I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS TO THE OUTSIDERS- ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO S. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SARA CURTIS.
Chapter 1
"Hello Mrs. Roberts? This is Darrel Curtis. I have given your suggestion a lot of thought and I am calling you this afternoon to give you my decision." Darry's hand was shaking as he was holding the receiver. He was so glad that Two-Bit swung by and offered to take Ponyboy to see Sodapop and Steve down at the DX. Usually Sundays were set aside for some family time, but Sodapop had already made plans with Steve to work on that damn car that Darry was still pissed about, and Ponyboy was being all moody so Darry really wasn't up to doing anything special today anyway. "Mrs. Roberts I don't know what else to do or to say that will help convince you that I have everything under control. I am working my tail off here and am just hoping that you and everyone else can see that. I am just asking that you give me a little more time. I can prove to you that this home is a safe and secure place for Sodapop, Ponyboy, and most of all, Sara." Darry was listening to Mrs. Roberts on the other end of the line trying to defend her decisions. Darry's eyes were glued to the window just trying to focus on something other than this annoying lady's voice on the phone trying to tell him he is unfit for guardianship of his younger sister. Darry was trying his hardest to keep himself calm, cool and collective, not wanting to give Mrs. Roberts anymore reason to pile another things against him. After about 30 seconds of listening to Mrs. Roberts, Darry finally found a way to enter back into the conversation. "I understand what you are trying to tell me Mrs. Roberts. I honestly do. But I need you to listen to me for a second. You see that little girl, that you keep referring to is my one and only sister, and as her big brother it is my job to protect her at all cost, and that is what I am doing. I never thought that I would ever say this, but that girl is my life now. She is my future now, and she is my everything. If you really want to destroy this family, than I am going to give you one hell of a fight, I promise you that!" Darry's voice was starting to rise. He was glad that no one else was in the house to hear him start to get angry. Darry must have gotten through to Mrs. Roberts because he couldn't believe what he was hearing on the other end of the phone. "Really? You'll give me two weeks? I have two weeks? This is great. Yes, I know that you still need to do that. I understand that anything can change within that time period. Mrs. Roberts you have no idea how happy this makes me! Thank-you so much! Yes, I do. Thank you, thank you!" Darry couldn't help to feel the smile spreading across his face. "I will. They are not home right now, but when they do I will tell them. You are more than welcome to stop by anytime. If that is what it will take, than you can show up at any hour. Thank you again, Mrs. Roberts. I will, have a good evening yourself." Darry couldn't believe what just happened as he hung up the receiver. He was feeling all giddy like a school girl. He didn't know what to do with himself, but one thing was for sure was that he just told Mrs. Roberts that she could come and check up on them at any time of the day any day of the week, so as he glanced around the house he knew that things would have to change a little in order to keep this place in tip top shape, but then again he needed to keep his eyes on the door as well. Darry knew the first place to start was trying to clean up the living room and kitchen for starters, that way he could also still keep his eyes on the door.
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"Damn it, Sodapop, I have had to repair everything you have touched on this engine today. What has gotten into you? This is supposed to be exciting! It's your first car for Christ Sakes. And we got a hell of a good deal on all these parts. I still can't believe old man Stan down at the junk yard let us strip all these parts. This is a good start." Steve was taking the wrench out of Soda's hand to readjust a part that Soda had just put in the wrong way.
"I guess I am just distracted today." Soda tried to move onto another part of the engine to work on.
"I thought you and Sandy made up the other night?" Steve was trying to figure out what the problem might be.
"We did. Things seem to be pretty good between us now." Soda reached down to pull out a part that he had just moved onto.
"If it isn't Sandy, is it Darry? Because I know that he was pretty pissed that you bought this card behind his back, but I thought he was over it now?" Steve finally got Sodapop's mistake fixed and was now leaning against the fender of the car.
"Oh, let me just assure you, Stevie, he is still plenty pissed off about the car. I don't think he will be getting over this anytime soon." Soda now had decided to take a break too.
