Chapter 9
I wake up with a loud ringing in my ears and my head pounding. The sunlight burns my eyes as I pull the sheets over my head. They smell like sunshine from yesterday's sun drying in the yard. They smell like summer which isn't a bad scent to me.
My stomach growls loudly and I realize I'm starving. I slowly get out of bed, wrapping a blanket around my body. I stumble out of my room and see the brothers at the table. Darry looks up from reading the newspaper. Ponyboy rubs his forehead.
"Good morning, sleepy head," Soda says with a laugh.
"What's so good about it?" I mumble and sit down in the other chair. Darry gets up and brings me back a cup of coffee. I don't usually drink it but it'll probably get rid of this headache.
"How do you feel?" he asks.
"Dead," I answer. Soda chuckles to himself.
"I bet you won't do that again," he says.
"Soda, I'm gonna hurt you." He puts his hands up as if he's innocent.
"Alright, alright."
"You know you talked a lot, right?" Ponyboy says. I tilt my head as I look at him.
"I did?" He nods with a devious smile on his face. "What was I saying?"
"First you called for Two-Bit. Then you slapped him again. He went on reelin' until he passed out, and after that you came back in there and told Dally to... uhm... Well anyway. And then you told me you loved my stupid face," he explains.
"Now I remember that last part, but what did I tell Dally?" Soda, Darry, and Ponyboy glance at each other with humored expressions. "C'mon guys! Tell me!"
"Alright!" Pony says. He leans over and whispers in my ear.
"I said that?!" I ask, disgusted. "I didn't know I had such a dirty mouth..."
"Neither did we until we let you get drunk," Soda says.
"Hey, ain't you two supposed to be at work?" I ask.
"It's a holiday," Darry says.
"Yeah. Nobody's working today," Soda adds.
"Oh. Great, I'm stuck with you," I tell Soda sarcastically. He nods proudly and puts his dishes in the sink.
"JT, you want some breakfast? There's some left," Darry says. I remember how hungry I am and nod. He gets up and makes me a plate. He then sets it in front of me and I thank him.
"She really does eat like us," Ponyboy mumbles.
"Dallas said he ran into some socs last night who were looking for trouble," Darry says, ignoring Ponyboy's comment. "And he said they were really drunk and looking for a fight."
"Wouldn't doubt it," Soda says as he comes back to sit next to us.
"I've been thinking about this. I think I need to teach you some self-defense," he says. I look at him with a confused look.
"Are you sure? I'm not good at stuff like this," I tell him.
"Yeah I'm sure! You need it and besides, it's bad enough you're hanging around with us greasers, and even more dangerous that you're a girl."
"C'mon, JT! It'll be fun!" Soda insists.
"Yeah. Okay," I answer.
"Get dressed and we'll go outside. You'll probably break something in the house," Darry adds.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll figure it out," Ponyboy says. I finish eating, do the dishes, and then change clothes. It's a nice summer day. I guess it's nice enough to beat up on someone for practice. I tie my hair up with a ribbon to get it out of my eyes since it's breezy. And my headache is going away which is a good thing I guess. I'm gonna kill Two-Bit for this...
I meet the boys outside. They're already wrestling on the ground and laughing like idiots.
"Alrighty. What first?" I ask, coming down the steps. They get off the ground. Darry dusts off his shirt and stands in front of me.
"First, you've got to know where and how to hit. Hold your arms up like this," he says as he holds his arms up to shield himself. It almost looks like a boxer's fighting position. He holds up his hands.
"Hit my right hand." I put all my strength into a right hook. My fist smacks his hand with a loud pop.
"Hit my left hand." I repeat the same process with my left arm. He shakes his hand. "Man, you've got an arm on you," he says.
"I guess so," I answer.
"Alright. This is called an uppercut. You take your fist and hit them under the chin. Like this," he says as he slowly moves his arm and barely makes contact to my chin. I nod as he moves his arm away.
"I remember some stuff. I used to take lessons. But I can't remember a lot," I say.
"Show me what you've got," he challenges.
"I don't want to hurt you. It was some pretty extreme stuff. And besides, I don't even know if I can remember it all."
