Chapter 7 - Looking Back
Disclaimer - I don't own or have any rights to The Outsiders.
Soda's P.O.V.
I jumped when the phone rang. It had been like this all week. I was about to go out of my mind with worry. I just couldn't believe that Ponyboy, Stephi, and Johnny weren't here. That Johnny could have killed somebody. Quiet little Johnny. Then, two days later, Sandy left. This had definitely been the worst week of my life. I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't concentrate on anything. My boss had sent me home early twice this week. That was worse than being at work, though. At home, all I could do was think about how empty the house was, even if Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Darry were all sitting in the room with me.
Darry grabbed the phone before I could get to it. I watched his face for some sign of news. Please let it be Pony or Stephi. Please let it be anyone telling us where they are, that they are okay.
"Hello?" he answered, his face tense and strained. "Are they okay?" his face more rigid than before. This was nerve-wracking. Then "Of course, we'll be right there." No change in his face at all. He was so good at hiding his feelings.
He turned around to hang up the phone and turned back to me, the biggest, goofiest grin that I had ever seen emerged on his face. "They're here in Tulsa. They're at the hospital and they're gonna be okay."
"Yipee!" I yelled, jumping off the sofa. Darry already had the keys to the truck and was halfway out the door. I ran after him.
Darry stopped and threw me the keys. "Here, you drive. You'll get us there quicker."
I got behind the wheel and took off. I don't remember the drive. I know I got there fast, but it seemed to take hours. I couldn't wait to see my brother and sister for myself and make sure they were really okay. I couldn't wait to take them back home.
We got to the hospital and ran in through the front doors. Darry suddenly stopped, and I crashed into him. "I didn't even ask where they were," he said to me. We went over to the lady sitting at the reception desk and she pointed us in the right direction.
I opened the doors leading to the emergency room hallway. I saw Ponyboy sitting on a chair, halfway down. I knew it was him even though he wasn't facing me and he had short blonde hair. I had been looking for that kid everywhere I went the last week - I would have been able to pick him out of a crowd of a thousand. He turned just then, and saw me. He leaped up and was in my arms before I could even move. I was so happy to see him. I swung him around and then set him down to get a good look at him. "Oh, Ponyboy, your hair. Your tuff, tuff hair."
Ponyboy grinned at me, then looked to where Darry was standing. Darry had been watching us, his hands jammed into his pockets. He was holding back the tears that had been threatening to fall all week. "Ponyboy."
Pony let go of me and stared at him for a minute. Oh god, please don't still be mad at Darry for hitting you, I thought to myself. Darry couldn't take it. The tears started to fall down Darry's cheeks, his eyes begging Pony to forgive him. Darry looked down at his feet and started to turn away. I was about to shove Ponyboy towards him, when Pony suddenly screamed "Darry" and ran towards him, almost knocking him over with the force of his hug. "Darry, I'm sorry."
Just then, a door down the hallway opened. The three of us all turned at the sound of a high-pitched, "Oh!"
Stephi ran towards us, tears streaming down her face. "Soda! Darry!"
I reached her first, with Darry and Pony right behind me. The four of us stood there, in the middle of the hallway, sobbing and wrapped in a giant embrace.
After several minutes of hugging and crying, Darry went off in search of the doctor who had treated Stephi and Ponyboy. He came back a few minutes later with the news.
"The doc said that you guys are gonna be okay. You both inhaled a lot of smoke, but will be okay. Stephi, how did you get that cut on your head?"
She looked puzzled. "I don't really remember." She turned to Ponyboy, looking for an answer.
"At the park," he said. "She hit her head on a pole."
Darry looked at Pony skeptically. "What." he started, but Ponyboy stopped him.
"Darry, come 'ere," Pony said, standing up and pulling Darry over to the window. I stayed with Stephi on the bench, glancing over to the two of them to see what the conversation was about.
"Stephi, you look tired," I said to her.
"I am," she replied. "I just want to go home to my own bed."
Just then, the cops came walking up, with a few reporters trailing behind. They went straight for Stephi. The big cop began to ask her a question, but Darry came over and pulled him aside. "She's been through a lot. Why don't you just talk to Ponyboy and us right now, leave her out of it."
