𝔰𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 '67

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 31

Loud noises muffling in my mind. I felt like I was levitating. All around me was blackness. What was going on?

I felt trapped inside my own body.

Suddenly my eyes flutter open and a brightness shined in my eyes. Someone stands over me and watches me wake up. I slowly sit up and a nauseating feeling rushed over me. I turn my head over to see Steve with stitches on his forehead. I then realized we were in a hospital room, "W-What happened?" I asked Steve as I rubbed my temple.

"The doctor said you might not remember anything right away" Steve chuckled. I gave Steve a confused look, "Remember what?". He steps over to me, "It's alright, we just got into a little scrap with David" Steve replies. I thought to myself which caused my head to hurt more. The memory of David cutting me with his switchblade came rushing back to me. My eyes widened and I spotted the little mirror in the hospital room and paced over to it.

The line of stitches running down my right cheek made me tear up. I began to cry at my reflection through the mirror. Steve saw me crying to myself and came over, "Why are you crying?" he asks me. I heavily breathe in and out, "I can't believe that this is going to turn into a scar, It looks so ugly" I gesture to my stitches. Steve's face got sad, "Don't say that, Riz".

I went to go punch the mirror. Just before I could, Steve pulls me into him and began to hug me tightly so I wouldn't move. He rocks me back and forth. The door swings open and both Steve and I look over to see who was at the door. It was Dally, the last person who I wanted to see me like this. He walked closer to me and grazed his thumb over my cheek. Dally's sadness turned into anger, "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch". Steve lets out a loud gulp and we turned over to him. I've never seen this upset look on Steve's face. His eyes got teary, something was wrong here.

"Steve?"

Steve drops to his knees and sobs into his hands, "I killed him..." he confesses. I felt my whole body stiffen up. I was completely motionless. My eyes shot at Steve, not leaving his very sight. No words could come out of my mouth, what could I possibly say? "How?" Dally asks Steve. Steve picks up his head from his hands. His face was red as hot tears continued coming down his bruised face. His uneasy breathing made it difficult for him to speak. He stutters as he slowly says, "With a brick..." he then continues to say, "B-But no one saw me. S-So I can't get in trouble, right?" He questions to Dally. "No you ain't gonna get into any trouble. The boys will keep you safe" Dally tells Steve.

Steve gets off from the floor and glances back to me. I still stood there speechless. I was going to keep Steve safe no matter what because he's family, I just would never believe that he was capable of murder.

Two-bit, Darry, and Sodapop stood in the waiting room. Sodapop sat there with a black eye, I was relieved he was conscious again. He was punched pretty hard. They all got up from there seats and began to make their way over to Dally, Steve, and I. All of us were unsure of what to say. Sodapop kept staring at my cheek weirdly. It made me feel super insecure about myself.

"Let's sign some papers and head out to get some ice cream for y'all, what do ya say?" Darry said, trying to enlighten the mood a bit. Soda, Steve, and I all shook our heads no. We all were too miserable and in too much pain to go out. Darry lets out a sigh, "Okay we don't have to" he said.

***
On the way to Buck's place, everyone was quiet. Dally brought Steve with us just in case if the cops were looking for him. The world seemed black and white to me now. Who knew so much could happen in two months? Getting kicked out, the pregnancy, the Ponyboy and Johnny incident, now this? My life was taking a huge turn! What was about to happen next?

Dally kept glancing over to me. Dally has been the only good part of my summer i'm honestly lucky to be with him, especially in a time like this. In the beginning everyone said to "Watch out for Dallas Winston" or "Dallas Winston is nothing but a criminal". You can't believe everything you hear, sometimes you have to find out for yourself and take that risk. Turns out, everyone was wrong.

We walked into Buck's. The place was packed. All of the cowboys and cowgirls stared at Steve and I, focusing on our bruises and soon to be scars. Dally pushes me and Steve in front of him, "You guys go up to the room, imma get myself a drink" he says. Steve and I both pace up the stairs and into the room. I closed the door behind me and sat on the bed. Steve hesitated to where he'd stand, we both were very uncomfortable.

He strolled around in a circle as he played around with his fingers. Steve was anxious and afraid. He finally shouts out, "I wish it was yesterday!" Steve begins to sob. "Just yesterday I was with Evie. I felt so calm and like I could be myself around her, not a damn worry in the world" Steve says. He wipes his tears, "Now, it's like i'm stuck in this dark cold room and there is nowhere to escape. I have to live in fear for the rest of my life. Constantly asking myself, Is this it for me?". Steve leans up against the wall and turns his head towards me, "But I'm glad I killed him. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead" I let that sink in for a moment. I put my hand over my stomach and glanced up at Steve.

Next day...

I woke up with a pounding headache. Steve left first thing in the morning. Dally began to wake up. He lets out a big yawn and starts stretching. Dally scratches his chest and turns over. I sat up against the headboard. "Up so early?" Dally says. I shrugged to myself, "Yeah I barley got any sleep last night" I replied. Dally gets off the bed and slips a white tee on, "I was thinking you and I head up to see Pony and Johnny today" Dally said. As much as I wanted to go, was today really the perfect day?

David appears...

He mesmerized my face with a smirk, "It's a shame that i'm gonna have to cut up this pretty face, babe".

I tightly close my eyes, go away!

Runs his finger down my cheek. He flicks open his switchblade.

The switchblade...

It was Jackson's favorite switchblade. I remembered laying it beside him in his casket, David took it.

Dally's face flashes my mind. I can see him torturing David. The blood dripping from his pale knuckles.

The switchblade cuts deep into my face and I let out a big scream. Steve comes over with the brick and I can see him slamming the back of David's head. I can hear the skull breaking as Steve continuously hits David. Blood pouring out of his head.

David's dead.

Steve's stuck in a dark room, with nowhere to exit. He cries, "Lemme out, I can be good!". Steve gets louder and
louder.

I cover my ears with my hands, trying to block out the noises.

I couldn't take it any much longer. It was all too loud!

I shot myself up from the bed. The screaming and loud cries were all gone. Breathing uneasy I realized Dally holding onto my shoulders tightly, I can feel his nails digging into me. He shook me around and I come out to say to him, "You're gonna make me puke!" (referring to all of the shaking). He stops and says, "What was all that?!".

I pick myself off the bed. My hands started fidgeting. "I just blacked out there for a second" I said. Dally faces his body towards me, "Yeah the loud screams says otherwise" He didn't believe me, Dally knew that there was more to the situation.

"This is all my fault" I said as I buried my face into my hands. "I should've never left Steve and Soda the night of the drag race. Staying with David that night is all my fault, I should've told him no when he offered me to sit with him. Why did I do that when I know the history David and I had? I can't
believe I fell for his bullshit again." I got quieter as I over thought the situation to myself.

"Don't be like that, Riz. It's not your fault, alright? You gotta realize how much of an ass the guy was. Look what he put you and Steve through, it's sickening." Dally stopped talking, I couldn't tell if the situation was making him mad or uncomfortable. Dally was right, David could've killed me. Even though it really is David's fault, I still felt guilty for some odd reason. Like part of it is all my fault?

I sat next to Dally and grabbed his hand. We made eye contact with each other, "Let's bring Pony and Johnny home" I said with a smile.