Times Change [UNDERGOING EDITS]

Chapter Nineteen

I closed the book and placed it on the table. "No, I ain't gonna fight tonight," I sighed.

"Why?"

"I'd rather stay here with you and Dally," I shrugged, "I can miss one rumble, ain't like there isn't gonna be any more in the future."

"But this one's real important, we're going to need everyone we can get. There's gonna be a lot of Socs that show..."

"Think I don't know that Johnny?" I interrupted, "That's why I ain't goin'. You ain't been here this past week to see what's been goin' on, the Socs are mighty riled up and it makes them that much more dangerous. Darry wouldn't let me fight even if I wanted to."

Johnny was quiet for a moment, "But that ain't ever stopped you in the past..."

"I know, but this time the danger realer than it's ever been," I told him, "If something bad happened to me, my brothers might go nuts."

We sat in silence and stared out the window, it was starting to get dark out. There was no way Darry would want me walking home alone after dark, especially because the hospital was across town from our neighborhood. I would either have to wait for one of the guys to pick me up after the rumble or call Darry to come get me.

Just then Dally burst into the room, wearing jeans and no shirt under his denim jacket.

"Dally!" Johnny wheezed.

"Hey Johnnykid!" Dally smirked, "I'm bustin' out, a fight ain't a fight without Dally Winston!"

He spotted me and grabbed my hands, spinning me around before he pulled me close. "I'll be seeing you tonight if we win this thing," he whispered in my ear. And I figured he probably didn't mean just sleeping this time.

"How you gonna get out?" Johnny wheezed from his place on the bed.

Dally pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and idly spun it between his fingers.

"Where'd you get Two's blade?" I wondered.

"He gave it to me when him and Pony dropped by," he smirked. "Now I gotta beat it out of here before they figure out i'm not twiddling my thumbs back in my room," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the lips before he rushed out of the room and made his escape.

"See?" Johnny smirked, "Ain't that hard to figure."

"If you weren't sitting in a hospital bed right now I would punch you Johnny Cade," I laughed.

"I don't doubt that," he replied, starting to look sleepy. I tried to ignore the fact that he looked even weaker than he did this morning. Figuring I should let him get some rest, I shut up and picked up the newspaper from that morning, thinking back to the first time I was in a rumble.

It was over the summer, I only remember because it was after the car wreck and no way would Mama have let me rumble had she been there to stop me.

It was hot as hell outside even though the sun had gone down over an hour before. Our outfit and Tim Shepherd's were having it out with some Socs, not the first time and certainly not the last time we would fight that crowd. I had pleaded with Darry to let me go with them but he would have nothing of it.

"You let Pony fight! He's just a kid!" I argued.

Darry shook his head, "No way I'm letting my kid sister go into a rumble against a bunch of Socs, you could get hurt. You're going to stay here and you ain't going to stick your nose out the front door 'till we get back." And with that him and the guys turned and walked out the front door.

"GENDER STEREOTYPING!" I shouted after them. I waited until I could no longer hear them whooping and hollering in the street and darted into my room. Grabbing an old pair of jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, I quickly changed then twisted my long hair into a bun.

Then I opened my bedroom window and climbed out. I smirked, Darry only said not to go out the front door, he said nothing about he window.

I could hear the fight as I got close to it, a lot of yelling and shouting. As I neared it, I noticed someone sitting on top of Ponyboy, hitting him senseless. I ran over and knocked the guy off my brother, kicking him hard before I ran off. I looked around for another easy target. There were two guys ganged up on Steve. I  wasted no time jumping one of them, forcing him to let go of Steve, who took the opportunity to hit the other Soc.

The guy I jumped turned around and swung. I ducked and grabbed his arm, "You wouldn't hit a girl, now would you sweetie?" His eyebrows knit together in confusion. I smirked, "Well this girl ain't got no problem hitting you." I punched him as hard as I could, making him stumble backwards.

Eventually, the Socs turned tail and ran, just like they always did. We cheered and hollered after them, chasing them off our turf. I made it out alright, all I had was a bloody lip from getting elbowed in the face. I was thankful, the boys had come home from rumbles looking much worse. But after a few of the Socs realized there was a girl fighting with the greasers, they all tried to stay away from me.

Just then Johnny appeared at my elbow, "Allison!" he cried, a goofy smile plastered across his face. "We won!"

"Yeah, thanks to me!" I joked, elbowing him in the ribs.

Johnny was still smiling like a fool, "How did you..."

"ALLISON WINTER CURTIS!"

"Damn," I mumbled, turning to face my furious older brothers.

I had gotten the talking-to of a lifetime that night. For the next few weeks Darry hardly let me out of the house except for work.

But that hadn't stopped me from going to the rumbles. No matter how much Darry tried to convince me to stay home, I always ended up in the midst of the fighting anyway. Once he even got Two Bit's mom and little sister to come and stay with me. Two's mama is a real sweet lady, she doesn't approve of fighting and Darry thought she would be able to keep me in the house. I snuck out the bathroom window.

I wasn't afraid of getting hurt, in fact it was the least of my worries. And if I hid my hair under a hoodie, they would fight me just like they would the guys. I just wanted to feel like I was finally an equal to the rest of the gang, even if it was at risk of getting hurt. Worst injury I ever got was a broken finger from hitting someone just a little too hard.

The rush of adrenaline that came with fighting just made me love it that much more. It was thrilling and exciting, and the boys couldn't keep me out of rumbles no matter how hard they tried.

When I admitted this to Johnny, he told me I was starting to sound a heck of a lot like Dally. Maybe that's why I liked Dally so much, we were so much alike we were just drawn to eachother.

At the Curtis House

"Soda why do you like fighting?" Ponyboy asked.

Soda and Steve had been playing poker. Steve, being a sore loser, challenged Sodapop to an arm wrestling match after they were done with the game.

"It's like a contest," Soda managed, "Like a drag race or-" Steve slammed his arm against the table. "A poker game."

Ponyboy nodded distantly, "Why does Darry?"

"Because he likes to show off his muscles," Soda snickered.

Darry walked into the room, tucking his black t-shirt into his jeans. "I'm gonna show them off to you of you get any mouthier little buddy."

"And...um...why does Allison like to fight?" Pony asked uncertainly, knowing his brothers didn't exactly approve if their sisters confrontational habits. Soda and Darry stared at him quietly for a moment before Soda spoke up.

"She likes the excitement," he answered, "It's how she deals with her anger and frustration."

Steve stuck his head into the room, holding a beer, "And she just likes to show off the fact that she can fight as well as us."

"Steve..." Darry sighed.

"What? It's the truth!" he said, "I'm just glad she's on our team and not the other way around."