The main conflict discussed in Chapter 2 of The Outsiders is one that is told in flashback: Johnny was beaten badly in a field on the corner of the block in the neighborhood where the boys live.
One night Ponyboy and Steve left Steve's car at the DX gast station where Pony's brother Sodapop works. As he and Steve walked home, they passed the field and Steve saw Johnny's blue jean jacket lying on the ground. Then, they noticed a blood stain on the collar and on the ground. Quickly, they searched the field, where they discovered Johnny lying "in a lump." He was beaten severely and even cut with a knife; in fact, there was a long cut running from his temple to his cheekbone, a cut that has now left Johnny with a serious scar. His white t-shirt was splattered with blood, as well.
Worried that Johnny might be dead, Soda called to him as he lifted Johnny. Finally, there was a murmur of recognition: "Soda?" Then, as the boys held him, Johnny told the others that he was beaten by the Socs, who had pulled up in a blue Mustang as he was looking for the football in the field.
There were four Socs in it. They had caught him and one of them had a lot of rings on his hand--- that's what had cut Johnny up so badly. It wasn't just that they had beaten him half to death--- he could take that. They had scared him. They had threatened him with everything under the sun.
After this terrible beating, Johnny has not been the same. Although he is still never afraid to defend the Greasers, he is always nervous and "jumpier than ever." Moreover, Johnny now carries a switchblade in his back pocket, determined to never take such a beating again: "He would kill the next person who jumped him," narrates Ponyboy.
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