Trouble |The Outsiders|

27. Evil Boys

Tim paced the living room, sliding his fingers through his hair while Danny and Curly talked excitedly. It was the night of the Rumble, and anticipation was building. Abigail sat on the couch between Angela and Patrick smoking a cigarette while Ang filed her nails and Patrick sighed.

"Do we have to do a Rumble tonight?" Patrick groaned as he threw his feet on the table in front of him. Curly and Danny sent him confused looks, Tim refused to look at him at all. "What do you mean? Those sons of bitches jumped two kids last night, one who can't even look at his shadow!" He roared. Patrick rolled his eyes and tossed a hand over his face.

"I'm just sayin' you've been under some stress lately. Maybe beating some bastards up isn't a good idea right now."

"That's what Eddy does whenever he's stressed," Danny added nonchalantly. Angela bit back a laugh while Abigail nearly choked on her smoke. "Jesus Danny, you can't say that!"

"Why not? I'm right!"

Tim stopped pacing as someone knocked on the door. Once he nodded, Curly opened it and came face to face with the rest of the Shepard gang. They crowded into the living room, all eight of the new boys as Tim took a drag off Peter's cigarette.

"I wanna fair fight, got it? Y'all know how Rumbles work; skin on skin. If I see one of you pull out a blade, some socs are gonna be the least of your worries. Now get the fuck outta my house, we're headed to the Lot."

Patrick hauled himself to his feet and tossed his pack of smokes onto the table. "Keep an eye on those for me, while ya?"

Abigail stood up as well and walked over to her youngest brothers. Curly and Danny were dressed in their leather jackets and identical blue jeans, eyes shining with excitement. "I don't care what Tim says," she started. "If the socs pull a blade and you gotta get away, do what you have to do."

They nodded seriously while Tim scoffed behind her.

"An' try to stay outta trouble, ya hear? I'm still broke from last night."

Tim pushed the boys out the front door before he turned around. "You didn't have to bail me out, y'know."

"As if I was gonna let you rot in there for doin' a good thing," she replied. "Just keep an eye on them, okay? You know how boys are at that age, thinkin' they're invincible."

Abigail knew her words had no meaning. The second the Rumble was on, everyone's only priority was the guy in front of him. Regardless, she always reminded them to stay outta trouble, no matter where they went. But it seemed for the greasers in Tulsa, trouble was never far behind.

"What a fucking week," Angela sighed as she turned the television to channel three. Abigail agreed silently, slowly massaging her ankle as the people on the small screen yelled back and forth. Behind the couch in the kitchen, Abigail could still picture the fight that had happened the night before.

She could still feel the knife in her hand as Don struggled against her grip, she could still feel his blood slide down the sharp edge, staining the sleeve of her blouse. She could still feel the cold tile floor beneath her as Tim finally told her the entire truth.

It started when he was seventeen. Don showed up in town one day, five little bags of white powder tucked in his pocket. In exchange for a place to lay low, the coke was all his. Don never told Tim to sell it explicitly, but what else was he supposed to do? The second Don was gone, Tim made his way downtown and came back with a pocket full of cash.

But nothing ever comes for free.

The next time Don came back, two months later, he had seven bags with him. Only this time he demanded money, instead of the couch. So, Tim and his father split the reward. It didn't take long for rumours to spread about Tim Shepard, following his dad's footsteps. But unless you knew the right place to look, you'd never find him.