Pony looked around himself slowly as he walked forward. He was heading to the lot to see if he could find Johnny. He needed someone to talk to, and Johnny was the only one who understood him.
It was a little later in the afternoon, after school, which meant the Curtis house would be empty. Darry, Soda and Steve were at work. Two-Bit was probably out getting drunk again, and Dally was supposed to be in the cooler.
Pony smiled a little as he realized he and Johnny would be able to have some peace and quiet. Maybe he could even convince Johnny to do some school work with him. Pony always did his best to help Johnny out when it came to school work. Contrary to what the teachers at the school thought, Johnny was actually very smart. He just took a little longer to process information. Given the right amount of time, Johnny could solve any problem you put in front of him. Sometimes he could solve problems that even Pony didn't understand.
Lost in thought, Pony didn't notice the tall figure creeping up behind him. He only started to notice it when it wasn't more than a few feet away. Thinking it was a Soc, Pony quickly reached in his back pocket for his switchblade Two-Bit had given him. But a hand stopped him before he had time to pull it out.
"Cool it, kid. It's just me." Dally's voice came from behind.
"Sorry, Dal. Thought you were a Soc or somethin'" Pony apologized.
"Where'd you even find that thing?" Dally asked.
"Two-Bit gave it to me." Pony explained. Dally gave a breathy chuckle as he followed the youngest Curtis.
"I thought you were supposed to be in the cooler." Pony said, walking forward.
"Got out early for good behavior." Dally smirked, following Pony's trail.
Pony should've expected that. Dally was always breaking the laws on purpose to get a good rep, but he didn't actually like going to jail. It just made him look tuff.
"Where are we going?" Dally asked, breaking the silence.
"I was goin' to the lot to find Johnny." Pony answered swiftly.
Dally didn't respond, but Pony knew he heard him. The two kept walking until they came across a familiar bench. But where was Johnny?
"Where are ya kid?" Dally asked himself.
Pony knew that Johnny wouldn't leave the lot without going to visit one of them. Was Johnny already at their house? Or was he at his own house? Pony took in a small breath as his mind traveled to what might happen if Johnny was at his own house.
Dally walked away from Pony, subtly searching for the smaller male. Pony knew that Dally would never let it show, but he had a soft spot for Johnny.
Ever since those Socs jumped the kid and left a scar on his face, Dally had been a lot more protective of the gang's pet. But of course Dally would deny it if anyone brought it up.
Shoving his hands into his jean pockets, Pony slowly followed Dally in his search for the missing Johnny.
"Maybe he just went to our house." Pony suggested, "It's cold out here" Pony spoke again.
Pony waited for a remark, a side comment or maybe a grunt in response. But he was met with silence.
"Dal, where are you?" Pony asked, searching around himself.
The older had disappeared and Pony knew he shouldn't be out in the open alone.
Before he could decide to ditch Dally and head back to his house, Pony heard a faint swear.
Quickly choosing to walk over to where the voice had come from, recognizing it as Dally's, Pony's eyes went wide as he also repeated the word.
"Kid, what happened!?" Dally asked as he dove down to Johnny's side.
Pony took a second to take in the image of his friends form.
Johnny was sitting up against a tree with his hands on his stomach. A big cut made itself clear on his forehead, running down to his right temple.
A bruise marked itself on his left cheek and right eye.
A group of smaller bruises rested on the side of his neck, somewhat resembling fingers.
A hand print.
Pony didn't want to have to think about any other injuries Johnny had on his arms or legs. Or any wounds that would be found under the signature jean jacket.
Shaking himself out of his slight daze, Pony quickly darted down to Dally's side to help with the injured boy below them.
"Johnny, can you hear me?" Pony asked, placing his hand gently on Johnny's shoulder.
Johnny's head lightly tilted up as if he was going to say something, but no words came out. Only a small moan of pain.
"Save your breath kid." Dally said, looking up at Pony in a silent want for help.
Pony understood and slowly shifted his arm under Johnny's left shoulder while Dally took the other.
Johnny groaned as an unknown force on either side of him lifted him up.
Why was he moving?
Why couldn't he just stay leaning against his tree?
This was his tree.
The tree he always came to after his father beat him.
Why was he moving?
Johnny could barely make out two shapes in front of him, and he could feel the heat radiating off of them.
Before Johnny could decide if they were Socs or not, the one on his right spoke to him.
"Hey, kid. Talk to me, man. Was it the Socs? I swear I'll-"
Johnny's ears started ringing and he didn't hear the rest of what he presumed to be Dally had to say.
Johnny tried to shake his head, to tell them that the Socs hadn't touched him. It was his own family who had hurt him.
Unfortunately, any slight movement made his head spin.
The world around him tilted and there was a faint urge to throw up.
His stomach was doing flips, but there was nothing to empty out.
They started moving forward and in his fuzzy state, Johnny couldn't place his foot right and almost face planted into the dirt on the ground.
"Whoa! Hey, don't be fallen' on us" Dally said as he caught Johnny's arm.