"It's okay. I can take it," he says. Darry stands there like a rock. I guess so he can't risk accidentally hurting me. But he's so much stronger and more muscular than I am. I can't take him down!
"Okay. But I can't do it if you stand there. Come at me," I tell him. He slowly moves forward. I grab his shoulder and force my heel into the bend of his knee. He falls to the ground as I quickly stand up and place my shoe at his neck. He stares at me from the ground in disbelief.
"You're good," he says. "Where did you learn this?"
"I don't remember, really. My parents knew people, you know?" I step down and help him up. He picks up his leg and bends his knee.
"I never would've thought to do that," he says.
"Hey, Darry. Let me take a shot," Soda says.
"Be my guest. She'll hurt you real good," Darry answers as he sits on the porch steps by Ponyboy. Soda stands in front of me.
"Are you sure?" I ask. "I might remember something that could really hurt..."
"I'll be alright. Go for it."
"Come at me." He starts to charge at me, faster than Darry did. I dodge and extend my leg to trip him. He stumbles and hits the ground. I pounce on him, pinning my knee on his back and holding his arm back.
"Okay, okay! I'm never doing this again!" he says. I hear Darry laugh.
"I told you, little buddy." I get off of him and help him up too.
"Ponyboy, you wanna try too?" I ask. He shakes his head.
"No thank you," he insists.
"Are you sure?" He nods. "Alright. What else do I need to know?"
"Well, we can do a bunch of gymnastics stuff like front flips and all, in case you haven't noticed," Darry says.
"I used to do that stuff when I was little!" I answer excitedly.
"Let me guess, you might remember it?" Soda asks.
"Actually no! I used to practice it a lot. So I still remember most of it."
"Is that how you tripped Soda like you did?" Pony asks.
"Yeah." Soda frowns a little playfully. "I'm sorry, Soda! You were charging me like a bull."
"You told me to!" he says.
"Yeah. And? I mean, Darry warned you!"
"Yeah, yeah," he mumbles.
I bend backwards and kick my feet over. I can do that pretty fast forwards and backwards. But normally I go slower when I'm not being rushed. I do a handstand and several other things. They seem quite impressed with my physique and talent.
"How do you do that?" Pony asks.
"Well," I start as I begin to do another back bend, "I used to do this all the time. I was a cheerleader for a long time. We did the extreme, crazy stunts that could likely get us killed, like front and back flips on a three inch wide beam. I stopped practicing with that group for other reasons than my own safety. But yeah," I answer.
"That's some pretty cool stuff though," Soda says, fascinated by my showing off.
"Thanks!"
"Okay, JT. Let's get back to some basics here," Darry says, calling me over. We continue our little lessons in self-defense for quite a while. We finally go inside for lunch and then start some more afternoon chores. I find myself doing the same things I've been doing. Only this time, I supervise as the boys try to do things I did.
I begin thinking about how it used to be. I never did hard labor or chores in my life. We always had someone do it for us, or someone did it for me. I was always laying around being lazy. I never did anything to help. I kinda regret that now. There are always creative ways to do chores. I can't believe I never helped. Was I really that spoiled and bratty? I really wish I could take that back...
"Honey, I'm home!" Two-Bit calls as he walks into the house. Suddenly, I can't decide if I'm mad at him or not for making me drink. He said I owed him but I didn't expect that. And I don't back out on things I promised to do. But still. I think it's his fault.
"Well, what do we have here? The Curtis boys are officially under her spell. They're cleaning!" Two-Bit says.
"Yeah, so why don't you get off your rear end and help us?" Ponyboy says.
"No thanks! But I came in to check on JT. Where's she at?" he asks.
"I don't know. You'll have to look for her," Pony answers. I hear his footsteps coming closer. He steps into my room as I make up my bed.
"Hey there," he says happily. "How you feeling?"
"Good, I guess."
"Are you mad at me?"
"No. Why would I be?" I ask.
"Because I made you do that..."
