Chapter Twenty Nine

You're like brothers. And sometimes that means you have to take action he don't want you to take.

"Would you three get that table cleared?" Darry uses his foot to jam the kitchen door open and yell at you, Two-Bit and Ponyboy.

"Yeah, just a second, Superman, I'm on a winning streak here."

Darry glares at Two-Bit for the use of his nickname but he's too busy in the kitchen to come out and give him a pounding.

"I raise you five dollars," Ponyboy says, tossing a five dollar note on top of your combined stakes.

It's getting pretty serious in here. There's already twelve dollars on the table and you are determined to walk away with the loot. Unfortunately for you, you have no more money in your wallet.

"Soda, you got five dollars you can loan me?"

Soda is laying on the couch, staring lethargically at the television.

"Yeah, right," Ponyboy mumbles and you kick him hard under the table.

Soda still hasn't opened up to you but you know that he's hurting and so you're trying to overlook all of his current misgivings.

You can't really blame Ponyboy for being angry though. Soda is still drinking heavily, not contributing to the bills and regularly pulling disappearing acts. He's having Ponyboy lie to Darry about him having nightmares and he's sleeping in the kids room which has gotta be seriously cramping his sex life with Maryanne.

Darry sees less of Soda's behaviour, mainly because you and Pony keep covering for him. And he;s not pushing Soda about the bills because he thinks he's using his money to support Lily and save up for the DX apartment. The whole thing is a God damn mess really.

Somebody knocks on the door from outside and you tense up slightly. Nobody knocks on the Curtis door apart from the Fuzz and Social Services. Anyone who knows you all will just come strolling in.

"Darry, someone's at the door!" You yell, trying to concentrate on your cards.

"Well, answer it then!" Darry bellows back from the kitchen.

Shoot, you don't even live here and you are concentrating on trying to win back your money from the centre pile.

"Pony, get the door, would ya? Mathews, lend me five bucks?"

As Mathews tells you to go fuck yourself, Pony gets reluctantly to his feet and starts to head for the front door. At the last second, he recrosses the room and picks up his hand of cards.

"What's a matter? Don't trust us?" Two-Bit feigns hurt.

"No!" Ponyboy calls over his shoulder. He passes the couch without looking at Soda who seems to be in a complete trance. You sneak a peek at the TV and know that he's not all that interested in the 'I Love Lucy' special that's showing. Still, as long as he ain't freaking out or in the bottom of a bottle, you'll deal.

"Can I help you?" Ponyboy's polite tone makes you realise it's nobody familiar at the door.

"I sure do hope so. Name's David Hayler, I'm looking for Sodapop Curtis? 'Cept he'll know me better as Tex."

Soda almost falls off the couch. For a second, he seems half pleased to hear that 'Tex' is here. But then he catches you looking at him and his face drains of all color.

"I-uh-" He looks almost ready to run for it when Tex pops his head in the door and sees Soda standing there like a frightened kid.

"Curtis!" He beams at him, and without waiting for an invite, he strides in and gives Soda a huge hug. Tex is a big guy, decent build but tall- very tall. He actually makes Darry look short.

You don't know if it's the hug or just Tex as a person but Soda seems to relax some and hugs the guy back. There's something affable and warming about Tex, from his southern drawl to his big dopey grin.

"So who's this? You gonna introduce us, Sodapop?" Two-Bit's interest has been piqued enough that he's wandered over from the table.

"Uh-yeah," Soda breaks off the embrace and puts a hand on Tex's arm. "This is my buddy, Tex. He and I were uh-" He can't even bring himself to finish his sentence but Tex steps in and grabs Two-Bit's hand.

"We were in Vietnam together. Don't know how I woulda got through without him."

Now Tex has everybody's attention and you and Ponyboy forget all about your game of poker.

"Now what did I tell you guys about clearing the-" Darry walks in carrying a pile of plates but freezes when he sees tall Tex standing in the middle of the room

"This is Soda's pal, Tex," Ponyboy tells him. "From Vietnam."

