TWO-BIT'S P.O.V.
The strip wasn't too far away, so I insisted on us walking 'stead of using my car to get there. I did kinda regret the decision when after a mile or two I got so cold I thought I was gonna die. "Man if I get any colder I'm gonna turn into a Two-Bit popsicle." Pony walked beside me while Sophie and Johnny walked a little farther back. I chuckled at my own joke and looked at Pony who looked a little cold too. "And you're gonna turn into a Pony-pop." I laughed.
Pony gave me a side glance with his lips turned up a little on the side, but it wasn't the kind of reaction I had hoped for. I shoved my fists in my pockets and searched for a topic to talk to Pony about. It was always kinda hard to just talk to Pony when I didn't have some cool story to tell him. All he likes is books and movies and stuff like that. My mom tells me to read more, and I consider actually doing it for the sake of knowing what the hell Pony is talking about some of the time, but I never read by choice, ever. "Why didn't we just take to car Two-Bit!" Sophie yelled from behind us.
I liked Sophie a whole lot. She wasn't a lot like Dallas, in some ways she was, but not in the bad ways. She was a tuff asset to the gang. Most gangs don't got any girls in 'em, and when they do it's a greasy girl who tries too hard and swears too much and is just pretending to be tuff. But Sophie, that girl actually is tuff. "I know we should've taken the car, don't rub it in!" I called back. "'Sides, a friend a mine is gonna meet us there and we'll go around in his car." I smiled at the thought of my friend Kevin. "He's got the tuffest car I've seen in a long while."
I could hear her sigh from up here and that made me smile a little. After a few more cold minutes, we could see the beginning in sight. The strip was made up of a bunch of roadside fast food stands and shops. It had the bowling alley, a drive-in, and, if you know where to find it, the best drag racing spot around. "Look cool," I whispered to Pony, just to remind him. I always like looking tuff, no matter the setting. Sometimes I come off as inappropriately funny, though. I don't know why...
Sophie and Johnny walked closer to us as we walked into the parking lot of Jim's Hotdog Stand. Thats where we were meeting Kevin. I walked like I usually do, trying to act more tuff than I actually was. I winked at a few greasy girls who all waved back. I winked just the same at a few soc girls, but they just scoffed and looked away. Boy, I hate soc girls I thought. Why they gotta be so damn pretty, though?
I leaned up against a car that belonged to a kid from my grade in school. He was a few years younger than me, but he was cool. Pony and Johnny both had their hands stuffed in their pockets meekly, but Sophie fit right in. She talked up a few greasers that noticed her and brushed off some guys that tried to pick her up. "How ya doing tonight?" I banged on the top of the car asking the kid sitting in the car.
"Just fine Two-Bit. What kinda trouble you tryna get in tonight?"
I recognized the kid inside as Tom Filbert from my biology class. "No trouble, just some action," I said coolly, keeping my eye out for Kevin's car.
"Good deal," Tom mumbled. "Y'all ever get bored and wanna get in some trouble, I'm thinking 'bout going round the pool house tonight to get some cash if ya wanna do some hustling."
"I'm out with some friends tonight." I slurred. "Us and Kevin Boards are takin his car around."
"You gonna do some racing with that tuff car of his?" A guy who I vaguely recognized butted in.
"No racing tonight." I clenched my jaw.
"Y'all too chicken to race?" The kid teased.
He looked younger than me, so I knew I could scare him if I wanted to. And I wanted to. "You'll be racing right into my switchblade if ya don't shut your trap." I snapped at him.
His face went blank, and he walked away. I couldn't help but start to laugh. Pony and Johnny had gotten more comfortable with the scene, and they were over talking to some kids a little older than them. I walked over and overheard them talking about how a couple of kids had gotten themselves thrown in jail for doing drugs. "I ain't ever doing dope," I interjected. "And neither should any of yous guys. Dope gets ya thrown in the cooler if ya get caught with it." Pony looked at me and looked like he took it to heart. Same with Johnny. I saw one of the kids who looked just about 15 hiding a cigarette behind his back. "Whaddya got there?" I asked.
