Chapter 48
"Tell me Soda, did she have a good time? Did Darry really buy her that dress? Where did he get the money for it?" Pony stopped to catch his breath and then started right in again making Soda laugh. "I can't believe he took her! Did you know he was going to take her?" Ponyboy couldn't stop asking questions after Sodapop had shown up to get him at the end of his shift.
"If I tell ya everything Kid, than that will ruin the excitement for Sara to tell you herself." Soda grabbed the Pepsi out of Pony's hand and took a chug. He then flashed Pony his movie star grin. "Let's go hang out with the boys for a little while!" The two walked out to the parking lot where there was a big group of greasers that had gathered in an around several cars. Some had music blaring out of their cars and some were drinking, but most were just hanging, smoking and shooting the breeze. Pony noticed Dally had Buck's T-Bird with the top down and there on the hood sat him and Johnny. Pony started to veer off towards them when Sodapop caught him by the back of the shirt. "Hey, stay close. Darry's gonna be here in about ten, fifteen minutes to getcha." Pony went to push Soda's hand off his shirt and just mumbled.
"Yeah, yeah." Soda watched as Pony sauntered over to see the boys but wanted to make his point so he shot him another warning.
"I mean it, Pony!" Pony still had his back to Soda but put his hand up in the air as if he was acknowledging him, but in actuality of it all he was really just waving him off. Soda shook his head and moved on over to where Sandy and Evie were hanging with some other kids.
"Hey Kid! How's the working man?" Dally said jumping down from the hood and pulling him into a headlock. Pony struggled to get out and once Dally let loose of his grip Ponyboy slipped away.
As he fixed his hair he answered Dal's question. "We had a bunch of Soc jerks tonight. All their girls are at that dance so they were in there causing more trouble than normal." Then Ponyboy stopped and let a big smile spread across his face. "That was until Tim and his gang showed up. Then things got interesting and entertaining."
"I bet it did Kid. I bet it did. Thinking of Tim, I'm gonna go hunt him out. We have to square away a debt." Ponyboy and Johnny started to follow when they only got about half way across the parking lot when Pony noticed Darry pulling in with their beat up Ford.
"Hey Ponyboy!" Darry yelled out his window and slowed the truck down to a stop.
"Hi Dar." Pony acknowledged but with some disappointment as he watched Dal continue to cross the parking lot to where Tim was hanging.
"Pony guess what?" Sara shouted scooting on over closer to Darry so she could holler out the window towards Pony.
"What?" Pony said trying to play along with his sister.
"Darry brought me to the dance! Can you believe it? And look he bought me the dress! See." Sara was practically in Darry's lap by now just so that she could show Ponyboy. Both Pony and Darry chuckled and Darry had just about enough of being Sara's personal jungle gym so he lightly pushed her off and back onto her side of the seat.
"Why don't we go park Sara and you can actually get out and show Ponyboy." He suggested.
And almost in sync with each other the two replied with "Really?"
Darry looked back over at Sara and shook his head. "Only for a bit though." Sara flung herself back onto Darry and wrapped her little arms around his neck.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, Darry! You're just the best. The best I say!" Darry showed a lopsided smile and gave her a pat on the arm and then again gentle pushed her back over to her side of the seat.
"But when I say it's time to go there's no arguing, no whining, no nothing. You just simple say, alright Darry. Got it?" Sara shook her head so fast and hard that her ribbon soon fell down over her eyes. This caused Darry to laugh and he reached over to help her push it back up. After helping Sara he turned to see that Pony was still waiting beside the truck. "Go on. But no wandering off you hear? I want you staying close to one of us."
"I was just going to go with Dal to see Tim." Pony pointed over in the direction that Johnny and Dally had just strolled over towards. Darry took a quick glanced and noticed that everything seemed cool so he nodded his approval.
"Just for a few minutes."
"Alright." Pony tapped the window frame and started jogging over towards the Shepard gang. Darry started rolling the truck forward to find a spot to park. Once he found a spot a few rows down from where Steve had he pulled the truck to a stop. Sara eagerly started for the door handle when she was caught by Darry's strong grip.
"Hey, there's some ground rules we need to set." Sara scowled at the mention of rules. But Darry was quick to jump all over it. "Hey, you can either listen an abide by them or I can turn this truck around and we can head home."
"Sorry." Sara mumbled in regret of the scowl.
"Good. Now you still have this pretty dress on so you need to act like a lady with it on. Not climbing up and down from the cars. You're to stay close by and no wandering the parking lot. And when I say it's time to go, it's time to go. Understood?"
"Got it!" Sara said pumping her fist into the air with excitement. Darry just laughed and pulled open his door. He was immediately greeted by Sodapop who was also pulling Sandy along behind him.
