The Gang's Point of View
Sodapop walked through the door. It was quiet. Darry was usually home by now, and Ponyboy was usually in the living room or in his room doing homework. He looked at Steve, who offered nothing but an uninterested glare. It wasn't that important. Darry and Ponyboy weren't kids. They didn't need to be looked after. They could take care of themselves. Sometimes he had his doubts about Ponyboy, because it seemed like the kid always needed to follow him and Sodapop around, but he couldn't get into that much trouble when he was alone. It's not like he went around asking for it. The kid barely said a word.
"Something's up. They wouldn't leave without telling me," Sodapop said nervously.
Steve rolled his eyes. He loved his best friend, he really did. But sometimes, he didn't understand why he could make a fuss over the small things. They had been planning to going out with Sandy and Evie, and it really set them back a few if Soda went looking around for Darry and Ponyboy.
"Soda, relax. The kid probably had some parent-teacher conference at school. They probably just forgot to tell you," Steve tried to reassure Soda. He wasn't very good at it, mostly due to his inexperience of lectures and comforting. "Or maybe he had track practice and Darry went to pick him up."
Soda nodded. "Yeah, you're right. You're right." And his demeanor softened. He set his DX hat down and took off the uniform overshirt to change into something casual. Steve stood in the living room and looked out of the screen door. He noticed Two-Bit walking with Dally and Johnny up to the house. Two-Bit looked a little upset. Steve was about to ask why, but didn't get a chance to. Two-Bit explained as soon as he set foot on the worn-out "Welcome" mat.
"You gotta come quick. There's blood-"
Blood? He wasn't he had heard him correctly. "Where?" Steve asked.
Two-Bit tried to catch his breath and explain. Johnny looked shaken next to him.
"The alleyway about two blocks away, between that mom and pop store on the corner of Levy Street."
Steve rolled his eyes worriedly. He looked over to Sodapop's bedroom, where Sodapop was singing an Elvis song and probably couldn't hear their conversation. Honestly, what were the chances that it was the kid?
Sodapop walked out of the room whistling and noticed the three new occupants of the living room. "Hey guys! What's goin' on?"
Two-Bit looked solemnly to Steve. It was rare to see him so worried about something.
"Have you seen Darry or Ponyboy?" he asked Sodapop, who raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
He shook his head. "No. I just got here a few minutes ago. We figured that Pony got caught up in something at school."
Two-Bit sighed a bit and looked at Johnny, who was still an array of sadness and terror. Dally spoke up. "Listen. There's some blood down at the strip about two blocks down. The dirt road over there."
Sodapop made a strange noise. Something told Steve that he could sense when his family was in trouble.
Sodapop didn't think twice before running out of the door barefoot. The rest followed behind him as he ran over to the small road that was not too far down from their house. Sure enough, there was dried blood in the dirt. And a whole hell of a lot of it. Sodapop looked around for any evidence that his brother's presence at the scene. Anything, really. It seemed odd to Steve, because Soda claimed to everyone that he was a dumb person. That he dropped out of school because he wasn't smart. In truth, he was actually pretty intelligent.
It wasn't long before Sodapop found a chunk of Ponyboy's hair on the ground. It creeped Steve out a bit, but there was no denying that it was his. Ponyboy's hair was a kind of red-brown that you don't see too often on a person.
"Let me guess..." Dally started.
Without a moment's hesitation, Sodapop took off towards the house. Without a word, the gang followed him back. He ran inside and put some shoes on and was back out on the porch before the rest even reached it.
"Steve. I need your car," Sodapop pleaded. Steve rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket. He tossed the keys at Soda, who caught them instantly.
"You guys stay here. I'll call you when I figure out what happened." He jumped into Steve's beat up car that closely resembled the Curtis' truck and sped away without further explanation.
Once he was out of sight, the group dispersed. Dally turned to Steve, Johnny, and Two-Bit. "I don't know about you, but I'm goin' out to find out who did this." The group looked at each other. It wasn't too often that they were hesitant about something like this.
"What? Can't we all agree that the kid got jumped? Isn't that obvious?"
It was hard enough to think it, but it hurt more to say it. Not because someone they know had gotten jumped. They all had at one time or another. It's what comes with the label. It was mostly because there had been a lot of blood, and it was Sodapop and Darry's kid brother. The baby of the group. There was no question about it. It wasn't too unlike what had happened with Johnny not so long ago. And that had shaken them up quite a bit, too.
Dally scoffed. "Fine. Stay here. But I'm goin'." And with that, he walked away. Nobody stopped him, either.
