Thanks to all you awesome reviewers!!
Aislynn: I tried to make this chapter longer :o) Thanks for your idea! It's great- I'll try it out!
Gryphon girl: heehee~ really? Thanks!!! You make me feel so happi
Eh, Man: I know!!! Pony is soooo cute *jumps up and down hyperly*
Killslay: thanks for reviewing every chapter! Ur great!!! Yup, I'm glad someone noticed that Darry and Pony had similar dreams- I was trying to show that they're actually kinda alike in some ways. . .
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Kevin Skinner and Ms. Vide- how come I only own evil people?? Argh.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
I sat up immediately, seeing the terrified look on Pony's face. I quickly pulled on my clothes, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Darry!" said my little brother frantically, his eyes wide. "Don't let her take me away. You promised, remember?"
Despite my wildly beating heart, I put a hand on Pony's shoulder. "Pony, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. Go and wake Soda up. I'll go out first."
Soda was a lot more apt at calming Pony down, and I was pretty sure Pony would freak out if he had to face the social worker another time.
Pony nodded and ran off. I walked into the living room, relieved that I had tidied up most of the living room the night before.
The social worker was standing in the middle of the living room. She looked up as I came in.
"Are you Darrel Curtis Jr., the legal guardian of Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis?"
"I'm Darrel," I said, shaking her extended hand. Normally, I'm known as the person who can keep his head best in the gang, but as I looked at the woman who was undoubtedly going to try to tear apart what was left of our family, all I could do was keep myself from punching her face in. however, I knew it would make matters worse.
"I am Ms. Vide, a social worker from the state. As you know, we considered you inadequate to fill the job of taking care of children because of your age."
I gritted my teeth. "I have been taking care of them as well as I can-"
"Which is not well enough, young man," interrupted the social worker. "We have been keeping track of you. We know that you went to Tulsa Hospital yesterday because your youngest brother was beaten up. What he needs is to live in a safer neighborhood."
"What he needs most is his family!" I snapped back, losing my temper.
I saw Soda and Pony walk into the living room in the corner of my eye. Soda's hand was on Pony's shoulder, and Pony looked a lot calmer than he had before.
"Ah," said the social worker, seeing them too. "Right on time. Ponyboy Curtis, we will be informing you on which foster home you will go to within this week."
She turned and walked quickly out of the house before any of us could say anything.
I turned to Ponyboy. He had turned very pale and had started trembling. He sat down on the couch, and Soda went and joined him, talking to him calmly, although I could tell from his shaking hands that he was scared too. I sat down next to them, putting an arm around each of my brothers. Pony leaned on me, putting his head on my shoulder.
"Are they gonna take me away, Darry?" he asked. His voice sounded small and afraid. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that everything was going to be fine again, but I knew I couldn't lie about something like this.
"I don't know, baby. I just don't know."
Soda and Pony started bawling, and it was all I could do to not join in. I had to stay strong. For both of them.
At that moment, the door burst open. Two-bit and Dally walked in, each with huge grins on their faces.
"Woohoo Curti-" Two-bit stopped as he caught sight of us. Our two friends walked over slowly, as if they didn't want to hear the bad news.
"What is it?" Two-bit asked finally, the laughter suddenly gone from his voice. I knew I had to answer.
"A social worker came to our house this morning and the state wants to take Pony a-" my voice cracked, but I swallowed and went on. "Away."
"Glory!" said Dally, flicking his cigarette ashes at us. "Ya'll don't need to worry about those sonofaguns. They just talk about stuff like that, but nothin' actually happens."
I had to swallow to speak again. "Dally," I said quietly. "The social worker said that we would be informed of Pony's foster home within this week."
Two-bit and Dally both flopped down on the couch beside us. For once, Two- bit was at a loss for words. There was total silence, broken only by the occasional sniffles of my two brothers.
Then Steve and Johnny walked through the still open door. They stopped in their tracks when they saw us. I tiredly gestured to them to come in.
We stayed in the living room together for most of the day. I guess we just needed each other. I don't know how Pony would be able to get through one day without the gang. Don't say that! I immediately scolded myself. Pony is staying with us. He's not ever going to be separated from us.
~*~SODAPOP'S POV~*~
Pony and I just sat on either side of our oldest brother, bawling our eyes out the rest of the day. The gang stayed with us. I knew I should be comforting Pony, but I couldn't stop crying myself. Our family couldn't be torn apart! We were all we had left.
We all jumped when the phone rang. Steve went and picked it up.
"Yeah?" There was a pause. Steve wordlessly held the phone out to Darry.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
Watching Steve's expressionless face curiously, I took the phone and held it to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Curtis, this is Ms. Vide."
I got up and walked out of the room, still holding the phone. I didn't want my brothers to have to listen to me argue with her.
