I didn't even need to turn around to know it was Two-Bit coming in the door. With Soda at work and then going out on a date and with Darry just leaving, I knew there was only one other real possibility left. So I called out to him absently as I worked the pencil over what had to be my fiftieth drawing of the Stovepipe.

"Hey, Pony," Two-Bit greeted, tossing his car keys on the coffee table. "What's shakin'?"

I grinned. He was as predictable as the heat wave was getting to be. "Nothing," I answered. "Darry's out giving a bid on a roof, and Soda's at work." And I'm here, bored silly. I wanted to sigh as he scooped up the deck of cards. If I had to play one more hand of cards with anyone, I was going to scream. I think he picked up on my thoughts, though, because he started dealing himself a hand of solitaire.

"Darry give Soda hell last night?" Two-Bit asked nonchalantly, flipping cards like he didn't care one way or another.

"Yeah," I winced and went back to my drawing. "He's over it now, though."

"I ran into him just now, thought he was gonna come at me or something, but he just gave me a wave and left."

I laughed. "Lucky for you, Darry's got his mind on Maggie."

Two-Bit grinned and looked up at me. "Soda mentioned something about that." He chuckled incredulously to himself. "So Mr. Muscles is interested in someone. It's about time."

He wasn't kidding. I couldn't remember how long it had been since Darry'd had a date. Except for last night, he'd been in a pretty good mood, too, ever since meeting her. I was all for anything that put Darry in a good mood.

It wasn't too long before Two-Bit got fidgety. He grew tired of solitaire and scooped up the cards again. He turned on the set, but after flipping through the stations about a dozen times, he gave up and turned it off. With a moan, he flopped down on the floor.

"This summer's been a real drag," he complained. "I've finally got money burning a hole in my pocket, and there's nothing worth spending it on!"

I grinned. "Maybe you're just becoming a tightwad. You'll be one of those Scrooge-y guys who's got money piled up to the ceiling but never wants to spend any." The picture that put in his head made Two-Bit chuckle.

"What do you mean by charging a dollar twenty-five for a movie ticket?" he growled. "Thirty three cents for a gallon of gas? Robbery!!!"

I laughed as he continued blustering. I gave up on the drawing. With Two-Bit around, you can't really concentrate on stuff. He won't let you. He'll just keep pestering and pestering until he's got your attention. You'd think nobody ever paid him a bit of mind at home, but I knew that wasn't true. His mother paid a lot of attention to him when she was home, though it was mostly to nag at him about chores or a bitter tirade about the fact that he was working for his father. She'd gone from nagging at him to get a job to nagging at him to quit his job. Normally, he gave in to her nagging, but this time, so far, he hadn't.

Two-Bit wound down eventually, and I caught him looking at me funny. When he realized I was looking back, he got to his feet. "I'm hungry," he announced. "Are you hungry?"

I shrugged. "I guess I could eat."

"Darry'll kill me if I eat anything here," Two-Bit said. He was probably right. Just the other day Darry was grumbling about the fact that we have too many extra mouths to feed lately. He'll get on a tear and the guys will be real careful to stay away around meal times for a while, and then somehow things always loosen up again until the next time Darry complains.

I shrugged. "He ain't here to notice."

Two-Bit shook his head. "That's okay. Put some shoes on," he said, stretching. "I'll buy you some lunch." He ignored the way my eyebrows rose. I didn't argue. I wasn't going to pass up the chance to get out of the house.

I figured he'd just drive us over to the Dairy Queen or something. But then he said he was taking me to a place with the best chili burgers in Tulsa, so I thought it would just be the Mercury Diner. We passed River Street without turning, though, so I gave up trying to figure out what he was doing. After we'd been driving for about fifteen minutes, though, I couldn't help but ask.

"Where the heck are we going, Two-Bit?" At this rate, we'd be in Sand Springs before he stopped the car.

"Cool your jets, Ponyboy, we're almost there," he replied. True to his word, in another minute, he was pulling into the crowded parking lot of a place called Fitzy's. "Man," he muttered, "they're packed." He wheeled the car around to the back of the building. There were a lot fewer cars back there. In fact, other than a pale yellow Cadillac, Two-Bit's was the only car there.

