Categories > Books > Outsiders > Red Hot Moon
Chapter 13
0 reviewsAbout a year and half after the events of the book, a new gang arrives in Tulsa and stirs things up. The soc/greaser war is at an all time high, and our gang's lives will never be the same.
0Unrated
Chapter 13
... ... ...
Two-bit leaned back against his car and smirked at the scene ahead of him; a bunch of socs were crowding around some preppy boy with a disgusting Beatles' bowl cut. He sucked back a long drag from a camel and stubbed the butt out under his shoe.
There was a pretty large and rowdy crowd behind the school that day. The previous evening had held a stand off between a group of socs and group of greasers, and at the end of the day a sixteen year old boy was dead. Two-Bit wasn't at the gas station or anything, but the fact that a boy from their end of town was now dead bothered him a lot - it would have been easier for him to say that it had indeed made his blood boil.
It bothered his friends too. Steve and Sodapop were there when the whole thing went down; Two-bit had a funny feeling that the whole thing was disturbing the boys a lot more than they led on. Steve hadn't said much on the way to school that morning - which was a rare occurrence indeed to not have him say anything offensive or rude - and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Things had not been this hectic around town since the events of the previous year.
The large crowds in the back of the school proved just that.
Two-Bit watched as Ponyboy made his way over towards the Shepard gang. They had been standing about fifteen feet or so away from their own gang. Shepard's outfit was actually a legit and organized one, so their gang had a lot more men in numbers than the Curtis one did. He didn't have many boys that actually attended school -Tim himself was one of them - but his younger brother Curly did and about five more of his boys did as well.
Even if they were a bunch of hoods it was still good to have them around at times like these.
However, it wasn't only Ponyboy he noticed standing around the Shepard outfit who didn't quite belong. His sister Mary was still hanging around the greasy kid called Curly. She was still not talking to him; she was royally pissed that he had interrupted their activities in the back seat of his car. He had tried reasoning with her, yelling at her, even threatening her, and nothing worked. She was attached to the stupid little hood by the hip, much to his dismay.
Two-Bit's mind snapped back to reality when he heard a feminine voice yelling.
"Steve! Steve!" Evie was pushing her way through the thickening crowds and making her way towards the dark haired greaser standing next to him. Steve finally seemed to snap back to reality as well, and pushed himself off of the car that they were leaning on.
"Evie! You okay, doll?" He snaked an arm around her waist as she got close. She pulled him in for a tight hug and didn't let go for a few moments.
"I heard what happened last night. Why the hell didn't you call me?" She didn't seem angry, only totally concerned, yet relieved.
Steve shook his head and frowned. "There was too much goin' on. I didn't even go home last night, I slept at Soda's." He reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He smiled at her.
She nodded her head and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'm glad that you're alright. I was so scared when I first heard about it."
He nodded his head and said nothing; something seemed to catch his line of vision and his hands fell to his sides. A frown etched its way to his lips and suddenly he was livid. "What in the holy hell is that clown doin' here?"
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and brought another cigarette to his lips. He followed Steve's line of sight and it fell on a blonde haired boy. It was the same preppy looking boy that was gaining attention amongst the socs earlier. Two-Bit turned to Steve. "What about him?"
"That's the son of a bitch that was at the garage yesterday, that murderin' jack ass!" Steve's muscles were tensed and a stony look of hatred was evident in his eyes. Two-Bit knew things were not going to go down good at all.
His point was proven when the sound of sirens was heard in the distance.
Two-Bit regarded the blonde boy once more as the police cars became more apparent. He looked as though he wanted to run, but the crowds were thick and the school yard was quickly surrounded. Moments later, cops were pushing everyone back and approaching the blonde soc from all angles.
"George Addams! I want you on the ground now! You are under arrest for the murder of David Young. Put your hands on your head!" The police had their guns drawn, and the crowd of students was circling the police officers with curious glances.
The blonde headed soc - George - made no move to run. He had a look of defeat on his face as he placed both of his hands on his head and dropped to his knees. The police officers quickly holstered their guns and approached him quickly. They had him in cuffs and lifted him to his feet.
