Dream On Fire (Dallas Winston)

Chapter 12

I decided to spend the day with Ponyboy, exploring all around town and window-shopping at the stores, pointing at things we dreamed of having. The sky was clear of clouds, and the air was fresh, making staying inside impossible. "Look at that!" Pony cupped his hand around his eyes and pressed against the window. He pointed at a lava lamp with yellow glass and red wax. Pony stared at it for a second. "Isn't that cool?" Sometimes I forgot that Pony was only fourteen years old. "Very," I replied.

Pony rolled his eyes and turned around. "Why do they make all the good things so expensive? $70 for some oils, dyes, and wax?!" he exclaimed. I laughed. "So the rich can get richer."

"I guess," Pony muttered glumly and stepped away from the window. We walked through town, passing a few Socs. "Ponyboy," they mocked him as we walked by. "If you pick up the pace, your friend might still be lying at the park." They ran off, their laughter echoing down the street. Pony and I looked at each other and sprinted to the park. I knew exactly who they were talking about before we even saw him. Once we reached the park, we found Johnny lying there, holding his side and gasping for air. People walked by, without a care in the world for the poor boy who had clearly been beaten badly. Anger boiled deep within me. We ran to Johnny's side. "Are you okay, Johnny?" Pony asked. I smoothed down Johnny's hair as he gathered himself together.

"Never been better, Ponyboy," Johnny replied.

Pony clenched his fist and stood back on his feet, "I'm so tired of them stepping all over us!" I placed my hand in Johnny's and helped him onto his feet, "you know they wouldn't do this to Soda or Dally. It's just us, because we're small and don't have much meat on our bones." Johnny wiped the blood off his nose, his right eye swollen, and it was surely going to leave a bruise. Pony nodded, "We stay out of their way, and we're targeted. We stick up for ourselves, and we're targeted. It doesn't matter if we treat em like humans; they're always going to treat us like hoods." Pony crossed his arms and sighed in defeat.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

Johnny shrugged, "It doesn't matter." Johnny was shaking. "Johnny..."

He sighed and looked at his boots. "Alright, it was Bob and some other guys from school. They took off one way, and Bob took off the other."

I stared at him. Bob? "Are you sure it was Bob?"

Johnny nodded. "Bob Sheldon...yeah."

My face twisted. Why did he go out of his way just to lie to me? It didn't make sense. I couldn't hide my anger. My feet quickly carried me out of the park. "Where are you going?" Pony called after me. "Stella?"

"To find Bob!"

I walked for an hour in the direction Johnny said Bob had taken off. I looked in every store, every alley, every street until I spotted his car outside of "The Way Out." To my luck, Bob, Randy, and two other guys in the grade below sat laughing in the car. They were the same two guys who had pointed us in Johnnys direction. The closer I got to them, the more I noticed Randy's bandaged head. I was starting to feel less sorry for what had happened to him. The guy in the back with curly blonde hair pointed to me, and all their heads turned. "Bob!" My voice echoed. They all laughed, except for Bob, who sunk in his seat. "What'd you do that for?" I asked, standing on the passenger side. I could feel Randy burning holes through my head. I ignored him and crossed my arms.

Bob looked past me, and Randy got out of the car, towering over me. His eyes were wild, like Dally had knocked a screw loose in his head last night. I didn't back away. "You think you'd know better than to come around this side," he said as he circled me in a sorry attempt to intimidate me. I scoffed. "I don't know how you think you could be so intimidating wearing a sweater." I raised my brow.