Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! It's been a very stressful couple weeks and this chapter actually ended up being really tricky to write. Also as a disclaimer, I am flying by the seat of my pants with all this courtroom stuff. It was hard to research too. So if any of the proceedings seem inaccurate, I do apologize!


Chapter Twenty-Nine

Pony sat on a hard wooden bench in the very back of the courtroom next to Two-Bit. Steve was sitting on the other side of Two-Bit. Usually when a bunch of Greasers were together there was a lot of snickering and shoving each other while generally just horsing around. Pony could remember the time when Soda, Steve and Two-Bit had come with him and Johnny to church. It had been a disaster as Pony and Johnny were the only ones who were able to keep still and quiet. Today, Steve and Two-Bit were both more still than Pony had ever seen them before. Quiet too. It made the whole thing seem even more unnerving. Everything was too serious. What Pony wouldn't give for a little joking around like in the old days.

Pony picked at the edges of his cast, which were already frayed from this nervous habit. All he wanted was for this to be over. All he wanted was for his family to be back together again. And today they would find out if that would happen. He wasn't sure what he'd do without Soda. He needed him just as much as he needed Darry. It was almost like losing a limb, feeling off balance without something that you were supposed to have. Like when he had broken his wrist. At first everything was awkward as he tried to get used to not having the use of his right hand. But eventually he started to get the hang of it. Things became easier. But it was never as easy as it had been when he had the use of both his hands. He wasn't whole and he felt that every day. Even though he had gotten Darry back he still wasn't whole. Something important was still missing.

Finally, at long last, the trial began. Up at the front of the room on the right side a door opened. Soda was led out through that door, his hands cuffed in front of him and a uniformed police officer leading him. A man in a suit followed them. Pony studied his brother carefully. He was distracted for a moment, mesmerized by how short they had made Soda cut his hair. He just didn't look right with short hair. The next thing that he noticed was how Soda moved. Each step was deliberate and he walked in a sort of stiff, awkward way. He seemed to favor his left side. There was a clouded over look to his eyes, the way he looked when he was trying to hide that he was in pain. He was hurt. And he was hurt bad.

As Soda was being led across the front of the courtroom he lifted his head and looked around for a moment. Pony sat up straighter, sensing that he was looking for the familiar faces of his friends and family in the audience. Pony managed to catch his eyes just for a moment and did his best to give him a reassuring smile. There was a small amount of relief in Soda's eyes as he saw him, but it was clear he was nervous.

Soda was led over to a table in the front of the room where he slowly took a seat, his back to where Pony sat. From this angle Pony could see the square of gauze taped to the back of his head. The man in the suit sat next to him, placing a briefcase on the table in front of him. Assumedly he was Soda's public defender. Another man in a business suit walked in and sat at another table across the aisle. A minute later it was announced that everyone had to stand for the judge to enter. As Pony watched Soda struggle back to his feet he couldn't help but think it was cruel to make Soda sit down only to have him stand back up in his current condition. An older man in a long black robe walked into the room. They already knew that it had been decided that there wouldn't be a jury. This one man was going to decide Soda's future.

After the judge signaled everyone to sit back down there was quiet as he went through a few papers on his desk. "Trial of Sodapop Patrick Cutis," he read off a piece of paper. "A minor charged with assault and theft at Tulsa Home for Boys." He looked up and focused on Soda who had watched the judge carefully. "How does the defendant plead?"

Soda's public defendant stood up. "Not guilty, your honor."

The judge nodded his head as he sat back in his chair, surveying Soda a bit critically. "Alright. State your case."

The public defender walked around the table and spoke to the judge, stating how Soda was falsely accused. He talked about how Soda was attacked and acted out in self-defense. Then he explained how the other boys in the home had set Soda up for the theft. All of it sounded really encouraging, as it was the truth that they all knew.

