Sodapop's POV
"Then what's it going to be Pepsi?"
I knew there was only one answer I could give. Even if I wanted to say no, I didn't have a choice. Not in this neighborhood. You could get beaten to a pulp and be crying begging for mercy and you'd have more respect than if you didn't fight.
My reputation was the "pretty boy" and I knew it. I had tuff looking hair and a decent set of abs but people didn't fear me. They didn't think of me strong or intimidating like Darry, Tim or even Curly. I could hold my own in a fight but I wouldn't be your first pick to be the guy in your corner. Turning down this fight would only hurt my reputation more.
"I'll fight you Curly." I said through gritted teeth. I crossed my arms and tried to do the patterned Darry stance but I could tell it was off.
"I'll see you tonight Curtis, the lot, ten, bring your second." Curly glanced at Steve with a smirk. "You'll need him."
Without another word, Curly and his guys got back in their car with cocky grins on their faces and drove away.
I heard Steve sigh from behind me and then he spun me around to face him. "What were you thinking?" He snapped.
"I couldn't say no." I snapped back and slapped his hand off of my arm. "I could have used some support though."
"Support for what? Getting your head bashed in by the little punk?"
I stepped away, rolling my eyes. "You don't think I can beat him?"
"Soda," Steve stayed silent, which was an answer in it's own.
"Whatever." I muttered and got back under the car.
"Don't do that." Steve said softly but I ignored him. "Hey!" He yelled and kicked my leg softly. I brought my head from under the car and looked at him. "Come here." He muttered under his breath.
With a huff, I got out from under the car and sat with my back against it. Steve joined me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "I'll support you, I'll even go as far to help you get away with it. But if the fight gets too bad you need to promise me you'll call it off. It's okay if you throw in the towel, as long as you don't get too hurt."
"Yeah okay." I smirked at him. "How do you plan on helping me get away with it?"
"Tell Superman you're staying at my place tonight, then tomorrow when your face is all beat up just say you got jumped, he won't question it."
I wasn't an awful plan, it could work as long as Curly keeps his mouth shut to Tim. I know he said he doesn't care if Tim finds out, but I can't help but think he does. "Alright." I agreed.
"Just don't come crying to me when you get your ass beat for this." Steve joked, though I just rolled my eyes and pushed his arm off of me.
"Fuck you." I stood up with a small smirk on my face. Steve laughed and stood up too. He slapped my ass and immediately snapped around and scowled at him.
He laughed and then grabbed my shirt, leaning in and almost kissing me. His lips were right there, and I wanted them, though Steve quickly stepped back and looked around. "Let's get back to work." He muttered.
I would love to be able to kiss Steve in public, though that obviously couldn't happen. Not just because I have a girlfriend, who I love and adore by the way, but homosexuality was illegal. We could never be actually together even if we wanted to be.
***
That night at dinner, I was a little nervous about asking to go to Steve's. I wasn't scared Darry would say no, but I didn't like lying to him, and this would have to be the first of a web of lies I would have to tell in order to get away with this stunt.
"How old do you think you need to be to write a book?" Pony asked as he scoffed down mashed potatoes. He's been a lot better at eating lately, he's even put on some weight.
"I don't know." Darry shrugged.
"Did you know that Ian Fleming was only seventeen when he wrote Casino Royale?" Pony's eyes lit up. "I think I could write a book by seventeen."
"Who told you you could read that book?" Darry snapped.
"What?" The sparkle in Pony's eyes left.
"That is such a wildly inappropriate book." Darry shook his head, he was in an oddly bad mood that night.
"Sorry." Pony muttered and skunk in his seat.
I nudged him with my elbow and gave him a soft smile. "I think you could write a book before seventeen."
His eyes went wide again. "You think?"
"Of course." I had zero doubt. I bet Pony could write a book a fourteen if he really wanted to.
I looked at Darry and decided to just rip the bandage off. "Can I stay at Steve's place tonight?" I asked and then held my breath.
"There ain't any parties going on tonight is there?" Darry raised an eyebrow at me.
"No." I shook my head.
"Alright then, just don't be galavanting around town past dark."
"Yes sir." I nodded and then stared at my plate.
The rest of dinner was silent, until Darry told Pony to do the dishes and then got up and left. "He's in a sour mood isn't he?" Pony mumbled to me and I laughed a bit.