~*~PONYBOY'S POV~*~
I knew it was the social worker. There was something in Darry's expression and his actions that made me absolutely certain of who was on the other line. Why else would Darry walk out of the room to talk on the phone? Although I knew it was wrong, I made up my mind. I had to know what was going to happen. I stood up.
"I'm going to the bathroom," I explained as Soda looked up questioningly. I had to turn away from him so he didn't see me blush. I was good at lying, but I hated doing it to my brothers.
I quickly walked out of the room, to Darry's bedroom, where I knew he would be. His door was closed, so I pressed my ear up to it to hear what was going on.
"I will be bringing this matter to court," came Darry's voice. "Are you sure?. . . One month is far too long. . . you say there's no guarantee?. . . Okay. . . Okay. . . You had better be. . . Bye."
The door opened before I had time to run away. Darry wasn't looking and almost walked right into me. I jumped out of the way, attracting his attention. He sighed as he saw me, and messed up my hair. He didn't holler at me for eavesdropping.
"I'm pretty sure that you know that was the social worker."
I nodded.
"She called to explain that you'll be leaving to Murray on Monday to a foster family, but it's only for a month while they decide what to do. We can't take this to court because of a complicated legal process, but we can have a trial afterwards for your custody."
"But there's no guarantee," I said, quoting Darry. I immediately wanted to kick myself in the head. Darry suddenly looked very young. I usually forgot that he only just turned twenty.
"I'm sorry Ponyboy. I promised you. . . last night. . ."
I suddenly didn't want him to finish his apology. I put my arms around him, and he hugged me back.
"It's not your fault, Dar," I whispered. Suddenly, I felt tears running down my cheeks. I tried desperately to stop them, but then realized with horror that Darry was crying too. I had never seen my oldest brother cry, not even at our parent's funeral. The fact that he was crying now scared me even more.
We clung to each other, not wanting to let go. This was the closest we'd been since mom and dad's death.
I looked up when I heard footsteps approach. It was Soda. He tried to grin when I looked at him, but for once, the smile did not reach his eyes. He looked like he wanted to cry again. Darry and I held out our arms, and Soda joined our group hug.
~*~SODAPOP'S POV~*~
The rest of the week past quickly. Too soon, it was over. Pony had a nightmare almost every night, and we were all pale with circles over our eyes because of lack of sleep.
The three of us stayed close together, not wanting to waste the last precious week of time we had together before Pony had to go. I think the worst part of it was not knowing if the state would allow Pony to come back.
It was finally Monday. The whole gang accompanied us to the airport. I looked down at Ponyboy putting a protective arm over him. He looked so small and frightened I just wanted to un over to that so-called Ms. Vide and beat the living daylights outa her for scaring my brother like that. My eyebrows furrowed. I usually hated to idea of hitting women.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
I don't think I had ever felt that helpless. I jammed my fists into my pockets, biting the soft inside of my cheek, something I always did when I was nervous. I tasted the coppery, metallic tang of blood. I couldn't believe they were making Ponyboy move to Murray, which was almost a four hour plane ride away. They wouldn't even give us any information on his foster family. All they told us was that he was going to be 'taken care of' by a single man by the name of Kevin Skinner, who lived in the country in Murray.
Well, I thought. At least Ponyboy loves the country. It could be much worse. He could be moving to China.
I hated how I felt so helpless. Suddenly, I remembered what my parents had said when Sodapop was born, and again when Ponyboy was.
"You're a big brother now, Darrel," mom had said, taking my hand. "Remember to always be a good example to your brothers and take care of them.
"And most importantly, never, for any reason, let them be taken away from you," dad had said, taking my other hand.
I've failed you, I thought miserably. I tried, I tried my best, but I couldn't live up to your expectations. I'm sorry.
~*~PONYBOY'S POV~*~
I was terrified. I had never been away from my family. Apart from when mom and dad were alive and we lived in the country, I had never even been out of Tulsa. Even Soda's arm around my shoulders did not reassure me, because I knew I'd have to survive for a month without him. Darry just stood them, a helpless expression on his face, with his fists jammed into his pockets. It reminded my of how he had looked at mom and dad's funeral.
The gang was standing awkwardly around us, and even Two-bit wasn't wisecracking. Only Steve wasn't there. He was in a corner, talking to a few girls with far too much make-up. Well, I thought, at least one person's happy that I'm leaving.
"Gate 14 is closing in ten minutes," came a voice over a speaker. "All passengers please proceed to the counter."
I checked my ticket. It was Gate 14.
"Come on, Ponyboy," said Soda softly.
Darry picked up my small suitcase. It just contained a few of my clothes, a toothbrush, a bottle of hair grease and a picture of our family before our parent's death. We all walked slowly to the gate. I wished we could just miss the plane, but knew the social worker would just organize another one and make us pay for it.
We stopped outside. I was shaking and really wanted to start bawling, but I didn't partly because I knew it would just make us all feel worse, and also because greasers never cried when there were other people around. Actually, most greasers never cried at all.