"Pony. Go ahead and clear the couch." Dally ordered.
Saying nothing, Pony nodded and raced to his own house, leaving Dally alone to support Johnny.
The two greasers walked back to the Curtis house slower than Dally had liked.
When they got there, Dally kicked the door open with his foot, scaring Pony.
"Where's Darry?" Dally grunted as he lead Johnny into the living room.
"They're all at work." Pony said.
"Shit" Dally hissed as Johnny's legs gave out.
Dally quickly buy carefully dropped Johnny on the couch
Pony dashed upstairs to the bathroom to fetch the only first aid kit in the house.
It didn't have much, only bandage wraps, band aids and pain killers.
Pony made his way down the stairs to find Dally attempting to take Johnny's jacket off.
"Stop being difficult" Dally scolded as Johnny's hands blocked his own.
"No. I-its mine" Johnny whispered.
"I know that. I'm not taking it away. I just want to see what those Socs did to ya" Dally said.
"No Socs." Johnny grunted
"It wasn't the Socs?" Pony asked, daring to speak up.
"Who was it? I'll kill em" Dally said.
In the silence that followed, Pony started thinking.
Greasers rarely jumped other greasers, and if it wasn't the Socs, that left only one more suspect.
"Johnny, it wasn't your dad, was it?" Pony asked.
Johnny only whined in response at the mention of his father.
Pony's gaze quickly darted to Dally as the older greaser said nothing.
Pony could see the murder in Dally's eyes from where he was standing
"Dally, pleas-p-please don't lea-" Johnny's voice died down as a wave of pain washed over him.
"I ain't going anywhere, Johnnycakes" Dally answered, grabbing some pain killers.
"Here, take these" Dally said, placing two white pills in Johnny's mouth.
Swallowing them dry, Johnny took in a big breath. Hoping the medicine would help.
Dally's hands fell down to the jean jacket still wrapped around the dark boy.
"No. D-don't. It's mine" Johnny groaned.
"For the last time, I ain't taking it" Dally sighed.
"Here, let me try" Pony suggested.
Dally moved out of the way to let the two youngest be together.
"Johnny, Dally wants to help you. We both do. You gotta take off your jacket." Pony started, "If you take your jacket off, we'll stop the pain." Pony promised.
Johnny didn't respond, only taking in a deep breath of understanding.
Pony lifted Johnny's arm and slipped the jacket out from under him.
Dally stepped forward and help with the other arm.
"Damn Johnny. What happened?" Dally whispered, seeing Johnny's bare arms.
"I back talked him" Johnny answered
"Like hell you did" Dally argued, "That bastard just wants an excuse to hurt you" Dally finished.
Pony and Dally worked together to get Johnny's black undershirt off his body.
"Shit" Dally's voice lingered.
"Th-that bad, huh?" Johnny asked.
"You look like hell, Cade" Dally responded.
"Tell me something I don't know" Johnny chuckled, followed by a grimace.
"Go get some ice, Pony." Dally ordered, grabbing some wraps from the small first aid kit next to him and setting them down on the floor.
"Johnny, this is gonna hurt. Just focus on telling me exactly what happened." Dally said.
"I-I was heading b-back up to my room and my Dad, my father, asked where I was. I-I told him I-OW-"
"Sorry, kid." Dally hissed as he gripped Johnny's shoulder.
"I-I told him I was out-out in the l-lot and he got mad cause I mis-sed curfew" Johnny said.
Pony had come back with some ice and was now placing it on various parts of Johnny's chest and torso.
"Ow, Pony. That hurts." Johnny moaned.
"I barely put them on yet" Pony said.
He and Dally shared a worried look as they both glanced back down at Johnny.
Dally placed his hand on Johnny's stomach and slowly moved it up.
"Johnny, tell me when it hurts." Dally said, pushing down slightly.
"Shit, Dally. That hurts" Johnny whined.
"Johnny, I think your ribs are cracked" Dally said.
"How'd you even manage to get back to the lot?" Pony asked.
"Adrenaline?" Johnny breathed.
"Gotta set 'em" Dally said, regret lining his voice
"The pain killers should kick in in a few minutes" Pony spoke
"We'll just wait then" Dally stated.
A few minutes later, Johnny's labored breathing slowed and his eyes drooped.
"You still awake?" Pony asked.
"Mhm" Johnny hummed.
"Tell me if this hurts" Dally said, laying his hand on Johnny's chest.
He slowly started to push down, waiting for a sign to stop
It took four seconds before Johnny took in a gasp of air.
"Get ready" Dally warned.
Johnny squeezed his eyes tight as Dally pushed harder until a crack was heard, followed by a shout of pain from Johnny
Dally ran his hand across the small stomach and determined that there was only one rib left. "One more, Johnny. One more" Dally comforted.
He started to push down before Johnny's hand shot up and stopped Dally's from making any more movement.
"No, please." Johnny begged.
It broke both Dally and Pony's hears to hear Johnny beg like that.
Dally looked up to Pony in a silent plead for help.
Pony walked closer and prayed that Johnny would forgive him when this was all over.
