The Outsiders: Before My Time Part III

Rodeo Days

July 16, 1965

Oklahoma summers have always been brutal, especially without air conditioning. It's hotter than hell, and muggy. We often found ourselves laying down in the living room with every door and window open with ice cubes melting on our faces and bare backs while sucking down on fruity popsicles.

Two-Bit found himself having to repeat his junior year... again. I think this was his second time. He didn't seem upset about it in the slightest. He might have summer school, but I don't think he's planning on attending. He would be graduated and done with school by now if he cared in the slightest, then he wouldn't have to worry about it. Why doesn't he just drop out if he hates it?

Johnny, Dad, and Dally are all high school drop outs. This really surprised me, because my father has a high school diploma in 2038. I don't know if he ends up going back to school at some point, but as of now he has no plans to return to school. If I ever dropped out, both of my parents would have my head. Here, looking at my Dad, it gave me this tight twist in my stomach. He was sixteen, working a dead-end gas station job with no intension on ever leaving, and completely content with never opening a textbook again. It made the timeline feel dangerously real.

While some of the guys were working during the summer, I learned that Dally rides horses. He's a horse jockey, but also likes to ride them in rodeos. Pony told me that it's the only thing he does honestly, because he can't cheat. There was an afternoon where no one was working or busy, so Dally invited us all to the rodeo he was in.

The venue was rather small. It was dry and hot, with dirt getting kicked up in the thick air from the horses running and bucking around. We sat up in the stands near a little chute where the cowboys would wait on their horses before they entered the ring. The sun was beating down on us because there was no shade, and we were all fanning ourselves with pamphlets we got at the gate. Two-Bit and Steve were panting like dogs, while I could see sweat forming around Darry's hairline.

"Hey, Steve, pass that program before you sweat through the ink," I teased, leaning past Candy to flash him a quick grin. "You're looking a little melted around the edges."

Steve shoved my shoulder, but he cracked a smile and handed me his extra pamphlet. "Shut your trap, Goldie. You ain't looking so pretty yourself."

Mom stared intently at the arena while they were setting up the barrels. I couldn't tell what she was thinking about, maybe that she'd rather be anywhere but here just like the rest of us. Dad taught me how to properly grease my hair about a month ago, so I've been doing it everyday but today it feels like it's just dripping down my back. I pulled my dark shirt from my chest and pumped it up and down to get some airflow on my chest and face. I had cut the sleeves off of it which helps a lot with feeling cooler.

I know I was excited to watch Dally participate in the bronc riding. I wanted to know if he was any good at it or not, because sometimes I think he needs some humbling. Dally constantly gloats about his riding. He said he does it bareback, which sounds insane to me but Dally is a bit of a wild card.

Back home, this wasn't really how I spent my summers. I love the social buzz of July. My ultimate summer night was loading my friends into a car, blasting music, and driving out to the lake for a massive bonfire party. We also liked going to swimming holes where we brought booze, lawn chairs, and have an open tailgate. I'm the guy who convinces people to try cliff jumping or the rope swing into the water. If the afternoon heat is too miserable, I love piling my buddies into my car to go get milkshakes, flirt with the car-hops, and laugh over good food.

Here, surrounded by the smell of manure and baking dirt, I felt completely out of my element. My skin was practically itching with the urge to reach into my pocket for a phone that wasn't there, to text my friends, to escape the suffocating weight of 1965. But I forced a bright smile onto my face and leaned down to check on Candy. "You holding up, Candy-girl? Or do I gotta fan you like royalty?"