Categories > Books > Outsiders > Red Hot Moon
Chapter 2
Soda watched amused as Russ struggled with the keys in the door of the station; it was the same routine they went through every night at closing time. Russ kicked their asses out, slammed the door behind him, fought with the lock for about ten minutes, and then told them to get their greasy asses out of his sight. Soda never really took offence to the things Russ said, that was just the way Russ was. Besides, Soda's known some much bigger and much meaner hoods in his time. Russ ain't all that scary.
Steve let out a laugh as Russ dropped his keys once again. "Won't you filthy kids go home, now? Leave me alone!" Steve laughed even harder at his antics, as Russ' head got redder and redder as the seconds passed.
Soda smirked. "Besides, it just wouldn't feel right if we all went on home not pesterin' you first, now would it?"
Russ stopped what he was doing and shot Soda a glare. "Sodapop Curtis you may think that charm of yours works on me but your damn wrong, boy! Now get your asses movin' on outta here before I kick 'em into next week!"
Soda let out a hearty laugh and slapped Russ on the shoulder. "Oh, your real scary, Rusty."
"How many times do I have to tell ya not to call me that?"
Soda gave him a grin and turned to Steve. "Whatcha wanna do tonight, Randle?"
Steve shrugged casually. "I don't know for sure; Two-Bit said he was coming on down here, but Evie said she wanted to do something tonight."
Soda merely nodded and flashed a smile. "Yeah really looks like ole Two-Bit is pickin' us up; damn kid is walkin'!" He pointed just over Steve's shoulder to the said greaser.
Two-Bit swaggered up the gravel of the parking lot with an opened beer in one hand, and the other shoved into his jeans pocket. He seemed drunker than a skunk - which was no surprise to Sodapop - it was the fact the Two-Bit did not bring his car to pick them up like he had said he was going to earlier.
"Hey there boys, what's shakin'?"
Steve folded his arms over his chest. "Some ride, Mathews. What the hell did you get yourself into now?"
Two-Bit let out a howl of laughter. "I was planning on bringin' the ole car but I couldn't get it outta my drive way without bumpin' into something," Steve just glared and Soda let out a laugh, so Two-Bit continued. "At least I was polite enough to show up!"
Soda smiled as Steve threw an old rag at him. "Damn Two-Bit, you ain't never polite! Why start now?"
Two-Bit gave him a mock glare and took a swing, which Steve easily ducked. He scooped his arm through Two-Bit's and pulled him into a head lock. "Say mercy!"
Russ turned around angrily. "I thought I told you boys to get goin' home now?"
Soda smiled. "Damn Russ, are you still fightin' with that door? You gone past your ten minute limit! One of these days you're gonna have to start givin' me the keys!"
Russ cocked an eyebrow. "Why so you could throw parties and get ripped with a bunch of your fan girls after hours? I don't think so kid. As much as I like ya and all..."
Steve threw Two-Bit to the ground in a heap. "Don't worry Rusty, we was just leavin'."
Soda waved off Russ and helped Two-Bit to his feet, which wasn't necessarily an easy feat considering Two-Bit's condition. Soda didn't mind too much though; Two-Bit was his good buddy and had been his good buddy for a long time; they'd gone through a lot of tough breaks together. Soda knew better than to be lecturing anyone on their state because he knew how tough things could get; after time people just find their own way to deal with things. Two-Bit may abuse his alcohol a little bit, but as long as he wasn't getting into any trouble with it or hurting anyone too bad then there wasn't too big of a problem.
They started off down the road walking side by side in silence; they took the same road home every night and after a hard day's work it was nice to enjoy the night with a little bit of momentary silence. As soon as they got back to Soda's Darry would be getting dinner ready, Ponyboy would be doing his homework, and the boys would start their fun.
The night was a warm one; the nice thing about having blistering hot afternoons were that at night everything would cool down and clear out. The north side of town wasn't really something pretty to look at; but it was home to the boys. The streets could be dirty, the yelling inside of neighboring houses could get louder, tires could squeal, and sirens could sound, but it would never take away the essence of home.