"Ah, shoot, you guys are just about to eat." Tex slaps his forehead dramatically. "I'll come back in a while. Or maybe you wanna go for a few beers later, Soda-"

Darry sets the plates down on the edge of the table.

"Oh, no, there's plenty. Why don't you stay and eat with us?" He approaches Tex with an outstretched hand. "I'm Darry, Soda's brother."

"I could have told you that soon as you walked in." Tex shakes Darry's hand warmly. "And this here must be Ponyboy. You must be Two-Bit. And that makes you the best buddy, Stevie, right?"

Tex shakes your hands one by one and when he reaches you, you frown.

"It's Steve, okay?"

"Yeah, he said you'd say that." Tex's laugh sounds like a fire cracker. It booms and echoes off every wall. "And if you're sure about dinner, I'd love to stay."

It's kinda weird that Tex knows who all of you are but you ain't heard his name mentioned once. In fact, you ain't heard a word about one of his fellow soldiers. Soda looks nervy now Tex has been invited to stay but you see an opportunity.

A few minutes later, the table is clear and an extra place has been set for Soda's buddy, Tex. Soda is pretty quiet, but you're more talkative than you've ever been.

"So, I take it you're from Texas, Tex?"

He laughs that big loud laugh of his.

"That's how I got my name. I got cousins living just outside of Tulsa though. Told Soda here I'd look him up next time I came to visit."

"And you were on the front line with Soda?"

Tex nods, his mouth full of Darry's chicken casserole.

"Dunno if they thought I'd be a good human shield given the height of me, but they didn't factor in I was the worst shot the U.S army ever saw."

"You weren't that bad," Soda says softly. You notice he hasn't touched his food and he's already almost finished his beer. Darry doesn't approve of drinking at dinner but because Tex is here, he hasn't said a word.

"Aw, that's easy for you to say, Curtis. This kid could hit a field mouse in the dark," he tells you all.

You all look at Soda who is staring down into his untouched dinner.

"We never heard that before," Two-Bit says, and Tex smiles and gulps down his food.

"He's a modest one, ol' Soda. Don't think he knows how to boast."

Soda gets up quite suddenly and walks into the kitchen. You are just considering going after him when he reappears with another beer.

"So how's your little girl doing, buddy? Bet you can't get enough of her now you're home?" Tex's innocent question makes Soda turn a little red, as if he knows he ain't getting any father of the year awards any time soon. You feel bad for him. You know there must be a reason that he's been this way. Shoot, Soda loves kids.

"She's good," he mumbles and you think if he has the grace to be embarrassed then there's hope for him yet.

"So you guys must have some stories to tell…" You prompt Tex again as Soda sits down. "I bet you soldiers get a little crazy when no-ones looking."

"Aw, hell yeah." Tex waves his hand in agreement. "This one time, Boring Bobby-he wasn't really boring but the guy couldn't change facial expressions- well, he liberated us a whole box of whisky from some local bar. Man, I had a hell of a headache the next day. You remember that, Curtis?"

Soda smiles faintly but doesn't answer. Instead he knocks back a big gulp of his beer.

"Course, Soda never needed much to lift his spirits. He was like the platoon mascot, always making us laugh, always looking out for us all-"

"You wanna beer, Tex?" Soda's voice is forcibly loud.

"I wouldn't say no-" Tex starts and Soda is up out of his seat before he can finish his sentence.

The rest of the meal goes pretty much the same. You keep asking questions and Soda keeps interrupting before you can get anything substantial out of big Tex. After you eat, Tex still hangs around, sinking beers with Soda and the guys, but at around ten o clock, Tex makes his apologies.

"I'm sorry, folks, but I gotta be heading out. Don't wanna miss the last bus home." He stands up and shakes each of your hands in turn. "Much obliged to you all for having me over. Soda, it's been great to see you, boy."

He gets Soda in another bear hug and maybe it's because Tex is nearly out the door, but Soda remembers his manners.

"Hey, let me give you a ride to your cousins. The bus ain't the most reliable at this hour."