"Just a little." I began helping Pony with the dishes.
"Soda, you love Sandy right?" Pony asked randomly.
I would have normally answered yes without a single thought. Though it took me a second to get the word to leave my mouth. "Um, yeah." I muttered.
"She love you?" Pony asked, his eyes never meeting mine.
"Yeah." I said again.
"Even if she was a Soc, do you still think she'd love you?" Pony's hand began to shake a tiny bit as he scrubbed one of the plates.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to figure out what on Earth was going through that head of his. "I would hope so." I answered. I think Sandy would love me no matter what. I know I'd love her even if I was a Soc. "Why do you ask Pony?"
"I donno." Pony shrugged.
"This have to do with that Cherry girl?" I knew it did. Pony never had any interest with girls until Cherry came around.
"Maybe." He shrugged. "She just, well, she never wants to so much as look at me if her friends are around. But once they're gone, she acts like she really likes me. Like just today, when I was walking down to the tracks with Johnny, she pulled up, said she was looking for me and wanted to talk."
"Well Pony, if she only ever wants to talk when you two are alone and she's probably not worth it." When I went to school with Cherry, she always did strik me as stuck up.
"That's what I thought too." Pony muttered. "but then she said we should go out to lunch to talk. To a place closer to her side, where we saw people she knew." Pony talked like it was a foreign concept, which I guess maybe it was.
"Well I understand the pressure of what other people think. At least she's trying, you know? Give her time, maybe she'll turn out to be a real nice girl who won't care if you're a greaser." I kind of doubted that would happen. Cherry would probably string Pony along for her own enjoyment and then dump him as soon as it got too embarrassing. Of course I didn't want to tell Pony that, he really liked that girl and I didn't want to break his heart.
"Who gives a shit about pure pressure?" Pony muttered. "We'd never let what anyone's thoughts stop us from being with who we liked, right?" Pony finally looked at me. His big green/gray eyes wanted me desperately to agree.
"Right." I nodded, though my chest tightened as soon as I did.
Pony smiled and chuckled. "If you could be with anyone, anyone at all. Social class don't matter, who will you be with?"
"Anyone?" I breathed. Pony nodded and someone immediately came to mind. A smile spread across my face at the thought.
"Well who is it?" Pony nudged me.
"James Dean" I said with a smirk.
"Real funny." Pony rolled his eyes.
We put the dishes away, and then I shoved a few things in an old backpack of mine. "Well I'm off." I said and kissed the top of Pony's head. "Darry I'm leaving!" I yelled into his room.
"Ok." Darry looked at me but then went back to folding clothes. I hurried out the door and closed it with a shaking hand.
***
Later that night, I was sitting shotgun in Steve's truck while he drove us to the lot. I was more nervous than I care to admit. "The bitch is a twig, so a few hard punches are going to be better than a lot of small ones." Steve told me as we pulled off the road and onto the grass field. "Turn your body to the side so your dominant side is furthest from your opponent. Keep your hands level with your cheeks so you're able to throw punches quickly while also being able to defend yourself." I heard Steve continue to talk but I wasn't really listing. I stared at my open palms and thought how awful I'd be if I lost. This wasn't my first fight, but it was my first fight against a greaser. We aren't soft like the soc. We don't care if our knuckles bleed as we pummel someone, or if our clothes get dirty from ending up in the ground. When a greaser fights we have one thing in mind, and that's to win. "Are you even listening to me?" Steve slapped my arm.
"What?" My head whipped up and our eyes met.
"Of course." Steve mumbled and parked the car. Curly was already there, his own car parked across the lot from us. He only brought one of his goonies, the big one with a pointy nose. It's typical fighting customs to bring a second, and only one. To bring a group of guys when your opponent only brought one is like saying you know you need more people to even out the playing field. "Just be careful." Steve squeezed my thigh.
"I know, I will be." I nodded.
"And remember your promise, if you can't take anymore then call it off." Steve looked deadly serious. I knew he was right, but I couldn't see myself doing that. Not that I'll have to, I was going to beat this kid into the ground.
"I know. But you should be more worried about his well being considering he's the one about to be pummeled!"
