Disclaimer: I own nothing.

/A.N/ A return to the crime scene and person who started off the whole story. Mark Jennings.

Darry

I shook the paper open and sighed as I saw yet another story on some pusher getting jailed. Nowadays, it was like I couldn't get ten feet within anywhere without smelling grass. I was glad Soda didn't do the junk though. The state might be off our backs but its better if we're all clean. I didn't like to think that Mom and Dad might be out there ,watching us ,thinking that I had messed up my kid brothers. But then, a name of the story caught my eye. Mark Jennings. It sounded vaguely familiar and I wondered where I had heard it. Then it hit me, Mark...Pony's friend. Pony's pusher friend. I groaned. Shit. Now how was I going to bring this up with Pony? I could just feel my stress levels going up again.

It ain't fun, trying to raise Pony and Soda. Well, Soda was easy enough, Mom and Dad had mostly taught him but with Pony, it was harder. It wasn't that he was a rebel or something. He was just plain more difficult to understand with his interest in books and movies. I would have thought it was easier but now how was I going to bring up stuff like girls and all? I remembered the fiasco of that birds and bees talk with Two-Bit butting in just as I though Pony was gonna pass out or something from embarrassment.

I shook my head and put down the paper, the headache was starting to rear up and it wasn't something I needed on a Saturday.

Soda

I heard about it from Steve.

"Hey, you read the paper today?" he asked me over the counter while I organized the girlie mags up front ,now and then flipping through one. I figure it won't hurt.

"Steve, since when have I ever bothered reading the paper?" I snorted. "You're better off asking Darry."

"That cat Jennings got busted." Steve's face was pretty serious.

"Jennings? You mean, Pony's friend?"

"Yeah."

"What for?" I was interested now and the mag now hung limply in my hand even though it was the centerfold piece.

"Drugs."

"Ouch," I winced, knowing that could not be pretty. The state was sitting pretty hard on drugs now, what with the whole Vietnam thing and hippies protests going on. I was pretty relieved that I hadn't gotten a draft notice, a lot of guys I knew were getting shipped off to wars that didn't even believe in. Sometimes, I wondered if I should get myself caught by the fuzz just so I wouldn't get drafted. Prison sounded a lot better than Viet.

But Darry would probably skin me first, no matter the reasoning.

"Yeah. I know," Steve said. "You know, when Darry hears Pony's friends with a pusher, he'll probably go ape."

"Steve..." I said slowly, a thought suddenly occurring to me.

"Yeah?"

"How'd you know if Darry hasn't found out? He reads the paper every day."

"Crap," Steve said in amusement. I guess he found it funny. But I didn't and I really did mean crap.

"Exactly." I told him, hoping Pony wouldn't be in too much trouble.

Pony

I heard it from Terry,that nut. He was hollering it out for the whole Oklahoma to hear. He's crazy if he thinks that's the way to get girls.

"Ponyman!" he called out to me and I scowled in bugged me that he gave me that nickname. It was awful and if I had enough guts,I would probably have told him where he could put "Ponyman".

Sadly,I don't.

"Ya hear the news?"

"What news?" I asked him shortly,still irritated by his call.

"Mark got busted."

"Busted?"I was confused. For what? hot-wiring cars again?

"Drugs," Terry whispered in this covert whisper.

"Drugs?" I repeated, a bit shocked. "I didn't know that Mark was a user." I told Terry.

"He ain't." Terry lowered his voice a bit. "He's a pusher."

I stared at Terry. I was real stunned.

"I know," Terry said. "Now where am I gonna get my high?" he asked in annoyance.

But by that time,I just turned and walked off,reeling from the news.

Dammit,it just didn't seem right that Mark was a pusher.

Then I thought,

"Glory,I hope Darry and Soda sure don't know."