Chapter 9 - The Delicate Sound Of Thunder

I got home at 6:30. That was good cause the rumble was at 7:00. I was late for supper though which didn't really matter. I wasn't in the mood for eating. Usually we eat like horses but I just couldn't swallow the food. I was too excited for the rumble. Instead, I took like 5 aspirins to get rid of my headache. Maybe that'll last me through the rumble. I went and took a shower. Everybody got spruced up before a rumble. It was to show those filthy Socs that we weren't trash, that we were just as good as they are. We all put on more hair oil than necessary. It was the show we were Greasers. We may not be much, but we do still have a reputation to uphold. What kind of a world is it that all people have to be proud of is greasy hair? Just because of my hair style people mark me off as a bad guy! Why should I even pretend to be proud of myself?



I sat in the armchair waiting for the rest of our outfit. Tonight, it would only be Two-Bit, since Steve was already here. Johnny and Dally wouldn't be coming. They would never be coming... Don't think like that! They'll be OK and before we know it, we will have won the rumble and everything will be back to normal. We were all getting pumped up for the rumble. Everyone was cracking jokes and keeping a light atmosphere. I asked everyone why they liked to fight. The unanimous answer was that everyone liked the contest of it. I don't especially like fighting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to chicken out when one of the gang needs help, but I don't like fighting to solve my problem. What does it really do?

We all started to do acrobatic tricks that Darry had taught us a few years ago after a course at the Y. Darry was doing flips of the steps, Soda was doing handless cartwheels. Everyone was having a blast. On the way to the rumble, Darry told us that if the fuzz showed, Soda and I had to run. No matter what. Steve or Two-Bit could get jailed if they are caught but Soda and I would be put in a boys home. That wasn't going to happen. When we arrived, I looked at the others that were joining us for the fight. There was Tim Shepard's gang, The Brumly Boys and a few other greasers. These people didn't look like our gang. Our gang looked like greasers but not the stereotypical hard, tough greaser. These people looked like hoods; true criminals. And that's the way they were going to stay. But we had some chance. Especially Darry. He had the potential to really be somebody. And I bet living here and looking at everybody else's grim and dismal futures only gave him more determination to get out of here. The Socs showed up now. I realized why we always get blamed for rumbles like this. The Socs were dressed casually. If I didn't know better, I would've thought they were going to the Nightly Double and out to dinner. We looked tough and dangerous and looking for a fight. Darry stepped up to start the rumble. He challenged anybody who would face him. Paul stepped up. He was Darry friend from high school. He was in college now. He was, as I would've imagined, Darry would've been if he went into college. Why weren't they still friends? Was it discrimination that kept these two buddies apart? I bet it was also jealousy. Paul got the future that Darry wanted. But now Darry could take his revenge out on Paul...

From out of the blue, we heard Dally show up. This is when Paul sucker punched Darry and the rumble began. After a while of the greasers winning, then the Socs taking the lead, then the greasers again, the greasers got a victory. He ran those filthy Socs out of our territory. I knew that none of it mattered. Socs would be Socs, greasers would be greasers. But at least now we strengthened our reputation of being the tough and the strongest. Was this good or bad?

Right after the fight, Dally drags me off. I can't even think of why; my head was spinning. I felt like I was going to throw up. We got to the hospital and I realized what was happening. We were going to see Johnny. It must be serious as Dally didn't waste a second in getting us there. I don't remember everything but what I do remember is what Dally said on the way to the hospital. He had changed his mind - Johnny should've gotten hard and mean. Like Dally. If Johnny had never tried to save those kids, he would've never gotten hurt. "You get tough like me, you don't get hurt," he said. "You look out for yourself and nothing can touch you..."

We show up at the hospital and find Johnny is dying. He manages to say a few words to us. We can feel his pain as he talks. We all just wanted him to shut up and get better. We wanted none of this to happen. It would've been OK if Dally had died. Or Steve or Two-Bit. Anyone of the gang really. Except for Johnny. Johnny was the member that kept us all together. In his dying breath, he told me to stay gold. What did this mean? Then, he died. It wasn't dramatic like in the movies. He just died. Now is when Dally lost it. He started screaming and beating his fist against the wall. He was hysterical. He ran out of the room. He was trying to run away from everything, like Johnny and I had that one night going to Windrixville. But he wouldn't be able to. Everything had changed.