Once he was out of sight, Two-Bit turned to Johnny and attempted a weak smile of assurance. Johnny looked at his feet. Anytime this happened lately, it put Johnny more on edge than usual. The gang did their best to protect Johnny and calm his nerves when they could tell that he was shaken.
"It's okay, Johnnycake. Dally'll catch 'em. Whoever it was, they won't get away with it." Two-Bit slung an arm around his neck and pulled him closer, then rubbed his head like an older brother. And he was.
Steve shook his head and walked inside. He turned and looked at the two. Both didn't seem convinced of Two-Bit's encouraging words. "I'm just worried about the kid."
Once they got inside, they tried their best to forget about what they had seen and what they were sure had happened. It wasn't like it was a puzzle. The one thing about Socs is that they don't cover their tracks. And when they jump a greaser, it's usually in plain sight.
The gang was boiling with anger, masked with fear of Pony's well-being. If they had been as emotionally unattached as Dally, they may have gone right along with him. But they were protective over the kids of the group and were more focused on Pony's well-being than revenge at the moment.
The night passed like walking through syrup. Dally had never come back. Steve hadn't even bothered to alert Sandy and Evie that their plans were cancelled. They'd figure out somehow. Two-Bit tried to crack jokes as often as he could without addressing the elephant in the room, but they all fell short. Johnny and Steve weren't in the mood. Johnny just sat on the couch without making eye contact with either of them, fidgeting nervously.
It got increasingly worse as the potential outcomes of what happened ran through all of their heads.
Steve was on the couch for most of the night but could barely sit still. He stared at the phone waiting for Sodapop to call. He pondered the impossibility that no one had heard the commotion. The DX wasn't that far away from where they saw the blood. And someone was usually at the house. He wondered what exactly had happened. It made him feel a bit guilty, especially because he didn't know the extent of the kid's injuries or if he was going to be alright. If they were really listening, he bet that Sodapop or himself would have heard him from the DX.
It was around ten o'clock when the phone rang. Everyone was snapped out of their thoughts. Two-Bit realized that they had been sitting in the darkness, and no one had spoken a word for about two hours. He stretched and looked at Steve, who darted over to it. He clutched the receiver with white knuckles.
"Soda?" he asked.
"Steve?" a hoarse voice asked from the other line. He identified it to be Darry.
"Darry?" He heard a confused curve in his tone.
"Yeah. Listen. You gotta come pick up Sodapop from the hospital. He has to go home. He has to go to work tomorrow and I'd let him stay but he's getting worked up."
Steve shook his head, not quite linking everything together. "Wh...what happened?"
He could hear Darry sigh and hesitate. "Ponyboy got jumped. I went looking for him when I got home. He didn't look too good."
"But he'll be okay?"
Darry sighed again. "I don't know. We're still trying to figure that out. I'll see you when you get here, alright? I can't talk. I gotta go get Soda."
"Yeah. Yeah. I'll be right there," he said before hanging the phone up. He looked over at Two-Bit and Johnny in the darkness. He could make out the curious and confused looks on both of their faces.
"The kid's in the hospital. They don't know what happened yet." He shrugged hopelessly.
"And?" Two-Bit asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I gotta go get Soda. Darry said somethin' about him being really worked up. You might want to come with me, Two-Bit. Sodapop isn't too easy to negotiate with when he's upset." He was real stubborn when he wanted to be, that was for sure.
"What about Johnny?" Two-Bit asked.
Steve flicked out his switch blade from his pocket. Sure, it wasn't as big as Two-Bit's black handled switch blade, nor as impressively intimidating, but it'd make a mark if needed. He tossed it to Johnny, who caught it shakily.
"You're making him stay here?" Two-Bit asked.
For the first time the whole night, Johnny spoke up. "No, I don't want to go to the hospital. I'll stay here or go to the lot or somethin'."
"You'll stay here," Steve said sternly. "If anyone comes here, you use that blade. You hear?"
Johnny nodded slowly.
Steve patted Two-Bit's back. "Let's go."
Two-Bit looked at him funny. "You're forgetting something, buddy."
Steve looked at him like he had four heads. "What?"
"Didn't you give Soda your car?"
Steve punched the wall, frustrated and cursing. "Can we borrow your car?"
Two-Bit scoffed. "If you want to get there by tomorrow morning."
Steve cursed louder. "How are we going to get there?"
Two-Bit hooked his fingers in his belt loops and slouched a bit. "Guess we're gonna have to bum a ride."
Steve rolled his eyes, noting the impossibility of getting someone to bring them to the hospital. Nonetheless, he swung the door open and ran out with Two-Bit following suit. He turned around and looked at Johnny.
"Anyone, Johnny. You use that blade if anyone comes here."
Johnny didn't respond. He just held the blade in his calloused hands, studying it.
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