Windrix Hall - 17

Fandom: The Outsiders
Pairing: Johnny/Sodapop
Genre: Romance, Drama
Rating: NC-17 (overall)
Disclaimer: Characters and world belong to S.E. Hinton
Authors: Zayhad & M3535


Chapter 17 –  “You're such a Pair of Bastards!”

"Where the hell have you been!" Darry yelled, making Ponyboy, who was sitting on the couch, jump. "You know there's been a storm? I got you guys cellphones so you could use ‘em!”

"I'm real sorry, Darry. I was at the s-“

“Were you out riding in this weather? You crazy kid!”

“No! I had to take the horses in from the pastures. Then I stayed inside to wait out the storm."

"And you didn't bother to call? I was almost about to go out and look for you! I thought you were lying dead under a tree somewhere!"

"I forgot. I called the school, though."

Sodapop pulled out his cell phone from his wet pocket. The display showed ten unanswered calls from Darry and the same amount of texts. Soda had put it on silence after he called the school, so he and Johnny wouldn't be disturbed.

"Well... Next time call the people that matter… And not the damn school."

Darry marched off to the kitchen and slammed the door.

Ponyboy sent Sodapop a sympathetic look. He had been in Soda's situation so many times. Darry just got even angrier when it was him.

"So, was it good?" he asked, trying to make Soda think about something else.

"Huh?" said Soda, raising his eyebrows. "Oh - yeah, Johnny did real well. We could take the lead rope off in the end and everything. I think he's really getting hooked."

Soda stepped up to Ponyboy and ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry if I made you worry, Pony."

Of course Ponyboy had been worried. He always worried when he didn't know where Soda was or when he did something dangerous. To be honest, he was terrified of losing him. He tried not to show it, though. He didn't want to seem clingy. He suspected Soda knew it anyway. Soda just knew that kind of stuff.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Johnny arrived in his dorm and, to his dismay, discovered that Victor and Harry was there, playing videogames. He looked around, hoping to spot Tyler, but no luck. He closed the door quietly and went for his closet to get some dry clothes.

"Well if it isn’t slave boy," Victor drawled and turned around, enjoying the look on Johnny's face. "You're not so funny when Diet Coke isn’t around, are you?" 

"I didn't say anything," Johnny mumbled and sat down on his bed.

"But you laughed. So you think it's funny? What he said?" Victor got up from his seat, along with Harry. "Answer, slave!"

"I - I ain't a slave! I'm the son if a business man and got just as much status as you do!" Johnny retorted, trying to hide how afraid he was. 

Harry tilted his head. "Funny. ‘Cause from the looks of your back I'd say you were a useless cotton picker." He suddenly grabbed a hold of Johnny wrist. "You better watch it, new kid," he hissed. His grip on Johnny's wrist was so firm that, for a second, Johnny was afraid he might break it. "You got that?"

o0o0o0o0o0o

The phone rang and Darry picked up the kitchen phone. It was Lauren.

"Hi, Darry. I just called to ask if Sodapop had come home? You know, he got trapped in the stables… He called."

"Y-yeah. He just walked in through the door," said Darry, feeling his face grow hot. 

"Oh... that's good," sounded the voice at the other end of the line. “Well, um… I guess I'll just… Darry?"

"Yeah?"

"I was cooking and I seem to have made too much… So I was thinking maybe you would like to come by?"

A goofy grin spread across Darry’s face. "I'd love to! I just gotta figure something out for my brothers, then."

"Oh... well... You can bring them as well, if you –“

"No! I mean, no. It’s no problem. I'll figure something out. See you soon, then."

Darry went into the living room and stopped in front of the couch.

"I gotta go somewhere tonight. I suggest you go down and ask Mrs. Harris if she has any leftovers.... Tell her I'll give her some money tomorrow."

Soda, who had just come out from the shower and was getting dressed (in the middle of the living room) grinned. "You have somewhere to be tonight? Serious school business, I'm guessing. Office work maybe?" His grin turned wider as he saw Darry's lips tighten.

"W-well, t-that's none of your business, little man!” Darry said. "So... either you go to Mrs. Harris or you cook."

"I can cook! No problem,” beamed Sodapop. “So - are ya coming home tonight or do we have to tug ourselves in? Maybe even make breakfast for just the two of us?" Soda continued, his eyes dancing and his grin getting cheekier by the second.

Oh, he was loving this! Of course, he was happy for Darry and hoped that things were going to work out between him and Lauren, but there was no harm in a little good-natured teasing, was there?

"Now listen here, kiddo," Darry said, raising a finger at Sodapop as if he were five years old. "You better watch it or I’ll start teasing you when you get a new girlfriend! Not that she is my girlfriend! That ain’t what I meant. I mean… Oh you know what I mean," he said, exasperatedly and put on his coat. "Soda you make sure to feed your brother."

