𝚂𝚘𝚍𝚊'𝚜 𝙶𝚒𝚛𝚕 --- Sodapop Curtis (The Outsiders)

1

   The chilly autumn wind nipped at my heels as I walked down the street. It was late September in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the autumn weather was finally moving in. I had left my jacket at Two-Bit's the night before so I was shivering as I made my way through the streets. My mother had left when I was younger and my father was a drunk. He screamed and hit me a lot, so I stayed with my friends. Mostly at the Curtis'.

   I rubbed my hands over my bare shoulders when a gust of wind whipped by. I wore a white tank top and dark blue flare jeans. My strawberry blonde hair was in low pigtails, and I wore a light pink bandanna. I was the only girl in the gang, and everyone knew girls dressed nicer than guys, so no matter what I always ended up looking even just a tad overdressed.

   I heard a car pull up behind me, so I moved to the side of the road to let it pass, kicking rocks as I walked. The car slowed beside me, and I heard whooping and cooing coming through the open windows.

  "Get in the car, baby," I heard a loud, male voice say. I turned to find a car full of about five Soc boys. The boys looked around seventeen or eighteen, with only one of them being sixteen. I spit on the ground near their pretty blue Mustang and kept walking.

   "Hey, honey," another voice said. "My friend here said to get in the car."

   "Fuck off," I scoffed, flashing my middle finger at the boys. The car stopped and I heard doors opening and slamming. I turned to find the boys lunging towards me. I started to run in the opposite direction, but it was too late. Two of the boys grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. The younger one pushed me to the ground, and I landed with a thud. I tried to scoot away, maneuvering through the dirt, trying to get away from the Socs.

   "Not so fast," the tallest and oldest boy said. I felt someone grab my shoulders and pin me to the ground. I kicked my legs, but two of the boys held them down. "I told you to get in the car," the Soc sneered, towering over me. "You leave me no option." He stood straddled over me and peered down. "Let's see what you look like underneath that top." He bent down, his knees squeezing either side of my waist. The boy grabbed the bottom of my tank top, and the other boy helped him rip it off.

   "Get off of me!" I screamed. I was only a block away from the Curtis's house and I prayed that someone would hear me.

   "Shut up, slut," the youngest boy said. He pushed my head up, and then yanked one of my pigtails, causing my head to slam into the ground. I cried out in pain when my skull hit the pavement, but that just seemed to lead the boys on. The Soc straddling me started slugging my face over and over again. I was close to tears, but Greasers don't cry. Or we're not supposed to anyway.

   "Darrel!" I hollered hoarsely. My voice cracked and I started to sob as the boys kept beating me up. "Sodapop! Ponyboy! Somebody help me!" I felt a stream of hot blood spilling from my nose and warm tears stung my eyes. I wouldn't cry. I couldn't cry. But at that moment, I started sobbing. The world was spinning and a red haze filled my vision.

   All of a sudden, the pain stopped the Soc boys let go of me. I heard the screech of tires and a car zooming away. I lay on the ground, in a bra and covered in blood. Boys surrounded me, and I quickly realized that my friends had come to my rescue.

   "Shit," Darrel growled.

   "Who did this to you, Daisy?" Two-Bit asked. I didn't reply. Out of the corner of my tear-filled eye, I saw Johnny and Ponyboy huddling together close by. They looked horrified. Dallas threw my discarded tank top at Darry, and him, Dallas, Steve, and Two-Bit helped me put in back on. I winced in pain when they moved my head, and sobs continued to rack my body. I couldn't move so I just lay there. I whimpered as someone lifted my head up and placed it in their lap. Then, I heard a soothing voice speak. My favorite voice.

   "You're going to be okay," Sodapop Curtis whispered. When he spoke, I knew things were going to be alright.

   Soda and I had met when we were both ten and had been best friends since. We have a special bond that the rest of the gang doesn't understand.

   Unable to move, I keep my head in Soda's lap for a little while longer while he makes shushing noises and strokes my hair. After my crying subsides, he calls the rest of the gang to come help me up.

   "Come on, Daisy," he murmurs. "Let's get you inside."