Steve had an unreadable expression on his face. In one way, Two-Bit could easily place relief in his eyes that the boy was getting what he deserved. On the other hand, Two-Bit could also still see hatred and anger evident. If he didn't know any better, Steve almost seemed disappointed that those guns had been holstered.
He turned back to the scene before him as the murderous soc was being led towards a police cruiser. The crowds in the school yard were thickening. Socs were yelling at the police officers for publicly humiliating their friend, while some of the greasers were hooting and cheering for the arrest. Some students began to get a bit rowdy as bodies were beginning to get pushed around.
"Evie," he heard Steve breath the blonde girl's name. "I want you to go back to the school, okay?" He gave her a stern stare and pointed towards the front entrance of the building. Two-Bit had never seen him look so serious in his life.
She gave him a confused look, but nodded none the less. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and watched her as she stepped away from him. "Yeah, I think things are gonna get a bit ugly 'round here." She nodded and complied, and moments later they could no longer see her retreating figure; although it didn't take long for the two greasers to get distracted from Evie anyways.
"You white trash! I hope you pack some meat in the cooler and rot!" Two-Bit turned to the sound of Curly Shepard's voice. He had a bottle of orange juice clutched in one hand, and his other hand was cupped around his mouth as if to magnify the sound of his voice. He was yelling towards George and the arresting officers. It only took about three seconds for the bottle to leave Curly's hand and fly towards the retreating group. It smashed against the back of the soc's head, knocking him to the ground. Curly's laughter could be heard distinctly over the roars of outrage and cheering.
"Oh shit..." muttered Two-Bit.
A whole slew of socs quickly ran after those standing around the Shepard outfit, and Tim's boys made no move to leave the area. Ponyboy was caught up in the cross fire - and so was Mary.
Two-Bit's fists connected with the closest body to him and he quickly threw it out of his way. He saw as his little sister lost her footing and ended up taking a spill to the ground. At that point, a full fledged riot was in the works - between socs, greasers, and the police.
He pushed another body, and received a closed fist to the mouth for his efforts. The bitter taste of copper filled his mouth as his blood splashed through his mouth. It was easy for him to pin point that he had indeed lost one of his back teeth from the hit. In a fury, he grabbed the assailant by the collar and swung him around to the left so that he hit the pavement hard. Two-Bit then dove on top of the boy, feeding him a few hits of his own. When he was satisfied that the younger looking soc was calling mercy, he dropped him in a heap. He pulled himself to his feet and quickly resumed his search for Mary.
He could clearly see Ponyboy taking on two socs at once. It baffled him how big the kid looked at that moment. He had grown a lot over the course of the last year or so, and he looked eerily like Soda when he was angry. One of the socs had attempted to jump him from behind and hung onto his neck, but Ponyboy had ended up with a fistful of the said boy's hair and flipped him over his shoulder roughly onto the ground. Two-Bit was damn proud of him.
Steve was mad as hell. He was throwing punches at everyone. It didn't matter who was in front of him, people beside, behind, and under him were all feeling his wrath at that moment. He didn't even look like he was even paying attention to what he was doing; only throwing his limbs everywhere. He had a crazed madness in his eyes that made him look dangerous. He was always like a time bomb; Steve had that underestimated anger that so many people didn't take into consideration. When Steve was angry, people paid the consequences.
Two-Bit received a side kick to the knee and almost lost his footing; he grabbed hold of the closest arm and pulled himself up; the person that the arm belonged to spun around and Two-Bit met the fiery eyes of Curly Shepard.
"Where the fuck is Mary?" Two-Bit growled at him. He was so pissed off at Curly that moment that he could have cracked him one in the jaw.
Curly's eyes widened momentarily and he glared back at him. "She was right here."
"You son of a bitch!" Two-Bit threw him to the ground and pushed through a fighting group of boys, only to find his little sister huddled next to a car. She seemed to be hanging on to her knee. He ran to her and quickly scooped her up.
