The Cornflower
I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)
"Hey, have you seen this article?" Two-Bit asked everybody excitedly, "Some local kids set fire to a grocery store a few days ago." Everybody in the room looked up with wide eyes, "Hey! It's Marty's store! You know the one we used to go to when we were all kids, to get candy?"
"No way!" Soda exclaimed, "Did Marty get hurt?"
"Nope. He wasn't in the store at the time. Apparently the neighborhood was dead when the kids broke in, so nobody saw what the kids looked like." Two-Bit answered, reading through the article some more.
"I'll put money on it that Curly Shepard was involved." Dallas announced, ruffling Johnny's hair. Johnny looked up at him, "Don't go doin' stuff like that, Johnnycake; you'll get arrested."
"Gee Dally, you sound like Darry." Steve chuckled, but quickly shut up when Darry glared at him.
"No; Dally's suggesting that Johnny doesn't go doing that. Pony, Soda, if you do anything like that, I'll never talk to you again." Darry warned, and Pony and Soda nodded vigorously.
"What's up, Pony? You look a little pale." Soda remarked, and Pony shrugged.
"Nothin', I think I'm gonna go to bed a little earlier." Pony declared, sloping off to his and Soda's bedroom.
Ponyboy knew that Curly had been involved with the grocery store incident, however he heard that all boys who had been involved with the crime were going to face a large amount of years in prison.
Curly had told Pony that since he was underage, he'd have to go the reformatory. But Curly also said that he'd made some enemies in the reformatory, and that if he went back, they'd be sure to kill him. Pony didn't want Curly to get killed, but whenever somebody brought up the fire, he felt sick.
Even Tim had been extremely angry with Curly. So angry that he had belted him, but Curly wasn't too bothered since he and Tim fought all the time. His mother and stepfather had yet to know; Curly said that if they found out, they'd tell the police that it was him.
Pony couldn't do that to a friend. Not even a bad friend like Curly Shepard.
XXX
"I am sick of you hanging out with Soda all the time! Why can't you make your own friends?!" Steve yelled at Pony, who was standing inches away from him.
"Why can't you mind you own business?! It's Soda who asks me to come, I don't ask him!" Pony yelled back.
"Well then say 'no'! Hang out with your own friends, you stupid brat!" Steve screamed, and Pony groaned loudly.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Pony shouted indignantly, and Steve laughed.
"You are so pathetic! You just cling to your brothers like a stupid little kid. No wonder Darry hates you!" Steve bellowed, and Pony felt something inside him snap. Though instead of crying, he did something else instead.
"Well you're so horrible and pathetic, no wonder your dad hates you!" Pony cried, and Steve could take that. But Pony's next words made Steve's blood turn cold.
"No wonder your mom went off and had kids with another man! She probably wanted to forget all about how she had given birth to the worst son in the world! And when she died…she probably died thinking about how much she wasted her life with a worthless brat like you!"
Everything was silent after that. Steve breathed in deeply, and for a moment Pony thought that Steve was actually going to start crying. It was then that Pony realized what he had done.
"Steve…" Pony whispered, but Steve bolted out of the door before Pony could say anymore.
Steve didn't stop running until he reached the cornfield where his mother used to take him when he was little. He collapsed on the ground and cried and cried until he had no more tears to shed.
He hated Ponyboy for what he had said to him. He hated Ponyboy for constantly taking Soda away from him. He hated Ponyboy for having a perfect life while his was terrible.
He hated everything about Ponyboy.
After Steve had regained his composure, he stood up and trailed home. His dad was out, so Steve had the house to himself.
When he walked through the kitchen, he saw his dad's newspaper lying on the dining table, and it was open to the same article that Two-Bit had been telling the gang about the day before.
Steve remembered Darry's exact words:
"Pony, Soda, if you do anything like that, I'll never talk to you again."
Steve thought about Darry not talking to Ponyboy, and he laughed; he knew that Pony would be heartbroken. It was only fair that if Pony had upset Steve, Pony would have to be upset by Steve. And Steve knew that if Darry didn't talk to Pony, Pony would be extremely upset.
