Through Thick and Thin
Summary: Sodapop wasn't going to let his autistic little brother, Ponyboy, take the brunt of his father's abuse. He had made a promise to always protect him, and it was starting to look like the price he had to pay to keep that promise was his life. Two-shot.
Disclaimer: No, silly, I never have nor will I ever own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. *sighs* :( I simply borrow them for my own creative enjoyment purposes.
Darry: 20
Sodapop: 16
Ponyboy: 12
Chapter 1: Nightmares, Closets, and Shots Fired
~ December 10, 1965; 9:48 p.m. ~
Sodapop
The screaming always woke him up. Whether it was over the diminishing stash of booze, alleged cheating, or something as stupid as one of his parents breathed the wrong way and made the other one mad, the sounds of his parents fighting always woke him up.
When these nights occurred Sodapop would squeeze his little brother closer, resting his chin on the top of his head, and pray that he would continue to sleep. Tonight as he wrapped his arm around Ponyboy, the younger boy smelt like strawberries, a result of an accidental purchase made my Darry courtesy of a coupon and a misread bottle.
Instead of going back to sleep, Sodapop felt his little brother stir, turning around to face him. Ponyboy knew not to make any noise at times like this, but his eyes held a thousand questions.
I know, baby brother, Sodapop thought desperately, watching as his brother squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if it was all just a nightmare that could be slept away.
"Go back to sleep," Sodapop whispered as quietly as possible, relieved when Ponyboy rolled back over. As an hour or so ticked by, Sodapop was continuously kept up by the sounds of his parents arguing.
"Get out of my way, you useless slut. No girl of mine's gonna be caught sleeping around! You're a skank. I shoulda never married you!"
Soda heard his mother yell back insults, but the words were lost by Ponyboy suddenly letting out a blood curdling scream. Instinctively, Sodapop jumped up and clasped a hand around Ponyboy's mouth, praying that his parents wouldn't hear him. But the sound of approaching footsteps told him his prayers were a lost cause. Ponyboy stared up at him, wide eyed and shaking, with sweat dots forming on his forehead.
The door flung open and Sodapop felt his father push him off of Ponyboy before he punched the younger boy in the face.
"Keep your big mouth shut, boy, or I'll give you something to cry about," Mr. Curtis slurred, spitting each word out as if it tasted as bitter as he was.
Sodapop pushed his father backwards, standing protectively in front of the bed Ponyboy occupied.
"Stop!" He yelled. Sodapop wanted to sound intimidating, but instead he sounded as scared as he was.
"Stop? Watch your mouth, boy. You brats both need to learn some respect. I ain't gonna take this."
A sick smirk spread across Mr. Curtis' face, making both boy's blood run cold.
Darry
Darry slowly turned the knob to the house, cursing the squeaky hinges silently. His ankle was still smarting from where his father had stepped on it earlier that night.
"Please be passed out," Darry begged silently as he slowly pushed the door open. When he walked inside, he knew his hopes were crumbled.
His brother lay in the middle of the floor, blood surrounding his body, while his dad stood above him, swaying drunkenly with a gun held tightly in his left hand.
Sodapop
Sodapop fell back with a thud as his father pushed him with a surprising force for how drunk he was. Out of the corner of his eye, Soda looked over at his mother, who watched the whole thing happen with a sickening level of fascination.
"Go to the closet, Ponyboy!" Sodapop turned his head as he commanded his younger brother, spitting blood from between his teeth. His father kicked him in the stomach, causing the almost sixteen year old to cry out in pain.
The next thing his father did Sodapop never expected.
"'M sick of you kids. Diss'pectful. Imma teash you a lesson about respect, boy!"
Sodapop's father always kept a gun on the kitchen counter. He threatened the boys with it constantly, and Sodapop had always been to scared of the consequences if he tried to get rid of it. There were two bullet holes in Ponyboy's and his bedroom door as a testimony to the last time he tried to wrestle the gun away from his father.
The sound of his father cocking the gun back rang out through the small, dirty house, but nothing like the sound that followed. Without warning a gunshot rang out, followed by the sounds of Sodapop struggling to breathe.
Darry
Darry ran and collapsed at his brother's side, ignoring his father completely. Somewhere deep in his panicked brain, reason screamed at him to call 911.
He punched in the numbers with shaking fingers, a thousand thoughts running through his head, five hundred of them being, "I can't lose my brother."
"Hello? Please send help. My brother has been shot!" Darry screamed. He felt his voice take on an edge of hysteria. Taking a calming deep breath, Darry rattled off his address before rushing back to Sodapop's side.
"You're gonna be okay, little buddy. Help is on the way. I promise."
Please be okay.
"Ponyboy," Sodapop mumbled tiredly.
"I'll get him," Darry reassured his brother, knowing exactly where Ponyboy was and what Sodapop meant. The closet was the place he and Sodapop agreed would be his hiding spot when he wanted to be by himself or when his dad was angry. Darry remembered being thirteen and playing hide and go seek with his little brothers when his parents were too drunk to do anything to them for making noise. He would always hide in the closet, but Darry would pretend to not know where he was.
"Ponyboy," Darry announced, slowly opening the closet door. Darry found the younger boy smashed in the very corner of his compact closet, rocking back and forth with his knees to his chest.
"Come here, little colt," Darry offered in a calm voice.
Ponyboy shook his head quickly.
"Come on. Dad is gone. You're safe, Pone," Darry reassured him. Ponyboy crawled over shoes and into Darry's arms, a tear slipping down his face.
"You're okay," Darry reassured his little brother. Darry heard his brother take a deep breath before the both of them stood up.
"Stay here for one second, okay, Ponyboy?" Darry said firmly, to which the younger boy nodded to. He directed Ponyboy to sit on the bed before running back out to Sodapop, hearing sirens in the distance.
"Come on, Sodapop. It's gonna be alright," Darry begged as he pressed down on Sodapop's wound, squeezing his hand tightly.
It had to be alright.
"I can't lose you, little buddy."
The only response Darry got was the strangled sounds of Sodapop's labored breathing as the sirens became louder and louder.
A/N: Please let me know what you thought! Thank you so much for reading. :)
Stay Gold,
~ Alee XxX