The police department was beginning to get the upper hand over the angry group of teenagers. They had pulled out bottles of pepper spray - or what they called, 'Riot control agent' - and were using their batons against many of the greasers and a few of the socs. He saw one cop even use the butt end of his gun against a student's forehead; it was no surprise to him that the cops played just as dirty as the socs did.
He turned back to Mary and frowned. "Are you okay?"
Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Two-Bit had to smile at her as she blinked them back quickly. "I'm fine, just get me outta here." She looked as if she really wanted to scowl, but he could easily see the relieved smile she was hiding.
He carried her towards the school and placed her down on her feet about thirty feet away from the chaos. He was about to open his mouth to speak to her when he was hit from behind and knocked to the ground.
"You better learn to keep your hands to yourself, Mathews!" It was Curly. Two-Bit could recognize that nasally, annoying voice anywhere. He pulled himself to his feet and dusted the gravel from his shirt. He turned quickly and grabbed Curly by the collar of his jacket.
"What the fuck did ya just say to me, ya little puke?" Curly's eyes narrowed and he grabbed Two-Bit's wrists and pried them from his shirt.
"I said you better keep your hands off of me." His anger appeared to grow increasingly by the second. He gave Two-Bit a rough shove, which sent him back a few feet.
"Or what'll ya do, marble mouth?" Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and glared. "You sure are askin' to get that ugly mug of yours knocked off, ain't ya?"
Curly pulled his arm back and in an instant punched Two-Bit in the side of the face. His head snapped back with the contact, but he quickly composed himself and went in for the attack. Before he could make any real damage, they were separated by two bodies. Steve had his arm wrapped around Two-Bit's waist and pushed him back towards Mary. Ponyboy was the one who grabbed Curly, and he was a little rougher than Steve had been.
"What the glory are ya boys doin'?" Pony yelled. The kid didn't look bad off; he only appeared to have a growing shiner and that was about all.
"That rusty haired idiot threw me down for no fuckin' reason!" Curly yelped immaturely. "I want a piece of him once and for all."
Two-Bit's blood boiled. "You put her in danger, you little shit. You got what ya deserved. You lucky I ain't..."
"Keith! Curly!" Mary shrieked from behind them. She steadied herself on a Ford pickup and tucked her hair behind her ear. That familiar look of anger and sadness overcame her face once more. "Stop your damn fightin'! It isn't provin' nothing!"
Two-Bit's features softened at her pleas, but she still got a loud snort from Curly. He pulled his arm away from Ponyboy forcefully and walked towards the rusty haired girl. She gave him a sad frown and stared him in the eyes. He said nothing to her, but their looks seemed to have spoken volumes to each other.
That pissed Two-Bit off more than anything.
She snaked an arm around his waist and the two headed off towards the school. Two-Bit jammed his hand into his pocket to locate his lighter, and swiftly lit up a Camel.
"Glory, Two-Bit, what the hell was that all about?" Ponyboy asked, clearly exasperated from the early morning's events.
"That good for nothin' hood started that whole thing!" Two-Bit made a rushed effort to straighten up his hair and he sighed. "Then he put Mary in the middle of it all, and didn't even bother to help her. When I took her away, he actually had the gull to hit me!" He was livid at that moment. He usually had all the respect in the world for the Shepard boys, but lately Curly was letting those feelings wither.
"Little brat was always a little shit head." Steve muttered to himself. Ponyboy only frowned; it was no secret that he was quite close friends with the youngest Shepard boy.
"Let's just go inside and clean up, boys." Ponyboy grabbed them both by the elbows and led the way towards the school.
... ... ...
The boys were gathered at their usual table in the cafeteria when lunch time came around. Since the pre-school fight that morning, the entire school had been left in a state of tension, disarray, and chaos. Evie had joined the two boys, and strangely enough, Petey had also joined them that day as well. No one bothered to question why he had even shown up for school in the first place, but they didn't mind his presence nonetheless.
