Greasers

Greasers Chapter Two

I sat in the uncomfortable office chair for twenty minutes, waiting nervously and patiently for Darry to arrive. I wanted him to show up and didn't want him to at the same time.

When he showed up, he glared at me. I gulped. He flirted with the receptionist for a little while and then checked me out.

We walked wordlessly to the car. Him being quiet was much scarier than him yelling. That meant he was really mad. 

He was silent on the ride home, but he was gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

"Dar, I'm so-" I started but he cut me off.

"No, Ponyboy. Stop. Just be quiet." He said sharply in a very controlled tone. I gulped and shrunk down in my seat. This was going to be a very long two weeks.

When we arrived at the house, Darry got out and walked over to my side, opening the door for me, unbuckling for me, and dragging me into the house by my arm.

"Darry! That hurts!" I yelped, but he didn't seem to hear me. When we got inside, he practically threw me on the couch.

"What were you thinking, Ponyboy?" He growled, pacing back and forth in front of me.

"I'm sorry, Dar." I said meekly. I felt like I was practically the size of an ant as I sat in front of him.

"Oh, you're sorry? Wow! That makes everything so much better! Now, maybe social services will leave us alone! Thanks for being sorry, Ponyboy. That helps a lot." He said sarcastically. I shrunk down even more. I felt insanely guilty and I would have given anything to be anywhere else at that moment.

"It was a dare. I didn't mean to hurt nobody." I said in almost a whisper.

"Just because you're dared to do something, doesn't mean you should!" He scolded, getting in my face. "Now you listen to me, little boy. I'm gonna wait a while to punish you 'cause I'm real mad right now, but when I do, you're in for a world of hurt. You hear me?"

I nodded meekly and tried to move away from his face, but the back of the couch got in the way. "You're grounded through your whole suspension, so you'll be doing nothing but chores and sittin' around." 

I nodded again, frowning. Correction from earlier, this would be a long and boring two weeks. 

"I gotta go to work, so you should do the laundry and stay in your room 'til I get back." He said, kissing my forehead and heading out of the door. It was weird how quick Darry could switch from scary to loving. He still didn't sound very happy, though.

I shivered and headed to do the chores I was assigned. I wanted to call Curly and tell him what was happening, but if I got caught, it definitely wouldn't be worth it.

Besides, Soda would get home before Darry and he could probably calm me down before the eventful night that was ahead of me.

I idly did my chores and lit a cigarette. I was going to sit on my bed to smoke, but then I remembered Darry worried when I did that. So, I walked out to the front porch and sat down. I looked at the clouds passing by, and for a second I was happy I wasn't in school. Then I remembered how much trouble I was in, and I changed my mind. I wished I hadn't did that stupid ass dare.

After a few hours of relaxing on the porch and watching the sky, Soda's truck pulled into the driveway. He hopped out and skeptically looked at me.

"What are you doing home right now, Pony?" He asked, walking up and sitting beside me on the porch. "What did you do?"

I really wasn't itching to tell him, but I didn't have much of a choice. He'd find out sooner or later. So I filled him in on everything that happened at lunch time and what Darry told me.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that." Soda joked, but I could tell he wasn't very happy with me at all. "What the hell were you thinking?"

I shrugged and looked guiltily at my shoes. "It was a dare, Soda. You would've done the same thing and I know it for a fact."

"Yeah, but I'm not in school anymore so it doesn't matter that much." He sighed. "Ponyboy, you're lucky the school didn't decide to call social services. You're lucky that Dar and I are lookin' out for you." He ruffled my hair and stood up. "You do deserve a good whoopin', though. And if Darry wasn't gonna give ya one, I would."

I blushed, and with that he walked back into the house. I figured I better enjoy the next hour of sitting while I can, but Soda called me into the house so I went.

"Pony, come wash the dishes before Darry gets home." He ordered.

"Why can't you?" I whined, trudging into the kitchen. 

"Because I'm not the one who beat up some Soc. Go." He pointed to the sink, and I groaned but did as I was told.

By the time I had finished with the dishes, Darry was home reading the newspaper in his chair. I had been trying to avoid him, but he walked into the kitchen before I could exit.

"We'll talk after dinner." He told me, heading for the stove to start making spaghetti for dinner. I nodded and swiftly went to hide in my room.