"No way, little buddy," Darry intervenes. "I seen you sink five beers in the last two hours. Let me take Tex home."

You see your opening.

"You gotta be up early tomorrow, Darry. I'll take him home."

You feel Soda's horrified expression without even looking at him and even though he blubbers that he's fine to drive, his pleas go ignored.

"Now I don't wanna be any trouble to anybody…" Tex is saying but you shake your head and force a smile.

"No trouble at all, Tex. I actually feel like a drive. Driving's my thing, ya know…"

"Oh, yeah." Tex smiles as he remembers. "You're Stevie the drag racer…"

You let the 'Stevie' thing go as you lead him outside.

888

Once you have Tex in the Chevy you're not quite sure how to kick things off. But Tex, for all his simple southern charm, ain't as stupid as he looks.

"How's Soda doing? He was a little quiet tonight." The lights of the other cars passing by throw strange shadows's on Tex's face. It's raining lightly but it's still warm enough that Tex winds down his window.

You keep your hands tightly on the wheel as you suddenly wonder whether or not you actually wanna hear what's bothering Soda. Whatever is bothering him so much is certainly gonna bother you too.

"Truth is, Tex, he's been a little quiet since he got home."

Tex nods and stretches out his long legs as far as they will go in the cramped seating space.

"Well, I guess none of us are exactly the same since we got home."

For a second, Tex's easy manner slips away and you hear a tone in his voice that says he's got his own secrets that he might want protecting.

You pull the car sharply off the road and slam on the brakes.

"Look here Tex. I ain't good at being subtle and I ain't really got the patience for it."

Tex looks startled at you stopping the car but he lets you carry on.

"Soda ain't just been quiet these past weeks, he's been a mess. He's drinking, he's angry, he has nightmares, he's ignoring his girl and his kid. But worst of all, he's fucking miserable. More miserable than I've ever seen him, man."

He props his elbow on the window ledge and stares through the wet windscreen.

"And you think I can shed some light on this?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

Tex sits quietly for another minute or so. The rain gets heavier and water splashes in on his bare arm but he doesn't seem to notice.

"It don't seem right somehow," he says eventually. "Us talking behind his back like this. Almost like a code of conduct, you know? What happens in Vietnam stays in Vietnam? I mean, does Soda ever talk about what happened to me or the other guys?"

"He's never mentioned a single name," you say immediately. "Like he never made any friends over there."

Tex's face falls. He looks hurt for a second before he composes himself.

"Not one?"

"Not one," you say desperately. "I could see he was happy to see you when you first showed up, it's obvious you're friends, but he has never mentioned your name, man. And that's not him. Soda talks all his friends up."

"Sure talked you guys up," Tex muses. "Specially you, Stevie Randle. Apparently you can take an engine apart with your eyes closed."

"Then something must be really wrong for him not to mention any of his army pals, right?"

You leave your question hanging in the damp air, and Tex turns coolly to you, his amiable expression gone, the soldier in him coming to the fore.

"You sure you wanna know, Stevie Randle? 'Cause Curtis ain't having them nightmares for nothing."

You convince yourself it's the weather that sends a chill running down your spine. Part of you wants to hold off on whatever it is that's making tough guys like Soda and Tex feel unsafe in their own beds.

But he's your best buddy. And whatever is haunting him, he shouldn't have to face it alone.

"I'm sure," you say. And it's then that Tex starts to talk….

888

'First day we shipped out, me and Soda got seated together on the helicopter. I hadn't ever flown before and fool I am, I was pretty excited. Soon as we took off, that excitement went right out the window. There were six of us in this helicopter. Three rows of two seats and me and Soda was sitting in the middle row. It was like a fucking oven in there, couldn't hear yourself think. And the pilot had one objective; to get us there quickly. He didn't give a shit if his manoeuvres were making us sick.

Kid behind us was a mess. He was the youngest one there and word had it, he'd been brought up in foster homes. He was always nervous but he must have learned to keep the look off his face. Instead he was just kinda twitchy. We called him Twitch. Up in that helicopter, he was tryna act tough but you could see he was scared shitless. As soon as we were up in the air, he turned a funny shade of green.

