Locked

A few days later...

"Ahh. Well, this is an interesting sensation.. Almost like.. swimming in Jell-O." Two-Bit rolled off the Curtis' couch and landed on the floor with a thud. Dust rose into the air around him, but Pony wasn't sure if it was from his clothes or the carpet. Slowly Two-Bit opened his eyes. "Solid ground. Well, that's nice too, I guess. I'm still in one piece.. not missing any limbs.. I dont FEEL dead..?" He turned to the left, staring right into a pair of giant brown eyes and tiny turned-up nose. The eyes and nose giggled at Two-Bit.

"THE WHAT! What is THAT!"

Pony ran over and picked up Aaron around his waist and held him upside-down. "'THAT' is Aaron. Remember?"

Two-Bit sat up and scratched his head, grinning. "Oh yeah, hey kid, how's it goin'?"

"Marshmallows don't have bones."

Two-Bit eyed him cautiously. "Yeah, kid, know what? You're right. No bones in them marshmallows at all."

"So, were you dreaming when you fell off the couch?" Pony asked, setting Aaron back on the ground.

"Naw, just drunk off my.." Two-Bit stopped when he remembered Aaron was still there.

Pony cocked an eyebrow. "Well, now, if that ain't a surprise, I sure don't know what would be!"

"I do!" Aaron piped up.

"Yeah? What's that, buddy?"

Aaron just grinned and pulled an object out of his back pocket and dangled it in front of Two-Bit's face. The infamous black switch Two-Bit had stolen years ago.

Two-Bit stared in shock while Pony fell backwards onto the easy chair, laughing so hard tears were coming.

"Glory, Two-Bit, barely four years old and he's as klepto as you are! I dunno how he swiped that but I'd give him money to see him do it again."

"Gimme that." Two-Bit grabbed the blade out of Aaron's hands and stuffed it back in his pocket. "It's easy to take stuff from people passed out drunk on the couch. Didn't take no skill for him to swipe it."

Aaron started dancing around the room. Pony watched him, vaguely remembering a time when Soda danced the same way around the house. "I s'took it last week, when you were watching Popeye," Aaron crowed.

Two-Bit just stared at him dumbfounded. "Glory be.. I must be losing my touch." He turned to Pony, "So where's Sodapop and Superman?"

"Soda and Sandy went on a date - a football game at T.U. or something."

"Date, eh? I was wondering when that was gonna come around. They look like a couple of baboons in heat, the way they've been eyeing each other the past couple of weeks."

"More like, ever since Soda got used to her being back. 'Just friends' my... ah... Anyway, Steve and Darry are both working, Darry just left here an hour ago. Speaking of work, shouldn't you be..."

Two-Bit started laughing hysterically, shaking his head. "Kid, I surprised myself for staying as long as I did. Tim Shepard came by a few times to harrass me and remind me about how work cuts into my drinking time. He's right, you know," he added thoughtfully. Drinking was one of the few things he really considered thoughtfully. "Anyway, those chicks weren't my type. Their schedules were full long before I came around. They were all the same, too. 'Come onnnn, Keith' - can you believe it? They actually made me go by my name at work - 'Come onnn, Keith, we're supposed to be RUNNING the games, not PLAYING the games," he mimicked, rolling his eyes. "Every day, they were like that. 'Nooo, Keith, we're not supposed to have fun at work, we're supposed to WORK at work.' Man, they don't pay enough for me to work at work."

Pony grinned. "What would be paying you enough? 2 beers for every hour you're there?"

"Nup. I require a full six-pack. Oh yeah, that reminds me.." He pulled a green stuffed elephant out of his leather jacket and tossed it to Aaron. "For you, buddy. Meant to give you that last night. Y'all take care, I'm heading out." He walked down the porch steps and disappeared into the dark.

Pony looked down at Aaron, who was growling at the stuffed elephant. "You gonna name him?" Pony asked, gesturing towards the green lump.

"Yep, he's Mickey," Aaron answered, eyes shining.

Pony gave a small laugh. "Well, kiddo, Two-Bit will be glad to hear that. You wanna catch a movie? I think An American Tail is on up at the movie house tonight." Aaron nodded enthusiastically, and Pony scribbled out a note to whoever happened to get there first.

After the Movie

Aaron skipped a few feet in front of Pony, chanting "Feish, feish, feish."

"It's Feivel," Pony corrected him.

Aaron rested his fists on his hips and and defiantly announced, "If I say it's Feish, it's Feish!"

Pony shook his head. "Whatever, little buddy."

They soon reached the house and Pony tried the doorknob. Locked. "Locked?!" He patted his pockets in search of keys, although he knew it would be useless. Why would he have a key on him? The door was never locked. Pony rested his ear against the door and he could faintly hear music from the radio. Dance music, he realized. Pony and Aaron started pounding on the door and yelling for Soda.

The music went silent and Soda came to unlock the door. He glowered at Pony and turned back towards the living room. Sandy was standing nervously in the middle of the room, hands clasped behind her back. Pony glanced from Sandy to Soda.

"I hafta go pee!" Aaron announced, running off to the bathroom.

"So, Soda, why was the door locked?" Pony asked.

"Kinda hard for a guy to slow-dance with his girl with everyone barging in." Soda muttered.

Pony and Sandy both stared at Soda, mouths gaping.

"She's your girl again?"

"I'm your girl again?"

"Yeah," Soda answered softly. "If you still want to.."

Sandy threw her arms around Soda's neck and mumbled her answer, "Mrmph."

Soda wrapped his arms around Sandy's waist and gave Pony a look.

"Hey, kid brother, don't you have some homework to finish?"

"Naw, and tomorrow is Sunday anyway."

"Read a book."

"I've read 'em all."

"Read 'em again," Soda growled.

Pony threw up his hands, "OK, ok, I get the picture. Let Soda & Sandy have their kissy time." He ran out as Soda threw a pillow at his head. As soon as his bedroom door latched, he could hear the music start up again and between songs he could hear Soda and Sandy laughing about some private joke. Pony was nearly asleep on his bed when he heard Darry's truck pull up in the driveway. Suddenly there was a pounding noise at the front door and Pony could hear Darry bellowing, "SODA! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR PRONTO!"

aaaaaaand fade to black.