Based on the redness of his eyes, and how far off he looked, I could tell it wasn't something good, or something we wanted to be 'round. Sophie came walking over from chatting with a few guys, with a smile on her face. I could tell Johnny got instantly jealous. "What ya guys talk about?" He asked.
Before she could answer, she scrunched her nose. "Who's smokin' grass?" I looked over at the kid who was chuckling to himself. She also found the culprit with her eyes. "C'mon let's get outta here. If I see Dally smelling like grass, he'll never lemme leave the house again."
I nodded in agreement, and so did Johnny and Pony. It was just in time too, because I heard a loud engine roll up, and saw Kevin speed around the corner, right up to us.
SOPHIE'S P.O.V.
I could still smell the last odor of the last group we were with when the loud sound of an engine alarmed me. I looked to the entrance of the parking lot from the road to see a shiny black hoodless T-Bird pull up. The tires even looked new and shiny. The music coming from the car was loud and bursting with life. I couldn't get a good look at the driver, but what did catch my eye was a bright red pair of dice hanging from the mirror. I glanced over to Two-Bit who was nodding with approval. "That's.. Kevin?" I asked.
"That's Kevin." He answered.
The car parked with a loud screech and a tall figure hopped out of the car disregarding the door altogether. As he walked towards us, I got a pretty good look at him. His hair was long, all the way down to his shoulders. It was a dark brown that had no grease in it. It was perfectly straight and thick, but I personally didn't like it. He had black tinted aviators on that hid his eyes from view. He walked with the kind of swoop that Two-Bit tried to walk with, but it came more natural to him. His lips were thin and curled into what looked like a permanent smile. Although his glasses covered his eyes, I could tell he looked young, possibly even younger than Two-Bit. He was a well-built guy, though, with muscular arms hidden under his long sleeve flannel. He wore dark blue jeans and a blue flannel that reminded me of Soda. His facial expression was cool, with a smile that matched. A cigarette hung out of his mouth loosely and he puffed smoke with the cig still laying on his lips.
I looked at Johnny who was scanning Kevin also. I could tell from Pony and Johnny's facial expressions, that they had also never met Kevin. Two-Bit eagerly walked up to him and shook his hand. I had never seen Two-Bit act like this, except with hints of it around Dally. Two-Bit had something in his eyes that I could tell he wanted to be in every way like the guy that stood before us. After Two-Bit and Kevin exchanged loud and profane pleasantries, they walked over to us. Kevin took off his aviators as he approached us and hung them on his shirt collar. His eyes scanned me, looking me up and down. "This is Kevin, guys." Two-Bit introduced him to us even though we all knew who he was.
Kevin kept his eyes on me, and only glanced away for a second as Two introduced Pony and Johnny. "Kevin, this is Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, and Ms. Sophie Winston." He chuckled.
He made eye contact with me and didn't break it until I looked away because it was making me uncomfortable. I brushed my hair behind my ear and flashed him a casual smile. "Winston?" he asked, revealing his deep, yet young voice. "As in, Dallas Winston?"
I bite my lip and looked off to the side for a second. I decided to play it cool, so I re-engaged. "I'm his little sister."
He nodded. "Dally's little sister." He said to himself. "You live up to the Winston name?"
I thought about the question briefly, and I could have gone into a much deeper answer than I bet he wanted, so I stuck with something safe. "I try."
He flashed a teeth-filled smile at me and then turned to Johnny and Pony. "How old you two?"
"Fourteen."
"Sixteen."
They both replied. "Good deal." He slurred as he took his cig out of his mouth and blew out a puff of smoke. He looked around quickly and coolly. "Y'all ready to get some action?" He asked, taking his glasses off of his collar and placing them slyly back on his face.
"Let's do it." Two-Bit smiled a wolfish smile and hit him on the back.
We all walked briskly, and coolly over to his tuff car that looked even nicer up close. Even a soc would fall head over heels to get a car like this. I thought. In reality, a soc probably doesn't wanna car like that. They want something that other socs would have. Like a Mustang or a cute Stingray. But in that moment, I thought everyone in the world would want the car that Kevin had.
