Sorry For Any Spelling Or Grammer Problems. I Wrote And Typed This Up For School In About Three Hours. I went through checking for errors, but then again it is a bit past midnight...
The hearing seemed to almost sneak up on me. The only people in the court room besides the judge, Darry, Sodapop, and I was Randy and his parents, Cherry Valace, her parents, and a girl a recognized from my math class and homeroom.
The first person questioned was Randy. He kept fiddling with his shirt and darting his eyes around the courtroom. It was obvious that he was nervous, but he wasn't even half as nervous as I was. I had never wanted a cigarette more in my life than I did right then. Darry didn't look nervous at all. He sat perfectly straight with no form of expression on his face, and any emotions in his eyes were shielded by his usual icy stare. He made it a point to tell me to keep my mouth shut until I was called on to speak. The socs stuck pretty much to the truth when they spoke. A few details differed but nothing important. Darry and Sodapop got asked a bunch of questions about Dally. I'm pretty sure the judge was trying to check our background. They could have easily gotten away with saying they didn't know him, but he was still part of the gang, and you don't turn your back on your gang. Then my turn came. The judge didn't even ask me much about when Bob was killed. Mostly it was stuff about school, and my grades, and if I liked living with my brothers. After that was over Cherry took the stand and talked about meeting me at the movies. She wasn't up for long. When she stepped down the judge said, "Kelly Valace, please take the stand."
The girl from my math class stood up and walked to the stand. Kelly didn't look to be anything like Cherry. They had the same red hair but her eyes looked almost like stone. They were hard and unreadable. Suddenly I realized Kelly was talking.
"…so I put on some greaser clothes and-" Kelly said.
"I'm sorry, greaser? What's a greaser?" The judge interrupted.
"A JD. A hood. Ya know, greaser." Kelly replied.
Sodapop squeezed his eyes shut and I sunk in my seat a bit. That was it, the judge would never let me stay with Darry now.
"Anyways," Kelly said, "Then I snuck out. It was pretty late, but I didn't care. I just had to get out of the house, I hate when Cherry gets yelled at. Usually, when I need to think, I go to the park on the East side, so that's where I headed. When I got there I saw Bob and a bunch of other guys walking towards Ponyboy and that other kid. Your honor, I saw the whole thing. They were just standing there and Bob tried to drown Ponyboy. I wanted to help but I was scared, the only thing I could think is that Bob would tell my parents where I was. Your honor, Ponyboy is a good kid. I know he is. I go to school with him. This whole thing is my fault! If I weren't so selfish I would have done something! I could have stopped it!"
By this time Kelly had broken into tears.
"You may step down Miss. Valace." The judge said.
It was at that moment, as Kelly stepped down from the stand rubbing her tear stained cheeks furiously, that I realized something. I had been blaming myself for the incident, and ultimately for Johnny's death. I had even managed to convince myself that I had killed Bob. I was blaming myself for this just like Kelly was. But Kelly couldn't have done anything. Kelly was a weak, fourteen year old girl who would have been easily beaten. I was a weak fourteen year old boy who was almost drown. But Johnny could have done something, and he did. He saved my life.
By this point the judge had called a recess and was now exiting the courtroom. I looked around the courtroom at everyone there. Randy's mom was fussing over his suit and trying to fix his tie as he tried to gently push her away. His father watched with an amused look on his face. It was amazing to think that there were still people in the world who could smile, especially someone who was in the courtroom at the moment. I shifted my gaze to Cherry, Kelly, and their parents. Kelly was seated between Cherry and her mother. Cherry had her arm around Kelly as Kelly continued to cry. Her parents were leaned towards each other talking quietly. I saw Mrs. Valace look at me and I quickly turned my eyes towards Sodapop. He was flipping a penny he had found on the floor into the air and catching it. I looked to the other side of me at Darry. He was still sitting just like he had been, letting no emotion show.
"Darry." I whispered.
"Yeah Ponyboy?" Darry whispered back.
"Are you scared?"
"A little bit."
I sat there for a second, surprised that he would ever admit that.
"How about you," Darry said, "are you scared?"
