinking about my decisions, falling asleep while lying in bed. I woke up two hours later. Now I knew I was leaving. I started packing again.
Soda came back to my house and kissed me. He probably was trying to prove something to me but that wasn't going to work. I pushed him off and away from me.
"How can you walk into my house and into my room and then kiss me without feeling the slightest bit guilty?
"Guilty? Typhani I didn't even do it! She kissed me!" Soda shouted.
"I don't care. Besides, I thought I told you to go home." I said.
"Where are you going?" Soda asked.
"Away from here, either I need to leave or Sandy needs to leave and I know she won't go anywhere without you. So I have to leave." I explained.
"No, you don't have to go. T, I don't love her anymore, I promise. Please don't go." Soda begged.
"I promise, if I ever come back, it's because of you." I promised. I walked past him into the bathroom. He followed me in.
"Go back home, please and I will come home when the time is right." I wrote down on a piece of paper, for Casey and Cherry, what was happening and that I was leaving.
"When is that gonna be? When would you possibly come back?" Soda was really angry.
"Whenever she's gone!" I yelled back
"Why does it matter?"
"I'm tired of her." I complained.
"Typhani, you haven't seen her in five months." Soda said.
"Five months, five days, I don't care; I don't want to be anywhere near her."