Two-Bit got in the passenger seat while Pony, Johnny and I got in the back. When he put the key in the ignition, the car roared to life and the engine was smoother than any car I'd ever been in. Music poured out of the speakers and a fun and carefree aroma surrounded us. Maybe this constant feeling on Kevin was why he was the way he was. The one thing I couldn't figure out is how a tuff greaser like this would be doing with a shiny car like this. I've seen greasers with souped up cars that have had obvious work done, but the kind of work needed to acquire or maintain this kinda car is beyond any kinda money a grease would have.
The car jolted forward, then drove smooth. The night was cold, and even though the wispy wind blew my in my face and froze my nose, I felt a sort of feeling of freedom. The music seemed to get louder the faster we drove, and boy did we drive fast. Johnny put his arm around me as we drove through lots and down the streets and back again, all of us cheering the whole way. Two-Bit and Kevin chatted like old friends over the music, and occasionally Johnny would yell something to me and Pony, but we mainly just sat back and let the music fill the air with noise. I watched the passing people that just looked like blurs from out speeding car, and wondered how we weren't getting pulled over by the fuzz.
Soon we turned into a drive-in and parked his car in a slot. "You guys wanna Coke?" Kevin asked, looking at us through his mirror with the red dice.
We all nodded and he pushed the little button to order. As he ordered, more people came up to us. Some to just look at the car, but some to talk. Me and Pony talked to a group of guys that he knew about some race near the strip tonight. There was a back road that leads straight out of town that let off right along the strip. The tiny road leads to an abandon demolition derby yard. That's where everyone races instead of on the streets and risk getting caught. He said it started 'round ten.
I asked Pony for the time. It was a little past nine. "Can we go watch?" I asked Pony.
He shrugged and my lips twitched. We sat and talked to the same boys until our Cokes came out. I grabbed mine and immediately drank half of it. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until then. I zoned out of our conversation when they started to talk about some broad. Then, to my surprise, I saw the whole freaking cheer team walk by. They were laughing and smiling, and waving at the soc boys that were there. A wave of rage rolled over me. There were now only seven on the team because I left. They all leaned up against a cherry red Stingray which I knew was Cherry's. They talked to some boys that walked over to them. They giggled at everything, and playfully punched the guys as much as they could. I cringed at them but still felt the red hot rage I felt when they threw me in the showers.
I leaned up to the front seat where Two-Bit, Kevin and another kid were chatting. "Two," I nudged him.
He turned around to me. "Yeah?"
"Gimme your switch," I whispered.
He gave me a curious look as he slipped his switch out of his pocket and handed it to me. "Whaddya gonna do with that?" Kevin asked, leaning in towards me.
"Get some well-deserved revenge." I smiled deviously and started to walk in a hunched position over behind the Stingray.
I bent down behind the side of the car that no one was on and peered over the top. They all faced the guys that were facing them. I smiled to myself, then switched open the blade. I glanced over at Kevin's car to see everyone was watching me. Cockily, I waved and smiled. Johnny's mouth hung open in a smile and Pony was chuckling his head off. I watched as Two-Bit tried to get Pony to stop chuckling so they wouldn't notice I was behind here. Two-Bit resorted to jumping over the seat and holding Pony's mouth shut. I laughed out loud at that-I couldn't help it. I heard the volume of the speaking on the other side of the car go down. "Did you guys here something?" One of the girls asked.
"No." They all replied in unison.
Then the volume returned to how it was. I let out the breath I was holding and wiped the sweat beading on my face. Even though I was freezing, I couldn't help but be covered in a layer of cold sweat. As quietly as I could, I cut tiny slits in the tires and watched the two tires I cut deflate. Everyone back at Kevin's car erupted in laughter, causing all the socs to look over to them. "You greasers gotta problem?" One of the guys yelled out.
"We don't gotta problem!" Kevin yelled back to them as he started the car. "But she does!" He pointed to me and my eyes widened.
One of the guys ran over to my side of the car where I was hunched over. "What are you doing?!" He yelled looking down at the switch I grasped tightly in my hand.
I froze, still not believing what just happened. Still in shock that Kevin would sell me out like that. "Just doing some car maintenance." I squeaked.
"Come here." He yelled while running towards me.