"Hey There." Soda smiled as he gave Darry a slap of the back to gesture his approval of letting Sara stay for a bit. "See I told ya squirt. He'd come around. It just takes him awhile."
Sara slid over towards Darry's door to meet Sodapop who was waiting there for her. "Can you believe it Soda? My first time ever to get to hang with you guys outside of our house. I'm so excited! What are we to do?" Soda and Sandy shared a small chuckle.
"Hate to tell you this Kiddo, but this is what we do when we just hang like this. We just socialize and have fun." Darry reached over to help Sara down. Once he grabbed her around the waist he carried her over to the back of the truck and flipped down the tailgate. He gently set her down in the bed of the truck. Sara looked around wide eye at all the greasers and watched each and every one closely. She was taking it all in. She had stayed quiet watching everyone and barely noticed that some more people had joined them at the truck. As Sara's attention was drawn away from a couple that were arguing Sara noticed that Dally, Johnny and Ponyboy had returned back.
"Look what we have here; I think these greasers are in the wrong neighborhood. All dressed up in their fancy clothes. It looks like Superman actually realized what he needed to do, huh?"
"Cut it out Dal." Johnny quietly spoke.
"I'm glad to see that he got it through that thick head of his that's all." Dally hissed back as he jumped up into the bed of the truck. He walked right on over to Sara and took her hand and pulled her close to him. He twirled her around and it seemed like all eyes were on the two. Somewhere in the background Sara could vividly make out a car radio playing "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals. Sara couldn't help but to laugh, not because she wasn't enjoying the attention that Dallas Winston was giving to her right here in the open public, but to how fitting that this very song was playing when he was doing so.
"More! More!" Sara screamed out with joy. The gang watched on as Dallas continued to spin Sara in the bed of the truck.
"So Dar, how did ya end up buying that dress anyways? I thought you said we were short on cash this week?" Pony asked tossing his sweatshirt in the cab of the truck. Darry watched as Pony did this and soon he took his sport coat off as well and placed in more carefully inside than how Pony just tossed his sweatshirt in. Darry slammed the door shut and started rolling up the cuffs of his sleeves and once he got them to just below his elbows he loosen his tie so that it was just hanging loosely around his neck. He then slowly undid his top three buttons to catch what breeze there was on this warm night.
"Let's just say that the swear jar money never made it into the bank and we'll leave it at that." The three Curtis boys along with Johnny were now smiling from ear to ear. All knew it was a good use for the money. Just as the music was changing from "He's a Rebel to Johnny's Angel by Shelley Fabares Dally stopped spinning Sara.
"Ahhh." Sara whined.
"Sorry Kid, I don't do sappy stuff." Dally quickly released Sara from his hold and jumped on down from the truck. "Might ruin my rep and all." The boys started to laugh.
"Someone dance with me, please?" Sara begged.
"Sara, didn't you get enough dancing in already tonight?" Soda asked leaning into the truck with Sandy in his arms.
"Nope! I could dance forever Soda." Sara swayed back and forth.
"Yeah right." Darry replied as he took a seat on the tailgate. "That's why you fell asleep during the last song." Darry tuned and looked over his shoulder and caught his little sister's cheek start to turn pink. He was about to say something else when he noticed two pretty girls walking past to get to their car. They looked to be older than high schoolers, but it wasn't until Dallas started in on them that he recognized one of girls.
"Well, well, lookey here boys. We've got us some good looking chicks." Dally started waltzing closer to them. He had angled it just right so that the girls were stopped by his presence and where now pinned in between him and Darry's truck. Once Darry got a better look at the girls he jumped down from the tailgate and came to their rescue.
"Leave us alone." One spoke with a hint of fear in her voice. "Be nice, and leave us alone." She stated again while trying to edge her way past him.
"I'm never nice, doll." Dally was about ready to run his hand down the girl's cheek when Darry grabbed his arm and tugged him back.
"The Lady said leave her alone, Dal." Darry had now positioned himself between the two girls and Dally. Dally was giving Darry a stone cold glare, but Darry gave it right back as a warning to knock it off. As Darry and Dallas were having a standoff Darry heard one of the girl's call out something familiar. Just the ring of it told Darry he knew this girl.
"Mr. Curtis?" Darry gave Dallas a rough shove back towards the truck, then turned to get a better look at the ladies. "It's me Claire from Dr. Robinson's office."
"You know this chick?" Dal asked as he adjusted his jacket and shook off Darry's shove.
"Claire, yes, I thought that it was you, but couldn't tell in this dim light." Dallas watched the interaction between Darry and the girls and soon knew that he had been defeated and retreated back to the truck like he was a beaten animal. His little act had attracted some other's that were gathered at nearby cars and soon they were all hanging in an around Darry's truck as well.