The cops and reporters were already bombarding Pony with questions. Darry pulled me aside and told me to watch Stephi and make sure no one bothered her. He told me some of what Pony explained to him about Stephi in the church. She certainly wasn't up to this circus. I decided I could help ease tensions by playing around with them. I pretended to be a reporter and interview the nurses. I slyly tried to lift the cop's gun. Anything to keep the mood light. I soon got bored with it. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat back down.
The reporters and cops began to leave. Stephi stretched out on the bench and put her head on my lap. She was asleep instantly. I put my head on Darry's shoulder and began to doze off. I heard Darry talking to Pony. "Soda and I had all these horrible thoughts running through our heads all week. I think I could have killed those Socs. Is Stephi really okay? She keeps saying she is, but.oh, I don't know. It's something in her eyes."
"I don't know, Darry," he answered. "I really don't know. She didn't sleep all week. And I don't mean she didn't sleep well, I mean she literally didn't sleep until just today. She sat in the corner of the church most of the time, with her knees pulled in to her chest. She barely spoke to us and hardly ate anything. I tried to talk her into sleeping, but she kept saying that every time she closed her eyes, she could hear and see those Socs. They said some terrible things to her. I think she was scared and terribly homesick. Johnny and I were worried; we were thinkin' about trying to find a doctor for her. That cut on her head bled on and off for the first few days, that didn't help either."
Poor babies, I thought to myself. Neither one of them deserved this. I couldn't believe what they had been through this week. I drifted off to sleep.
Darry woke me about an hour later. He was tired of waiting. We were going to find out what was going on with Dally and Johnny. I gently shook Stephi, "Wake up, Stephers."
After getting nowhere with the nurses, we found the doctor. Darry convinced him that we were the only family that Johnny and Dally had, and he finally told us what he knew. Dally had a pretty bad burn on his arm, but would be okay. It was Johnny we were worried about. When the doctor told us about his broken back and third-degree burns, Stephi's knees went weak and I caught her and held her. Darry's stony face just stared at the doctor and Pony went white. Darry put an arm around him and squeezed. Then, the doc told us he'd be crippled for life if he lived. That word, if, stopped me cold. I couldn't move. No, not Johnny. I couldn't imagine it. Stephi was crying and Ponyboy was trying not to.
"We'd better go home," I heard Darry saying. He gave my arm a tug to get me moving. I kept my arm around Steph and we made our way out to the truck. I was so happy we were taking Pony and Stephi home, but couldn't smile for the life of me. Not after that news.
We got the kids home and into bed. I collapsed onto the bed next to Pony, not even bothering to take off my shoes. I was asleep immediately.
I was woken up by the slam of the front door and loud voices from the kitchen. Two-Bit and Steve. I put my pillow over my head to block out the noise. Then I heard Pony's voice and remembered - Pony and Stephi are home. I jumped out of bed and peeled off the clothes from last night, and searched through our closet for something clean. Finding nothing, I ran out into the living room. "Where's the blue shirt I washed yesterday?"
Steve made some wise-ass comment about laws about wearing clothes to work. I looked at him and laughed. He was sprawled out on the floor - having been dropped there by Darry. Darry told me my clothes were ironed and in his closet. I headed back there and ran into Stephi. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes. When she moved her hands away from her face, she smiled and yelled, "Two-bit! Steve!"
Two-Bit grabbed her in a bear hug and danced her around the room. "Hey, gorgeous. Your hair's gone, too."
"I know," she replied. "Oh, I'm glad to see you guys." Steve picked himself up off the floor and gave Stephi a hug, too.
I headed back to my room when Darry reminded me that I was going to be late to work. Steve followed me back.
"It sure is good to see a smile on your face, buddy," he said to me. Steve had been there for me all week, and it had been a hell of a week. He was the best friend a guy could have. He listened to me all week, and kept the wisecracks to a minimum. That was over now, though, I realized after his next comment. "You get any cheesier and we're gonna have to slap you down on a burger."
He just grinned. He was as happy as I was that they were back. I picked up Pony's pillow and threw it at him. He threw it back and a pillow fight had begun.
After getting dressed for work, Steve and I headed back into the living room to share our plans for a celebration party for after the rumble.
Pony turned to me. "You going to take Sandy to the party?"
Sandy. He didn't know. I looked down at my feet and could feel my face getting red. Sandy had left. I had felt betrayed, but I told her I loved her anyway, and she still left. I thought she had loved me, too, but I was wrong. "No."
"How come?" he asked.
