Chapter 3: Where The Heart is.

Sodapop Curtis:

Soda stood in the storm cellar with his mouth hanging open. He stared at his brother in disbelief. The story he'd just heard seeming too bizarre and horrible to be true."Glory! Darry… What are we gonna do? "

Darry continued to pull out the cardboard boxes that had been piled in one corner of the room and inspect the contents under the storm cellar's flickering 40 watt bulb.

"I don't know… All I know is he can't keep her, he has no idea what it takes to raise a kid. Hell! he's still a kid himself!"

"But… What will happen to her?" Soda asked, thinking of the fate that awaited him and Ponyboy if the state were to take them away.

"Maybe someone will adopt her? She has to have a chance at a better life than this… Besides…" He shut his eyes for a moment. "… If she stays here and child services found out what happened… They'd probably take you and Pony away too… Not to mention Johnn…"

"Darry?" He interrupted. "Seriously? Where have they been until now?"

"What are you talking about?" Darry frowned.

"Child services? Were were they when Johnny's dad beat him all these years? Or when his mom chased him with a broomstick right outside where everyone could see? Or when he was sleeping out in the lot in plain sight in the middle of winter? Or when the Socs jumped him and he was too hurt to move for days?" He swallowed over a lump in his throat. "Or when his dad tried to kill his baby sister in front of him? Huh? What makes you think they'll get involved now?"

Darry raised an eyebrow. "You have a point there Soda… I just… It's not easy, you know? It's not easy now. Imagine adding another kid to the mix… Strike that… Two other kids. How could we afford it?"

"You already look after Johnny Dar… So do I! Remember I was working double shifts there a few weeks ago?" Soda asked.

"Yeah?"

"That was to pay Johnny's dentist bill."

Darry looked up at him."What? What dentist bill?"

A brief spasm of sorrow passed over Soda's face. "Sandy and I found him in the store bathroom trying to pull one of his own teeth with a pair of pliers." He said, feeling sick all over again at the memory. "He'd been in such pain he couldn't stand it anymore. So Sandy and I took him to Dr. Robbins."

Darry shook his head in disbelief and anger. " How come he never said anything…"

"He'd never been to a dentist before… Not in his whole life! Can you believe it? He was so scared Darry! Dr. Roberts was so mad at his folks, he said he could have ended up with sepsis if we hadn't bought him in."

"Oh I believe that." He said darkly."His parents wouldn't have poured water on him if he was on fire. I wouldn't leave a dog with those people, let alone a child."

"But we did…" Soda said quietly, watching his brother's face fall, thinking of all those nights of screaming and yelling echoing across the neighbourhood. Of Johnny limping around like a lost dog. "Maybe this is an opportunity Dar…"

"Other than an opportunity to go and wail on those monsters I'm not seeing it Soda."

"All I could think while I was driving him over there was that I wished he was my brother for real, cause that would never have happened to any brother of mine… Dar, if he was living with us… Like…Full time…At least you could call the shots… Keep him safe like I know you want to."

"We don't have the space Buddy…"

"We could find the space."

Darry looked at him doubtfully. Conflicting emotions written all over his face.

The cellar door was opened and suddenly the sound of Dally's boots could be heard stomping down the stairs.

"That poor kid's belly thinks her throat's been cut! How hard is it to find a bottle?" He grumbled, looking them both up and down disapprovingly.

Darry gritted this teeth, irritation seeping out of his pores. "There are a LOT of boxes down here Dallas! If you wanna help out that would be just swell!"

Dally made no move to help out. He just stood there staring at them.

"What?" Sodapop asked him testily.

"You two are discussing how to get rid of the problem huh?"

"Mind you own business Winston!" Darry snapped "You're not the the one who has to take responsibility for this stuff!"

"You can't let them take her from him." He said, his eyes utterly sincere for once. "It'll kill him."

"Dally… He's just a kid himself!"

"Yeah… So were you." He said without missing a beat. "How would you like it if your brothers were taken away from you huh? Put in some hellhole orphanage?"

Darry said nothing but he cast a fiercely protective glance at Soda, so quick he almost missed it.

"I'm going to tell you guys something I swore to Johnny I wouldn't tell anyone. I don't want it getting around. Do you understand?"

Soda nodded. He was certain he'd never seen Dally this invested in anything before.

"Johnny ran on Tuesday night…" He said, kicking the concrete floor angrily. "…He hid the baby in the Ghost House and went dumpster diving for supplies… He swiped a can of milk from the 7-Eleven… By Friday morning the milk was half gone… He hadn't eaten since Tuesday…" Dally swallowed hard, shaking his head as he spoke. "He was too scared to steal again… So he waited till the baby was asleep and he went down to the corner of First and Elgin… And he waited there…" He grimaced "…That's where I found him… Ready to sell his ass for baby formula money."