"Good try Winston. Maybe next time." Tom crackled. "It looks like stud muffin Curtis got the girl this time."
Dally pulled out a Kool and light it up and took a big, long hit off of it. He turned and blew the smoke right into Tom's face. "We'll see about that, now won't we." Tom and Dally were shooting daggers at each other and soon the pushing and shoving came and Sara couldn't believe all the action that was going on around her. Her head was just a swiveling back and forth between Tom Brumly and Dally and then that of Darry and the ladies that he had rescued. Before any punches could be thrown between Dallas and Tom Two-Bit rushed in from nowhere to pull Dally right off of Tom, and Tom's brother Carl was pulling him off.
"He's not worth it Tom." Carl hissed. The boys broke up the fight so Sara was able to bring her attention back to her big brother and the ladies.
"Your friend?" Claire said shaking her head towards a stomping mad Dallas.
"Oh, Dal? He's alright. He just gets a little worked up from time to time."
"I almost didn't notice you all dressed up like this. It's not your usually attire when I see you." Claire flashed a sweet smile towards him.
Darry let out a muffled chuckle. "Yeah I guess I do look a bit odd huh?"
"No, I wouldn't call it odd." Her cheeks started to warm. "It's nice. I mean you look nice."
"Thanks. I almost didn't notice you either without your nurse's uniform." Now it was Darry's turn for his cheeks to feel a bit warm, but he tried to change the subject. "Were you doing some bowling?"
"Yeah, sorry I'm being rude." Claire turned towards the other girl. "This is my friend Greta, Greta this is Mr. Darrel Curtis."
"Just Darry." He said reaching his hand across to shake that of Greta. Darry could tell that Greta was a bite hesitant but quickly gave Darry a weak shake.
"So is this what you do when you're not bringing in your daughter to the doctor's?" If Darry didn't know better he would think that Claire was kind of flirting with him, but he was enjoying it some. And for once in his life he was actually happy that Dallas Winston had tried to start something.
"My sister." Darry corrected Claire.
"Oh, yes, your sister. It's just that the two of you look alike, so I just assumed." By now Greta was getting tired of these charades and she leaned in and whispered something into Claire's ear.
"Then go ahead." Claire said with a cantankerous demeanor. Greta eyed Claire and when Claire added, "I'm done with him for tonight." Greta spun on her heels and marched back towards the bowling alley entrance. Darry raised an eyebrow but Claire just brushed it off. "We were bowling with some friends and I disagreed with what they were doing so I came out here to get some fresh air."
"Oh." Darry remarked not really believing her too much but didn't want to see her leave right away either. For some reason he was feeling really relaxed tonight. He's not sure if it because of the nice, warm night, or if it was being around the boys or the dance with Sara, or maybe was it this girl that was standing in front of him? As Darry was about to say something witty to Claire a car full of Soc's came flying on past Darry and Claire. Darry's instincts kicked in and he pushed Claire towards the building and away from the car and the group of greasers that had formed around his truck. But during the push Darry soon realized that Claire was cradled in his arms. "Sorry, I didn't mean.. I umm sorry."
"No, it's alright Darrel."
"Darry. Please call me Darry. When I hear people call me Darrel I feel like I'm in a formal place, or that I'm being spoken to like I'm my father." Claire dipped her head and let a small smile creep to her face.
"Now it's my turn to apologize. Darry it is. I'll make sure I get it right next time."
Darry couldn't help but feel this little tingling feeling while standing here and talking with Claire. I mean he had taken notice of her when he would bring the kids into the office, but he never gave it much thought, until this morning when he noticed Sara and Claire interacting with each other. He couldn't resist the warm feeling running through his veins, which probably is why he said what he said. "Wow, direct I like that! So there's going to be a next time?" Darry asked with a wicked smile spreading across his face, letting his deep dimples show.
"Well of course Mr. Curtis, aren't you bringing in your sister next week?" Darry stupidly slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. How on earth could he think she meant more to this than what it really was. He shied away embarrassed that he thought she meant something else.
"Yup, you're right." As Darry shied away and looked towards the group that had gathered around his truck he noticed two things. One the group had tripled in size than when he first stepped in to stop Dally, and two he no longer could see his little sister or brothers. Those two things started to make his nervous, but not as nervous as it was making Sara.
Sara's eyes never left her big brother but after the little tiff taff that Dally and Tom Brumly had just gotten into the crowd around her started to build in size and that scared her something awful. This was unknown territory for the little girl. She had never been in a situation like this before. With all the action going on she somehow lost eye sight of all the people she knew and trust. Dally had marched off and Pony, Johnny and Two-Bit were quick to follow after him, but where did Soda, Steve, Evie and Sandy move off to? Maybe Steve's car she thought? As she spun from side to side of the truck trying to see someone she started to get scared. Where could they be? She moved towards the tailgate where two guys that she wasn't familiar where had taken Darry's spot.