"Oh, here we go boys; look who decided to pop into the neighborhood." Steve gestured over his shoulder; across from the park was a black mustang slowly stalking the neighborhood. Soda stopped momentarily and took in the car's appearance; it was a brand new make - probably a '66 - black, tinted windows, new hubs; that car did not belong on their side of town.
The car sped up slightly and was soon only twenty feet behind the boys. Two-Bit slung an arm around Steve and raised his bottle. "Don't you worry little buddy, them soc's won't be coming anywhere near us without a fight."
Steve glanced at Soda over Two-Bit's shoulder. "Yeah I bet he'll be real useful; he probably can't even tie his own damn shoes right now."
Two-Bit snapped his head up. "You listen here, Steve-O, it don't matter how wrecked I am, I can show anyone a good lickin', even you!"
Soda nudged Two-Bit in the ribs gently. "Two-Bit don't start get all riled up on Steve right now, okay?"
Two-Bit nodded and reached into his back pocket; he pulled out a black and red handled switch blade and spun it open. "I have come prepared, boys!" Soda smiled and remembered how shook up Two-Bit was after Dally had taken his last one before he had died. That old black handled switchblade was never found when they had taken Dally's body in. Two-Bit had vowed that he would find another one somehow, but at the particular point in time the boys had a lot more on their minds than swiping switchblades.
They had lost two of their friends in one night; ironically enough it had all started out with a similar looking mustang and a similar group of boys driving it.
A couple of months later, Soda and Two-Bit had gone out to have some fun and stir up some trouble when Two-Bit had spotted the black and red handled blade. He had swiped it off of the shelf and had carried it with him ever since. Soda rarely carried blades, but he didn't mind when his friends did. He had seen first hand what the socs were capable of when they were in the mood.
"Just stay cool, okay Two-bit?" Steve said in a hoarse whisper.
The mustang pulled up next to the walking boys and the window was rolled up. "Hey there grease monkeys!"
Steve stopped and turned to the car. "The only monkey I see around here is you, ape face!"
The boy got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. Soda straightened his shoulders and shook his head; so much for staying cool. Soda didn't blame Steve too much though; he hated the term 'grease monkey' just as much as any other north side kid.
"What did you just say to me?" The boy was a lot taller than Steve was, but wasn't as toned. He had blonde shaggy hair that resembled a Beatles' bowl cut. He wore a yellow checkered shirt, with a pair of tight fitting, beige pants.
"I think he said your face resembles a primate," Two-Bit spat.
At the sound of Two-Bit's voice three more car doors opened and four more boys stepped out of the car. Soda noted that they could probably take them on, but they were outnumbered 5 to 3. However, it hasn't stopped the three boys from stomping them in the past. The socs weren't big; probably just as big as they were, but none of them had any height on Two-Bit.
"You should learn to keep you mouth shut, hood!" The driver of the car pointed at Two-Bit.
Two-Bit slung his blade into the socs' view. "Oh yeah? And just what exactly are ya plannin' on doin' if I don't?"
The boy standing in front of Steve smiled bitterly. "Only beating your greasy face to a pulp." The boy turned to face Two-Bit momentarily, regretfully taking his eyes off of Steve.
He swung his arm back and quickly struck the blonde boy in the face, and in an instant Steve had three of them on top of him holding his arms and legs down. Two more stepped out from the street and cornered Two-Bit. Soda was left with no other choice but to jump on the socs holding down Steve. Steve had three of them, and Two-Bit had a blade and two boys. The choice was a little obvious to Sodapop.
He jumped on the back of the soc holding Steve down and he could see that they already inflicted quite a bit of damage to Steve's face. Soda hated seeing his best friend hurt but he knew for a fact that Steve loved a good fight no matter how many guys he was taking on at a time; he just loved to hurt people.
Soda pulled the boy up by the back collar of his shirt and brought him to his feet. He reached his arms around the boy's ribs and tackled him into a brick wall of an old shop behind them. The boy struggled under Soda's grasp, but Soda knew he was no match. He straightened himself up and held the boy by the chest and took a swift swing to hit him square in the jaw. The boy's hands instinctively flew to his face to protect himself, and Soda took the initiative to go for his ribs and stomach. He swung his around the other boy's legs and tripped him, sending him to the ground in a heap.
