Pony 10
Johnny 12
Soda 12-13
Steve 13
Darry 16
Two-Bit 14.5
Dally
13-14
How they met.
Johnny had just moved into the neighborhood with his parents. They had been kicked out of their old house because they didn't have the money to stay there. Johnny didn't really understand. He was too young. One day, his father got drunk and began to beat him. His mother just ignored his cries of help and turned up the volume on the TV. He was thrown, literally, out of the house and told not to go back. It was dark and cold and he was scared. He wondered around, not familiar with the neighborhood, and finally settled down in a vacant lot and began to cry.
Running
down the streets came a gawky dark haired kid, his face in a huge
grin.
He stopped suddenly in order not to run into the kid in
front of him.
"Hello, you ok?"The boy asked, concerned
for the other boy.
Johnny nodded and turned away, hating for
anyone to see him crying. Especially someone he didn't know.
"I'm
Ponyboy Curtis...What's your name?"The kid asked, holding out
his hand for him to shake.
"J..." Johnny was about to
reply, but then he realized he didn't know the boy. His parents had
always told him not to talk to strangers, even though the boy looked
a couple of years younger than him. He shrugged, figuring his parents
wouldn't find out. "Johnny."
"Nice to meet you
Johnny wanna hang out?"Pony asked, than wondered, "You a
greaser?
Johnny was shocked Pony had just asked to hang out with
him.
He didn't have any friends. Not even from school.
"A..
greaser?" Johnny asked. He had only heard the word once before
and had no idea what it meant, but the kid that had said it to him
said it in a such a way it made him feel dirty and bad.
"I'm
one."Pony grinned.
"Ponyboy!"
Came a voice from up the road. "Pony! Get back here!"
A
taller boy came running down the road and came to an abrupt halt when
he saw Pony and the other kid. He bent over slightly, trying to catch
his breath.
"You gotta quit running off like that. Mom said
i'm in charge of you." The taller boy said.
"Aw, but i
don't wanna go home, Darry." Pony complained.
"Who's
your friend?" Darry asked.
"That's Johnny." Pony
said.
"Hi. I'm Darry." Darry introduced himself to
Johnny. "Pony's big brother."
"Hi." Johnny
said in a quiet voice, not knowing what else to say. Pony's brother
looked alot older than him.
"How old are you?" Darry
asked.
"Twelve." Johnny replied.
"I'm ten."
Pony stated. "Darry's sixteen."
Johnny looked up at
Darry. He was tall and he looked a little older than sixteen.
Darry
gave an amused look at Johnny's stare of awe at him.
"Hey
why not invite your friend over for dinner Pony, mom won't mind I'm
sure of it."Darry suggested, looking back over at Pony.
"Good
idea, so you wanna come Johnny?"Pony asked very
entusiastically.
Johnny looked down, wondering wether he should go
home now and maybe the beating would be worse or go to dinner and
make get real sore with his parents.
Johnny looked around.
"I'm...not sure." He said.
"Oh, please." Pony
begged. "Plleeeaasse."
"Pony, don't whine like
that. If he can't come, he can't come." Darry said. "You'll
see him another day. Come on." Darry turned and began to walk
towards his house.
Pony looked a little annoyed with Darry, but
obeyed him and also began to walk away.
"Wait."
Johnny said. He nervously looked in the direction of his house.
"Maybe i could ask my parents."
Pony brightened up and
grinned. "Yeah." He almost cheered.
"Okay."
Darry smiled. "Where do you live?"
Johnny looked down
the road. "Just down there."
"Want us to go with
you?" Darry asked.
"Yeah, can we go with you?" Pony
repeated, almost jumping for joy.
"Um.. i don't.. think so."
Johnny replied. "I think you should just wait here." Johnny
walked off down the road to his house. He opened the door slowly and
poked his head in.
"Mom?"
He called out quietly. There was no reply. "Dad?"
He
enetered the house and found his mom watching TV still. "Mom,
can i go to a friend's house for dinner?" He asked.
"You
don't got any friends." She answered.
"I just met them.
They're really nice." Johnny tried to explain.
"I said
you don't got any friends!" Johnny's mom yelled.
Johnny's dad
appeared in the doorway. "Why are you upsetting your mother?"
He yelled.
"I'm not.. i didn't mean to... i just.."
Johnny stumbled through his words.
His father mimicked him, then
grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt and threw him against the
wall. He lifted Johnny up to his feet, then punched him, sending him
sprawling to the floor again. "Get out of here, boy!" He
shouted.
Johnny
got up, crying, and ran out of the house staright into Darry who was
standing by the front gate.
