Let It Be Me

Part 8

Johnny was waiting for me outside the DX when Soda locked the door behind us at the end of the night.

"You sure you don't want a ride home?" Soda asked for the third time. "I can call Darry. I'm sure he don't mind." I shook my head.

"No, that's ok." I had totally forgotten that Sandy was picking Soda up tonight and Darry wouldn't be coming around. I was actually pretty glad that Johnny had waited for me. I wasn't entirely sure if he was going to.

"Alright" Soda finally consented. "Just be careful. Johnny, you got your blade on you?"

Johnny dropped the foot that had been propped up against the side of the building. "Don't need it. Callie's got a heater, remember?" He gave me a smug grin and I gave him the finger. Soda turned to me with a worried expression.

"You ain't carrying that gun around..."

"No" I interrupted. "I'm not. Johnny's just trying to get a rise out of me." He still glanced down at my pockets as though he was scanning me anyway. I sighed. "Soda, I swear to you I don't carry that thing around anymore." It was true. After coming inches away from murdering Bob I couldn't bring myself to touch it anymore. Johnny chuckled to himself, seemingly happy with the trouble he was causing me.

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't lie to you" I said, fully meaning it.

"Alright. Just be careful you two. Where are you headed anyway?"

"We're gonna go find Dally" Johnny said lighting up a cigarette. He passed it to me and pulled another one out for himself.

"Right" Soda nodded. "Why wait for the trouble to come to you when you can search it out for yourselves?"

Johnny and I looked at each other and smiled. Over the last few weeks Soda had started acting like an older brother to me. Everyone teased him about it but he couldn't seem to help himself. Johnny wasn't the type to call him out on it though. For some reason the only person he had the balls to tease was me.

"Alright well, holler if you need anything" Soda said taking his DX hat off and running his fingers through his hair.

Sandy's rickety brown Buick pulled up beside us. Well, mostly brown. A good portion of the body was covered in rust. I couldn't help but think that she looked so out of place driving a car like that. Sandy was beautiful in a soft and delicate kind of way. She was the kind of girl you'd expect to see in a sleek baby blue convertible or a shiny pink Cadillac. Maybe even on horseback at the beach. Not in a shit brown rust bucket on wheels. She gave me the same fake smile she gave me every time she saw me and I gave her the standard half-hearted wave back. Sandy was ok. She just wasn't crazy about Soda hanging around with other girls. Her insecurity was another thing that didn't suit her. I couldn't imagine Soda's eye being turned by any other girl. He was head over heels for Sandy. Why she couldn't see that was beyond me.

"See ya on Monday, Cal" Soda grinned, pulling the door open with a loud creak. He nodded to Johnny. "See ya around Johnnycake."

Sandy's jalopy sputtered away leaving me and Johnny standing alone under the dim light of the DX sign. The only sound was the hum of the neon and a dog barking somewhere a few blocks away. Johnny's cigarette illuminated his face as he took a drag.

"So, I think Dally's at Buck's" he said glancing down the street. "There's a bus that runs that way. We can catch it over by the church on Sutton." I nodded looking in that direction. It was a good mile and a half to the bus stop.

"Thanks" I said, feeling kind of guilty for dragging him along when we'd done nothing but bicker all night. He shrugged.

"Don't take it personal. I've got nothin' better to do anyway." I looked down at my feet and grinned. It was going to be a long night.