Steve marched out of his house with a triumphant grin spreading across his face.
XXX
"Darry, I need to talk to you." Steve announced at the dinner table. Pony looked up terrified; he hoped that Steve wasn't going to tell Darry about what he had said before.
Ponyboy felt sick when he had told Steve that his mother probably thought of him as a worthless brat. Sure, Steve had told Pony that Darry hated him, but Steve didn't deserve to be told that his mother thought of him as worthless.
Nobody deserved that. In Ponyboy's mind anyway.
"Really, Steve? Can't it wait til' later?" Darry grumbled, gathering all of the plates up and setting them on the counter.
"Oh yes, it's very important." Steve grinned, looking at Ponyboy who shuddered.
"Okay, but be quick." Darry demanded, walking out to the porch, leaving Steve to follow.
Steve winked at Ponyboy and practically skipped outside. He was excited to finally be teaching Ponyboy a lesson.
Ponyboy swallowed the lump in his throat and got up to do the dishes; he decided that he did deserve it if he got into trouble for being so mean to Steve; it was only fair after all.
"So, what do you want?" Darry asked Steve, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.
"Well, you know the fire that happened at Marty's place?" Steve started, and Darry nodded, "Well, I was gonna keep quiet about it…but I know that if I did then I'd break."
"Get to the point." Darry snapped.
"As I walking home the other night, I saw that the store was on fire. I saw Ponyboy and Curly Shepard running out of the store with a few other boys who I didn't recognize." Steve continued, and Darry's jaw dropped, "When I was here before, I told Pony that I saw him and Curly. He begged me not to tell you, but as I said, I couldn't keep this from you any longer."
"N-no. Pony wouldn't do anything like that!" Darry cried.
"I was shocked too. But it's always the ones you aren't expecting. I figured I'd tell you now; before Pony ended up doin something else and ended up in the reformatory or a boy's home. I know you keep your brothers in line." Steve stated, and walked back into the house before Darry noticed his smirk.
Steve fell back into his seat and smiled at Pony, who was shivering slightly.
"I'm so, so sorry, Steve. I never meant that about your mom. Can I make it up to you?" Pony questioned, and Steve shook his head.
"Trust me; I know you'll be sorry. And you can't make it up to me; I hate you." Steve hissed, and Pony sunk down in his seat.
Darry came back into the room a couple of minutes later, and he sat down without saying a word. He was supposed to be helping Pony with his math homework, but now it looked like he wasn't interested.
"Darry, are you gonna help me with my homework?" Pony croaked, but Darry didn't answer him. Soda looked from one brother to the other.
"Darry?" Soda called.
"Yeah, little buddy?" Darry replied, and Pony stared at Darry.
Everybody exchanged glances with each other, except for Steve who was inwardly smiling.
XXX
Once everybody had left the house, including Soda who had been invited to a party with Steve, Darry grabbed Pony's arm and pushed him into his room.
Pony gulped when Darry shoved him to sit on his bed, and shivered when Darry towered over him.
"Steve told me about what you did." Darry growled.
"I know, I shouldn't have said it." Pony said quickly, bouncing his leg up and down.
"Said?! Are you serious, Ponyboy?! I'm talking about you going around with Curly Shepard and setting fire to the grocery store! Are you really that stupid?!" he screamed, and Pony gasped; why had Steve told him that?
"No Darry, you've got it all wrong-"
"You're lucky I'm not belting you right now! Why would you do it, huh? Why?!" Darry yelled, and Pony flinched back.
"Steve's lying; I promise I never did anything to the store!" Pony cried, and Darry stomped his foot on the ground. Pony shrunk back and wiped away the tears that were running down his cheeks.
"Why would he lie, Ponyboy? I should have seen it anyway; as soon as Two-Bit mentioned the fire, you looked as if you were about to be sick. Did you think you wouldn't get away with it? Well you're wrong, little brother!" Darry hollered, and Pony let out a sob.