Soda straddled the boy's hips and took shot after shot to the kid's face. He had never heard a soc scream so viciously during a fight. He must have been a young one.
Soda went to grab the boy by his collar and hoist him up again when his wrist was grabbed by another soc behind him. He was spun around and was met face to face with two more socs. He glanced over their shoulders momentarily and noticed Steve and Two-Bit almost disposed of with the last of the socs working them in. He should have known they couldn't always win when they were outnumbered.
The two backed Soda up against the wall by the collar of his work shirt painfully. He felt the sharp corners of the bricks digging into his back and shoulder blades. He was going to have a few cuts and scratches for sure.
"Look what you did to my kid brother, grease!" The bigger of the two socs screamed into Sodapop's face. Soda simply smirked and spit into the boy's face; he kicked out his legs and went for his balls but he was brought down to the ground quickly. One soc had his arms behind his back and the other was taking shots to his sides and sternum. Soda could almost hear his breath being caught in his throat as he desperately tried to breathe; a shot to the sternum could knock any big guy down, scrambling for his breath.
The guy on top of him was tackled down; Soda could see from his peripheral vision the rusty hair and sideburns that belonged to Two-Bit. Soda clutched at his ribs tightly and rolled into a ball on his side. He forgot about the second soc that was on him.
The dark haired, handsome soc came at Sodapop with a scowl on his face; he pulled back his leg as far as he could and connected his foot with Soda's hip. Soda grimaced in pain, and his body jumped in agony. It came like lightening bolts up and down his body, and it almost felt like he was on fire. He waited for the next shot to come; it connected with his ribs, the next one; into the mouth. Soda could feel the bitter taste of blood and it made him nauseous. He waited for the next shot to come, but this time it never came.
"You get the hell outta this side of town, ya hear? Damn rich bitches..."
"Steve are you okay, buddy?"
Soda rolled over onto his back and tried to place voices with faces to no avail. He could lightly hear Steve groaning and cursing, and even a laugh from Two-Bit, but the others were foreign to him.
"What the hell happened here? Can't you greasers hold your own or what? Pussies..."
Soda reached a hand up to his mouth and sat up slowly; luckily he hadn't hurt his head too bad and the only real damage to his face seemed to be his split lip. He would cry if he lost any teeth; it just wouldn't be the same charm without his smile.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't pansy boy!" Soda rolled his eyes and looked up to see the same angry greaser he had met earlier at work. His three goons and his broad were standing behind him looking amused.
"Fancy seeing you here..." Soda mumbled. He looked over to his left to see Steve sitting on the curb of the road watching him. He had quite a few abrasions to his face, but his left eye looked the worst.
Ray bent over and grabbed Soda by his shirt and hoisted him to his feet; Soda groaned as his body protested the sudden movement. Ray laughed bitterly and let him go; Soda swayed on his feet but soon composed himself.
"I grabbed that guy off of ya 'cause he had no reason being down here. It don't mean I like you." Ray folded his arms over his chest and glared at Soda.
"Well, my hero..." Two-Bit spat at the angry greaser. Ray spun around to glare at him as well. "Do you want me to finish their job?"
Two-Bit shook his head and flipped up his middle finger; Ray nodded his head. "That's what I thought. Now get your asses off the street before another car of neanderthals come bouncing around. I don't wanna have to save you again."
With that Ray spun around and headed back towards the direction of what looked to be his car. The two greasers that looked to be brothers quickly followed as the quieter one and the broad momentarily surveyed the damage.
Two-Bit smiled. "You here to play nurse for me?"
She looked down at him and glared. "I would rather chew off my left arm." Two-Bit's eyebrows furrowed and he smiled. The quieter boy stepped in front of her and whispered something in her ear and turned her towards the street and back to Ray.
Soda looked at Two-Bit and let out a loud laugh. He bent down and helped his friend to his feet and then collected Steve. "Well that went well."
Steve glared at Two-Bit. "Oh yeah, real well."
