Summer Surprise
Ponyboy joyfully charges into the house with a report card of A's and the fresh glory of the last day of school.
"Summer vacation! Summer vacation!" he cheers, jumping up and down after slapping the report card on the coffee table.
He dances on the couch and Soda joins him.
"Soda and Ponyboy," Darry says sternly.
"I have told you two at least 200 times not to jump up and down on that sofa, especially not with mud on your shoes!"
"Oops," they say a bit too gleefully as Darry stands with his arms akimbo.
"Now if we want to romp we can go outside and play touch football instead-or a run on the park trails," Darry continues.
Soda and Ponyboy both opt for the latter.
Upon the return of the threesome to their house, Darry studies Ponyboy's report card and congratulates him with a clap on the shoulder.
After a dinner of salad, toast and omelets, they all head out for ice cream.
Finally, when they again re-enter their house, Darry says he has one more special gift for all three of them-one that cannot be placed in a box.
Soda and Ponyboy look at each other and speculate on what it could be.
Darry exits the living room and then returns with an interesting smile on his face.
He hands out St. Louis Clydesdale Horse, New Mexico and Grand Canyon postcards to Soda and a small Route 66 booklet to Ponyboy.
Soda stares.
Ponyboy's eyes widen. "Are we going on a trip?" he asks in awe.
Darry, still grinning, nods.
"I saved up just enough starting with a portion of my salary from those part time jobs I had at ages 16 and 17, then continued, bit by bit, a certain percent each month, after I graduated high school and entered the work force full time-a 2 week trip on the complete Route 66 for all 3 of us."
A person could easily feel the electric shocks of ecstasy through the living room as the astounded Sodapop and Ponyboy take the information in, and Darry lays down the 3 airline tickets and reservations.
Then, the entire block, if not the city, is made to wonder what's up at the Curtis house as Soda and Ponyboy leap up and cheer, hugging Darry with all their might.
He returns their embraces and lets out a whoop of joy too.