Steve jumped in, irritation in his voice. He was not happy with what Sandy had done, and had told me so several times this week. I defended her, but he didn't stand for it.
There was a heavy silence in the room after that. Stephi stood up from the couch. "I'm gonna take a three hour bath." She left the room, stopping for a second to pat me on the shoulder.
"We'd better get to work, Pepsi-Cola," Darry called to me. He turned to Pony. "I hate to leave the two of you hear by yourselves," he said, looking towards the bathroom where the water was already running.
Two-Bit offered to baby-sit, which made Pony tackle him. Two-Bit had him down in a minute, telling him to holler uncle. He was squashing Pony. I was amazed. Pony was a tough kid, but he had no strength. Darry pulled him off and said, "Ponyboy, you take it easy today. Steph, too. Make sure she eats something today."
"Sure Darry."
Steve, Darry and I headed out the door to work.
Thanks for reading and special thanks to:
Dollwithouteyes - Sorry I missed you last chapter - for some reason your review didn't come to my mailbox. I'm glad you like the different character's POV. It's fun (and sometimes frustrating) to try and figure out what each one is thinking.
Ski-Ming Bitch - I had a hard time with last chapter. I'm not sure I like how Johnny sounded either, but after fooling around with it for a few weeks I just wanted to be done with it. Aaagh. Hopefully it's more in tune with the characters in this chapter. Thanks so much for the good review - you keep me on my toes!
Anon - I'm so glad you kept reading - it does start out like most of the other ones. Even more is in store, if I can just get through all the regular story and pick up with life after Dally and Johnny. That's where the changes really come. And - no offense taken - not every story is for everyone and it starts pretty routine.
Pony's Girl - Me too - she needed it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
GirlsDontCri - Me too - I hated writing it, but had to. Ugh. Thanks though.
Karlei - So glad you're reading, and more importantly, enjoying.
Samara - So nice to hear from you. I wanted to keep the focus off Stephi and on how the guys deal with her situation (and future situations) - they never had to deal with "girl stuff" in the book.
Two-BitGortez - Thanks so much for reading and reviewing - it's great motivation to keep going.
ThuperJapanican - Thanks for joining in the reviews - yeah! Glad to hear from you.
Disclaimer - I don't own or have any rights to The Outsiders.
Soda's P.O.V.
I jumped when the phone rang. It had been like this all week. I was about to go out of my mind with worry. I just couldn't believe that Ponyboy, Stephi, and Johnny weren't here. That Johnny could have killed somebody. Quiet little Johnny. Then, two days later, Sandy left. This had definitely been the worst week of my life. I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't concentrate on anything. My boss had sent me home early twice this week. That was worse than being at work, though. At home, all I could do was think about how empty the house was, even if Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Darry were all sitting in the room with me.
Darry grabbed the phone before I could get to it. I watched his face for some sign of news. Please let it be Pony or Stephi. Please let it be anyone telling us where they are, that they are okay.
"Hello?" he answered, his face tense and strained. "Are they okay?" his face more rigid than before. This was nerve-wracking. Then "Of course, we'll be right there." No change in his face at all. He was so good at hiding his feelings.
He turned around to hang up the phone and turned back to me, the biggest, goofiest grin that I had ever seen emerged on his face. "They're here in Tulsa. They're at the hospital and they're gonna be okay."
"Yipee!" I yelled, jumping off the sofa. Darry already had the keys to the truck and was halfway out the door. I ran after him.
Darry stopped and threw me the keys. "Here, you drive. You'll get us there quicker."
I got behind the wheel and took off. I don't remember the drive. I know I got there fast, but it seemed to take hours. I couldn't wait to see my brother and sister for myself and make sure they were really okay. I couldn't wait to take them back home.
We got to the hospital and ran in through the front doors. Darry suddenly stopped, and I crashed into him. "I didn't even ask where they were," he said to me. We went over to the lady sitting at the reception desk and she pointed us in the right direction.
I opened the doors leading to the emergency room hallway. I saw Ponyboy sitting on a chair, halfway down. I knew it was him even though he wasn't facing me and he had short blonde hair. I had been looking for that kid everywhere I went the last week - I would have been able to pick him out of a crowd of a thousand. He turned just then, and saw me. He leaped up and was in my arms before I could even move. I was so happy to see him. I swung him around and then set him down to get a good look at him. "Oh, Ponyboy, your hair. Your tuff, tuff hair."