"Excuse me." She said with a hitch in her voice, but she was so soft the two rough looking guys didn't budge. Sara moved her feet a little closer. "Excuse me. I need to go find my brothers." One of the rough looking boys turned and looked up at her.
"Who the hell are you?"
Sara started shaking as she frantically looked around for her brothers. "Soda?" She called.
"Soda? Who the hell names their daughter Soda." He jabbed the other guy and the two laughed. Sara was almost having flashbacks of getting lost at the stadium.
"Darry?" She hollered again. Fight of Flight had now sank in and Sara managed to get the nerve up to try to push her way between the two boys, but they were bigger and stronger and once they figured that she wanted out they pushed their shoulders together so there wasn't any room to get down that way. "Darry! Soda!" Sara yelled again. But because there was so much noise, music from the car stereo's blaring and cars being reeved up and just noise of kids having fun that no Curtis boy could hear her yell. "Dally!" Sara knew that she needed to keep trying. When she realized that the two boys weren't gonna move to she moved to the side of the truck. She looked down towards the ground and then back at the goons on the tailgate. She knew that Darry would kill her if he caught her, but she needed to get away and this was the only way she could think of right now. She moved right up to the edge of the truck bed and flung one leg over and she used her foot to guide her to the wheel well of the truck. Once her foot was secured on the tire she flung her other leg out. It was much harder to do this in a dress and her fancy mary janes than she had originally thought. Once her other foot found the wheel well she let out a heavy sigh. But now it was the next step. Her foot needed to find the ground, and once she had done that she would be able to run and find one of her brothers. She started to step down with her right leg when she felt a tear at her dress. "Oh, no." She let out. She looked back up and noticed that the petticoat of the dress had gotten caught in the edge of the truck. She stepped back up onto the wheel well and tried to get the dressed off of the slit in the bed of the truck, what did Darry call these slits again? Sara tried to focus on getting the dress out but every movement she made she could hear the dress rip even more. Sara couldn't help but get frustrated, and between that and being scared she started to feel the tears well up. "No! No!" She cried out. As she was fighting with her dress she felt the truck shift some from weight. As she brought her eyes up she noticed that one of the goons was getting up and moving towards her. She knew this was her finally chance so she tugged hard on the dress and with the force the dress tore even further, but the good thing was she had gotten it free from the bungee slot. Yes, that's what it was called bungee slot. She quickly dropped one foot to the ground and then added the other. Once she was down she heard the goon say something along the lines.
"Wait Kid, you're a Curtis ain't ya? We didn't mean no harm." He sounded sincere, but Sara wasn't going to wait around to find out if it was true or not. She dodged through the crowd that was formed around the truck. She was being very rude but she felt like she needed to be to get to her brothers. She pushed and squeezed between a lot of people and it wasn't until she was in the middle of the parking lot that she spotted Darry. He was still talking to that girl.
"Darry!" She yelled. Darry looked up and noticed that Sara started coming towards him.
"Claire, I need to go. I'll see you around."
"Is that Sara?" She asked with surprise. "You brought Sara here this late at night?" She asked a bit critical of Darry's parental responsibility.
"It's a long story." He yelled looking over his shoulder but back at Sara again.
"Darry!" Sara said yelling and running again across a business parking lot. Darry noticed that she was picking up speed and he only had images of what happen just a few days ago at the DX.
"Sara stop!" Darry yelled. Sara was so relieved to see and hear Darry that she wasn't paying any attention to things around here. Darry knew in order to get to her before she got to him he needed to pick up the speed as well, but what he didn't know was that Claire was right behind him.
"Darry!" Sara took one more step but was stopped short by a strong set of arms.
"Whoa pretty little girl, where are ya running off to in a busy parking lot?" Sara found that her body wasn't moving anymore and yet there was an unfamiliar arm wrapped around her. She looked up and saw no other than Tim Shepard.
"I needed to get to Darry." Sara managed to get out in between gasps for air.
"Well, hasn't your brothers taught you not to run in a parking lot?" Sara dipped her head so that now she was looking at her torn dress and that alone wanted to make her cry. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself? I heard you just had this same little incident just the other day." Sara felt like she was standing in front of another brother the way Tim was standing, and using a stern rough voice. Sara just stood frozen and listened to what he had to say, but she didn't have to wait to long for Darry and Claire where right at her side.
"Sara!" He said as he approached. With the arrival of Darry, Tim let go of his hold of Sara, and Sara instantly ran into Darry's legs. "What have I told you about running in a parking lot? You could of gotten hurt. What were you thinking?"
"I couldn't find you! I got scared. Oh, Darry." Sara clung to Darry's legs and tried to hold back the tears.
