Cut My Lip

Four

A week later

"Hey, Annie, you got mail." Pony handed me an envelope.

"Since when does our mail go to your house?" I asked.

"Since... well, a few months," he shrugged, and I lit a cigarette before I shoving the envelope in my jacket pocket and going outside.

It was one of the last few warm summer days, and everyone was hanging around in the Curtis' backyard.

I ripped the envelope open and scanned the words on the page. "Mom and dad died," I informed Dally, who looked about as apathetic as I normally felt.

"Good."

"Look, I ain't no expert on family stuff," Steve said. "But shouldn't y'all be upset?"

I shook my head, exhaling smoke around the cigarette I still had in my mouth. "Nah."

"Same old sob story." Dally shrugged. "Dad drank, beat ma, ma kept threatening to call the police and to kill herself. Also we lived in the shit part of New York."

I handed Dally the letter and leaned against Darry's car, next to him. I hadn't slept proper in weeks, and I felt ready to drop dead at any second.

I don't know why I was so stressed. Was it the fact that I hadn't finished school, or that I was living out of my car, or that I didn't have a job? Or maybe that I'd been sexually assaulted? Or perhaps the fact that Dally'd been gettin' real distant lately?

Maybe Dally was right. I worry too much.

"You look tired." Two-Bit commented, and I shrugged. I was half asleep standing up.

I didn't even realize the cigarette in my hand was still burning until it burnt my arm. "Ow!" I hissed, putting it out.

"And that's what you get for not sleeping." Dally said, and I wanted to smack him.

But I said nothing and simply glared at him.

"By the way, Soda, Steve... I never asked why you were wearing my heels?"

Everyone started laughing, but they kept a straight face. "You're always complainin' about them, we wanted to see how long we could go in 'em." Soda explained.

I raised an eyebrow. "I... I don't know how to respond to that."

"No one ever does, we just kind of let them run wild at this point." Darry said.

.

I was waiting for Pony outside the movie house. He told me he didn't mind walking back with me after movies. Other people talked too much, he said. I told him that I preferred to listen, anyway.

The doors opened and he walked out. "Hey, Annie."

I nodded a hello, and we started walking silently. I noticed a blue Mustang following us closely, and I grabbed Pony's upper arm. "They get out, you run. Got it?" I said in a low voice.

"Got it," He whispered back. The car stopped suddenly and four Soc's climbed out. I blocked the alley off so they wouldn't see Pony gettin' outta here.

I smiled charmingly. "Hello, gentlemen."

"Scram, girlie. Where's the kid?"

"What kid?"

One of them punched me in the face. Normally I woulda been fine, but I hadn't been anticipating it. My head knocked against a brick wall, and I cursed.

They took that as an advantage and I cursed again. They ran past me after Pony, and I ignored my aching head and chased them.

I wasn't very heavy, but if I ran fast enough, I could tackle one of 'em. So I picked up speed and just threw myself at the biggest guy. He went down and I got up. I turned to go after the other ones, but he grabbed my ankle and I tripped.

That's probably a broken nose, I thought bitterly as my face slammed against the concrete. I got back up and saw one of them had Pony.

I grabbed a broken pop bottle and threw it at him. I had good aim, and I wasn't aimin' to hit him.

It shattered against the wall and cut the Soc. That seemed to make them mad enough to turn on me instead.

Thank god.

"Run, kid!" I yelled at him.

"What about you?" Pony shouted back.

"Just find my brother!"

Pony's POV

Oh, gosh. They were really beating up Annie, and it was all my fault. I started running home.

"Dallas!" I yelled. "Dallas!"

"Jeez, kid, where's the fire?" He laughed, but his face darkened when he saw how panicked I was. "What's wrong?"

"They're beating Annie, she told me to get you," I panted, and he cursed.

"Where?"

"Corner of Cornelia and Glenwood." I said, and he ran off.

I didn't know what to do, so I went inside and paced.

"What's up, Pony?" Soda asked, and I shook my head.

"It's my fault, it shouldn't be her." I said firmly.

"What?"

"Annie came to get me from the movies, and we were being followed, and she said that if they got out of the car then I should run, and they got out and I ran, but they were after me, so it's my fault that she got jumped!" I said all of this in one breath and was panting afterward.

"Son of a... is she okay? Where is she now?"

"A few blocks away, at Cornelia and Glenwood."

He and Steve ran off, and I hesitated before I followed them. I don't know how Two-Bit, Johnny, and Darry heard about what happened, but when I got there, the whole gang was there and Annie was angrily insisting that she was fine.