I nodded. Darry put his arm over my shoulder and for a second, as he smiled down at me and told me everything would turn out fine, the icy glaze over his eyes seemed to melt away. I smiled back, not because I believed him, but because that was the Darry I remembered from when Mom and Dad were alive. That was the Darry who used to play football with Dad and laugh at his corny jokes. That was the Darry who could eat a slice of Mom's chocolate cake in less than a minute, and then jump up, lift Mom who was fairly small off the floor, and spin her around in order to keep her from getting mad because, "That cake was for after dinner.". For a moment, he was the Darry who sat next to my bed at night after Mom and Dad died, until I cried myself to sleep. For a split second he was the big brother I used to know.
But that only lasted for a second, because then the door to the judge's chambers squeaked open then banged shut. The icy, emotion blocking stare came back as he watched the judge, and soon his arm slid off of my shoulders. The judge began to ramble about his thinking process during the last twenty-five minutes, and my mind wondered off.
I remember the day my parents died really well. It was a nice day outside, so I took my time walking home. I remember stopping and picking a few of the daisies that were growing on the side of the road. Mom loved daisies. A few soc boys laughed at me from across the street for picking flowers but I didn't care. I knew that Mom would be happy to have the daisies, and after I told her about the boys who laughed at me she would hug me then let me help her make a chocolate cake. I loved Mom's chocolate cake, everybody did. She used a recipe that her mom had given her. And her mom's mom had given her mom. I thought about that chocolate cake and began to walk quicker. When my house came into view the first thing I noticed was that there were two police cars out front. I started to run and burst through the door.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
Darry, Soda, Steve, and Johnny were seated on the couch. Two-bit and Dally stood near the doorway. Two police officers were in the center of the room.
"What's going on?" I asked again as I realized that everyone, even Dally, was crying.
"Ponyboy." Darry said as he stood up.
He walked over and noticed the daisies in my hand, "W- What are those?" he asked
"Daisies." I said, "For Mom. I picked 'em on my way home from school."
Soda began to cry harder and I stared at him puzzled.
"What did I say?" I asked.
"Ponyboy." Darry said as he laid a hand on my shoulder, "Mom and Dad were in a…a car accident. And…" Darry trailed off.
"And what?" I demanded, suddenly panic stricken.
"And they didn't make it." Soda finished for Darry, his voice cracking slightly.
I couldn't believe it. They couldn't have…
I dropped the daisies and ran out of the house.
"…and if I placed these two boys in a home I would never regret it." The judge said when I had finished zoning out.
My heart seemed to freeze. This was it. They were gonna take Soda and I away from Darry.
"But," The judge continued, "it is to my understanding that Ponyboy here saved the lives of children from a fire. And the way I see it, if he would do something that brave, selfless, and courages, you, Darry Curtis, must be doing something right. Therefore, Sodapop and Ponyboy will remain in your custody."
Within a split second Sodapop practically tackled me and hugged me. We were staying with Darry.
Outside the court house I ran to catch up with Kelly.
"Hey! Kelly! Wait!" I called as I hurried down the steps.
Kelly stopped and turned as the wind flipped her hair in front of her face. She pushed it out of the way and smiled at me.
"Hey Ponyboy." Kelly said.
"Thanks." I said quickly.
"For what?" asked Kelly.
"For saying I'm a good kid."
"You shouldn't be thanking me."
I stared at her questioningly until I noticed her parents standing a little bit down the sidewalk watching us.
"Oh." I said, " I get it. Your parents are watching."
"What?" Kelly asked, "No, that's not it. Ponyboy, you shouldn't be thanking me because it's my fault this all is happening. If I had just said something. I-"
"Stop.' I interrupted her, "It wasn't your fault. Even if you had tried you wouldn't have stood a chance against a bunch of drunk guys."
She stood silently for a moment, considering what I had just said. Finally she spoke,
"You really are a good kid." she said.
"You too." I replied.
"Kelly! Come on!" her mom suddenly called.
"See ya in school tomorrow!" Kelly said then hurried away.
I awoke the next morning yelling.
"Ponyboy, what's wrong?" I head Sodapop say from next to me.
My hands were shaking and I'm sure my voice would too if I spoke.
I had a bad dream, a really bad dream. I was sitting in a car with Mom and Dad and we were speeding down the road, laughing and talking. I was holding some daisies and I reached over to hand them to Mom. She smiled at me but didn't take them. I kept trying to hand them to her, but she just kept smiling. Suddenly there was a crash and everything looked like a mirror breaking. The pieces fell away and I was in a dark room, still holding the daisies. My parents were across the room . I couldn't move, so I called out to them. The louder I got the further from me they moved, until they disappeared. I yelled one last time, then woke up.
