Thanks to FUDDYDUDDY, Lizzy Halliwell, Estelle Yavetil and killslay (yup-
I'm so predictable, aren't I?) for reviewing. You guyz make me so happy!!
:o)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. SE Hinton does (lucky her!).
The door squeaked, announcing my arrival. I glared at it and walked in, hoping there was nobody in the living room.
My heart sank as I came in. Darry was sitting in an armchair, reading the newspaper. Soda, Steve, Dally and Johnny were all watching TV.
They looked up at me as I walked in.
"Pony!" said Johnny, his eyes wide. "What happened?"
Darry stood up, striding over and towering over me. "Exactly. Where in the goddamn universe were you?"
I started shaking, partly out of fear of my oldest brother and partly remembering the Socs.
I saw Dally, Johnny and Steve get up quietly and walk out of the house, leaving me alone with my brothers.
"Lay off him, Darry," said Soda, as always, coming to my rescue. He gathered me up in his arms. "You okay, honey?"
I felt the hot tears I managed to hold back before build up, spilling uncontrollable down my cheeks. I gave up trying to hold them back in front of Darry and bawled into Soda's chest. He rubbed my back reassuringly, talking to me in a low, steady voice.
Finally, the tears stopped. I wanted to fall asleep in Soda's arms, but I knew I had to explain to Darry first.
Soda took my arms gently, holding me out in front of him, his worried brown eyes flicking over me.
"You got pretty beat up, huh?"
"What happened?" Darry asked again.
"He got jumped," said Soda, a little more snappishly than normal. "Obviously."
Darry wordlessly got up and went into the bathroom. He came out, holding a clean cloth, water and some alcohol. He sighed.
"Pony, sit down." His voice was a lot softer than before.
I collapsed onto the nearest chair. He walked over, seating himself across from me, and started cleaning up my face.
I winced and pulled away as he dabbed alcohol onto a cut on my face.
"Sorry little buddy," said Darry. "Just stay still a bit longer. I'm almost finished."
I yawned. "Can I go to bed now?"
"Not yet. What happened to your shoulder?" Darry asked. My shirt was drenched with dried blood. I had gotten used to the throbbing and had almost forgotten about it. Soda helped me take off my shirt, which was stiff with dried blood. Both my brothers' mouths dropped open as they saw the deep cut on my shoulder. There was blood all over my shoulder and arm, and new blood was still oozing out of the wound.
"We'll need to go to the hospital to get that checked up," said Darry, looking concerned. I yawned again.
"Can't we go tomorrow?"
"No. It could get infected."
"I don't wanna go to the hospital," I complained. I hated hospitals. Everything seemed so white, sterile and cold. I also had a phobia of needles. Darry and Soda both knew about it.
"Don't worry," said Darry. "We won't let the doc give you any shots unless its absolutely necessary."
I nodded, still a little reluctant. "Okay."
"Can you stand?" Soda asked me. I gave him a quizzical look.
"Of course I can stand." To demonstrate this, I started to stand up, but my tired legs almost gave out on me. Darry caught me just in time.
"I think I'd better carry you, little buddy."
I gave in and let myself be carried out into the truck. Darry put me down in the backseat, and Soda got in next to me. Darry started the truck. I rested my head on Soda's shoulder, and immediately fell asleep.
The uncomfortable plastic seat I was lying on woke me up. My head was in Soda's lap. I looked around. We were in a white room.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," said a voice above me. I looked up. It was Soda. He gave me one of his infectious grins, and, despite my aching body, I couldn't help smiling back at him. My smile withered as I figured out where we were.
"Are we in the hospital? Where's Darry?"
"We're in the hospital. Darry's signing you in."
"Talking about me?" Darry walked into the room.
"Pony woke up!" said Soda. Darry looked down at me.
"How're you feeling?"
"I'm okay." I didn't feel okay at all, but you just didn't complain in front of Darry. Darry looked at me unbelievingly for a second, and then shrugged.
"Come on. Doc's ready to see you." He helped me up.
"No injections, remember?" I reminded him.
"No injections," Darry promised.
My brothers helped me into the clinic. The doctor was a middle-aged man with dark brown hair. He was wearing a long white coat. He smiled at us when we walked in.
"And you must be Ponyboy Curtis."
I nodded.
"Let's see that shoulder."
He cleaned the cut and put a dressing and bandage on it. I found out that I also had a cracked rib. The doc gave me some painkillers, and then he was finished.
"Well, that wasn't too bad, was it?" said Soda as we walked out, giving me a light punch. I yelped as his hand hit a particularly painful bruise on my arm.
"You okay, Pony?" asked Soda worriedly. "Gosh, I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
"I'm okay, Soda. You didn't hit me hard." I tried to give him a reassuring smile.
We got back into the truck.
"Pony, tell me what happened this evening."
I sighed. I knew Darry would ask me that question sooner or later.
"Track ended late because some seniors were horsing around. I tried to call you, but this guy said you weren't available. I didn't have money for another phone call, so I started walking home and these four drunk Socs just appeared outa nowhere." I shivered, remembering them. Soda put a protective arm around my shoulders. I continued. "One of them put a blade to my throat but it slipped and cut my shoulder instead. Then Two-bit showed up and chased them away. He took me back home."
I saw Darry's knuckles tighten over the steering wheel. "Which Socs?" he growled. I looked down at my tennis shoes.
"It's okay, Darry. It doesn't matter."
"Pony," said Soda. "Who were they?" His voice was gentle, but his blazing eyes betrayed the fact that he was furious about the Socs.
"I don't know," I mumbled, not looking at Soda. "It was really dark, y'know? I couldn't see too clearly."
Darry just sighed.