Two-Bit shot him a grin and dusted off his pants. "Well should we get home to the super dope now?"
Soda smirked and straightened out his now torn DX uniform. "You're lucky he ain't here to listen to ya say that; you would be gettin' your sorry tail beat all over again."
Steve kicked a pop bottle down the side walk in a skitter. "God damn, I can't believe we got beat like that!"
"Take it easy man," Soda said, throwing his arm over his shoulders. "We'll get the bastards next time."
Steve grimaced and cursed. "Next time ain't good enough man! They got us this time! And not only that, those greasy morons came marching in and fixed them no problem!"
Two-Bit retracted his blade as he staggered slightly ahead of the two boys. "Well they did have four guys; by the time we was done with the socs Soda took one out and so did I. They got outnumbered and they ran. It wasn't like Cutler beat them or anything."
Steve rolled his eyes as the turned on to the Curtis' street. "Same difference to me. I don't like that hood one bit."
Soda nodded in agreement. "Yeah he's some weird specimen that's for sure. Just earlier on he's stealin' gas from us and now he is chasin' off socs and savin' our tails. I don't like him."
Two-Bit swung open the front gate to the Curtis house. "Either way he saved our tails, that at least says he's on our side."
Steve pulled himself away from Soda's grasp and marched up the steps. "He ain't on our side, don't ya see? He saw us gettin' our tails whipped and now he is gonna hold that over us! That son of a bitch!"
"What in God's name are you hollerin' about Randle?"
Steve backed into the strong chest of the oldest Curtis brother and spun around quickly. "Some good for nothin' hood givin' us trouble tonight!"
Darry shot Steve a strange look and then looked down the porch at his younger brother. "What in God's name happened to your face little brother?" Soda rubbed his jaw gingerly and shrugged. "Got in a bit of a tie up; I'm fine."
Darry gave him a stern look, which received nothing but a shrug and grin from his younger brother. Darry shook his head and opened the door to the house. "Will ya'll at least get your asses in the house?"
The three of them simultaneously groaned and trudged up the steps painfully. It was gonna be a long night, for sure.
TBC
Soda watched amused as Russ struggled with the keys in the door of the station; it was the same routine they went through every night at closing time. Russ kicked their asses out, slammed the door behind him, fought with the lock for about ten minutes, and then told them to get their greasy asses out of his sight. Soda never really took offence to the things Russ said, that was just the way Russ was. Besides, Soda's known some much bigger and much meaner hoods in his time. Russ ain't all that scary.
Steve let out a laugh as Russ dropped his keys once again. "Won't you filthy kids go home, now? Leave me alone!" Steve laughed even harder at his antics, as Russ' head got redder and redder as the seconds passed.
Soda smirked. "Besides, it just wouldn't feel right if we all went on home not pesterin' you first, now would it?"
Russ stopped what he was doing and shot Soda a glare. "Sodapop Curtis you may think that charm of yours works on me but your damn wrong, boy! Now get your asses movin' on outta here before I kick 'em into next week!"
Soda let out a hearty laugh and slapped Russ on the shoulder. "Oh, your real scary, Rusty."
"How many times do I have to tell ya not to call me that?"
Soda gave him a grin and turned to Steve. "Whatcha wanna do tonight, Randle?"
Steve shrugged casually. "I don't know for sure; Two-Bit said he was coming on down here, but Evie said she wanted to do something tonight."
Soda merely nodded and flashed a smile. "Yeah really looks like ole Two-Bit is pickin' us up; damn kid is walkin'!" He pointed just over Steve's shoulder to the said greaser.
Two-Bit swaggered up the gravel of the parking lot with an opened beer in one hand, and the other shoved into his jeans pocket. He seemed drunker than a skunk - which was no surprise to Sodapop - it was the fact the Two-Bit did not bring his car to pick them up like he had said he was going to earlier.
"Hey there boys, what's shakin'?"
Steve folded his arms over his chest. "Some ride, Mathews. What the hell did you get yourself into now?"
Two-Bit let out a howl of laughter. "I was planning on bringin' the ole car but I couldn't get it outta my drive way without bumpin' into something," Steve just glared and Soda let out a laugh, so Two-Bit continued. "At least I was polite enough to show up!"
