"Yes!" Pony slapped a high five to Will, the best friend he had ever had in his 10 years. "School's out for the summer!"
The two boys grabbed anything remaining at their desks (they had cleaned them a day earlier because the teacher told them to) and ran out of the elementary school building, jumping and whooping the whole way.
"Man, we're never gonna go back there, Will," Pony commented.
"Yeah! Junior High, here we come! It'll be so tuff!" Will was beaming.
Before long, Pony and Will caught up to three older boys, who were also whooping and jumping in a manner similar to their own. Sodapop, Johnny Cade, and Steve Randle were three people that the boys looked up to and respected as older and wiser greasers that they should learn from.
"Hey kid," Soda said to Pony. "Billy," he nodded to the other boy.
"Soda, he goes by Will now," Pony corrected his older brother. Soda ignored him. That happened sometimes. The brothers had a good relationship, considering the 2 and a half year difference between them, but Soda couldn't always treat him as an equal, and Pony couldn't always keep from annoying his older brother. It was too much fun for him. Their oldest brother, Darrel, who they called Darry, tried to keep them from fighting, but that didn't always work. Because of the 6 year difference between them, Pony and Darry butted heads a lot. In the long run of things, Pony loved his older brothers more than he could express, and they felt the same way about him.
Steve Randle was Sodapop's best friend since grade school. They had always lived in the same neighborhood; the same neighborhood Johnny and Will lived in. They liked drag races, cars, and pretty much anything that made noise and could move. That included themselves. When they had nothing better to do, they would make noise and do something active, like race or box. Steve and Soda were regular 13 year old greasers in 1963.
Johnny Cade didn't say much to Pony ever. He hung out with Steve and Soda a lot, and tried to stay away from his own home. It confused Pony at first; home was his favorite place. But one night, he woke up to the sound of yelling from the Cade's house. The next morning Johnny had a black eye and bruises on his arms. From that day on Pony understood, but he didn't like it one bit. As a young boy in his part of town, though, he couldn't do anything.
The boys talked amongst themselves on the walk back to the east side. There was a new excitement in the air since school was over, and they had a whole summer to do as many crazy things as they could think of.
"You doing anything fun this summer?" Pony asked Will.
He sighed, bored. "Not really. Dad said there's not enough money to go anywhere. My cousin from Texas might come up for a week." Will shrugged. Pony understood more than his friend said. Like most kids on the east side, he didn't have a real great home. His dad got drunk periodically, but never really beat him. His mom was sick. Will's one older sister was a Junior in high school. She was barely ever home, and when she was, it was worse than when she was gone. Pony and Will didn't really like her friends, though they both had their different reasons. Darry told Pony to stay clear of them, so he did. On the other hand, Will had a different battle. He so wanted to be liked by his sister, but her friends always smelt weird and acted weird. Some times late at night he would remember when they were younger, and she would let him cuddle with her. "What are you doing this summer?"
Pony hesitated for a minute. He knew that Will didn't have a good dad, but he also was extremely excited about his summer plans. When each boy in the Curtis family was officially out of elementary school, the summer before junior high, they were allowed to go with their father and whoever else was old enough to the country for a camping trip. This was his first summer old enough, and his dad had long ago taught him how to shoot a gun, but he had never actually hunted. "Dad's taking us boys camping," he said finally.
"That's really tuff," Will said, acting excited for his friend. They didn't say anything else for a while.
Then, Pony got an idea. "Hey! I wonder if Dad would let you come. I mean, you're old enough, and one more wouldn't be bad. You ain't gonna take up that much space or nothing. Besides, you're my best friend."
"Really? I ain't sure if my dad would say yes, but I sure want to go! Man, we would have a blast, huntin' and sleepin' under the stars, and all that. I ain't never been camping." The little boy brightened.
The group came to their neighborhood and split off to their own houses.
"I'll ask my dad tonight," Pony assured his friend, then they parted with their usual secret salute.
"We're home!" Soda called as he usually did, busting through the front door and kicking off his shoes.
Mrs. Curtis stuck her head through the kitchen doorway. "Hi boys, how was school?" She asked, as she normally did every day.
"It doesn't matter!" Soda answered. "It's over for the summer!" He whooped and did a little happy jig, making mom laugh her soft, sweet laugh. Ponyboy laughed too, and considered copying him, but thought better of it.
"What about you, honey?" Mrs. Curtis turned her attention to Pony.
He grinned. "It was the last day of school, Mom. What do you think?" She walked over and ruffled his hair, then laughed at Sodapop again, because he had finished his jig and was attempting to do a back flip.
"Sodapop Patrick Curtis," she said in a mock scolding tone, "You know you're not supposed to jump around in the house. Take it outside."
He got up. "Yes ma'am."
