Ariana
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Posts : 273
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Join date : 2013-05-29
Age : 24
Location : The treasure chest under Rachel's bed.
 | Subject: The Outsiders Sequel  Fri 07 Jun 2013, 1:07 am | |
| I wrote a story. It's a short story. It's a sequel to the book called "The Outsiders" by S.E Hinton. This is based in the late 50's early 60's so I know some of the language is slang. (ie. Shoot) *** means it's a new day. Or a topic change. - The Insiders:
I woke up to the sound of Pony's voice, “Shoot Soda, wake up!” I groaned and sat up and began to rub at my eyes, still groggy. “What's up with the chirping?” I turned my head to the side, confused. “Don't you remember?” Pony asked, expecting me to remember. I closed my eyes tight, trying to remember if we discussed anything important. My eyes widened in surprise as it came to me, we had a big rumble planned for tonight – the Socs avenging Randy. And us? Well, were just going for kicks. We already had the annual rumble last month, but this was going to be war. I pushed Pony off of me. “Shoot. Do I look like someone that would forget?” I said loudly, standing up off the bed. Truthfully, I actually was someone that would forget – I'd spent too much of my time goofing off to remember where my shoes were the other day, so I was late for work. Stupid lady was in a bad mood so when I put my card in with the time, she demoted me the second lowest rank. Truck driver. The lowest rank would the loaders, they'd load the merchandise into the trucks. Better off being in a car than having to throw boxes into the back of one.
I walked into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, watching Pony boy use the extra bit of mirror to comb his hair. I gave him my silly-toothed grin and leaned into the sink to rinse out my mouth. “Pony, you're getting older everyday. Soon you're gonna start picking up broads” I joked, punching him in the shoulder. Ponyboy looked confused at first but caught onto the joke, “Yeah, that would be real nice, then we'd ditch em at the dock and get us some Pepsi's!” he replied sarcastically, returning the playful punch. I ran into the kitchen and got myself some chocolate cake, it was Saturday, and Darry had already left for work. I glanced at the note “I'll be back an hour early. Be dressed for the rumble before I get home. Signed, Darry”. I sighed, Darry was always so organized. He really needed to let loose once in a while.
***
I jumped when I heard a long whistle, ending with a sudden high note. Darry's home. “Darry, where have you been? You're late. 8 minutes counting” I teased with a wide grin. I pretended to give Darry a cold, hard look. He looked at me, mocking my expression. “That's enough for one day, Pepsi-Cola” he said, flexing his muscles – teasing me. “Shoot, you have 10 seconds to get into your room before I give it to you Daryl Curtis!”. I watched as Darry began to jog into his room, striking superman-like poses. “..and, scene!” I yelled, flopping onto the couch. A couple minutes later Darry came out of the room in sweat pants and a tight shirt. “Best we go a bit early” Darry said, knocking on Ponyboy's door. “Pony get your track star butt out here, we need to get going!” he shouted. Darry sighed and grabbed himself a water bottle, flopping onto the couch beside me. “I'm coming, I'm coming. Geez” Pony shouted, combing his hair back. Pony's hair had grown a lot since Johnny had cut it, but it still didn't compare to how tuff it used to be.
***
We stepped out of Darry's car. He and I made quite a bit for greasers, we were the only ones with a close to brand new car. It wasn't as tuff as the mustangs the Socs rode, but Pony had started with a paper route around our neighbourhood. He got payed $7.00 every 2 weeks, it wasn't much but he was satisfied. I watched as Two-Bit, Steve and Tim Shepard's gang. Pony went over to talk to Curly Shepard, he was the spitting image of Tim – he'd recently got out of the reformatory and Pony had been hanging with him more than us. I myself have been a bit worried about Pony, his grades have gone up but they aren't what they used to be, Pony's seeming a lot more distant from the world.