Soda smiled as Steve threw an old rag at him. "Damn Two-Bit, you ain't never polite! Why start now?"
Two-Bit gave him a mock glare and took a swing, which Steve easily ducked. He scooped his arm through Two-Bit's and pulled him into a head lock. "Say mercy!"
Russ turned around angrily. "I thought I told you boys to get goin' home now?"
Soda smiled. "Damn Russ, are you still fightin' with that door? You gone past your ten minute limit! One of these days you're gonna have to start givin' me the keys!"
Russ cocked an eyebrow. "Why so you could throw parties and get ripped with a bunch of your fan girls after hours? I don't think so kid. As much as I like ya and all..."
Steve threw Two-Bit to the ground in a heap. "Don't worry Rusty, we was just leavin'."
Soda waved off Russ and helped Two-Bit to his feet, which wasn't necessarily an easy feat considering Two-Bit's condition. Soda didn't mind too much though; Two-Bit was his good buddy and had been his good buddy for a long time; they'd gone through a lot of tough breaks together. Soda knew better than to be lecturing anyone on their state because he knew how tough things could get; after time people just find their own way to deal with things. Two-Bit may abuse his alcohol a little bit, but as long as he wasn't getting into any trouble with it or hurting anyone too bad then there wasn't too big of a problem.
They started off down the road walking side by side in silence; they took the same road home every night and after a hard day's work it was nice to enjoy the night with a little bit of momentary silence. As soon as they got back to Soda's Darry would be getting dinner ready, Ponyboy would be doing his homework, and the boys would start their fun.
The night was a warm one; the nice thing about having blistering hot afternoons were that at night everything would cool down and clear out. The north side of town wasn't really something pretty to look at; but it was home to the boys. The streets could be dirty, the yelling inside of neighboring houses could get louder, tires could squeal, and sirens could sound, but it would never take away the essence of home.
"Oh, here we go boys; look who decided to pop into the neighborhood." Steve gestured over his shoulder; across from the park was a black mustang slowly stalking the neighborhood. Soda stopped momentarily and took in the car's appearance; it was a brand new make - probably a '66 - black, tinted windows, new hubs; that car did not belong on their side of town.
The car sped up slightly and was soon only twenty feet behind the boys. Two-Bit slung an arm around Steve and raised his bottle. "Don't you worry little buddy, them soc's won't be coming anywhere near us without a fight."
Steve glanced at Soda over Two-Bit's shoulder. "Yeah I bet he'll be real useful; he probably can't even tie his own damn shoes right now."
Two-Bit snapped his head up. "You listen here, Steve-O, it don't matter how wrecked I am, I can show anyone a good lickin', even you!"
Soda nudged Two-Bit in the ribs gently. "Two-Bit don't start get all riled up on Steve right now, okay?"
Two-Bit nodded and reached into his back pocket; he pulled out a black and red handled switch blade and spun it open. "I have come prepared, boys!" Soda smiled and remembered how shook up Two-Bit was after Dally had taken his last one before he had died. That old black handled switchblade was never found when they had taken Dally's body in. Two-Bit had vowed that he would find another one somehow, but at the particular point in time the boys had a lot more on their minds than swiping switchblades.
They had lost two of their friends in one night; ironically enough it had all started out with a similar looking mustang and a similar group of boys driving it.
A couple of months later, Soda and Two-Bit had gone out to have some fun and stir up some trouble when Two-Bit had spotted the black and red handled blade. He had swiped it off of the shelf and had carried it with him ever since. Soda rarely carried blades, but he didn't mind when his friends did. He had seen first hand what the socs were capable of when they were in the mood.
"Just stay cool, okay Two-bit?" Steve said in a hoarse whisper.
The mustang pulled up next to the walking boys and the window was rolled up. "Hey there grease monkeys!"
Steve stopped and turned to the car. "The only monkey I see around here is you, ape face!"
The boy got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. Soda straightened his shoulders and shook his head; so much for staying cool. Soda didn't blame Steve too much though; he hated the term 'grease monkey' just as much as any other north side kid.