"No it's fine. I mean if you want to do an unexpected thing like that, go ahead because it doesn't really matter to me if I pass out and have hallucinations or slap you and not remember or say horrible things I never should. Yeah. Whatever," I say quickly and a little too harshly.
"JT, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't've done that anyway. I thought it'd be funny." I cross my arms and frown. I guess I really am mad at him. It kinda hurts my feelings that he went off and done that. I'm probably acting like a two year old.
"If it makes you feel better, you have every right to be mad at me and I don't even care if you beat me up right here," he says. I look at him. "Go ahead. I don't care."
I think for a minute before running at him. He flinches, expecting me to unleash my anger at him. Instead, I hug him tightly. He stands still for a minute before returning the gesture.
"I can't stay mad at you for more than two seconds," I tell him as I pull away. "I couldn't ever hit you on purpose."
"Well I'm glad you aren't gonna hit me. I saw y'all outside earlier."
"That's weird, Two-Bit. Just watching us, huh?"
"I was busy!" he complains.
"I believe you! Calm down!" He laughs.
"So what do you say? We're cool?" he asks.
"We always have been." He smiles and we walk back into the other room.
"Well there you two are. C'mon and I'll show you a couple more things, JT," Darry says. We go back outside yet again as he makes me repeat the same moves over and over. He calls them out as I carry out the command. I feel a sweat breaking out on my neck and forehead.
"What holiday is it anyway?" I ask.
"Fourth of July," Dally calls. I stop and see him walking up to the gate. He opens it and locks it back before leaning on it and blowing smoke from his cigarette.
"Hey, Dal!" Two-Bit calls from the porch steps.
"Hey guys. Whatcha got planned for tonight?" he asks.
"Nothing," Darry answers.
"Good, good. Listen the fair's in town since it's Independence Day, you know. Do you guys wanna go?"
"C'mon Darry! Can we?" Soda begs.
"Yeah! Go get ready and we'll leave right now," he says. Soda and Ponyboy run inside.
"I don't know. I'm sweaty. I'm gonna take a shower before I go anywhere," I announce.
"You shouldn't walk there by yourself," he says seriously.
"She won't have to. I'll walk her there. You guys can go ahead. I'll stay behind since I gotta go find Johnny anyway. It'll be fine," Dally insists.
"Alright, but don't you try any funny business. Okay?" he asks, pointing a finger at him.
"You got it."
We all go inside and get ready to go to the fair. As Two-Bit, Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy leave, it's just me and Dally. He hangs around the living room and watches TV. I lock the bathroom door just because I'm cautious like that. After I change into some jeans and a t-shirt, I dry my hair the best I can and just leave it alone.
Dally and I begin walking to Johnny's house since we're not the whole gang without him. I then remember what I told him I'm the midst of my drunken state.
"Did I say something to you last night? It was bad, I think," I say.
"Well, it was kinda bad. Yeah."
"Was it... Okay Ponyboy told me what I said. I just don't remember saying it."
"It's alright. I don't remember much either. All I know is that we are never doing that again," he says.
"I think so too. There's no way I'm getting sick like that again."
"You know you slapped Two-Bit twice, right?" he asks.
"Ugh, don't remind me." He laughs.
"You're funny when you're drunk."
"Am I really?"
"Yeah, man. It's funny to listen to what you say."
We begin to approach Johnny's house. I feel the happiness bubble up inside of me since I'm so excited to hang out with them tonight. I see him coming outside, but he's running... His mom chases him outside with a broom. She hits him in the back of the leg with the wooden handle. He falls to the ground and tries to get away while holding his leg.
"Hey! Leave him alone!" Dally yells. He runs over to her and takes the broom away. I grab Johnny's arm and help him up. I look over my shoulder and see Dally cracking the broom in half against the tree in the front yard.
"Don't you ever touch him again! Go to hell, ya old hag!" he yells. She screams curse words behind us as Johnny finally starts walking on his own feet. Dally catches up to us.
"Johnny, are you all right?" he asks.
"Yeah..." he answers. His voice cracks as he tries not to cry. I know how much he looks up to Dally. Crying in front of him is the last thing he wants to do.
