Chapter Text
Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
It was a bright summer day in Tulsa. Spirits were high all over the city as teenagers gallivanted about, celebrating their freedom. Honey waves of heat rolled through the city. It clung to everything like a toddler to a parents’ leg.
Though they were free from the confines of school, the divide between the socs and greasers was more present than ever. One group partied and played while the other worked part-time jobs. The socs could relax while the greasers dug their hands in the dirt.
There was no greater example of that divide than Keith Matthews and Marcia Meyrink. While Two-Bit was sulking on the east side, Marcia was swimming on the west.
In a backyard pool, three girls lounged in the sun. With their colorful swimsuits and hair tied up in handkerchiefs, the three girls looked like the picture of summer relaxation. The pool was surrounded by a white fence, high enough so their neighbors couldn’t see in. Nearly trimmed flower beds surrounded the yard and encased the pool and beach chairs.
Marcia sat on the edge of the pool, kicking her legs through the water. She adjusted a pair of sunglasses perched on her nose. Summer meant only one thing to her; it meant her parents taking a trip abroad. Last year it was France, then some island in the Caribbean. This year, they went to Spain.
Every year Marcia was left behind. She didn’t mind all that much, honestly. Marcia was never one for travel, she preferred to follow the fold and keep her feet where her roots were planted. Besides, her parents weren’t around that much during the other months, it was hardly different. Except for the fact that she was forced into the care of her aunt and uncle despite nearly being an adult.
“You can’t hog the pool all summer,” Paul, her cousin, shouted from an open window upstairs. He was in the middle of buttoning up a shirt, his hair styled in a way that surely took him hours but he pretended it didn’t.
Beverly, who was paddling in the pool, responded by blowing him a kiss with her middle finger. Marcia laughed at her friend; Bev was bolder than she ever would be. Cherry rolled over from where she was tanning on a beach towel, “You’re welcome to join us!”
Marcia leaned over and slapped her leg gently. “No, he’s not,” she laughed. Cherry giggled. Marcia turned back to the house to shout at her cousin, “Did you hear that? You’re not invited!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Paul replied, he waved his hand at them dismissively. “I’m going for a drive with the boys, don’t drown while I’m gone.”
“No promises,” Bev singsonged back at him. “Will you cry at my funeral?”
“Nope,” Paul replied. The three girls laughed.
Marcia looked at Bev, “Why are you flirting with him? You have a boyfriend.”
Bev shrugged, “Flirting is fun, besides, it’s not like I’m going to actually do anything with him.” Marcia blushed a little at the implication. While Cherry and Beverly could talk about all things boys, Marcia turned into a lobster the moment she had to talk about it.
“You should get in the shade,” Marcia told Bev a moment later. “You’re turning pink.”
Bev sighed, but swam towards her, pulling herself to hang on the edge of the pool. Her sharp eyes tracked over Marcia’s face. Marcia shifted a little under the intensity of her stare.
Though the three of them were close as could be, Cherry and Marcia had been friends since elementary school. They were always two peas in a pod. They’d only become friends with Beverly in freshman year, though she was a year old. Part of Marcia was still intimidated by the older girl. She was sure of herself in a way that Marcia had never been.
As Bev climbed out of the pool, she splashed Marcia with cold water. Marcia gasped but Bev just rolled her eyes, sitting down beside Cherry in the shade.
“Are you and Brill going to come to Marcia’s party?” Cherry asked as she sat up. She squinted against the sun; pool water dripped from her red hair.
Bev lit a cigarette and took a long drag before answering, “Of course, it’s little Marcia’s birthday.” Bev winked at Marcia. Marcia was easily the youngest person in her class, sixteen when the rest of the juniors were seventeen. It didn’t bother her much, except when Bev made comments like that. Cherry exchanged a glance with Marcia, knowing how that would annoy her friend.
Marcia added in, “I think everyone decided to come once they heard there’d be drinks.” Again, Marcia and Cherry shared a look. Neither of them liked going to parties like that, their boyfriends always indulged too much. But Trip wanted people to have fun, and most of them wouldn’t have fun without alcohol.
“Any idea what Trip is going to get you?” Beverly asked, letting out another puff of smoke. “Maybe a promise ring?” She said, her voice lilting with tease.
Marcia blushed again. Bob had gotten Cherry a promise ring six months ago. She said it had been awfully romantic when he gave it to her. Bev had one too, had had hers since her sophomore year. “He hasn’t said anything about it,” Marcia said coyly.
She didn’t know how she would feel if Trip were to give her a promise ring. Something about the idea of it made her stomach feel queasy, but that was probably just the butterflies people kept telling her she should have.