After Darry's temper decreased a little, he glared at Pony before saying:
"You're not the brother I used to know." And with that, he stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut.
Pony buried his head into the bed covers and sobbed. He didn't stop crying until Soda came home.
XXX
"Hey, little buddy. How was the party?" Darry asked Soda who had his arm wrapped around Steve.
"Oh it was great, Darry. I met a girl there called Candy, and I think she really likes me!" Soda announced, batting his eyelashes.
"Sandy." Steve corrected.
"That's nice, little buddy. Did Steve tell you what Pony did?" Darry questioned, and Soda shook his head.
"Did he get a girlfriend?" Soda chuckled, but stopped when he saw Darry's face, "What did he do?"
"He was involved in causing the fire down at Marty's. Apparently he was with Curly Shepard and a few other hoods. I never would have found out if it wasn't for Steve." Darry declared, and Steve nodded, though his stomach felt funny.
"Yeah…I don't feel too good, I think I'll head on home." Steve said, and Darry smiled.
"Okay, but you can come back here if you need to." He offered, and Steve smiled before leaving.
"No, Pony wouldn't do that." Soda frowned after Steve had left.
"Well he obviously did. I'm not talking to him anymore; he's not the same little brother no more." Darry stated, and Soda left to his bedroom.
He saw Pony sobbing on the bed, and as much as he wanted to believe Pony, he knew that Steve would never lie to him.
"No point in crying Pony; it's your own fault." Soda tutted, climbing in beside his little brother.
Pony shook but didn't bother to answer Soda.
"You might as well go back to your own bed; it's clear that you know best." Soda huffed, and turned away from Pony.
Pony stopped crying because he didn't want to annoy Soda, however Soda's words stung his heart.
After a few minutes of silence, Darry came into the room and crept over to the bed.
"Goodnight, little buddy, I love you so much." Darry whispered to Soda. He kissed Soda's head, and Soda replied that he loved Darry too.
Pony waited for Darry to say that he loved him, but he didn't.
"Goodnight, Ponyboy." Darry said coldly, and patted Soda's head before leaving the room.
Pony sighed and blinked away the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes.
"I'm surprised he even said goodnight." Soda hissed, and Pony let the tears fall silently.
XXX
Ponyboy winced as the soc kicked him in the ribs again.
"Trash!" the soc yelled, and picked Pony up and scratched his arms. Pony whimpered but didn't cry; he felt as if nothing could make him cry anymore.
Eventually the soc let Ponyboy go, and Ponyboy ran away before the soc could pull him back. Pony ran into somebody and got knocked over, but when he looked up he felt fear wash over him; it was Steve.
"Watch where you're going, you brat!" Steve screamed, and Pony nodded and stood up. Steve's tone changed when he saw the bruises and scratches on Pony's arms and face, "What happened?" Steve asked softly.
"Nothing." Pony mumbled, and tried to stalk away, but Steve pulled him back, "Leave them alone!" Pony shouted, tugging his arm away and bolting off down the road. Steve stared after Pony, and then turned away and carried on walking.
"Where've you been, Ponyboy? You're grounded." Darry growled, and Pony put his head down and hid his arms behind his back as Darry watched him.
"I got delayed. I'm sorry." Pony muttered.
Darry scoffed and folded his newspaper back up.
"You know, I think that since you've decided that you can do whatever you want, you should move back into your old room. I don't want Soda getting any ideas off of you." Darry stated. Pony put his head up and blinked.
"Why won't you believe me? Since when have you started believing Steve over me?" Pony whimpered, and Darry shook his head.
"It was clear that it was you, Ponyboy. And go clean up your face, you look as if you've been scratched by a cat." Darry asserted before turning away from his younger brother.
Ponyboy went to his old room and sat down on his bed. He felt so upset; had he really upset Steve this much that he felt the need to do this?
Pony stayed in his room thinking about Steve and his brothers, until he started to feel hungry. Why hadn't his brothers called him for dinner yet?