Then the public defender sat back down and the man at the other table stood up. It took Pony a moment to figure out what job he had in all of this. But as he began to speak, it became painfully obvious. His job was to fight against Soda. This caused Pony's stomach to tie itself into a knot. The man talked about the neighborhood that they had grown up in. He talked about the amount of kids that come out of their neighborhood and ended up in jail. He used the word hooligans several times to describe all the trouble Greasers get in to. He even knew about when Soda had gotten jailed a few summers before with Two-Bit for disturbing the peace. He also told about how Soda supposedly attacked one of the guards at the boy's home. Then he talked about discipline. He talked about how without any discipline things were only going to get worse.

"Take it easy, Steve," Pony heard Two-Bit mutter under his breath.

Pony looked over to see Steve's hands balled into fists, all his muscles tensed. Clearly he was upset about all the things this man was saying about Soda. It just seemed insane that anyone would want Soda put away in prison. He was no Dallas Winston.

"When are they gonna bring Darry and Ms. Daniels in?" Pony leaned over and whispered. He was tired of listening to bad things being said about his brother that was all just part of a stereotype that he didn't even fit into. Well, not as much as they said that he did anyway. Pony was watching the back of Soda's head carefully, noticing how he hung his head and stared down at the table. He looked very small.

"It's gotta be soon," Two-Bit whispered back. Despite his calm appearance he sounded anxious.

Sure enough, the prosecution finally finished up and took his seat again. The judge took a moment to shuffle through a few of the papers on his desk. Then he looked up and focused on Soda's public defender. "I see that you have evidence."

The public defender stood up again. "Yes, we do," he said. "We have several people who wish to speak on Sodapop's behalf."

"Very well," the judge agreed. "Proceed."

The public defender nodded and he glanced down at the papers he had in front of him. "First I would like to call Sodapop's social worker, Sandra Daniels, to the stand."

They all turned as a door at the back of the courtroom opened and in walked Ms. Daniels, holding herself high as she walked to the front. She sat in a chair next to the judge's stand, facing the rest of the courtroom. She seemed perfectly calm and comfortable. Pony wondered vaguely if she had done this before.

They all listened quietly to Ms. Daniels' testimony. It was fairly straightforward, as she mostly just stated facts that she was questioned about by Soda's public defender. She was asked how long she had known Soda and what kind of interactions she had with him. She spoke very positively about him, which gave Pony hope. Surely the judge had to believe their social worker, right?

Then the public defender sat down and the prosecutor stood up.

"Sandra," the prosecutor started. "You have been assigned to the Curtis family for almost a year now, correct?"

"Almost ten months," Ms. Daniels stated.

"Yes, and in the ten months since you've been with this family, has the legal guardian's custody ever been questioned?"

There was a beat of silence. Finally Ms. Daniels answered. "Yes. Back at the end of August there was a hearing concerning Darrel Curtis' guardianship over his brothers. A hearing which decided that Darrel was a fit guardian." Pony was glad when she pointed this out.

The prosecutor pushed on though. "And can you tell me the circumstances which led to this hearing?"

Pony felt himself sink down in his seat, as if he could make himself small enough that he could just disappear. This was not something he wanted to listen to, especially as it was being used against his brother. Two-Bit seemed to sense his distress as he reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder for support.

"The youngest brother ran away from home," Ms. Daniels stated shortly.

The prosecutor nodded. "And why was it he ran away?"

Ms. Daniels sighed lightly, looking a bit disappointed with the direction this was going. "He was implicated in the death of another boy. But at the hearing he was cleared of all charges."

"And even though he was supposedly innocent, he still ran away? Rather than going to the police? Rather than going to even his family?"

Pony felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to yell and scream at this man, tell him that he didn't understand. He couldn't believe that something he had done, a choice that he himself had made, was now being used against Soda like this. How was that fair?

"Ponyboy Curtis is not on trial here," Ms. Daniels pointed out. "I don't see what this has to do with Sodapop's situation."

"Damn right," Steve muttered angrily.