"What did you just say to me?" The boy was a lot taller than Steve was, but wasn't as toned. He had blonde shaggy hair that resembled a Beatles' bowl cut. He wore a yellow checkered shirt, with a pair of tight fitting, beige pants.
"I think he said your face resembles a primate," Two-Bit spat.
At the sound of Two-Bit's voice three more car doors opened and four more boys stepped out of the car. Soda noted that they could probably take them on, but they were outnumbered 5 to 3. However, it hasn't stopped the three boys from stomping them in the past. The socs weren't big; probably just as big as they were, but none of them had any height on Two-Bit.
"You should learn to keep you mouth shut, hood!" The driver of the car pointed at Two-Bit.
Two-Bit slung his blade into the socs' view. "Oh yeah? And just what exactly are ya plannin' on doin' if I don't?"
The boy standing in front of Steve smiled bitterly. "Only beating your greasy face to a pulp." The boy turned to face Two-Bit momentarily, regretfully taking his eyes off of Steve.
He swung his arm back and quickly struck the blonde boy in the face, and in an instant Steve had three of them on top of him holding his arms and legs down. Two more stepped out from the street and cornered Two-Bit. Soda was left with no other choice but to jump on the socs holding down Steve. Steve had three of them, and Two-Bit had a blade and two boys. The choice was a little obvious to Sodapop.
He jumped on the back of the soc holding Steve down and he could see that they already inflicted quite a bit of damage to Steve's face. Soda hated seeing his best friend hurt but he knew for a fact that Steve loved a good fight no matter how many guys he was taking on at a time; he just loved to hurt people.
Soda pulled the boy up by the back collar of his shirt and brought him to his feet. He reached his arms around the boy's ribs and tackled him into a brick wall of an old shop behind them. The boy struggled under Soda's grasp, but Soda knew he was no match. He straightened himself up and held the boy by the chest and took a swift swing to hit him square in the jaw. The boy's hands instinctively flew to his face to protect himself, and Soda took the initiative to go for his ribs and stomach. He swung his around the other boy's legs and tripped him, sending him to the ground in a heap.
Soda straddled the boy's hips and took shot after shot to the kid's face. He had never heard a soc scream so viciously during a fight. He must have been a young one.
Soda went to grab the boy by his collar and hoist him up again when his wrist was grabbed by another soc behind him. He was spun around and was met face to face with two more socs. He glanced over their shoulders momentarily and noticed Steve and Two-Bit almost disposed of with the last of the socs working them in. He should have known they couldn't always win when they were outnumbered.
The two backed Soda up against the wall by the collar of his work shirt painfully. He felt the sharp corners of the bricks digging into his back and shoulder blades. He was going to have a few cuts and scratches for sure.
"Look what you did to my kid brother, grease!" The bigger of the two socs screamed into Sodapop's face. Soda simply smirked and spit into the boy's face; he kicked out his legs and went for his balls but he was brought down to the ground quickly. One soc had his arms behind his back and the other was taking shots to his sides and sternum. Soda could almost hear his breath being caught in his throat as he desperately tried to breathe; a shot to the sternum could knock any big guy down, scrambling for his breath.
The guy on top of him was tackled down; Soda could see from his peripheral vision the rusty hair and sideburns that belonged to Two-Bit. Soda clutched at his ribs tightly and rolled into a ball on his side. He forgot about the second soc that was on him.
The dark haired, handsome soc came at Sodapop with a scowl on his face; he pulled back his leg as far as he could and connected his foot with Soda's hip. Soda grimaced in pain, and his body jumped in agony. It came like lightening bolts up and down his body, and it almost felt like he was on fire. He waited for the next shot to come; it connected with his ribs, the next one; into the mouth. Soda could feel the bitter taste of blood and it made him nauseous. He waited for the next shot to come, but this time it never came.
"You get the hell outta this side of town, ya hear? Damn rich bitches..."
"Steve are you okay, buddy?"
Soda rolled over onto his back and tried to place voices with faces to no avail. He could lightly hear Steve groaning and cursing, and even a laugh from Two-Bit, but the others were foreign to him.