Soda felt a chill pass though his whole body. He couldn't move or respond. He guessed Darry was in a similar position cause he could hear his breathing, heavy beside him.

Dally continued. "The only reason I'm telling you this is because you need to know what he's willing to do to himself for his sister… If you think he won't literally die before he lets her go… Well you don't know him at all! If I have to, I'll take them both right now. We'll take off together and hide out until she's eighteen if we have to. But I recon they'd both be safer here." He turned and stomped up the stairs, slamming the door down as he left.

Soda just stared ahead until he felt Darry's hand on his arm. "He… He was gonna?" He had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from crying. "Jesus!"

"The fact that he even thought it was an option means we let him down in ways we don't even know." Darry said. "Why didn't he come to us for help dammit!"

"He did." Soda said, shrugging and getting back to the boxes. "He's here now isn't he?"

"He was scared." Darry growled. "Scared of how I'd react."

"Oh!" Sodapop pulled out one of the boxes, marked Baby. in his mother's handwriting. He opened it and gasped. "Oh Darry! Look!"

Inside were all the clothes she'd made for them. Carefully sewn little smocks and soft, knitted one piece things, bonnets and tiny booties… He ran a hand over the embroidered front of a cotton overall.

"She was some seamstress huh?" Darry said quietly. I remember you in this one." He showed him a tiny sweater with a pattern of ducks on it."I remember her knitting it when she was expecting you."

Under the clothes were squares of muslin and flannel to use as diapers, safety pins fastened carefully to the corners, a crochet blanket and a couple of old fashioned glass bottles with teats.

"Bingo!" Darry said with a grin. The first smile Soda had seen on his face in quite some time. "Hold tight little lady." He said to the cellar door. "Breakfast's comin'!"

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Breakfast was much appreciated and the transition from a spoon to a teat, wasn't a problem. Soda had the honour of feeding the baby her first bottle. He stared into the big brown eyes in the tiny face that stared at him like he was the most fascinating thing on earth. He couldn't believe it, the impossible perfection of her tiny self. He was pretty much instantly in love.

To their great surprise Dally had, apparently, made some oatmeal. He was currently forcing Johnny to eat some, although Johnny insisted he wasn't hungry.

"That's what happens when you don't eat for days and your stomach shrinks idiot! Dally snapped. "Three more spoons!" He demanded. Johnny huffed a little but forced them down. He looked like a strong wind could blow him over. Soda wondered he was still standing at all.

"And a glass of milk!"

"Dal!" Johnny complained bitterly, but poured it anyway.

Darry walked in with a towel and a small pile of clothes, which he placed on the table beside him.

"Johnnycake when you're done here go take a shower and put those clothes in the washer OK?"

"I stink huh?" Johnny said "sorry Darry… I think I stopped smellin' myself days ago."

"You smell fine. You need to get clean and comfortable though. You're going straight to bed."

"I…I am?" He looked at the currently occupied couch.

"Yup, take my bed and bring baby with you. You look beat kid."

"I don't wanna take your bed again Darry… I kicked you out of it enough lately."

"Kicked me out nothin'! Darry said firmly. You think I'd have let you sleep anywhere else? You do as I say." His voice sounded tough but he ruffled Johnny's hair as he said it.

There were sounds of movement in the hallway and a bleary eyed Ponyboy staggered into the room.

"Hey what gives? Why is everyone up so earl…" The words died on his tongue as he saw the baby. Soda laughed at the way his kid brother was blinking at him.

"Come say hi Pony…" Soda nodded at him. The boy walked slowly across the room and sat beside him. Staring wide eyed at the little bundle in his arms. He reached out tentatively with one finger and touched her hand. His face broke into a delighted smile when she gripped his finger.

"Who's this?" He asked in a whisper. "We have new neighbours or somthin'?"

"See if you can guess who she's related to." Soda said, nodding out at the room. Johnny, Dally and his older brother had gone quiet. Darry, who leaned tensely against the wall, had a strange, almost pained look on his face.

Pony looked back and forth between them and the baby, staring at each of them questioningly.

"Johnny?" He breathed, looking even more confused.

Got it in one. Sodapop thought. Even though the baby had markedly darker skin, she was already a dead ringer for her big brother.

"This is Johnny's sister." Darry said, that pained expression still in his eyes. "They're going to be living with us." He looked down at Johnny "If they want to."

Johnny burst into tears. He pressed his knuckles to his mouth. "Y… You… M… Mean it?" He whimpered.

"God help me I do." Darry said, quickly moving to crouch in front of Johnny's chair. "I dunno how we're gonna do this but we're gonna do it Kid." He pulled Johnny into a hug and made some soothing sounds as he let him cry into his shoulder.