I wondered if there'd even be a place to sit inside, but there were three or four open booths scattered through the place. The Supremes were urging everyone to "Come See About Me" from the jukebox. Two-Bit punched my shoulder lightly and pointed to the booth farthest back. He likes to watch all the action, and that booth had the best view of the diner. I let him face the room and took the side that faced the bathrooms.

"When have you ever been here?" I asked. It was a soc place, and most folks who glanced up at us as we went by gave us looks I didn't like.

"The Nickel's just around the corner and down two blocks," Two-Bit said with a shrug. "I come down here for lunch sometimes. Best chili burgers in Tulsa." I was looking over the menu when I heard him say, "Hiya, Margie!"

I looked up to see a middle-aged redhead with a round face beaming down at us.

"Hi yaself, Two-Bit," she said. "Who's ya friend?" She talked like she was from New Jersey or someplace. I wondered how she ended up in Oklahoma.

"This here's Ponyboy."

She shook her head. "You kids and ya nicknames," she laughed. Neither one of us bothered to correct her. "Whada yous want?" Half a second later she pointed her finger at Two-Bit and said, "Nevahmind, I know what you want." She redirected her question at me. "Whada you want, Ponyboy?"

"Double bacon burger," I said after making sure it cost less than the chili burger. "Pepsi, if you have it."

"And if we don't?" She asked, her pencil poised above her pad.

"Coke?" I tried. She scribbled it down as she walked away. "Looks like you come here a lot," I said.

"Nah," Two-Bit said. "Margie's got some kind of super memory," he shook his head. "After the first time I told her my name, she remembered it. And she remembered what I ordered, too. If you walk back in here in three months, she'll know exactly who you are and what you want." I didn't argue that it was probably only the funny names that she'd remember.

He went on chattering about the food and about the Nickel until suddenly his expression changed. He was looking past me, toward the door. I turned to look, wondering what the deal was.

Cherry and Randy were just coming inside. I thought about Two-Bit's warning for me to stay away from "that Randy". Now here he was. I didn't turn around quick enough, and Cherry spotted me. She smiled, and although I turned back toward Two-Bit, I could tell by his face that she was headed our way. And that meant Randy was, too.

"Hey, Two-Bit, Ponyboy," she said.

"Hey, Cherry," I said. Two-Bit just nodded at her. He suddenly decided to inspect his silverware.

"What are you doing today?" she asked as Randy just gave us a nod and went off toward the bathrooms.

"Just having lunch," I shrugged. "What about you? Been out at the stables?"

She nodded. "Just finished."

That explained why she was wearing slacks. Cherry never wore them unless she was working with the horses. She was more a skirt and blouse sort of girl. I still couldn't get used to the sight of her in anything else.

"Well," she said awkwardly, somehow sensing Two-Bit's discomfort, "I'm just going to wash up for lunch. I'll see you around sometime, Ponyboy. Maybe you'll come by the stables again soon?"

I nodded. As soon as she was gone, I got on Two-Bit. "You didn't have to ignore her like that. Randy wasn't around."

"It's better if you stay away from all of that for now," he groused. "Besides, since when are Cherry and Randy a couple? What happened to Marcia?"

I shrugged. "It's not like that, Two-Bit. Marcia's folks have a cabin in the mountains. She's been there all summer." I waited a beat. "Since when do you want Randy dating Marcia, anyway? Seems to me you two hit it off pretty good that night at the drive-in."

He rolled his eyes, which told me I was right. He liked her. "What do I want with a socy girl like that?" He shook his head. "Kathy's about all I can handle, anyways."

From what I knew about Kathy, I figured that was true enough. She could be a real spitfire when she wanted. And it seemed like around Two-Bit, she wanted to a lot. I never saw a girl with such a temper. It was real funny, because she could be so nice and in the next breath she'd bite your head off as soon as smile at you.

Margie arrived with our plates. "Yous boys enjoy," she said. "Lemme know if ya needing anything else."

Two-Bit just nodded, already biting into the chili burger.

That first juicy bite of burger and cheese and crisp bacon almost had me moaning. It had been a long, long time since I'd had a burger that wasn't like rubber. The ones at camp were bland and chewy and not much like burgers at all. They got the French fries right, too. Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Not the soggy mess I'd become accustomed to over the last month.

We didn't have much to say to each other since Two-Bit had been coming over more than usual lately. I figured it was just Darry and Soda's way of keeping an eye on me when they weren't around. It bugged me, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. So we ate in silence. I watched people come and go through the window. The diner was thinning out a little, the worst of the lunch rush over.