Guy in front of us was called Mouth. He didn't like the name but he'd got given it in training 'cause he was a foul mouthed son of a bitch and made it his business to talk shit to everybody.

"Twitch looks like he's gonna hurl," Mouth yelled over the din of the helicopter.

"You shut your mouth!" Our Lieutenant was sitting next to Mouth; mean son of a bitch but no time for squealers neither. "And you, boy, fucking suck it up!"

Twitch looked awful, man. The added pressure of everyone knowing he was sick seemed to make him sicker. Soda leaned over the seat and gave the kid his water but Twitch couldn't even open it.

Me and Soda started looking around for something Twitch could spew in and in a flash, Soda yanked Mouth's rucksack from underneath his seat and pushed it under our seats to Twitch. When Twitch was done throwing up inside it, Soda pulled the bag back under the seat, zipped it up neatly and pushed it right back where we'd found it. I knew after that I liked Sodapop Curtis. He was a nice guy but he knew how to have fun too.

The days went quickly. We were always marching, always busy, and the sun was always beating down on us. It seemed crazy to be surrounded by so much danger in a place that smelled like summer. But the nights man, the nights were long.

Some people slept like logs, guys like me couldn't drop off if they tried, but Twitch- I reckon something real bad must have happened to that kid because he had nightmares nearly every night. It got so bad people didn't want to share a tent with him, and in the end, it was just me, Soda and Jamieson in this eight man tent because the kid kept waking people up.

Me and Jamieson didn't sleep much anyways but Soda, he was a sleeper but said Twitch didn't bother him none. He told us his kid brother used to get nightmares and whenever Twitch would start yelling, Soda'd wake him up gently and then tell him to go back to sleep. Sometimes they'd go for a walk and a smoke even though it was against the rules. Twitch didn't really talk to no one 'cept Soda.

One of the fella's had him a little radio and every night we'd listen to this pirate station that played American songs. Guys felt like they could let their hair down a little after dark and even the lieutenant looked the other way to the drinking, smoking and horsing around.

Boy, but Soda Curtis can dance. He had everyone up one night, even our moody ass lieutenant, teaching us the jive and showing us how he used to seduce girls on the dance floor. He had hold of Jamieson- and if you think I'm a big guy you should see the size of him- and he was leading and dipping him around to the crackly radio station- we were falling about laughing, I can tell you.

Twitch was sitting just outside one of the tents, cross legged like a school kid. Usually when the horsing around started, he'd go on inside, but if it was Soda, well he'd stay where he was and he'd smile and smile.

Of course, it was Mouth that noticed him. Made some wise crack about him not joining in and the kid went bright red.

"What's a matter, Twitch? Can't you dance, twinkle toes?"

"Let him alone," Soda said to Mouth. "How'd you know he can't dance?"

"I can't," Twitch said this quietly but Soda dismissed it.

"You ever tried?"

"No-"

"Well, that's that then. You ain't tried, you can't say you can't dance."

Before the poor kid knew it, Soda was hauling him to his feet with half the platoon watching. I never known a guy who's got so few inhibitions when it comes to being in close quarters with other guys. Maybe it's 'cause he's got two brothers but Soda was making the kid hold his hips and twirl him around. He told him that dancing is a sure fire way to help him get laid when he got home.

At first the kid is red faced and shy but in a minute or so he's laughing along with everyone else, and he ain't a bad mover neither. Little by little, Sodapop Curtis brought Twitch out of his shell until the kid was barely recognisable.

We'd be marching through the fucking jungle and the kid would suddenly break into song and half the guys there would be humming and tapping their fucking guns to his tune. Every night he'd beg Soda to teach him something new and then follow him around like a fucking puppy. Curtis' shadow, the guys took to calling him.

And the shooting thing? I ain't kidding when I tell you Soda's got one hell of an eye when it comes to aim. Twitch used to shoot as bad as me but Soda taught him something he couldn't teach me and the kid just got it, you know? One day he couldn't shoot for shit, the next he's fucking Clint Eastwood.

