Chapter 9
Steve
The next morning I was on my way to Soda's to pick him up for work; all night I was thinking about this Rebecca chick, and why the hell I would ask Soda about her, clearly it was a stupid and personal question, yet I still felt the need to push and ask questions. The truth was I had to ask, like a small voice in the back of my mind…it was so random, this voice was so recognizable, yet I couldn't place the source. I didn't hear the voice very often, whenever I heard him it felt my heart take a leap, I felt my breath grow short, and I was left with my mind reeling with questions, but instead I always repeat whatever the voice in my head.
I knew I should mention this to Sodapop, he would know what to do; maybe I would have, you know if his brother didn't die, and I didn't want to be checked into a mental institution. I jumped up into the Curtis's front porch, and walked through the screen door; Dallas was already in there with Two Bit. It was the first time I had seen them since the funeral, Two Bit gave me a small smile, Dallas nodded at me, and I nodded back at both of them. I wasn't ready to smile just yet.
Soda popped out of his bedroom then, he was smiling, like full blown smile. I felt my eyebrows rise and saw Two Bit and Dally doing the same thing; not that it was weird to see Soda smiling, the dude never stopped, however considering his past records for this month, smiling wasn't something anyone had seen in a long time.
"Morning sunshine" Dallas said, half chuckling, still processing this change of scene.
"Hey Dally!" Soda chirped "Hey Steve! I was thinking maybe this morning we could take the park route! You know skip through the creek?" Soda asked as he bounced through the house.
"Uh, yeah sure thing, buddy" I said, it was like the past month never happened. Soda was bouncing about taking swigs of chocolate milk, his blue uniform jacket wasn't buttoned up, it flew behind him like a small cape; his shoes were off and his hair was a wild mess.
"Soda what's up with the mood?" Dally asked, as we watched Soda take his third swig of milk.
"I talked to Pony last night! He's not gone guys!"
I don't think anyone was really prepared for that, I saw the goofy grins on Two Bit and Dally's faces drop; I felt my crooked smile fall back into a thin line.
"W-what did you just say?" Two Bit stuttered.
"Last night he grabbed a bottle of chocolate sauce and wrote on the table "I'm here" and we talked! Like not face to face but it felt real! I mean he told me he was here and that's all I needed to hear!" Soda said completely unfazed by our reactions.
The three of us looked at each other, horrified, Soda had a dream last night, it had to have been a dream but no one wanted to tell him. This was the best he had been in a while, no one wanted to take a chance of ruining that moment. Then I saw Dallas take a deep breath and took a small step forward.
"Uh, Buddy? When did this happen? Like just now this morning or last night?" he asked.
Soda cocked his head to the side "It was last night, Darry and I were cleaning up from eating and he sent us that message" Soda responded, unsure what Dally's point was.
"Soda, did you ever consider the possibility that maybe it was a dream?" Dally asked slowly. It was the most delicate I had ever heard Dallas Winston say anything that carefully.
Soda blinked and for a split second I thought he was going to break again; but he shook his head instead determined to make us believe him.
"No! It wasn't a dream, ask Darry! He was here I bet he's still here now! I could call him and he'll reply with something! It was real!" Soda insisted.
Dallas closed his eyes shaking his head, Soda turned to me his eyes wide begging for me to speak up, tell everyone in the room that he wasn't crazy, but I didn't know if I could.
"I don't know man, I mean it does sound pretty far-fetched, don't you think?" I saw his mouth drop. "I mean why would he wait so long to talk to us?" I quickly asked.
"M-Maybe he didn't know how! Maybe he's just figuring things out and now he knows and he can talk to us!" Soda shouted back.
Shut up Steve!
That voice! My body jerked as if the fuzz just shocked me; a small gasp escaped my lips, Soda, Dally and Two Bit starred at me. I knew that voice, I knew it from somewhere, and little voice didn't just appear in your head! I shook my head and sat down on the floor, after a couple seconds Soda sat beside me.
"You have to believe me Steve, please tell me that Pony is still here" Soda begged. His voice lost that energy and he sounded desperate, desperate for a speck of good news that involved his brother, and I couldn't let him down.
"Yeah man, I believe you"
Dally and Two Bit looked like they wanted to crack our heads together and force some kind of sense into us; I guess in their eyes being depressed was better than being crazy. Besides I had a gut feeling that the voice in my head was someone who I was really close with, or I was close with. Soda leaned against me still smiling, I guess since he was happy it was okay from him to be a little crazy, but still who was I to judge?
Darry walked into the room then, he wasn't glowing like Soda was; but he was smiling. Dally and Two Bit looked like they were bracing themselves for another "Ponyboy isn't really gone!" speech, but Darry just went about doing his daily morning routine. And then something really bizarre happened, a drawer opened, I saw it from the corner of my eye, but it was the farthest drawer from any of us. Then a paper and pen came floating out, I heard Soda gasp and scramble to his feet, running to the table where the paper landed.
Dally and Two Bit and I just stayed in our spots, frozen; objects were moving. Why were they moving? How were they moving? What the hell is going on? Two Bit broke from the trance first and slowly walked over to where Soda was standing. Darry joined them half a second later; their gazes were fixed on that paper and pen, I could tell they were holding their breaths as well. After a minute of complete silence I saw Darry pale and Soda's eyes widen. It was then I finally got up to look at the pad of paper. Scribbled across the white page was five words, but those five words looked like they were going to knock Darry off of his feet.
DARRY, WHAT HAPPENED TO REBECCA?
