BLACK SHEEP | DW

003.

"the devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. he comes as everything you've ever wished for."
- tucker max

venus learned three things.
one: the names of the boys - bob, randy, sam and daniel.
two: the "south-side" they referenced previously is the "soc side".
three: these guys were turning out to be real dirt bags.

she hadn't discovered that third one out until they stopped at a gas station on the "north-side" of the town. sitting quietly in the backseat of randy's car, she had to bite her tongue as she watched the scene unfold before her.

"what's wrong greaser? did all that grease seep through your scalp to your brain?" bob sneered at the boy.

venus took a second to observe him, and besides his old work clothes she would have considered him to be pretty attractive.

he didn't speak up, but instead begrudgingly put the gas pump in the blue mustang. that made her feel even worse. why wouldn't he defend himself?

she knew she was in no place to be sticking up for him. venus had just made these friends and she had a feeling if she went sticking up for the gas station attendant that she would end up just like him: victims to their cruelty. she wanted at least one day of peace before everyone found out about her family.

bob didn't stop though, even after his tank was filled. he grabbed the boys work button down. it was light blue, unbuttoned, and covered with car grease.

glancing to his name that was embroidered in the left side, bob let out a sarcastic chuckle. "i mean geez, what kinda name is sodapop anyway," he laughed. "were your parents-"

"shut your mouth, soc," he shoots back now and his expression turned hard. he looked so intimidating that even venus, from inside the car, almost backed up.

"oh would you look at that. he speaks!" bob says, stepping up to the boy, getting in his face.

"i'll do a whole lot more than that if you don't get lost," the boy sodapop said, copying his action.

venus got nervous. she hated fights, ironically even ones that didn't involve her. and she could sense that a fight was exactly what would happen once the other gas attendant came up to the array.

he looked a lot scarier than sodapop. he had a tattoo and harsh features, the kind that made you want to do the exact opposite of fighting him.

"you're outnumbered, greasers. there's four of us and two of you," randy now spoke up, hopping from the front seat of the convertible to stand by his friend.

she groaned, throwing her head in her hands. this was not exactly what venus had expected to happen when she agreed to hang out with these boys.

"yeah, well you're on our turf soc, so you better rethink who's outnumbered," the second gas attendant gritted at randy.

"i think they're looking for a fight randy, what do you think?" bob said sarcastically and venus just about had it.

she wasn't gonna sit idly by and watch these so called "socs" mess with these "greasers". the whole thing seemed so petty and childish to her anyway.

the boy, sodapop, who had now stepped back from bob glanced at her. for only a second she made eye contact with him, and immediately regretted it. he gave her a look, the kind of looked that screamed "do something".

like a shock wave to her system, she felt a surge of confidence.

she leaned out the side of the car now after gaining the courage to say something. "how lame," she says plainly. she said it in such a simple tone that it could have made even the smartest person feel dumb.

all the boys turned their attention to the girl who hung out the side of the blue mustang. for a minute, she could've sworn she saw that boy, sodapop, smile at her.

truth be told he was in awe. he wasn't certain she would speak up at all.

"what did you just say?" bob asks turning back to venus. she was sure that he meant for the question to sound mean and threatening, but he squeaked like a scared mouse.

"i said, how lame," venus willed again calmly, feigning a yawn. "don't you boys have a better use of your time than picking on someone just trying to do their job?" she asked.

bob scoffed. "listen, lady, why don't you just mind your own. this ain't no matter for females anyway," he shoots, turning back towards the two working boys.

venus felt her face heat up in anger. he was treating her like the last thing she wanted to be: a damsel in distress.

tossing her hair over one shoulder, she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows in anger. "no you listen, man, why don't you mind your own. unless of course you're over compensating for something else," she spat out, pointing in the direction of his freshly pressed slacks.

the harsh looking gas attendant, steve as his name badge read, started laughing. quite honestly venus wasn't sure she could even consider it a laugh. it was so abrupt and loud it caught the attention of everyone at the DX.

randy too let out a light chuckle, but hid it with a rather fake cough.

face now beat red, the boy's hand ghosted to his hair in distress. bob hadn't planned for this new girl to make a fool out of him, especially not in front of a couple "greasers".

he gritted his teeth, hopping back into the car on the passengers side and his yes-men followed.

before randy sped out of the DX, venus gave one last look to the gas station boys. in one simple moment, for some unexplainable reason, both of them felt a pit in their stomach when she shot them a wink.

"now that is one cool broad," steve said, nudging soda. but he didn't say anything back, instead his mouth hung open in surprise.

noticing he was quite obviously staring at the blue mustang as it sped off, he cleared his throat awkwardly and let out an abrupt "yeah, yeah she is".