A week had passed for the greasers. Soda didn't hear from Two-Bit after their conversation, and he never heard from Steve. Not that Soda ever tried to reach out to them either. He figured Two-Bit was hanging around Steve, trying not to make him feel left out of everything, which was okay with Soda. He didn't wish for Steve to suffer or not have any of the gang help him out. And who knows where Dally was. Soda just assumed he was with Two-Bit and Steve too. There would be more action around them two than around the Curtis place. Soda started to wonder if maybe they were just waiting for Soda to talk to them first and fix everything. He didn't want to though, and he wouldn't. He didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't want to make it out that he was admitting to any wrongdoing. For now it was just him, Darry and Pony at home that week. Johnny would come over sometimes, but that was just to hang out with Pony. Darry and Soda would go to work when they were scheduled to and returned home for the evening. There were a couple nights Soda would sneak out to meet Dalton. There were a couple of houses Soda would go to by himself to drop off the medicines. He was beginning to feel more comfortable handling the people that Dalton delivered to. They still seemed off to Soda and slightly sketchy, but nothing dangerous was coming out of it. It made Steve look as if he was overreacting to everything.
Darry would bug Soda about Steve, and even though Soda was getting irritated with it, he kept quiet about it. He kept insisting it was up to Steve now to approach him to fix things, like he had told Two-Bit. When Darry asked about Two-Bit not coming by either, Soda just claimed he took Steve's side so what was the point in him coming over? Soda knew it made the Curtis house seem off, but he didn't know how to fix it. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to fix anything right now. He was making money with Dalton, and the little bit he would sneak to Darry wasn't throwing him off at all from the claim of overtime work. That overtime work was usually Soda going to hang around the town for a few hours during the day. Things were going smoothly, so Soda wasn't worried about fixing things with Steve yet.
As for Ponyboy, he was slowly healing up. He would rest mostly since he was home alone. Sometimes Johnny would spend time with him, but Darry didn't leave it up to Johnny to help Pony walk around and get back on his feet. Darry and Soda would help Pony with his being up and moving around, but it seemed to be taking longer for Ponyboy to heal up since he wasn't spending a lot of time moving. Darry didn't mind though as long as Pony was only getting stronger and not worse. He was being particular in Ponyboy not overdoing it.
Soda hated to see Darry struggle with the bills still, so as long as they were there, Soda would continue as he was doing.
There was one night earlier that week that Dalton had a conversation with Soda before dropping him back off at the lot. It had been bugging him since then, and he wasn't sure how to handle it.
"Sodapop, there was someone I had met up with tonight who has a request, and I think you are the perfect person to find it," Dalton began.
Soda was surprised to hear that. Dalton was usually the one to find the medicines needed for all of the clients. Soda and the others just delivered. He didn't even know where Dalton got the stuff. Where would Soda even get it? "What do you mean?" Soda asked.
"I have someone who was on some antibiotics for an infection. He got a couple of refills no problem, but the doctor now cut him off and he's still in pain," Dalton explained. Soda felt a lump in his throat, hoping this wasn't leading to where he thought it might be. "Your little brother is on some antibiotics for an infection, isn't he?"
"Y-Yes, he is," Soda answered with a shaky voice.
"Relax, I'm not asking for you to take it from him...at least if it's still required."
"Required?" Soda asked.
"How is your brother doing?" Dalton asked, "How is he healing up?"
"I mean, he's still a little weak, but he's doing better," Soda replied as he played with the door handle.
"How much pills does he have left?"
Soda shrugged, "Darry usually worries about the pills, so I'm not sure."
"Hmm," Dalton said, "Maybe you could check for me, and give me a more detailed report on your brother. See how bad he really needs the pills. He could always get off them if he's healed."
"I guess," Soda paused, "But the doctor did say he should finish them no matter what. And he already had to go back to the hospital that one time."
"Doctors just say that, so they won't get sued. If he's healed or healed enough, then him taking the rest of those pills is just a waste. Do it for me, Sodapop. This client really needs them." Soda was silent as he stared out the windshield. It was a really cloudy night. He couldn't find any stars or the moon. "I know you'd beg me to do the same if you or your family needed something."
Soda thought for a moment. He really didn't want to take Ponyboy's pills. He seemed to be feeling fine, just weak. Did he just need to rebuild strength and the pills were a waste to take for that? Could Soda really jeopardize his brother's health for this?
"Did I mention," Dalton went on, "You'll get a bigger cut of the money if you supply the pills."
Soda sighed, "I...I'll check. I'll at least check and let you know."