"Sara, are you alright?" A sweet, soft, caring voice rang into her ears. Sara had no idea who this voice could belong to but she swore that she had heard it before. She slowly peeked through Darry's legs and noticed the pretty lady that had couched down to her level. She looked into some big and bold green eyes. "Hi sweetie. How are you?" The lady instantly started rubbing Sara's arm.
"Nurse Claire?" Sara asked with shock. "What are you doing here?"
Claire let a small chuckle escape her lips. "I should be asking you the same thing at this hour." Sara lifted her head towards Darry for support.
"We had the father/daughter dance tonight and we had to come and pick up our brother Ponyboy who works inside the bowling alley. And for a special treat I told the kids we could stay for a bit and hang with the boys."
"Oh, yes, I saw Ponyboy inside." Then she looked back towards Tim and mentioned, "And I believe I saw you as well." Tim simple let out a grunt and spoke to Darry.
"Darry, you might want to keep a tighter leash on this one. And you know that talk we had a week or so ago at Buck's?" Darry nodded his head in hopes that Tim wouldn't embarrass Sara nor release any information in front of Claire. "Well, if it was my sister, I would be dragging her ass on home and you know, making sure it didn't happen again, because obviously she hasn't learned from yesterday's events." Darry couldn't possible to do that, and that was one of the differences between him and Tim.
"Thanks for the advice Tim, but you see there's a big difference between your sister and mine. You can handle things your way and I'll handle things my way." Darry held his hand out to shake Tim's, as a gesture to thank him though for stopping Sara, and that just because he didn't agree with his tactic, they were still cool. Tim looked at the calloused hand being held out and for a minute he looked like he was gonna spit on it. But Tim lips grew into a small grin and he grabbed Darry's hand and gave it a fair, firm shake. Tim started to move towards the crowd of greasers when he stopped and lowered himself down to Sara's level. The two locked eyes and Tim spoke harshly to the little girl.
"You're lucky that he's your brother and not me. If I ever catch you doing that again, let me just tell you little one, I won't be as gentle as this guy is. Got it?" Tim stayed at her level for a minute just glaring and Sara gave him a slow nod. "Good. Now isn't it way past your bed time?" Sara again looked up to Darry for help with this question.
"You know Tim; you're right about one thing." The two boys exchanged another smile and Tim ruffled Sara's head and then stood up. Just as he was standing Sodapop, Steve, Evie and Sandy were now coming alongside the group.
"Hey Tim, Darry, and…" Sodapop stopped when his face meet Claire. "Sara's nurse?"
"Hi ya Sodapop. I'm…" And as just on cue her name was being hollered out.
"Claire!" A strong manly voice rang out across the parking lot. As the group's eyes darted they noticed a small group of Soc boys coming towards them.
"I better go." Claire looked between the group and then back at the group that she had originally arrived with.
"I thought you said you were done with him for tonight?" Darry asked seeing the hesitation of returning back the group of Soc's.
"I just don't want there to be any more trouble." She said in a hushed tone as her eyes darted off towards Tim. Darry didn't miss a beat.
"Was there trouble earlier?" Darry asked again.
"Hey what's going on?" Ponyboy whispered into Sodapop's ear.
"I don't know, I just got here myself, but it looks like possible trouble. You best take Sara and get her back to the truck." As the group got closer Soda was scanning the Soc's and decided to add to that. "On second thought take all the girls back to the truck." Soda reached for Sandy and whispered in her ear and she shook he head no. Pony tried to obey Soda's request but he couldn't reach Sara around Darry and Tim. And by the time he tried they were right in the middle of a confrontation.
"What the hell is going on here Claire?" A super Soc asked all dressed in his khaki pants and madras shirt.
"I just needed some air, and I ran into some clients of mine." The Soc looked the group over and let out a fake laugh.
"These jokers are clients of Dr. Robinson's? Since when did he start accepting greasers?"
"Let's just go Neal." Claire moved her way over to the Soc and pulled on his arm to get him to leave.
"Yeah, Neal, why don't you just move right along? Take your little tag along wanta be's and go back to here the grass is greener." Of course Tim couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"Hey, you're the punk from earlier!" Neal shook Claire off his arm with a bit more force than Darry liked to see a man treat a woman. He stepped forward to intervene when Tim held out his arms to stop him.
"I'd be careful who you call a punk there, Nealie." Tim took a small step towards Neal and his friends, which prompted them to take a step closer.
