The aftermath!
I don't know whether you could say things got back to normal, but they at least ended up a lot closer to normal then I ever thought they would during the trouble with the Socs and running away, and then the rumble and Johnny and Dally's death, and the subsequent hearing with the judge about it all. I was scared stiff that I might be taken away from Darry and Soda, perhaps even more scared than I had been during the fight with the socs that resulted in Bob's death, and I know that Darry and Soda were just as scared. We were all each other had in the world, and even if Darry was sometimes too serious and strict on me I knew it was just because he thought he had to be since Mom and Dad weren't there to be my guidance. Plus he worked such long hours, and so hard, just to make sure Soda and I had what we needed. It was kind of sad, because when he was at high school he had been so popular as captain of the football team, and he had even been voted boy of the year. He won a football scholarship, but we didn't have the money for him to go, and now he didn't do much other than work and go to the gym, and occasionally go skiing with old friends. He's had to grow up fast and has gone through a hell of a lot in his twenty years. When the judge said we could stay together I have never felt so relieved in my life, and I promised then to try harder to please Darry and not antagonize him, and to try harder at school and get my grades back up so I would be able to get the college scholarship Darry was so intent on me having! I handed in my English semester theme, and boy was it a whopper, but it did the job: Mr Syme actually passed me with a B-, and I handed my report to Darry, with a lot less reluctance then I would have thought. Not only had my grades picked up slightly becoming a little closer to the average I should have had, but also Darry had been a lot easier on me lately, and therefore I wasn't as concerned about his reaction as I might have been in the past. In part I think his lightning up on me was due to the fact that he thought I had been through a lot and it was bound to influence me in some way, but I also think it may have had something to do with the negative impact all our fighting had on Soda! Soda is great, and even Darry has trouble getting mad with my brother! Everyone loves Soda- he's probably the handsomest guy I know (Darry is good looking too, but he is always to serious, and working so hard. He doesn't seem to understand anything that is not plain hard work!), and he is always laughing, and joking, so that guys and girls alike love him. It seems as if he is drunk on plain living most of the time. Darry scanned my report, and then he reached out from the armchair where he was sitting, and ruffled my hair. "Good going Ponyboy." He said, and I felt myself swell with pride; compliments from Darry seemed to mean more to me than ones from anyone else.
"Tell me Pony- what actually did you write your English theme on?" Darry asked.
I glanced at the floor, and scuffed at the faded carpet with the toe of my sneaker, leaning forwards on the couch. "Everything." I said, finally. "You, me, Sodapop, the Socs, the greasers, the gang, Bob, Johnny, hiding out in the church, the fire-how Johnny was a hero!…the rumble, even Dally."
Darry raised an eyebrow. "What did you say about Dallas?" He asked.
"The truth…I know if he were here now and he read my theme he would thump me for portraying him the way I did- how with Johnny and all….how he finally showed he was human I guess…." I said.
Darry nodded, but didn't speak. We were both silent in our own thoughts, with me wondering why he didn't ask what I said about him, and just as I opened my mouth to tell him Two-Bit Mathews burst in.
"Soda home from work yet?" He asked, almost out of breath.
Darry gave him a strange look. "Not yet, he's working late tonight so he wont be home until after dinner, why is something wrong?" He asked. I was thinking the same thing- Two-Bit wasn't smiling his usual goofy smile, in fact he looked serious-something he rarely is.
Two-Bit hesitated, and then he shook his head. "Not wrong exactly, you know what- I might just go down the garage and see him." He started out of the house, but Darry stopped him with his words.
"Wait a moment Two-Bit. Everything's alright isn't it?" Darry asked.
Two-Bit hesitated again, and then he sighed. "Sandy's back." He said simply.
Darry and I glanced at each other. I remembered the night Soda told me he was going to marry Sandy. We were lying in bed when he told me, and I asked him what it was like to be in love? He'd sighed happily, and muttered "It's real nice" dreamily before he fell asleep. I also remembered, just as well, the fact that Sandy had gone to Florida, the same week that Johnny and I had run away (although of course I didn't find this out until I got back), and when Soda told her he didn't want her to go, that he wanted to marry her, she just left anyway. When he wrote her a letter it had been returned unopened, and it was one of the only times I have ever seen Soda so unhappy for so long!
"Back for good?" Darry asked, finally.