"Then, I give up, man. What is going on? If it isn't Sandy or Darry, what is it?" Steve walked over and picked up his Pepsi that was on the workbench and took a gulp. It was a warmish spring day out and the heat was starting to get to the boys in the garage. He walked Soda's Pepsi back over to him and handed it to him to take a drink. Soda willingly accepted it feeling thirty too.
"It's nothing. I just need to deal with it and try to accept it." Soda was starting to walk back to the workbench to set his Pepsi back down when he heard her name.
"It's Sara isn't it?" Steve had said once Sodapop's back was to him. Soda had just set his Pepsi down when he turned and gave Steve a nod. "Soda, you can't let this eat you up. What can you do about it? This is Darry's deal. If Darry told you that everything was going to work out than you need to trust him that it will. You can't let this get you down; it isn't like you, buddy." Soda knew in his brain that Steve was right, but it was his heart that was telling him otherwise.
"You know Steve, right after our parents died, I had a hard time adjusting to the new routine and being needed so much by her and Ponyboy, but now that it just…" Sodapop's words were cut off by the arrival of Ponyboy and Two-Bit.
"Hey Guys." Two-Bit said walking into the garage with Ponyboy in tow.
"Hey look Sodapop, it is Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum." Steve said trying to bring a smile to Sodapop's face.
"Who are you calling Twiddle Dum?" Two-Bit threw a punch towards Steve who was quick and had Two-Bit in a headlock.
Sodapop turned his attention to Ponyboy. "Darry, let you out of the house?"
"Yeah, I think he is going stir crazy there. Two-Bit showed up and Darry offered up for me to go with Two-Bit to come see you guys. He is really tensed up, Soda. I haven't seen him like this before. Not even when Mom and Dad died." Pony moved over closer to Soda.
"He's got a lot of his plate, Pon. I couldn't imagine being inside of his head right now. We need to cut him some slack. We need to try to make this a little easier on him." Soda tousled Pony's hair as he was pushing the creeper out of the way.
Two-Bit and Ponyboy hung out and watched Steve and Sodapop continue to work on the Hudson Hornet. They just sat around and was shutting the bull and drinking Pepsi's.
"Hey, I have to watch my sister tonight, my Mom is working the night shift, do you guys need a lift back?" Two-Bit asked setting his empty Pepsi bottle into the box crate.
Sodapop looked up at the clock inside the garage; it was close to closing time. "Nah, I am going to wait here until Steve closes up. Pony, you can stay with us if you want."
"Yeah, I don't want to go back to our house just let. Thanks though. I'll stay here with Steve and Sodapop." Steve just rolled his eyes when he heard Ponyboy's answer, but hell they only had another 20 minutes before closing time.
"Ok then. I'll catch you guys later." Two-Bit waved good bye and headed to climb into his car. The boys watched him pull away and then Steve turned to walk into the cash register shop.
"I am going to cash out. And get ready to close up. Soda, can you close up the garage?"
"Can you help me push the car out of the bay though? We need this bay for tomorrow." Soda was starting to walk towards the back of the car. "Pony, can you steer while Steve and I push?" Ponyboy smiled at the opportunity to drive even though he wasn't for real.
"Sure thing." Steve and Soda pushed the Hornet over to the side of the garage. Soda was getting a tarp from inside of the garage while Steve was cashing out the register and was shutting down. Pony was off daydreaming somewhere and was watching the sun starting to set. Pony was still zoning out tand didn't even feel Sodapop come up next to him.
"Do you think Darry will be wondering why we haven't come home yet?" Soda said placing a hand on Pony's shoulder. Pony twitched a little being startled from Soda's voice and touch.
"I don't know, Soda, you should have seen how he was acting. I have never seen him like that before. In away it was kind of scary. It was like I was looking at Darry, but it wasn't Darry. Does that make any sense?"