I finished telling Sodapop about my dream, then made myself stop crying. I think that dream that I could remember was worse than the ones I couldn't. When I had calmed down finally, I realized it was morning and I had to get ready for school. I got out of bed and showered. After I was dressed I stood in front of the bathroom mirror combing what was left of my hair. My hair grows kinda fast, so there was already some brown hair growing at the roots. It didn't look too bad, but it wasn't as good as how my hair was before everything happened. I set down the comb on the side of the sink and was about to turn away when I noticed something. I whipped my face towards the mirror and leaned close to it. There, on my chin, was a few stubs of hair. I smiled broadly and darted out of the bathroom.
"Sodapop!" I said as I burst into our room, "Sodapop, look!"
Sodapop finished pulling his shirt over his head then said, "What?"
"Look!" I said excitedly.
I leaned my head up and pointed to my chin. Sodapop leaned down and looked.
"Well looky here. Might have to start shavin' soon Pony." Sodapop said.
"I know." I said, still grinning.
"What's going on?" Darry asked as he entered the room
Just then I noticed the time on the clock next to my bed.
"You tell him Soda." I said as I hurried out of the room, "I'm gonna be late!"
It used to be that Johnny would walk with me to school, to keep me company. But now Johnny wasn't here, so I walked alone. A lot of things would be different now that Johnny was gone. Now I would be the quietest in the gang. I wouldn't have anybody to see movies with, and I wouldn't have anybody to talk to who would only listen. Johnny was gone, sure life was going to change, that much was obvious. But would things change for the better, or worse?
I ran into my homeroom just as the late bell rang. I slid to a stop, stumbled, and fell. The other kids in the room snickered and my teacher, Mr. Griffons said, "Ponyboy, I know you're glad to be back. But is kissing the floor really necessary?"
The kids laughed and I looked up at Mr. Griffon's smiling face. I smiled back and replied, "Yes sir, I think it is.'
With that I quickly pressed my lips against the floor then stood up, quickly wiping my mouth off. This caused more laughter from the students. I walked to the back of the room where Kelly was seated with some other girl. I sat next to Kelly.
"Go away, we're talking." The girl next to Kelly said.
I ignored her.
"Hey Kelly." I greeted her.
"Hey Ponyboy." Kelly replied.
"Kelly!" snapped her friend, "Don't talk to him! He's a greaser. He killed that Bob kid!"
"No, Hannah, he didn't." Kelly replied, "Johnny did."
"Oh well, they're both greasers. It's the same thing." Hannah said.
"No it's not!" Kelly defended, "They're two different people!"
"Girls," Mr. Griffon interrupted from the front of the room, " No yelling."
"Sorry." Kelly apologized.
"Okay, Kelly, you know what? I've put up with your stupid, 'Greasers are just people thing', this far. But if you're actually going to sit there and defend one, especially one who's responsible for your sister's boyfriend's death, then I'm sorry. But buh-bye."
With that Hannah stood up and walked to the empty seat next to some other soc girls.
"Kelly," I said, "You didn't have to stand up for me."
"Yes I did. It wasn't right that she would say that." Kelly smiled then added, "She obviously doesn't watch the sunset."
I sat there and blinked. Once, twice, three times.
"Sunset?" I asked, " How do you know-"
"Cherry tells me everything." Kelly explained, "We're like best friends. She told me all about meeting you at the movies. That's why she was late getting home, and that's why my parents were yelling at her."
"And then you snuck out." I added.
"Yup. By the way, sorry about the whole 'greaser clothes' thing. That's how I describe them in front of my parents. You see, they're not very open minded. They practically flipped out when they saw me talking to you outside the courthouse."
"No problem. So…you watch sunsets?"
"Mhm. I used to watch them with Cherry, but then she started dating and got more friends. So now I watch them alone. But I do watch them."
"How come you'll talk to me around other people? Cherry won't."
Kelly shrugged, "I'm not Cherry. She has a reputation to up hold. Besides, she's never seen a greaser get jumped, I have. Twice if you include when I saw Johnny kill Bob."
When Cherry said 'greaser' she had a tone like any other soc. But Kelly didn't. Her tone was plain, normal. Like she seriously didn't care. This girl was weird.
"When was the first time?" I questioned Kelly.