I dodged his grasp and sprinted towards Kevin's car. I glanced behind me to see all of the soc guys were chasing me. "Drive!" I yelled to Kevin.
He didn't think twice before rolling quickly out of the parking spot and driving towards the street. For a second, I thought I wasn't gonna be quick enough, but then I felt one of the guys grab at the back of my shirt. I ran as fast as I could. Johnny climbed onto the trunk of the car and held out his hand for me to grab. Right before the car made it out of the entrance, I jumped and grabbed Johnny's hand. He pulled me onto the back of the car, and I clung to the back of the backseat headrest. We sped away from the drive-in and I glanced back to the group of guys who had just given up on chasing our car down the road. Everyone cheered, especially Kevin.
"What the hell Kevin?!" I yelled. He looked taken aback. "How could you just sell me out like that?!"
He simply shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. "I knew they wouldn't get you." He looked at me throw the mirror. "You're too tuff." He smiled a wolfish smile, but I kept my face hard.
I climbed into the back seat from the back of the car, with Johnny holding my waist making sure I wouldn't fall. My hair blew in my face and before I could reach up, Johnny brushed it away. "He was just playing 'round." He whispered in my ear. I felt his hands wrap around me and pull me close. "I'll give him what for later if ya want."
I shook my head and gave a small smile tonight. "Let's just have fun tonight." Johnny smiled at me and pecked me on the lips. "What time is it Two-Bit?" I asked.
"Nine fifty."
"Can we go to the track?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and looked back at me. "Why ya wanna go there?"
"There's a race."
"Yeah, yeah we can go there," Kevin answered for Two-Bit.
I smiled and Kevin sped up. We got to the back road in almost no time. It was canopied by trees. You could only see the outline of the leafless trees, but you could tell if it was fall, they would be very pretty. Johnny had his arms wrapped around me, so I wasn't that cold, but I thought of Pony. I glanced over at him. To my surprise, he was wrapped in a freaking blanket. "Where'd ya get the blanket Pony?" I laughed.
"Y'all think I'm a damn fool don't ya?" He chuckled. "I knew it was gonna be cold, so I brought a blanket."
We all laughed, except for Kevin who kept a cool complexion. When we got there, the parking lot was filled. We walked in and found some seats in the front. We sat down just as they started their engines. The two cars were beautiful, though I felt like I had seen one of them before. The one I thought was familiar was a bright blue car with a black racing stripe down the side. It had a covered top, but it looked similar to the car Kevin had. the other car was bright yellow and bulky. It had bigger wheels than the blue one. The race was one lap, so it was gonna pretty short, but there were no rules, so also pretty exciting.
A girl walked out in between the two ca and held up a checkered flag. Both cars roared their engines, and the crowd went crazy. She dropped the flag, and the two cars sped past her, brushing her hair past her face. The two cars were head to head in the beginning, then the yellow car purposely crashed into the blue car, causing the yellow car to gain the lead. People booed. It stayed like that for half of the lap.
In the final stretch, the blue car seemed to speed up. The blue car then knocked vigorously into the yellow car. It kept doing that until the yellow car was knocked off the track altogether. Screams and cheers filled my ears as the blue car crossed the finish line. "Go Sodapop!" I heard a girl behind me screech.
My eyes widened. I turned back to her. "What?" I yelled.
She gave me a confused look. "Sodapop Curtis just won!" She smiled brightly. "He's gonna be my future husband." She said gazingly.
My mouth fell open and I looked back to the blue car. Now I remembered where I had seen the car. Soda was always working on it at the DX. A figure climbed out of the car, and sure enough, it was Sodapop in his bright red flannel. "Holy crap! It's Sodapop!" I yelled. Everyone except Kevin stopped cheering. They all looked in awe over to Soda who was basking in the glory of the cheers. "How could he race after what happened the last time we drag raced?" I was confused and surprised.
A guy walked out of the yellow car that was now off the track completely. He walked up to Soda, shook his hand, then dug around in his pocket. He pulled out a big hunk of cash and gave it Soda. My mouth fell even farther down.