Two-Bit shrugged. "I don't know. But that's not all- the thing is, she's pregnant. You should have seen her- she was fatter than old Miss Michels across the street, and boy is that saying something." He grinned, probably remembering the time he'd stolen every single one of her roses from the rose bush out the front of her place, and given them all to my Mom when she'd been alive. Two-Bit's like that- he's the clown of our gang, and in fact he loves school so much that he's still there. A junior at eighteen- not that he ever learnt anything; he went purely for kicks! Usually you can't shut Two-Bit up (hence his nickname!), and compared to Darry the differences are even more obvious! (By the way the fourth member of our group, at least now that Johnny and Dally are dead, but I don't want to get into that again, is Steve Randle- Soda's best mate. I'll get to him soon enough I'm sure!)
"Is it, the baby, is it Sodapop's?" Darry asked, his face graver than I had seen it in a long time. Just when everything was starting to seem better this had to happen, I reflected with a inward groan.
"I don't know…that's something he'll have to find out…." Two-Bit said with a sigh.
Darry stood up and stretched, and I noticed that his usually very muscular frame was a little less muscular than usual, and it hit me that the all the problems lately had taken their toll even on my big brother. He grabbed his jacket from where he had thrown it on the couch when he walked through the door not that long ago, and shrugged himself into it. "I'm coming too." He said firmly.
"Me too." I jumped up from my spot.
Darry frowned slightly. "I don't know Ponyboy-" He began, but I interupted him.
"Go on Darry! It's end of school so I don't have any homework, and we were just planning on chucking a frozen pizza in the oven for tea so I don't need to do anything!" I begged.
He relented and nodded, and we all went outside and headed for the garage where Soda has worked full time since he left school, even though he's only sixteen, nearly seventeen. We didn't speak as we walked, and for Two-Bit this was a bit of a surprise, but I figured he must have had something on his mind; whether it was Sandy's reappearance or something else. Soda was out the front and he noticed us, and waved.
"Hey! What's this? Miss me already?" He called, with a grin. Steve works at the garage also, only part time, and he was there too. He nodded to Darry, smiled to Two-Bit, but ignored me. I like Steve only because he is Soda's best friend, and he doesn't like me; he thinks I am just a kid and a tagalong.
"Not exactly." Darry said.
Soda heard the tone in his voice and raised an eyebrow. "So what gives then?" He demanded.
……………………..
I don't know whether you could say things got back to normal, but they at least ended up a lot closer to normal then I ever thought they would during the trouble with the Socs and running away, and then the rumble and Johnny and Dally's death, and the subsequent hearing with the judge about it all. I was scared stiff that I might be taken away from Darry and Soda, perhaps even more scared than I had been during the fight with the socs that resulted in Bob's death, and I know that Darry and Soda were just as scared. We were all each other had in the world, and even if Darry was sometimes too serious and strict on me I knew it was just because he thought he had to be since Mom and Dad weren't there to be my guidance. Plus he worked such long hours, and so hard, just to make sure Soda and I had what we needed. It was kind of sad, because when he was at high school he had been so popular as captain of the football team, and he had even been voted boy of the year. He won a football scholarship, but we didn't have the money for him to go, and now he didn't do much other than work and go to the gym, and occasionally go skiing with old friends. He's had to grow up fast and has gone through a hell of a lot in his twenty years. When the judge said we could stay together I have never felt so relieved in my life, and I promised then to try harder to please Darry and not antagonize him, and to try harder at school and get my grades back up so I would be able to get the college scholarship Darry was so intent on me having! I handed in my English semester theme, and boy was it a whopper, but it did the job: Mr Syme actually passed me with a B-, and I handed my report to Darry, with a lot less reluctance then I would have thought. Not only had my grades picked up slightly becoming a little closer to the average I should have had, but also Darry had been a lot easier on me lately, and therefore I wasn't as concerned about his reaction as I might have been in the past. In part I think his lightning up on me was due to the fact that he thought I had been through a lot and it was bound to influence me in some way, but I also think it may have had something to do with the negative impact all our fighting had on Soda! Soda is great, and even Darry has trouble getting mad with my brother! Everyone loves Soda- he's probably the handsomest guy I know (Darry is good looking too, but he is always to serious, and working so hard. He doesn't seem to understand anything that is not plain hard work!), and he is always laughing, and joking, so that guys and girls alike love him. It seems as if he is drunk on plain living most of the time. Darry scanned my report, and then he reached out from the armchair where he was sitting, and ruffled my hair. "Good going Ponyboy." He said, and I felt myself swell with pride; compliments from Darry seemed to mean more to me than ones from anyone else.