"Yeah, it does Pon. I just think Darry is so used to having control over everything in his life, and this is for sure way out of his control." Sodapop heard the sound of chains and keys and knew that Steve was putting the finally touches on closing up for the day. Soda's hand was still on Pony's shoulder and he tried to pull Pony in the direction of Steve. As the three were heading towards Steve's car they all piled into it. Once everyone was settled Steve put the key in the ignition and tried to fire it up. It just kept turning and nothing was happening.
"What the hell?" Steve tried again. After the fifth or sixth time, it still wouldn't turn. "We just fixed this thing!" Steve was hollering.
"I'll take a look at it tomorrow Steve. Me and Pony should really get home. Darry is probably wondering where we are." Soda knew that they had avoided home long enough for the day and really should be getting on back. Steve didn't want to give into the car though. "Come on Bessie. You can start, baby." But every time Steve kept turning the engine just wouldn't start. "Steve, come on. I promise I'll look at it in the morning. Let's just walk; we should get home before dark if we head out now." Soda turned to the backseat were Ponyboy was sitting biting at his nails, and nodded his head for Pony to get out. Both Curtis' were out of the car and were standing there looking at Steve. Steve threw his hands down on the steering wheel taking his frustrations out on the thing. He ran through a mouthful of cuss words before opening his door and slamming it shut.
"I just fixed the damn thing." Steve said again kicking the front driver's side tire on his way by.
"I guess this is what Darry was trying to tell me about the Hornet. I hope that I have better luck with that thing than old Bessie."
"Yeah, it probably was, but you never know." Steve said as he was kicking rocks with his foot as the boys walked out of the parking lot of the DX. What was a warm spring day in Tulsa was starting to turn a little chilly as the sun was going down and the boys were almost home. They were coming up on the field where the boys play their neighborhood football games. Sodapop and Ponyboy were just finishing their Pepsi's that they had from the station. Steve had found a rock that he had kick almost a half a block now and he give it a little bit of a hard kick and sent the rock flying towards the edge of the field. Steve followed the rock and when he went to kick it again he noticed something lying on the ground. He picked it up and realized that it was an article of clothing that looked very familiar, a jean jacket. As he brought it back over to meet up with Sodapop and Ponyboy, Soda asked a question.
"What do you have there?" Soda asked Steve.
"I think its Johnny's jacket. He must have left it here earlier today. It's the only coat the kid's got. You think he would take better care of it than just leaving it around." Steve said tossing it over his shoulder. Pony watched Steve toss it over his shoulder and noticed something strange about. The jacket seemed a lot dirtier than normal. Steve caught Pony looking at the jacket. "What? I am going to bring it back to your house and leave it for him there."
"It's not that." Pony stammered. "It, looks like he was rolling around in the dirt or something." Soda was closer to Steve than Pony was and took notice of the jacket and then Sodapop's eyes widen as he examined the coat more carefully.
"Pony, did you see Johnny at all today?" Soda asked.
"No, why?" Pony now getting a worried look on his face. Steve had taken the jacket back down from over his shoulder and was examining it as well. There on the collar of the jacket he noticed a maroon colored stain, and as he looked further he noticed more of the same color stains down the front of the coat. Steve and Sodapop locked eyes. At that moment all boys heard the very soft sound of moaning. Both Soda and Steve scanned the field, over in the far corner by some oak trees that lined the field from the street they saw the dark raven haired boy lying face down on the ground. All three boys sprinted towards the motionless body. Even though Ponyboy was the fastest out of the three, somehow Sodapop reached the boy first. Soda carefully rolled the very still boy over, in horror the boy's worst fear was staring them in the face, for the boy was indeed Johnny. He was the worst the boys had ever seen, even in some of the toughest rumbles they had been, they had never seen a face look as bad as Johnny's was looking now. The blood and the cuts, the bruises and the color almost made Ponyboy need to throw up. The boys couldn't believe what they were looking at. Johnny's face was so mangled and swollen that there could have been a split second that the boys might have not recognized him at all.