"Johnny, it's okay," he assures him. Johnny's bottom lip trembles and one tear slides down his cheek. He quickly wipes it away. I remember our talk we had when I first got here. He had said, "I wish there was a place with none of this. No greasers, socs, or problems. It's gotta exist, right?" I wish we could all take our problems away. But where people are involved, conflicts are included.
"I don't like it there," Johnny says.
"I know you don't. That's why we're going somewhere," Dally says.
"Where we going, Dal?"
"The fair, of course!"
"What are we gonna do?" Johnny asks with a smile spreading on his face.
"That's what I'm scared to know," I tell him. He laughs.
"They'll probably meet us at the gate," Dally says. I see lights and the Ferris wheel and other various tall rides in the distance. Sure enough, I see five other boys standing close to the gate. Two-Bit waves the three of us over. They jump all over us as we walk up to them.
"Hey, what do you wanna do first?" Soda asks.
"I don't know, but let's go cause some trouble!" Two-Bit insists.
"Yeah!" they shout. I smile at their enthusiasm. The lights blink, spin, and brighten up the entire night. I look around at the others. Their eyes reflect the red and orange from every attraction here. They smile and laugh at the sights and plans to cause yet more mayhem. I feel like a little kid again, like I fit in just fine with these boys.
And causing mayhem did not take long at all.
The first ride we walk up to is the oh-so-classic bumper cars.
Everyone splits to grab a bumper, and I decide to get in a double seated one with Pony. He chooses to be the one driving.
Before the ride starts, the ride operator had a few rules to lay out. He's short and grouchy, and looks ancient.
"Remember. No cornering people or ganging up. If you're too rough, you will be kicked off," he says, eyeing Dally the whole time.
The ride starts up, and the cars start bumping every which way. Two-Bit slams into into me and Pony, jerking us in our seats. We slam back into him, and the war is on.
And that's when they start with the chaos. Dally, Johnny, Soda, Two-Bit, and even Darry were all slamming into one car.
I soon realize that it was a guy who was obviously a soc. His girlfriend's in the passenger's side, and they both look ticked. But the boys? They don't care. Over and over they slam into the car, laughing the whole time. It's actually pretty enjoyable, making people who thought so high of themselves, absolutely pissed. I'm actually enjoying myself.
Suddenly the cars stop, and the ride operator comes out, cursing us.
"GO, GO, GO!" Dally yells, laughing the whole time. We leap from the seats of the cars and take off. Running away, I could hear the ride operator shouting, "DON'T EVEN TRY TO GET BACK ON THIS RIDE, YOU HEAR?!"
It makes me laugh.
The chaos isn't even over yet. The next ride we get on is a bunch of swings that rise up and spin in a circle.
This time, I ride with Two-Bit. He's still laughing from the bumper cars.
"How you likin' this so far, huh, JT?" he asks.
"It's great! I never thought getting in trouble could be so much fun!" I laugh.
As the swings start to go up, the operator's voice comes through a megaphone or something like that.
"Please keep your hands inside the swings at all times. Do not twist or grab onto the other swings while in motion. Thank you."
I know what we're not going to be doing.
As our feet dangle down, Two-Bit takes both his hands and waves them outside of the swing. He grabs onto Johnny and Dally's swing in front of us, making our swing tilt back and forth. I look around to see Soda and Ponyboy doing the same thing to the people in front of them, making them red with anger.
The swings quickly come down, and the operator comes out, telling us to get out of the swings immediately. Just like before, we quickly run out, laughing the whole time.
For the next hour, the boys did everything they could to drive people mad. They cut in every line, "accidentally" spilled Coke on people, and even stole things from the little shops people had set up.
It's all fun and games, but eventually we get caught. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later.
"You all think it's fun to just run around and cause trouble, don't you?" the security guard asks as he escorts us out.
"We do the same things as those good for nothin' socs and they're still in there," Dally says bitterly.
"It don't matter. It doesn't mean you should run around doing it. They'll get caught just like you," the security guard replies.
"It'll be a cold day in hell when they get in trouble. It's always our fault. Always the greasers," Two-Bit says, a hint of sadness in his voice.