The school was so divided that the cafeteria housed all of the socs on the south side, and all of the greasers on the north. There were middle class students sprinkled all throughout the large room, but the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
"So I heard that boy - George - his friends have been talkin' with that Ray character; him and Shepard's outfit." Evie nibbled on her turkey sandwich slowly and regarded the somber boys sitting around the table. Petey's ears seemed to perk up at this piece of information.
"What did they have to say? And what did they want with Ray?" It was the first time Petey had mumbled a full sentence since he had sat down.
Evie shrugged as she finally gathered everyone's attention. "Ain't nothing official yet, but from what I hear they be plannin' another rumble."
A loud snort came from Steve. "Well if it's a rumble the monkey boys want, then it's a rumble they gonna get." He was stony faced, and still completely angry. Two-Bit nodded in agreement.
"They gotta go down."
Evie frowned. "But again? I thought this was supposed to be settled last time something like this happened?"
Ponyboy sighed and regarded her. "Maybe so, but..."
"But nothin'!" Steve cut in. "There's one of our boy's dead and we can't let 'em get away with that! You guys weren't there, okay? The kid was shot down over a fuckin' car!"
"He's right," Petey cut in. "He was my friend. He didn't even touch that damn car. I'm gonna fight for him and I don't care what anyone has to say about it." Steve grinned at the younger boy and nodded his agreement.
Ponyboy only shrugged, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument. "And I suppose my brother will say the same thing, and then it's only a matter of time before Darry takes his side..."
"Excuse me!" Evie cut in waving her arms. "I thought I told you boys that it wasn't even official yet! Don't start your bickering when there ain't even nothing for sure." She gave each of them a stern look before she went back to eating her food. Steve only rolled his eyes at her and began to eat his own food.
Even though Evie's words echoed in their thoughts, each of the boys knew that there was no sense in downplaying the inevitable. There was going to be a fight whether they liked it or not. For the sake of the boy that was gunned down yesterday, they were each going to participate in it as well. Steve was still feeling horribly guilty and upset over witnessing the whole thing, and David was a close friend to Pete. If those two boys were ready for a fight, then no one was going to stop Two-Bit from jumping in as well.
It was an ever-escalating issue that was going to explode sooner rather than later.
TBC
... ... ...
Two-bit leaned back against his car and smirked at the scene ahead of him; a bunch of socs were crowding around some preppy boy with a disgusting Beatles' bowl cut. He sucked back a long drag from a camel and stubbed the butt out under his shoe.
There was a pretty large and rowdy crowd behind the school that day. The previous evening had held a stand off between a group of socs and group of greasers, and at the end of the day a sixteen year old boy was dead. Two-Bit wasn't at the gas station or anything, but the fact that a boy from their end of town was now dead bothered him a lot - it would have been easier for him to say that it had indeed made his blood boil.
It bothered his friends too. Steve and Sodapop were there when the whole thing went down; Two-bit had a funny feeling that the whole thing was disturbing the boys a lot more than they led on. Steve hadn't said much on the way to school that morning - which was a rare occurrence indeed to not have him say anything offensive or rude - and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Things had not been this hectic around town since the events of the previous year.
The large crowds in the back of the school proved just that.
Two-Bit watched as Ponyboy made his way over towards the Shepard gang. They had been standing about fifteen feet or so away from their own gang. Shepard's outfit was actually a legit and organized one, so their gang had a lot more men in numbers than the Curtis one did. He didn't have many boys that actually attended school -Tim himself was one of them - but his younger brother Curly did and about five more of his boys did as well.
Even if they were a bunch of hoods it was still good to have them around at times like these.
However, it wasn't only Ponyboy he noticed standing around the Shepard outfit who didn't quite belong. His sister Mary was still hanging around the greasy kid called Curly. She was still not talking to him; she was royally pissed that he had interrupted their activities in the back seat of his car. He had tried reasoning with her, yelling at her, even threatening her, and nothing worked. She was attached to the stupid little hood by the hip, much to his dismay.
Two-Bit's mind snapped back to reality when he heard a feminine voice yelling.