"NO!" Steve screamed out to the sky, and then dropped down onto his knees beside Sodapop and Johnny. I think Steve's screaming had grabbed the attention of the rest of the gang, because before Pony knew it, Johnny was being encircled by Two-Bit, Dally and even Darry. Dally was cussing up a blue streak while everyone else stood around feeling helpless. Dallas was trying to push Sodapop out of the way so that he could get closer to Johnny but Darry was using his strong muscles and was holding him back, for at this time Sodapop had lifted Johnny up a bit and was holding Johnny's upper body in his arms. Soda was cradling him close to his body.
"Johnny?" Soda's soft voice was calling out to Johnny, but there was no response. Ponyboy was just looking on trying to keep his lunch in his stomach. He didn't know what to do, or what to say, for he thought that his best friend might be dead. Please no, Pony thought. He wouldn't know what to do if his best friend dies. It would be too much to deal with after everything that has happened so far. Ponyboy's thoughts were going a hundred miles a minutes as he looked down at the limp body belonging to Johnny. "Hey, Johnnycake, can you hear me?" Soda was gently shaking Johnny's body.
"Get off me, Darry. He needs me." Dally was struggling against Darry's grip, but that only made Darry tighten his grip more.
"Dallas, just calm down. We need to give him some air. Let Sodapop try first." Darry was trying to talk down Dallas.
"Johnny?" Soda tried again. Finally there was a very weak voice that answered back to Soda.
"Soda?" Johnny's voice was heard, even though his body hadn't moved and his eyes hadn't open.
Soda breathed a little sigh of relief. "Yeah, Johnny, it's me." Soda turned to the rest of the gang who was patiently waiting for a sign of life.
"Soda it hurts so bad." Johnny managed to get out in between the moans.
"Shh. Johnny, don't talk none. We are all here. We are going to take care of you. Just stay hushed. It's going to be ok." Soda was brushing Johnny's bangs out of his eyes and face. Darry finally let go of Dally, now that they knew he was alive.
"Soda, slide over I am going to pick him up." Darry bent down to lift Johnny out of Sodapop's arms. The gang all made way for Darry to take over. The gang was always good at following Darry's lead.
"Darry?" Johnny was sobbing.
"It's ok, Johnnycakes, I got you. They are gone now. It's ok." Johnny was trying to tell Darry what had happen.
"Darry, I didn't know what to do, I was out numbered." Johnny started coughing and choking a little on his sobs.
"Johnny, I am taking you back to our house. I'll take care of your injuries. But Johnny for some reason felt like he needed to keep explaining. Darry could feel him shaking in his arms. Darry wasn't sure if it was because he was still scared or if it was because he was trying to fight to control himself, for he was now just crying and sobbing. But Darry didn't care either way, for after what he just endured he has all right to cry and sob.
"Darry, it was a blue mustang, with four Socs in it. One guy had a fist full of rings on, Dar.." Johnny was trying to tell his story in between gasps, and moans, and sobs.
"Johnny, shh. Just lay still." Darry tried to direct Johnny to stay quiet.
"Those god damn basters! I am going to hunt down each and every one of those Socs and kick in their heads." Dally still didn't have his anger under control at all. Dally was smashing his right fist into his left hand but following right on Darry's heels.
Ponyboy was standing still in the blood stain grass watching as Darry carried off his best friend. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and he just couldn't believe this. As the gang was speed walking behind Darry and Johnny, Sodapop had paused and noticed that Ponyboy wasn't around them. He turned his head slightly and noticed Pony standing as stiff as a tree just looking down at the grass. Soda retraced his steps back to the scene of the crime and threw his arm around Ponyboy's shoulder. "Come on, Pon. He is going to be alright." Pony's eyes slowly moved up from the stain grass up to Sodapop's face. Soda reached over and swiped a stray tear that was rolling down Ponyboy's face. "It's going to be ok, Pony."