I got out of school the next day. People pushed me to the side, and trampled me as they made a mad dash for the streets. They all wanted was to get home. I sighed as a soc shoved me to the side as he and another guy ran to the parking lot. It took a while of walking in silence for me and Denny to finally walk through the crowd of people, and to the front door of Denny’s house. Denny stared at the open door with awe.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
His expression softened as he took out the switchblade that Russell gave him last year for his birthday. They promised never to tell Peter. “The door’s never open. No one should be home.”
“But--”
“Shhh!” He walked slowly and cautiously toward the living room couch as he gripped the knife hard. Once he got in front of the table, he found Russell sitting on the couch, and slowly put his knife away.
“Hey, kid,” Russell said as he got up. He picked up a bag of clothes and hygiene products, and shoved them in my direction. “Here, kid. I got you some clothes.”
I looked inside at the clothing. It all looked expensive. Buried in all the clothing was a large pack of cigarettes. “How did you get all these?”
He laughed, and leaned against the arm of the couch. “It’s called the five finger discount, kid.”
I smiled, and pretended I liked what he did as I picked out a cigarette, and lit it up. I handed one to Denny, and one to Russell.
He puffed out smoke from his mouth. “Hey, I’m goin’ to the diner. Gonna score. You wanna come?”
“We gonna meet Jack there?” Denny asked, taking a cautious drag on his cigarette and coughing vigorously. He didn’t normally smoke them.
“Yeah, if he’s willing to take a break.” Russell picked up some keys from the couch, and lead us out the door. He hopped into the car. I got in the front, and Denny got in the back. Russell pulled out of the driveway, and was burning rubber down the street without a sound.
“Hey, Russell. When did you get to be such a badass?” Denny asked.
Russell glanced at the rear view mirrors to see him. He flashed back to the street. “Don’t know, kid. Guess I’m just like that.” He pulled the cigarette from his mouth, and hung it out the window, making a trail of smoke dragging behind us.
“Maybe it’s when the doctor dropped you on your head when you were born,” I joked.
Russell laughed, and glanced at me. “Kid, that‘s where you‘re wrong. My mom dropped me on my head when I was born.” He slowly pulled into the parking lot.
Jack was out there, carrying a brown paper bag in from his car. We all got out, and walked in with him. “Hey, what are you doing here?” he asked
“Picking up some chicks,” Russell told Jack as he walked with a beat toward the diner. Once we got in, Jack set us up at the counter on the side of the diner. On the other side of the diner was a row of red booths that lined the walls. The floor of the diner was an red and white checkered pattern. The walls were plain white, but covered in guitars and pictures of celebrities.
“Do you want anything?” Jack asked all of us as he stepped behind the counter.
“Brew,” Russell told him.
“Coke,” Denny ordered.
“And you, Jonah?” Jack asked.
They all turned to face me.
I thought about that. “Coke,” I finally decided.
Jack began to make all our drinks. He handed Russell his beer, and me and Denny our Cokes. We turned around to face the middle of the diner. Jack came and sat down next to me.
I heard a whistling sound coming from Russell, who was sitting next to me. “Shake it, don’t break it, baby,” he shouted to the two girls passing by us.
One of them had light brown hair that was pulled back into a long braid trailing down her back. She turned around, and scowled at him. I took a good look at her face and realized who she was. Brooke. She’s the all American beautiful girl that every boy would love to date. She’s popular, loved, sophisticated, but still the cute girl you could always see walking down the hall with ease like, holding her books loosely and gliding through the crowd like a jellyfish. She’s that cheerleader you can always see, but never have. What am I? I’m a greaser. I’m only good for nothing but a socs personal punching bag.
She didn’t say anything. She just stood there, burning a whole through his head with her big blue eyes.
“Oh,” he said, standing up and walking toward her. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to pull me in. Look, I‘m Russell. Why don‘t we just skip the rest of the introduction, and go back to my pad, huh?”
She was on edge, leaning back on her heel, still glaring at him.
“Look, what’s a fox like you doin’ in a dump like this?”
“Oh, now I remember.” She smiled at me again.
I nodded, not saying anything.
“Jonah, do you mind me She turned around, and walked toward a hook next to the counter. I noticed she worked here when she took an apron off the hook, and tied it around her waist. She was wearing a tight fitting yellow dress. It was a uniform for the diner. I’d never seen her there before.
trailed off.
“Well, I’m sorry I’m not primo enough for you.”
She breathed a bit heavier, and I could tell she was holding back a tear. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Yes you did! Face it! You all hate greasers! All socs ever do is shank and jump us!” I turned, and began to walk away.
“No, Jonah! Come back! Please!” she called after me.
I didn’t listen. I just kept walking until I finally got home. Once I got home, I opened the door, and stomped in.
“Where have you been?” Peter snapped.
I didn’t say anything. Russell walked over, and wrapped his arms around her neck. “Why don’t we go swap spit? Huh?”
Her face looked disgusted.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I told her. “That’s how he got some girls knocked up. It all starts with swapping spit.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she elbowed him in the stomach, struggling to get out of his reach.