Sara didn't like what she was witnessing and she slowly crept closer to Darry looking for comfort and hoping that he wouldn't do anything that he would regret. Darry felt her brush up against his leg and he looked down into her tired, horrified face. He stepped back and remembered that Sodapop was somewhere behind him. As he turned he actually noticed that their small group had grown and now the whole gang, along with Tim's was standing behind him. Darry unlatched Sara's hands and lifted her up. "Soda, take Sara and Pony and wait for me in the truck." Soda shook his head in disagreement, which infuriated Darry even more. He didn't have time for this shit. The way Tim was running his mouth he knew that something was about to go down and he didn't need his kid siblings witnessing it. "Now!" He hissed.
"I can't." Soda said through clinched teeth. Darry pushed pass Steve and Two-Bit so that he was closer to Soda. "You can, and you will." He shifted an unwanted Sara into Sodapop's arms. He reluctantly took her. "Now go. Pony you too!" Pony shook his head in agreement, unlike Soda. Pony knew there would be repercussions if he didn't, so he started to slowly move away from the group, but Soda didn't.
"C'mon Soda. You heard what Darry said." Sandy was hoping that she could convince her boyfriend to move away from the fight. She hated fights and hated it even more when Soda was involved in them. It didn't take much convincing from Soda when he started to move away with Sara in his arms until Sara screamed out.
"Darry! Darry please! Just come with us." Sara had her arms reached out towards Darry, but he knew hat he wasn't gonna let this preppy, snotty nosed rich kid get the best of him. Nope this was one battle he couldn't walk away from. As Darry turned his back on his family, the cries of Sara were stuck in his head and heart, but his eyes were stuck on Claire. Tim and Neal were still exchanging words and the gap between the two groups were closing in and getting smaller and smaller.
Sodapop had gotten Sara, Pony, Sandy and Evie back to the truck. He decided the best place for Sara and Pony would be in the cab. It was killing Soda to hear Sara cry for Darry. He tried to sooth her in every way he knew but nothing was working to calm her down. Not his rubbing or his soothing comments or the stroking of the head. Nothing. He was becoming fluster himself. He looked to Pony but Pony's attention was out the back window at the group that had built by the building. Soda couldn't stand it anymore. He ran his hand down the back of Sara's head one more time and took a deep breath. "Stay here! No matter what!" Soda's voice was so parental that it shocked all that were there, including Sandy and Evie.
"Bring him back Soda." Was all that Sara said as she snuggled into Ponyboy. Soda slammed the door and stuck his head through the open window.
"I'll try Kiddo. I'll try." And he whispered one more thing to Sandy and he took off running back toward the group.
When Sodapop was approaching the group he could see a kid from him school, a senior he believed stepping up to Neal.
"C'mon Bro?" Another dark headed boy that looked like Neal, but younger stepped forward. But Neal shook him off.
"Bobby, stay out of this. It's not your lady they're after." Neal warned but as Bob started to back off another older Soc stepped forward.
"There not worth it Sheldon. Let's just grab the girls and get outta here." But Neal shrugged him off to and continued running his mouth.
Darry was staying pretty calm until Neal drew his attention off of Tim and onto him. "Oh, what, Daddy couldn't stand the thought of his daughter having to hear and see him for the no good greaser he really is?" Darry stood stiff with his fist clinched tight to his side. So tightly his nails were digging into his palms. "What got nothing to say? Well take this as a warning; you keep your hands off of my woman. By the looks of things you have a hard time doing that, with a kid and at your age. Typical greaser for you, a low down dirty baby maker." Even though Darry was the one being insulted, Tim took it upon himself to step in and that he did. He swung his fist back and it landed right into Neal Sheldon's nose. The instant Tim's fist made contact with Neal the crowd erupted. Fists started to be thrown by the Soc's and the most of Tim's gang did the fighting until one of the older Soc's came up to Darry and took a swing. Darry was quick to block it and landed one right into his gut, causing him to double over. Darry was looking around to see what happened to Claire when he got knocked in the chin by the younger Sheldon kid.
What the.." When Darry noticed another one coming from the kid again, Soda stepped in front of him d let a fist fly, sending Bob staggering off. "Soda?" Darry managed to get out while rubbing his chin. Soda tugged on Darry's arm getting him to move away from the crowd.
"C'mon Darry, 's is coming for a visit next week. You can't be doing this. We can't afford it." Darry knew that Soda was right, but he felt bad leaving Tim here fighting his battle. But when the boys heard sirens off in the distance they knew what needed to be done. Darry tried to round up the boys and get them moving, just as he had them all wrangled up he noticed that Claire was huddling by the building. He rushed over and grabbed her hand and pulled her with him towards the truck. Once he managed to get everyone to a vehicle he opened the door and motioned for Claire to jump in. Soda grabbed Sandy and Evie and flew into Steve's car. Johnny, Two-Bit ended up with Dally in Buck's T-bird. Every one of the Curtis gang members made it out of the parking lot just as the fuzz was pulling in. Sara was still in Pony's lap hanging on for dear life, with Claire sitting in between the two boys. Once Darry was on the main high way he looked in his rear view mirror and noticed that the other two cars all went separate ways. He was hoping the Sodapop wouldn't stay out much longer for Darry wanted to thank for pulling him out of there when he did. The truck was deathly quiet and Darry was trying to figure out what to do next. He could drop Claire off first, or he could drop the kids off. He wouldn't mind having a little bit more time with Claire, but he knew this was supposed to be Sara's night, so dropping Claire off first would be best.