"Thanks Sodapop."
After that conversation, two days passed before Soda decided to check on Ponyboy's condition. First, he checked the pill bottle. It was still about half-way full. 'This is quite a lot of pills,' Soda thought to himself, 'Maybe he could go without some. I could lie to Dalton on how much is left.'
Soda placed the pills back in the cupboard. He walked into the living room and sat next to Pony on the couch. Darry was at work, so this was a good time to ask Ponyboy without sparking weird suspicion.
"Hey Pony," Soda began, "I feel like I haven't really asked how you've been feeling. I've been working a lot lately and stressing about my own problems, I don't even know how you are."
Ponyboy shrugged, "It's okay. I know you have a lot going on with Steve, and I guess the rest of the gang. They seem pretty divided right now."
Soda ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know. We aren't really divided I guess. They just all...don't understand." Soda didn't want to go into detail since it didn't appear Darry had been open with Pony about what was going on.
"I mean I guess I don't mind it since I can't go out and do anything anyway," Pony smirked, "But make things better when I'm better okay?"
Soda smiled and ruffled his little brother's hair, "How are you feeling though?"
"I'm not really feeling sick anymore," Pony said.
"That's good. Are you just weak?"
"Mainly. The doctor had said I could feel weak for a little while. Moving around will help, especially for my leg, but I should rest if I feel too tired," Pony explained, "That's probably my biggest problem right now is I feel really tired a lot."
"That cut really messed you up huh?"
Pony nodded, "I feel so much better compared to the beginning of all this though."
Soda played with his fingers, "Starting to uh, feel like your normal self?"
"I guess a little," Pony said, "Just need some energy."
"Do you think the infection itself is gone?"
"It's hard to say. The doctor said even if I feel better, that doesn't mean the infection is completely cleared. That's why he wants me to take the medicine for a while, just to be sure."
Soda nodded. He didn't know how he felt about it now. Pony didn't seem to be doing good enough to stop taking the pills. He'd just have to tell Dalton what he found out and see what he said.
Late night arrived after Soda had talked to Ponyboy about how he was feeling.
"Hey Sodapop," Dalton greeted when Soda hopped into his car.
"Hey," Soda replied. He sat and just waited for Dalton to ask.
"I only have one place for you to stop by tonight. Slow night," Dalton shrugged.
Soda nodded, "That's cool." He was still expecting Dalton to bring up Ponyboy's medicine.
"It's the Hamilton house, so you could walk from here and I'll just be walking the other direction to another house," Dalton explained.
"Cool," Soda said taking a bag from Dalton. Maybe he wasn't going to bring it up tonight. Maybe he was going to wait for Soda to bring anything up.
"He owes $200."
"Really?" Soda asked, "I thought it was usually $100."
"Well, he asked for something desperate and last minute, so for what I had to go through to get it is costing him extra."
"Oh okay," Soda said stepping out of the car.
He took the short walk to the Hamilton house. He never had to ask anyone for a different amount of money, let alone more money than what they'd be expecting to pay. It probably happens plenty of times, so Soda didn't think it'd be too big of a surprise. Dalton certainly acted nothing of it.
The door was opening quickly after Soda knocked. It usually did. The people involved in this were always pretty secretive.
"Hey Gary," Soda greeted stepping inside. Gary Hamilton was a guy who had to be close to his 30's. He was a big guy who lived with 4 other guys. Soda didn't really know much more about him other than he and the other guys got a lot of medicine from Dalton. Soda didn't know a lot of details about a lot of Dalton's clients. Dalton preferred it that way, and he claimed that's how the clients preferred it too. Soda tried to respect that as much as possible. He just wanted the money at this point, he didn't care to get relationships with anybody.
"Did Dalton get everything?" Gary asked snatching the bag and taking a look through it.
Soda nodded, "Yes. He needs $200."
Gary looked up confused, as did the other 4 guys, "What?"
Soda was taken back by the response, "Um, Dalton said h-he had to do a lot to get what you needed, so he needs $200."
Gary tossed the bag on the couch and stared down at Soda, "Tell you what, I'm going to give you $100 and you can tell Dalton to stick it up his ass."
Soda took a deep breath. Dalton had told him there would be times he'd have to deal with some tough people. "Gary, he is demanding the $200 if you want those pills. He won't get them next time if you get behind on payments."
Gary reached into his back pocket and pulled out a handgun. Soda gulped as the barrel was pushed against his stomach in seconds. "Now you get no money. Get the fuck out before I decide to give you something else."