its the day of the rumble, and i couldn't be more excited. this was my first real fight, and i was ready to show what i could do. i even got a leather jacket just for the occasion, to make me look even more tuff. i woke up in my bed at two bits house, my room still disheveled from when my dad broke in. i jumped up and ran out of my door, finding two bit sitting on the couch.
"two! its the day of the rumble!" i said while tackling him.
"damn, someone's excited." he replied while laughing.
"oh yes i am, i couldn't be more excited! WOOHOO!" i jumped up and started running around. for the rumble, i wanted my hair wavy so i took a shower and braided in two french braids. i ate breakfast and headed to the curtis house with two bit. when we arrived, the whole gang was already there.
"ITS RUMBLE DAY!!" i yelled when i walked in. shouts saying "YEAH, WOOO!" followed, with me joining in.
the whole day seemed to go by extremely slow, probably because we were all looking forward to what would happen later. but finally, it was time to start getting ready for the rumble. i brought my clothes to change into, so i changed into my black leather jacket with a black tank top underneath. i had black ripped jeans on and my black converse.
the whole house was mad with excitement. the boys were jumping with joy, i was putting my wavy hair into a high ponytail with a black scrunchie (i guess you can say that black is the theme,) and the overall mood was just amazing. steve and soda were arm wrestling, darry was reading the paper, two bit was finishing his beer and me, dallas, johnny, and ponyboy all sat on the couch.
"now, if any of you are seriously injured, just flee back here. sneak out and don't let anybody see." dally said, pointing at us.
"we best be headed out." dally continued, lighting a cigarette and standing up. cheers started as the boys all ran out of the door, me following close behind. darry did a handstand over the fence along the house, and steve hopped onto the top of his car and did a backflip off. since i could do all of those flips, i didn't even need to get onto the car to do one. i went into the middle of the road, did a backflip, and got very loud cheers in return.
some of the boys patted my back as we all did no handed cartwheels down the road. it kind of annoyed me that they called it "no handed cartwheel" when the correct term was "aerial cartwheel." but hey, they're boys. what else do you expect?
"soda, johnny, ash, and pony, beat it out of there if the fuzz show up. don't want y'all taken away from me," darry started. "and ash, what i want you to do is hide behind us until the rumble starts, then join in. its your first rumble, don't want you to be a direct target."
"but why? i can hold myself up!" i protested.
"no means no."
we continued walking until we got to the location. tim shepherd's gang was already there, and darry and tim shook hands.
"got a girl i see." tim said, smiling at me unsurely.
"tougher than she looks, she's real good in a fight." soda said turning to me. i smiled as i heard engines roaring and shouts coming. darry pushed me behind him as mustangs came into view. everyone stood looking tuff as the cars rolled up besides us. there were about six cars with four socs in each, which would make the ratio of socs to greasers 24:28.
even though i wasn't visible, i stood with my arms crossed behind darry and soda. the socs lined up in front of us, crossing their arms too. in front of where i was standing, there were two boys whispering to each other. they weren't really whispering though, it was loud enough for everyone to hear.
"ill take pretty boy here, and i've heard there was a new girl greaser that may be here. if she's here, you take her."
i turned my head around to look at them through darry and soda's shoulders.
"hey man, i don't wanna take the girl! i want to fight a real greaser!" the boy said. he was probably about my age, maybe a bit older. he was very small, about half an inch shorter than i was. he didn't look very built, and i knew i could take him easily. the boys continued arguing with all eyes on them.
"i don't want the girl-"
"ill fight you." i said, stepping between soda and darry. soda grabbed my arm, but i shook it loose. the boy raised his nose in the air and said "i don't want to fight you."