Everyone started to flock out of the track and into the parking lot. The parking lot was filled with people drunk as they could be. People were doing stupid things, getting in fights, making out, and a whole lotta drinking. Kevin and Two-Bit went back to the car, while Johnny Pony and I waited outside the entrance. Finally, what I was waiting for happened. Soda came out with a huge group of people surrounding him. I immediately pushed through the people until I got to him. "So this is what working the night shift at the DX looks like?" I asked smiling at him.
"Awe crap." He saw me and broke into a smile also. "I was hoping none a you heard 'bout the race."
"Soda you just could have told us." I put my arm around him.
"I didn't want Darry to worry." His eyes widened. "You can't tell Darry."
The group around him thinned as we got to Kevin's car. "Whaddya gonna tell him when you end up in the hospital one of these days?" I asked.
Ponyboy came right up to us, and he didn't look too thrilled. "What the hell are you thinking Sodapop?!" He yelled and pushed him, causing my arm around him to fall.
"What!? Can't I make a little extra money for us? Is that so bad?"
"Whats bad is that if the cops catch you guys, we'll be taken away faster than you can explain what happened to Darry!"
I was surprised and taken aback. I hadn't realized how mad Pony was about this. It kinda looked like Pony was gonna cry. Soda furrowed his eyebrows and his dancing eyes now looked dark and churning with worry. "I-I didn't think about that.."
"You only think about yourself now don't you!" I was now sure that Pony was gonna cry. I was still in such shock that Pony had just turned emotions that quickly.
"So you gonna cry?" Kevin spat as he sat on the trunk of his car. I turned to him wide eyed and so did everyone else. Kevin took a sip of the drink he was drinking from a paper bag. Everyone looked at him with shock that he would insult Pony like that. Kevin's eyes looked glossed over like he wasn't actually there, yet he kept talking to everyone's surprise. "Little baby, just cry already! He was racing! Every guy does it, there's no reason to cry!"
Even Two-Bit looked at Kevin with that "Stop talking look". Two-Bit nudged Kevin. "Their parents died, if they get in trouble they might never see each other again." He said quietly.
"I know who they are," Kevin said loudly. Two-Bit winced at his voice like it was hurting him. "I got taken away from my ol' man and four brothers when I was ten, look I turned out fine!" He hiccuped drunkenly. Pony swallowed down tears, probably humiliated. "So cry already you cry baby just cry!" My body swirled with anger and I walked up to Kevin. "Hey, sweetie wanna take a ride with me and ditch all these losers?"
"Sure," I said. He smiled, and I punched him in the face.
He fell off his car and I then kicked him in the side while he laid on the ground. I kicked him again, and I was about to do it again when Pony grabbed my arm. "He ain't worth it." He whispered.
My nose twitched and I swallowed hard on cold air that made my throat hurt. I looked around and realized that everyone left in the parking lot was watching us. I looked back down at Kevin who was just laying on the ground, wallowing. "Let's get outta here." My voice was hoarse and dry.
We all turned around and walked towards Soda's winning car that was parked at the entrance. "Aye look out!" Someone called from behind us.
I spun around to see Kevin running up to me with a switchblade flipped out. He got to me and swung the blade. It ripped the stomach of my shirt and cut the top of my skin a little, causing it to sting with pain. I let out a yelp and alerting the rest of the gang. They all flipped out their blades and ran to Kevin who was now running back to his car. "Get over here!" Soda yelled along with the rest of them swearing and howling.
Kevin quickly got in his car and started to speed away. We watched as he made it to the tree line. I held my bleeding cut and walked over to where the rest of them had given up running. I was shocked to what happened next.
Kevin was so drunk, in that moment, while he was speeding away from Two-Bit and Sodapop and Johnny and Pony all with their blades out, He smashed right into a tree. His car flipped and landed with a crunch upside down. I gasped and put my hands over my mouth. Johnny grabbed me and pulled me close. We all took a step back as his car went up in flames. Then we started to run. We ran as fast as we could towards the car. I huffed air in and out. My throat throbbed from breathing the cold air, but I kept running. We needed to get him out of the car. As we ran I kept my hand tightly gripping Johnny's. We were still pretty far away from the car when it blew up. It made a sound that I will never forget. It blew me backward and I stumbled, my mouth wide with shock. My eyes filled with tears because of the falling debris and smoke filling the air,
None of us said anything as we stopped running and stood together, watching the flames on the car grown higher and the smoke get thicker. I only now started to hear the screams that had been erupting from behind me in the parking lot. My ears rang with the loud sound of the explosion and my face was expressionless. I gasped for air and couldn't take my eyes off of the car. I always have heard about people who drive by accidents and no matter how terrible, they can't take their eyes off of it. I always thought that was crazy. Now I understood.
