myhubbyisob: thanks :)
I try but it's hard, 'cause in school we've to speak/write proper english (esp. in correspondence/business letters)

Varinia: thanks :)
yeah, it seems that the grammar is my weakness :(
sorry

9. Meet old friends

David was already at the warehouse and of course his friends were there, too.

"Uh, what do you know! The doomed Greaser dares to come here!" David yelled to Pony.

"Of course! You thought I would refuse, huh? Ya don't know us Greaser very well! We don't refuse, never ever! And we don't wanna miss any fight as well!" Pony replied.

"Are you alone or did your friends come with you?"

"Unlike you, I'm alone. But it doesn't matter. I'm a match for all of ya!" Ponyboy said arrogant.
The Socs only laughed about it.
Pony grumbled dangerously. "Did we come here only for chatting?" he asked.

"Well, you wanna die by all means, huh? All right, you would have it this way! You damned dirty Greaser!" With that the fight began.

David rushed to Pony and punched him into the stomach. Pony groaned and held bended his stomach.
And as already guessed David had his knife with him, which he also pulled out after that and would use it against Ponyboy.
Pony, who suspected and somehow hoped such a thing, didn't have any knife or another weapon for defence with him.
When he noticed that David had his knife with him and that he would use it against him, he hardly defended himself and was ready to die of the knife.
David pushed him to the ground at this moment and came dangerously close to him with his knife, when he heard a scream behind him.

David turned around and saw Ponyboy's friends.
They really dared to come here and kept hiding up to now.
And now they got out of their hiding place and rushed straight to the Socs to keep David from hurting Ponyboy with the knife.
But David's friends were the way of them, so that they had to fight against them at first to come to the both.

"Ponyboy..." Soda shouted, while he fought with a Soc.

David said growling to Ponyboy, "You little rotten rat! You didn't keep to our deal! You gonna suffer for that!"

"Hey! I didn't know they followed me. I really didn't know they're here! I gave them no reason to follow me! By the way, ya didn't keep to it, too!" Ponyboy said and pointed with his head to the knife.

David sneered malicious and raised his hand to push.
Ponyboy defended himself no longer but lay calm with closed eyes at the ground and only waited for that David finally pushed and released him from his pain.

"Please, please do it! Do it finally! Release me!" Pony whispered and he heard his brothers and friends screaming his name, but he didn't care.

Suddenly he felt a gust and a pressure.
Pony opened his eyes after that and even saw how Darry rushed to David with a furious face and pulled David with that from Ponyboy.
But because of the shove David pushed his hand down, so that he could push the knife into Ponyboy's body.

Pony didn't feel any pain at first but only an unbelievable sadness.
He felt as if he was wrapped up in cotton wool, he didn't sense anything.
He heard and saw everything in this way, as if he was far, far away from the events. And he believed that his life finally would be finished now, as if he soon would watch a movie, which would run down in front of him such as it always was described.

He even got that Darry and David fight dogged with each other next to him and one of his friends – but he couldn't realize any more, who it was – always shouted to Darry that he should look out because David still had his knife.
But Darry could steal David the knife and defeated him this way.
David fled defeated with his friends, after he swore them a cruel revenge.

In the meantime the friends, including Darry, arrived at Ponyboy.
But this one didn't get it any more at all.
He only saw his friends as if they would be very far away.

But he could see their worried faces and somebody of them - he thought to recognize Steve - said to him with a shaking voice, "It was very stupid of ya to fight with David. It's wrong to say goodbye to your life this way.
Goddamned, you shouldn't be so selfish and throw your life away so easy, only 'cause ya think, it ain't worth livin' any more and ya don't wanna be alive any longer for that reason.
Think about only once that there still are people that ya would leave behind, in mournin', hatred, despair, rage..."

Then Pony closed his eyes.

When Ponyboy would open his eyes again, he suddenly heard a voice, a very familiar voice, which called his name.
He desperately tried to remember, which voice that could be.
But when he remembered, he couldn't believe it, because that, what he thought, couldn't be in any case.
That was why he would open his eyes to go and see for himself.
But when he could see, he frightened: he wasn't in his body any longer, which only lay there lifeless not far away from him.
He saw his brothers.
They kneeled beside his body and cried.
Two-Bit and Steve stood next to them and had tears in their eyes as well.
And there he understood that he probably was really dead now.

There this voice called his name again and he turned around.
Suddenly a figure appeared behind his friends.

Ponyboy blinked few times, before he could recognize it correctly and murmured, "Johnny? Johnny, is that you? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, Pony, it's me." the figure said and came towards him.

When he stood directly in front of Pony, Pony could recognize that it was really Johnny.

"Oh Johnny, Johnny..." Pony whispered.

"Don't be afraid, Pony. Everything's gonna be all right again.
Look, I came into heaven. I'm fine now. It's so much better than ever before. Everything's so beautiful, so peaceful here. As I always wished in that way.
But I miss yaall, I miss ya. But I'm not alone here. Dally's here with me, too." Johnny said and turned around.

Behind him Dally appeared.

He lifted greeting a hand and said, "Hey Kid."

And there his eyes sparkled for the first time without any sign of hate. His eyes were kindly now.

"Oh, Dally... Johnny... I'm... I'm so sorry. Only 'cause of me ya had to die. It's my fault..."

"No, Pony! It ain't your fault!
Ya all knew I would die one day this way I did, as a hood." Dally explained.

"Yeah, Pony. Dal's right. You ain't to blame for it.
What can I do that ya believe us that it ain't your fault?" Johnny asked.

"Let me die, so that I can repay your death. Let me get this as my well-deserved punishment for that."

Johnny shook his head and answered, "It ain't the right time for ya yet. But it already was time for us to go. But not for ya. Not now.
The people ya loved still need ya.
Just look, your brothers and our friends need ya..."
With that Johnny pointed to their friends, which cried for Pony.

Pony was touched by this sight, but he wasn't willing to go into his body again and live on.

"But I need ya too, Johnny! I miss ya!"

Johnny nodded and replied, "I know. I miss ya too and also the others.
But I know we wanna meet again, sometime. Some day ya all wanna come here too and we wanna be together again.
But ya just have to stay with the others till then, even if it's hard to stand for ya.
It really hurts me to see how much everything depresses ya and how ya changed yourself...
And that's why I wanna tell ya that ya don't need to worry about me or good ol' Dal any longer. We're fine.
Become happy and cheerful again, as in former times, please Ponyboy.
Your guilt wanna be wiped out with that.
Please promise me, Pony."

"Johnny, I..."

"Please…"

"Yeah, ok! I promise, but..."

"Nope! We've to go again now and ya've to return to the living.
That's how it should be."

"But..."

"Don't worry, Pony. We wanna meet again, but not just now."

"When will it be?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell ya. But sometime it wanna be the right time for ya.
Goodbye, Pony.
And remember: Stay gold and be alive."

With that Johnny turned away with a smile and disappeared.
And also Dally disappeared.

There Ponyboy suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his body and got unconscious...