Chapter 4: Around Still

Ponyboy woke up to an aroma running through his nose. After sitting up, he recognized the smell as eggs and…could it be? Chocolate!

"Hey, you two turn that down!"

His head jerked towards the hallway and noticed that Darry was sticking his head in the room that the boys were sleeping in. Gregory must have plugged together his Playstation or something. Darry walked over towards the front, clad in pants and a white beater just like when he used to come home from work, and said "morning" to his younger brother.

"Morning," he responded. "When are we going to pick up Soda?"

"The doctor said we can pick him up this afternoon. So you and I are going to pick him up around twelve. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah. Its…fine."

"Okay. Go ahead and put the couch bed up."

And with that, Darry walked into the kitchen. Ponyboy stretched for a little bit and slid out of the bed. After folding the sheets up and turning the bed into a couch, he heard the door knock. He was about to answer it, but Willie came rushing to it and opened it himself. There in the doorway stood another young man around Willie's age. Pony concluded that he must be one of his friends.

"Darry!" Willie shouted. "I'm going out."

"To where?" asked Darry as he walked into the living room.

"Just to my friend's house. I'll be back before Soda gets back."

"Alright….Have fun."

The two teenagers then closed the door and Pony could hear them talking as they jumped off the porch. Darry then looked at him.

"Gregory didn't want to come with him?"

"I guess not," he answered. "He's….a little shy sometimes."

Darry shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. Truly, Gregory was barely ever shy, especially around kids close to his age. He was only quiet around adults around him and Soda's age. Pony walked back to the bedroom his son was sleeping in and saw him sitting down, playing the Playstation as expected.

"You didn't want to go with your cousin?" he asked.

Without taking his eyes away from the television, Gregory answered,

"He didn't ask me if I wanted to go."

Pony stared for a second. Gregory wasn't even invited. He probably didn't feel too well about that, and he rubbed his son's hair.

"Don't let it bother you, Greg."

With that, he grabbed his suitcase and entered the bathroom to take his shower. Finally, twelve o'clock came and he and Darry took the Dodge to the hospital. It really had been a very long time since Ponyboy had actually sat in a truck. At Penn State, everyone pretty much had cars. Some even had convertibles, which was nothing new to him.

When they reached the hospital, Ponyboy stayed behind to fill out the check-out forms while Darry went to go get the middle brother. As he looked at the sheet, there were a lot of questions he couldn't answer. Of course, he could answer things about facial features. But a lot of them were personal questions. And he hadn't really talked to Sodapop since his marriage. And that was fifteen years ago.

Marriage…he found himself thinking about his wife again. No matter how much he tried to let it go, he would find himself thinking about her. She had left a mark so deep that he didn't think anyone she met would ever forget her.

"Hey Pony!"

Soda's voice broke into his thoughts and he looked to his left. There was Sodapop being sitting in a wheelchair being wheeled in by Darry. He had already forgotten that his brother was paralyzed from the waist down.

"Hey Soda. How long until you're not paralyzed anymore?"

Soda shrugged.

"Shouldn't be too long. But I have to come back here as soon as I get feeling back in my legs. I have to learn to walk all over again."

"Aw. That's not good."

He shrugged again.

"Not really. I think it'll be fun. A new challenge."

The other two Curtis brothers couldn't help but smile. When they got back to the house, everyone was excited to see Sodapop healthy, especially Willie. Lisa asked if Soda would like to lie down in his bed, but he shook his head. He and Willie sat down and played cards for a while.

"Yup. They seem to do that all the time," said Pamela as she and Pony were looking at them from the kitchen doorway.

"Do what?" he asked.

"They play all sorts of gambling related games, but never for money. Dominoes, poker, you name it. They're real close."

He observed the two again. He and Gregory were close, but not that close. The only time they spent time with each other was when they went to a Phillies game. But ever since the loss of the valuable family member, things haven't been like they used to be.

That night, Ponyboy went to go put some gas in his car, since the tank was nearly empty. While driving back home he stopped at a stop sign and surveyed the scenery. He remembered himself walking down these streets just to find a way to keep him entertained, mostly just going to the movie theater.

While he was thinking again, two darkly dressed men came running up to either side of the car. One appeared on his side and held a gun up.

"Get out of the car!"

Pony looked and saw that he was being carjacked.

"I don't want any trouble!" he yelled while putting his hands up.

"And you'll be in some if-" started the one on the passenger side, but the other cut him off.

"Wait a second, wait a second…Curtis?"

Ponyboy looked towards the guy and he threw off his mask. He had to stare for a moment, but he recognized him eventually.

"Curly? Shepard!"

"Aw hell!" shouted Curly. "What are you doing back in town? Ey, put the gun down. I know this guy."

The other robber put the gun down while Curly kept talking.

"Are you here to see about Sodapop?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay. Is he out yet? How's he doing?"

"He's fine. He's just can't walk for right now."

"Oh that sucks."
"Yeah. It does. Well I got to get back. Nice seeing you."

"Likewise, Curtis."

With that, Ponyboy went straight on home. It was nice seeing Curly again, but it wasn't the best feeling in the world to be held by gunpoint.