"Remember to be safe!" Soda shouted after Darry as he walked out the front door.

Sodapop turned to Pony who was sitting on the couch, his ears all red, but still laughing.

Ponyboy wondered if he would ever have the guts to bring home a girlfriend.

Soda, who always seemed to know what was worrying Ponyboy, plopped down next to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't worry, Pony. I won't tease you like that when you find yourself a girl. And you can talk to me about anything - you know that. Darry can take it. He needs someone to provoke him a bit."

Ponyboy nodded against his brother's shoulder. Yes, he knew he could trust Soda with anything. Sure, he loved to tease, but he never did it in a malicious way and he never crossed the line. It was like he had a sixth sense about when it was and wasn't okay. He would always take you seriously when you needed him to.

"Soda?" Ponyboy murmured into his shoulder, trying to sound a little sad.

"Mm?"

"Can't we go eat at the kitchens?"

Sodapop chuckled. "Yeah, alright. I'm a bit tired, anyways."

o0o0o0o0o0o

Mrs. Harris was in the middle of cleaning up after dinner when Sodapop and Ponyboy walked in.

"Oh hello there sugar pies," she smiled, looking up. "What brings you to my kitchen?"

Ponyboy felt a little bad for coming down there all the time, taking advantage of Mrs. Harris' hospitality.

"We... we don't wanna impose..." he mumbled. “We just... Well, Darry's on a date."

"Oh, how wonderful!” Mrs. Harris beamed. “With that sweet girl from the office?"

Pony nodded and smiled back. 

"Well, good for him. So he sent you poor babies down here for me to feed you? Good thing I got plenty of food."

She smiled and started to arrange food at the small table they always sat at. 

"Say Pony, dear, where’s your little friend? He didn't come down for dinner. I figured he might have been with you."

"What?" said Sodapop. "He didn't come down? I just saw him a couple of hours ago."

Maybe Johnny wasn't hungry or just too tired to go down for dinner. But Soda still couldn't help getting a feeling something wasn’t right. He looked at Ponyboy and saw he was thinking the same thing.

"We... maybe we should go look for him," said Pony.

Soda nodded and got up. "We'll be back in a minute, Mrs. Harris, if that's ok."

o0o0o0o0o0o

Johnny sat on the floor behind his bed, clutching his wrist. Harry and Victor had been going at him for a good hour until they finally left. Not beating him, but harassing and belittling him, and right now he just felt broken. He flinched as a there was a knock on the door.

"W-who is it?"

"It's Soda and Pony."

"J-just a moment..." Johnny got up and pulled his sleeve down to cover his bruised wrist, and opened the door. "Hey guys... What's up?"

"Johnny?" said Ponyboy and watched him closely.

Sodapop could see something was wrong the second he laid his eyes on Johnny. He pushed his way into the room, taking a quick look around, seeing no one else was there.

"What happened?" 

"N-nothing," Johnny said and put up a fake smile.

"You didn't come down for dinner…" Ponyboy said. "Mrs. Harris got worried."

Johnny moved his hand up to adjust his glasses. "I wasn't hungry..."

"Johnny," said Soda and sat him down on the bed. ”It’s pretty obvious something’s wrong. You look upset."

He reached out to take Johnny's hand and when he touched his wrist, Johnny flinched and pulled it away. Sodapop took a hold of his arm and pushed up the sleeve. He stared at the dark marks on it and then looked back up at Johnny.

"Who did this?" he demanded.

"I... I fell..." Johnny tried to explain, but it was obvious that Soda didn't believe him. "I just had a fight with Harry and Victor... It got a bit rough..."

He tried to steady his voice but the words from Harry and Victor kept ringing in his head. 

Slave… Dirty... Useless…

"A fight?" said Ponyboy. "Don't sound like a fair fight to me.”

"Over what, Johnny?" asked Sodapop.

"What are you white trash doing in here?" a voice sounded behind them.

Johnny turned to see Harry and Victor in the doorway, and quickly dropped his gaze in shame.

"Don't you have an old shed somewhere on the grounds you're supposed to be in after school?" asked Harry.

Soda was up from the bed and across the room before either of them could blink. He stopped right in front of Harry and fixed him with eyes that were blazing with anger. Harry automatically took a step back and gulped.

"What did y’all do to Johnny?"

"Who says we did anything to him?" Harry said, trying to sound cool and calm. "And what do you care, anyway?"

"S-Soda, it's nothing, really..." Johnny said. "I fell... like I said."

"Yeah, kid’s clumsy," Harry said with a grin on his face. 

Ponyboy had stepped up next to his brother, his arms crossed. He was angry as well and with Soda there it wasn't hard to be brave. They could easily take them on if they had to.

"I don't care what Johnny says you did or didn't do," said Sodapop. "I know y’all did something to him, and it wasn't throwing him a freaking birthday party!"