Cherry grinned, “I bet he got one. He’s been so shy around you lately.” Bev nodded her agreement.
Marcia looked down at her hand and imagined a little silver band around her finger. She couldn’t picture it at all. She and Trip had been going steady for a while but a promise ring seemed like a big step. Marcia shrugged as though she didn’t care, “We’ll see.”
On the East side, summer didn’t look quite as idyllic. There were no pools or fruity drinks, no colorful bikinis. Instead, they had a rundown car and stacks of old tires in an empty lot. It wasn’t much at all. Yet they were used to it and didn’t need more.
Soda sat on the ground, leaning against the wheel of the car. He and Steve were sharing a bottle of beer back and forth. It was disgustingly warm but they drank it anyway. Ace lay with her head in Soda’s lap. She was itching for a cigarette but thought if she got any hotter, she would combust.
Ponyboy and Johnny were tucked up together under the only tree with a book on each of their knees. The only reason they were outside was because Darry told them they needed sunshine.
Dally was the only one moving. He paced the lot like a tiger in a cage. Smoke curled from his mouth, “I want to fight something.”
Soda smirked up at him, “You can fight me if you want.”
Ace rolled her eyes. They all knew Soda had no chance against Dallas, none of them did one on one. “We’re trying to relax. Go take it to the west side, Dally.”
Dally strode across the lot in long paces. He was practically growling. “I should. I should march right over there and stomp in their faces. Maybe it’ll finally teach them to leave us the hell alone.” Dally glanced at Johnny. The kid wasn’t listening, but they could all see the bruises that still colored his face.
Steve swiped the beer bottle back from Soda. He took a long swig, “You gonna take on all the socs by yourself? I’ll enjoy your funeral, Dal, they better have those cheesy potatoes.”
Dally glared at Steve. “I could take on any soc, any number of socs if I wanted to. Their nothing but high-falutin’ trash. I’d take off their fancy rings and shove in their eyes.”
A whistle came then, not one of the greaser whistles, but a whistle of amusement. Five socs strolled into the lot with looks of perfect ease on their faces. They all had those ugly Beatles’ haircuts and looked like they were about to go to church. Somehow, they still looked intimidating to Soda.
The greasers scrambled to their feet, muscles tense and ready for a fight. Soda shattered the beer bottle against the front of the car and gave it to Ace. Ponyboy and Johnny slunk behind the group, trying to hide behind their taller companions. Though the greasers technically outnumbered the socs, everyone there knew that Johnny and Pony weren’t much of fighters. Soda did his best to position himself in front of his little brother. Darry would kill him if Pony got hurt in a stupid fight Dally started.
One of the socs stepped forward, tossing a stubbed cigarette to the ground, “Did you hear what the garbage said, Chet?”
Another soc stepped forward with a smug grin, “I sure did, Trip. Should we teach him a lesson, Bob?”
Bob smiled like a wolf about to pounce, “I think they all need a lesson.” The five socs took small steps forward.
Dally scoffed and stepped forward, placing himself as the leader of the gang. “What you need is a lesson on territory, you’re in ours, dumbass.”
“Is that so?” Bob asked as though he was talking to a child. “See, I think we’d just be doing some community service.”
“Cleaning up the litter,” Trip spat.
The only warning for the beginning of the fight was Dally’s low growl. All at once, the fight started with elbows and fists swinging. It wasn’t a rumble, there weren’t any rules. Soda was in the middle of it all, pounding his fists into the one called Chet. He felt hands claw at his shirt and he was spun around just in time to get a clobber to the jaw.
Soda kept an eye on Ponyboy, at least he’d had the good sense to stick close to Johnny. Before the fight could escalate too much, they were interrupted.
“Hey!” The loud yell started the greasers and socs apart. Soda recognized the voice, but by the way the socs’ heads shot up, they were probably expecting cops.
Soda stumbled back, spitting blood from his mouth. Darry Curtis stalked over with a look of fury on his face. Soda grinned at the sight of his big brother. Darry scowled at the socs, “Get out of here before I take care of you myself.”
The socs looked at him in defiance. Then Bob spit at Darry’s feet and the five of them headed back to their car. Dallas lurched to go after the socs, but Darry grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shoved him back. Steve grabbed Ace by the waist and plopped her on the hood of the car to take a look at her bleeding knee.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Dally demanded at Darry. “We had that handled.”
Darry dragged a hand down his face, “Dallas, I don’t give a damn if you fight the socs on your own, but instigating a fight when the rest of the gang was there was downright stupid. They could come back at anyone of y’all now and you know it. How are you gonna feel if it’s Johnny or Ponyboy they put in their crosshairs?”