We reach the main gates and all set off to get home. It's been a great night, one of the best I've ever had. But I know that the good times won't last forever.
"Did you see his face?" Darry asks, laughing.
"Yeah! He was like, 'You kids get outta here!'" Two-Bit mocks with a raspy voice. We all burst into laughter.
"I bet they hate us so much now," Johnny says with laughter in his voice.
"No doubt about it, Johnnycake!" Two-Bit replies. A loud boom echoes. We turn around, walking backwards now, to see fireworks going off. They come down in gold, white, red, and blue cascades of glittering color. We watch them like four year olds fascinated by the beauty.
After the show ends, I remember that I accidentally left my jacket at the fair. I begin to panic a little.
"That sure was pretty," Soda says.
"Yeah. Happy Independence Day," Dally says with a laugh and lighting a cigarette.
"Kinda ironic. We ain't got freedom like the socs," Ponyboy says.
"Huh. You got that right," Two-Bit scoffs.
"I hate to ruin the moment, but I left my jacket at the entrance gate. I'm gonna run back and get it. Y'all go ahead. I'll catch up," I tell them.
"Are you sure? We can wait for you," Darry says.
"It's not that far. Go ahead!"
"Alright," he answers. They start walking away as I turn the opposite way. I sprint to quickly make my trip. I find it hanging on the gate post. I start walking back, this time at a hastier speed. I hope nothing happens...
"Where you going, sweetheart?" someone says. I turn around and see a group of drunk socs hurrying towards me.
"Hey, wait a second. I remember you. You're that greaser girl hanging with that trash. They got kicked out too," he says.
"Ohhh. I remember you now," the first one slurs. "What's a pretty girl like you doing being a greaser and all?"
I don't answer.
"C'mon, baby. It's just a question," the second prompts.
"You better leave me alone," I warn.
"Or what?"
"I- I'll have to get the others down here," I stutter.
"Oh my goodness. I'm so scared," the second taunts. I look closely at him and recognize his jacket. He's the guy who first attacked me when I came here. It's them again.
I realize I've stopped walking. They've started closing in on me. They stop just a couple feet from me. He jerks his head up in one quick motion.
"Get her," he commands. Instantly, I have five socs on me, just like before. I know they're drunk. I can take them, right?
Wrong.
Two pin my arms and legs down. A third grabs my hair and holds my head down. A fourth holds my knees to prevent my constant struggling. The leader of them takes a switchblade out as he hovers above me.
"Dally!" I scream. He grabs my chin, trying to steady me. I bite his thumb as hard as I can, tasting his blood in my mouth. He pulls his hand away, shaking it and cursing. I spit blood and saliva in his face, splattering his appearance with red dots.
"Dally!" I scream again. This time, he successfully shuts me up by putting his bleeding hand on my mouth and a blade to my neck.
"You're feisty," he says. "I kind of like that about you. Too bad you're a greaser. What are we gonna do with you?"
I hear a low whistle that sounds like a whippoorwill call. They take no notice of it but I know who it is because it's too terribly done to be an actual whippoorwill.
I shake my head wildly until he removes his hand. He grabs my face in his hand harshly.
"You won't do anything," I say with clenched teeth. I use all of my strength to try and break loose from their holds. It's no use.
"Sorry, sweetheart. Looks like you need to have your mouth worked on." He squeezes my cheeks harder. He brings the cold blade to my lips, making a small slit. That's when I hear them yell and panic. I look around and see the gang came back to help me. They must've heard me screaming for help.
I feel someone collapse on top of me. They begin trying to hit at me. "Dally!" I call again. I see him from the corner of my eye grabbing the back of the guy's shirt, pulling him up, and hitting his jaw so hard that he falls and doesn't get back up. Dally grabs my hand and pulls me up. He takes me aside and leaves me there while they go finish what the socs started.
After a quick five minutes of fighting, the socs lie on the ground, groaning in pain. They come over to me with success all over their happy and proud faces.
"Are you alright?" Two-Bit asks.
