Pony got up. "Okay, dad. Anyone need anything else?"
"Yeah, I'll take a Pepsi and a new pair of sneakers and ice for the Pepsi and…" Soda trailed off, keeping the most serious face he possibly could. Pony, of course, had started laughing when Soda began to talk, because he had a half full bottle of Pepsi right next to him.
Darry swiftly put Soda into a headlock and turned to his youngest brother. "Don't listen to Soda, Pony. He don't really want that stuff. But you can get me my sleeping bag and duct tape for this kid's mouth!" He was joking too, and Pony knew it.
"Come on, Will," he beckoned to his friend. "I think I'm gonna need help carrying all this stuff." He rolled his eyes and walked toward the cab of the Ford where his dad's dreadnaught acoustic was. Will followed silently, wishing he had brothers like that.
When they got back, Mr. Curtis opened the guitar case and pulled out his old instrument. He had had it since he was Darry's age, and it was still in great condition. He strummed it once and fiddled with the tuners until he had the guitar in tune. Then he broke out into one of his old favorites. All the antics of Darry and Soda died down immediately when they heard the first strum. They loved to hear their dad play guitar, and then hear all the stories about how his guitar got him all the things in life worth getting. Mr. Curtis was in his own world then, remembering all the good times he'd had when he was Pony's and Soda's and Darry's age. Everyone was content to just sit there listening to the rhythm of the old campfire songs, and the country songs about home and horses and faithful dogs and wonderful women to come home to. Only Darry really liked the parts about girls. Soda and Pony would look at each other and roll their eyes
"Dad, tell us about how you met mom again," Darry requested. They all nodded their approval. It was their favorite story.
Mr. Curtis laughed quietly, remember. "Well, boys… It was like this. I was about Darry's age, maybe a bit older, and it had been a bummer of a day. I'd gone to work at the little one-horse store near my parent's house and missed out on going to the creek with my buddies, which was a big thrill for us back then." His eye twinkled. "But of course that probably seems second-rate to whatever you do now, huh Darry?"
Darry's ears got a little red. He shook his head. "Naw, Dad. Go on."
"Alright then. After work I took my guitar, which was fairly new at the time, and sat on my front porch strumming away. I must have gone through three songs when the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen walked by on the road in front of the house. I was dumbstruck like you wouldn't believe." Soda gave Pony a look, even though it was their parent's story, they couldn't help but laugh at guys going crazy about girls. Soda's dislike of girls was fading, but Pony's was beginning to come on full force. In his mind, girls were toxic, they had cooties, and besides that, they never knew how to get dirty. How could he ever like someone who didn't like mud?
Mr. Curtis gave Sodapop a look of his own. "Someday, Sodapop Curtis, you will fall in love. And on that day me and Darry'll laugh at you."
Soda shook his head like he didn't believe it, but there was a smirk on his face that said he knew his dad was right.
"Now where was I? Oh yeah. I was so stunned I couldn't even strum. She stood there for a minute, watching me, and I thought, 'Glory, what am I gonna do?'"
"And then you started to play this song," Darry said, grabbing the guitar. He played out something slow and sweet, but cool-sounding. After he finished, everyone was silent. Darry was going to be just like his dad someday. That's why Soda and Pony and everyone else liked him so much. Maybe he was more serious than Mr. Curtis, but his looks and guitar skills and strength made the resemblance so much that no one could deny Darry being Mr. Curtis's son.
"That's right, Darry. That's right," his dad said slowly, remembering. Pony walked over to his dad and put his head in his lap. Mr. Curtis smiled to himself. They fell asleep like that, content and grinning.
The next morning Will and Pony were up at the crack of dawn. Even Mr. Curtis was still asleep, though he would be up soon. The boys whispered to each other, plotting and trying not to laugh. Pony grabbed two bags of trail mix, one for him and one for Will, then they headed off in the direction of their fort.
It was just as they had left it. The fort was going to be a simple lean-to against a fallen log. They had dragged a pile of logs and sticks they found suitable for their structure, and had built about ¾ of the walls. After that, they planned on beginning the false entrance with traps set in front and behind it, and then to finish the real entrance. It was already built and beautiful in their eyes, and all they had to do was work a little and their imaginations would become reality. When the arrived, the sun hit the dew at just the right angle, making the fort seem to sparkle. The boys stood in awe for a moment.
"Let's get to work," Will said with determination.
They worked quickly and quietly, commenting on different things at different times. In no time flat the rest of the walls were built. Once again, they stepped back and admired their creation.
"We need a trip wire in front that makes a branch or something fall onto whoever tries to get in," Pony said, more as a suggestion than a command.
"No," Will replied. "A trip wire is too obvious." Then, he scratched his head a little and thought.
"How are we going to do it, then?" Pony asked. He was getting a little impatient, to tell the truth. The most effective trap he knew of was a trip wire. It wasn't really as elementary as it sounded. In his plan, the wire was just a decoy. A person had to lightly touch it, and it would pull apart connecter for the strings. The ending result could be anything from a branch swinging to hit the intruder to a bucket of water falling on their heads. It was complex, but Pony had made it work. His dad had taught it to him a few years back when Soda and Darry played a nasty trick on him.
"I know!" Will said suddenly, brightening.
Pony looked at his friend attentively. "Yeah? What?"
Will took a deep breath. "We can use the door as the trigger. You know, attach one end of the rope to the door, so when they pull on it the branch falls."
"Then what do we do in front?" Pony wanted to know. He was a little frustrated, because his plan was so similar to Will's.
"Well… I was thinking… Maybe your trip wire wouldn't be so bad. As long as we camouflaged it."
Pony grinned triumphantly. "Right. Now, should we make it seem like a door, and put 'Enter' on it, or make it seem like a wall?"
"I was thinking about that, too," Will said. "Maybe we ought to completely fake them out. You know, put a huge 'Do Not Enter' sign on the front, and an 'X' or something. That way, they'll figger we're trying to keep them out and open the door."
"Boy howdy," Pony exclaimed, "They sure would fall for that! Did we bring any rope from camp?"
Will looked at Pony and cocked an eyebrow. It was something he did when he wanted to show off. It make Ponyboy mad, because he never could really cock his eyebrow. "How should I know? You're the one that brought stuff."
Pony rolled his eyes. "I'll go get some. You start workin' on the door."
"Alright. Just don't let your brothers see, they'll suspect something."
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It's shorter than I like to do my chapters, but it seems like a good enough stopping point. I need to get moving on this story. Thanks for the reviews. They propel me forward.
the guest to this world