"Hell yeah." Steve grinned and he lightly punched my arm. "Let's do this thing."
"Finally." Curly was leaning against the front of his car, smoking a cigarette. "I thought you might have chickened out."
"Not a chance." I kept my voice steady and deep, and I pressed my left hand into the side of my leg to stop in from shaking.
"No blades or chains, just flesh on flesh." Curly took his jacket off and his goon took it.
"Works for me." I took my flannel off and looked to Steve as if he was going to take it, but he just rolled his eyes at me. I threw it to the ground and then took a few steps closer to Curly. "Let's do this."
He spit out his fingers and then stepped on it as he took a step closer to me. He took the fight swing though I ducked and swung right back at him. He dodged to the right of me, crouched down, turned a little and elbowed me in the face all with one swift movement.
I tasted blood though I had no time to think if it was coming from my lip or the inside of my mouth. He tried to hood punch me but I grabbed his wrist and then slammed my elbow into his forearm. In the slight second I had of Curly wincing in pain, I was able to punch his across the face.
He stumbled back a little but then charged at me, punched me in the gut and I tried to sweep him but he held his ground. As I leaned back and my foot came off the ground to hook him he elbowed me in the chest and I fell backwards onto the ground.
He laughed and then tried to stomp on my face, but I grabbed his shoe, twisted him around and yanked back. Curly went flying into his face and barely caught himself with his hands. I jumped up and knelt on his back, then I lodged my elbow into his spine.
Curly yelled, but somehow bent his back like a cat and grabbed my waist with his feet. He was able to knock me off my balance just enough to get up.
We were back to standing, and my head was pounding and there was a slight ringing in my ears. But I wasn't even close to being done. Curly swung at my head and I went to block it but he quickly faked and then punched me in the gut.
I shifted my stance so my dominant side was away, and I rapidly fired at Curly, landing a few hits but they didn't seem to do much.
Curly hooked me on the side of the head and then swept me. I flew onto my back and curly got on top of me. He punched me twice in the face and I swear I heard a crack in my nose.
I remembered this morning, and what Steve did to get me off of him. I tried to punch Curly and I surprisingly landed it. I then quickly got one leg out from under him, wrapped it around his waist and flipped him.
He was a lot hevery than he looked, but I still managed to do it. Once on top, I pounded his face until his eyes swelled up and blood ran from his ear.
I stopped, not wanting to kill the kid. I waited for him to say something, to admit his defeat, but instead he brought his leg out from under me, crouched it to his chest and then kicked it at my balls.
I screamed and fell off on him. Curly kicked me in the side, then bent down and elbowed me in the face. He cracked a bloody smile as he continued to strike me.
I could no longer hear anything, just the faint ringing in my ears. I felt every blow, but I couldn't feel anything else. I couldn't feel my fingers or toes, I couldn't even feel myself breathing.
I closed my eyes and knew there was no way I was getting back up.
I was finished.
"Stop." I muttered. "You win."
The pain stopped and I felt a small presser lift from my chest. "That's right." I heard Curly mutter in my ear. Then I felt a spitball land on my face. "Bitch."
I layed on the crown, moaning to myself in pain, as I heard the rumble of Curly's car and it sped off, both him and his goon yelling at the top of their lungs.
I felt a soft hand go onto my shoulder and brush the hair out of my face. "Soda?" I opened my eyes and looked at Steve. He shook his head and then squeezed my hand. "You okay?"
"I'll live." I muttered. "Everything hurts." I closed my eyes again and then I felt myself being picked up bridal style by Steve.
He put me back into his car and then drove me back to his house. He tried to patch me up the best he could but I still looked and felt like hell.
Only after taking three asprins was I finally able to fall asleep. I slept next to Steve in his bed, his arms around me the whole night.
When I woke up the next morning I felt even worse. My muscles hurt and the chest felt tight. It took me ten minutes to even get out of bed.
By the time I did, Steve already had breakfast made, which was bacon and orange juice. Nothing fancy, but he knew it was my favorite. We came up with a plan to say we were at the convenience store and I went out back to smoke a cigarette and I got jumped. I rarely ever smoked but we couldn't think of a better idea. Darry wouldn't question it, people get jumped around here all the time.