I broke out of my train of thought when I heard screeching car tires, I looked up to see 2 blue mustangs, 4 Socs piled out of each car. My eyes widened when I saw yet another car, this car was smaller – only carrying 3 Socs. 11 on 10. We were outnumbered by one, but this was as close as it gets. I looked at each and every Soc, their cold stares, their heavy breaths, the way their shoulders lifted when they took a breath. I could tell they had been preparing for this – some of them had gain quite the muscle. I looked over at Ponyboy and put my hand on his shoulder, “You still have time to leave, if you want” I said in concern. He looked at me, his head turning to the side – he was observing me, something he'd come to do before he'd speak to someone. “I'm fine right where I am.” he said, brushing my hand off him. Darry stepped up and went to the biggest Soc – Paul. “Let me lay down the law, no pipes, heaters. Nada. We use skin and skin only. First to run loses. Otherwise we keep fighting – no mercy. If the fuzz shows up then we'll see who's the most beaten up and determine the losers, then we run.” he said, a sly grin on his face. I looked back at Pony, he his hands had been shaking and you could see the sweat starting to form on his sleeves. I looked back, Darry had already thrown the first punch at Paul – he was struggling to get back to his feet. I quickly ran to the outside, I was of pretty good build for my age but I was still small. The smaller ones knew to go to the edges, because all the action is in the middle. I turned and looked at Curly, he was fighting two at once and he was losing. “I got you!” I yelled, slamming my fist into the larger Soc's neck. He staggered but returned the punch, hitting my shoulder. “Why.. you little BUGGER!” I yelled, pushing him to the ground. I got on top of him and put my knees on his shoulders, slugging him in the jaw. “Uncle! UNCLE! NO MORE!” he shouted, everything was all fuzzy around the edges – but I didn't care anymore. It was actually quite comical, we were in the middle of a fight and here he was hollering about some stupid game. “UNCLE! I GIVE UP” the soc screamed, taking a huge breath “GET OFF ME! UNCLE!!!!” the Soc wiggled under my weight. He was trying to get loose, but I couldn't bring myself to a stop. “This one's for Dally!” I shouted, before giving him a hard punch to the neck, he seemed to weaken, but I didn't notice. At least he wasn't calling for his uncle anymore. “Now this one, oh boy. This one is for Johnny!” I screamed, slamming both fists into his face, I quickly wiped the blood into his hair. “Now this one, this one is for Sandy, and everything else you dirty rotten people took away from me!” I yelled at the top of my legs, slamming my whole body on him, hard. By this time, he wasn't making any noise, and was sure to be unconscious, but I was in the moment – nothing would stop me from getting my revenge. I had been hurting for too long, this was the time to let it out before I did something real bad. I was beginning to feel light headed, I felt the faint screams and hollers, but it didn't matter to me I got what I wanted – and the soc's would pay. For every time they jumped us, every time they held us back from reaching to the stars – someone had to put their foot down. I slugged the soc one more time before I felt myself being restrained. Someone had grabbed me from the shoulders and was carrying me off, “Hey, get off me! I got this!” I screamed. Now, I must've looked crazy because someone else put their hand over my mouth. They weren't going to get me that easily. I kicked the person of me in the knees, and began to wiggle my way out. I didn't understand why I was so dizzy, the noises were all faint and they sounded like gibberish. I got bits and pieces of words here and there, but it wasn't really making sense, I was close to giving up the fight when the carrier stopped and let go of me, he seemed to be screaming at me. “We won, okay? The rumble finished a while ago. But you were still going on that kid! He was a couple weeks from turning 16. You're 17 Soda, 17!” The voice was vaguely familiar, but I was too dizzy to think about who it was. I turned and punched his lip, not caring to see who it was. I immediately regretted my decision – it was Darry. He gave me a look I've never seen him give me before, but I recognized it well enough. It was disappointment. He used to give this look to Ponyboy before we'd sorted things out. I bowed my head and looked at my feet, unsure of what I should say. “Shoot Soda, since when did you stop using your head? Common, you know better than that!” I felt the ground move, it was coming towards me. “Hey, what's wrong with you? Soda? Soda!?”. I no longer felt dizzy, but this feeling was worse. I was scared, confused, helpless. Everything was all numb, and things were going in slow motion – like some of those drama films I'd watch with Ponyboy. Suddenly I felt myself losing balance, and a second later I hit the floor – everything went black.
