CHAPTER 10
CAMPING
ANYONE POV
The week passed by quickly, Janet had not been coming around as much and Ponyboy was starting to relax. It was the weekend of the camping trip and Janet was pretty angry when Darry told her she wasn't going to be joining them. They were only going to stay Friday and Saturday night and come home Sunday evening. On Friday morning Janet parked her car and got out, Soda opened the door when she knocked.
"Hi Janet, I'll get Darry for you," he told her as she sat down. He went down the hall.
"Janet's here," he said rolling his eyes.
"Damn, Pony, finish getting ready," Darry told his little brother.
"Dare, she's not coming is she?" Pony asked him quietly.
"No, it's just us guys," Darry reassured him walking out the door.
"I'll get Johnny," Soda said looking at Pony.
"He's probably in the lot," Pony answered back.
DARRY POV
"Hello Janet, what brings you here?" I what I asked sitting on the couch. I've been more or less avoiding Janet since I knew how my brothers felt about her, but now she was sitting across from me and I felt quartered and pressured by her.
"My family is having a reunion and we are expected to be there," she told me in a sweet voice.
I sighed. "You know this is my weekend with the boys," I reminded her, filling a headache quickly forming and hoping fervently that she'd leave.
"Darrel, I told them that we'd be there," she whined.
"Go alone; I'm taking the guys camping. We'll be back Sunday evening," I told her yet again, a feeling of helplessness washing over me. We had this conversation at least three times already, with Janet coming up with a new reason for me to stay home every time she came over. Why couldn't she just let me spend time with my brothers? Pony came from the bedroom with his bag.
"Why do you have to spend so much time with the kid?" She asked me.
"Go on out to the car Pony, tell Soda to wait with you," I told him softly.
"All right," I watched until he went out and then turned to Janet.
"Do we have to have to do this again?" I asked tiredly.
"Why can't Soda take the kid?" she griped spitefully.
"His name is Ponyboy and I'm sure Soda wouldn't mind, but I would. I enjoy spending time with both my brothers.
"Why can't I go?" she whined.
"Because it's just us," I replied calmly.
"Why are Johnny and the others going then? They are not family," she spat out.
My eyes narrowed and I saw red. "Don't ever make that mistake again Janet, Johnny is as much my brother as Soda or Pony. Just beacsue he doesn't have Curtis blood in his veins doesn't make him any less so. And that goes for Steve, Two-Bit and Dally as well," I told her coldly. I was quickly running out of patience with her whining. Before Janet could reply, the door opened and we both looked up. Soda and Johnny came in, soda was supporting most of Johnny's weight.
"Dare, Johnny needs some first aid," Soda needlessly informed me.
"I guess he does," I replied as I looked into our friends battered face. "Come on, I'll fix you up," I started down the hall.
"Darrel, just let Soda take them," Janet snapped, completely ignoring Johnny's bloody nose and swollen eye.
"Darry, you know that Pony's just sitting out there on the porch, don't you?" Soda asked me worriedly.
"Tell him that we'll be out in a few minutes. Johnnycakes, go grab a clean shirt from Pony's room," I said looking at the clock.
"Thanks Darry," Johnny threw mw a rare smile.
"Darrel, are you just going to stand there and ignore me?" Janet spoke loudly.
"No Janet, I told you what I was going to do. I'll call you when we get back on Sunday," I repeated flatly. "Now, please get out of my house!" I told her.
ANYONE POV
Janet stormed out the door and barged down the steps, knocking Ponyboy to the ground as she passed him.
"Get out of my way, you brat," she exploded.
"Hey!" Soda came running out. "Keep your hands off my little brother," he yelled helping Pony up.
"Are you Okay?" he asked, his voice still tinged with anger.
"I'm fine Sodapop," he muttered, even though his knee was skinned up.
Darry and Johnny walked out to see what all the hollering was about.
"What happened?" Darry asked when he saw Pony's scraped knee.