Dally managed to look mollified. Those kids were the only thing he cared about in the world, and maybe Ace too. He took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and stormed away.
Darry sighed heavily, then turned back to the rest of the gang, “Y’all good?” Ace gave him a thumbs up with a lopsided smile despite the face that Steve’s bandana was wrapped around her knee. Soda did the same, blood on his teeth. Darry waited for Ponyboy and Johnny to confirm they were fine. “Alright, go back to the house in case they come back, there’s some fruit in the fridge for ya.”
That was all it took for Ace to jump on Steve’s back, and Ponyboy and Johnny to dash off to the house. Before he could do the same, Darry grabbed Soda by the upper arm to stop him. “Hey, you seen Two-Bit lately?”
Soda frowned as he thought about it. “I dunno, he ain't’ been with us all day. I figured he was with his sister or something.”
Darry shook his head, “His mama called and said she hasn’t seen him since yesterday, asked me to take a look for him.”
Soda sighed, “He’s been weird lately. All quiet since that girl left.”
Darry nodded, “Well can you take a look around for him? With the socs on this side, I don’t want him to get into trouble.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Darry ruffled Soda’s hair in thanks. “Take this just in case,” he handed Soda a switchblade. “I’ll make sure they save some fruit for you, little buddy.” Soda blew him a kiss as he jogged off.
As far as hiding places went, Two-Bit really only had two. Since one of them was the Curtis house, Soda was pretty sure he knew where to find his friend.
Soda sauntered down to an abandoned cul-de-sac, whistling carelessly. All of the houses were practically rubble with weeds growing to shoulder height in the yards. They’d been put up after the war, when families were buying up houses left and right. But turns out no one wanted to live smack in the middle of greaser territory when they had the money not to. They were real nice houses too, but apparently whoever built them would rather they rot down to nothing than sell them for cheap.
Ponyboy had a weird fascination with this place. There were several drawings of it in his sketchbook. It didn’t mean anything to Soda, it was just some houses that kids used for parties or to hide from the fuzz.
That’s where Soda found Two-Bit, sitting under an oak tree, smoking a cigarette. By the pile of butts on the ground next to him, he’d been at it for a while.
Two-Bit sighed when he saw Soda approaching, “That was faster than I thought, my mama send you?”
Soda plopped down onto the curb beside Two-Bit, “Your mama sent Darry who sent me.”
Two-Bit nodded to the growing bruise on Soda’s jaw and the dried blood on his lip, “What happened to you?”
Soda shrugged with a smile, “You missed some action. Dally got into it with some socs in the lot.” Even though he didn’t really smoke, Soda reached out a hand to take a drag from Two-Bit’s cig. “You ain’t still broken up about that girl, are ya?”
“Maybe a little,” Two-Bit said. He’d had a brief relationship with a girl in their class, only for her to abruptly move away at the end of the school year without a word. Soda knew Two-Bit had never gone steady with a girl before her, he’d always said that he wasn’t the dating type. He’d seemed real gone for that girl though.
Two-Bit leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree. He blew smoke up into the air, “It’s just…Steve had Evie and Dal’s with Sylvia and you’ve got Ace-“
Soda blushed, “We ain’t a thing. She don’t like me like that.”
“I know,” Two-Bit said, “but still. And Johnny and Pony got each other in a way. And I’m just alone.”
Soda made a sympathetic noise. This was a side of Two-Bit that rarely came out. It made sense when Soda took a deep inhale and didn’t get a whiff of alcohol. Two-Bit was sober. Soda couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen his friend without something running in his veins.
“You know, I heard there’s gonna be a soc party tomorrow night. Booze and a pool and everything. Why don’t we get the gang and sneak in? I bet you’d have fun and it would take your mind off that girl. Maybe you could even get some action of your own.” Soda put his fingers into a ‘v’ and held it to his lips.
As he expected, Two-Bit laughed loudly. He took the cigarette back from Soda. “Darry will beat your ass.”
Soda grinned, “What he doesn’t find out won’t hurt him. Pony and Johnny won’t want to go, they can cover for the rest of us. Plus, it’s a masquerade. All we gotta do is get some masks and no one will recognize us.” He nudged Two-Bit’s shoulder. “What do you say? We’ll just dance and drink and maybe steal some stuff. I’m sure you’ll be back to your usual self when you’ve got a few drinks in you.”
Two-Bit laughed a little. “Alright, Sods. Could be fun.”
Soda looped an arm around his buddy, “Trust me, it will be a night to remember.”