"A few years ago, when I was eleven. I was walking home from school and there was this boy walking down the street. A car pulled up next to him and four guys jumped out. I was across the street, and I froze just like I did that day Bob and his friends jumped you and Johnny. I couldn't move. I was scared."
"I'll bet. You were eleven."
Kelly nodded just as the bell for first period ran. I said bye to Kelly and she left the room. I stayed through because I had English first period and my English class was also my homeroom.
"Ponyboy," Mr. Griffon said after everyone in my class had begun working, "can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Sure." I said then walked to the front of the classroom
Mr. Griffon then explained to me that because of my long absence I was on the verge of failing. He offered to raise my grade to a B if I wrote a paper explaining something I had realized or learned from my experience. I had thanked him and then hurried to get to work. When I sat down at my desk my mind went blank. What did I learn? Realize? Anything? For the entire period I sat there thinking and nothing came to me. I sighed, grabbed my book back, and headed to my next class.
By lunch time I had been pushed, shoved, tripped, kicked, and called every name under the sun. Apparently everyone was convinced that I had killed Bob. I took my tray and walked to my usual table, two boys slid over and filled the only open spot.
"Sorry, no room." said one boy.
"Yeah, go sit someplace else, greaser." said the other.
Those two had never had a problem with me before, but now, suddenly they hated me.
"I didn't do anything!" I snapped, loosing my cool for a minute.
"Yeah right." the boys said in unison.
I glared at the two of them.
"Careful Mike." one boy said, "He looks mad. He might stab us."
The boys laughed and I quickly turned away. I looked around but failed to see a place to sit. This was just plain stupid. I had saved children from a burning building, and my best friend had died in the process of helping me, yet all anyone could see is that a soc died. I sighed and turned to leave the cafeteria. Mr. Griffon's room was always open, and it was his free period. I stepped through he open door and saw that it was empty. I sat down at a desk and started to stab at my food. It wasn't fair! Johnny was dead, Dally was dead, and nobody cared about that! They all just wanted someone to blame, and I was that someone.
"Ponyboy." I heard a voice say from the doorway, "Can we join you?"
I looked up and saw Kelly in the doorway with a few other girls.
"Yeah, go ahead." I replied.
Kelly, along with four other girls walked in and seated themselves around me. Kelly's four friends looked nervous and Kelly smiled at me, then began to introduce each one as she pointed at them.
"That's Sara." she said as she pointed at a brunette. "That's Sandra." Kelly pointed to a blue eyed girl. "That's Morgan." she pointed to a blonde girl. "And that's Glenna." she then pointed to the final girl.
"Hi." I said.
"Hi." the four girls chimed.
"So…um…" said Sara, "You're a greaser?"
"Yeah." I said, ready to hear any wisecracks she'd have.
"That is so cool!" Sandra squealed.
"What's it like?" Glenna asked.
"Yeah, what's it like?" asked Morgan.
I shrugged. "Life could be better."
The girls giggled and Kelly sat there grinning at me.
"What?" I asked.
Kelly leaned towards me and quietly said, " I think they like you."
When Kelly sat up straight again I couldn't help but grin. Four soc girls like me. Four! I couldn't wait to tell Soda.
Outside the safe walls of the school reality came back to me, and the full weight of Johnny's death weighed down on me. It didn't make sense. Why Johnny? He was only sixteen, and he had so many things left to do with his life, and now he'd never get to do them. Johnny understood me, more than anybody else could have, even more than Sodapop. It's a shame his parents never took a second to see what a great son they had. I tried to hold back the tears that were trying to escape. It was no use. I stared at the ground trying to hide my face from people passing by.
I got to the gas station about ten minutes later. I had stopped crying, but my eyes were still red. I was surprised to see Darry there. He didn't stop by the gas station very often.
"What are you doin' here?" I asked him when I walked in.
"Came here to celebrate with you." Darry replied.
"Celebrate what?"
"Celebrate the fact that you finally are gonna have to start shaving…soon."
I grinned at him, "Gee, thanks Darry."
"No problem." Darry said as he handed me a bottle of soda he had already bought, "Hey, have you been crying?"
"No." I said quickly.
"Then what's wrong with your eyes?"
"Allergies."
"You don't have allergies."
"Newly developed allergies."
Darry rolled his eyes then tossed his arm over my shoulder.