Soda made Harry seem kind of small, even though Soda was the same height and not nearly as heavy.

Harry glared right back at Soda, trying to puff himself up to look stronger and more dangerous. 

"The kid needs to learn his place. He thinks he can just come waltzing up here, like a little king. Like he’s better than us."

Victor snickered and leaned against the doorframe. 

Harry leaned to the side for a second to look at Johnny, who was still sitting on the bed. "Seems he didn't learn it at home in the cotton fields." He looked back at Soda. "I just grabbed him by the wrist. Not my fault he bruises easily. Just told the brat to know his place, that's all.”

Sodapop clenched his right hand in a tight fist, mostly to keep himself under control. Back home he would probably have slugged Harry already, but this wasn't the back streets of Tulsa, and he also had Darry's reputation to consider. They couldn't afford to get in trouble over fighting again.

"How old are they, Pony; sixteen?" asked Soda, not taking his eyes off Harry.

"Yeah. They must be."

"That's funny. From the way they're acting you'd think they were twelve - at the most. I thought sixteen-year-olds had outgrown that kind of behavior. Picking on smaller kids just for fun."

"And one should think that white trash like you should know when to keep their mouth shut!" Harry spat.

"S-Soda… Pony,” Johnny started. "R-really… it's okay..."

"Why don't you two just fuck off?" Victor said and looked at Pony. "Slave boy over there just needed to be put in his place. And from the looks of it he gets it a lot."

Harry fixed his eyes on Soda's. "Kid should just learn to shut the hell up."

Soda clenched his teeth, willing himself not to punch Harry hard in the face.

"What do you mean 'he gets it a lot'?" asked Ponyboy. "What does he get a lot?"

"Come on, horse boy," Harry laughed, looking at Pony. "You saw his back in PE. You think he fell and got that? He’s an insolent brat who doesn’t learn."

Victor laughed as well. "Guess his massa got tired of him and sent him here. Still needs to be disciplined, it seems."

Soda, who hadn't been present in the changing rooms, had no idea what they were talking about. He made a note to ask Johnny or Ponyboy about it later.

"You're such a pair of bastards!" said Ponyboy heatedly. "Is this your idea of a good time? You're pathetic! You probably don't have a single scar on your pampered, overprotected bodies!"

Johnny took a deep breath and could feel that he was on the verge of tears, so he got up and moved toward the door.

“Soda… Pony… let’s just lea-“

Before he could finish the sentence, Victor stuck out his leg and tripped Johnny, sending him face-first to the floor. 

"Watch where you're going, moron!"

Sodapop grabbed Victor by the collar and pushed him up against the wall.

"I swear to you," he growled into his face. "If you don't leave Johnny alone..."

Victor’s mouth fell open but then he found his voice: "Then what? Gonna tell your lame ass brother? The principal? Or you’re gonna hit me and get kicked out?"

"Soda... p-please... let's just go," said Johnny, picking himself up from the floor. 

Sodapop tried to ignore Johnny begging him to stop.

"If you don't leave him alone I'm gonna beat the tar outta ya," he said, giving Victor the most threatening glare he could. "And I ain't kidding!"

For a second, Victor looked like Soda actually scared him. Then he put on his usual haughty expression. "Yeah - like I'm scared of you!"

"Ooh," said Harry. "We better watch out, Vic. I hear those two are nothing but hoods from the slum somewhere down south. They'd probably kill us without thinking twice about it. They're dirt-poor too. Probably lived in some old shed and had to fight for their food. So they're probably good at it."

Ponyboy always let it get to him when people said things like that, but it didn't bother Sodapop. People couldn't provoke him that way.

"That's right," Soda said. "I've been fighting other street kids since I could walk. You two sorry excuses for boys will be as easy as scratching my neck."

He said I instead of we, because he didn't want to involve Ponyboy more than he had to. He didn't want him to become a target any more than Johnny.

"Yeah?" Harry said. "Go ahead and try, lowlife. I tell you - if you as much at strike a punch at us you’ll be sent back to your shed in Texas faster than you can blink."

Johnny tugged on Sodapop's sleeve once more. "C-come on… Please."

Johnny didn't want Soda to get involved with these guys. Neither him nor Pony. He had heard Harry and Victor talk about kids they had beaten up, and from the sound of it, they played dirty.

Sodapop took a deep breath to collect himself. Then he let go of Victor and said, "Johnny - get your books and uniform. You're staying at our place tonight."

Ponyboy helped Johnny find all his books for the next day's classes (and the day after that, just in case.)They left a cackling Harry and Victor behind.

Sodapop was steaming with anger, but he had to get a grip of himself and think all this over before he did something stupid. He and his brothers couldn't afford to get into more trouble. He decided that they needed to talk to Darry about what to do, so that Johnny didn't have to live in fear of what his roommates might do to him next.

oOooOo

To be continued...