An Outsider Love Story

breaking down

Soda came outside finally. He was leaning on the railing that he and I use to sit on and throw rocks into the street and see if anyone will run over it and pop a tire. The good old days. A new song is play same band. Dally leans down to my ear.

"Need anything come get me." He whispers as he pulls away, I nod my head. He walks up the steps and starts lifting weights. Soda comes down the stairs to meet me.

"So everyone gets to have a one on one talk with you today but me. Don't you feel special."

"Special indeed." I smile.

"What were you and Dally talking about?" He grabs my hand.

"Dally being Dally."

"Yep good old Dally nothing to it."

It got quite for a few minutes. Well outside it did. Inside is so loud you can't hear yourself think. I twirl my necklace around and Soda stares across the street on the curb at a flat basketball.

"You will be okay staying here right?" Soda looks at me.

"For the rumble yes but I want to go tonight for the meeting. I need to get home and I rather be at the meeting then by myself at the house." I look at him.

"Pony and Johnny are staying here and we are locking the door for the rumble." He got serious.

"That's the first time I have ever heard you are going to lock your house doors. Is superman out of shape?" I laugh.

"I heard that!" Darry shouts from inside.

"How? You have the music up so loud I can barely hear you." I shout back.

"So only his hearing aid works."

"I heard that too."

"Good."

We busted out laughing. We love to pick on the siblings even if they are older. My stomach gets sick I thought about the rumble.

"Babe, you okay?" Soda pulls me in to his chest.

"I'm fine just worried."

"It will be over soon and then things will go back to normal. You know that right? We just have to teach them a lesson. Class with greasers 101." He grins.

"Nothing will be the same after this. This, right here, will be the start of something. I feel it. After this more bad stuff is going to happen to us. To be specific; us." I look at him. Now he is the one that looks sick.

"I know. We got each other and the gang and your brothers and their gang. We can survive it if we help each other and depend on others and ourselves. We need each other."

As the guys work out lifting weights, pushups, curl ups, and other exercises me and Kathy are baking. We got bored so Kathy left and came back with a bag of ingredients. We are making pies and chocolate cake. The guys turned the music down enough so we can hear each other talk but loud so we can hear the music too. I am mixing the batter and Kathy is icing one of the cakes. We try to make small talk about work and my brothers, but it's not working.

"You ready for this?" Kathy asks me.

"Not really. You?" I ask.

"Same here. I'm scared and nervous at the same time." She stops icing the cake and examines it.

"That's how I feel." I turned around to look at the cake.

"Looks great." I tell her.

"Messed up on the corners but it will do for now. Only because I'm shaky." She grabs a rag to wipe her hands.

"Girl they will be fine. You know that them socs won't be showing up and the ones that do will get their asses beat to the ground. We have more gangs then they do and once they see us they will be running for their lives." I try to convince her and myself.

"I know but still. Don't you get this weird feeling that something bad is going to happen? Like we are prepared for anything and everything but something feels left out. I just don't know what it could be." She stares at the ground.

I stop doing what I am doing and walk beside her. She throws the rag down and starts to cry. I hug her tight. She slumps to the ground and I go down with her only to make sure she won't hit anything on the way down.

"Kathy they will come back alive. They won't get that hurt. Probably a few bruises here and there maybe, a cut or black eye something that is not that severe." I can't promise her that but telling her will work for her.

"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" She chokes on her own tears.

"I just know."

"How can you deal with this? How do you act like a stone a rock? It's like you are too cocky for them to go out there and fight for us?" She stares at me now.

She sits there and cuddles next to me. She has been through so much. How can she take? I know I can't but I make it work. She is now breaking. Will I be like this? When I finally break, will this be me or worse?

"I don't know Kat I just have to keep hoping and convincing myself they will win and make it out alive."