Chapter Three
The Soc Johnny killed was named Bob Sheldon. I didn't recognize the name, but when Evie described him, I remembered him immediately.
"You know, that curly-headed blonde. He was drunk a lot and wore that gold ring all the time."
I could see his face, then. He had heavy eyebrows and a mean smile. Johnny had never told us, but I was always pretty sure Bob was the one who hurt Johnny. His ring was the kind that could have left the scar Johnny had.
As if teachers didn't throw us dirty looks enough, after the story hit the papers, it was like the greasers couldn't breathe without getting detention. Plus, the Socs had called for war, attacking anyone who walked alone.
Even the girls.
"Listen," Dally told me. "You're still goin' to school. There's no way in hell those Socs are gonna touch you." Dally had taken to walking me to and from school and insisting I either stay with Karen after school or at the Curtis house. The Curtis house was where I was the Monday after the boys ran.
I was patching a pair of Darry's jeans—the Curtis boys had no idea how to sew and even though Karen and Evie were capable of doing it, they never did—and thinking about earlier in the day whenever Cherry Valance knocked her pencil off her desk in home economics class. Cherry and I sat beside each other because of alphabetical order. Even though the pencil fell closer to her desk than mine, she didn't bend over for it. So I did, and as soon as I did, she did too.
"Are Ponyboy and Johnny okay?" She asked when I handed it to her, smiling like she'd told me 'thank you'.
"They're fine," I said, also smiling. She nodded and didn't speak to me the rest of class. It was weird; Cherry had been Bob's girlfriend, but she came back to school while Marcia had skipped it. Randy, Marcia's boyfriend and Bob's friend, hadn't been there either. The story was that Randy had been there the night Bob died.
I couldn't think of it as Johnny murdered Bob, even though I knew that was what happened. Randy had run off after, though. He was the one who reported it to the authorities.
The cops brought Dally in for questioning that Monday. He told them what he told me: the boys were headed to Texas. He was telling the same lie to the boys in the living room when I pricked my finger with my needle. I brought it to my mouth just as the little bead of blood formed and just as Two-Bit jumped out of his chair.
"What the hell are we doin' just sittin' around, then?! We should be huntin' them down ourselves!" He'd grabbed his jacket and was on his way out the door when Steve stopped him.
"Two-Bit, do you know how suspicious it'll look if we all get to disappearin'? It wouldn't be helpin' Johnny at all! They'd never believe him in court if he does get caught." Steve was right. Steve was smart. He was able to keep his head when all the other boys just about lost theirs, because he had to deal with a father telling him he hated him every week.
Two-Bit let loose with a slur of cuss words and Darry hit him in the head, throwing a glance towards me.
"Sorry, Brooklyn," he mumbled.
Looking through the doorway, I saw Dally pretend to brood, even though I knew he was feeling pretty good about himself for having successfully hidden Pony and Johnny away. Steve clenched and unclenched his hands on his knees. Sodapop stared out the window, face blank. Darry was staring at the floor, and Two-Bit was pacing, his arms crossed.
I felt like I was going to be sick again. I dipped my head, keeping my eyes trained on Darry's jeans. Maybe if I paid enough attention to pushing and pulling the needle in and out of the denim, I could ignore everyone else.
It was getting harder, though. Dally had admitted he had the boys jump a train and hide in a church in Windrixville.
I remembered the church Dally sent Ponyboy and Johnny to. Our cousin Shane showed it to us once whenever we had stopped in Windrixville before settling in Tulsa. The roof was missing in places, and what windows that didn't have cracked or broken glass were boarded up. We didn't go in, but I reckon it couldn't have been warm or nice, and I'm sure Johnny and Pony had some pretty bad nights in it.
I knew all this, and it was eating me up inside. I felt stuck in the middle. I wanted to tell Darry and Soda that the boys were fine. Dallas was my brother, though, and how could I break a promise to him?
On Tuesday, the Shephard gang came over to our vacant lot to play football. For them it was a game; for the boys it was a way to let off steam. Evie, Karen, and I sat on the part of the old wooden fence still standing at one end of the lot. Some of the Shephard gang's girlfriends and sisters were there, including Tim's younger sister.
Angela Shephard came to sit with us, walking through the dead middle of the field like she owned it. When her brother cussed her out for it, she just waved her hand at him.
"I would've expected one of our brothers to kill someone, not that black-haired kid, Brooklyn." She lit up off Evie's cigarette and perched on the edge of the fence. Her already short skirt rode up about three inches.
I shrugged, declining Evie's opened pack.