Steve drove me home because I didn't think I could walk the block. We rehearsed exactly what we were going to say and made sure our story was air tight. Though when we walked in the door, I could tell everyone already knew the truth.
Pony was sitting on the couch, eyes wide and jaw dropped when he looked at me. Two-Bit was in the kitchen shaking his head sympathetically. Dally was sipping a coke and chuckled under his breath. And Darry, as soon as he saw me his eyes bugged out of his head. A vein looked like it was going to pop out of his forehead he was so mad.
I looked at Steve and took a deep breath before Darry rushed over to me. "What the hell were you thinking?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. I guess you really can't hide anything in this town. "Fighting Curly? Are you an idiot?" Darry's never yelled at me like this in front of the gang, in fact he's only ever yelled at me like this a few times before. "Shit look at your face!" Darry went to grab my cheek but flinched away.
Steve immediately stepped between us and spread his arms a bit to block me. "Calm down." Steve told Darry.
Darry took a deep breath but his voice was still booming "You seriously let him fight Curly?" He snapped at Steve.
I appreciated Steve trying to stick up for me but I didn't need his protection. I was more than capable of fighting my own battles with Darry. "He didn't let me do anything." I snapped and tried to step around Steve and closer to my brother but Steve held me back. "I wanted to fight Curly. It was my choice so leave Steve out of it."
Darry shoved Steve out of the way and then grabbed my arm, yanking me closer to him. "Your choice got your face bashed in and put the whole gang in danger!" Darry screamed.
I tried to get my arm free but Darry kept a death grip on me. I knew I put myself in danger, but the whole gang? Now he was just being dramatic. "What are you talking about?"
"The princes fought." Dally spoke in his neutral rough voice. "That's an act of war."
The princes? What the hell was Dally going on about? And an act of war? Curly and I had a small fight. Just because our older brothers are the gang leaders doesn't mean if we fight our gangs are automatically at war.
"There's talk of a humble between us and the Shepherds." Two-Bit told me. I was expecting a witty remark from him but nothing followed.
"We're not just at risk of the soc, but now of our own kind." Darry snapped. "Do you realize what you did?"
"But-but Dally gets into fights with them all the time." I pleaded.
"That's Dally!" Darry yelled. "You're my kid brother, thus for an extension of me. You and Curly fighting is the equivalent of me and Tim going at it."
My stomach flipped and a wave of guilt suddenly consumed me. "But-" I heard the nervousness in my voice. I felt my face heat up so I lowered my head so no one could see. "That doesn't even make sense." I muttered.
"Yeah well that's how gangs work." Darry grabbed my cheek and lifted my head up. He shook his head as he looked at all my bruises and cuts. The mix of disappointment and anger was clear in his eyes.
Darry looked up at the group, "Everyone could you please leave." He asked calmly and the group nodded. "Stay together." He told them and Dally nodded again. "And please find Johnny, make sure he's okay."
Shit, I didn't even realize Johnny wasn't here. What if he's on the streets alone? What if he got jumped again? I'd be all my fault.
"Pony, go to your room and read a book or do homework or something." Darry said and Pony got off the couch.
"Can't I go with the guys?" He whined and watched Dally and Two-Bit walk out the door.
"No, I don't want you on the streets." Darry said sternly. "Now go."
Pony sighed and dragged his feet to his room. I felt something brush my arm and I turned around and saw that Steve was still here. "You gonna be okay?" Steve whispered to me.
I nodded, not being able to talk because I felt tears begin to swell up in my eyes. "Steve, let's go leave them alone." Dally popped his head back into the house.
"Chill your balls." Steve rolled his eyes.
"Steve." Darry Snapped, getting Steve's attention.
"Fine, I'm leaving." He shook his head and walked out the door. He gave me one last look before shutting the door on his way out.
Immediately, I was being dragged by the arm and to Darry's bedroom. I was grateful Darry made everyone leave, I expected him to threaten or even pop me in front of the guys.
He shoved me into his room and onto his bed. He began pacing around the room, too angry to get any words out. "I'm sorry, I didn't think fighting Curly was going to cause a war." My tone came out much more sarcastic than I would have liked it too.
"Never mind that," Darry turned towards me. "You deliberately disobeyed me. Again!"
"Curly challenged me." I defended myself. "I couldn't say no."