"Tell me Pony- what actually did you write your English theme on?" Darry asked.
I glanced at the floor, and scuffed at the faded carpet with the toe of my sneaker, leaning forwards on the couch. "Everything." I said, finally. "You, me, Sodapop, the Socs, the greasers, the gang, Bob, Johnny, hiding out in the church, the fire-how Johnny was a hero!…the rumble, even Dally."
Darry raised an eyebrow. "What did you say about Dallas?" He asked.
"The truth…I know if he were here now and he read my theme he would thump me for portraying him the way I did- how with Johnny and all….how he finally showed he was human I guess…." I said.
Darry nodded, but didn't speak. We were both silent in our own thoughts, with me wondering why he didn't ask what I said about him, and just as I opened my mouth to tell him Two-Bit Mathews burst in.
"Soda home from work yet?" He asked, almost out of breath.
Darry gave him a strange look. "Not yet, he's working late tonight so he wont be home until after dinner, why is something wrong?" He asked. I was thinking the same thing- Two-Bit wasn't smiling his usual goofy smile, in fact he looked serious-something he rarely is.
Two-Bit hesitated, and then he shook his head. "Not wrong exactly, you know what- I might just go down the garage and see him." He started out of the house, but Darry stopped him with his words.
"Wait a moment Two-Bit. Everything's alright isn't it?" Darry asked.
Two-Bit hesitated again, and then he sighed. "Sandy's back." He said simply.
Darry and I glanced at each other. I remembered the night Soda told me he was going to marry Sandy. We were lying in bed when he told me, and I asked him what it was like to be in love? He'd sighed happily, and muttered "It's real nice" dreamily before he fell asleep. I also remembered, just as well, the fact that Sandy had gone to Florida, the same week that Johnny and I had run away (although of course I didn't find this out until I got back), and when Soda told her he didn't want her to go, that he wanted to marry her, she just left anyway. When he wrote her a letter it had been returned unopened, and it was one of the only times I have ever seen Soda so unhappy for so long!
"Back for good?" Darry asked, finally.
Two-Bit shrugged. "I don't know. But that's not all- the thing is, she's pregnant. You should have seen her- she was fatter than old Miss Michels across the street, and boy is that saying something." He grinned, probably remembering the time he'd stolen every single one of her roses from the rose bush out the front of her place, and given them all to my Mom when she'd been alive. Two-Bit's like that- he's the clown of our gang, and in fact he loves school so much that he's still there. A junior at eighteen- not that he ever learnt anything; he went purely for kicks! Usually you can't shut Two-Bit up (hence his nickname!), and compared to Darry the differences are even more obvious! (By the way the fourth member of our group, at least now that Johnny and Dally are dead, but I don't want to get into that again, is Steve Randle- Soda's best mate. I'll get to him soon enough I'm sure!)
"Is it, the baby, is it Sodapop's?" Darry asked, his face graver than I had seen it in a long time. Just when everything was starting to seem better this had to happen, I reflected with a inward groan.
"I don't know…that's something he'll have to find out…." Two-Bit said with a sigh.
Darry stood up and stretched, and I noticed that his usually very muscular frame was a little less muscular than usual, and it hit me that the all the problems lately had taken their toll even on my big brother. He grabbed his jacket from where he had thrown it on the couch when he walked through the door not that long ago, and shrugged himself into it. "I'm coming too." He said firmly.
"Me too." I jumped up from my spot.
Darry frowned slightly. "I don't know Ponyboy-" He began, but I interupted him.
"Go on Darry! It's end of school so I don't have any homework, and we were just planning on chucking a frozen pizza in the oven for tea so I don't need to do anything!" I begged.
He relented and nodded, and we all went outside and headed for the garage where Soda has worked full time since he left school, even though he's only sixteen, nearly seventeen. We didn't speak as we walked, and for Two-Bit this was a bit of a surprise, but I figured he must have had something on his mind; whether it was Sandy's reappearance or something else. Soda was out the front and he noticed us, and waved.
"Hey! What's this? Miss me already?" He called, with a grin. Steve works at the garage also, only part time, and he was there too. He nodded to Darry, smiled to Two-Bit, but ignored me. I like Steve only because he is Soda's best friend, and he doesn't like me; he thinks I am just a kid and a tagalong.
"Not exactly." Darry said.
Soda heard the tone in his voice and raised an eyebrow. "So what gives then?" He demanded.
……………………..
