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6:57pm, October 31st
At the Shepards house
”I don’t wanna wear this stupid thing!” Curly said, tugging on the pepper shaker costume on him. Angela crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. “Yea—we’re not babies, Tim. Who even wears matching costumes??” Angela asked.
The twins were not very happy with the salt and pepper costumes Tim had fished out the attic. “Well it’s all I could find, unless you wanna wear Peanut Butter and Jam, you’ll be wearing that.” He stated. Putting his hands on his hips.
Curly rolled his eyes “I’m pretty sure these are too small for us anyway.” He looked in the mirror, him and Angela exchanging glances.
”They fit fine, y’all look cute so it don’t matter.” Tim rummaged through the room and pulled out two pillow cases. “Only go around the neighborhood, come back by 8, not 8:30, not 9. At 8 on the dot.” He said in a stern tone.
Angela snatched the pink pillow case first, leaving Curly with a brown, stained one. Curly scowled at her, pushing her. “Hey!” Angela hissed, pushing him back harder.
“Stop it!” Tim pulled Curly away from Angela “Y’all better not fight out there or I’m not letting y’all go out anymore.” He threatened, but they both knew it was an empty threat.
Curly huffed in annoyance. “Okay, Okay, we gotta go before everyone else gets all the good candy!” He exclaimed. Tim sighed, running a hand through his hair “Fine, but don’t forget to be back—“
”By 8, we know!” Angela interrupted, the two already walking out the door. “Bye!”
“Bye..” Tim mumbled back, he bit his lip as he closed the door. Their mom was out probably getting drunk as hell at some bar. He couldn't help but be worried that something might happen. But they were tough kids..they should be fine! They could keep out of trouble for one night…right? Right.
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At the Curtis household
“Im going to Paul’s now, Ma!” Darry called, zipping up his jacket. “Alright!” His mother called back from the kitchen.
Two-Bit rolled his eyes. “How come you’re not going trick-or treating with us, man?” He said.
Darry shrugged “Maybe cause that’s for little kids, Two.” He stated. Opening the door as he grabbed his keys.
”it’s not..” Two-Bit mumbled as Darry started to walk out.
”Bye, Darry!” Sodapop waved, adjusting his belt.
”What are you supposed to be?” Two-Bit asked, looking Sodas costume up and down.
Soda looked down at himself and then back at him “I’m a Soda, get it? Sodapop!” He said, gesturing to the red shirt with the Coke logo on it. “And Steve’s a Pepsi!” He pointed to Steve. Wearing a matching blue shirt with the Pepsi logo on it.
Steve looked bored. “We were supposed to be cowboys.” He stated simply.
Two-Bit snickered, chuckling softly. “What are YOU supposed to be??” Steve hissed, crossing his arms.
”I’m Mickey, duh.” Two rolled his eyes. “…You’re just wearing Mickey ears.” Steve commented.
”Yea—MICKEY ears! I’m Mickey, it matches.” Two-Bit replied.
Mr. Curtis walked into the room. “Alright boys, so since y’all are older, and since Two-Bit is gonna be with y’all. You guys can be out till 10:30!” He turned to inspect their costumes.
”We’ve got Pepsi-Cola huh?” He grinned, laughing a little at his own joke.
”Yea! Steve is Pepsi, I’m Cola!” Soda said excitedly with a wide smile. It was clear he was gonna saw that all night. “Where’s Johnny and Ponykid?” Steve asked. Looking around.
Mr. Curtis looked around. “Oh, your mother’s helping him with his costume.” He explained.
Two-Bit and Steve both looked at each other, they had been trying to guess Pony’s costume for a while. But the kid just wouldn't tell them.
”Y’all are all ready?” Ms. Curtis said, helping Pony out. “..What are you?” Steve asked slowly. Two-Bit bit the inside of his mouth as he started to laugh.
”I’m Applejack.” Ponyboy announced. “Can’t you tell??” He had prepared the costume for weeks. Even if it wasn’t much, he was pretty sure he did a good job. He had a red and white flannel, brown boots, dark blue jeans, and a cowboy hat with three red apple stickers on the front.
”Yea..we can tell.” Two-Bit said, his voice cracking at how much he was laughing “N-no, no—you look nice..it’s just unexpected!” He reassured quickly.