"Umm, Claire, can you tell me where you want to be dropped off?"
"I live in on Maple Drive." Darry tried to not look too shocked. He was hoping that Claire might be middle class, but no she was one hundred percent Soc. Maple Drive had the biggest and best houses in town. It was actually one of the roads in a gated community that borders Maple Wood Country Club. Darry tried to hide the look on his face by pretending to rub his eyes. How the hell did shit like this always happen to him? He just couldn't shake that from his head. Inside the truck was very quiet and every now and then he could hear a sniffle from Sara and a whisper from Pony. Darry couldn't stand the quietness so he reached over and turned on the radio. "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March was playing.. Darry was hoping that this would help break the ice, but when it didn't Darry tried helping Ponyboy sooth their sister.
"Sara, honey, how are you doing over there?" Darry tried leaning forward to catch a glimpse of his sister. But all he could see was her head buried into Pony's chest. His gaze fell from her head down her body towards her legs that were almost draped over Claire's. It was then he noticed the rip in her dress. "Sara, what happened to your pretty dress?"
"It got stuck in the bungee slot." Her voice was all muffled from hiding into Pony's chest. Pony continued to caress her hair.
"What?" Darry asked. Pony knew that Sara wasn't gonna move so he repeated it for her.
"She said it got stuck in the bungee slot." Pony replied.
"How did that happen and what the heck were you even doing by the bungee slot?" Darry knew this really wasn't the time or place but he wanted answers and wanted them now.
Again Sara's voice was muffled but she answered. "There were two guys that wouldn't let me come find you. They blocked the tailgate so I climbed down over the side of the truck. That's when my dress got caught. I'm so sorry Darry, I ruined it."
"No, baby, it's my fault. I should of never brought you tonight. None of this would of ever happened. You would be safe and sound in bed by now; Ponyboy would be home probably finishing Catch 22 and your dress, well," Darry paused when he felt a warm hand reach over and touch his arm. He turned his head to see that Claire was trying to comfort him, but he shouldn't be getting the comforting he thought, Sara needed it, it was his stupidity that has brought a damper to her night. Claire let her arm linger there for a few more minutes until she notice her road coming up.
"Darrel, you can just let me out here." Darry cocked and eyebrow. "Really it's alright. I mean I have to put the code in for the gate anyway." Of course Darry thought. God forbid that a greaser would know or see the code. Plus she would probably be embarrassed to be seen in his old piece of junk truck, with two children inside.
"Are ya sure?" What was he doing he thought? Why ask her that, you know what she's gonna say, and yup there it was.
"I'm sure." Darry stopped short of the gate on the side of the road and opened the door. Claire jumped out and Darry lingered some. She stopped and leaned against the truck and in a low hush voice so that Pony and Sara couldn't hear she spoke to Darry. "Thank you for the ride Darrel, and thanks for stepping in with your friend. It was very nice of you. I'm sorry about Neal and Bobby. They're normally pretty nice guys, but they had a little to drink and Neal just doesn't see things the same as you and I do." Claire gave Darry a sympathetic look, the same look Darry had seen a million times before.
"Hey, it's no problem, Dallas Winston can be an asshole sometimes, but he too can be a pretty good guy when he wants to." Darry strummed his fingers on the hood of the truck thinking about what to do with this moment here in front of him. But as he was thinking the moment swiped in and took him by surprise. Claire moved closely and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"Well, I'll see you next week then, Darrel." Darry smiled and watched as Claire walked up to the gate and punched in the number. As the gate was opening she turned and waved. "Darrel?"
"Yeah?"
"Make sure you ice the wrist of Sara's. It looked swollen still." Darry could help but chuckle, for it wasn't really what he thought she was gonna say, but heck it's better than nothing.
"I will. Have a good night." Darry said waving. She gave a small wave back and moved through the gate and up onto the sidewalk. Darry watched as the gate closed him out and spied Claire moving further in. His eyes stayed focused on her shadow while it moved down the walk, but when it soon disappeared into the third driveway on the left, Darry knew she was gone. Once he was sure she was gone he moved back to the truck where he found Ponyboy shifting a sleeping Sara into the middle. Darry tried to not slam the door, but even the slightest sound jerked her back awake. She moved her sleepy eyes over towards Darry and then leaned her body into him. Darry took his right arm and wrapped it around his baby sister and drove them off towards home. Ponyboy was pretty quiet and that worried Darry. He was wondering what he must be thinking. First seeing his older brother in a fight, then bringing a strange girl home and all on a night that he knew should have belonged to Sara. Darry could tell by the lines in Pony's face that he was disappointed in him. Hell, he had all right to be, for Darry was disappointed in himself for allowing this to all happen in the first place. By the time Darry pulled up to the house he was surprised to see lights on inside.