When I could feel my body again. I clung tightly to Johnny and shut my eyes tight. I heard sirens in the distance. "We gotta get outta here." Soda said quietly.
"What?" I heard a crackly voice. I turned to see it was Two-Bit's. He was crying. "We can't just leave him!"
"Soda's right." Pony sniffed from beside me. "If they see that were here, they'll question us and find out why we were here."
None of us said another word as we walked back to the car. The ride home was silent. We drove through a field behind the track to get to the closest road, then drove home from there. Everyone was quiet except for Two-Bit who silently sobbed the way back to his house. I'd never seen Two-Bit cry, and I never wanted to again. The rest of us stayed stone face. I didn't realize how close Two-Bit and Kevin were but now seeing how Two-Bit mourned him, it was clear to see they were close. Soda offered for Two to some and stay at the Curtis house, but he just wanted to go home. We dropped Two-Bit off at his house, then went back to the Curtis house. Everyone agreed not to speak a word of this to anyone, and we walked in solemn.
We all went straight to our rooms, and Johnny came with me to mine. I washed my cut out and wrapped it up, then went to lay down on the bed, and Johnny laid next to me. "Is it my fault he's dead?"
"No."
"But if I hadn't said anything to him then he wouldn't have come after me, and he wouldn't have run away and crashed."
"He could've decided not to cut you." I put my hand over my cut. "He could have chosen not to get drunk or not to run away." I snuggled up to him and stayed silent. "It wasn't your fault."
He played with my hair and I traced the outline of his chest for a while. "We just wanted to have fun." I whimpered. "We didn't mean for anyone to get hurt." The sound of the explosion still rang in my ears, making me wince.
"Bad things happen sometimes. You can't help it sometimes."
I closed my eyes and kept my head rested on his shoulder. "I wish people didn't die."
"Everyone dies." His voice was quiet and unstable sounding. "Everyone lives and everyone dies, That's why you gotta live while you can."
I puckered my lips and a tear fell out of my eyes. It landed on his shirt and soaked through. "Don't cry." He whispered.
I didn't even like the guy, yet I'm still so torn up over him. I think it was just because I had now realized that everyone is going to die eventually. Everyone I love. One day the world will be without Two-Bit's dumb jokes, and one day no one will remember how Darry sacrificed his dreams to take care of his brothers. One day no one will know of Sodapop's bright smile and fiery spirit, and the world will be without Pony's kind heart and gentleness. This town won't have Dallas Winston running around causing trouble, and one day the two funny, kind boys who work at the DX won't be there to make you smile. Eventually, no one will remember Johnny who has been tortured so much, yet is the kindest boy on earth. One day no one will know of a boy named Kevin who was separated from his family as a child. No one will even think about the struggle that the boys that I now call family went through. And then no one will even remember they all existed.
A pit in my stomach formed as I realized that one day, this gang of tuff, loveable, kind, funny boys will be gone from this world without a trace, and no one will even care.
But I'll care. I'll always care. Yet, no matter how I might try, even I will one day be gone from this world. Gone without a trace. Never to occupy someone's thoughts ever again.
I really hope you liked the chapter. Oh and sorry for the crappy vid. I threw it together in like five minutes because I thought it would be a nice little place to have a vid. I as SO sorry for the terrible watermark, I used the quickest software I could find and it is like the worst. If you guys know a better website or software, comment. Nevertheless, I hope you liked it. Vote and comment and if you like this story, go read my other stories. After I'm done with this book, I already have the next one outlined and the cover is in my drafts, so follow to keep up with the rest of my books! Love you guys!