"Well, I can't help but wonder what kind of home life there is at the Curtis household when they are around such violence," the prosecutor explained evenly. "And what kind of household it is when the youngest brother would rather run away than go to his guardian for help."

"Steve, don't you dare," Two-Bit said sharply under his breath. Pony looked over to see that Steve had half risen from his seat before Two-Bit had grabbed his arm to keep him in place. "You make a scene that's only gonna make things worse."

Steve glared at him, but grudgingly sat back down, balling his hands into fists in his lap.

"Ponyboy was a frightened, fourteen year old kid who had just been attacked by a group of older boys," Ms. Daniels said. "He wasn't thinking clearly at the time of this traumatic event."

"No more questions," the prosecutor stated simply.

Ms. Daniels sighed lightly as she stood up. She seemed to try and catch Soda's eye as she walked passed, but he was still staring down at the table in front of him. As she passed by Pony though she caught his eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. He tried to smile back, but he didn't really feel like there was much effort in it.

There was quiet for several minutes as the judge took notes at his desk. Finally he looked up and nodded at Soda's public defender, who stood again.

"We would like to call Darrel Curtis to the stand," he stated.

Pony felt the knot in his chest loosen just slightly. It seemed comforting that Darry had a say in all of this. Ms. Daniels was on their side but she did not have as much to lose as they did. Darry wouldn't let Soda go without fighting with everything he had.

They all turned to watch Darry enter the room. He stood tall and his expression was set and determined. He glanced over to where Pony sat with Two-Bit and Steve as he passed by and flashed them an encouraging smile. He continued up the aisle. Soda finally lifted his head slightly as Darry passed by, though Pony couldn't see what kind of look he had on his face. As Darry settled himself into the witness stand Pony leaned over toward Two-Bit.

"Soda hasn't moved much," he muttered worriedly. It wasn't like Soda to sit so still.

"Yeah well, broken ribs hurt like hell, kid," Steve leaned over and muttered back. "And the more you move, the more they hurt."

Pony frowned at this. Soda needed to come home. That fact was crystal clear. But after listening to the prosecutor, Pony was less sure that that was going to happen. And that scared him.

After Darry had been sworn in, Soda's public defender approached him.

"Can you state your relationship to the defendant?" he asked evenly.

"He's my brother," Darry answered. "I'm also his legal guardian."

"And in your experience with your brother, have you even known him to be a violent person?"

"No, sir," Darry said immediately and with absolute certainty.

"How would you describe your brother?" he asked.

"He's always been a good kid," Darry said firmly. "He's always laughin' and just happy-go-lucky. He's always been very protective over his family and his friends. I couldn't have gotten through the months since our parents passed without him." As he said that last statement he looked over at Soda and met his eyes, showing his sincerity.

The public defender asked a few more questions, mostly about their home life since their parents had passed and how Darry supported his brothers. Darry calmly answered all his questions. Then the public defender finished and sat down. It was the prosecutor's turn.

"You have been Sodapop's legal guardian for the past ten months?" he asked simply.

"Yes," Darry confirmed stiffly. He had visibly tensed at the idea of being questioned by the man who was trying to put Soda behind bars.

"And how old are you?" he asked.

"Twenty," Darry answered without hesitation.

The prosecutor nodded. "And how old is Sodapop?"

"Si—" He cut himself off, obviously about to say sixteen. He quickly corrected himself. "Seventeen."

"But he hasn't been seventeen long, has he?" the prosecutor asked lightly.

"He turned seventeen at the beginning of October," Darry confirmed slowly, clearly trying and failing to figure out what the prosecutor was getting at before he got there.

"So for the majority of the time that you've been in charge of him, he has been sixteen years old," the prosecutor went on.

"Yes."

"Does Sodapop attend school?" he asked a bit sharply.

Darry paused for a moment, his features hardening. "No, sir."

"Really?" the prosecutor said, clearly faking his surprise. "Did he graduate already?"

"No, sir," Darry said shortly.

"So he dropped out."

It wasn't phrased as a question, but Darry answered anyway. "Yes, sir."

