Simply a Greaser

Chapter 64

I got maybe three hours of sleep, as did everyone else. We were all up by ten since Dally's train left at noon. Darry made us some breakfast while we waited for Dally to come back from Bucks. He had all of his shit over there that he had to pack.

We were all quiet, just eating our food. No one wanted to talk much.

Finally, Steve piped up. "I haven't showered in three days."

We all laughed even though it wasn't very funny.

We heard a car pull up. Dally walked in with a bag a minute later.

"What the hell? Y'all look like somebody died," he joked, walking into the kitchen. He smacked Pony on the back of the head. "You won't miss me too much, will you, Ponyboy?"

Pony pulled out a pack of smokes and got a light from Two-Bit. With a cigarette hanging from his mouth, he said, "Not one bit, Dal."

"Better not."

I looked at the clock. "We got an hour before we gotta go. Better make it a good hour."

Two-Bit grinned. "Where's Sylvia? She'll make it a good hour for Dally."

Dally muttered a "Fuck you," while the rest of us laughed.

We finished eating, then played some cards. The hour was over a lot faster than it should've been.

Darry drove us in his truck, all of us but him piled in the bed. I sat next to Dally and kept trying to steal his wallet off of him, just as a joke. While I was doing that, he managed to snag my pocketknife.

We pulled up to the train station at 11:45.

We all hopped out of the truck.

"You don't need to come in with me," Dally muttered. He was trying to act tough. "We can just say our goodbyes out here."

Darry was the first to say goodbye. They hugged each other and I could've sworn that there were tears in both of their eyes, but they hid it well. Steve, Soda, Two-Bit, and Pony made him promise to write and call twice a week at a minimum.

Dally gave Johnny his favorite pocketknife to keep the gang safe. He also messed up Johnny's hair so bad I didn't think he'd ever get it right again.

I was the last person to say bye. The gang wandered back to the truck a way to give us our space. We hugged, and when we pulled apart, we both had tears in our eyes.

"You don't gotta go," I said again, wiping at my eyes.

He sighed. "You don't gotta stay."

"I do."

I saw he was losing hope. In a last effort to get me to go with him, he said softly, "You remember on the train here, what we promised each other?"

I paused, thinking back. I remembered us on the train, sitting there alone. He had looked at me and muttered, "We can't leave each other. We can't abandon each other like everyone else's done to us. Not ever."

We shook hands on it.

"I remember."

"Don't make me break that promise again," he said. 

I remembered the night he left dads. I thought about that train ride and how we had made that promise and how he had broken it. I knew he was thinking of the same thing.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head. "I want you to be happy. I hope New York makes you happy." I walked back to the gang with my head down.

Dally shouted to Two-Bit, "Keith, you better take good care of my sister!" And with that, he went to the train station.

We watched him go in.

Soda sighed. "Let's get outta here 'fore I make myself look like a big baby. I'm about to start cryin' in front of all these people."

We hopped in the truck, all of us quiet. Darry drove off quickly. I tried to keep myself together as reality hit me. I knew Dally better than anyone, so I knew he wouldn't write. Maybe call sometimes. He would try to get us out of his mind because he liked to act like he was tough. If he was tough, that meant we didn't really matter to him.

I wondered if he would get back into real gangs back in New York. Not the one like we had now, but a real, dangerous gang. I hoped mom wouldn't let him. She could stop him. He always wanted her to approve of him, when she was sober and around us, at least.

We pulled up to the Curtis' after what felt like an hour. We piled out of the bed of the truck, heading inside.

The next day, the entire teenage population of Tulsa knew of Dally's departure. When Pony, Johnny, Two-Bit and I went to the Dingo, greasers none of us knew were coming up to us and telling us they were sorry to hear Dally left.

The gang all headed to the Drive-In to try and have some fun. About halfway through the second movie, I got up to use the bathroom.

When I was going back, I saw a soc standing in my way. He was backed by a few friends, and they were all looking at me.

There was no way for me to avoid them without turning around, which meant I backed down.

I stepped up to them. I knew all three of them- Bob Sheldon and Randy Anderson were my biggest concerns of them, but the third, Dennis Phillips was still dangerous.

"What do you want?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

Bob scoffed. "I think you know."

I shrugged. "No, I actually don't." 

"Tell that piece of shit Johnny Cade to leave my sister alone!" Randy snapped, crossing his arms like a two-year-old that didn't get their way.

"Oh," I said, "that's what this is about." I nodded. "Okay, I won't. Thanks for the suggestion."

I tried to walk through them, but Bob grabbed my shoulder.

"Get your hand off of me," I growled, "or I'll-"

"What? Tell your big brother on me?" Bob pretended to look afraid but smiled. "Too bad he's not here to defend you, or your loser friends anymore."

"You so scared of him that you gotta wait for him to leave to threaten me?"

Bob ignored me. "I got a lot of friends that don't like your little gang. In fact, I got a lot of friends who're wanting to teach you guys a lesson." He held up a finger. "But, I am willing to hold them off- for a while, at least- if you make that Johnny leave my friend's sister alone."

"Fuck off." I knocked his hand off my shoulder. "I'm not scared of you. And I know no one in my gang is, either."

"Be careful, Ava." Dennis smiled, speaking for the first time. "We wouldn't want to have to cut up that pretty face of yours." 

"No, I wouldn't waste my energy on her. I think I'd rather give that smart-ass Two-Bit the same scars Johnny has." Bob laughed. "And then some."

I bit my tongue and finally pushed past them. I couldn't stand to be around them anymore without taking a swing at one of them.