Pony had to stay in bed for the rest of the week. With me, I didn't have to go back just yet. It honestly bugged the both of us because Pony isn't the type of person who can stand looking up at the ceiling all the time. When I was home one evening, Pony and I were looking through one of Soda's old yearbooks and came across a picture with someone that I instantly recognized.

"Ponyboy, is that… Bob?" I asked. "Yeah… yeah it is." Pony replied, swallowing hard. Bob had to have been a sophomore that year and it would make him eighteen years old at the time of his death.

He had black hair with dark eyes, probably brown, like Soda's. Maybe even black eyes, like Johnny's. I began thinking about what Cherry was telling us about Bob, was he actually a sweet caring guy?

When he was drunk, Pony and I knew that he liked to pick fights, and he had the usual Soc belief that living on the West Side made you Mr. Super-Tuff, looked good in dark colored sweaters and he was proud of those rings.

What was it about him that Cherry knew? Yeah, she was a smart chick; but she didn't just like him because he was handsome. He stood out from the crowd.

Like Randy, he was a person, the best friend that a guy could ask for. Randy had told us both that. Would Bob's parents hate us now? I hope so.

The more that we looked at Bob's picture, I could see the person that we had murdered. Reckless, hot-tempered, and cocky at the same time.

"Ponyboy? Bexley?" Darry called from the doorway. "Yeah?" Pony says, not looking up. But I did look up at the sound of my name.

We believed that it was the doctor coming to check on Ponyboy frequently, although he didn't do much except talk to him. He even talked with me a couple of times.

"There's a guy here for you guys. Says he knows you guys." Darry said, something in his voice got Pony to look up. Darry had a hard look in his eyes. "What's his name?" I asked.

"Randy." Darry answered. "Yeah, we know him." Ponyboy said. "Do you guys want to see him?" Darry asked.

"Yeah. Bring him in." I said. A few people from school had dropped by to see us; Pony and I have our own friends while we were in school. A couple of mine were girls but I didn't see them outside of school. Pony's friends were a bit younger than we were and they don't talk as much.

Although we were glad to see them, I could see that it bothered my twin brother because we did live in a lousy neighborhood and our house isn't exactly the best. It's run-down, older, and the inside is poor despite us doing our best to keep it clean.

Our friends come from good homes, but they weren't rich like the Socs were. They were middle class. It's quite funny if you think about it. But neither of us gave a damn of what Randy thought of our house.

"Hi, Ponyboy. Hi, Bexley." Randy said from the doorway, looking uncomfortable. "Hi, Randy. Find yourself a seat." Ponyboy said, books were scattered on the floor. He pushed a couple of them off the chair and sat down.

"How're you guys feeling? Cherry said something about y'all's names being on the bulletin in school." Randy said. "We're okay. Honestly, you can't really miss our names on any kind of bulletin." Ponyboy replied. "Yeah, guess we're popular there." I comment.

Randy tried to smile. Pony tried offering him a cigarette to which he denied. I was offered one too and I took it.

"Guys, the reason I came here was to see if you guys were okay, but you- we- got to go see the judge tomorrow." Randy said, shaking his head. "Yeah, we know it. Can you let us know if one of our brothers comes in? We're surely gonna catch it for smoking in bed." I asked, letting Pony light my cigarette before he lit his.

I took a long drag of mine and started to feel relaxed. "My dad says for me to tell the whole truth and nobody can get hurt. He's kind of upset about all of this. He's a good guy and everything, but better than most, I let him down since I'm mixed up in all this." Randy tells us.

Ponyboy and I exchanged looks of confusion. How was Randy mixed up in all of this? That didn't make any sense.

Unlike us, he didn't kill anyone, he didn't get kicked around in the rumble, it wasn't his buddy that was shot and killed in front of his eyes. What the hell did he have to lose? His dad was rich, he could pay whatever fine there was for being drunk and starting a fight.

"I wouldn't mind getting fined. But I feel lousy about my old man. It was the first time that I'd felt anything in a long time." Randy said. I squeezed my brother's hand to which he squeezed back.

The only thing that Pony and I had felt was fear. A crippling, overwhelming fear. I did stop thinking about the trial for as long as I could. Darry and Soda didn't want to talk about it and neither did Ponyboy, mostly.

I looked down and saw Ponyboy's hand starting to shake, the one with the cigarette. "Guess y'all's folks feel kinda awful about it, too." Randy said. Taking a long drag of my cigarette, I said, "Our parents are dead. Pony and I live with our brothers, Darry and Soda."

"That's what's worrying us. If the judge decides that Darry isn't a good guardian for us, we're liable to get put in a youth home. Bex and I might even go to different homes. That's the rotten part of this deal. Darry's a good guardian; he makes the both of us study and knows where we are and who we're with. And he keeps us out of trouble. Our dad didn't holler as much as Darry does." Pony said, taking a long drag off his cigarette.

"I didn't know that." Randy said, looking worried. It surprised me fiercely because a Soc wouldn't be worried for some greaser kids that're on their way to be put in a foster home. How funny is that?

"Listen to me, Pony and Bex. Neither one of you did anything wrong. It was y'all's friend that had the knife." Randy started. "No, it was me. I had the knife." Pony stopped him. "Pony, it was me that had it." I jumped in.

All Randy did was shake his head at us, "I saw it. You were almost drowned. And Bex, you were being choked. It was the black-headed kid that had the switch. Bob was scared of him doing it. I saw it. Y'all's friend that had died in the hospital."

I saw that Pony was shaking intensely. I was too, my heart was beating against my chest. He didn't know just how much Johnny meant to us. After I had kissed him in the hospital, I could feel that it was more than just a friendship.

"Randy, go away. Now." I said shakily, wrapping an arm around Ponyboy's shaking shoulders. "Johnny's not dead… Johnny's not dead." Pony repeated, his voice shaking. Darry overheard what was going on and he stuck his head in the door.

"Hey Randy. I think it's best that you should leave." Darry said. "Okay. See you two around." Randy said to us, looking at us funny. I closed my eyes and felt a few tears escape from my eyes.

Pony let his head lean on my shoulder and I let my cheek rest atop his head. "Don't talk to him and her about Johnny." Darry said in a low voice, "They're still racked up mentally and emotionally. The doc said they'd be fine if we give them time."

It took me only a second to realize that Randy wasn't our friend. He was just like all the other Socs, uncaring, cold-blooded mean. Johnny didn't have anything to do with Bob dying.

"Ponyboy Curtis! Bexley Curtis! You two put those cigarettes out right this minute." Darry scolded as he walked into the bedroom. "Fine." I said, putting out my cigarette. Ponyboy puts his cigarette out.

"It ain't like we're going to sleep smoking, Darry. There isn't anywhere else that I can smoke." Ponyboy said. "Yeah, I could go out on the front porch to do it but I'd rather stay with you, Ponyboy." I added. "You two aren't going to die without a smoke. If that bed catches fire, you two surely will. Both of you wouldn't be able to make it to the door." Darry said strictly.

"Well, golly, I can't pick it up and Soda doesn't. So guess that leaves you." Ponyboy said to Darry. Darry gives us one of those looks, mostly to Pony. "Alright, fine. That doesn't mean you. Maybe Soda and I could straighten up a little." I said, holding up my hands as if I was surrendering.

"Maybe Pony here could be a little neater too, huh, little buddy and sissy?" Darry said. Darry hadn't ever called us that, Soda was the only little buddy in this house. "Alright, we'll be more careful." Ponyboy said. "Yeah, you don't gotta worry about us." I added.