Chapter 5: Father and Son Time

When I woke up next, my two brothers were already awoke. They were both watching television. I looked at Danny. He still hadn't waken up.

"How y'all doing?" I asked stretching my arms. They both turned around.

"We're fine," started Ponyboy. "Cathy and the kids had left and me and Soda came up here. We didn't want to wake up you up. We both fell asleep up here."

"That's fine. Danny woke up yet?"

Soda answered me,

"No. He was breathing straight when we came up here. I guess he'll wake up any minute now."

"That's good. I'm going to the cafeteria to get some coffee. It's been a while since I had some."

I walked out into the hall. I had to walk past the lobby to get to the cafeteria. As I was walking, I accidently ran into this girl.

"Sorry," I said.

"It's okay-" she started but then looked at me. She then asked, "Are you Danny's father. Trix."

"Yeah," I answered with a puzzled look.

"Hi. I'm Danny's girlfriend. Maria."

"Oh you're Maria. Hey. How did you know who I was?"

"Danny showed me a picture of you once. He was very anxcious to meet you. Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He hasn't woken up yet. But I predict that he'll wake up soon. We haven't met each other though."

"Oh. Well, I'm just gonna wait in the lobby."

"Alright. I'll come and get you when he wakes up."

She smiled.

"Okay."

I continued my journey to the cafeteria. I had just finished my coffee when Ponyboy and Soda entered.

"Hey Trix. He's awake. He waiting on you. We told him it was a surprise."

I jumped up.

"I'm not going to keep him waiting!"

I made my way back up to the floor. When I reached the door to the room I stopped. I took a deep breath. This was it. I was going to meet my son. Finally. I put my hand on the door knob. I could remember when he was born. I cut the cord for him. I was out mostly, so I really never got to see him. Then I got arrested.

I opened the door. Danny was wide awake. He smiled when I entered. That made me real happy.

"How you doing Danny?"

"Fine. I thought you wouldn't be back until later on this month."

I smiled.

"I told them to tell you that. I wanted to surprise you. But it seems that you surprised me."

"Yeah, they still have the socs and greaser thing going on. I was trying to protect Pony's son. Is he alright?"

"Yeah. He's okay. He ran to the house and got us. Cathy called the police. I swear, if your uncles weren't holding me back. I would have murdered those kids. The police arrested them."

I still couldn't believe it. My son was right in front of me. Do you know how long I've waited for this moment?

"What were you sent to the pen for?"

"Assault and robbery."

Danny looked confused,

"But that would have gotten you ten years, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. But I'm out on parole. Don't make me have to go back, kid."

Danny laughed even more. I could tell that he was so happy to finally meet his dad. I then started up something.

"Danny. You had everyone scared for a second."

"What was wrong with my head?"

"You have a minor concussion. One of those socs hit you over the head with a baseball bat. Like I said, Ponyboy and Soda had to hold me back. We all surrounded them though, so they wouldn't take off running. We made sure they got arrested."

"Hey I'm a Curtis. Talked to mom yet."
"Yeah, I talked to her on the phone. She's doing well. She wishes she could come down here. But your uncle's house is already crammed enough. Plus she says she would hate to lose her job. But you know your mom, she'll make the best of a bad situation. She says she's having some woman time."

I noticed that he had a weird look. Like he was nervous.

"What's wrong, son?"

"I want to ask you a question, but I feel it's a hard one."

"Shoot."

Danny took a deep breath and asked,

"What was Mark like?"

Well I wasn't expecting that. I sighed and thought for a moment

"He was a good friend to anyone who was a friend to him. He was tough and was always by your side. When he went to jail, I couldn't take it anymore. I went off and met back up with your mom."

He smiled then,

"It's weird though. The three reasons I left Tulsa are all dead."

"Oh…So you know about what happened to him."

"Yeah. Soda had told me on the phone while I was in jail. That was the first time I had talked to him since I ran away. I talked to Darry and Ponyboy a little bit. Soda mostly, he was comforting me in that place. Kid, let me tell you something. Try to avoid jail the best way you can."

"What's that?"

"Don't get caught."

Danny laughed and we talked for a long, long time. Ponyboy had to remind me that Maria wanted to talk to Danny.

I let Maria in and I walked out with Ponyboy.

"Did you get acquainted?" he asked.

"You know we did."

"You're right. You guys were in there talking for a full hour."