I woke up the next morning with my head pounding so loud in my ears that I wanted to tell it to shut up and let me sleep. My throat hurt, too, which was odd. I remembered that I had track before school. I sat up, and instantly regretted it. The result of sitting up was all the blood rushing to my head, making me super dizzy. This can't be happening, I thought as I clung to the bed so I wouldn't fall off. I couldn't be sick, I had to run, and then go to school. Oh no! I groaned as I remembered that I was supposed to work on the biology project with Sarah today, too. This was going to be a long day.
I tried to say as little as possible to Soda and Darry. My stomach felt funny, so I decided against eating breakfast. Track wasn't going to be fun that morning. Luckily, Darry didn't sense anything, and Soda was too busy shaving when I left. Darry would have made me stay home.
That was the longest school day I can remember. The coach ran us extra hard in practice, and by that time my head hurt so badly I wanted to scream. At lunch, I could only handle a bottle of Pepsi. I saw Sarah in the afternoon after 7th period. We only said hi and confirmed plans for later. That was stupid of me. I should have asked her for another time.
When I got home, I only had time to throw my books on the bed, grab an apple, and leave. I was feeling a little better, which was a relief. Hopefully the apple would sit okay. I didn't want to be totally out of it when I was working on the project. The walk there was only three miles, but that day one mile seemed like ten. I was regretting walking by the time I got to her Sarah's doorstep.
"Hey, Ponyboy," she opened the door, "Come on in. My science book is in the living room." I silently walked in and started to take my shoes off. I had one off when the dog got to me, with a little boy about six or seven chasing it. Before I knew it, the dog was right in my face. "Rusty!" Sarah yelled, "Go!" she pointed her finger towards what I assumed was the kitchen. "I'm sorry about that," she sounded annoyed. "It's alright, I like dogs." I had finished taking my shoes off and was following Sarah into the other room.
"That was my brother, Stephen," she explained as we sat down. "Oh, how many brothers and sisters do you have?" The amount of shoes I noticed at the door made it seem like a lot of people were here. "Two sisters, two brothers, and...." she couldn't finish her sentence, because a tall guy, maybe 18 or 19, walked in with the scariest look on his face. It looked like a mixture of pleasure and malice. The way I was feeling didn't help. "Hi, I'm Justin," he said. "I'll be right over there," he pointed to the front step, "Just so you know." The look he gave me was one of a threat. "Oh, leave him alone, Jus. We're doing a science project." Sarah gave him a glare that only she could give, and he walked out with a book in one hand. "Don't mind him, he's" "You're brother?" I finished, questioningly. "Actually, no, he's my neighbor. But he acts like my big brother." she rolled her eyes and grinned.
"So, let's get to work," I opened my science book. "Sure."
Over the next hour, we discussed ideas, made a rough layout, and then started building what our plans were. She had some really good ideas. Justin walked through the room a few times, and I wondered why their neighbor hung around their house, but not that much. The boys did that all the time at my house.
Sarah's mom came into the living room around 5:15and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Piatt," she had an apron on, "would you like to stay for dinner?" I looked at the clock. "No, thanks, I should probably get going." I stood up to leave, and realized my head had begun to pound again, this time harder than before. "Okay, it was nice meeting you," Mrs. Piatt smiled, and it reminded me of my own mother's smile. "Sarah, can you play with Olivia while I finish dinner?" Sarah stood, and turned to me, "Want to meet my baby sister before you leave?" "Sure," what did I have to lose, besides a few minutes of walking?
I followed her into a room right off of the kitchen. There were machines that looked like they belonged in a hospital. Everything was really organized. In the middle of the room was a blanket, which a baby girl was on. She looked like she couldn't have been more than one. She was very still, unlike most little kids. Sarah got down on her knees and looked in the little girl's face. "Olivia, this is Ponyboy," she motioned for me to come over and sit down. I felt very awkward. Olivia smiled as big as she could when I walked over. I caught on then that she was handicapped. I managed a weak, "Hey," trying not to be rude.
"It's ok, relax," Sarah seemed totally at ease. When I didn't say anything, she continued. "Olivia was diagnosed with spinal bifida before she was born. Her mom didn't want a handicapped child, but wasn't thrilled about abortion. Instead, we adopted her. It was by God's grace that we found out about her, because we had been looking for a special needs child. Olivia was premature, and that cause a little bit of late development, which is why she's not talking yet. She will, though." She was so calm about it, but I couldn't see why. Then Olivia smiled at me, and I understood.
"I should be getting home," I stood up, "Darry will be making supper, and he doesn't like it when I'm late." Sarah had what looked like disappointment on her face. "Thank you for letting me come over, and good job with the project. Your idea was great." I was starting to feel really sick again, so I headed for the door. But not before giving Olivia one last smile. "Bye!" the door shut and I began the long walk home.
My head thumped and my throat was burning. I was so tired that I didn't want to take another step, but I knew I had to get home. About halfway there, I started feeling dizzy. A blast from a car horn made me jump about a foot in the air. "Get in," it was Steve. There was no other day that I can remember being this glad to see Steve Randel.
We didn't talk the whole way home. The radio was turned up loud, which didn't help my head at all. When we pulled up, I went straight into the house, took my shoes off, and flopped onto the couch. I fell asleep right away.
Someone nudged me, and I groaned. Everything ached, and my eyes felt like they were burning in their sockets. Two strong arms lifted me up and carried me to bed. I was only half with it, but I opened my eyes. Darry was pulling the covers over me, and Soda was sitting on the edge of my bed looking worn out. "I didn't mean to wake you up," Darry whispered in his husky voice, "Go back to sleep, kiddo." My mouth was really dry. I tried to say something, but couldn't. I just closed my eyes. Being sick felt awful.