"Yes you could have. You just say 'no'!" Darry screamed and got off the bed and backed away to the other side of the room.
"Can you stop yelling?" I felt a hot tear go down my face.
"Can you stop being a disobedient brat?" Darry walked over to me and grabbed my arm, shaking me a little. "You have no respect for me do you?"
"I do." My voice broke and I could stop the flood of tears from escaping my eyes.
"You don't. If you did we wouldn't be in this situation! You never follow the rules, and you never think about your own safety!" Darry grabbed my face again. "Look at you! You have no one to blame for that other than yourself."
"I wasn't trying to blame anyone else." I sassed. "Can't you and Tim just call everything off? You're the gang leaders aren't you?"
"We'll try but your little stunt is a prime example that you kids don't listen to a thing we say." Darry screamed, he was clearly not appreciating my back talk. I didn't ask to be in a gang though, I was just always in it. I didn't sign up for all these rules and fights.
"Maybe if you were a better gang leader people would listen to you." I muttered and rolled my glassy eyes.
Darry's eyes lit with fire. He raised his hand in a tight fist and slammed it against the wall. My eyes went wide, and Darry slowly removed his hand, revealing a crack in the wall. He didn't look at me, instead he stared at his slightly bloody fist. He turned around and headed for the door. "Stay here." He ordered and then left.
I was too stunned to move, so I just stared at the cracked wall for what seemed like forever.
After about ten minutes, I was sitting on Darry's bed, my back to the bed frame. I hugged my knees to my chest and let myself cry.
Darry walked in soon after, and gently shut the door behind him. I wouldn't look at him, but I felt the bed sink beside me. We sat awkwardly for a minute, my sniffles being the only thing that broke the silence. "I'm sorry I scared you." Darry told me with a sigh.
"You punched a wall." I muttered into my knees.
"I know." He placed a hand on my shoulder but I shrugged it off. "But I realized I got too mad so I walked away."
I shot my head up and glared at him. "So if I just punched a wall and walked away you wouldn't get mad at me?"
"Okay, fair point." Darry agreed to my surprise. "I'm trying to work on lashing out when I'm angry, but it's really hard when you're constantly breaking the rules."
I lowered my head again, I wished we could keep the topic on him. "I wouldn't have fought Curly if you told me it would lead to warfare."
"Soda, I shouldn't have to tell you more than just no for you to listen to me."
"If I turned down the fight I would have looked weak." I tried to explain but Darry just didn't get it. No matter what he does people will always see him as strong. Everyone expects me to be the same because I'm his little brother. They expect me to be big and tall, with a rough voice and intimidating stare. I wish I could be like that, but that just isn't me yet. I don't think that'll ever be me.
"If you turned it down you would have proven that you're mature and have common sense. Instead you stooped down to Curly's level and showed that you're still just a kid." Darry kept his voice steady but his calm words still hurt. "Maybe I was wrong about letting you dropout of school. Maybe you're not mature enough for the workforce."
"No." I quickly begged. "Please don't make me go back to school. I never belonged there."
"If you keep this disobedience up it's going to happen." Darry knew how much I hated school, I don't know why he was using it as a threat. I'm dumb in every single way. I was failing every single class, besides gym and auto mechanics. That's why I'm doing so good at the DX. He would be insane to take that away from me.
"I'm not going back." I said in my saddest voice.
"Then start behaving." Darry seemed to ignore my puppy dog eyes. "How do you feel?" He asked, suddenly using his comforting voice.
"Sad, scared, tired-"
"Physically." Darry clarified.
"Oh." I blushed. "Kinda hurts." I muttered.
"Steve patch you up alright?" Darry lifted my face and ran his finger over a cut on my forehead where Steve put a large bandage where stitches should have gone.
"The best he could." I nodded.
"Lift up your shirt." Darry order. I sighed and showed him my bruised ribs. "Oh, Soda hunny." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. "Maybe we should hold off on your punishment until you feel better?"
I cringed at the word. I was about to jump on the opportunity to postpone it as long as possible, but the suspense would probably kill me. "No, just get it over with." I sighed.
"Okay." Darry agreed but made no movement to get up. "We're going to try something different though."
My heart sank and I immediately regretted choosing to take it now. "Normal spankings clearly aren't working."
