Darry walked out of the kitchen, picked up the clean laundry, and headed towards Ponyboy and Sodapop's room. "Soda, put these away, ok?" Darry said swinging open the door and stepping in. Soda wasn't in there. "Hmmm." Darry said to himself and plopped the laundry on the bed, walking back out into the living room and looking to see if he was in there. "Where'd Soda go?" Darry asked the three boys who were currently disputing about who was the best at sports.

 

Two-Bit quit arguing and looked up from Mickey Mouse and over at Darry. "In his room, I think."

 

Darry shook his head. "He aint in there."

 

Two-Bit shrugged and turned back to the television. Darry then looked over at Ponyboy questioningly.

 

"Don't look at me." Pony said defensively. "I don't know anything. I promise. Ask o'l Steve over there. Maybe he has some answers. Why are all fingers always pointed at me?" Steve glared at Ponyboy, who inched down in his chair.

 

"Do you know?" Darry asked Steve.

 

"I don't know a thing." Steve said continuing to play cards.

 

They honestly didn't know and Darry couldn't tell if they were giving him the truth or not so he quit questioning them and went to the back of the house to see if Soda was there. "I'm gonna kill that kid if he's run off again." Darry thought. "I can hardly turn my back without him doing something else."

 

Obviously Darry didn't find him so he went back out to ask his youngest brother one more thing. "Pony, did Soda tell you were Samantha lives?" Ponyboy shook his head.

 

"Why? Can't you find him?"

 

"No, I can't." Darry said.

 

"Just give it a rest, Dar. He'll be back." Two-Bit said.

 

*****

 

Soda stared down at the ground as he sat on the sidewalk and forced himself up. Just sitting there was pointless. Maybe if he hurried he could get home before Darry noticed he was gone. He figured Darry already new though and was out looking for him. Then when and if he told Darry what happen the response he'd probably get is "I told you so" and he really didn't want to hear that.

 

He wiped his face off and made his way down the street, staring at his feet almost the entire time. His head still hurt and his throat felt dry. "It's all a bad dream." He told himself. "You're gonna wake up in the morning and everything is going to be fine." He shook his head. "Yeah, I sure wish."

 

He thought about Samantha as he walked to the bus stop and while he was going home on the bus. He'd been happy when he was with her. She'd brought back a part of him and when she left she caused more damage than there had been before. "How come people are always different then how they seem?" He thought.

 

After a half an hour the bus had gotten as close to his house as it goes so he got out and started down the street, now thinking about what to say to Darry if he new and hoping that he didn't know. Well, apparently Darry did know because when Sodapop climbed back through his window as quietly as possible and walked out to see what everyone was doing Darry grabbed him by the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him back to his room.

 

"Do I dare even ask where you have been?" He slammed the door behind them.

 

Soda plopped down on his bed and stared at the wall. "I went to go meat Jack." Soda said dully.

 

"What?" Darry asked confused.

 

"Forget it." Soda said. "You wouldn't care anyways. In fact you'd probably be happy."

 

"Sodapop, what are you talking about." Darry demanded. "Who's Jack?"

 

"Samantha's husband." Soda said with a sarcastic smile on his face.

 

Darry's eyes got wide.

 

"Yeah, apparently she's married."

 

"I tried to tell you." Darry said. "I tried to tell you it was a bad idea but you wouldn't listen."

 

"Yeah well, 'Mr. Always Right.' I guess you're real proud of yourself. You want a medal or something?" Soda said, tears welling up in his eyes again. "I bet you're really relieved, aren't you Darry? You don't have to worry about me seeing her anymore. That's all that matters to you. I bet you're just jumping up and down inside. I bet you're just ecstatic!" Sodapop screamed and stood up.

 

He was fighting back tears but it wasn't doing him any good and they just came flowing out against his will. He wiped them away angrily and waited for a response from Darry and he got the last thing he had expected. Darry pulled him close and hugged him, letting Soda cry into his shoulder.

 

"Of course I'm not happy." Darry said. "Why would I be happy about you getting hurt?" Soda didn't say anything. He just kept on crying uncontrollably. He had given up fighting back sobs. It wasn't working.

 

"Hey, it's gonna be all-right honey. It's gonna be ok."

 

"No it aint." Soda cried.

 

"Yeah it is." Darry said. "You're gonna be all-right and you're gonna get through this."

 

Soda shook his head. "I can't stand it, Darry. I'm losing everyone. Just a little over a year ago we lost mom and dad. Then Johnny and Dally died and Sandy moved away. Now Samantha's gone too?! I wish I was dead." Soda said muffled into Darry's shirt.

 

"Don't you say that!" Darry said sternly and held Sodapop tighter. "You've still got us." He reassured his little brother. "You've still got Ponyboy, Steve, Two-Bit, and me. We're all here for you. We've all been through a lot and we've picked each other up off the ground each time, right?"

 

"Yeah." Soda said.''

 

"I love you little buddy. It's going to be ok." Darrel said.

 

"I love you too Darry."

After a minute Darry pulled away, looking at Sodapop a bit concerned. He looked kind of white.

 

"All-right, enough of this mushy stuff." Darry smiled. "Come help me make some lunch, ok? Oh, and no more sneaking out of the house. Is that understood?" Soda nodded and followed Darry out of the room, feeling a little bit better.