12. Is the love strong enough?
The discomfort grew in Pony on each step he did.
He just had to go to Selena; he would see her by all means to make sure that she was doing fine.
And so he kept on running until he reached the brothel.
When he was right in front of it he simply ran inside.
He didn't care in this moment if Mike maybe could catch him.
Selena was the only thing that was important for him!
But Mike didn't catch him.
He sneaked to Selena's room, but turned around once to make sure if Mike didn't lie in wait for him somewhere.
At first he simply would open the door. But when he pressed the door handle down he noticed that it was locked.
There a very bad feeling arose inside him and he knocked on the door.
But Selena neither answered him nor opened. So he beat against the door.
"Selena? Selena! It's me, Pony. Please, open."
He hoped she would recognize him and open him.
He didn't know that Selena hadn't locked herself, but that Mike had done it.
And so she didn't open!
Slowly Ponyboy got a strange feeling.
And somehow Pony suspected suddenly, what happened with Selena behind the door.
And because of this fear about Selena he beat as crazy against the door, apparently without getting something or talking Selena out of that, whatever she was doing there in her room.
Selena winced when someone knocked on her door. At first she believed that she had heard Pony. But there she guessed that this would be Mike.
"Oh god! Who's that? Pony? No. This couldn't be Pony. He ain't here any more.
He definitely wouldn't be that careless and come to me, also at the risk of getting caught and then punished very hard by Mike... No, that's only Mike! He only wanna hurt me with that and humiliate me again!
No, Mike, ya never ever get me again!
I rather die than that ya could hurt me once more so damned much!" she whispered to herself and she got up from her bed.
Then she went to the window, opened it and got on the windowsill.
She looked into the sky and whispered, "Oh, Pony, I'm so sorry.
I ain't a good company for ya. Ya deserve so much better than me, than ya unfair life as Greaser.
Forgive me please.
Goodbye! Goodbye, my son!"
And she dropped herself down into the depth...
Ponyboy had heard how the window was opened.
There his awful presentiment was confirmed and that's why he beat even louder against the door, but he already knew somehow that it was useless.
"Selena, ya hear me? Please, don't do it, please..."
In the moment Selena jumped Pony felt how something broke inside him.
And there he knew that it was too late.
Selena was dead!
Pony was so despaired.
"SELENA!" he screamed and slowly glided down crying on the door to the ground.
He sobbed, "Please, Selena, ya can't do that to me. Don't die... please... please don't leave me, too..."
Sometime he heard that it was loud outside on the street. Pony went outside as well.
Maybe there still was hope?