Pony stumbled out of the room, and saw the whole gang minus Darry sitting around the table eating. Why hadn't anybody called him?
"Sorry Pony, I thought that you didn't want any dinner since you're responsible enough to do it yourself." Darry said, and Pony looked up at him. Tears clouded the boy's vision.
Nobody paid attention to Pony and Darry, except for Steve who was suddenly disinterested in the heated conversation between Dally and Two-Bit.
"I mean, you're certainly not a little boy anymore, and since you'd rather be out with Curly, I figured that you can at least make dinner for yourself, let alone sleep by yourself." Darry affirmed.
Pony just smiled at his brother and nodded. He went back to his room and fell asleep, not bothering to make anything for himself.
Steve couldn't help but feel sorry for Pony; he wanted to get back at him, but this seemed a little too much. Still, he didn't say anything, and just tuned back into Dally and Two-Bit's heated conversation.
XXX
It had been almost two weeks since Pony had moved out of his and Soda's bedroom. He did things by himself now, and that included comforting himself after he had a nightmare. Darry and Soda never came.
One day, he stayed outside of school while everybody else went home. Everybody else except for Steve.
Steve found Pony sitting on a bench, so he sat down beside him. Nothing was said between the two, until eventually Steve said:
"I'm surprised you haven't told on me."
"Well, I tried, but I gave up. There's no point; I'd rather Soda be happy and have a best friend." Pony stated, and Steve was taken aback.
"But-"
"I don't hate you, Steve. As much as you hate me, I don't hate you. Just like I don't hate Darry or Soda. Or the socs for that matter; I can take them. I know that mom and dad knew that I didn't do anything, so at least I know that they still love me, even if they're not here." Pony smiled.
Steve swallowed and looked at Pony, and instead saw a mature young man, not a tag-along kid or a sissy.
"The difference is Steve: your dad doesn't love you. Soda and Darry do love me, and that's why it hurts more when they hate me. Your mom loved you, and I'm sure you'd be just as upset as me if she was still alive and started ignoring you. Or if Soda ignored you, since he's been your friend since you were little." Pony explained, and Steve understood.
But now he saw that the damage had already been done.
Pony was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked even skinnier than usual. He hadn't smiled in a while, and his greenish-gray eyes had no life to them.
"I'm sorry, Pony. I'm so sorry." Steve cried, and he meant it.
"It doesn't matter anyway; like you said, Darry hates me." Pony said, and stood up before walking home.
Steve went back to the cornfield that his mother used to take him to, and he cried into the dirt, though this time the tears weren't for his mother; they were for Ponyboy.
He knew what he had to do. He had to make things right, even if it destroyed everything.
XXX
Ponyboy was in his room when Steve walked through the front door. Darry and Soda were sitting on the sofa, laughing at the TV.
"Guys, I need to talk to you." Steve announced.
Darry and Soda continued to laugh after Darry had switched off the television set.
"Go ahead," Soda chuckled, wiping away tears from his eyes.
Steve took a deep breath before cutting to the chase.
"Ponyboy wasn't involved with the fire. I honestly don't know who was involved, but Pony wasn't." he declared, and Darry and Soda stopped laughing.
"You're kidding, right?" Soda exclaimed, looking at Darry whose face had paled.
"I was angry with him. He said something to me about my mom, so I flipped. Pony didn't do anything wrong, I just made it up." Steve said fearfully.
Nobody said a word for a few minutes, until Darry growled,
"Get out."
Steve did so; he didn't want to risk getting his head kicked in.
The two eldest brothers looked at each other; they were going to set things right; they had to.
Ponyboy was sitting on his bed with his bruised arms behind his head. Darry and Soda came and sat on the bed, but Pony didn't look at them.
"Pony, we're so, so, so sorry for not believing you." Soda croaked, and Pony looked at him with wide eyes.
"You were right, Pony: I should have believed you over Steve, and I'm so sorry that I didn't." Darry smiled softly, but Pony didn't say anything to either brother.