I moved away from Darry until I was almost on the other side of the bed. "What do you mean?" I asked, panicked.
"Do you know what a bedtime spanking is?" Darry asked with raised eyebrows. I quickly shook my head. "It's a spanking every single night before you go to bed."
"What!" I yelled. "Every night?"
"For a week, yes." He reached over and tried to grab my arm but I jumped off the bed.
"No!" I screamed.
"This isn't a choice, it's your punishment." Darry snapped. He was back to using his authoritarian voice. "Now come here." He stood up and pointed in front of him. When I didn't make any movements he crossed his arms. "Now."
I hung my head and slugged my way over to him. I knew I was really in for it when Darry immediately undid my pants and shoved them to the floor. He's never started like that before.
He sat on the bed and threw me over his knee. Without any warning he started. He really wasn't going lighty on me. Every hit made me wince and jolt up.
There was no lecture like there normally was, maybe because we already talked so much. He spanked me for a full five minutes. My chest began to hurt from my heavy breathing and yells. "Darry. Stop." I begged. "Please, I can't- breath." I gasped.
Immediately, I was being pulled up and my hands were pulled over my head. It definitely made it easier to breathe and my sobs calmed down too. "Are you okay?" Darry asked quickly.
"Yeah." I said through deep breaths. "Thanks for stopping."
Darry stood up and hugged me lightly. For a moment I thought the spanking was over. Though when he pulled away, he unfastened his belt. "When you're ready, bend over the bed." He said back to his strict voice.
"No please." I begged.
"Stop." Darry raised his hand to stop my protests.
My eyes shot to the ground. "How many?" I muttered.
"I'm not sure." Darry shrugged. "We'll see I guess." I liked it better when I had a number to count to. It helped put a light at the end of the tunnel.
I didn't argue though, I just bent over and placed my palms on the bed. The only warning I had was the quick whoosh sound as a belt flew through the air and landed on my ass. "AH!" I screamed and shot up. "What was that?" Tears filled my eyes and I covered my butt with my hands.
Darry just turned me around and swatted me with his hand. "Stay in place." He said and then pushed me back down. He kept one hand on my back to keep me down but he hit equally as hard.
I screamed at the top of my lungs and was soon sobbing. It hurt worse than the hairbrush, in fact it was the worst spanking I ever got. "Please! Stop! Ah!" I screamed but Darry didn't listen. "Fuck you!" I screamed and tried to get up.
Darry shoved me down so my chest was laying on the bed and somehow hit me even harder. "Do you want to get your mouth washed out with soup as well?" He asked as he spanked.
"No sir!" I screamed. "I'm sorry!"
"Then watch it." He scolded.
After another ten hits Darry finally stopped. "Do you understand why you shouldn't be fighting?" He finally decided to lecture.
"Yes." I said into the comforter, which I was gripping onto for dear life.
"Tell me why."
"Because, I put, myself, and others, in, danger." It was hard to put together a whole sentence through my sobs.
"That's right." Darry nodded and rubbed my back. "Next time I tell you not to do something you're going to listen, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Good." He lifted me up and I cried harder into his chest.
"I don't want to do that for a whole week." I couldn't imagine how awful it was going to be.
"Don't worry, the main punishment is over. You're only going to get small reminders." Darry laughed a bit and kissed the top of my head.
I let out a sign of relief and tried to get myself to stop crying. Darry laid on his bed and let me cuddle next to him like he always does. "What are you going to do about the gangs?" I murmured into his chest.
Darry sighed, I could tell he had the same thing on his mind. "Tim and I will talk to our boys and try to settle things down. But you need to make sure not to provoke anyone, and stay off the streets by yourself."
"I will." I agreed. I thought for a moment and I realized just like how I never had a say to be in the gang, Darry didn't choose to be the leader. He was the oldest and strongest, so it just kind of fell onto his shoulders.
I felt extra bad that I was making his job harder. "Can I go watch a movie or something?" I asked and looked up at him.
"Sure." Darry smiled. "Wanna ask Pony too?"
I nodded and then He kissed my forehead before getting up. "Go make some popcorn. I'll grab your brother."
I happily went to the kitchen while Darry went into my bedroom, though he came out in a slight panic. From the look on his face I knew something was seriously wrong.
"Pony's gone."
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