Soda dashed out the door he had come in just minutes before and looked for Steve. It was officially summer, so they were going to celebrate by having some fun, maybe chasing kids at the park or racing to the DX and buying cokes. Mrs. Curtis shook her head and went back into the kitchen. Pony could smell something good cooking, like a pot roast or something similar. He stood in the front room alone for a second, considering what to do. In truth, he could do pretty much anything. By nature, he chose what he always did after school. Pony dashed out the front door, as Soda had, and raced to Will's house for a game of football before supper.
"Dad. Dad. Dad? Dad!"
"Ponyboy, your brother is talking, wait a minute."
"Yes sir," Pony grumbled. His brother Darrel had been talking about college and football for all of dinner, which was a long time for a 10 year old.
Finally, the conversation finished. Before anyone could say anything else, Pony jumped on the chance.
"Dad, can Will come with us on the camping trip?" He was ready to beg if need be, and his tone revealed how much he wanted for his friend to go.
His father sighed. "I'm not sure, son."
"Please! He won't take up too much room or eat too much." Pony pleaded.
"I'll think about it," was Mr. Curtis's reply. That is the reply dreaded by all kids. Normally, 'I'll think about it' means no. Pony tried not to scowl; he respected his father too much for that. But he really didn't see why one extra boy would be a problem. Maybe if he had been a little older, Pony could have understood how his father treasured the time he got to spend with his boys, and no matter how selfish it was, he didn't want to share them. He also didn't want to share his affection with his son's friend. It was a father-son trip, and Mr. Curtis wished he could keep it that way. Eventually, though, the baby of the family would win.
When dinner was over, Pony got a treat he normally didn't get: football with his Dad, Darry, and Soda. Because summer had officially started at the end of school, they were allowed to stay up later, and none of them had anything the saw more important than evening football. Darry was the starting quarterback for his high school team, so he normally killed everyone on the field, even in backyard football. That was one of the reasons Pony was on Darry's team; he was small and slow, and Darry was fast and strong. Not to mention big. On request of an adoring fan, he would flex his huge biceps, or ripple his six pack abs. Pony desperately wished that someday he could have the build his older brother did. Pony wanted to be anything his big brothers were.
Soda and Mr. Curtis were on the other team, joking around putting mud on their faces. Soda had one of the best relationships with his dad. It wasn't that Mr. Curtis played favorites; Soda had just inherited his father's sarcastic and funny personality. Darry may have looked the most like their dad, but Soda had the mind of his father. Sometimes Pony would look at his dad with his brothers and wonder how he possibly could fit in with that trio. It was at those times that Soda would tackle him, throw him over his shoulder, and set him in the middle of his father and Darry, and they'd have an all out tickle match. Of course, Pony couldn't do much but yelp and laugh hysterically, being in the center of it, but he didn't mind it.
"Down, set, hike!" Pony yelled, trying to make a perfect snap to Darry. It ended up a little wobbly and to the left, but Darry caught it. They ran out their play. Rather, tried to run out their play. Soda always covered Pony, so his chances of actually completing a pass or making a touchdown were slim. This time, though, Darry had made a new strategy. Pony hadn't quite got it all, but he understood the part where he was supposed to run by Darry and pretend to get the ball.
After the snap Darry help back for a minute before charging forward, all the while watching his dad and Pony. Wherever Pony was, Soda automatically was there, too. He would be a great defensive lineman if he ever played football in high school. Out of the corner of his eye, Darry saw Pony heading towards him.
Perfect, he thought, this may actually work. Unfortunately, Darry didn't see the hole Pony was heading straight for. Neither did Pony. As soon as his foot was in the hole, he smacked onto the lawn as ungracefully as possible.
"Umph," he said when he hit the ground. For a minute, all heads turned to watch the youngest. Then, Darry realized it couldn't have worked out any better. He broke out into an all out sprint when everyone else wasn't paying attention. A split second later Mr. Curtis began chasing after him, but Darry was too fast.
"Yeah!" He shouted, throwing the football to the ground behind the makeshift touchdown line. "Darrel Curtis makes yet another touchdown! Did you see that running action?" Darry could get about as arrogant as a peacock when he wanted to be, but it never lasted long.
Pony was still on the ground with his foot in the hole. He looked up when he heard his older brother yelling.
"Yeah, Darry!" he yelled from his place on the ground. At first, he had been embarrassed about falling, but now he didn't care. The youngest brother pushed himself up from the damp earth and brushed the grass off of him.
"I ain't never seen someone tripping go so perfectly with a play, kid," Darry commented to Pony.
"Whaddaya mean?"
His brother smirked. "All I needed was a little diversion."
Pony beamed. He wasn't quite sure what a diversion was, but he had a general idea.
"Let's head in, boys," Mr. Curtis shouted, panting a little.EveryCurtisboyloved a good run.