Two-Bit decided he wanted a piece of pie, and he told me I could get something, too, but I was pretty stuffed already. He was just starting on the pie when Margie put the bill down on the table. Two-Bit went for his back pocket. "Shoot," he said, putting his fork down. "I must've left it in the glove box."

I shook my head. "One of these days, Two-Bit, someone's gonna steal your wallet right out of your car."

He put his keys on the table. "Go get it for me, will ya?"

I nodded and got up. As I made my way toward the door, Cherry and Randy were just getting up. I was surprised they'd finished already, seeing as how they'd come in after we had. Then again, it took Margie a few minutes to get Two-Bit's dessert. Cherry smiled at me and headed past me toward the bathrooms again. Randy called to her that he'd be out in the car.

He nodded at me. I hoped Two-Bit wasn't looking, because it would look like I was walking with Randy to the door. And while I was walking and Randy was walking, we weren't especially walking together.

"Two-Bit forgot his wallet in the car," I said. Randy smirked. I realized, then, that he thought we were going to duck out on the bill. "I'm just getting it for him," I said lamely, holding up the keys. What the heck did I care what he thought? But I did.

We fell in step again outside, and Randy mentioned that he and Cherry were parked out behind the place, too. "I thought I recognized the car," he said.

I was swinging Two-Bit's keys and dropped them by accident. Randy kept going to the parking lot. I heard a sharp cry of surprise. When I made it around the back side of the building, some guy had Randy's arm up behind him so high I thought it'd snap. In the next instant, Randy was shoved into an old jalopy of a car with mismatched quarter panels and a primer paint job. The big guy who'd shoved him in was rounding toward the front passenger door.

I turned to hi-tail it back into the diner, thinking how I'd better tell someone Randy was in trouble. I tripped over a parking block, though, and that got the big guy's attention. I scrambled to my feet and was just running toward the front when he caught me. For a big guy, he moved fast. And then I realized as he hauled me backward by my ankle that he was the stable hand with the Helsden t-shirt. They must've followed Cherry and Randy from the stables.

"Two-Bit!!" I hollered, though I didn't figure he'd be able to hear me over the noise of the jukebox and ordinary diner clatter.

He had my arm up behind me so high I was sure that either it would break or my shoulder would pop out like it had at camp. "Shut up!" the guy growled at me, turning backward and dragging me to the car when I refused to walk. He had my arm so good I couldn't move. My whole body went rigid as he tried to stuff me into the backseat with Randy, who I could see was now taped up, courtesy of a third guy who was in the backseat with him.

"Hurry up!" the one behind the wheel yelled.

"Kid," the big guy said, "you don't settle down, you're not gonna like the paybacks later…"

I ignored him. Somehow, I knew, if I got stuck in this mess I might never come out. If they got me in the car, I could pretty much guarantee I'd never see my brothers again. My throat closed up, and I felt tears trying to start. There was a stinging in my eyes, but then my stomach clenched and every muscle locked.

Don't let go.

My hands clenched into fists and my jaw clamped tightly shut. If I had time to think about anything, I might have wondered just what the heck those words that flashed in my head meant. Don't let go. But then the big guy shoved me forward and my head knocked against the roof of the car, and I saw stars. My knees unlocked just enough for him to shove me in the backseat.

He closed the door, but it didn't catch. And then I heard his footsteps around the side of the car as he jumped into the shotgun seat. As the tires squealed us out of the lot and onto the street, my head cleared a little and I realized the guy beside me was taping my wrists.

I elbowed him, and I kicked at him. I couldn't land the blow from that angle, though. He swore viciously and managed to slap a piece of tape over my mouth before I elbowed him again. I felt bad for Randy, trapped on the other side of him, getting jabbed by the guy as he defended himself against me and tried to get some tape on my feet. No! NoNoNoNo, my mind chanted. If he gets the tape on, you're toast.

The car slowed for a stop light, and I threw all my weight against the door, pulling the handle with my taped hands. I lunged out, nearly fell on the asphalt, and then I just ran blindly in the opposite direction of the car, ignoring the protest from my knee and the indignant honking and squealing brakes of the other cars. I didn't look back, just kept running with those same strange words thundering in my head until they blended together...

Don'tletgo. Don'tletgo. Don'tletgo. Don'tletgo. Don'tletgo.