The Outsiders: Before My Time Part III

First Rumble of the Summer

July 1965

Summer in Tulsa is truly an experience I loathe every year. The high sun blazed brightly in those summer days. It shined like gold. I never thought we were going to survive the summer here. Everyday it felt like we were boiling alive under the intense heat that the south brings. We were in of the thick of it, so we have been surviving off of ice packs, heat induced naps, and fruit flavored popsicles.

Every day I look forward to the evening. When the sun goes down and the earth cools just a bit, but not enough to get chilly. The stars are out, and so are the fireflies. Crickets chirping to bring in the evening is a sound I have grown quiet fond of. People sit out on their porches, admiring the summer nights together.

Come morning, I wake up to the early morning chorus of the birds. The sun is already lighting up my room. Neighbors start their day mowing their lawns because by noon it'll be too hot to do so, which makes the neighborhood smell like sweet, freshly cut grass.

As the day goes on, I can hear the innocent twinkling tune of an ice cream truck driving along the road, followed by the laughter of neighborhood children who try to catch it. We all eat whatever we can get our hands on that'll keep us cool. It's so hot, an ice cold Pepsi is the most refreshing drink ever. My tongue is stained with the sweet tang of lemonade, watermelon, strawberries, peaches, and potato salad.

Living in a small house with two girls and four other guys, all I can really smell anymore is sweat and sun lotion with hints of coconut. I try to be outside as much as I can, but it's too hot to even be outside. Mom and Darry had been teaching all of us some fun tumbling tricks in the front lawn before it got too hot, and Steve loved it the most.

The world is so bright, and has such a high contrast. The sky is such an electric blue, and the grass is almost a pastel shade of vibrant green. The world is vivid and gleaming. Summer here just feels like one long barbecue in an aesthetic movie.

Even though Tulsa is beautiful no matter the season, the heat isn't so easy to fall in love with. The house itself feels like it's trying to cook us so Darry pinned up blankets and dark sheets against the windows to help keep the heat out. It's so hot, one morning I was in the living room and I fell asleep so I didn't hear the milkman come to deliver glass containers of milk for us, so I didn't bring them in and they spoiled almost instantly. I'm still getting used to the idea that milk used to be delivered to people's doors by a milkman driving a milk-truck.

One day, the guys decided to have a game of football outside. It doesn't matter if the ground is covered in a thick layer of ice or if the world is on fire, they will do everything they can in order to play sports outside.

Mom was sitting outside already, reading a book with a pair of vintage sunglasses on her head. It was so hot, she was only wearing a pastel blue swim top and bottoms. With a glass of lemonade in her hand, her relaxing afternoon came to a halt when the rest of us decided to play football in the front yard.

I think Ponyboy let's her read his books so they can talk about them together. It's like their own little book club. It's pretty cute, he will check in with her constantly and ask if she's finished a particular book yet, and usually bugs her about it until she finishes it. His books are full of creases, and I think he's happy that he's found someone who shares an interest with him. I love Pony, but he's the youngest so he tends to get overlooked. I'm glad he has Johnny.

Everyone was wearing shorts and nothing else. I think Two was wearing a pair of yellow swim trunks. It was too hot for shirts. Dally and Steve were wearing sunglasses but the rest of us were squinting in the harsh sunlight. I swear my balls were sticking to my leg, it was so hot.

Our unofficial teams consisted of me, Dally, Ponyboy, Red and Johnny against Dad, Two, and Steve. When Ponyboy had the ball, I just tackled everyone I could so we could get our ball to the end zone, which was about where the mailboxes were. Dally and I were pretty good at that. Since I'm a football player I tried not to hog the football so the others could play too.