"Do you want me to wake her?" Pony asked reaching for the door handle.
"Nah, I got her, if you can just open the door for me that would be great." Pony nodded his head but was startled by their screen door hitting the house. The sound caught his attention and he looked over to see Sodapop walking out in bare feet.
"Hey Kiddo." He said opening Pony's door.
"You're home early aren't ya?" Pony asked dragging himself out of the truck.
"Yeah, well you know." The two boys shared a knowing look that they only knew what it meant. Sodapop patted Pony's back and said "Go get in the house Pon. I'll help Darry with Sara." Pony took Soda up on his offer and knew that if he got in first he could get first dibs on the shower. As Pony walked into the house Soda watched as Darry gathered up a sleeping Sara in his arms.
"She's out huh?" Soda asked sending him a grin.
"Yup, too much action for one night I think." Soda had come around to the driver's side to help Darry with the doors. He shut it as gently as he could without waking her. He then trotted pass the two to get the screen door, but on his way by he couldn't help but tease his big brother. There weren't very many opportunities to do so, so he had to take advantage of this one.
"I'd say too much action for you too, huh Darry?" Darry didn't know what exactly Sodapop might be referring too, for it could be many things, but by his shitty grin he probably meant Maggie and Claire.
"You best watch it little buddy. I didn't plan any of that." The boys were moving up the stairs of the porch when Soda snuck by to hold the screen open but he made sure that when Darry walked by that he would throw in another comment.
"It must be just terrible having three girls in one night bidding for your attention." Soda tried to hold back his snicker.
"Three?" Darry stopped and asked. "Where the hell are you getting three from?" And when Soda just nodded down to the sleeping figure in his hand Darry shook his head.
"I swear Soda, if I wasn't holding our sister right now; you would be getting a size 10 in the ass."
"Yeah, yeah." Soda followed in behind the two making sure to close the doors softly behind them. The two moved on down through the house.
"That didn't take him long." Soda joked as they heard the water running in the bathroom. When they got to Sara's room Darry instructed Soda to get some pj's out for Sara and he was going to try to get her dress off, which was a much harder task than Darry had predicted. As he fumbled with the pearls Sara started to stir some. Once Soda had a gown picked out for her he started with her shoes. It was then he noticed the dress.
"Darry how did her dress get ripped?"
"I'll tell you about it later. Pull her tights off would ya." Soda pulled at the feet of the tights not wanting to invade her privacy and yanking them down from under the dress. Darry just shook his head in disbelief at his brother.
"What? It's working isn't it?" He asked in a whisper. Soda had managed to get the top of the tights down to her knees then he pulled them off from there. Darry was working on the dress when all the pulling and tugging finally brought Sara too.
"Darry? Soda?" She said with a sleepy voice.
"We're just getting you ready for bed Babygirl." Soda sat down on the edge of her bed while Darry managed to get the dress unzipped and up over her head.
"Darry I'm awfully sorry about the dress. I've ruined it, just like Cinderella." Sara rubbed at her tired eyes. Darry slipped her nightgown on and Soda pulled back her blankets. She crawled in and laid her head on her pillow. "But unlike Cinderella my night ended up a whole lot better."
"I'm glad you think so Sweet Pea." Soda was always coming up with sweet and clever names for Sara. "Why don't you rest your head now?"
"Soda, thank you so much for showing up tonight. I'm sorry I've been such a brat lately." Soda moved in and placed a gentle kiss on Sara's forehead. "Haven't you gotten the memo? That's what little sisters are for." Even though Sara was beyond exhausted she flashed Soda a big smile.
"And Darry thank you for everything. It was amazing! The dress, the shoes, the pearls, and bringing me. It was all I wanted."
"So you had a good time then?" He needed the reassurance that what happened towards then end didn't ruin it for her.
In a soft, sleepy, but sweet voice she managed to get out, "I had the time of my life." And before the boys knew it Sara was lightly snoring. Darry wasn't one to show emotion and he wasn't sure if it was just because of all of the different events of the night, but one tiny tear was escaping from his grey eyes and Soda saw it. He stood up and flung his arm around his big brother and pulled him in close.
"Did ya hear that big brother? She had the time of her life!" Darry quickly wiped at the stray tear and lightly shoved his little brother towards the door.
"I heard it." He said smiling his deep dimple grin.