"Your girlfriend pushed him over, that's what happened! Pony, let's go wait in the house. I'll clean it for you," Soda told Pony, shooting a glare at Darry as he led Pony inside.
Darry took Janet by the arm and almost dragged her to the car.
"Janet, you're making a big mistake. Sodapop is on our side at the moment, but the quickest way to turn him against you and us is mess with his little brother. Don't ever touch Ponyboy again," he said through clinched teeth.
"I'm sorry, I just…it was an accident. It won't happen again," she promised him solemnly.
"If it does, we're over," Darry told her bluntly.
"It won't, have fun," she told Darry as he walked away.
DARRY POV
"Darry, phone," Pony yelled to me.
"I'm coming," I said as I walked to the house and took the phone from him. "Hello?" I said as I looked at his knee.
"Hey Darry," Bayleigh's sweet voice came over the line.
"Bay, how are you?" I asked, happy that she called.
"I'm better, thanks; I just wanted to tell you to have fun on your trip," she told me tenderly.
"I will Bay," we said goodbye and I hung up. I turned to the guys; the other three had arrived while I'd been on the phone. Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit were taking Steve's car leaving Pony, Johnny, Dally and me in mine.
Pony and Johnny sat in the back, whispering back and forth most of the way until Ponyboy fell asleep. He curled up in the seat and laid his head in Johnny's lap. I wanted to tell him to put his seat belt on, but he looked so peaceful that I left him alone. After we arrived and unpacked the cars, I sat down to rest.
"Darry, can Johnny and me go explore?" Pony asked excitedly.
"I guess, but don't go too far," I told him, shaking my head at his enthusiasm.
"We won't," Pony promised running out to where Johnny was waiting on him.
JOHNNY POV
We walked for a while and then sat down.
"Johnny, I don't know how much longer I can stand this," Pony told me quietly.
"Tell Darry or Soda, you know they will stop it. This can't go on; Pony, you're a wreck and they know something is wrong. I hate lying to them," I told him honestly.
"I can't Johnny, this is the first time since Mom and Dad died that Darry's been happy. I can't take that away from him and hurt him like that," Pony said, his voice starting to quiver slightly.
"Do you think that he wants you to hurt?" I asked him, trying to keep my temper.
"No, but this is the only way. I'll think of something," he told me bravely.
I stared at my best friend, but he wouldn't look at me.
"Promise me that you won't do something stupid," I demanded sharply.
"I…I," Pony stammered out, not used to me raising my voice.
"Pony, promise or I swear I will march into that cabin and tell Darry everything," I threatened.
"I promise Johnny, I just want the pain to stop," he cried.
Sometimes we all forget that no matter how tough Ponyboy acted, he was still just a kid. I pulled him to me for a quick hug. "I know you do and we'll fix this somehow," I swore to him. "We should head back now," I told him.
"I guess we probably should," he agreed.
ANYONE POV
The walk back was done in silence. Ponyboy had really scared Johnny. He didn't know what to do. If he said something, pony would get mad at him and he could lose his best friend; but on the other hand, if he didn't say anything and Pony did something stupid, well he would lose him anyway, maybe forever. They made it back to camp and the next few hours were spent hiking and fishing before they finally settled around the campfire as the night began to set in.
DARRY POV
Pony was exhausted, but fighting sleep.
"Pony, go to bed," I told him tiredly.
"Not until Soda does, Darry," he told me in that whining voice I found so annoying.
"Pony, I want to talk to Steve. I'll be there in a little while," Soda said as he put a log on the fire.
"But…," he started to protest.
"Come on Ponyboy, I'll go with you," Johnny jumped up, cutting him off. A few hours later I went to bed. Sometime toward dawn, I heard Pony cry out, but figured Soda had him so I didn't get up.
I lay there thinking about Janet and Bayleigh. I didn't know what I was going to do although it was clear that I was still very much in love with Bayleigh.