"What's wrong?" Pony
asked.
Darry gave Pony a look that made him shut up and put an arm
around Johnny. "Come on. You can come back to our house."
Darry led Johnny to his house.
Pony moved up in order to walk
beside Darry and in order to ask him something so Johnny wouldn't
hear.
"Why'd you give me that look back there, what's wrong?
Please tell me."Pony asked, concerned, frowning when he saw how
unreadable Johnny was acting.
"His parents are no good, they
hurt him."Darry informed, placing a hand on Pony's shoulder,
knowing full well with such good parents as they had Pony wouldn't
understand how someone can do that to their kids.
Pony's eyes just
widened and his mind was wondering just as Darry predicted.
Now
falling back next to Johnny, Pony tried to cheer him up with a small
smile, now unsure of what to say so as not to get him mad or even
more upset.
The three boys walked into the Curtis'
house.
Mrs.Curtis greeted them at the door. "Did you boy's
have fun?" She asked with a genuine smile, then she saw Johnny.
"Who's this?"
"Ma, this is Johnny." Pony said.
"We found him. Can he stay for dinner?"
"Pony, he
isn't a dog." Darry said.
"Of course he can stay for
dinner." Mrs. Curtis smiled at Johnny. "Will your parents
mind?"
"They said it's fine." Darry said quickly,
seeing how Johnny looked when his mom mentioned his parents.
"Okay,
good." Mrs. Curtis turned towawrds the kitchen. "Soda, set
another place for our guest." She called out.
"Come
on Johnny, i'll show you my room." Pony grabbed hold of Johnny's
sleeve and pulled him towards his and Soda's room.
"Don't be
too long, dinner's almost done." Mrs. Curtis said as the boys
disappeared.
"This is my room." Pony opened the bedroom
door. "I have to share with Soda coz we don't have enough rooms.
But i don't mind. Soda's my older brother, he's younger than Darry
though and he's really good-looking. All the girls like him.
Everybody likes Soda."
Pony paused for a breath and Johnny
looked around the room. It was small but cozy. There was one bed in
the middle of the room - a double bed, and a desk near the window.
There were some clothes and paper thrown about on the floor, but it
wasn't messy.
"His real name is Sodapop. I can show you his
birth certificate if you don't believe me." Pony was saying.
"I
believe you." Johnny said in a quiet voice.
"Boys!"
Mrs. Curtis called out. "Dinner's ready! Come and eat!"
"Yay!"
Pony rushed out of the room. "Come on, Johnny."
Johnny
slowly an quietly followed Pony into the dining room. He saw Darry
and Mrs. Curtis sitting at the table and watched as Pony jumped onto
a chair next to another young boy. Johnny guessed that was Soda and
the man at the other end was their dad.
"Hiya,
Johnny." The man smiled a big smile.
Johnny returned a small,
polite smile.
"How long have you lived here, Johnny?"
Pony asked as soon as Johnny sat down. "Are you going to the
same school as me? I hope we're in the same classes!"
"Pony,
calm down." Mr. Curtis chuckled. "Let the boy
eat."
"Besides," Darry cut in. "You're
younger. Johnny would be in Soda's classes."
Pony
pouted.
Johnny looked at Soda, he didn't look the same age as
him.
Soda shook his head, Darry had a tendancy to be a spoil
sport.
"Doesn't mean they won't see each other around the
school grounds."Soda pointed out, throwing Pony a smile to cheer
him up.
He had second thoughts on doing so when Pony's eyes went
wide and he burst out with a squeel of excitement.
Darry gave Soda
a cool look as if he warned him this would happen.
Johnny just
watched Pony, a little scared of his outbursts.
"Don't worry
he's not always so perky."Soda reassured him.
Johnny just
nodded sheepishly.
"Yeah, usually Soda's the one all hyper."
Darry smiled at Soda.
"Am not!" Soda got
offended.
Darry, Pony and their parents laughed, knowing what
Darry had said was true.
Johnny just watched them, feeling a
little out of place.
Once
they finished eating dinner, Darry and Pony cleared the dishes and
went into the kitchen to wash them.
"Sodapop, i have
something to show you." Mr. Curtis said and led Soda away.
Mrs.
Curtis was in the kitchen, fiddling with various things.
Johnny
sat at the dining table alone. He looked around the room.
There
was a piano with a bunch of photographs on top.
He didn't remember
there being any photographs in his house and there definately wasn't
a piano.
"Johnny,
are you okay?" Mrs. Curtis asked, seeing him sitting at the
table alone.