Soda slept next to me that night. I couldn't get comfortable. It was hard to tell if I was freezing cold or burning hot. Soda finally got me some water and an aspirin to see if it would help. I looked at the aspirin and groaned. I had a feeling it wouldn't stay down if I tried to take it. "No," I said hoarsely, shaking my head. "Come on, Pony, at least drink some water." He handed the glass to me. I took small sips and let the coolness flow over my raw throat. Then I set it down and fell back to sleep.
I missed school the next day. My fever was almost gone, but I was just so whipped that I didn't want to move. Soda was going to stay home with me, but he couldn't miss work. Darry couldn't either, so I was home alone. It didn't bug me that much. I just slept, mostly.
When Soda got home, he made me eat something. I really didn't want to, but my stomach was growling, so I agreed. He made some chicken soup and gave me crackers with it. I had to sit up, so I scooted over and let Soda pop sit down, too. He looked at his bare toes. "Someone at the gas station asked for you today," Soda kept examining his feet. "Oh, really?" I could feel my ears getting red. I sipped my soup casually. "Yeah, a girl with brown hair." I almost choked on a cracker. "You okay?" Soda jumped up, his face lined with worry. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I sputtered. "What did she want?" I was curious now. "Well, she asked if you were there, and I said no. But I told her that I was your brother, so she could send you a message or something. She wanted to know why you weren't at school." Soda stopped and took a breath. "And?" I had set my soup down and was listening intently. "I told her you were sick, and she looked kind of sad. She said to tell you to get better, and that she had been working on your project. I said I would tell you. She was a cute little thing."
Oh, man, I thought, I hope I didn't spread anything to her yesterday. "Pony?" Soda's voice sounded concerned. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" I guess when I didn't answer he thought something was wrong. "What? Oh, no, I'm ok. Just still tired." I didn't want to eat anymore. "Ok," he said easily, "You need anything, holler." I nodded, laying back down.
Darry walking in later woke me up. I guess Soda had covered me up, because there was a blanket over top of me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Hey," Darry walked over and felt my forehead, "How ya feeling?" "I'm okay," I cleared my throat. Darry sighed with relief. "Man, kid, you had me scared. You haven't been this sick since..." he stopped. I knew what he was going to say. I hadn't been this sick since Johnny and Dally died. "Well," Darry tried to put his tough look on, "You're still a little warm, but a lot cooler than last night." I yawned, "Yeah, last night just wasn't tuff."
Soda came running in just then, and tried to tackle Darry. Of course, Soda couldn't get Darry down if his life depended on it. "Hey little buddy," Darry chuckled as he held Soda off. I just shook my head. I didn't even have enough energy to think about wrestling around. Soda gave up and sat down. "What's for dinner?" Darry asked him. "I figured Pony wouldn't want to eat, so I just made tuna sandwiches." Soda shrugged. Darry nodded and walked out of the room, probably to go change. I put my head on the armrest of the couch and sighed. I still felt kind of lousy, and wished Soda pop and Darry would sit in the living room while they ate.
They didn't, so I was kind of lonely. I considered walking into the kitchen, but I thought better of it. There was no way I wanted to get up off the couch. Besides, the thought of food right then made my stomach do flip flops.
Later on we had some visitors – namely, Steve and Two-bit. I was glad to see some people. That day had been kind of lonely. They kept the radio down and talked for a bit. Steve had learned some new card game during lunch, Mao, or something. He was teaching Two-bit and Soda. They begged me to play, but I said no. I just didn't have enough in me to learn. It sure was fun to watch, though. Two-bit was hilarious, because he didn't get it. Soda was trying to hide a card under the couch cushions, but Steve caught him and made him take an extra card. All the excitement made me want to lie back down.
I was dozing when the phone rang. I ignored it, thinking it was for Darry or something. "Ponyboy," Darry said in a husky voice. "The phone's for you." Who could possibly be calling me? I forced myself up and groaned. Soda, Steve, and Two-bit all gave me funny looks. Getting to the phone took every ounce of strength I had. "Hello?" I sounded weak and hoarse. "Hi, this is Coach Rick from track." Oh man! I had missed a practice. "Hey, Coach," I tried to sound casual and keep my voice from breaking. "You missed practice this morning, son," he sounded disappointed. "I know, sir." Talking was wearing me out.
"Well, where were you?" He was getting impatient. "I was sick, sir. Still am." There was silence on the other end for a second. "Oh, I'm sorry. Listen, son, take it easy, and if you can, come to practice tomorrow." Yeah, running, huh. I could barely talk, let alone run. "Sure thing, Coach," my voice cracked. If I had any energy, I would have cussed my voice for breaking. When would this guy leave me alone and let me sleep? "Well, goodnight Ponyboy." "Bye." Finally, I could get off the blasted phone.
I hung up and sat down on the arm of Darry's chair, which was closer than the couch. "You alright?" he looked worried. "Yeah, I think so." I felt really out of it. I tried to stand up and walk to bed, but my legs were too wobbly. Darry noticed. He had learned to pick up on those things. Finally, he just picked me up and carried me. I heard him say something about a doctor, but I didn't really pay attention. There was laughter from the card players. Then, I heard Darry say something to Soda about aspirin and a doctor. "Oh, I tried to get him to take an aspirin last night," I heard Soda pop say. "He just said no, and I didn't want to force him. The poor kid looked like he wouldn't have been able to keep anything besides water down." I was going to say something, but instead just yawned and moaned. I felt really lousy. Darry put me in bed and pulled my shirt off. I just let him. There was no energy left to insist that I could put myself to bed. Sleep overcame me.