"When was it that he dropped out of school?" he asked.

"This past May," Darry stated.

"So this was after you became his legal guardian?"

"Yes." Darry said the word firmly, as if taking responsibility of the act.

The prosecutor walked back over to his desk and consulted a few of his papers. "It seems that Sodapop wasn't doing well in school either. At the time that he dropped out he was flunking most of his classes and it seems there was a truancy issue."

"Not everyone is good at school," Darry said evenly. Pony really admired Darry at that moment. He managed to stay so calm when all Pony wanted to do was start yelling at this man that was questioning him. Pony was suddenly glad that he didn't have to testify. "My brother is good a fixin' cars. That's what he wanted to do with his life. He didn't need a high school diploma for that."

"Bet that guy couldn't even tell a carburetor from a spark plug," Steve muttered.

"It seems that Sodapop also had some disciplinary issues while he was at school," the prosecutor went on, ignoring Darry's statement. "It seems he has gotten many detentions over the years for disrupting class as well as fighting." This was the first statement that really seemed to throw Darry off. What could really be said to that? How could the conflicts between the Greasers and the Socs be properly explained to an outsider like this? "Do you have any comments about that?" he prompted after Darry was quiet for a minute.

Darry took in a deep breath. "For disrupting class, I will say that Soda has always had a lot of energy. He has always had a hard time sitting still. Now, while his teachers may not have liked that, that doesn't make him a bad person." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "As for the fightin'… I don't pretend that my brother is perfect. But I am damn sure that he's not dangerous. He would never seriously hurt someone on purpose and he would never just attack someone without reason. But if he is pulled into a fight or someone he cares about is pulled into a fight he will defend himself and he will defend the people that he cares about."

Pony smiled. It was a damn good answer in his opinion. One of the reasons that he knew that was because the prosecutor didn't look happy about it. He asked a few more minor questions before finally consenting that he was finished. Pony smiled tentatively. Maybe they really could win this.

As Darry retreated back down the aisle he paused by where they sat, leaning in. "How d'you guys think it's goin'?" he asked quietly.

"Not too terribly," Two-Bit whispered back with an encouraging smile.

"Better now that you got to testify," Pony spoke up sincerely.

Darry sighed, looking worn. "Yeah. Hopefully it was enough." Then he straightened up and walked out through the back, the door closing firmly behind him. Pony thought that it was very unfair that Darry couldn't stay for the trial. But then again, not much seemed fair about this whole thing.

The next witness called was James Hooper. At first this name meant nothing to Pony. He turned curiously when the door behind them opened and at first he only saw Ms. Daniels. Then he noticed the young boy that she led into the courtroom. He looked to be maybe ten or eleven years old and his eyes wandered around the room nervously as he walked. It took a minute for it to click as to who this was. This was the kid from the boy's home.

Pony shifted a bit nervously as he watched Ms. Daniels lead James up to the front of the courtroom. He wasn't real sure how he felt about this. At first he had been ecstatic when they found a kid from the home that said he would testify in Soda's favor. But then Pony realized that this kid had no connection with their family, he didn't owe them anything. He could easily change his mind. The things he says up there on that stand could either save Soda or put him away. They didn't know anything about this kid. How could they trust him?

"Alright, James," the public defender said gently after the boy had been sworn in. "Can you tell me how you know Sodapop Curtis?"

"I met him at the boy's home," James said quietly. He fidgeted in his seat.

"How long have you been living at the boy's home?" he asked.

"Two years," James answered. Pony stared at him. He wondered how it was this kid had gotten stuck there for so long when he was so young. Usually the younger kids were easier to place in foster homes.

"Do you like living there?" the public defender asked.

James bit his lip as he hesitated. Finally he shook his head. "No." His voice was quiet and his eyes darted around as if looking for someone to yell at him for admitting this.

"What don't you like about it?"

"Some of the other kids are mean," James answered, sounding a little steadier the more he spoke, as if finally realizing no one was going to yell at him for saying what he thought.