Then one day, one day the Charlie's started fucking shooting at us. The Lieutenant yelled at us to get down until we knew their position.

I can still remember, hiding in the undergrowth across from Soda and Twitch, my legs aching and sweat dripping down my back. A gun went off not far from me, Twitch and Soda shouted one after the other and then everybody started firing.

I saw Soda and Twitch on the ground. There was blood everywhere . Neither guys were moving and the lieutenant shouted at us to get out of there, that the two of them had been shot dead.

I felt like I was in a living fucking nightmare in that moment; running from gunfire, trying not to think about the fact that my buddies bodies might not even be recovered for their families. Shoot, Twitch didn't seem to have no-one but I knew Soda did. I knew he had a little baby girl he hadn't even clapped eyes on.

Nobody spoke a word as we set up camp for that night. Nobody switched on the radio and some of us couldn't even eat. A group of us were discussing going back for their bodies in low whispers because it would have gone against the lieutenants ruling.

When all of a sudden, Sodapop Curtis staggers into camp carrying a limp bloodstained Twitch. We thought we were seeing a fucking ghost, I swear to God. We were all surrounding him, patting him on the back, yelling we couldn't believe he was alive.

He was the only one though. Twitch had been shot straight through the heart.

We went to bed early that night; the lieutenant called in for Twitch's body to be picked up but Soda couldn't stand to leave the kids body outside 'til morning. So he went out there too, picked up the kids bloody hand and parked his behind on the dusty ground.

I came outside and asked him what the hell had happened earlier and he said:

"Twitch saw the sniper before I did. I was in the line of fire but he threw himself in the way to protect me."

Soda's voice was numb and empty. Didn't even sound sad but I guess he was in shock. I asked him why he hadn't yelled for help or back up when we retreated- he hadn't been hit by a bullet, only the impact of Twitch's fallen body.

"I wanted to die too. I felt like I should die. The bullet was for me."

"So what happened? The Charlie's didn't find ya?"

"They found us alright. But by the time they did, I was soaked in Twitch's blood so I just played dead."

I told him I was glad he'd come to his senses, that he'd realised his life was worth saving but he shook his head and told me that wasn't it at all.

"I made a promise to a friend that I would come safe," he said. "And I don't break promises."

Soda Curtis sure seems loyal to the people he cares about. He sat out there all night long holding a dead kid's hand.'

888

You're crying like an asshole in front of a complete stranger.

You don't know what it is that's making you cry. The fact that Twitch died, the fact that Soda almost died, the fact that he would have died if not for the promise he'd made you.

"Well, I thought the friend he'd made the promise to was his girl," Tex says quietly, "but now I'm guessing the friend is you."

You use the sleeve of your sweater to wipe your wet face then you start up the Chevy without another word.

" I ain't told no-one that story before," Tex says. He seems relieved to have had a reason to tell it. "Seems like it should stay in Vietnam but if it helps Curtis, then I'm glad you got to hear it."

You don't talk all the way to Tex's cousin place. It's out in the farm lands, some rickety old house stood next to an old barn. There's smoke coming from the chimney and you can hear the sound of a television from where you sit in the car.

"You wanna come in, Stevie?"

You shake your head but somehow, him calling you Stevie don't bother you none no more.

"Now, you look after Curtis for me, ya hear?" Tex gets out of the truck and slams it shut before leaning through the open window. You nod silently but shake his hand firmly.

Tex seems like good people.

He starts to walk away and you call after him, a question that you need to know the answer to, just in case you never see him again.

"Hey, Tex?"

Tex turns around and lifts his head inquiringly.

"Does the song 'Little Bit O' Soul' mean anything to you?"

He winces as if you've thrown something at him.

"Sure does. That was Twitch's favourite song."

And suddenly, all the pieces of the over complicated puzzle slot right into place.

888

A.N- I did have plans to tie up the Vietnam story this chapter but it just became too long to all cram in. One more chapter or depressing war stuff I promise:)