"why? scared you'll be beaten by a girl?" i replied.
he laughed and said "nope, im afraid ill hurt you too bad." he swung his arm up in the air to punch me, but i caught his fist, smiled, and twisted him around, causing him to yelp in pain. i put my foot on his lower back and pushed hard, making him fly forwards. the other socs lunged at the greasers as the little man ran towards me. the rumble had officially started. i punched him straight in the nose and he stumbled back. i looked around me, and saw some of my gang getting punched and throwing punches, some were already bleeding out of their nose or had a split lip.
i should really learn to be more focused though, because the boy punched my jaw. it didn't hurt too bad though, he was probably only about ninety pounds. i flung my body at him, causing us to both fall and i tackled him to the ground. i pinned his arms down as he said "please, let me go! ill do anything, please!"
i smiled wolfishly and replied "ill let you go if you promise that you and your friends will never show their ugly heads around these parts of town ever again, you hear?"
"oh yes, of course!" i lifted my hands off of his arms as he sprung up and sprinted away. i smiled and laughed as i was then grabbed and flung to the ground. i look up to see a soc about ready to jump onto me again, and right as he did i barrel rolled out of the way. this soc was a lot bigger than the other one, better built and taller than i was. i jumped up and landed on top of him, making him tumble to the ground. i was now on top of his stomach, pushing his arms down with my hands. he was pushing back, and i struggled to continue. just as his arms were about to hit the ground, he suddenly flung me around and was pushing my arms down. i somehow managed to get them free and threw a few good punches in. he used his knees to pin my arms now, and thats when his punches started.
i tried to dodge, but i couldn't. my vision was slowly starting to become blurry and darker. i heard a voice that i think was soda's that said "darry, pony, the kid!" i felt myself slowly fading as darry punched the soc off of me and continued beating him. pony ran up to me and lifted up my upper body.
he had dried blood on his face, and it probably all wasn't his own. ponyboy gently put his hands on my cheeks and said "hey ash, you ok? ash, you good?" he rocked my head softly, making me return back to the real world. "you're doing really good, im so proud of you. you don't look like you're in the best shape though, you may have to flee. but if you are feeling up to it, continue fighting. its your first rumble, these scars you'll have the rest of your life to remember us. you got this."
he slid his hands off of my cheeks and went back to fight as i sat there, slightly dazed. i wanted to make pony proud and continue fighting, and do it for him. i smiled to myself and got up, looking for a soc to beat. i found one and punched him straight in the jaw. he fell back holding his cheek and grimaced. suddenly, i was pushed to the ground as he kicked my head. my head flew to one side, me hitting it hard against the ground. i whimpered in pain as the soc got down on top of me. i threw a few punches, each one making him stumble backwards. i was weak though, my head felt like it was spinning. he threw more punches at me, making me go in and out of conscious a few times. finally, on the last punch, my vision went completely dark.
Ponyboy's POV
i slid my hands away from her head and i went back to fighting. i was confident that she could carry herself, she's been through so much. me and johnny teamed up on one soc, and they were starting to get scared. they ran away, we won the rumble. we all started cheering like crazy, but the sweet victory was cut short when i heard two bit yell "ash!" i looked over to see one soc still beating her, even though she was unconscious. i don't think i've ever ran as fast as i did in that moment. soon, the whole gang was around the soc, punching him and kicking until he limped away. i looked down at ash, and there was so much blood. it was coming out of her nose, her lip, her cheek, and her forehead. i bent down and checked her pulse, and it was barely beating. i felt hot tears welling up in my eyes as i put my arms under her limp body, holding her up some.
"its all my fault. i told her to keep fighting, that she would be ok. she was obviously not ok, but i didn't see it at the time. my head was too focused on fighting. oh ash, im so so sorry..."
my tears just flowed out uncontrollably and i felt a hand rest on my back.
"we have to go to the hospital. now." i said, wiping the tears off my cheeks. darry picked her up as steve and two bit ran off to pick up their cars. about three minutes later, they pulled up and me, ash, darry, and two bit all got in one of them, with the rest in the other car. two bit drove and darry was in the passenger. i sat down on one side of the backseat with ash's head in my lap and her legs laid out in front of her. i gently stroked her hair as i saw one of my tears drip onto her forehead.
i really liked writing this chapter, it was probably my favorite yet. sorry it was kind of long, i wanted to get everything in. i hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as i did writing it, and don't forget to vote, comment, and follow! thanks for reading!