He held down Johnny's arms by his side as Dally started to push down again.
Johnny stopped struggling, quickly realizing that his attempts weren't getting him anywhere.
Another crack echoed through the air and Johnny gasped.
"That's it, Johnnycake. All done" Dally said, grabbing the wraps.
Pony helped Dally lift Johnny up and the two wrapped Johnny's chest.
Laying back down, Johnny's eyes finally started to give up on him and Dally took this opportunity to clean and bandage the cut on Johnny's face.
Afterwards, Pony and Dally slowly started to add the ice back on, being careful not to hurt the boy even more
After a few more seconds, Johnny was sound asleep and Pony and Dally decided to join him.
Pony was laying on the floor next to the couch Johnny was on, and Dally was sleeping upright in a chair across the room.
When Darry and Soda arrived a few hours later, they were met with the sight of Johnny laying on their couch, Pony on the floor and Dally in the chair.
Wondering what had happened, Soda slowly made his way to his kid brother and shook him awake.
"Wha-Soda? What's going on?" Pony grunted.
"Hey Pone. I was hoping you would tell me that" Soda smiled.
"Johnny got beat." Pony answered, waking up to see Darry talking with Dally.
Soda shifted his gaze to the sleeping boy on the couch and a look of concern crossed his super model features
"He get jumped?" He asked.
"His old man went down on him" Dally spoke up, as he stood.
"How bad is it?" Darry asked as he walked forward, his parenting side kicking in
"We had to set his ribs." Dally said.
"We gotta wake him up." Darry said, "He shouldn't be laying on his side" Darry finished as he pointed out that Johnny wasn't laying on his back anymore.
"Let Pony do it." Dally suggested, remembering how helpful the youngest Curtis had been earlier
Soda and Darry stepped aside to let their baby brother closer to the couch
Pony reached down and light held Johnny's hand while he spoke, "Johnny. You gotta wake up."
It took a little while, but finally Johnny's eyes slipped open. "Pon-ny?" Johnny groaned.
"Yeah, Johnnycake it's me." Pony whispered.
"What's wrong?" Johnny asked, noticing the two extra people.
"You gotta lay on your back so you don't hurt your ribs" Pony said.
"Oh" Johnny whispered, a blank stare on his face.
Pony dropped his hands to help his friend turn over, but Darry stopped him.
"I wanna check him out first" Darry explained.
Pony moved and watched as his big brother gingerly removed the ice bags and unwrapped Johnny's chest
When the bandages came off, everyone held their breath
Johnny's chest and stomach were black and blue. Darry hissed as he placed his hand on top of one of the bigger bruises.
It felt hot
"Johnny, you gotta sit up. You can't be laying down." Darry said.
"Why not?" Johnny groaned
"If ya lay down too long, your lungs will fill up with-uh-just sit up" Darry ordered.
Johnny didn't talk as he took Darry's hand and forced himself to sit upright.
"It hurts" Johnny mumbled.
"I know, baby, I know. But your ribs aren't setting right, you gotta stay sitting up" Darry explained.
Johnny nodded silently as Darry threw the bandages away.
"Why didn't you wrap his ribs again?" Pony asked
"Wrapping his ribs too tight might block the lungs from expanding and it can hurt more than help" Darry said, ruffling Johnny's hair as he stood up
The four remaining greasers watched as Johnny's eyes dropped and the small boy was out cold in a mater of seconds.
"Baby?" Dally asked, breaking the silence.
"Baby what?" Soda asked.
"Darry called Johnny Baby." Dally clarified.
Pony, Soda and Dally all looked towards Darry for an explanation. Darry just chuckled before speaking
"Remember when Johnny used to ask if he could sleep with us because he was scared?" Darry asked, facing his two brothers.
Pony and Soda nodded at the same time, wondering where the story was headed.
"Well, when Johnny slept with me, he had nightmares a lot. And that's when I found out that calling him baby helped calm him down." Darry explained.
Dally, Soda and Pony all thought about this for a second before they decided to add that new nickname to their mental lists.
"Pony, you should get to bed. It's getting late." Darry said.
"C'mon, Darry. Can't I stay down here? Just a little longer?" Pony begged.
Darry thought about this before deciding, "Alright, you can stay down here. But no funny business" Darry scolded.
Pony nodded before sitting back down on the floor next to Johnny.
"He'll be asleep within five minutes" Soda reassured, speaking softly under his breath.
True to his word, Pony was unconscious with his head laying on top of Johnny's uninjured arm in a matter of minutes.
"You wanna stay here for the night?" Darry asked, facing Dally.
Dally quickly stole a glance at Johnny asleep on the couch and made his decision.
"Yeah, I'll stay. Got nowhere else to go" Dally said
Darry grabbed a pillow and small, tattered blanket for Dally to use and then left for his own room.
Soda stayed for a little while longer, making sure both Pony and Johnny were comfortable. Then making sure Dally had everything he needed.
After everyone was situated, Soda headed for his and Pony's room.
Confident that everything would be better in the morning.