The Christopher {an outsiders story}

13. shoulda stayed home

i was just about to go to sleep, but then the door to my house swung open and Dally walked in. i rolled my eyes at him and said, "what the hell do you want?" he leaned on the door frame, lighting up a cigarette. "you know how Darry feels about smoking in the house, Dal," i say in a serious voice. "is he here right now?" Dally said. "no, but he's gonna come home, smell the smoke, and think that i did it." "then i'll just tell him that i did it," he said in a tone that sounded like he doesn't care. he eventually stopped leaning on the door frame and plopped himself in the middle of the couch, so if i sat down, i would have to sit next to him. he was a sly fox.

i sat on the ground and turned on the t.v. luckily mickey wasn't on, i was sick of how much we had to watch it cuz of Two-bit. but what was on wasn't appealing to me or Dallas, so i switched it. "you look uncomfortable, how come ya aren't sittin' on the couch?" he asked. "cuz if i did, i'd have to sit next to someone who broke into my house," i say annoyed. i thought to myself for a minute, 'why was this guy here anyways? and why haven't i kicked him out yet...?

i glanced at the clock and it said it was only 9:00 p.m. the boys wouldn't be back til like 2 a.m. i figured having Dallas here would be better than me being here alone. "i'm bored, got anything else?" he says. "we could go somewhere, just bring a switchblade. socs can be anywhere," i reply. "we could go to the drive-in movies, bring some packs of cigarettes too," he says as he walks out the door. i hurry into my room and grab my bomber's jacket, my sharpest switch, and my whole secret stash of cigs. i ran so fast out the door that i ran into Dally and we fell down the stairs. unfortunately i landed on top of him and we stared at each other for what seemed like a lifetime.

the streets of Tulsa were only lit by the lamps on the side of the road. it gave a really eerie effect. no greasers were roaming around like they do in the day. most of em were too afraid because of the socs. i wasn't, but i've been jumped once and i feel like they didn't give me their all. i know that Pony's been jumped before, but i don't know what they did to him. i don't really wanna know.

Dally and i turned a corner and walking our way were a bunch of socs. they were probably drunk, i know one of em was because he puked all over the sidewalk. Dally pulled me over to a parked car and told me to get under it. he couldn't fit, so he just squatted behind the bumper. the socs saw him anyways and pulled him into the middle of the street.

Dallas could handle 2 or 3 socs, but this group had 7 of them. they were belting him and making cuts in his skin with his own switchblade. i couldn't just sit sit there and watch. i got out from under the car and ran as fast as i could to Dally. i knew at that moment that i should've stayed under the car. i was a decent fighter, but i was real stupid to think i could take on 7 socs at once. before i could scream for help, a soc bashed my head in, and it got black everywhere.