Times Change [UNDERGOING EDITS]

Chapter Twenty Two

I was barely able to sit through the hearing. It was only a few days after Ponyboy had come home from the hospital. There was no one at the courthouse besides our little family, Cherry and her parents, and Randy and some other guys that jumped Pony and Johnny.

Everyone took their turns going up to the podium and talking about the last couple weeks, like they were just reciting a story from a book. All the exact same, and all the truth. I didn't like it much when Cherry got up to speak. But she kept to the truth and so did the other Socs, and that's okay I guess.

When it was my turn the judge asked me about my life living with the boys. I told him I liked being with my brothers and I wouldn't be happy if I wasn't. Then I had to talk about how Bob stopped us on the side of the road that night, and how he was drunk and went looking for a fight. I told them about how Johnny was a good kid, yeah, he was a real good kid, and how he would never hurt anyone unless they forced them too. I was real glad when the judge told me I could sit back down. I went back to my seat and wedged myself back between Darry and Soda, trying to hide my tears from the rest of the room.

No one ever asked about Dally, of course they didn't. To them he was just a hoodlum who saved his friend then robbed a grocery store and got shot for it. They didn't care that he pulled Johnny out of that church, or that he was just trying to protect the boys when he gave them a place to hide. And most importantly, Dallas Winston was a tough, jail hardened trouble maker who happened to find enough room in his heart for a scared greaser girl who was afraid of losing anyone else she loved.

When Ponyboy went up they didn't ask him about anything involving Bob's death or Johnny's. Darry and the doctor managed to get a hold of the judge beforehand and explain to him that Ponyboy was still pretty messed up emotionally. Pony was in pure denial about everything that had happened, convinced he was the one who killed Bob and Johnny was still sitting up in the hospital. It just about killed me the first time Pony had slipped and mentioned it in front of me. It must have shown too, because he was careful not to mention it again.

In the end Johnny was sentenced with manslaughter, not that it mattered anyway, he wasn't there to serve any jail time. Then the case was closed and we all got to go home.

  ~~~~~~~~~~ 

Darry eventually got me and Ponyboy to go back to school. I hadn't been since the night of the rumble since I had barely been able to get out of bed all week. Darry and Soda dropped us off the Monday after the hearing then drove off to work.

"It'll all be okay Ponyboy," I said with a tight smile before we walked through the doors.

Ponyboy had gotten forgetful and clumsy than usual, bumping into things and losing stuff. He would take wrong turns on the way home from school and I would have to stop him and get him turned back towards our house.

I spent the next few days trying not to attract attention, not that I was successful. Everyone had heard about Johnny and Dally by then and there was nothing I could do to avoid the stares and whispers. People in the hallways looked with wide eyes at the ring on my left hand. I was the sixteen year old girl with a wedding ring and no one to marry, the one who had lost everything in a single night.

I made it through most of the week before Darry ended up getting a call from the principal.

"Honestly Allison what were you thinking?" he lectured as we walked through the parking lot to his truck. We finally got to the truck and got in, Darry started the engine and started driving out of the parking lot. "Why'd you have to go and pick a fight?"

"Damn Socy bitch started it," I grumbled, staring out the window. I had gotten out alright, only a few bruises to show for it.

Darry rolled his eyes, "It don't matter who started what, you got yourself expelled for beating that girl up so badly. You know Dally never liked you fighting"

"Don't you dare bring Dally into this, Darrel!" I snapped angrily, "He liked knowing I could fight and defend myself!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Darry sighed, turning onto our street. My chest tightened painfully as we passed by the vacant lot. "What did this girl say to rile you up so bad anyhow?"

"She wanted to know what it was like being a dead bastard's girl," I spat bitterly.

Darry was quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry Allison, I know you've been through a lot lately."

"You don't got nothing to apologize for," I mumbled. We pulled up in front of our house and Darry shut off the engine but didn't move to get out of the car.

"Honey, you've still been through too much for being so young," he said with a pained expression. I realized i'm not the only one who lost friends, all the boys were suffering just like I was.

"About school," he continued, "I can enroll you in the high school the next town over and I can go into work later in the mornings so I can drive you-"

"I ain't going back," I interrupted, "I can't be somewhere where people stop talking when they see me coming, because they were all whispering about that greaser girl that loved a hoodlum who got himself killed." I angrily wiped a tear that threatened to escape my eye.

Darry looked at me sadly, "You sure you want to do this, Sis?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I was going to drop out anyways." I opening the door and hopping out of the truck, swinging the backpack that I would no longer need over my shoulder. "I'll start working full time at the department store, so I can help make sure Ponyboy stays in school."

My brother circled around the front of the truck and wrapped me in a tight hug. I felt like a little kid again, knowing my brothers would always be there to protect me.

When we got into the house I expected another lecture from Sodapop, I figured he would be mad that I dropped out of school like he did. To my surprise he was just sitting at the kitchen table, staring at an unopened envelope with a strange look on his face.

"Sodapop are you okay?" I asked in concern, dropping my book bag on the ground.

"It's the letter he wrote to Sandy," Darry said.

"Sandy?" I asked, "What happened to Sandy?"

Soda mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Got sent to Florida."

The meaning of that suddenly hit me. I knew what happened to girls to make their families send them away. "Sodapop Curtis!" I hissed.

"It wasn't him Alli," Darry said. Sodapop got up and left the room without another word, slamming the front door behind him. "He always said how much he loved her, he wanted to marry Sandy. But she must not have felt the same, because it wasn't Soda."