Simply a Greaser

Chapter 65

I got back to the seats and saw the gang all laughing. I sat back down, next to Two-Bit at the edge of the row.

"What the hell took you so long?" he asked, grinning. "The movie's almost over."

I shook my head. "We're in trouble, Two-Bit. All of us are."

The gang quieted.

"What happened?" Two-Bit questioned, his grin gone.

I relayed what Bob, Randy, and Dennis had said. By the time I was done, the movie was over and most of the people had left.

Steve stood up. "Fuck them! Let's go find 'em right fuckin' now and teach their soc asses a lesson!"

I agreed with Steve, and so did almost everyone else.

"No," Darry sighed. "That's probably what they expect us to do."

I shook my head. "So? We can still kick all their asses! No problem."

"I'm willin' to bet that they, and a bunch of their friends, are waitin' for us to charge in at 'em without thinkin' things through." Darry shrugged. "Who knows if they're even gonna really go after any of us? They coulda been bluffin' to scare us, or get us to go after 'em tonight."

"He's right. Why don't we just wait and see if they actually follow up on their word?" Two-Bit sounded pretty sure of himself. I was surprised he was agreeing with Darry so quickly. I still wanted to go and find them, but they were right.

Steve crossed his arms. "I don't like this, but I'll go with your idea." He turned to Johnny. "And don't you go breakin' up with this Emily chick. Randy and his friends can't handle the Randle."

We all laughed and headed to the hole in the fence. I knew as we walked home, even though we were laughing and joking around, we were all looking over our shoulders a little more than usual.

The only good part of Dally being gone was that Two-Bit and I could be together without fear of Dally seeing us.

We sat in the Dingo, laughing in one of the booths. We were finishing up our food and getting ready to head back to the Curtis' house. We left and got into his car.

Half-serious, he turned to me and said, "We don't gotta go back to the Curtis'. My house is empty..."

I laughed. "Tempting, but you know I told Pony I'd go back to his house. He wants to teach me how to play a card game."

"Your loss." He started the car and pulled out.

As we went along the road, a nice car honked at us and passed us by. It looked like Bob's car.

It had been three days since the Drive-In, and no one had spotted Bob, Randy, or Dennis in greaser turf. None of their friends had been seen anywhere around our territory.

Johnny hadn't broken up with Emily. They had just been at the Lot together the day before, so we chalked Bob's talk up to bluffing.

So I wasn't too worried as Two-Bit honked back, rolling down the window and yelling at them.

We pulled up to the Curtis'. Steve's ride was in the small driveway, which was odd. He and Soda should've been at work. Two-Bit and I glanced at each other quickly.

"Maybe Steve got sick at work or somethin'," Two-Bit muttered. We got out of the car and went inside.

"Fuck," I whispered when we stepped in.

Darry was lying on the couch, blood covering his face. His eyes were already bruising around the edges and his nose was swelling. He was holding a pack of peas to his right ribs, half awake. Pony was trying to wipe some of the blood off of him with a rag, and Soda was yelling something about getting cold water from the kitchen.

Steve looked at us from beside the couch and said, "Nice of the two love birds to show up."

Darry said something, but it was quiet and garbled from the blood in his mouth.

Pony sighed. "Yeah, we get it. No hospital."

Johnny came into the living room from the bathroom with another rag to get the blood off with. He handed it to Pony, then looked at us.

"It was Bob and three of his friends," Johnny explained. "Randy included."

"How'd they get to him?" Two-Bit asked. "He was at work."

Johnny sighed, looking down. "His truck broke down on his lunch break, so he called a tow and got it to the DX. He walked there and told Soda and Steve what happened 'cause the construction site he was on is near the DX. When he was walkin' back, he was alone. They saw him and jumped him."

"How do we know it was Bob?" I asked.

"Who else would it be?" Steve scoffed. "Darry was almost back to the work site when they caught him. Some of the other construction workers heard some hollerin' and figured it was a fight. They went to break it up and saw Bob and three other guys beatin' up on Darry."

"Let me guess," Two-Bit said, "they got away 'fore the construction guys could lay 'em out."

"Yup. They ran once they saw the other guys," Steve said glumly.

"Don't pass out," Pony muttered from the couch. I looked and saw Darry closing his eyes, trying to stay awake but failing. "Soda! We need cold water!"

Soda ran out from the kitchen with a bucket and dumped the water over Darry's head. He woke with a start, most of the blood flowing off with the water.

"I'm up!"