Tough Love, Johnny Cade (Jally)

Fifteen: Bears!?

He was more comfortable around Two-Bit, and didn't want to force me into sharing a tent with Dally, who was much more likely to say something totally offensive or get moody. But he also knew I was more fond of Dally than he was, so he wasn't really sure what I'd prefer.

"That's fine." I said quickly, my face hot. I knew Darry was eyeing me, but to be honest, I just didn't want to cause anymore debating.

"Are you sure?" Darry asked carefully. I nodded stiffly, which only made me more embarrassed. I hoped he didn't think I wanted to share a tent with Dally more than Pony or anything. Before this mess I wouldn't mind, but I'd honestly much rather sleep in a tent with Pony, or even Two-Bit. I was just too scared to say no.

"Alright, I'll tell Two-Bit." Pony said. He pulled away from Darry, eager to have an excuse to get away from him.

"You be careful now." Darry told me with a stern look. I nodded.

Two-Bit was pretty eager to leave, and it wasn't much longer before we were driving down the street with the radio on high. Dally and Pony were in the backseat, the box of food between them.

"Jesus, Two-Bit!" Pony hollered from the backseat. "Can't you turn that down?!"

"No can do!" Two-Bit shouted, cruising along. "It's not everyday you hear your favorite song on the radio."

"Yeah, especially not one that's ten years old." Dally said dryly.

"What?!" Two-Bit called over the music. I heard Dally sigh, and Two cackled before singing along with the song.

♪ I laughed at love, 'cause I thought it was funny
You came along and moved me, honey
I've changed my mind
This love is fine
Goodness gracious,
Great balls of fire! ♪

Two-Bit continued to sing along to the playful 50's song, and I couldn't help but notice how it added to Two-Bit's cartoonish behavior.

*** *** *** ***

"So is this where we're staying?" Dally climbed out of the car, Ponyboy following him out. The door on Pony's side was jammed.

"Yeah, it's got plenty of trees, all surrounding this spot here." Two-Bit said, pointing to the surrounding trees.

"I thought we were going to a camping resort or something." I said, nervously eyeing the trees.

"Awe, it'll be fine." Two-Bit said. "There's a stream in those trees over there. Dally, come give me a hand with these tents."

Dally and Two started to go through the trunk. Two-Bit had drive the car off the road and through the grass, and now the road was in the distance. We were stopped in a large clearing between trees. The grass was half dry, and the sun kept the space hot.

"How did you find this place, Two-Bit?" Pony asked as Dally dumped one of the tents into his arms.

"Eh, friend of a friend told me about it." Two grinned mysteriously.

"Hey, Johnnycake." Dally called.

"Yeah?!" I stiffened.

"Why don't you get the eggs and milk from the back seat. Put them in the stream."

I opened the car door as Pony staled off with a cotton tent. "I've never done this before." I said, rummaging through the box of food.

"You're doing great." Dally said dryly, walking past towards Pony. I sighed, frustrated.

"Two-Bit, where is the milk?"

"Hm?" Two-Bit came around and stood by the door of the car as I climbed out with the eggs. He looked in the car.

"Oh, the large flasks." Two reached into the middle seat of the car, pulling the flasks out of the box. He showed me the flasks before nodding at the box. "There's big tin container in there. Put the package of eggs in there."

I handed the eggs off to Two-Bit and rummaged through the box. "What's the point in putting all these things in different containers?" I asked, looking over the tin container.

Two laughed. "Wow, you really have never done this before." He handed back the eggs. "Milk comes in glass, and eggs come in cardboard. And we have to stick it in the stream to stay cool."

"You think the water might have a bad affect on the cardboard?" I asked curiously.

"Maybe, but it's mostly because it's so delicate." Two-Bit explained. I closed the lid over the carton of eggs, and he closed the car door. "It wouldn't be very hard for an animal to break glass or rip open cardboard."

"That's nice." I mumbled as we made our way across the clearing. "I'm sure we don't have to worry about animals getting into our cotton tents either?"

Two-Bit laughed nervously. "Well, they are very thick tents. You know how heavy they are, they're military style tents, Johnny."

"That's comforting." I said, though I think it was sarcastic. "You know, I've never really been outside of the Tulsa city limits before. What kind of animals could even be out here."

Two-Bit and I were walking into the trees now. Two hummed thoughtfully. "Well, there's things like owls, foxes, skunks..."

"And what else?" I asked, wide eyed.

"Well, I mean there's also all kinds of snakes, bobcats..." Two-Bit paused, and I groaned. He muttered. "Black-bears..."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Jesus, calm down, you'll jostle the eggs!" Two-Bit said. Then he chuckled. "Don't let that bear part get to you. It's not that likely to see one so close to the road, Tulsa is just notorious for having a lot of bears in the area."

"Could have mentioned that!" I said. We were standing at the stream now. Two-Bit was crouched on the ground, moving rocks in the stream to clear a little dip for the eggs and milk.

"Alright, hand me the eggs." Two-Bit said. He put the eggs in the little pocket of the stream, putting the flasks of milk on top. He stood, wiping his hands on his T-shirt.

"Alrighty, that should do it!" He said. We started back for the clearing. He looked over at me. "But really, don't worry about those bears. Dally talked Tim into letting us borrow a shot gun, it'll be in the tent with me and Pony. Dally's got his gun, and for once, it's actually loaded."

"You can't shoot a shot gun!" I said as we walked back into the opening.

"I know how it works!" Two-Bit argued. He playfully whacked my arm, not hard or anything, before looking up at Dally and Pony a few feet ahead. "Looks like they're already setting up tents."

Dally and Pony were trying to put together the supports for one of the tents. They called us over to help. Dally had taken off his jacket in the heat of noon, which was new because he'd typically leave it on unless he was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt. But he had it off, and his short sleeves rolled up like Ponyboy's and Two-Bit's were.

We managed to put up both tents and start a fire before Two-Bit's stolen dime-store watch said it was 3PM.

Also, I should mention that Two-Bit stole a watch that was half an hour ahead. He never got it fixed.