Oh, I'm back in this world of The Outsiders because it's where my heart is. Please enjoy this story and sorry if any characters are OOC. All characters were written by S.E. Hinton and I'm making no money from this story. Oh, Soda, who would have thought you wouldn't use your head?
Breathing out, I could see my breath, as the cold bitter air attacked my lungs and I slowly knelt down on the crisp brown grass. Leaves were carried away in the breeze of the freezing wind and I traced my index finger along the letters, Darrel Shayne Curtis, Jr. Tears suddenly stung at my green eyes and I placed above his headstone bright yellow roses and laughed to myself. Roses…..lord how those damn things had gotten me in trouble as a boy and I turned my head to the left. "Oh Soda, do you remember that one time those damn red roses got me a licking?" Tears involuntarily slid down my cheeks and I reached over gingerly touching Sodapops gravestone. I let myself sit back onto the lawn with my black trench coat under me and thought of that blazing hot spring day…..
Another hot day in Tulsa meant misery for the gang as they tried to cool themselves down with water fights in the backyard, but tempers flared because of the heat. Darry made sandwiches for the guys and as he stared out the window into the backyard he laughed. Soda had Pony pinned in the grass and the hose was soaking his face as he squirmed to getaway. He wondered if they put on sunscreen like he told them? They all had their shirts off and were in cutoff jeans running around barefoot. This July heat was worse than Darry had ever remembered, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. The wet, humid heat had made his day off work miserable and just as he was about to call the guys in, he saw Pony knee Sodapop in the gut to get him off.
He saw Soda grab at Pony, angry and Darry opened the backdoor right before Soda was going to slug Pone in his face, "Hey little man, if you know what's good for you, you'll get off him and get in here for lunch." Two-bit's cackling laugh made Darry smile and he saw Soda grin too rolling off Pony. "Ah Dar, didn't you see him kneel me? It was just a little payback." Soda whined as he started walking in. Pony sat up, his back covered in mud and he put his hands over his face as the guys piled into the kitchen. Pony was upset that Soda had practically drowned him with the hose and wouldn't listen when he told him to stop.
Darry put the plate of sandwiches on the table and the guys sat at the table joking around dripping wet. Darry noticed Ponyboy wasn't in the house yet and he looked out the window seeing his baby brother still sitting in the mud. Pony looked so young even though he was 15, he was the smallest of the gang now that Johnny was gone and sometimes, he wished Soda could remember that. Darry opened the heavy metal screen door to the backyard and walked to where Pony was. He crouched down in front of him and noticed his kid brother's milky white skin was now a beet red. It took all his strength to not yell at Pony for not using the sunscreen, so he bit his cheek and used a calm tone. "Hey kiddo, whatcha doin out here? Lunch is ready and I want to check over your homework before you go to school tomorrow."
Pony sighed heavily and wiped his tears before looking up at Darry. Darry felt bad when he saw how upset Pony was and stood up dragging Pony with him. Darry was still a few inches taller than the kid and put his arm around him, "Well kiddo, why the tears? Did Soda hurt you?" Pony scuffed his barefoot into the soft cool dirt, "I got scared is all….I just felt like I was drowning Dar, like how it felt at the fountain." Pony felt chills go through him and Darry shook his head in understanding.
He hadn't even thought about that, and Soda hadn't either he was sure. He knew Soda wouldn't do anything to hurt his baby brother but it still angered Darry that he had. "You okay now Pone?" His voice was sympathetic, and he felt Pony shaking. "Why don't you grab a shower and I'll save your lunch?" Pony looked at Darry, "Okay Dar," He gave his brother a weak smile and went into the house. Soda looked up from his plate as Pony walked by and looked confused. He hadn't meant to upset him with hosing him down, but it was 103 outside and he thought he was doing the kid a favor. Darry walked in letting the screen slam behind him and went to the sink turning to face the guys.
"You and I are going to talk after lunch Sodapop, and you can meet everyone at the Dingo later." Soda's smile disappeared and Steve looked at Darry, "Why's the kid always have to be such a crybaby? Soda didn't do nothing." Darry bawled his fists but before he could punch Steve, Soda stood up putting his empty plate in the sink. "Come on Steve, shut it already. Pony's not a crybaby, I think this heats just getting to everybody. I'll meet y'all a little later, okay?" Steve and Two-bit took this as their cue to go and Two-bit reached in for another sandwich as they left, "Hate to eat and run Curtis's but I gotta make like a banana and split. Get it?" He laughed at his own joke leaving, as the guys just shook their heads.
Soda turned around facing Darry in the kitchen his shirt was still off and barefoot, but he was no longer dripping water everywhere. "Look, Dar, I'm sorry I roughhoused around with Pony, I forget how small he is sometimes. I was just playing around though Dar." He threw his hands up as if to show his innocence and tried to read Darry. Darry was pissed off he decided, so apologizing was the right decision. Darry crossed his muscular arms over his chest, "Well, little buddy I think you forgot more than that. Do you remember hosing down Pony in the face with the water?"
Soda had a blank look on his face and shook his head yes, still unaware what this was leading up too. Darry knew he wasn't in control of his emotions, not because Soda put water in Ponyboy's face but because Pony was upset. Hell, he was upset too, that some socs almost drowned his baby brother and that chain of events lost him, two surrogate little brothers. How he missed Johnny and Dally before he knew could think, he lunged forward grabbing Soda by the arm roughly. "Darry, stop, I swear I didn't do nothing to him and yeah, okay, I was going to punch him, but I didn't." Soda whined out with fear, and it was enough to snap Darry out of his rage. Soda had never really been afraid of Darry, a whooping, sure he'd been afraid of the pain but never his brother.
Darry let him go and ran his hand down his sweaty face, "Damn it Soda, don't you see how that could have reminded Pony of drowning? Like at the fountain! Running water down his face and scaring him half to death." Darrys voice was stern. Soda's eyes grew large and he was horrified, "But Darry, I'd never hurt him and honestly I didn't think about that." Soda's eyes watered and he felt upset that he'd upset his brothers. "I'm so stupid, you can whoop me if you want, I deserve it." Soda half sobbed out and it made Darry feel like the worst brother. He knew Soda would rather die than hurt Pony and he stepped forward pulling Soda in a hug.
"No little man, there's no need for that but you just need to think things through sometimes. You dig?" Darry sighed heavily and heard Soda sniffling. They heard the shower stop and Pony heading towards there room. "I think you need to smooth things over with Pony though, and I'm going to make him his lunch while ya'll talk."
Soda shook his head yes and walked towards the bedroom, standing outside the closed door. He wanted to go in but heard muffled sobs and for once in his short 17 years of life, he wasn't sure he could make it all okay.