"Sodapop!" I felt bad about waking him up. If he woke up to an empty house he would start to worry. He knew I was already pissed off at Ponyboy as is. I just didn't think anything worse could happen.

Soda rolled over sleepily. He was at a party until two am last night. He got up to go to work at six in the morning, and worked a twelve-hour day. He picked up extra shifts this week, and for the first time he worked as many hours as I did. I figured he needed to be a teenager again, so I let him stay out later than usual.

"Hey Darry, what's wrong?" He rubbed his eyes sleepily, but still managed to smile. He pulled some covers over him. Only Soda could sleep with covers in the middle of June. He rolled over on to his stomach, but he had no intention of getting up.

"I need to go get Pony from the police station?" I reluctantly pulled my shirt over my head. Working in the summer heat really did a number on me today. I felt sick to my stomach. The heat nearly made me pass out.

He sprung straight up. "Glory, what'd he do now?"

"He got caught slashing some soc's tires with Curly." I answered.

"Man, those two are starting to remind me of Dallas and Tim. Weren't they fighting the last day of school?" He grinned a little but it wasn't funny. That comment made me want to puke. The last thing I wanted was Pony to turn into a hood.

"I'm done with him acting like a damn delinquent." It was just now the end of June. He wasn't supposed to go out at all, he was actually grounded. He left a note on the table when we were at work. Two days ago, he called after being late ten minutes late for curfew to tell me he was going to be forty five minutes late. Not to mention, Tim had brought Pony home one night. Curly and him were at a party in the wrong part of town. I knew something was up if Tim didn't even want Curly there.

"Can you drop me off at Two-Bit's?" Soda asked throwing his bare feet on the over the side of the bed. He was still in his work clothes. I felt bad. He only picked up all those shifts because I made a dumb comment about how we were going to be living on hot dogs for the month of July.

"I think you ought to just sleep." He looked worn out; I wasn't sure if it was because of work or the party he went too. I had a feeling it was work.

Soda shook his head as he followed me out to the truck. He hadn't bothered to put shoes on. Mrs. Matthews was going to think I was raising hick children. "No way, I don't want to be here for this."

"For what?" I asked. Ponyboy and I had been pretty good about fighting, until the last month. If he just weren't so mouthy we wouldn't be fighting. The kid had a real attitude problem lately.

"I'll never forget the day you picked me up from the police station for walking on my hands. I don't want to be here for this fight. I don't want to take sides when you deal with him. Even it if was the same way you dealt with me; I can't deal with you two tonight." It was Soda being honest. I looked over at him, and tried to look at him somewhat sympathetically. He was starting to look sick. It was the last thing I wanted. I could tell from the look in his eyes, to the way he talked. His face looked about six shades whiter than his arms that were tanned up.

I pulled into the driveway. Two-Bit waved from the porch as he puffed on the last of his smoke. Soda looked over at me as he stepped out of the truck. "Just go easy on him. Ponyboy has been through a whole lot. You're going to have to put yourself in his shoes."

"We all have been through a lot," I said as he slammed the car door.

Ponyboy sure had an attitude problem lately. He was mouthing off to me constantly. I knew it was Curly's influence, but this was the last straw. The more I thought about it the more pissed off I got. I watched my knuckles turn white as I gripped the steering wheel. I already had the state on my back. Pony just gave them a reason to put him in a boys' home. What ever had gotten into him lately, needed to get out of him.

I thought about what Soda said before he left the truck. The first time I had ever picked Soda up from the station was when he got caught skipping school. He had walked on his hands, and scared some old ladies in the process. He got busted for disturbing the peace. The second I saw him on that bench I lost it. My parents worked too hard to instill certain values in us. I was going to make sure that when my brothers turned eighteen they would have those values. I yanked him up by the arm and busted his ass. It was hard enough to hurt only his ego. When we got to the truck I warned him, that if I ever saw him on a police bench again it would be the sorriest day of his life. A few months down, he got hauled in for drag racing on icy roads. That was something that was just stupid to me. He could have killed someone else or himself. He got it with the belt when we got home. That time he cried. Heck, I almost cried that time. I felt horrible for hurting him, but he never ended up on the bench again.

I pulled into the police station. This time I had a feeling things weren't going to be easy. Ponyboy and Soda were just too different. The only time I hit Pony, it was unintentional. Then he ran away. I couldn't help but wonder, if I wouldn't of lost my temper at him, would any of the stuff have happened? I knew for sure he wouldn't have been in the park for the socs to try and drown him. It was something I was always going to live with forever. I wasn't sure if he would even see the difference between punishment, and me loosing control. He didn't know that Soda had gotten spanked. Soda was too embarrassed to tell. If I were Soda, I wouldn't have told anyone about it either.

I walked up to the desk. "I'm Darrel Curtis."

"Ah, Ponyboy's guardian," the guy behind desk said, before I could even tell him who I was here for. He stood up with a smirk on his face. I wasn't sure if he was smirking at the name or the crim. "Follow me, the deputy needs to have a talk with you."

The second I turned that corner my calm anger turned to rage. Ponyboy was sitting on bench with Curly. Tim was standing in front of them. They were laughing, all three of them. I thought he would have been shame faced, scared, nervous or anything. There wasn't an ounce of remorse on his face. He just sat there smoking a cigarette with two other hoods. If I had been a stranger, I wouldn't have known the difference between my brother and hood.

I walked into the deputy's office. There was a guy sitting behind the desk. He had a mob of silver hair. He was out of shape. "Is your brother trying to play catch up to the Shepard boys?"

"I don't know. He isn't like this normally. He's actually a good kid," I answered honestly sitting down in the chair.

He smirked. "If I had a dime for every time I heard that one."

"He got a lucky break. The Reverend doesn't want to press charges. Vandalism is a serious offense."

"Reverend?" I questioned. There was no way he would have vandalized a church. Pony liked church. He was the only kid I knew who actually did.

"Yeah, Ponyboy and Curly decided to slash his tires, and paint the church's window's black. They broke some stuff too. All the Reverend wants is for them to do some cleaning around the church. He thinks they can be saved. Look, I'm not some bible fearing man, and it's clear you guys aren't either."

I wanted to punch him. My Mom always took us to church. We weren't a bunch of heathens. I believe in God, I just didn't have the time to go to church anymore.

"I don't think cleaning and listening to the Revered preach is going to do a damn thing to change those boys," he continued. "But I guess, helping clean around the church for the rest of the summer is a fair trade to jail."

I jammed my fist in my pockets. If he was going to call the state, or tell me we had to go to trial. I knew I'd lose them both this time. "It won't happen again."

"Look, I'm sending both these boys home. Chances are I'll see Shepard here by the end of July. I hope your brother isn't his cell mate."

"So that is it? He just has to do some community service at the church?" I wanted to get out of the station. I wasn't a fan of this guy. I wasn't a fan of the reason why I was here in the first place.

He drummed his hands on his gut. Fat with gray hair was a combination I never wanted to be. "And ensure he isn't in anymore trouble with the law. I'll call the state next time. Consider this your last chance. I'll see you tomorrow at the church."

A/N: I got the idea from my class. We are actually discussing the difference of households, schools and religious tolerance from the 60's to today. I'm not sure if I should delete it or not. Also, not sure if Darry is going to punish him the way he punished Soda.