SE Hinton owns The Outsiders.
Female Lead
Four-
Two-Bit parks the car across the street from the Encore. He watches warily as Honey takes the headband out of her hair and shakes it out. He waits on her with a growing sense of dread while she puts on lipstick in the rearview mirror. She had no need to fix her hair or get dolled up for him, but she's going to do it for whoever's waiting to look her over in the bar.
"And we're off," Two-Bit mumbles under his breath.
He gets out of the car, and starts around to the other side to open the door for Honey, but she's already out when he gets there. He raises his hands in the air, and then- just to be a pest- drapes his arm across her shoulder and walks her across the street like that.
Smoke is creeping out from beneath the door to the Encore Bar like it's on fire. Two-Bit opens it, and the smoke hits them like a wall. They pass through it, as if into another realm, and pause while their eyes adjust to the lack of light.
Someone shouts, "Mathews!" from a booth near the pool tables in the back.
"Want to double up on these guys?" He asks Honey.
"You know I suck at it."
"Ain't played with you in a while. You've had time to hone your skills some. You didn't take advantage of that?"
She just grins at him, and nods to the bar.
"Just go on and find someone," she says. "I'll get us drinks."
"Ditchin' me already?"
"I just said I was getting you a drink. Holy Christ."
Her grin disappears- chased away by annoyance. She steps around him and walks away towards the bar. Two-Bit gestures towards the back, indicating that he will be at the pool table, but she isn't watching him.
Honey stands at the bar and gets ignored for maybe five minutes. Watching the bartender pass her by again and again makes her seeth. She has money. Two-Bit most likely doesn't, but if Two-Bit was the one standing there, sure as shit he'd have been served by now. She smacks her palm down on the bar, and that raises the bartender.
He doesn't even look at her when he asks, "What do you need, sweetheart?"
"There was a time, long ago, when I needed a couple of beers."
The bartender furrows his brow.
Honey says, "But since I've been standing here watching you serve every man in the joint, I've had time to reconsider that."
"So, do you want the beer or not?"
Before Honey can answer, a voice from behind her says, "No. She don't want your shitty beer. She wants a couple of shots and water back. Two of those, too."
Honey looks over her shoulder. Tim Shepard winks at her, or rather winks in her general direction past her shoulder. She rolls her eyes. When she turns back to the bartender, she is surprised to find he is still there, waiting.
"Yeah, that," Honey says, and sends him on his way.
"Thanks, baby," Tim says.
"Don't thank me yet, Shepard. I might just drink them both."
"You come in with Two-Bit?"
Honey nods, but doesn't elaborate.
Tim smirks. He looks at the back of her head in the mirror behind the bar and asks, "You leavin' with him?"
"He does have the keys to the car."
The bartender returns with the drinks and sets them down in front of Honey. She pays him and then gestures for Tim to take his shot. He throws it back, and sets the glass top down back on the bar. He makes room for himself, leaning back with his elbows on the bar, facing the chaos brewing in the smoke all around them.
"You know, if I was the bettin' kind, I'd put my money on you needing another ride home."
Honey looks up at him without turning her head. She feels small standing next to him. He's tall and- though more wiry- he somehow appears stronger than Two-Bit. She's seen Tim fight before- got into it with a shop teacher when they were still both in school. Every punch he threw came fast like he was throwing knives. In his head, he'd already stomped the guy, and he already knew he was going to be long gone before he had a chance to savor it.
"What makes you think that?" She asks.
"Little fucker he's playing ain't any damned good, but he thinks he is. Two-Bit could hustle him all night if he wanted. Payday like that, he ain't never going to leave."
Honey peers around Shepard to look for Two-Bit at the back of the bar. She can't help but smile. Two-Bit has hustled up a game with Tim's little brother Curly.
"How old is Curly? Seriously?"
"Why? You want to make a move?"
"Ew, no. He's my little brother's age, isn't he?"
"Which little brother? Christ, how many of you are there? Curly's fifteen. I think."
Honey shrugs and lets the matter drop. Tim's right about Two-Bit anyhow. He isn't going to give up until he bleeds Curly dry. Her only hope of getting home is Curly not actually having any money on him and Two-Bit finding that out in short order.
