"Soda?" I rolled over as he climbed into bed.

"Hey," Soda whispered. "It's late go back to bed."

I glanced up at the clock. "It's one thirty," I said. My entire body ached from roofing the church. I took notice to my wrapped hands. I wasn't sure how I got here.

"Yeah, we went to a party after work. Be quite in the morning Two-Bit and Steve are going to be hung over."

"How come Darry lets you stay out so late?" I asked.

"Because I'm older." He grinned and rubbed his hand over my hair.

"It's because he thinks I'm bad."

Soda gave me a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"I heard you guys earlier," I said. They were sort of loud when they first came. "When you came home from the hospital."

"Hey kiddo, he was just joking. He said the same thing about me too. You know, he's pretty worried about you. Did you talk to him at all?"

I shook my head. "I slept on the couch. Well, I thought I slept on the couch." Darry must have carried me back to my bed, and wrapped up my hands.

Soda sighed. "Just cut him slack. Please Ponyboy. I don't want him back in that hospital."

"Okay," I said just to make him happy. I wasn't exactly itching to have Darry back in the hospital either.

Soda threw his arm around me. "Good night."

It wasn't a good night. I woke up with a jolt, and bit my lip, so I wouldn't scream. I felt something warm run down my face. I knew it was blood. "Shit."

I got out of bed. These dreams were just morbid. I took off running to the bathroom only to my feet tangled up in something. I knew it was a person. I couldn't help but scream, as I hit the floor side ways.

"Holy shit! Watch where you are going." Steve's voice sounded like he was in pain.

He rolled over and groaned. I pulled my foot out from under him. I could hear Darry and Soda coming out of their rooms. One of them turned the lights causing Steve to groan, and me to shield my eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Darry asked.

"The stupid kid stepped on me. Damn near knocked the wind out of me."

"Well don't sleep where people walk," Darry mused.

"Darry, you can go back to bed," Soda said. "I can handle this."

I rolled my eyes. There was nothing to handle. I made my way to the bathroom. I couldn't exactly throw water on my face with out taking the bandages off my hands.

"Don't touch those. Your hands are not looking that great," Darry barged in. I didn't fully shut the door all the way. I was still annoyed that he just waltzed in.

Darry put the toilet seat down. "Sit."

I did what he said. He ran a rag under the water, and then wiped the blood off my chin. "You okay?" Darry pressed the rag to my bleeding lip.

"You can go back to bed. They are fine." Soda said to Darry.

Darry actually looked kind of irritated. He ignored Soda. "You look like a boxer with your hands taped up, and a split lip."

I grinned a little bit. "I may need some boxing skills tomorrow when Steve's ribs are in pain because I stepped on them."

"Did you not get a good enough whiff of him? He'll be too hung over to worry about his ribs." Darry ran his hand through my hair. "Go get some sleep."


The entire living room smelled like beer and Jack Daniels. I was glad that Soda didn't drink. It was time to get back to the drawling bored thou. I put a pan on the stove and started making eggs.

"What are you doing?" Soda asked. "Hey, I paid that water bill."

"I'm making breakfast. How much was it? I'll stop by the bank and get your money."

"I can make it. Why don't you go back to bed."

"Sodpop, how much do I owe you?" I asked. He was starting to crawl under my skin. I didn't need help, and it was a slap in the face for him to think that.

"Just don't worry about it this month." He replied carefully. He could tell I was getting pissed off. He grabbed the carton of eggs.

"Damn it, Soda! I'm not broken! I'm the adult in this house! I pay the bills and I tell you what to do. You're the kid, you do what I say!" I was shouting loud enough to cause the guys in the next room to stir.

"Just let me help out during the summer, so you don't die of heat exhaustion."

"I'm not going to die. I'm not fragile. I can still cook, clean, roof and do what ever else I want. It wasn't serious."

"It sure looked pretty serious when you were in a hospital bed for three days."

I turned back to the eggs. "This is exactly why I didn't want you coming down there."

"What was I supposed to do? Let you die. I thought you fell off the roof." Soda stared down at his feet.

"Sodapop, everything is okay." I said just to reassure him. God, I hated it when he got upset. I pulled him into a hug.

"Go wake your brother up."

"He's gone," Soda said breaking away from me. "Left before you got up."

"Does he have plans to talk to me again?" I asked.

"I don't know," Soda answered truthfully.

Now I was really frustrated. I rubbed my forehead hoping that the pounding that started would go away. "Where do you think he went?"

"Community service," Soda answered slowly. "He's been going early. He isn't supposed to be there until nine."

I let out a hostile breath of air. "You know what, I'm going to go get him." I grabbed my keys.