We were silent the rest of the trip home. I fell asleep halfway through, listening to the rhythmic whirring of the engine.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. SE Hinton does (lucky her!).
The door squeaked, announcing my arrival. I glared at it and walked in, hoping there was nobody in the living room.
My heart sank as I came in. Darry was sitting in an armchair, reading the newspaper. Soda, Steve, Dally and Johnny were all watching TV.
They looked up at me as I walked in.
"Pony!" said Johnny, his eyes wide. "What happened?"
Darry stood up, striding over and towering over me. "Exactly. Where in the goddamn universe were you?"
I started shaking, partly out of fear of my oldest brother and partly remembering the Socs.
I saw Dally, Johnny and Steve get up quietly and walk out of the house, leaving me alone with my brothers.
"Lay off him, Darry," said Soda, as always, coming to my rescue. He gathered me up in his arms. "You okay, honey?"
I felt the hot tears I managed to hold back before build up, spilling uncontrollable down my cheeks. I gave up trying to hold them back in front of Darry and bawled into Soda's chest. He rubbed my back reassuringly, talking to me in a low, steady voice.
Finally, the tears stopped. I wanted to fall asleep in Soda's arms, but I knew I had to explain to Darry first.
Soda took my arms gently, holding me out in front of him, his worried brown eyes flicking over me.
"You got pretty beat up, huh?"
"What happened?" Darry asked again.
"He got jumped," said Soda, a little more snappishly than normal. "Obviously."
Darry wordlessly got up and went into the bathroom. He came out, holding a clean cloth, water and some alcohol. He sighed.
"Pony, sit down." His voice was a lot softer than before.
I collapsed onto the nearest chair. He walked over, seating himself across from me, and started cleaning up my face.
I winced and pulled away as he dabbed alcohol onto a cut on my face.
"Sorry little buddy," said Darry. "Just stay still a bit longer. I'm almost finished."
I yawned. "Can I go to bed now?"
"Not yet. What happened to your shoulder?" Darry asked. My shirt was drenched with dried blood. I had gotten used to the throbbing and had almost forgotten about it. Soda helped me take off my shirt, which was stiff with dried blood. Both my brothers' mouths dropped open as they saw the deep cut on my shoulder. There was blood all over my shoulder and arm, and new blood was still oozing out of the wound.
"We'll need to go to the hospital to get that checked up," said Darry, looking concerned. I yawned again.
"Can't we go tomorrow?"
"No. It could get infected."
"I don't wanna go to the hospital," I complained. I hated hospitals. Everything seemed so white, sterile and cold. I also had a phobia of needles. Darry and Soda both knew about it.
"Don't worry," said Darry. "We won't let the doc give you any shots unless its absolutely necessary."
I nodded, still a little reluctant. "Okay."
"Can you stand?" Soda asked me. I gave him a quizzical look.
"Of course I can stand." To demonstrate this, I started to stand up, but my tired legs almost gave out on me. Darry caught me just in time.
"I think I'd better carry you, little buddy."
I gave in and let myself be carried out into the truck. Darry put me down in the backseat, and Soda got in next to me. Darry started the truck. I rested my head on Soda's shoulder, and immediately fell asleep.
The uncomfortable plastic seat I was lying on woke me up. My head was in Soda's lap. I looked around. We were in a white room.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," said a voice above me. I looked up. It was Soda. He gave me one of his infectious grins, and, despite my aching body, I couldn't help smiling back at him. My smile withered as I figured out where we were.
"Are we in the hospital? Where's Darry?"
"We're in the hospital. Darry's signing you in."
"Talking about me?" Darry walked into the room.
"Pony woke up!" said Soda. Darry looked down at me.
"How're you feeling?"
"I'm okay." I didn't feel okay at all, but you just didn't complain in front of Darry. Darry looked at me unbelievingly for a second, and then shrugged.
"Come on. Doc's ready to see you." He helped me up.
"No injections, remember?" I reminded him.
"No injections," Darry promised.
My brothers helped me into the clinic. The doctor was a middle-aged man with dark brown hair. He was wearing a long white coat. He smiled at us when we walked in.
"And you must be Ponyboy Curtis."
I nodded.
"Let's see that shoulder."
He cleaned the cut and put a dressing and bandage on it. I found out that I also had a cracked rib. The doc gave me some painkillers, and then he was finished.
"Well, that wasn't too bad, was it?" said Soda as we walked out, giving me a light punch. I yelped as his hand hit a particularly painful bruise on my arm.
"You okay, Pony?" asked Soda worriedly. "Gosh, I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
"I'm okay, Soda. You didn't hit me hard." I tried to give him a reassuring smile.
We got back into the truck.
"Pony, tell me what happened this evening."
I sighed. I knew Darry would ask me that question sooner or later.
"Track ended late because some seniors were horsing around. I tried to call you, but this guy said you weren't available. I didn't have money for another phone call, so I started walking home and these four drunk Socs just appeared outa nowhere." I shivered, remembering them. Soda put a protective arm around my shoulders. I continued. "One of them put a blade to my throat but it slipped and cut my shoulder instead. Then Two-bit showed up and chased them away. He took me back home."
I saw Darry's knuckles tighten over the steering wheel. "Which Socs?" he growled. I looked down at my tennis shoes.
"It's okay, Darry. It doesn't matter."
"Pony," said Soda. "Who were they?" His voice was gentle, but his blazing eyes betrayed the fact that he was furious about the Socs.
"I don't know," I mumbled, not looking at Soda. "It was really dark, y'know? I couldn't see too clearly."
Darry just sighed.
We were silent the rest of the trip home. I fell asleep halfway through, listening to the rhythmic whirring of the engine.