Johnny nodded and attempted a smile. He looked into
the kitchen and saw Pony and Darry had started throwing bubbles at
each other.
"Boys!" Mrs. Curtis laughed. "Stop
that!"
Johnny sighed. He wished he had a brother to play
with.
"Okay, boys. Go off and play." Mrs. Curtis told
Pony and Darry.
They ran out of the kitchen, leaving their mother
to clean up after them.
"Come on, Johnny." Pony said as
they ran past him.
Johnny started to get off the chair, then
stopped and watched the two brothers.
Pony paused in the doorway,
"What's wrong, Johnny?" He asked.
Johnny didn't
respond.
"Come on." Darry beckoned to Johnny. "We're
going to play in the back yard."
Johnny hopped off the chair
and followed them. They found Soda already in the back yard.
Soda
had a big grin on his face, showing off to Darry his new foot
ball.
"Wanna toss it around?"Soda asked, mainly just to
show off more.
Darry looked at Pony and Johnny hoping they would,
for football was his fave sport.
"Sure, is it ok with you
Johnny?"Pony asked to make sure he really was ok.
Johnny
nodded.
"I wanna be on Darry's team!" Pony called
out.
"No, Darry's on my team." Soda said.
"But
that's not fair!" Pony argued. "You always get Darry and
he's bigger than me."
"It's my ball, i get to choose."
Soda said in a slight stuck-up way.
"How about we don't take
teams and it's every man for himself." Darry suggested, then
lunged himself at Soda and grabbed the ball from him, then ran off to
the other side of the backyard.
Johnny
admired the way Darry settled the arguement, but couldn't help
feeling a little left out still. He felt like he was intruding.
For
a while, he just stood and watched, until Darry pretended to fall
over and drop the ball right in front of him.
"GET HIM!!"
Soda yelled out, and he and Pony charged towards Johnny and the ball.
Darry rolled out of the way and Johnny grabbed the ball from off the
ground and ran for his life, laughing.
After playing football for
a while, the boys went back in the house and relaxed in front of the
TV.
"I
wanna play some more." Soda said, throwing his new ball in the
air and catching it.
"You just wanna show off that you got a
new ball." Pony said, a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Who
wants cookies?" Mrs. Curtis asked, and set a plate of warm
chocolate chip cookies on the table along with four glasses of
milk.
Soda and Pony jumped up off the floor and ran to the table,
grabbing two cookies at a time and gulping down half their
milk.
"Boys," Mrs. Curtis laughed. "Take it easy.
There's plenty to go around."
"Can Johnny stay the
night?" Pony asked.
Johnny looked at Pony, shocked. He had
never slept anywhere but his own bed. Mrs. Curtis looked at
Johnny.
"He'll have to ask his parents." She
said.
Johnny shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think i
can."
"Aw, please Johnny." Pony begged.
Johnny
felt like crying. He wanted so much to stay there and never go home
again, but he was scared of what his father might do.
"I
better go home." Johnny said quietly and headed for the
door.
"Would you like me to drive you home?" Mr. Curtis
offered.
Johnny shook his head. "I live down the road."
"Want
me to walk with you?" Darry offered.
Johnny shook his head
again.
Pony looked at Darry concerned, he didn't want Johnny to go
home alone with parents at home ready to hurt him.
Darry threw
Pony a wink and walked after Johnny.
"Hope you don't mind me
walking with you a bit, I need to run to a place nearby about a part
time job."Darry informed, and it was the truth too.
Johnny
shurgged, "Ok I guess."He said and walked on, head down
with hands in pockets.
Johnny didn't much like Darry following
him, but didn't want to arouse suspiscion(sp?) by asking him not to.
Once
they got to his house, Johnny turned to Darry. "Thanks for
walking with me. I'll see you later." He said.
Darry stood
looking at the house and Johnny wondered if he was going to leave or
stay there until he went inside.
Slowly, Johnny opened the gate
and began walking up the front path. He glanced over his shoulder and
saw Darry still standing there, watching him. Darry gave Johnny a
smile, then turned and walked off. Johnny sighed with relief and
opened the front door.
He could hear the TV on and he heard the
familar hiss of a beer can being opened, then he heard the flick of a
lighter.
He decided not to go into the front room and went to his
bedroom instead, hoping his parents woudn't know he had come home. He
remembered his dad telling him to get out of the house and a shiver
ran down his spine as he fell into his bed and fell asleep.
Darry
wondered off down the road.
"Okay
boys, time for bed." Mrs. Curtis told Soda and Pony.
"Oh,
but it's not even late!" Soda complained.
"Darry isn't
home yet!" Pony wailed like a child.