Ponyboy grinned at me, then looked to where Darry was standing. Darry had been watching us, his hands jammed into his pockets. He was holding back the tears that had been threatening to fall all week. "Ponyboy."
Pony let go of me and stared at him for a minute. Oh god, please don't still be mad at Darry for hitting you, I thought to myself. Darry couldn't take it. The tears started to fall down Darry's cheeks, his eyes begging Pony to forgive him. Darry looked down at his feet and started to turn away. I was about to shove Ponyboy towards him, when Pony suddenly screamed "Darry" and ran towards him, almost knocking him over with the force of his hug. "Darry, I'm sorry."
Just then, a door down the hallway opened. The three of us all turned at the sound of a high-pitched, "Oh!"
Stephi ran towards us, tears streaming down her face. "Soda! Darry!"
I reached her first, with Darry and Pony right behind me. The four of us stood there, in the middle of the hallway, sobbing and wrapped in a giant embrace.
After several minutes of hugging and crying, Darry went off in search of the doctor who had treated Stephi and Ponyboy. He came back a few minutes later with the news.
"The doc said that you guys are gonna be okay. You both inhaled a lot of smoke, but will be okay. Stephi, how did you get that cut on your head?"
She looked puzzled. "I don't really remember." She turned to Ponyboy, looking for an answer.
"At the park," he said. "She hit her head on a pole."
Darry looked at Pony skeptically. "What." he started, but Ponyboy stopped him.
"Darry, come 'ere," Pony said, standing up and pulling Darry over to the window. I stayed with Stephi on the bench, glancing over to the two of them to see what the conversation was about.
"Stephi, you look tired," I said to her.
"I am," she replied. "I just want to go home to my own bed."
Just then, the cops came walking up, with a few reporters trailing behind. They went straight for Stephi. The big cop began to ask her a question, but Darry came over and pulled him aside. "She's been through a lot. Why don't you just talk to Ponyboy and us right now, leave her out of it."
The cops and reporters were already bombarding Pony with questions. Darry pulled me aside and told me to watch Stephi and make sure no one bothered her. He told me some of what Pony explained to him about Stephi in the church. She certainly wasn't up to this circus. I decided I could help ease tensions by playing around with them. I pretended to be a reporter and interview the nurses. I slyly tried to lift the cop's gun. Anything to keep the mood light. I soon got bored with it. I didn't realize how tired I was until I sat back down.
The reporters and cops began to leave. Stephi stretched out on the bench and put her head on my lap. She was asleep instantly. I put my head on Darry's shoulder and began to doze off. I heard Darry talking to Pony. "Soda and I had all these horrible thoughts running through our heads all week. I think I could have killed those Socs. Is Stephi really okay? She keeps saying she is, but.oh, I don't know. It's something in her eyes."
"I don't know, Darry," he answered. "I really don't know. She didn't sleep all week. And I don't mean she didn't sleep well, I mean she literally didn't sleep until just today. She sat in the corner of the church most of the time, with her knees pulled in to her chest. She barely spoke to us and hardly ate anything. I tried to talk her into sleeping, but she kept saying that every time she closed her eyes, she could hear and see those Socs. They said some terrible things to her. I think she was scared and terribly homesick. Johnny and I were worried; we were thinkin' about trying to find a doctor for her. That cut on her head bled on and off for the first few days, that didn't help either."
Poor babies, I thought to myself. Neither one of them deserved this. I couldn't believe what they had been through this week. I drifted off to sleep.
Darry woke me about an hour later. He was tired of waiting. We were going to find out what was going on with Dally and Johnny. I gently shook Stephi, "Wake up, Stephers."
After getting nowhere with the nurses, we found the doctor. Darry convinced him that we were the only family that Johnny and Dally had, and he finally told us what he knew. Dally had a pretty bad burn on his arm, but would be okay. It was Johnny we were worried about. When the doctor told us about his broken back and third-degree burns, Stephi's knees went weak and I caught her and held her. Darry's stony face just stared at the doctor and Pony went white. Darry put an arm around him and squeezed. Then, the doc told us he'd be crippled for life if he lived. That word, if, stopped me cold. I couldn't move. No, not Johnny. I couldn't imagine it. Stephi was crying and Ponyboy was trying not to.