Greasers don't cry. Soda thought, as the baby began to whimper too. Not unless they're hurt real bad. "You've had a hell of a few days huh?" Darry said quietly as he rubbed Johnny's back.

Eventually Soda passed the baby to Ponyboy, and approached them, He put an arm around Johnny. "Let's get you cleaned up and into bed." He said, gently pulling him up. "C'mon Johnnycake." Johnny leaned against him, swaying with exhaustion. When Sodapop pulled him into his side Johnny clung to his arm.

"Thanks Soda." Darry whispered. Giving him a meaningful look that Soda was all too familiar with in this context… Check him for injuries. "When he's rested We'll get the gang together and we'll have a meeting about this."

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Soda supported him as he stumbled into the bathroom. Jonny sat on the edge of the tub and let him remove his shoes and socks, he ran the shower to let the water heat up a little. He helped Johnny out of his flithy jacket. He eyed the still dark bruises on his wrists and arms Perfect sets of fingerprints. Bastard!

Cautiously, he rolled up the hem of his T-shirt. "Can I..?" Johnny nodded tiredly. Lifting his arms as Soda pulled the fabric over his head. "Jesus Johnny!" He whispered.

He had a dark, oval, purple bruise running over one side of his painfully sharp ribcage. It could only have been from a savage kick with a boot. His throat and shoulders were also littered with them, glancing punches and handprints. Livid, vicious scratches everywhere.

"What else?" He asked swallowing thickly as Johnny wrapped his arms around his naked torso. "How bad?" He nodded at his legs He wasn't going to undress him without permission.

"He nailed my knee and hip with his work boot" Johnny murmured in a monotone, staring into the corner. "They have steel toe caps."

"Can I see?"

He nodded, passively allowing Soda to unbuckle his jeans and pull them off.

Soda hissed at the sight of the swollen, bruised joints. "Shit Johnnycake!" How are you walking around on that right now!?" It must have been on hell of a fight, hell, of course it was, he's been fighting for his sister's life.

Johnny shrugged "It don't hurt that much."

Soda didn't believe it. Johnny could take a lot, he was used to it. But even his pain threshold wasn't that high. He let him remove his own shorts and helped him into the shower. Johnny sank down to sit in the tub. He closed his eyes and rested his head don his uninjured knee.

Soda ran a hand through the boy's hair. He didn't see any cooties but he got out the louse shampoo to be safe and lathered it up.

He had a sudden, intense memory of his mother washing Johnny's hair when they were little kids. The teacher had sent everyone home with a head lice note. Telling their parents to shampoo their kids. Johnny's mom, of course, was the only parent in school who ignored the note. Eventually Their mom got sick of him re-infecting them, hustled him into their house, put pyrethrum on his head, and gave him a proper bath. Afterwards he overheard her angrily telling Dad about the bruises. He'd only been about six or seven back then.

Afterwards he dried him off and helped him into a clean pair of shorts and an undershirt that were way too big for him. Johnny tried to stand up at one point, but his leg collapsed under him. Soda caught him under the arms "Easy… Easy man. Lemme do it." He said softly, scooping his friend up and carrying him to bed. Johnny didn't even complain.

"Hush-a- bye, Don't you cry,

Go to sleepy, little baby.

when you wake,

You shall have,

all the pretty little horses."

Ponyboy was already there, sitting against Darry's headboard singing softly to the sleeping baby. He had the sweetest look on his face. Soda couldn't help smiling as he put Johnny down on the bed beside him and pulled back the blanket.

"Now don't keep him awake Pony." He warned his young brother. "He's beat."

"No!" Johnny said in an exhausted whisper. Reaching out, he grabbed Ponyboy's arm. "Can you stay? Please?"

Ponyboy nodded "Of course Johnnycake… I'll be right here and if she cries I'll deal with it ok?"

"Thanks man… I dunno what…" He shook his head "…Wh…what I'd'do without you guys…" His bottom lip wobbled and he was blinking a lot. Soda thought he'd better do something before all three of them were blubbering like babies.

"Don't mention it man, you're family." He patted the mattress "Hop in and get some rest now!" He was aware that he sounded like his mother in that moment and he didn't mind a bit. Johnny got into bed and lay back on the pillow. Soda squeezed Ponyboy's ankle affectionately. "You got this?" He whispered.

Ponyboy nodded, unable to take his eyes off the baby. Who was sleeping soundly in his arms. Someone had dressed her in a cloth diaper, a knitted bonnet and booties and one of the little smocks from the box.

"Pretty." Johnny breathed as he watched her, his own eyes slipping closed.

By the time Sodapop had reached the doorway he was already snoring lightly.