***
I tried to open my eyes, my body was all sore and heavy. Not to mention the dizzy feeling had returned. “Soda? You turning yet?” a voice rang – Darry. I opened my mouth to speak but my throat was too dry. It was awfully hot, I opened one eye and sat up a little. Darry was sitting up in the sofa, a tired look on his face. He must've dragged the sofa in from the living room, it made my room look small. I had blankets that were stacked high on me and Darry's pillow. The best one in the house, it was light blue with a warm soft feeling, but kept you cool in the summer. It was special. Now Darry claimed it was made of the same material as ours, but we all know that his was silk and cotton, and ours was cheap toy stuffing and polyester. He'd kept dad's pillow, when we were young we always wanted dad's pillow. I swallowed, my throat ached and I bet my breath smelled too. “Water” I managed to say, letting my head fall onto the pillow with a soft thud. I tried to remember what had happened the night before, Pony had waken up earlier than me, I had cake, we wrestled on the porch, played football with Two-Bit and Steve, then got ready for the rumble. The rumble. I scratched my head, trying to remember what happened at the rumble. I had been worried about Ponyboy, then I told him something. But other than that, I couldn't remember. Something must've happened to me at the rumble. I laid in bed, it was real quiet around the house. Did somebody die? Is someone sick? Where's Pony? All these questions swarmed in my head, making me get a headache. I looked back at Darry, who was now back with water and 2 aspirins. “Gee, thanks Darry.” he looked at me for a second, as if I wasn't doing something to his liking. I looked around me, I was laying in bed and it was Saturday. What could it be? I took hold of the cup, I guess I had been holding onto it too tight because my knuckles were white and I'd squished that red solo cup so it formed some deformed shape. “My bad” I said, taking the aspirins from Darry and popping them in my mouth. I formed the remains of the cup into a little tube and drained the cup, swallowing the pills. I set the cup – well, what was left of it anyways on a folding table that had been placed by my bed. Darry didn't speak to me, it kind of made me all nervous. What had I done? I looked at Darry for a few minutes, unsure if he was going to speak or if I should say something. The emptiness of the room was filled with the sound of my growling stomach, it hadn't made that sound in years, and that was only when I'd missed a meal. I never miss a meal, I gotta eat because my body digests food so fast, and the last time I did the sound was nowhere as loud. I cringed at the sound, why was it so quiet? Darry should've said something by now. “Shoot Darry, why are y'all giving me the cold shoulder? I mean common. I don't even remember what I did wrong but really. It's Saturday and you should be out playing football or making a snack or something. Stop looking at me like that.” I said, giving him a weak grin. “Could shoulder? The cold shoulder? Are you insane Sodapop Curtis? Are you playing some kind of game with me? You went too far at the rumble. I taught you what you needed to know, you send them to the ground so they don't have the guts to fight and move on. What was so hard with that?” Darry yelled, his hands in the air. My eyes widened in fear, Darry had never acted this way to anyone. Not even Pony, let alone the night Pony came home well after midnight. I didn't want that night to happen again, and I definitely didn't want what happened to Pony to happen to me. “Please Darry, calm down. Just.. don't hit me. Please.” I began to shake a little, although my muscles ached I put my arms over my head and closed my eyes. This better be over quickly. Several minutes later I was still in the same position, everything had went quiet now and I decided Darry must've calmed down by now. I took my arms off my head and looked at the place Darry stood. He was in the exact same place, with the exact same posture I'd seen him in before I closed my eyes – the only difference was his facial expression. It was softer, something I couldn't really identify, but it was definitely NOT Darry. I looked at him, confused. I was too scared to say something, this could just be one of those things. Where everything just comes in late to you, he might still be processing it. Suddenly it was like someone turned the light switch on because Darry was back in his pin straight posture with a hard, yet confused look on his face. “You.. Out of all people. You thought I was going to hit you?” he said loudly, his face now showing concern. Man, I must've really got to him because this was another side I haven't seen of Darry. He was all over the place, I can't help think what I did. What would make him like this in the first place? “Darry, you know. This was like the night Pony came home late, you were totally in the zone man. You were angry, you looked like a psychopath!” I said loudly, groaning at the pain all this effort had caused me. I sank down into the bed a little more. Darry just looked at me, he looked like I had