"We'd better go home," I heard Darry saying. He gave my arm a tug to get me moving. I kept my arm around Steph and we made our way out to the truck. I was so happy we were taking Pony and Stephi home, but couldn't smile for the life of me. Not after that news.
We got the kids home and into bed. I collapsed onto the bed next to Pony, not even bothering to take off my shoes. I was asleep immediately.
I was woken up by the slam of the front door and loud voices from the kitchen. Two-Bit and Steve. I put my pillow over my head to block out the noise. Then I heard Pony's voice and remembered - Pony and Stephi are home. I jumped out of bed and peeled off the clothes from last night, and searched through our closet for something clean. Finding nothing, I ran out into the living room. "Where's the blue shirt I washed yesterday?"
Steve made some wise-ass comment about laws about wearing clothes to work. I looked at him and laughed. He was sprawled out on the floor - having been dropped there by Darry. Darry told me my clothes were ironed and in his closet. I headed back there and ran into Stephi. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes. When she moved her hands away from her face, she smiled and yelled, "Two-bit! Steve!"
Two-Bit grabbed her in a bear hug and danced her around the room. "Hey, gorgeous. Your hair's gone, too."
"I know," she replied. "Oh, I'm glad to see you guys." Steve picked himself up off the floor and gave Stephi a hug, too.
I headed back to my room when Darry reminded me that I was going to be late to work. Steve followed me back.
"It sure is good to see a smile on your face, buddy," he said to me. Steve had been there for me all week, and it had been a hell of a week. He was the best friend a guy could have. He listened to me all week, and kept the wisecracks to a minimum. That was over now, though, I realized after his next comment. "You get any cheesier and we're gonna have to slap you down on a burger."
He just grinned. He was as happy as I was that they were back. I picked up Pony's pillow and threw it at him. He threw it back and a pillow fight had begun.
After getting dressed for work, Steve and I headed back into the living room to share our plans for a celebration party for after the rumble.
Pony turned to me. "You going to take Sandy to the party?"
Sandy. He didn't know. I looked down at my feet and could feel my face getting red. Sandy had left. I had felt betrayed, but I told her I loved her anyway, and she still left. I thought she had loved me, too, but I was wrong. "No."
"How come?" he asked.
Steve jumped in, irritation in his voice. He was not happy with what Sandy had done, and had told me so several times this week. I defended her, but he didn't stand for it.
There was a heavy silence in the room after that. Stephi stood up from the couch. "I'm gonna take a three hour bath." She left the room, stopping for a second to pat me on the shoulder.
"We'd better get to work, Pepsi-Cola," Darry called to me. He turned to Pony. "I hate to leave the two of you hear by yourselves," he said, looking towards the bathroom where the water was already running.
Two-Bit offered to baby-sit, which made Pony tackle him. Two-Bit had him down in a minute, telling him to holler uncle. He was squashing Pony. I was amazed. Pony was a tough kid, but he had no strength. Darry pulled him off and said, "Ponyboy, you take it easy today. Steph, too. Make sure she eats something today."
"Sure Darry."
Steve, Darry and I headed out the door to work.
Thanks for reading and special thanks to:
Dollwithouteyes - Sorry I missed you last chapter - for some reason your review didn't come to my mailbox. I'm glad you like the different character's POV. It's fun (and sometimes frustrating) to try and figure out what each one is thinking.
Ski-Ming Bitch - I had a hard time with last chapter. I'm not sure I like how Johnny sounded either, but after fooling around with it for a few weeks I just wanted to be done with it. Aaagh. Hopefully it's more in tune with the characters in this chapter. Thanks so much for the good review - you keep me on my toes!
Anon - I'm so glad you kept reading - it does start out like most of the other ones. Even more is in store, if I can just get through all the regular story and pick up with life after Dally and Johnny. That's where the changes really come. And - no offense taken - not every story is for everyone and it starts pretty routine.
Pony's Girl - Me too - she needed it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
GirlsDontCri - Me too - I hated writing it, but had to. Ugh. Thanks though.
Karlei - So glad you're reading, and more importantly, enjoying.
Samara - So nice to hear from you. I wanted to keep the focus off Stephi and on how the guys deal with her situation (and future situations) - they never had to deal with "girl stuff" in the book.
Two-BitGortez - Thanks so much for reading and reviewing - it's great motivation to keep going.
ThuperJapanican - Thanks for joining in the reviews - yeah! Glad to hear from you.