"I- I'm gonna be s-sick," I answer, remembering the blood in my mouth. They move aside as I stumble over to a pile of brush nearby. My stomach churns as a bitter taste gags me. I throw up and spit out the last of the nasty taste. I wipe my mouth and walk back over to them with my hand on my abdomen.
"His blood was in my mouth..." I explain shortly.
"Are you okay now?" Soda asks.
"Yeah... I think so."
"Let's go home and get some rest," Darry says.
"Yeah, really. It seems like we play superhero a lot now," Steve mumbles. Soda punches his arm and tells him to shut up. We walk back with Dally holding me up the whole way.
As soon as we walk in the door, I walk into the bathroom to wipe the soc's blood off my face, change out of my bloody clothes, and climb into my bed. A few minutes later, Dally comes into my room and sits on the edge of my bed.
"Why did you call my name?" he asks immediately.
"I didn't think about who to yell for. I just screamed for help," I answer. "No big deal."
"And you heard Ponyboy's whistle?"
"Yeah. We should do that more often," I tell him. He nods in agreement.
"I think we're gonna have it out with those socs soon. It's gotta end with them," he says.
"I know. What's gonna happen?" I ask. "Y'all are too busy saving me all the time. Don't you get tired of fighting?"
"I don't. And besides, I like saving you all the time. It's kinda fun once you get started," he says. I push his shoulder.
"Shut your trap," I tell him.
"But whatever. See you sometime, JT."
"Alright, Dallas."
"Oh and by the way, you can always call my name first," he says with a smile.
"Sometimes I hate you..." I mumble. "Goodbye and goodnight." He leaves and closes the door.
He's got a good question though. Why did I call his name first? Because I thought he would help me first? Because I saw him rescue Johnny from his mom? Maybe that's it. I thought he could do the same for me. Maybe he wouldn't have if I didn't yell for them. Maybe he would've never come if he was alone. Or maybe he would've. Either way, I needed some help there. I was trapped with no where to go.
As I drift off to sleep, I hear Darry on the phone. I think he's talking to Tim Shepard, the leader of another gang.
"Yeah... They've jumped us a lot too... They went after one of ours tonight... We'll have it out with them sometime... Next week? I don't know about that... Alright, Tim. Call another time and we'll figure something out... Alright." The phone is placed back in the receiver. He sighs heavily.
"Hey, Darry. What was that all about?" Soda asks.
"It was Tim wanting to know when there's gonna be another rumble," he replies.
"But we just had one a few months ago," Ponyboy says.
"Yeah. I guess the socs want to get their heads beat in," Steve adds.
"I don't know what we'll do," Darry tells them.
"What do you mean? Our gang, Tim's, and another and we've got them socs!" Dally says.
"Yeah but we've got JT to worry about. What if they did something to her and that'd risk all of us?" Darry points out.
"Oh c'mon now. She'll be fine. Sure she's a girl, but she's tough. She ain't like them giggly girls," Johnny argues.
"Yeah. She can take care of herself when she ain't caught off guard like tonight," Two-Bit says.
"Look, I'm just worried if they hold her prisoner or something until we surrender the rumble. Socs like to mess with her now. I'm not gonna risk her life," Darry says. "And that's final," he adds.
"I get your point. But we're looking out for her alright," Pony says.
"How about someone stays with her all the time?" Soda suggests.
"Yeah. That way, she's safe and you don't have to worry about her too much," Two-Bit jumps in.
"And they carry a blade on 'em," Steve says.
"Fine, alright," Darry agrees.
"We should probably just give her one anyway," Dally says nonchalantly. "Johnny, you got another one with you?"
"Yeah," he answers. "I can give it to her tomorrow."
"Alright. We got ourselves a deal. Someone's with JT all the time, with a blade, and she can't leave our sights. Got it?" Darry says. They must've nodded in agreement. "Good. Now what about the socs?" he asks. They wander onto a new subject and leave me thinking.
They're doing this whole plan because of me. They care enough to protect me from the crazy socs. I feel so safe a secure now that they're doing this for me. My life is just taking twists and turns everyday.
I'm kinda scared to know what tomorrow's gonna bring...