"Steve! Steve!" Evie was pushing her way through the thickening crowds and making her way towards the dark haired greaser standing next to him. Steve finally seemed to snap back to reality as well, and pushed himself off of the car that they were leaning on.
"Evie! You okay, doll?" He snaked an arm around her waist as she got close. She pulled him in for a tight hug and didn't let go for a few moments.
"I heard what happened last night. Why the hell didn't you call me?" She didn't seem angry, only totally concerned, yet relieved.
Steve shook his head and frowned. "There was too much goin' on. I didn't even go home last night, I slept at Soda's." He reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He smiled at her.
She nodded her head and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'm glad that you're alright. I was so scared when I first heard about it."
He nodded his head and said nothing; something seemed to catch his line of vision and his hands fell to his sides. A frown etched its way to his lips and suddenly he was livid. "What in the holy hell is that clown doin' here?"
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and brought another cigarette to his lips. He followed Steve's line of sight and it fell on a blonde haired boy. It was the same preppy looking boy that was gaining attention amongst the socs earlier. Two-Bit turned to Steve. "What about him?"
"That's the son of a bitch that was at the garage yesterday, that murderin' jack ass!" Steve's muscles were tensed and a stony look of hatred was evident in his eyes. Two-Bit knew things were not going to go down good at all.
His point was proven when the sound of sirens was heard in the distance.
Two-Bit regarded the blonde boy once more as the police cars became more apparent. He looked as though he wanted to run, but the crowds were thick and the school yard was quickly surrounded. Moments later, cops were pushing everyone back and approaching the blonde soc from all angles.
"George Addams! I want you on the ground now! You are under arrest for the murder of David Young. Put your hands on your head!" The police had their guns drawn, and the crowd of students was circling the police officers with curious glances.
The blonde headed soc - George - made no move to run. He had a look of defeat on his face as he placed both of his hands on his head and dropped to his knees. The police officers quickly holstered their guns and approached him quickly. They had him in cuffs and lifted him to his feet.
Steve had an unreadable expression on his face. In one way, Two-Bit could easily place relief in his eyes that the boy was getting what he deserved. On the other hand, Two-Bit could also still see hatred and anger evident. If he didn't know any better, Steve almost seemed disappointed that those guns had been holstered.
He turned back to the scene before him as the murderous soc was being led towards a police cruiser. The crowds in the school yard were thickening. Socs were yelling at the police officers for publicly humiliating their friend, while some of the greasers were hooting and cheering for the arrest. Some students began to get a bit rowdy as bodies were beginning to get pushed around.
"Evie," he heard Steve breath the blonde girl's name. "I want you to go back to the school, okay?" He gave her a stern stare and pointed towards the front entrance of the building. Two-Bit had never seen him look so serious in his life.
She gave him a confused look, but nodded none the less. "Are you sure?"
He nodded and watched her as she stepped away from him. "Yeah, I think things are gonna get a bit ugly 'round here." She nodded and complied, and moments later they could no longer see her retreating figure; although it didn't take long for the two greasers to get distracted from Evie anyways.
"You white trash! I hope you pack some meat in the cooler and rot!" Two-Bit turned to the sound of Curly Shepard's voice. He had a bottle of orange juice clutched in one hand, and his other hand was cupped around his mouth as if to magnify the sound of his voice. He was yelling towards George and the arresting officers. It only took about three seconds for the bottle to leave Curly's hand and fly towards the retreating group. It smashed against the back of the soc's head, knocking him to the ground. Curly's laughter could be heard distinctly over the roars of outrage and cheering.
"Oh shit..." muttered Two-Bit.
A whole slew of socs quickly ran after those standing around the Shepard outfit, and Tim's boys made no move to leave the area. Ponyboy was caught up in the cross fire - and so was Mary.
Two-Bit's fists connected with the closest body to him and he quickly threw it out of his way. He saw as his little sister lost her footing and ended up taking a spill to the ground. At that point, a full fledged riot was in the works - between socs, greasers, and the police.