caused him some kind of pain. “Now Soda..” he trailed off and bit his lip, was he thinking this over – his expression seemed to have eased up. I sighed in relief. “Soda, that was one time. I was out of control. After I did that, I felt the worst feeling in the word, really. After that night, I promised myself that I would never hit you guys again. I never wanted to in the first place, but I swore.. I would never let my emotions take control of me in that manner again. Just. Shoot Soda, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever did that again ya hear? This is not something I'm gonna take lightly” he said, coming over towards me. I put my hand on his shoulder, thinking that maybe I could ease the pain – for both of us. I felt my tears come down my face, it was not often that Darry would talk to Pony and I like this. He'd usually be lecturing us about something, or giving us one of his life lessons. Sometimes he'd even yell at us, but he learned to ease up after we all made that truce. That truce definitely helped me now, and it brought us together. Closer. It made us more of a family. I know people are gonna think that I sound a lot like Ponyboy, but we're brothers and we feed off each other. Pony taught me some great things about life, like sunsets. Those are mighty pretty. He's kinda rubbing off on me. I had become different, I never used to cry in front of anyone. I usually helped the ones that were crying, but Pony taught me that it's okay to feel. Everyone lets out their emotions some how, and it's better than bottling it all up. I moved my head around a bit. Bottling up? It seemed to ring some kind of a bell, had I been bottling up something? My eyes regained focus and I looked at Darry, he was hugging my arm nearly crushing it to death. “Darry Curtis, I demand to know why I'm in this bed. Why the calendar says Sunday even though it's Saturday, why everything hurts, and why you're squeezing my arm off.” I joked, but really I wanted the answers. I thought it was Saturday, the day after the rumble, but my calendar had Saturday crossed off. According to this, it was Sunday. I lifted my head for a moment and took my arm out of Darry's. There was no sign of Ponyboy anywhere. I let my head fall onto the pillow, and I turned and looked at Darry, my neck in pain. “Well?” I asked weakly, my finger poking his bicep. Darry looked up from me and he was back. “How about you eat some soup and get some rest before I give you the answer to those questions? You won't be able to digest on an empty stomach”.
I gave Darry a stupid look and smiled, “Yeah, make a joke of it big guy. Now what will it be today? I'm thinking mushroom soup with buttered toast.” I said proudly. My stomach made the horrific sound as if on cue, I leaned back and groaned. This was seriously taking it out of me. What did I do so badly? I closed my eyes and waited for Darry to cook the soup – canned of course. I smiled as the scent began to waft in the air, my mouth watering a bit. This was going to be an easy day.
***
I combed my hair back and smiled at myself in the mirror. I had a permanent scar on my cheek from the rumble a couple weeks ago but it didn't really alter my appearance. Pony claims that I look like one of those move stars, and that cut makes me look tough and “manly”. Honestly, I feel that there is no way for a 17 year old to look manly. I sighed and straightened my shirt, then I put my baseball cap on – backwards. I still couldn't believe that I was such a wreck that day, let alone almost beat a kid to his death. I guess I really didn't listen to Pony all that much, I just let everything bottle up inside of me. But here I am now, healed. I looked at my watch, and grimaced. I'd need to get Darry to drive me off now if I wanted to be there on time for work. “Darry! Let's go, we're going to be late if don't leave now!” I shouted, picking up my bag from the chair and giving my hair one last tug before I was satisfied. “Common!” I shouted, I stood on the front steps with a look of annoyance on my face. Work these days was really demanding. There was all these things being invented and the merchandise was in demand, so I'd be home late. I began to walk to the car, if Darry didn't hurry I'd for sure just – my thoughts were interrupted as Darry ran past me and to the car and held the door open for me “Enter, princess pop” he said in an accent that wasn't far off from being British. I rolled my eyes and stepped into the car, “Very funny, now get your butt in here so we can go already!” I said, closing the door on my own. I watched as Darry revved the engine and pulled out of the driveway. I zoned out of course – I do that a lot now., sometimes I just need to think about things. Darry had gave me a long speech on what I did that night of the rumble, his face was all hard and mean looking when he explained it to me. Then he softened up and told me what he wanted, what he expected, and what should happen. All I could about was the fact that he knew what he was talking about. I gotta give props to the man though. Without him Pony and I would've been some real mean, tuff hoods that lived in a boys home.