He let go, and backed up. Once he sat down, he glared at me and took a sip of his beer. He ran his fingers through his greasy matted hair. “Stop being a fink, Jonah.”
You could tell he was drunk. He was always drunk, but he was never too violent.
The girl got behind the counter, and walked over to where to other girl was sitting. They began to talk.
Jack turned to face Russell. “You need to learn how to get girls. Watch and learn.” He walked over to them, and leaned over the counter. He began to say something, but before he could finish, the waitress began to yell at him.
“Get away from me, hood!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Jack relaxed, and walked back to sit down. He took a sip of his drink. “She’s soc. You can’t get her.”
“Or you just failed,” I joked.
We were having a lot of fun at the diner. The next thing I knew, it was already eight o’clock.
Russell took a drag at his cigarette. Jack had already gone home with Denny. Now, only me, Russell, and the waitress was there.
She came over, and snatched the cigarette out of his hand. “How many times do I have to tell you not to smoke in here?” she asked in an annoyed tone. She walked over, and put out the cigarette on a small plate.
When she walked past us again to finish cleaning up, Russell patted her on the butt.
She flashed around, and you could tell she was really about to hack at him. “I told you not to do that, greaser!” She whipped back around, and walked into the back or the diner.
Once she was gone, I scowled at Russell, who was having the best time of his life. “What’s your bag?”
His smile disappeared, and he was now scowling at me. He was drunk. “I’m just having fun.”
“You’re being rude.”
He got up, and accidentally knocked over his beer. He began to walk away, but before he could leave, he flashed around and striked me in the stomach.
I backed up, clutching my stomach as I collapsed on the diner chair.
The waitress walked over to me in her brown flats, and kneeled down a bit to look at my face. She looked concerned, and her voice was shaky. “What did he do? What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” I whimpered back, ignoring her questions. I tried to sit up straighter.
“I don’t get it,” she said, her face cold and serious.
“What?”
“Why do you hang out with that hood? You’re a lot smarter than him.” Her voice was soft and sweet, but still serious and concerned.
I tried to smile. “Yeah. He’s thicker than a five dollar malt, but he’s part of the gang. I’m sorry he treated you so bad.”
She laughed. “It’s okay. Hey, what’s your name?”
“Jonah.”
She smiled, her white teeth almost blinding me. “Jonah,” she repeated. “Well, you’re not at all like Russell.” I didn’t know whether that was a compliment or an insult.
I nodded a bit.
“Hey, you look familiar. Where have I seen you?”
“I go to your school. I’m in your science class, and your lunch period. You’re in the same grade as me. You’re Brooke. You’re a paper shaker.”
asking a question?”
“Lay it on me.”
“You seem like a nice guy. Do you want to walk me home, or something?”
A voice in the back of my head sounded. It said, become a soc if you want. As long as it makes you happy. I remembered my conversation with Denny. But the problem was that I couldn’t become a soc. I’m not good enough, and I didn’t want to. I got, up and walked out the door, leaving money for the drinks on the counter. I didn’t say anything.
“Hey, where are you going?” She stood up, undoing the wrinkles on her dress by pulling the bottom of it down.
I stopped at the door, and looked at her over my shoulder. “Home.” I began to walk down the streets.
A couple minutes later, she walked up behind me, holding a coat in her hands. “Jonah, why are you acting like this all the sudden?”
I stopped in my tracks, and turned to her. “Like what?” I snapped.
She was silent, pinning me for a moment. Her eyes showed concern and freight. “A hood, Jonah! Like a hood!” She took a moment to think. “You were so nice to me for a moment, but now…” Her voice
“Jonah, you have to stop this carelessness. How did you get home?”
“A soc brought me home,” I answered.
His eyes were wide. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
“No. It was a girl.”
Russell shot up immediately, and walked toward us. “You mean that chick from the diner?” he asked with way too much enthusiasm.
“Yeah, but nothing happened.”
“It’s okay, man. You just can’t get girls.” His voice was slurred, and his face was redder than usual. He was stumbling as he usually does when he’s drunk. “You’re just not as good as me. I get it. I’ll teach you sometime. It’s okay to be a candyass, Jonah.”
I brought my attention back to Peter when he said, “what’s he talking about?”
“We were at the diner, and he was messing with the waitress. He went home without me, and the waitress brought me home. It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes it is,” Peter shouted. He turned to Russell, who was staring at his hand as if it was the most amazing this on the Earth. “How could you be so stupid? You left him alone with a soc?”
“Hey, I helped him out. He talked to the girl, didn’t he?” Russell answered back.
Peter’s fists tightened up. “I think you should drag your drunk butt out of this house now.”
Russell’s face hardened. He walked out the door, and was probably doing a five-oh-two right about now.
“Jonah, are you okay?” Peter asked me.
“Fine.”
Peter nodded in acknowledgment. He walked back into the kitchen, and continued cooking dinner. That night, nobody really said anything regarding what happened at the diner. We just had normal conversations like what happened at school, or how my day was. But nobody brought up anything about what happened at the diner. We just had dinner and we all went to bed.
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