Sneakers

Chapter 2

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” he said, everybody looked at me

“It’s okay.“ I mumbled looking down at my feet, Pony stepped in,

“Well, since were all here, everybody this is Ben Ryder.” he said confidently, Ben nodded as he continued. “And Ben this is my oldest brother Darry, my other brother Sodapop, and my little sister Lilly.”

“Nice to meet you all.” Ben said. It was quiet for a second until Darry cleared his throat and said,

“Well, off to bed Lilly, you to Ponyboy.” I rolled my eyes and turned on my heel, Pony followed. Back in my room I curled up in my bed and drifted off to sleep. 

When I woke up the radio was blasting and I could hear my brothers friends from my upstairs bedroom. I sighed and rolled out of bed, I got dressed and slowly went down the stairs. Downstairs Darry was making breakfast, Soda and Steve were wrestling in the living room, and good old Two-Bit was watching Mickey Mouse on the T.V. I went and sat down at the kitchen table, Darry turned

“Morning’ Lilly.” he said pushing a big plate of bacon and eggs in front of me, 

“Thanks.” I mumbled, Darry sat down across the table from me and looked me dead in the eyes.

“Listen, I didn’t mean to yell at you like that yesterday.” he said quietly, “I know its hard for you to get to school on time sometimes,” he smiled a little bit, “So, do you forgive me Lilly?” he asked, I nodded

“Yeah, I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have walked out.” I mumbled, Darry stood up and grabbed his jacket ruffling my hair as he walked by.“Don’t worry about it kiddo.” he as he headed towards the door, he turned to Soda who was laying on the ground with Steve on top of him, “Hey, watch your baby sister today.” he said, I groaned

“Darry, I don’t need a babysitter, I’m 14 remember?” I asked in an annoyed tone, but he was already out of the house.

“Yeah Darry, she’s a big girl now!” Steve said mockingly, I rolled my eyes

“Shut it Steve.” I said going to sit next to Two-Bit. He smiled when he saw me,

“Hey, Willy.” he said, some of the guys called me Willy because they knew me when I was little and I couldn’t say my name right and it sounded like Willy. 

“Hey, Keith.” I said loudly, Two-Bit shoved his hand over my mouth and put his face very close to mine

“I got a rep to protect, little girl,” I saw his eyes sparkle a little when he said this, I nodded and he took his hand off my mouth and we both turned our attention to the T.V

. After about and hour Ponyboy came limping into the house, his face was all dirty and he had a cut on his forehead that blood was slowly dripping down. His friend Ben followed him in, he was holding his chest and his nose was bleeding all over the place.

    “What happened?” Soda said jumping up and going over to Pony

 “We got jumped, and one of them Soc’s had a knife.” he mumbled, Steve jumped up and started to pace around the living room

 “Why those no good…” then he continued to say every bad word he could think of, Soda sighed and rolled his eyes  

“Steve, watch the language, my baby sister is right there.” he said pointing at me  

“Sorry, Soda.” Steve mumbled, Soda turned his attention to me,  

“Lilly, you want to help these boys get cleaned up, you probably know more than any of us know about fixing cuts and such.” I fidgeted with my hands a little bit because everyone seemed to be looking at me now,  

“Yeah, sure, you boys come into the kitchen.” I said to Pony and Ben. Once I was in the kitchen I put some water on for tea later. Then I cleaned and bandaged Pony’s cut on his head.   

“Thanks, honey.” Pony said kissing the top of my head as he walked back out into the living room. I was kind of hoping he would stay because now it was just me and Ben, and I still felt bad about what happened last night. I went over to him and checked his nose, it had stopped bleeding but he needed ice for the swelling.   

“Thank you, Lilly.” he said when I gave it to him, I nodded silently and went to go get some pain killers for his ribs, he probably just bruised one. I pored out the correct amount into a spoon and handed it to him.  

“Take this.” I said quietly, he took the spoon,  

“I hate this stuff.” he moaned looking down at the syrupy red liquid  

“Big baby.” I muttered to myself as I dumped the hot water into cups to make the tea.  

“I heard you, Lillian.” Ben said in a mocking voice, I whipped around to see the spoon was empty and he was looking at me with a funny smirk on his face. “You’re a shy little girl, aren’t you?” he asked staring at me,  

“No, I just talk when its necessary, I am not a fan of people who babble.” I replied, he nodded and thought this over. I looked out the window, it was raining buckets. I went back into the kitchen and pored tea for Pony and Ben. In the living room Pony and Ben were sitting on the couch next to each other, Pony’s cut looked a little better, but Ben’s nose was still swollen.

I gave them each their mugs and then I went and sat next to Two-Bit again. Pony took a big sip of his tea,

  “Lilly,” he said talking to me from across the room,

“I don’t want you going outside with out me or Soda with you.” I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest  

“I go out all the time, nobody bothers me.” I replied, Soda came up on my other side and put his hand on my shoulder,  

“He’s right, pumpkin, the streets aren’t safe for you.” he said calmly, I shrugged off his hand and walked over to Pony who had propped his legs up on the coffee table.   

“Ponyboy,” I said, “you don’t really believe that you can protect me from everything, do you?” I asked. He opened his eyes, they were bloodshot,  

“No, but I can try.” he said, the guys all laughed. I rolled my eyes, I loved Pony so much but I hated how headstrong and overprotective he could be. I sighed and walked upstairs to my room. I went to my bed and picked up my favorite book, it was my mothers. I have read it so many times I can almost recite the whole thing. I flipped open the first page and let the words flow into my mind.

  When I finished it was dark outside, I stood up and walked downstairs. Darry was asleep on the couch, and ice pack placed on his left shoulder. Darry always worked to hard at his job, he was a roofer and he carried the bundles of shingles for people. I walked over to him and tapped his head, “Darry?” I whispered quietly, he moaned and slowly opened his eyes.  

“Hey darling” he said sleepily, “what are you doing up?” I shrugged  

“I fell asleep reading and I woke up a few minuets ago, I didn’t think you would want to spend the whole night on the couch.” I said gesturing to his shoulder, he sighed and stood up wincing, I went to help him but he pushed me away.  

“Thanks, but I’m okay.” he said giving me an almost smile. Darry said goodnight to me and went upstairs to his room. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, I didn’t bother turning the lights on, the darkness felt good right now. I sat there for probably five minuets when I saw headlights in the front window, who would be driving this late at night? I heard voices, people were getting out of the car, they were getting closer. The old gate in front of our house banged shut as the people came closer. I went and huddled in the corner pulling a blanket around me. The front door opened and they walked in, then I realized, I knew who these people were.