Blood For Blood - Chapter 3

                Sunlight was starting to fade, so that meant that the gang and I had to get a move on to go back to our stolen, abandoned car. Let me explain to you how we even got to Tulsa: we drove here in one of Jack’s cars, but then we abandoned it at Windrixville. Of course we got all of our luggage, which wasn’t much, but we were planning on going back and getting the car. Then, we couldn’t keep walking so we stopped at some car dealership a few miles out of Tulsa. The rest is history.

Back to what I was saying though, I may have been all giggling and blushing when I turned from Dally, but I soon ended up being in a total rage as my mind recapped what happened. “Y'know, I can’t believe the nerve of that Dally kid! I swear, if I didn’t know any better I wou-”

                “Kiss him senseless, right?” Jack smirked, playing around with his switchblade.

                “Pounce? Or run away with him?” Ryan suggested, getting a good five feet away from me in case I try to beat him up, which I was pretty keen on doing right about now.

                “Keep talkin’, I won’t hesitate to go ape on you.” I hissed, turning to look at them. I knew I was blushing though, because I looked down at the ground.

“Don’t try and hide it. Sophia,” Jewel said, placing her hand on my shoulder. I inwardly cringed; even though I wasn’t that used to hearing my real name, only the gang was allowed to call me by my first name. Only privately, of course. If they ever called me that in front of Ponyboy and his friends, I’d kill them.

“You like that guy. I know you do, doll! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look at a guy like that.” Rena continued, smiling at me. It was a genuine smile, something I haven’t seen ever since we left Miami. That made me really happy, because she seemed so stressed out about taking care of me since I’m still underage.

We just continued walking aimlessly, and then I just had to vent a little more. “He’s just rude, like, why bother with that ditz, anyway? We’re already stuck with two other ones, anyway.” I motioned over to Jack and Ryan. I rolled my eyes when they didn’t respond; they could honestly be so oblivious to my insults.

Rena looped her arm with mine and Jewel put her arm around my shoulder. “We’ll save this conversation for later. I haven’t been able to talk to you girls in a while about boys ever since we got these two morons in the bunch.” Jewel told Rena and I while laughing, looking at the guys.

“Squeal about boys all you want, just don’t let us be ‘round to hear it, alrigh’?” Ryan asked, and Jack raised his hands up in agreement.

“Sure, sure. We promise, you pansies. Rena, you said that you got the address of the place we’d be stayin’ at?” I asked my sister, trying to get the attention off of me for once. I didn’t really like talking about my love life with them, especially if it’s about a guy you never even had a history with.

“Uh, the address is 734 St. Louis Street. We just need to make a left on this block here and keep walkin’ until we get to a white house at the corner of the neighborhood. At least that’s what it says here on the paper that mom and dad gave us.” Rena said, passing the slip to me.

“That’s just a few blocks away, so keep walkin’ or else I’m lockin’ you out.” I ordered the gang; it was weird, because even though Rena is the oldest in the gang, and Jack is the oldest male figure, I kind of call the shots. I mean, I’m not complaining or anything, but it was just a little odd.

We finally made it farther into the East side of town. I don’t get why those rich kids would think this neighborhood is bad, it’s actually pretty homey aside from the crime rate, I guess. Well, it’s much better than materialistic things taking over in your life.

We finally made it to our block, and I saw the white house on the corner. Right when I saw it, I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast to get somewhere. I literally ignored all my surroundings, and ran until my lungs could give out. The house was huge and beautiful compared to the others here! The porch had two rocking chairs on it, and there was a hammock. That wasn’t even the only thing that could swing; there was a huge tree in the front of the house, and there was a tire swing hanging down. Ryan and I love tire swings! I swear, now I’m going to have to beat him up for it. Just my luck, right?

The front yard was a large one, and it had a medium-sized gate surrounding it. The grass seemed to be freshly mowed, and the hedges were cut evenly; it was pretty much a dream home, and I was just itching to go inside. The old lanterns lighting up the front of the house made it seem even more beautiful than it actually was, if that’s possible.

“Oh my, it’s lovely.” Rena gasped. “That’s our house?!” Jewel almost fainted. “I don’t think I’ve ever loved the way a house looks in all of my life.” Ryan whispered. “It’s the nicest one in the whole East side! Your parents think that we’ll be able to afford keepin’ this house taken care of by the time we settle?!” Jack hissed, making sure that nobody could hear him.

“Thank God our families are wealthy, and thank God once again that we don’t let the money get to our heads.” I shook my head, receiving murmurs of agreement from everybody else.

We all looked around some more, but I noticed that the gang froze one-by-one when they looked behind me. “Hey, Sophia! If you want to stay sane and not deal with anyone that can choose-off, then I think that you shouldn’t look at the house in front of ours.” Jack laughed; him and Ryan were holding onto each other for support.

“What in God’s name are you lot talkin’ ‘bout?!” I hissed. I had a beautiful house right in front of me, why would I want to look away? I swear, sometimes my gang can be so idiotic. “Uh, he’s right, Sophia. Let’s go inside, alright?” Rena tried coaxing me inside, but I wouldn’t allow it. I was going to stand my ground no matter what.

“He’s gettin’ closer! What do we do?!” Jewel freaked out and told Ryan, thinking I wouldn’t hear her. “Spike, let’s just go in.” Ryan said, finally getting out of his laughing fit and grabbing my arm. That’s when I was caught off guard, he never switched from calling me ‘Sophia’ to ‘Spike’ like that. Especially how he said it was weird; it was just so urgent.

“If somebody doesn’t tell me what’s goin’ on, I’m goin’ to scream!” I raised my voice at them. I was literally about to hit each and every one of them, but another voice stopped me.

“Babe, you should save the screamin’ for later.” I heard the most familiar, and life-ruining voice tell me. It was accompanied by steps and I could basically hear the smirk and wink in that voice. I slowly turned around, now knowing who was causing this whole mess. So, you’re probably on the edge of your seat, wondering ‘Oh my gosh! This is so suspenseful, who was it?’. Well, I’ll tell you, but it’s pretty obvious.

It was Dally, a cancer stick in his mouth and a smug look on his face. I can never get a break, can I?