Sodapop's P.O.V.
*One Month Later*
Johnny and I were out of the hospital now, and we were both fine. Johnny was the last to leave, though, about two weeks after I did. His concussion was pretty severe and he couldn't walk for a while without fainting. I still can't walk, due to my hip, but I'm enjoying bossing around Darry and Pony for food and things. They don't mind, but they know I'm doing it for kicks. I usually don't need about half the things I ask them for.
I don't have to go to work, either, which is a relief physically. It isn't a good thing, though, since now I'm not bringing in money to help Darry with the bills. He's been coming home later now, working extra hours. I feel too guilty about that, and I tell Darry that, too. He just tells me not to worry about it and that he knew I couldn't do much about it. I worry about it anyway.
The gang comes by to visit me a lot. Johnny came by the other day with Dally. Personally, I wasn't expecting to see Dally, even though he spent a lot of time at our house and I was only in my room. He came anyway. He was my buddy and I would have gone to see him, too.
Johnny felt guilty for some reason, and I was confused since none of this was his fault. I felt bad for him. He thought when bad things happened and he was mixed up in it somehow that it was somehow his fault. You could hardly convince him otherwise, which made me real depressed because he was so quiet and shy and he would never intentionally hurt anyone or anything. I guessed it had something to do with his family. I told him it was all the Socs fault and that nothing that happened was because of him. Johnny gave me a small smile, but I knew he decided not to believe me. I hurt seeing him beating himself up for something he didn't do. It also hurt seeing him actually beat up.
I heard from Steve who heard from Dally that those Socs who kidnapped me were still put away. Dally knew because he had just gotten out of the cooler last week for getting caught mugging someone with a piece of pipe. I don't know why he did that, but Dally had his reasons and I decided I really didn't want to know. I was just glad those Socs were still gone.
Right now, I was stuck in bed like I have been for the past three weeks or so, staring out the open window. Darry, Pony, and Two-Bit were all outside, tossing around a football. I sure wished I could join them, but I couldn't. Not with my hip. Another hospital visit wasn't exactly something I wanted to do, so I had to content myself with watching the three of them enjoying themselves.
Darry had the ball now, and he was running across the front lawn and into the street a bit to avoid Two-Bit, who was stumbling close behind him. Two-Bit was about as tall as Darry, so he was able to grab the ball easily and toss it to Pony. Pony caught it and started off running to that tree that was near the gate. Maybe they were using that as a goal. We usually played football in the lot, and I don't know why they were in the front lawn instead.
Darry wasn't as fast of a runner as Ponyboy was, but he was bigger. He ran up and lifted Pony by the waist, making my younger brother drop the ball. Darry scooped it up and continued to hold Pony. Pony was squirming around, trying to loosen Darry's grip around him, but gave up after a minute when Darry's grip didn't seen to give. Darry threw the ball to the other side of the yard, hitting the gate. Two-Bit had lunged for it, but fell into the grass on his stomach. Darry smirked and finally put Pony down.
Darry said, "I win!" and Two-Bit gasped for air. Pony patted Darry on the back and went over to help Two-Bit to his feet. He had always been a good sport about things. Darry was too, but he bragged a bit more about victories than Pony did. He was really proud of his athletic abilities.
Once Pony got Two-Bit up and Two-Bit had caught his breath, Pony gave him a sideways glance, then looked back at Darry. He whispered something in Two-Bit's ear that I couldn't hope to hear from where I was, but I got an idea of what Pony had said once he and Two-Bit had pounced and knocked Darry to the ground playfully. They were on top of him now, and Darry was laughing, pushing away their hands as they poked at his sides. Pony I could imagine doing poking at Darry, but Two-Bit must have been drunk again to consider trying to tickle him.
Now that I think about it, I didn't even know Darry was ticklish. I'll need to keep that in mind.
They all looked like they were enjoying themselves, and I was happy. I was happy that the gang was alright. I was happy that Johnny made it out okay. I was happy that those Socs were caught.
I was happy that everything was better now.