Trade Mistakes

7

My clothes were too big, and I felt self conscious around all the Soc's that were gathered around, watching the other hippies get arrested. My clothes were all hand-me-downs from my brothers and from thrift shops. Most of the time, I had to pin my pants at the waist and tie my shirt up with a hair band.

I had no money. I couldn't take a bus home- besides, they'd all stopped running for the night. I sure as hell wasn't asking anyone for a ride.

I scrounged around and found enough money to call home.

Sodapop's POV

Darry was still at work, but me and the rest of the boys were in the living room, worriedly waiting for Lizzie to get home.

"She said she'd be back by seven?" I asked.

"Yeah." Pony nodded.

It was nearly ten. The phone rang all of a sudden, and I answered it. "Hello?"

"Soda?" Lizzie sobbed. "Can you come get me?"

"Christ, kid, where are you?"

"I went with Bryon, Mark, and Cathy to look for M&M, since they said they knew where he was, and he was the next town over, and we didn't find him, but then he did, and now he's dead and they left me here."

"Son of a bitch. Yeah, okay. Where are you at?"

She told me where she was, and I told her I'd be there in fifteen minutes.

"Steve, let's go, I need your car. Pony, stay here and if Darry gets back just tell him we went to get Lizzie."

"What's going on, though?" He asked.

"Her friend is dead and they left her in Glenpool by herself." I explained as Steve grabbed his keys.

"I feel like you're missing a lot of details-"

"Okay, be back in an hour!" I cut him off as I followed Steve out the door.

.

By the time we got to Glenpool, it was pouring rain outside. When we got to where Lizzie said she was, she was soaking wet and all beaten up.

"I got jumped," she said miserably after she'd gotten in the car.

"Man, this just ain't your night, is it?" I sighed.

She didn't answer, but she was still crying silently in the backseat. She was shaking like a leaf.

"Here, kid, you wanna borrow my jacket?" Steve asked.

"Yes, please." She mumbled, and he shrugged it off and passed it back to her. "Thanks,"

She wrapped it around her shoulders, but she was probably still cold.

When we got home, Darry was waiting out front. "Glory, Lizzie, are you okay?"

"She got jumped while she was waiting for us to get there," I explained.

"Come on, let's go inside,"

In the light, Lizzie looked even worse. She had a long cut going from her temple to the middle of her cheek. There was dry blood under her nose and at the corner of her mouth. One of her eyes was almost swollen shut, and there were nasty bruises around her throat like someone had tried to choke her.

I realized that her favorite jeans jacket was torn in a few places, and the denim was darker in a few spots, and I assumed it was blood.

She told everyone what had happened in slightly more detail than what she'd told me over the phone, and we all felt real awful.

Somehow Lizzie was even paler than she usually was, and her hands were still shaking. Her eyes were kinda glassy and she looked sick. Shock, I assumed.

At 11:30, everyone left.

Darry went to make her something to eat- she'd barely had anything all day, Ponyboy had informed us.

"You okay, Lizzie?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"No." She said quietly. She looked like she was going to start crying all over again. "They just killed him for no reason! He didn't do anything, Soda! I know he was breakin' the law but he wasn't even one of them that was tryin' to fight them, they just did it!"

"I know, Lizzie." I said, hugging her tightly.

"It's not fair!"

"No, it's not." I agreed.

"The last thing I ever said to him was that he's a hippie freak, but I didn't mean it! He died thinking I hate him, Soda."

"I'm sure that's not true. You were probably just mad at him."

"Well, I was, but still."

Ponyboy walked into the room, and Lizzie gestured for him to sit on her other side, so he did.