He pushed another body, and received a closed fist to the mouth for his efforts. The bitter taste of copper filled his mouth as his blood splashed through his mouth. It was easy for him to pin point that he had indeed lost one of his back teeth from the hit. In a fury, he grabbed the assailant by the collar and swung him around to the left so that he hit the pavement hard. Two-Bit then dove on top of the boy, feeding him a few hits of his own. When he was satisfied that the younger looking soc was calling mercy, he dropped him in a heap. He pulled himself to his feet and quickly resumed his search for Mary.
He could clearly see Ponyboy taking on two socs at once. It baffled him how big the kid looked at that moment. He had grown a lot over the course of the last year or so, and he looked eerily like Soda when he was angry. One of the socs had attempted to jump him from behind and hung onto his neck, but Ponyboy had ended up with a fistful of the said boy's hair and flipped him over his shoulder roughly onto the ground. Two-Bit was damn proud of him.
Steve was mad as hell. He was throwing punches at everyone. It didn't matter who was in front of him, people beside, behind, and under him were all feeling his wrath at that moment. He didn't even look like he was even paying attention to what he was doing; only throwing his limbs everywhere. He had a crazed madness in his eyes that made him look dangerous. He was always like a time bomb; Steve had that underestimated anger that so many people didn't take into consideration. When Steve was angry, people paid the consequences.
Two-Bit received a side kick to the knee and almost lost his footing; he grabbed hold of the closest arm and pulled himself up; the person that the arm belonged to spun around and Two-Bit met the fiery eyes of Curly Shepard.
"Where the fuck is Mary?" Two-Bit growled at him. He was so pissed off at Curly that moment that he could have cracked him one in the jaw.
Curly's eyes widened momentarily and he glared back at him. "She was right here."
"You son of a bitch!" Two-Bit threw him to the ground and pushed through a fighting group of boys, only to find his little sister huddled next to a car. She seemed to be hanging on to her knee. He ran to her and quickly scooped her up.
The police department was beginning to get the upper hand over the angry group of teenagers. They had pulled out bottles of pepper spray - or what they called, 'Riot control agent' - and were using their batons against many of the greasers and a few of the socs. He saw one cop even use the butt end of his gun against a student's forehead; it was no surprise to him that the cops played just as dirty as the socs did.
He turned back to Mary and frowned. "Are you okay?"
Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Two-Bit had to smile at her as she blinked them back quickly. "I'm fine, just get me outta here." She looked as if she really wanted to scowl, but he could easily see the relieved smile she was hiding.
He carried her towards the school and placed her down on her feet about thirty feet away from the chaos. He was about to open his mouth to speak to her when he was hit from behind and knocked to the ground.
"You better learn to keep your hands to yourself, Mathews!" It was Curly. Two-Bit could recognize that nasally, annoying voice anywhere. He pulled himself to his feet and dusted the gravel from his shirt. He turned quickly and grabbed Curly by the collar of his jacket.
"What the fuck did ya just say to me, ya little puke?" Curly's eyes narrowed and he grabbed Two-Bit's wrists and pried them from his shirt.
"I said you better keep your hands off of me." His anger appeared to grow increasingly by the second. He gave Two-Bit a rough shove, which sent him back a few feet.
"Or what'll ya do, marble mouth?" Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow and glared. "You sure are askin' to get that ugly mug of yours knocked off, ain't ya?"
Curly pulled his arm back and in an instant punched Two-Bit in the side of the face. His head snapped back with the contact, but he quickly composed himself and went in for the attack. Before he could make any real damage, they were separated by two bodies. Steve had his arm wrapped around Two-Bit's waist and pushed him back towards Mary. Ponyboy was the one who grabbed Curly, and he was a little rougher than Steve had been.
"What the glory are ya boys doin'?" Pony yelled. The kid didn't look bad off; he only appeared to have a growing shiner and that was about all.
"That rusty haired idiot threw me down for no fuckin' reason!" Curly yelped immaturely. "I want a piece of him once and for all."
Two-Bit's blood boiled. "You put her in danger, you little shit. You got what ya deserved. You lucky I ain't..."