"Of course." he said disbelievingly.
Sodapop chucked from behind the counter.
"Aw…look at that. Picture perfect moment." Soda said.
Darry and I laughed, then I ducked out from under Darry's arm and hurried to the counter.
"Soda, guess what?" I said.
"You're growing a mustache now too?" Soda asked.
"No." I laughed, "There were these four soc girls giggling over me today in school!"
Sodapop grinned at me, "I think that sorta thing just runs in the family."
Darry had now walked over, and he playfully hit Soda in the side of the head.
"You're too full of yourself." he said.
At around six o'clock that night I headed outside. Darry and Sodapop were busy with the dishes. I took a notebook and a pen with me so I could start my paper for English. I got to the park and sat down on a bench that was near the fountain. I tried to focus on the task at hand. What had I learned? I sat there for about ten minutes and got no place. Had I even learned anything?
"Whatcha doin'?" I heard a voice say.
I looked up quickly and saw Kelly standing over me.
"Are you stalking me or something?" I asked jokingly.
"Nope. Just following you everyplace you go without you knowing." Kelly shrugged.
"That-" I started
"It's a joke." Kelly cut me off.
I fell silent as I realized this then turned back towards my paper.
"Doing homework?" Kelly asked as she sat next to me.
"Yeah." I replied as I began to get agitated with her talking to me while I was trying to write.
"Wanna help me with my math." Kelly asked.
"Sure. Whatever." I said as I slammed down my notebook.
"You don't have to if you don't-"
"I want to!"
Kelly jumped a bit and a slightly scared look came onto her face. Timidly she sat down and set her math book on her lap along with a piece of paper. She opened the text book and started to work on a problem. After a few minutes she slammed down her pencil.
"None of this makes sense!" she said in frustration.
I leaned over and looked at her paper. That stuff was simple, it took me about two seconds to figure out a problem.
"You're just making little mistakes. Like you're combining the like terms instead of adding and subtracting the terms. Like this…"
I took the pencil and showed her step by step how to do the problem. By the time we had finished, then sun had started to go down.
"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Kelly asked as she sat staring at the sunset with her book closed in her lap.
"Yeah, it is." I said
There was something I had to tell her. And I had to tell her then.
"Kelly listen." I said, "I know that you just feel sorry for me. But it's okay. You don't have to hang out with me because you pity me."
"What?" Kelly asked.
"You don't have to pretend to be my friend." I explained, "It's okay."
She stared at me blankly for a minute as silence filled the air around us. Suddenly her expression turned to angry.
"Do you honestly think that's why I've been talking to you?" she asked.
"Isn't it?" I asked in return.
"No Ponyboy! It isn't, for your information! Did you ever stop to think that maybe the world doesn't pity you?!? That maybe I did actually like you?!? Huh? Did you?!?" she demanded.
"Not really…"
"Exactly! You didn't! So don't you go accusing me of being fake, and pretending to be your friend!" Kelly took a deep breath and then said, "See you in school tomorrow."
She grabbed her book off her lap and stood up. I watched her walk away. I was confused. She had actually like me? She really was standing up for me earlier because she wanted to? I sighed, and opened up my notebook. Suddenly I knew what to write about.
The Same Sunset.
By Ponyboy Curtis
There are two types of people in this town of ours. Socs, and Greasers. At least, that's what I used to think. But I was wrong. We all were brought up with the concept of Socs and Greasers and not many stopped to realize how little sense this made. Sure some people aren't as rich as others, and sure some people have different hair styles, but is that really a reason to fight each other, kill each other? I used to think it made sense, but not anymore. You see, we're all more alike than anyone thinks. For example, every night I sit outside and stare at the sunset. Every night another girl, a Soc, watches the sunset too. The sun doesn't discriminate. It doesn't care who watches it disappear. Same with the moon and the stars. The trees don't care who climbs them, and the grass doesn't care who walks on it. We're all the same to these things. Everyone, no matter what shape, size, or social class, sees the same sunset. No matter where you watch from, it's the same to you as it is to somebody else.
I sighed and closed my notebook. It was a good start, but by now the sunset had disappeared. And the only thing allowing me to continue writing was the dim park lights. I stood up and started to walk back home. I would finish writing my paper the next day. After all, I had plenty of time left. And plenty of more sunsets to watch for inspiration. Who knows, maybe Kelly will decide to join me again.