"What the hell happened here? Can't you greasers hold your own or what? Pussies..."
Soda reached a hand up to his mouth and sat up slowly; luckily he hadn't hurt his head too bad and the only real damage to his face seemed to be his split lip. He would cry if he lost any teeth; it just wouldn't be the same charm without his smile.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't pansy boy!" Soda rolled his eyes and looked up to see the same angry greaser he had met earlier at work. His three goons and his broad were standing behind him looking amused.
"Fancy seeing you here..." Soda mumbled. He looked over to his left to see Steve sitting on the curb of the road watching him. He had quite a few abrasions to his face, but his left eye looked the worst.
Ray bent over and grabbed Soda by his shirt and hoisted him to his feet; Soda groaned as his body protested the sudden movement. Ray laughed bitterly and let him go; Soda swayed on his feet but soon composed himself.
"I grabbed that guy off of ya 'cause he had no reason being down here. It don't mean I like you." Ray folded his arms over his chest and glared at Soda.
"Well, my hero..." Two-Bit spat at the angry greaser. Ray spun around to glare at him as well. "Do you want me to finish their job?"
Two-Bit shook his head and flipped up his middle finger; Ray nodded his head. "That's what I thought. Now get your asses off the street before another car of neanderthals come bouncing around. I don't wanna have to save you again."
With that Ray spun around and headed back towards the direction of what looked to be his car. The two greasers that looked to be brothers quickly followed as the quieter one and the broad momentarily surveyed the damage.
Two-Bit smiled. "You here to play nurse for me?"
She looked down at him and glared. "I would rather chew off my left arm." Two-Bit's eyebrows furrowed and he smiled. The quieter boy stepped in front of her and whispered something in her ear and turned her towards the street and back to Ray.
Soda looked at Two-Bit and let out a loud laugh. He bent down and helped his friend to his feet and then collected Steve. "Well that went well."
Steve glared at Two-Bit. "Oh yeah, real well."
Two-Bit shot him a grin and dusted off his pants. "Well should we get home to the super dope now?"
Soda smirked and straightened out his now torn DX uniform. "You're lucky he ain't here to listen to ya say that; you would be gettin' your sorry tail beat all over again."
Steve kicked a pop bottle down the side walk in a skitter. "God damn, I can't believe we got beat like that!"
"Take it easy man," Soda said, throwing his arm over his shoulders. "We'll get the bastards next time."
Steve grimaced and cursed. "Next time ain't good enough man! They got us this time! And not only that, those greasy morons came marching in and fixed them no problem!"
Two-Bit retracted his blade as he staggered slightly ahead of the two boys. "Well they did have four guys; by the time we was done with the socs Soda took one out and so did I. They got outnumbered and they ran. It wasn't like Cutler beat them or anything."
Steve rolled his eyes as the turned on to the Curtis' street. "Same difference to me. I don't like that hood one bit."
Soda nodded in agreement. "Yeah he's some weird specimen that's for sure. Just earlier on he's stealin' gas from us and now he is chasin' off socs and savin' our tails. I don't like him."
Two-Bit swung open the front gate to the Curtis house. "Either way he saved our tails, that at least says he's on our side."
Steve pulled himself away from Soda's grasp and marched up the steps. "He ain't on our side, don't ya see? He saw us gettin' our tails whipped and now he is gonna hold that over us! That son of a bitch!"
"What in God's name are you hollerin' about Randle?"
Steve backed into the strong chest of the oldest Curtis brother and spun around quickly. "Some good for nothin' hood givin' us trouble tonight!"
Darry shot Steve a strange look and then looked down the porch at his younger brother. "What in God's name happened to your face little brother?" Soda rubbed his jaw gingerly and shrugged. "Got in a bit of a tie up; I'm fine."
Darry gave him a stern look, which received nothing but a shrug and grin from his younger brother. Darry shook his head and opened the door to the house. "Will ya'll at least get your asses in the house?"
The three of them simultaneously groaned and trudged up the steps painfully. It was gonna be a long night, for sure.
TBC
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