Tulsa Ripper

Chapter 2

It was a Tuesday when the killer was finally apprehended. Darry had come home to find the entire gang sitting in the livingroom, staring at the television. "What's going on?" he asked. He'd never seen them so intent. "Shhh!" They all motioned for him to be quiet. He walked into the room to see what had captured their attention. There on the TV was an angry looking man in his mid to late forties who was being accused of committing all the recent murders. The authorities were referring to him only as "Jack" for the time being. Apparently, according to the newscasters, he had finally slipped up and one of his victims had escaped. The boy described him to the police and he was taken into custody within 24 hours. The boy also went into detail about how the killer had attacked him in the woods as he was walking home from school. The man had been wearing a ski mask and carried a large knife. He had tied the boy up, forced him into the trunk of his car and brought him to an old cemetery. He had taken off his mask by then and was preparing to throw the boy into a freshly dug grave and bury him alive like he'd done to his last victim, when a group of kids emerged from behind a moseleum. Darry recognized some of the kids on TV. Socs, of course, probably having one of their many beer blasts and thinking they'd just encountered a couple greasers they could jump in the cemetery. "Hey!" Soda said, pointing to one of the Socs. "I know him! That's Ricky- we used to hang out together when we were really little and his parents lived closer to this side of town!" Darry nodded. "And there's Paul." "And I've seen the rest of those guys at school," Steve added, shaking his head in disgust. Now they were being hailed as heros for rescuing the kid and bringing the murderer to justice. Ordinarily, Darry would've been a little pissed at the irony of the situation, but right now, he was just glad they could all sleep a little easier. The rest of the gang had booed at the TV when they saw how the Socs had become celebrities, and they started throwing empty beer cans at the screen until Darry told them if they broke it, there would be no more TV. By Friday, everything had pretty much returned to normal. Darry was sitting at the kitchen table paying bills, Steve, Two-bit and Dally were out doing heaven knows what, and Ponyboy, Soda and Johnny were sitting with their eyes glued to the television. One channel was running an all night horror marathon. It had started around 8 and they were on the third movie. That's just what you three need, Darry thought. Something else to scare you now that they've caught the "Tulsa Ripper". Everyone else seemed to have found peace of mind after "Jack" had been caught. But Darry just didn't like the fact that the murders had happened in the first place. He couldn't seem to settle his nerves about the whole thing. "I'm going to bed," Darry called into the livingroom. None of them looked up, one of them yelled "good night", Darry just rolled his eyes. It was around 1:00 in the morning or so when they saw a shadowy figure pass by the window. All three of them sat up straight and looked at eachother. "What was that?" Pony asked. Soda shrugged. "Probably nothing." Johnny looked nervously towards the front door. "Don't worry, guys, it's just the wind moving the tree branches around." Soda reassured them. They went back to staring at the TV and tried to forget about it. But the movies had made them all a bit jumpy and now they were focusing more on the noises going on around them than on the film. They all jumped when they heard the loud thud on the porch. Soda turned off the TV. Everything got quiet and only the sound of crickets and cars passing in the distance could be heard. All the lights were out in the house and without the TV, the street lights cast the only light in the room.
"I'll go check it out," Soda got up before either of the other two could stop him. He thought briefly about waking Darry, but then decided not to. Johnny and Pony looked at eachother nervously. Outside, Soda didn't see anything unusual. There was a slight breeze blowing and everything looked like it always did. He took a step closer to the edge of the porch. Then there was a bit of rustling in the bushes and a head poked around the side of the railing. It was Two-bit. Soda was about to say something, but Two-bit raised his finger to his lips and motioned for Soda to come down off the porch. Soda grinned and jumped into the bushes beside the slightly intoxicated greaser. Two-bit hadn't stopped smiling the whole time. And it was a smile that plainly said he was up to something. Soda almost fell down laughing when Two-bit pulled a ski mask out of his back pocket and proceded to put it on and crouch down beside the bushes. They both knew it was just a matter of time before Pony and Johnny would come out to look for Soda. And they didn't have to wait too long. After about thirty seconds, just long enough for Two-bit to adjust the mask so he could see out of the eye holes, two heads cautiously peered out from behind the screen door. "Soda?" Ponyboy called. Soda felt a pang of guilt, but this was too perfect. "I'm going out," Pony said. Johnny followed. As the two boys stepped out on the porch Soda suddenly remembered that it was not such a great idea to spook Johnny. He was jumpy enough already. But it was too late. Two-bit leapt from the bushes and screamed "All alone kids?" Both boys went white and they stared for an instant, frozen. Two-bit had stayed a good distance back from both of them for fear one of them might pull a blade. But since the door was closer to them than Two-bit was, they both ran back into the house, slamming the door behind them. Soda and Two-bit could still hear them yelling, "DARRY!" Soda's stomach went cold. But he laughed anyhow. Darry was NOT going to appreciate the humor of this. Two-bit was doubled over with laughter. He had pullled the mask off and was stumbling up the steps of the porch (with great difficulty) to reassure the boys that he was not a killer. He only made it as far as the first step before he had to stop and catch his breath from laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down his face. Darry appeared in the doorway, his arms folded and Ponyboy and Johnny following right at his heels. They had heard the laughter coming form the porch and realized who it was before they actually saw Two-bit slip and roll right down the steps and land in the grass, still laughing. Ponyboy grinned in relief and bounded off the steps, landed on Two-bit and playfully punched him in the arm over and over. Soda looked up at Johnny, a little worried. He was very pale. But after a couple seconds, a grin spread across his face too, and he ran down the steps to help Pony. Soda, not wanting to be left out, piled right on top of Two-bit till they were all nearly crushing him and he begged for mercy. Darry stood there watching them, shaking his head. "Some people have to work in the morning, you know!" "Did...did you see... their faces?" Two-bit could barely breathe. Darry came down the steps and broke up the wrestling match. He pulled Two-bit to his feet. Turning back to Pony and Johnny, he said, "Time to call it a night, you two." "Aww, but Darry-" Ponyboy started. All Darry had to do was look at him and he closed his mouth. Darry bent down a little and put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "You all right, Johnnycake?" he asked. Johnny just nodded. "All right," he said and gave them both a playful shove towards the house. "Now, YOU ought to know better," he said turning to Soda once the boys were inside. Soda looked away. Pony still had nightmares occasionally and this certainly wouldn't help. And Johnny... well, that was just stupid. He should have known better than to let Two-bit scare Johnny like that. He had forgotten. But Johnny seemed all right. And Two-bit thought so too. "C'mon, Darry. They loved it! They were both laughing..." Soda knew Darry wasn't really that mad. In fact, Darry must have found the whole situation at least a little amusing or they'd all be catching hell right now. And it was hard not to think the whole thing was at least a little funny, because Two-bit was just...funny. "You're lucky they're all right... you shouldn't scare Johnny like that. Or Pony either for that matter. You won't be laughing so hard when I wake you up at 5:30 tomorrow morning. That's what time I have to get up. And if Pony has a nightmare, Soda, you go get Two-bit and make him take care of it. You asked for it, funny man." Darry tried his best to look angry, but it wasn't working. "I.. I'm sorry, Darry," Two-bit said through stifled laughter. "I couldn't help myself." Darry just looked at him. And then in almost a whisper, Two-bit asked again, "Did you see their faces?" Darry let a laugh escape. "You're crazy, you know that?" "That's what they keep telling me," Two-bit said proudly. They all turned and headed towards the house and out of the corner of his eye, Darry happened to see a figure way off in the distance, standing on the far side of the vacant lot, watching them. For whatever reason, it sent a chill up his spine.