***
It was a hot day, so we all went to the local pool. Pony and me at the tables, he was animatedly talking to other boys his age and I was sitting under a huge umbrella. I sighed and took a sip from my straw, “Hey Ponyboy, think fast!” I yelled, tossing the football to him from my chair. It was a perfect summer day. School was out, I had a month break from my job., and next year Ponyboy would be a senior. He'd be off to college in a blink. Darry was doing what he usually did – hanging around at the pool side talking to his girlfriend – Cherry Valance. Now I know she's a Soc but since Randy died her life had been an emotional rollercoaster. Pony had been there and taken her into our arms when she ran from home. Everyone respected Cherry, she was the head of the cheerleaders at the local high school, but Cherry was the type of girl that needed someone in her life in order to be stabilized. Now don't get me wrong but Darry didn't start off liking Cherry, he treated her like a little sister at first, and Pony was trying to get the courage to make a move. But Darry got to her first. Well, he didn't really get to her. He didn't do anything. He just hid his feelings. Cherry was the one that came onto him I guess.
It was late at night and Darry and I were having the last smoke of the day. Pony had already been fast asleep and Cherry was getting ready for bed. She'd been living with us for a couple months and she'd gotten to know the place quite a bit. She was the same girl she was back at the drive in, but better. It was kind of weird watching this go down because I'm not a sucker for love stories. So Cherry just dropped something in the house, and Darry got up to go see if she was okay. That's when Cherry made her move, when Darry was done picking up the pieces to a glass that had fallen off the table, she just pushed him up against the wall and kissed him. Darry thought nothing of it first, but I guess he just let his emotions flow. It was real weird seeing Darry all romantic. I'd never picture Darry to be the romantic type. Boy, was I wrong. Darry had changed all the years. I know his likings would start to change but this was a little off for him. I never knew he could be so interested in broads. I mean, I know he's 22 but Pony just turned 15 and well me, I have the mind the size of a grain of sand. I'm no good at school, even if I am 17 – I still need him.
I looked up quickly, escaping my thoughts when I heard Pony screaming “Soda!” I stuck my arms out just in time, the football deflecting off my elbow. “Pony, you gotta warn me next time! You could have hurt 'this', really” I said jokingly, motioning to my face. “I mean common, there's producers and other people walking around discovering people all the time, I need my face in top condition” I said with a huge grin, still motioning to my face. I stood up and walked over to Pony, gently slugging him on the shoulder. “I'm bored. To the max. So bored that I'm getting mad at myself. I should've came up with something to do ages ago”. I looked at Pony and a light popped in my head. “Hey, you thinking what I'm thinking?” I said mischievously. I took off my shirt and nodded at Pony, he did the same. “CHARGE!” I yelled, we both ran at Darry and tackled him into the pool. I heard faint cheers and “GET EM TIGER” from an unfamiliar voice. I tread the water and watched Darry come up, he looked at me and smiled a big toothy grin. It had been a while since Darry smiled like a goof. Suddenly I saw Two-Bit and Steve walk up the sidewalk. “Two-Bit! Steve! Get in here!” Pony yelled, waving like a mad-man. How does he do that? I mean I wouldn't be able to tread without my arms but I guess I'll never know.