The next morning, Soda was asleep in the living room with Steve, which meant Pony was alone. I checked on him and smiled because Johnny's arm was once again around my brother and both were sleeping soundly. I could still see tear paths on Pony's pale face. I got the feeling that Johnny knew what was up with Pony, but he'd somehow convinced him not to tell us.
After everyone was up and breakfast was over, we spent the day outside. Soda and the guys went on a hike so I could try to talk to Pony.
"Hey Ponyboy," I called from the trail.
"Yeah Darry?" he walked over to me.
"Let's go sit by the creek and talk," I told him.
"All right, I'm not in trouble am I?" he asked quietly.
"No, Little Man, I was hoping that you would tell me what was bothering you," I told him in a gentle tone.
"Nothing is bothering me Darry, why would you think that?" he asked quickly.
"You haven't been yourself lately. Soda and I are worried about you," I said.
"You don't have to worry about me, I'm perfectly fine," he told me and I got the feeling that he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince me. The guys came back before I could question him further and he quickly found a reason to move away from me. Soda looked at me hopefully, and I shook my head no.
We spent the rest of the day swimming and had a cookout. I made sure Soda slept with Pony and we dealt with his nightmares, which were made all the worse because Steve complained loudly about getting woken up.
We had breakfast and then after a long hike and one last swim, we headed home. We saw a big change in Ponyboy over the next few weeks. He only talked to Johnny, who was always with him. He lost a lot of weight and was so pale. I couldn't remember the last time I'd heard my little brother laugh or seen him smile. I decided I needed to spend more time with him and not see as much of Janet as before.
ANYONE POV
Johnny and Pony were sitting on the porch one morning after Darry and Soda had left for work when Janet pulled in. She had managed to talk Darry into letting her come over for a little while that evening and she was on a mission to get rid of the kids for the night.
"Tell Darrel that I'll be a little late tonight," she snapped at them.
"Okay," Pony started talking to Johnny again and Janet turned to the quiet greaser.
"If you know what is good for your friend over there, you won't be here tonight. You don't need to be here all the time anyway," she said venomously.
Pony jumped up. "You don't live here, you can't tell Johnny to go anywhere!" he burst out.
When Janet went to grab Pony, Johnny stepped in front of him.
"Leave pony alone, I'll go home okay?" he said calmly.
Janet smirked and left. She knew those two boys were the main reason that she wasn't seeing very much of Darrel.
"Johnnycakes, you don't have to leave," Pony told him after they'd watched her drive off.
"I'll be all right at home," Johnny said bravely.
"Well you can stay for awhile at least," Pony told him sitting back down.
When Soda got back from work he noticed the two boys were unusually quiet, but figured if something was wrong, they would tell him. The TV was on in the background, Pony and Johnny were listening to the radio after dinner and the guys were loud as usual.
"Can't you turn that noise off?" Janet snapped at them.
Pony turned it off trying to hide his shaking hands.
"Pony, why don't you go in my room and listen to your music?" Darry told them trying not to get mad at his girlfriend. He was fast losing the battle.
DARRY POV
After the boys left the room, everyone kind of settled down. I wasn't talking much because I really didn't have anything to say to Janet right now and really wished that she would leave; about an hour later, Johnny left saying that he needed to get home.
"Darry?" Johnny called me from the porch.
It had been storming all evening and was raining pretty hard.
"Yeah Johnny?" I said walking out to him.
"Ponyboy's asleep, but he's not having a real good night. I think the storm has him upset; keep an eye on him tonight," Johnny told me. I think that was the most he's said at once in a long time.
"Of course I'll check on him, you know that you can stay if you want to," I told him as thunder boomed in the distance.
"I really can't. I have to get home," he told me hurriedly before taking off down the steps. I closed the door after he left.
As I turned back to face the living room, both Dally and Soda were looking at me funny.
"He's worried about pony tonight with the storm. He wouldn't stay," I explained sitting back down by Janet.