The two men saw how white Pony's skin was and how dark the circles under his eyes were. How would they ever be able to make it up to him?
"It's okay. You two aren't the big brothers who I used to know." Pony declared, and then turned away from the two of them.
Soda and Darry looked at each other, shocked.
"Little buddy-" Darry started, but Pony stopped him.
"Don't call me that. Never call me that again. I'm not your buddy. I'm a burden." Pony spat. He tried not to make it obvious that he was crying, though the whimpering noises that he was making made it obvious that he was crying.
"Oh dear…" Darry said sadly.
Soda frowned and felt tears coming to his own eyes. His baby brother didn't think he loved him? Yep, he and Darry had gone too far.
"We love you so much." Darry whispered, pulling Pony up and onto his lap.
Pony struggled for a moment, and kept saying that his brothers hated him, however he decided that there was no point and just gave up.
"…So much." Soda smiled, rubbing Pony's back.
"I'm not a grown up. I don't want to do everything for myself." Pony uttered into Darry's shirt. Darry and Soda nodded.
"Of course not; you're still our baby brother." Darry said.
"You can move back into my room if you want to. My arms feel kinda empty without you in them." Soda grinned, and Pony nodded.
Very soon, Pony fell asleep in Darry's arms.
"Put him in my room." Soda told Darry, and Darry stood up and took Pony to Soda's bedroom. He laid him down and covered him in the bedsheets.
"Haven't held Pony in a while," Darry chuckled, "I forgot how light he is."
"He's probably gotten lighter since he stopped eating dinner. I really wished we hadn't been so horrible to him now." Soda declared, starting to tear up. Darry rested his hand on Soda's shoulder.
"We'll get through it. I don't want Steve anywhere near me though, in case I end up killing him."
"Don't worry; I don't think he'll be coming around for a while." Soda stated coldly, but his expression softened when Pony started stirring.
"Shh." Soda soothed, and Pony went back to sleep.
XXX
Steve hadn't come to the Curtis house for a week now.
After playing a card game with Darry and Soda, Ponyboy said he was going out for a walk.
Darry warned Pony not to stay out too long, however both brothers still kissed Pony and hugged him before he left.
Pony remembered a nice cornfield that he had visited once before. The sunset was beautiful, and made all of the corn look like a field of gold.
When the boy reached the field, he saw Steve sitting there on the ground, gazing up at the sky.
"Hey kid." Steve greeted, offering a smile.
Pony didn't say anything, but he did sit next to Steve.
"What are you doing here?" Pony asked when Steve sat up.
"My mom used to take me here when I was a kid. I loved it a lot." Steve smiled.
Pony smiled, and stared at the sunset with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry about what I said about your mom; I bet she loved you a lot." Pony whispered, and Steve shook his head.
"I'm sorry about telling Darry that it was you who helped burn down the grocery store. It was a horrible thing to do." He shuddered.
"Yeah, it was. But it's okay; we all make mistakes. Want to come over tonight? Darry and Soda can't stay mad at you forever." Pony offered.
"Nah, it's okay. I'm surprised that you're not mad at me anymore. I wish I had your control, but I guess-"
"Steve, it's okay. I'd rather just put his behind me." Pony asserted.
"Yeah, okay." Steve said, "You know, when you were sad, that flower over there started wilting. But as soon as you and your brothers made up, it started blooming again. I call it mom, since it was the only flower that ever grew in the field, and my mom used to water it all the time. I never let it die after she did, though when you were sad, it started dying."
"Really?" Pony asked.
"Yeah; I think mom was angry with me. Had every right to aswell." Steve smiled sadly, and Pony patted his shoulder.
"Well, your mom has no reason to be mad at you anymore." Pony grinned, and got up and left for his house before Steve could answer him.
Steve looked at the cornflower and smiled as one of the dark blue petals fell into the cornfield, symbolizing a new start, a second chance…a new beginning.
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed that one-shot, and I hope that the characters weren't too OOC! I don't know why, but I love cornfields! Random, I know :) :)