Sodapop huffed a little “Hey! I said I was making a pun outta my name, but..I guess it’s okay.” He muttered, before ruffling his brothers hair. “What are you supposed to be Johnny?” Steve asked.
Johnny blinked a few times “…I’m me.” He said in a soft tone. “He’s a sherif.” Pony grinned. He pointed to the yellow badge he had pinned on Johnnys denim jacket.
“Oh, yea I’m the sheriff…” Johnny corrected himself, a small smile forming on his face.
Ms. Curtis put her hands on his hips “Johnny, Pony. Y’all be back by 9 okay?” Johnny and Pony nodded quickly.
And just like that they all split up to go knocking on doors. “Let’s go to the Smith's house first, they got good candy.” Ponyboy said, speed walking as Johnny started to pick up his pace to catch up. “Alright!” He replied.
They walked in silence, until they heard rustling in the bushes near them. “…Uh, maybe it’s a cat?” Johnny murmured. Pony leaned forward to get a better look.
”AH!—“ he yelped as Dallas jumped out from the bushes, stumbling down onto the floor. Smirking with a smug look on his face. “Dallas!” Ponyboy exclaimed with an annoyed look.
“Oh come on, Ponykid. Ya shoulda seen your face!” Dallas laughed, stepping out from the bushes as he brushed all the small twigs and leaves stuck to his jeans. “What y’all doin?” He asked. Getting a lighter from his pocket as he started to light a cigarette.
Johnny helped Ponyboy up, looking up at Dallas. “We’re trick or treating, Dal.” He said. “You coming with?” He asked. Dallas rolled his eyes. “No? That’s for kids. Beisdes why do that when you can get some free candy from a store.” He said.
”Store candy ain’t free—“ Pony said as Dallas interrupted him. “Pipe down, man. Anyway, I’m heading to Tim’s, y’all coming?” He started to walk already anyway.
Johnny and Ponyboy both looked at each other. “I dunno..” Pony muttered. Dally shrugged and turned around, beginning to walk away. The two looked at each other before they started to follow him.
They eventually wandered away before reaching the Shepards house. “Oh hey it’s Curly and Angie.” Pony said, already his way to crossing the street to go with them. Johnny followed suite. He wasn’t really too fond of the Shepard. Especially Curly. Angela seemed okay though.
“Pones!” Curly flashed a smile. “Hey wait up!” Angie said, following her brother who was already leaving her behind.
“Y’all trick-or-treating too?” Ponyboy asked “Duh!” Curly replied. “Got any candy?” He looked down at Pony’s empty bag.
Curly looked around before Angela smacked him upside the head “That’s for leaving me behind, dummy.” She hissed. “Whatever, Ange.” Curly shot back.
He turned towards Johnny and Pony again “Anyway, I heard some Socs are having a little party. Wanna go sneak in and get some candy?” He asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Won’t be get caught?” Pony said weakly. “Plus, what if it’s older Socs? They could easily beat us if anything happened.” Johnny added. Shaking his head ‘no’ slightly.
Curly scoffed, him and Angela both exchanging looks again, a silent conversation “Well yea, but we won’t get caught!” Angela insisted. “And if we do well just run! Pony you’re a fast runner ain’t ya?” She said, Ponyboy nodded hesitantly.
”Yea…I guess?” He admitted shyly. “Well if y’all don’t wanna go then you can stick to your sad sacks..” Curly stated, him and Angela both walking away.
Pony bit his lip, grabbing Johnny's hand as he followed them “Wait—we’ll go!” He said quickly.
”Pony—we could get in lots of trouble!” Johnny said, tugging him back. “It’ll be fine, I’m a fast runner remember?” Ponyboy stated, tugging him back forward.
Johnny sighed and hesitantly followed them. He had a bad feeling something was gonna go wrong …
As they walked along the road they heard yelling and music. Obnoxiously loud music which disrupted the peace. “Alright, me and Angela will go over there.” He pointed to the side where a pile of empty, broken soda bottles sat. “And you and Johnny grab that.” He pointed to where a bowl was, none of them was sure what was in the bowl but it had to be something good, right?
“By the way, what are you?” Angela put her hands in her hips as she inspected Pony’s costume. “Oh yea, I’m Applejack and Johnnys a sherif. And you?” Pony had a pretty good idea what they were.
Curly sighed dramatically “We’re Salt and Pepper, It was all Tim could find.” He explained. He gave Johnny a side eye “I thought sheriffs were brave..” he said under his breath.