"Life's full of surprises." We watched the boys for a while. Because Darry was so big, two of Tim's smaller guys got to take him on together. Running at him full speed, they were just about to try to tackle him when a cherry red Sting Ray pulled up to the edge of the lot.
"That's Cherry Valance's car!" Karen called out to the boys, who had started to assemble for a fight.
"Maybe we should teach the broad a lesson, eh?" Tim was still stewing over Two-Bit having been unfairly jumped earlier in the day. The Socs had been armed, and even though Two-Bit always had his black switch on him, he didn't pull it. Two-Bit believed in fair fights all the way.
"What d'ya say, boys?" Tim called to his men. They all yelled in agreement.
"There's no way in hell you're puttin' your hands on her, Timmy. She ain't done nothing to us. Let's just cool it and see what she wants." Two-Bit said and then waved Karen and I over, probably because we were the greaser girls least likely to scare Cherry.
When we got closer, Two-Bit nodded his head toward Cherry's car. I hopped off the curb and tapped her passenger side window. Cherry rolled it down, her face white.
"Call me 'Timmy' one more and I'll make sure you'll never speak again, Two-Bit!" Tim yelled. I knew he was trying to scare Cherry, and it worked. Her eyes got real big.
"Ignore him, he doesn't know how to act in public. They won't bother you none. They'd have to get through Darry. He won't let them lay a finger on a girl," I told her, pointing out Darry, who had come to stand guard along with Sodapop and Steve. Even Dally, who had been all for jumping Cherry a second ago, joined the line. You always stick with and up for your gang. Some of her color came back then.
"How many of y'all are here?" Darry's gang had always been small, especially with Johnny and Pony gone. Tim's gang had grown to upwards of twenty.
"Just us and Shephard's outfit," Two-Bit said, leaning into the car. I didn't even realize he had come to stand behind me. "So, what's the deal, Cherry? It ain't like you to show up on our side alone."
She still looked scared. Karen tried smiling at her. "They'll back off if you get out of the car and talk to Darry and Tim. Show 'em you ain't afraid."
Cherry took Karen's advice and Two-Bit tapped Darry's shoulder while I called over Tim.
"Just Tim, you disobedient hoods!" Dally and a few of Tim's boys had tried to follow. Dally glared at me and I smiled sweetly.
We all backed up, leaving Cherry alone with Tim and Darry. God bless him, Darry angled himself between Tim and Cherry so that Tim couldn't pull anything. I started to walk back to Evie and Angela, but Soda's hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"What does she want?"
"I don't know, Soda. She didn't tell us." He didn't move his hand from my shoulder, so I stayed by Soda. Cherry talked with the boys for a moment before Darry shouldered Tim into following him. He waved Steve and Soda on to stand between the Shephard boys and Cherry. You could never be too careful with the Shephard gang.
Darry began to speak. "Cherry's offering to be our spy. She'll tell us any news from the Socs side. She's got our protection, y'all hear? Any of you so much as say something ugly to her and I'll personally beat you to a pulp. Got it?" Even though Darry wasn't their leader, everybody nodded. "That means you, too, Angela."
She'd been known to fight herself. From her spot on the fence, she shrugged at Darry.
Dally broke away to talk to Cherry. I didn't hear what he said to her, but I heard her tell him he could go to hell, and I laughed. It was the first time I had laughed all week.
I guess it surprised Soda. He turned to me, his hand squeezing my shoulder a little. A real Soda smile, which was bright as the sun, flashed across his face. "Someone's got a crush, huh?"
"Dally's always liked challenges." Soda squeezed my shoulder again before letting his hand drop. He had been quieter than usual since Ponyboy had run away and Sandy left. No on could blame him.
I must have been in a mood myself that night. I couldn't get Dally's reaction to Cherry Valance out of my head. She was so far outside of the usual girls that Dally went after. For all that Angela was my friend, she was also no stranger to my brother.
I couldn't help but bug my brother. It's what little sisters are supposed to do.
"You like her!" I said in a singsong voice later that night. Dally was staying with me at our house for once. He had become more protective than usual, thanks to all the craziness going on.
"Shut your mouth, Brooklyn."
From the way he narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips at me, letting me know just how annoyed he was, I was surprised he didn't launch some of the peas he was eating at me. Instead, he put his anger to work stabbing the poor peas with his fork.
The next day, Tim and Dally were able to grab hold of one of the Soc presidents. The two of them set up a rumble set for Saturday night. All of the boys were jazzed about it. I guess they really thought that this would solve things, one big fight to end it all. It seemed the whole thing would be smooth sailing, until Friday came along.