Chapter 7

"Hey Evie!"

"Hey Pony. You hear from Darry and Soda?"

"Darry just called." Pony told her and Steve as he walked into the garage. "They just got back from taking Sandy and the baby to breakfast. He said Soda and Sandy were taking the baby to the park and talk some more. So I guess it's going pretty good."

"That's good." Evie said. "Maybe they can work something out. Something that will make them all happy. God knows somebody deserves to be." She mumbled the last part, but Steve heard it. "Look I gotta go. I have an interview at the diner."

"What about our books?" Steve asked her.

"God Steve relax. I'll do it. I always do it. But I have to find a real job. It's not like you pay me. I mean it's not like I'm an actual accountant or anything. I gotta go. I'll see you later." She said sourly as she walked towards the diner.

"Great. Just great." Steve said as he slammed the hood of the car he had been working on. "Listen Pony, I gotta go take care of something this afternoon. You gonna be okay here by yourself for awhile?"

"Yeah Steve, no problem. Where you going?"

"I just gotta do something. I'll tell you later."

Pony closed up the DX and started walking home. Steve had left around four and wasn't back yet. What Steve said last night about Evie kept running through his head. How she wanted to be more than a greaser. And what Evie said today about Soda and Sandy deserving to be happy. Lost in his thoughts as usual, Pony didn't hear the car that was slowly pulling up behind him until it was too late.

He knew not to turn around. He knew the best thing to do was to try and ignore them. If you look at them, they know you're nervous about them. It can give them ideas. He started walking a little faster.

"What's a matter greaser? Where you running too?"

"You ass Two-Bit!" Pony yelled at him as he climbed into the car.

"Had you going for a second though didn't I?" He laughed.

"Whatever." Pony rolled his eyes.

"So what you doing walking home? Where's Stevie?"

"I don't know. He said he had something to do and for me to close up. He left awhile ago."

"Him and Evie still fighting?"

"I don't know. I think sort of, but I don't think they are really mad at each other so much as just mad at something."

"Uh huh. So you hear from them boys?" He turned down Pony's street.

"Yeah. Darry called once this morning, and then again just before closing. They were taking Sandy and the baby to dinner and then hitting the road. He figured if they drove all night they'd be home by dinner time tomorrow."

"Good. So how's it going?"

"I guess pretty good. He said they talked about a lot of stuff. And Sandy's grandmother has been pretty supportive. I guess it was the rest of her family that hated Soda and all. I don't know the whole story. Darry said he and Soda would tell us when they got home."

"Good. Hey there's Evie." Two-Bit pointed as he pulled up in front of the Curtis house where Evie sat on the front porch smoking a cigarette. "Hey hot stuff? What's cooking?" He called to her as he got out of the car.

"If you're just looking to flatter me, I'll take it. If you're really just trying to find out if I made food for your sorry ass, you're shit out of luck." She told Two-Bit as he put a hand to his heart and acted as if she had shot him. "Where's Steve?"

"I don't know. He said he had something to take care of and had me close up. How did your interview go?"

"Okay. I'll tell you later." She crushed out her cigarette as Steve pulled up in front of the house.

"Hey baby." He said getting out of his car and walking over to her, kissing her when she stood up.

"Where did you have to go?" She asked him.

"I, ah, just had to take care of something." He told her, shoving a hand in the pocket of his pants. "How did you interview at the diner go?"

"I got the job. I start tomorrow."

"That's great baby!" He kissed her again. "Good for you."

"Yeah. Good for me." She said unenthusiastically.

"Well since you didn't cook. And now we have a reason to celebrate, let's go eat. I'm starved!" Two-Bit told them.

"Okay. I gotta take a shower first." Steve told them.

"Me too." Pony said as he went into the house.

"Well y'all hurry up! I'm starving!" Two-Bit whined.

"Well eat a snack." Pony yelled at him as he headed straight for the shower.

Pony showered quickly and changed his clothes. When he picked up his dirty clothes from today he realized he really needed to do some laundry. With just him at home, there almost wasn't enough for a full load of wash, but he needed clothes to wear to the station the next day. Pony walked out into the living room with his laundry basket to find Two-Bit watching TV and eating chocolate cake. Evie was on the phone with someone. He realized it was her mother as he walked out the back door towards Steve's apartment.

The door was shut, but unlocked. "Steve?" He knocked as he opened it. "Steve you got any laundry?" Pony called as he went in. He heard the shower turning off as he stepped into the room.

"What?"

"I gotta do wash. I need more clothes, where's your laundry?"

"Oh. The pile in the corner." Steve called to him as he toweled off.