"Can you name anyone specific?" he asked.

James nodded vigorously. "Mark."

The public defender turned to the judge. "Just to be clear, Mark is the boy that Sodapop is accused of attacking." He turned back to James. "Can you tell me how Mark is mean?"

"He bosses everyone around and him and his friends beat up on other kids in the house if they don't do what he says or if he just doesn't like them," James said, the words spilling out of his mouth like they had been held in for a long time. "He takes other people's stuff and doesn't ever give it back or breaks it. He just does whatever he wants."

"Do any of the adults in charge of the home ever stop him or punish him?"

James immediately shook his head. "I mean, if there's a fight right in front of them they'll break it up. But in the two years I've been there I've never seen Mark get punished. Ever."

"Why do you think that is?"

James shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's 'cause he's been there so long."

"Now what about Sodapop," the public defender asked, indicating where Soda sat behind him, watching the scene carefully. "Was he ever aggressive while in the boy's home?"

"No," James said. "I mean, if Mark and his friends came after him he would defend himself. But he never went after anybody. He even helped a lot of the younger kids when they were being picked on or beat up on. I think that's why Mark hated him so much. Because he didn't just let him pick on the younger kids."

"Thank you, James, you have been very helpful today," the public defender said with a kind smile. Then he turned and sat back down.

Everyone looked over at the prosecutor expectantly. There was a pause as he shuffled through his papers. Then he stood up, though he stayed behind his desk. "No questions," he said simply and then sat back down.

"Damn right you got no questions!" Steve hissed triumphantly.

"Shh," Two-Bit hushed, though he was grinning despite himself.

James was led back out of the room and then the public defender declared that they had no more witnesses. It was the prosecution's turn. As Pony could have guessed, the first witness he called with Mrs. Walters from the boy's home. She was just a stiff and ill-tempered as always. She answered all of the questions with short responses, claiming Soda to have been a trouble maker from the start and defending the home that she ran as a caring place. Pony couldn't help but snort derisively at that.

The prosecutor called only one other witness. Mark. Pony should have known that he would be there as well. He still had a bandage wrapped around his head and Pony felt proud of his brother for standing up to this bully. Mark put on his usual mask of an innocent kid and just watching him caused Pony to become more and more angry. This was all his fault. If he had just left Soda alone they wouldn't be going through any of this right now. Soda would be home and everything would be back to normal. Instead they sat here in this courtroom listening to Mark lie and say that Soda had attacked him out of nowhere in the bathroom that day. That wasn't what happened. Even though Pony hadn't been there he knew better than to doubt Soda's work because of Mark even for a second.

"No further witnesses," the prosecutor declared after Mark had left.

"So is that it?" Pony asked quietly.

Two-Bit shrugged. "I guess so. Guess it's decision time."

Pony felt his stomach flip at the thought. So this was it. It was time to find out Soda's fate. He felt even more nervous after listening to Mark's testimony. What if the judge believed what he had said? He looked up toward the front of the room, studying the back of Soda's head and wishing that he could see his face. Soda had leaned over slightly and was talking quietly with his public defender. Pony wondered vaguely what they were talking about.

The judge cleared his throat. He looked back and forth between the prosecutor and the public defender. "Is there any more evidence either of you would like to present?"

"No, your honor," the prosecutor said.

The public defender didn't answer right away; he was still speaking in a low voice to Soda. Pony watched them curiously. The public defender seemed concerned for some reason, though Soda appeared perfectly calm. Finally the public defender sighed and turned back to the judge, standing up behind the desk.

"The defense would like to call one more witness, if that is okay," he said, not sounding completely steady. Pony raised an eyebrow. Who was left to call as a witness?

The judge thought it over for a moment. Finally he nodded. "Proceed."

The public defender walked out from behind the desk before he made his announcement.

"The defense would like to call Sodapop Curtis to the stand."


Author's Note: Don't forget to review and I will try and get the next chapter out ASAP!