***
“Run Pony, run!” I yelled, pushing Pony forward. Behind me, Two-Bit was doing the exact same to me. Pony was holding a pack of gum, some magazines, a 6 pack of coke, and a bag of chips. We could hear the store owner running up behind us screaming at us. “You no good hoodlums!” he hollered “Robbing my store for the second time this week! There's no stopping you!”. I pushed Pony into the alley leading to the lot. “Run faster! I'll hold him off!” Two-Bit shouted at me, I winced at the noise and grabbed Pony's hand, running at his side. “Common, just make it to our street and we'll be in the clear” I shouted, keeping a quick pace. Pony looked back worried, “But Two-Bit!” he said. Clearly Pony was still the same old Pony, he always put other before him. “Two Bit will be fine!” I shouted, running across the lot – holding Pony's hand. We were 2 blocks down from our house, when we heard Two Bit yelling from behind “Go go go! I hit him and he fell! But keep running just in case!” he yelled. We finally got home, almost slamming into Darry. “What is this?!” he demanded, looking at us sternly. Two-bit stepped up and looked at him. “Ease up, superman. I just jacked some food and entertainment and told the kids to run”. I looked at him, he didn't even blink. How was he such a good liar? “Two bit, common!” he picked up a magazine, it was one Pony boy chose. It was about nature. “You hitting the books lately?” Darry said sarcastically looking over the magazines. He finally settled for the one about cars and walked off. “That was a close one” Two bit said, Pony boy nodded in agreement. He looked relieved to see that Two-Bit was okay. I took a Pepsi and sipped from it, savouring it. “Pony, you gotta cut down on your robberies. Twice this week?” I said, a bit serious. Pony was starting to turn hard, he was acting like Curly more and he was just.. different. I knew someday we were gonna save enough money and move to a decent neighbourhood, I didn't want Pony turning into someone like Dally. Dally was a sore subject with Pony, he never could get over the way he died.
***
I put my hand to my eye, this was all coming too fast. One moment I'm teaching Pony how to use a broken soda bottle to defend himself, the next we're sitting on these bleachers watching some fat guy I used to know as Mr. Malone blow his nose into the mic and hand out certificates. “Ponyboy Curtis!” he called out, wiping his nose before picking up the certificate. Pony boy stood up and smiled, a look of pride on his face. “Go get em!” I said, giving him a light pat on the back. He walked up the isle, looking back at us every not and then. Finally, Pony got to the stage. He was practically swimming in his graduate gown. I watched at Mr. Malone turned the tassel from one side of the cap to the other., suddenly I felt a bit of envy inside of me. I never got to get this far, but Ponyboy deserves it, and I'm too dumb for school anyways. I stood up and clapped along with the crowd. Cherry and Darry went up to take some pictures of Pony, I chased after them and took Mr. Malone's glasses – teasing him with them. “Come and get it, Baloney!” I said, hooking them on the back of his shirt. I smiled and ran to Pony's side. “Happy Graduates Day, Pony or whatever they call it these days”. Pony was beaming, I could feel the energy radiating off his smile. Darry was at his happiest, his kid brother finally growing up and moving to college with partial scholarship which almost covered the whole cost. Cherry went up and kissed Pony boy's cheek. “You're a good kid, Ponyboy” she said. Pony turned red for a moment then began cheering. I turned and looked at the seats, there were 2 more people to come up. Funny how there weren't many graduates with last names far in the alphabet. I grinned and messed up Pony's hair, wiping the grease on my brand new jeans that I wore for the occasion. “You did real good Ponyboy, you're good as gold.” I said, unable to hide my pride for him. I let out a big goofy grin and watched Mr. Malone try to get his glasses off his back. Darry looked at me for a moment and rolled his eyes. “Let's get out of here before he figures out it was you” he said, taking hold of Cherry's hand. Ponyboy looked at me, returning the goofy smile. “You're right Soda, I'm gold. I'll always will be”. Suddenly I remembered Johnny's last words to Pony, and I couldn't help but let out tears of joy. Pony was a good kid, he'd not only done this for himself, but for us, and more importantly – for Johnny. We walked over the hill and Pony stopped us all. “Guys, just wait a second. Just, watch the sky. Okay?” he said. I looked at Darry and Cherry in confusion. Clearly they didn't know what was happening either. “Just, watch” Pony said. He looked at his watch with a satisfied expression. “Any second now!” he said, looking at the sky. “What are we looking at?” Darry said, I looked at Cherry and suddenly I knew. She was looking at the sky with the same expression as Pony. I looked at the sun, and watched it go down slowly. The sky looked pink, then the horizon slowly turned gold, pausing for a moment. I sighed, it was beautiful. I looked at Darry and saw a glow in his eyes, the one that was in dad's Cherry had now put her arm around him, and Pony was the same old Pony I knew when this all began. It was... Perfect.
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