"Keith! Curly!" Mary shrieked from behind them. She steadied herself on a Ford pickup and tucked her hair behind her ear. That familiar look of anger and sadness overcame her face once more. "Stop your damn fightin'! It isn't provin' nothing!"
Two-Bit's features softened at her pleas, but she still got a loud snort from Curly. He pulled his arm away from Ponyboy forcefully and walked towards the rusty haired girl. She gave him a sad frown and stared him in the eyes. He said nothing to her, but their looks seemed to have spoken volumes to each other.
That pissed Two-Bit off more than anything.
She snaked an arm around his waist and the two headed off towards the school. Two-Bit jammed his hand into his pocket to locate his lighter, and swiftly lit up a Camel.
"Glory, Two-Bit, what the hell was that all about?" Ponyboy asked, clearly exasperated from the early morning's events.
"That good for nothin' hood started that whole thing!" Two-Bit made a rushed effort to straighten up his hair and he sighed. "Then he put Mary in the middle of it all, and didn't even bother to help her. When I took her away, he actually had the gull to hit me!" He was livid at that moment. He usually had all the respect in the world for the Shepard boys, but lately Curly was letting those feelings wither.
"Little brat was always a little shit head." Steve muttered to himself. Ponyboy only frowned; it was no secret that he was quite close friends with the youngest Shepard boy.
"Let's just go inside and clean up, boys." Ponyboy grabbed them both by the elbows and led the way towards the school.
... ... ...
The boys were gathered at their usual table in the cafeteria when lunch time came around. Since the pre-school fight that morning, the entire school had been left in a state of tension, disarray, and chaos. Evie had joined the two boys, and strangely enough, Petey had also joined them that day as well. No one bothered to question why he had even shown up for school in the first place, but they didn't mind his presence nonetheless.
The school was so divided that the cafeteria housed all of the socs on the south side, and all of the greasers on the north. There were middle class students sprinkled all throughout the large room, but the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
"So I heard that boy - George - his friends have been talkin' with that Ray character; him and Shepard's outfit." Evie nibbled on her turkey sandwich slowly and regarded the somber boys sitting around the table. Petey's ears seemed to perk up at this piece of information.
"What did they have to say? And what did they want with Ray?" It was the first time Petey had mumbled a full sentence since he had sat down.
Evie shrugged as she finally gathered everyone's attention. "Ain't nothing official yet, but from what I hear they be plannin' another rumble."
A loud snort came from Steve. "Well if it's a rumble the monkey boys want, then it's a rumble they gonna get." He was stony faced, and still completely angry. Two-Bit nodded in agreement.
"They gotta go down."
Evie frowned. "But again? I thought this was supposed to be settled last time something like this happened?"
Ponyboy sighed and regarded her. "Maybe so, but..."
"But nothin'!" Steve cut in. "There's one of our boy's dead and we can't let 'em get away with that! You guys weren't there, okay? The kid was shot down over a fuckin' car!"
"He's right," Petey cut in. "He was my friend. He didn't even touch that damn car. I'm gonna fight for him and I don't care what anyone has to say about it." Steve grinned at the younger boy and nodded his agreement.
Ponyboy only shrugged, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument. "And I suppose my brother will say the same thing, and then it's only a matter of time before Darry takes his side..."
"Excuse me!" Evie cut in waving her arms. "I thought I told you boys that it wasn't even official yet! Don't start your bickering when there ain't even nothing for sure." She gave each of them a stern look before she went back to eating her food. Steve only rolled his eyes at her and began to eat his own food.
Even though Evie's words echoed in their thoughts, each of the boys knew that there was no sense in downplaying the inevitable. There was going to be a fight whether they liked it or not. For the sake of the boy that was gunned down yesterday, they were each going to participate in it as well. Steve was still feeling horribly guilty and upset over witnessing the whole thing, and David was a close friend to Pete. If those two boys were ready for a fight, then no one was going to stop Two-Bit from jumping in as well.
It was an ever-escalating issue that was going to explode sooner rather than later.
TBC
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