Johnny heard his comments, growling. He was brave..well, Dally always said he was pretty tuff. That was basically the same thing. He shook his head, why should he care what Curly Shepard thought anyway? “Alright then—let’s go!” Angela whisper-shouted. Her and Curly were already in the move as Pony led Johnny to where the bowl was. Ponyboy reached for the bowl, tilling it over to get a better look.
Suddenly the whole bowl tipped over, instead of maybe some hard candies or something, or even some mints. There was just cigarette butts and ash. The ash got on Johnnys black shirt so it didn’t show, but the noise got some of the Socs attention.
The Socs stared at the greaser kids “Hey!” One shouted as they spotted Curly and Angela sneaking bottles of something into one of their pillow cases. The sudden yelling caused Curly to fall onto Angela and both of them ended up falling to the ground.
Johnny grabbed Ponyboy’s hand and made a run for it. “Get outta here!” Another Soc yelled, throwing the bottle at them. ‘Socs are ruthless’ Johnny said in his head.
They all eventually found each other again. Angie had dirt on her costume and Curly got a mixture of grass and mud on his. Johnny got ash on his hands, shirt, jacket and some of his face while Pony left mostly okay with some ash on his arms.
Curly started to laugh, soon they were all laughing, even Johnny. At least until they heard Dallas and Tim’s shouting.
“What did you numbskulls do!?” Tim yelled. Taking in all their dirty clothes. “Uh…” curly couldn’t come up with an excuse. Dallas looked just as mad, but at Johnny and Pony.
“We are going home this instant!” Tim grabbed their arms as he led them away. “…Can we still go to the Smiths house?” Ponyboy asked in a weak voice.
“No!” Dallas hissed. Pony only had ash and some candy in his bag, Johnny didn’t have a bag. Just ash.
Dally led them all the way back to the house. But he didn’t snitch, just gave them an earful about what they did. “Do you know what could have happened!? Y’all could have been gutted right then and there!” He scolded. Johnny held his head low and Pony nervously fidgeted with his hat. Their responses were some mix of “Sorry Dally.” Or “We know.” They were pretty grateful he wasn’t gonna tell on them though.
———————————————————————
Tim slammed the door shut, still pissed about what happened. “I turn around and what do I see? Y’all running outta a Socs party!” He yelled.
Angela bit her nails while Curly shuffled his feet. Neither looking him in the eyes.
“What if y’all got hurt!? What would I do then!? Huh? Exactly!” He shouted, pacing around the room. “Mom ain’t here to care for us—if y’all got hurt…well lots bad things could have happened!”
He ranted on and on, his words starting to get louder. He finally stopped when he saw the tears forming in the twins eyes. He sighed, kneeling down to them. “Look, I was…just mad. If y’all got hurt, y’all could have died and we all know mom wouldn’t give two sh…” his voice trailed off.
“She wouldn’t care, I care about y’all okay?” He hugged the both of them. “Don’t get into anymore trouble, Kay? For me.” His voice cracked as he realized he was starting to cry. He rubbed their backs, rubbing his own tears away.
”We’re sorry..” Angela mumbled “Real sorry!” Curly sniffled. Tim took a shaky breath and nodded. “Let’s watch a movie..okay?” He whispered. The two nodded, sitting on the couch.
“After you change.” Tim stated, leading them away to the bathroom.
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What did Soda, Steve and Two-Bit do all night? Well, Two-Bit caused little kids around with a plastic knife while Steve and Sodapop tried to get into R-rated movies (and succeeded)
While Darry and Paul hung out near a diner, talking with each other about life. Until some people dressed in clown costumes appeared and the two ran to Paul’s house.
It was a pretty eventful Halloween for everyone.
They all went back to the Curtis's, they didn't ask why Dallas was scolding Johnny and Ponyboy, or why they had ash on them. Instead heading inside as they all huddled up to watch a movie.
"Daddy said I shouldn't watch these kinds of movies till I'm 13.." Pony said as he sat next to Johnny who had gotten the ash off of him. "Well, Dad ain't home, I am. And It's Halloween." Darry stated.
As they watched the movie, Ponyboy leaned into Johnny "Just so you know, I think your brave enough to be a cowboy.." He whispered. Johnny smiled a bit "I think you're honest enough to be Applejack." he whispered back.