He collected up the laundry scattered around. Steve's idea of a pile and his idea of a pile weren't exactly the same. "Okay, I'm gonna go start this. Don't let me forget to throw it in the dryer when we get back from dinner or we won't have anything to wear to work tomorrow!" Pony laughed.

"Yeah. Good idea." Steve told him stepping out of the little bathroom in a towel as Pony walked out the door. Steve walked toward his dresser for more clothes and stopped. He bolted towards the door and flung it open. "Pony!" He yelled at him from the top of the steps. "Wait!"

"What?" Pony turned around to find Steve in a towel halfway down the steps. "God Steve I got neighbors." He told him, coming back up to the apartment. "What?"

"My pants! The ones on the bed! Where are they?" He started flinging clothes out of Pony's basket as he found the pants. He let out a relieved sigh.

"What's the matter? They'll be done by tomorrow. You got other pants." Pony told him, confused.

Steve realized there was no getting out of it, so he just reached into the pocket of his work pants and pulled out the small velvet box. "It's not the pants I was worried about."

"Oh." Pony stared at the box for a second. "Is that…?"

"Yeah. I went and got it for her today. I figured there wasn't much point in waiting. Besides, it's what she wants. I'm not saying we're getting married tomorrow, but at least it's a start." He shrugged.

"Wow."

"Look, don't say anything."

"Don't worry, I won't tell Evie anything."

"That I figured. I meant don't say anything to Two-Bit or anybody. You I trust. Two-Bit, forget it. He couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. He don't have that name for nothing you know."

Ponyboy laughed. "Right. Got you. No problem." He headed downstairs to start the laundry.

When Steve was finally ready they all climbed into Two-Bit's car, he and Pony in the front with Steve and Evie in the back.

"So Miss Ellison," Two-Bit said in a mock tone. "In honor of you recent momentous graduation, and of course your new found fortune in the business world, where would you like to go to dinner?"

Evie laughed. New found fortune. Right. "I don't care. Some place other than the Dingo. And not the diner either. Surprise me."

"Okay, you got it." Two-Bit started driving and they ended up at a little drive up diner on the absolute farthest side of town.

"So babe, tell me about your job." Steve asked her, feeding her a french fry.

Evie shrugged. "What's to tell. It's a waitress job at the diner." She tried to sound enthusiastic, but it wasn't working. "I start tomorrow."

"Is it full time?" Pony asked her, wondering if she could still take classes that way.

"Yes. Breakfast and lunch shift, Monday through Friday and some weekends every now and then."

"Is it good money?" Steve grinned at her.

"It's okay I guess. Gladys, the head waitress, the one that's going to train me tomorrow said I won't do bad on those shifts. And she should know, she's worked there for twenty years."

"Wow. That's a long time at one job without getting fired." Two-Bit laughed.

"Something you could never hope for I'm sure." Steve teased him.

"Yeah well, they were kinda proud of that fact." Evie continued. "She's been there twenty years. A couple of the other waitresses have been there like ten years or something. It was a big deal to them. How great a place it must be if they all want to be there for so long or something. Gladys kept telling me how she started working there right after she graduated too, and look at her now, twenty years later, head waitress."

The reality of that hit Evie hard just then. She had all she could do to fight back the tears that were threatening to form. The thought of spending the next twenty years waiting on tables, smelling of grease and turning into an old lady with a beehive hairdo that you keep your pencils in like Gladys was almost too much for her. "Um, are you guys ready to go. I gotta get home. I gotta get up early tomorrow."

"You don't want to go out and celebrate baby?" Steve asked her grinning. "We can drop of the kid and then go to the bar?"

"No. I, I just want to go home." Evie told him sadly. She saw Pony looking at her. Pitying her. She didn't need that. She didn't want him feeling sorry for her. She wished he had never seen that stupid application. She never should have sent it in. Never should have gotten her hopes up. It was a stupid idea in the first place.

Pony laid in his bed trying to sleep. It wasn't working. It was too quiet in his house. It was never this quiet and that wasn't helping him any. He was worried about Soda. And surprisingly about Steve and Evie. He flipped over in bed again and tried to sleep.

After another fifteen minutes he threw back the sheets and got up. Walking through the house in his boxers he pulled on a shirt and opened the back door. The lights were out in Steve's apartment, but the TV gave off a glow through the windows. Barefoot he climbed up the steps.

"Steve?" He softly knocked. "You still awake?" He heard movement inside and the door opened. "Sorry."

"It's okay. What's the matter kid? Did Darry call? Is Soda okay?"

"I, I gotta tell you something. Something about Evie." Pony looked up at him. The look on Steve's face registered surprise. Steve opened the door up the rest of the way and let him in the apartment.