rainy days, an outsiders story

chap;13

"Well done little buddy." Darry says, ruffling Pony's hair, Soda is next and he brings him into a hug, squirming a little at how sweaty he is but holding the position.

The night of the rumble is also the night of a track race and Pony had won. He smiles over at me but also tilts his head to the door. I make a face at Marnie and we both take up defensive positions. Pony takes my hands in his,

"You two need to go to your house with your parents and stay there until we arrive."

"We'll come back when we win the rumble." Two-bit exclaims, picking Marnie up by the waist and spinning her around. She sighs and scrambles away from him but can't keep the small smile from appearing on her face.

We reluctantly leave the house waving at all the guys; I nod slightly at Steve then turn to the rest of them,

"Do it for Johnny."

There's a shared silence then and I see Sodas eyes welling up, we all share a silent moment before me and Marnie exit the house.

When we have walked about a block Marn turns to me, "Do you really wanna miss this?" But she already knows my answer and we begin walking hurriedly in the opposite direction.

"Let's walk this way so we can pass my car." Marnie states.

"Why?" I ask. But she simply smiles at me,

"You'll see."

-

Me and Marnie crouch in the bushes watching out at where the scrap will take place, Marnie's clutching the baseball bat that she retrieved from her car.

We survey the people that are here but we don't see our guys, just some even tougher looking greasers; Pony told me about Tim Shepard and his gang and I guess these are them. I look at their cruel eyes and lean frames and wonder if this is what Dallas Winston looked like, cold. I couldn't see anyone that met the puppy dog description I'd gotten of Johnny.

Marnie turns to me and motions to the men already here, "Do you think our greasers will turn out like that?"

"No." I say, placing my hand on top of my friends.

Eventually our guys pull up, but they are not alone. My throat practically closes as I see Dan with them,

"Wwhat -what is he doing here?!" I demand, rising from my crouched position. Marnie holds me back as I yell, "No!"

She pulls me down and I feel her mouth close to my ear, "Have you seen these guys? They are terrifying Sage." She whispers, "These are bad people, you can't just run out there."

"But he'll get hurt." I sob, losing control of my emotions. Marnie turns me around and pulls me in for a hug,

"He'll be fine, I just know it."

I'm too busy being enveloped by Marn to see but I know that the fight has begun. Marnie turns me around to watch and sit there, breath bated.

I relax a little as it becomes clear that our guys our quite good, but I think too fast as suddenly two guys grab Pony and flick their blades out.

"I'm going out there!" I yell to Marnie, but she stops me as Two-bit comes to the rescue; he advances on the two guys eyes blazing.

Marnie's eyes are wild and she sobs into her hand as Two-bit gets stabbed in the side.

We both leave our hiding spots then and Marnie runs at the guys, bat held high, she hits one of the attackers out cold and the other scampers off. Immediately I join Pony by Two-bit and he grabs at me, surprise masking his features. He looks around him terrified for my safety but it's all okay, the socs are running.

Me and Ponyboy briefly meet each other's eyes then we rip our gazes away to look at Two-bit, Marnie is sobbing violently by his side while Steve compresses the wound.

I look around feeling dizzy when I see Darry huddled by someone who's also on the ground; my feet make to help Darry when I see who the someone is. Dan. My legs give out and suddenly I'm on the floor, my mouth scrapes at the air for breath that I can't seem to find.

Ponyboy's arms appear around me but my eyes are fixed on my friend who is bleeding out all over the grass.

My eyes glaze over as my parents arrive, they are angry and they yell at me but I can't hear them. All audio has been blocked out to make space for the pain that's overriding my system.

I fall back into Pony's arm and vaguely hear someone tell me I shouldn't be here and the cold siren of an ambulance.