Not long after Johnny
had fallen asleep, he was startled awake again by the sound of his
bedroom door slamming against the wall.
Before
his eyes were properly focused, he was being yanked out from under
his covers and dragged half way across his room. He let out a
startled cry.
"Shut it!" His dad's voice was harsh and
sharp.
He was thrown to the floor with force.
"I thought i
told you to get out of this house!" His dad yelled, his breath
smelt awfully of alcohol. "Do you have a problem with obeying
me?"
"N-n-no." Johnny trembled.
His dad raised
his hand, then hit Johnny with such force, Johnny found himself on
the other side of the room, his head smacked against his drawers.
He
began to cry.
"Get out!" His dad yelled again and kicked
him in the stomach and ribs.
Johnny scampered to his feet, though
in pain, and ran out of the house - scared to death. He didn't know
where to go.
As Johnny ran along, tears streaming down his face,
he found himself heading towards the vacant lot where he had first
met Pony.
He collapsed onto the old car seat that was abandoned in
the middle of the lot and cried. His head hurt a lot from hitting the
drawers and from being hit by his father. His chest hurt too.
"Hey."
Johnny heard a gentle voice. "Hey, are you okay?"
Johnny
tried to stop crying as he glanced up to see who was there. He
recognized the young man towering over him.
"Darry?"
Johnny said weakly through his tears.
"Yea, kid. It's me."
Darry squated down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What
happened?"
"My... I..." Johnny wanted to tell
Darry everything, but he couldn't stop crying. He was crying so much,
he couldn't speak.
"It's ok." Darry said.
Johnny
chocked on his tears and threw his arms around Darry's neck, not
being able to control himself. He sobbed like he never had before and
it hurt a lot.
Darry soothed him, holding him in his strong arms.
"Shh.. it's ok. You're alright. You'll be fine. You're with me
now. No-one will hurt you now."
"Come on." Darry
stood and helped Johnny to his feet. "You can come back home
with me. My parents won't mind."
Johnny shook his head.
Darry
gave him a look that said he was serious and Johnny didn't have a
choice. "You're not staying out here all night. It's freezing.
You'll freeze to death."
Johnny, too tired and cold to argue,
let Dally lead him to his house.
When
they got there, Darry sat him down on the sofa and disappeared into
the kitchen to talk to his parents. Pony was already in bed and Soda
wondered out of the bathroom and headed for his bedroom when he
spotted Johnny.
"Hey, Johnny!" Soda grinned. "Did
your parents let you stay over after all? I'll go tell Pony, he'll be
really excited!" Soda ran off to his bedroom, then emerged again
with an over-excited Ponyboy on his heals.
"JOHNNY!!"
Pony squealed,(sp?) then abruptly stopped as he saw Johnny's face.
"What happened?" He asked.
Johnny looked away, looking
towards the kitchen, beggining Darry for help telepathically.
Johnny
almost believed Darry had read his mind when Darry came out of the
kitchen and into the front room, but then realized it was more than
likely due to Pony's high-pitched squeal.
"What's everyone
doing outta bed?!"Pony's mom started, coming into the room, only
to stop slightly embarrassed from being caught in her night gown and
curlers.
"Oh hello Johnny, you going to be staying the
night?"She asked, giving him a warm smile.
Johnny just nodded
sheepishly.
"Alright,
Soda, get yourself a pillow and sheets, you'll be on the couch
tonight so Johnny will share with Pony."She instructed.
Soda
nodded and headed to the other room to do as he was told.
"YAY!
You get to sleep in my room!" Pony once again became excited,
forgetting about Johnny's face.
Mr. Curtis came out from the
kitchen where he had been talking with Darry. He smiled kindly at
Johnny, then went to his wife and whispered something into her ear
which caused her to give a very concerned look to Johnny.
"You're
welcome to stay here any time you want." Mrs. Curtis told
Johnny, then went back into her room.
Mr. Curtis went after her
and in the second the bedroom door was open for, Johnny and Darry
both heard Mrs. Curtis crying.
"You'll be ok." Darry
told Johnny, then went into his own bedroom.
Pony led Johnny to
his room.
Johnny
climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over himself after
borrowing some of Pony's pyjamas. The bed was warm and cozy, but big.
He was thankful to share it with Pony, he thought he might get lost
in it if he had to sleep alone.
After a few moments, Johnny knew
Pony was asleep by the sound of his soft, gentle breathing. And just
a few more moments later, Johnny too drifted to sleep, soothed by the
rhythm of Pony's breathing and the gentle /drip, drip, drip/ from the
bathroom shower.
