Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.


Wanna be our new Kid Brother?

Chapter Eight

Sodapop's POV

I heard the door shut and called out, "Hey Darry. Dinner's ready." Then after hearing no reply I looked up from my blue spaghetti noodles and green meatballs and saw the little kid from earlier.

"You're not Darry," I said, quietly.

He only grinned and said, "Nope." Well, that's weird... Thankfully, Darry came walking through the door.

"Hey, Darry." I looked at him and flicked my eyes back to the kid, sending him a message.

Why is he still here?

I mean, the kid didn't seem bad or anything but I was curious. The kid said he had a home so why would he want to stay here?

"I gotta tell you something, little buddy," he said.

"Okay...," I said, slowly.

"Are any of the gang here?"

"Nah. Steve went with Evie. Two-Bit with Kathy. Johnny went to his house. I have no idea where Dally went. Probably Buck's," I said.

"Good. I kinda have big news," Darry said.

"Good or bad?" Recently, all the news we got had been pretty bad. Last year, mom and dad had died. Then, Sandy got knocked up with someone else's kid and left me. What else could happen?

"Well, I think it's good. Kid, would you say it's good news?" Darry asked. The kid nodded vigorously. Darry laughed. He laughed. I mean, he laughs, just not often and I didn't see anything funny happening.

"Soda, can I talk to you for a minute? In my room?" I slowly nodded. What the heck was going on? We both walked to his room.

When Darry shut the door I faced him and asked, "Darry, what's goin' on?"

"Soda, the kid doesn't really have a home. He made it up and told me to drop him off at a random house. The lady at the house slapped him. Slapped him! And she was yelling about how she saw him eating out of the trash and how he was worthless and she was happy he wasn't her kid. That kid's homeless. He doesn't have a home," Darry explained. I was shocked. The kid was fourteen. Fourteen! He shouldn't be on his own, eating out of dumpsters and all that crap.

"Please tell me you told him to stay here," I pleaded. Darry smiled.

"I told him that we were going home after we left the crazy lady. He told me he didn't have a home and I told him he does now. Soda, I want him to live here, with us." I hugged Darry. I always wanted a little brother and now I would have one.

"Let's go see him," I said. He nodded. We both walked out of the bedroom grinning like crazy. Darry gestured towards the couch so we sat across from the boy. We turned our faces into a serious expression, which was really hard for me.

"Kid, we gotta ask you a really important question," Darry started. I couldn't help it.

I grinned and asked, "Wanna be our new kid brother?"

I wanted to jump up and down when I saw him nod. I settled for hugging the kid and Darry soon joined me. I had a baby brother and now Darry had two. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal the gang.

"Kid, this is Johnny, Dally, and Two-Bit. His real name is Keith Matthews but we just call him Two-Bit. And you already met Steve," I introduced everyone to him.

"Soda, why's he still here?" Steve asked. I glared at him. The kid was right there, he didn't have to make it so obvious.

"Well, guys, this is our new kid brother," Darry said. Kid brother. I had a kid brother.

"What do you mean, he's your new kid brother?" Steve questioned. My new brother looked up at Darry and Darry nodded at him. I knew he wanted Darry to explain the situation. He probably was uncomfortable about it.

"He didn't have a home so he kinda lied and told me to drive him back to a random house, a Soc house by the way, and so I dropped him off and waited for him to go inside. When he opened the door a lady came out and started yelling at him and then she slapped him. I thought he was his mother so I ran out there to yell at her but then she started yelling at him to go away so I offered him to stay here. Now he's our little brother," Darry explained.

"And his name is?" Dally asked. My eyes widened. I didn't even know my brother's name! I was probably the worst older brother in the world. I'd had the job for less than five minutes and I was already failing. Two-Bit started laughing.

"You got a new brother and you don't even know his name?" He asked, still laughing. He didn't need to rub it in. I faced my little brother.

"Kiddo, what's your name? I'm so sorry. We just...kinda forgot to ask," I said. Man, I sounded like a total jerk. I forgot to ask for his name.

"I don't have one," he whispered.


Okay, that didn't really make any progress with the story but it'll give you an idea about what Sodapop was thinking. Anyway, I won't be able to update this weekend. I'm going on vacation. Thanks for understanding and please review!

- Stay Gold -

I'll update soon,

Teenbookworm13