Tim dashes her hopes.
"He just swiped some guy's wallet in the train station. Wouldn't tell me how much was in it, but he said the guy had a suit like Sinatra would wear."
"A tux? Sinatra's always wearing a tux in movies."
"Nah, like Sinatra in Manchurian Candidate. The hat, and the trenchcoat."
Honey smiles. She wonders when Tim saw Manchurian Candidate, and what a guy like him thought of it.
"That's pretty specific," she says. "You sure it was Curly who took his wallet?"
"If it was me, I'd know how much was in there. Curly just said he had a suit and a long coat. Thought picking his pocket was going to be a bust because of the coat- he had to tell me the whole sordid tale- but the guy had just stuffed the wallet in his coat pocket while he was looking for his ticket."
"And now he's probably on the train to OKC, sitting in the dining car, fumbling for his wallet and he can't pay for the dinner he just bought."
"My heart bleeds...And you still don't have a ride home, Sunshine."
"I'll call my brother."
Tim laughs at that. "To pick you up at the Encore in the dead of night? How's that going to fly?"
"He should be happy that I'm not calling him to pick me up here in the middle of the afternoon. I'm old enough to be here, and I worked a full shift the last three days in a row. I don't really care how it flies with Darry. He'll come get me, though, for the pleasure of giving me an earful- you're right about that. Don't mean I have to listen."
"Christ, you sound like my little sister."
"Well, maybe both of you ought to quit telling us what to do."
Tim smiles at that and shakes his head. He picks up the glass of water behind him on the bar and takes a drink.
"Why don't you just let me give you a ride? I'm about done with this place for tonight."
Now Honey begins to regard Tim with suspicion. He is being insistent in the way that guys are when they want to be able to deny it if they get shot down. The likelihood that he's asking to get a rise out of Two-Bit is just as good as the possibility that he's taken an interest in Honey or is attempting to be chivalrous. She searches her memory for the last time she heard the boys around her house talking about tangling with the Shepard gang. Are they on good or bad terms with each other these days? Honey hasn't been paying attention. The things boys fight about aren't important to her.
"What about Curly?" She asks.
"What about him?"
"Well, how's he getting home?"
"He'll manage."
"What if he gets into it with Two-Bit?"
"Why would that even happen?"
That answers her question about where things are between her brothers and their friends and the Shepards. It would seem that things are alright on that front.
But she ponders it for too long.
"Hey, Honey Bee." It's Two-Bit across the bar in one big bounce and standing in front of her, but not really looking at her. He's looking at Tim.
"What happened to that beer we were going to be drinking?"
"She had a real drink with me instead," Tim says, and his tone makes his motives clear. His voice is oily, too friendly. He's smirking, but looking away from Two-Bit, not making eye contact.
Two-Bit sputters. "Whatever, fucker. Honey, what the hell? Are we having a drink or aren't we?"
Before Honey can answer, Tim tells Two-Bit again, "She had a drink already. With me."
"I can have another drink," Honey says in a quiet voice. They aren't even hearing her anymore. If they ever did. "I'm not a bubble gummer."
Two-Bits says to Tim, "Whatever, asshole. Was that the plan? Have Curly keep me entertained while you moved in on her?"
"Hell of a plan, if I may say so myself. If it was my plan, it worked pretty well."
"Fucker, she don't have any time for you."
"She had time for me just now, while you were bent over a table with Curly back there."
Two-Bit mutters, "Son of a bitch!" and shoves Tim's shoulder. Tim steps back against the bar, but he's grinning. What happens next, Honey can only imagine. She began backing into the crowd and away from Tim and Two-Bit as soon as Tim declared himself the babysitter while she drank. By the time Two-Bit is shoving Tim, Honey is out the door.
It's colder on the street now, but the wind is blocked by the buildings surrounding her. Honey scans the street, trying to guess where the nearest bus stop is, wondering if it's too late for the last bus. She should probably do exactly what she told Tim she would: call Darry and be ready to be scolded.
Behind her the door to the Encore opens. She turns to see if she's caught, but it's a couple arm-in-arm and giggling.