A few tears slipped down my cheeks as Soda enveloped me in a huge bear hug, but I quickly brushed them away.
"It's only for a month, Pony," said Soda. "You'll be right back before you know it."
I nodded into his shoulder, not trusting my voice. Then Soda pulled away, and Darry gave me one of his bone-crushing hugs. I could feel his chest racking with sobs he was trying to hide from me. I gathered up my courage.
"I love you Darry," I whispered in his ear. He was silent for a second, and I thought he hadn't heard me.
"I love you too, little buddy."
"Aren't we gonna get a hug too?"
I looked up. It was Two-bit, and a comical grin was on his face again. I let go of Darry, and gave Two-bit a hug. Johnny, Soda and Darry joined, and I saw Soda drag a protesting Dally into the group hug.
"Passengers, this is a last warning call," said the voice over the speaker again. "Gate 14 is closing in five minutes."
I sighed. Two-bit messed up my hair as we all pulled out of the hug. I saw that Steve was standing near us now, without the girls.
"Bye, Steve," I said, for the sake of courtesy.
"Bye."
"We'll miss you," said Johnny softly.
"See ya'll in a month," I said. I took a deep breath and walked to the gate. I turned around once just before I turned the corner. Darry had a hand on Soda's shoulder, and Two-bit, Dally, Steve and Johnny were all standing where I had last saw them. There were all watching me. I gave them one last wave, and they all waved back.
"We'll write!" called Soda.
I gave him a nod to show I heard him, and walked through the gate.
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aislynn: I tried to make this chapter longer :o) Thanks for your idea! It's great- I'll try it out!
Gryphon girl: heehee~ really? Thanks!!! You make me feel so happi
Eh, Man: I know!!! Pony is soooo cute *jumps up and down hyperly*
Killslay: thanks for reviewing every chapter! Ur great!!! Yup, I'm glad someone noticed that Darry and Pony had similar dreams- I was trying to show that they're actually kinda alike in some ways. . .
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Kevin Skinner and Ms. Vide- how come I only own evil people?? Argh.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
I sat up immediately, seeing the terrified look on Pony's face. I quickly pulled on my clothes, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Darry!" said my little brother frantically, his eyes wide. "Don't let her take me away. You promised, remember?"
Despite my wildly beating heart, I put a hand on Pony's shoulder. "Pony, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. Go and wake Soda up. I'll go out first."
Soda was a lot more apt at calming Pony down, and I was pretty sure Pony would freak out if he had to face the social worker another time.
Pony nodded and ran off. I walked into the living room, relieved that I had tidied up most of the living room the night before.
The social worker was standing in the middle of the living room. She looked up as I came in.
"Are you Darrel Curtis Jr., the legal guardian of Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis?"
"I'm Darrel," I said, shaking her extended hand. Normally, I'm known as the person who can keep his head best in the gang, but as I looked at the woman who was undoubtedly going to try to tear apart what was left of our family, all I could do was keep myself from punching her face in. however, I knew it would make matters worse.
"I am Ms. Vide, a social worker from the state. As you know, we considered you inadequate to fill the job of taking care of children because of your age."
I gritted my teeth. "I have been taking care of them as well as I can-"
"Which is not well enough, young man," interrupted the social worker. "We have been keeping track of you. We know that you went to Tulsa Hospital yesterday because your youngest brother was beaten up. What he needs is to live in a safer neighborhood."
"What he needs most is his family!" I snapped back, losing my temper.
I saw Soda and Pony walk into the living room in the corner of my eye. Soda's hand was on Pony's shoulder, and Pony looked a lot calmer than he had before.
"Ah," said the social worker, seeing them too. "Right on time. Ponyboy Curtis, we will be informing you on which foster home you will go to within this week."
She turned and walked quickly out of the house before any of us could say anything.
I turned to Ponyboy. He had turned very pale and had started trembling. He sat down on the couch, and Soda went and joined him, talking to him calmly, although I could tell from his shaking hands that he was scared too. I sat down next to them, putting an arm around each of my brothers. Pony leaned on me, putting his head on my shoulder.
"Are they gonna take me away, Darry?" he asked. His voice sounded small and afraid. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that everything was going to be fine again, but I knew I couldn't lie about something like this.
"I don't know, baby. I just don't know."
Soda and Pony started bawling, and it was all I could do to not join in. I had to stay strong. For both of them.
At that moment, the door burst open. Two-bit and Dally walked in, each with huge grins on their faces.
"Woohoo Curti-" Two-bit stopped as he caught sight of us. Our two friends walked over slowly, as if they didn't want to hear the bad news.
"What is it?" Two-bit asked finally, the laughter suddenly gone from his voice. I knew I had to answer.
"A social worker came to our house this morning and the state wants to take Pony a-" my voice cracked, but I swallowed and went on. "Away."
"Glory!" said Dally, flicking his cigarette ashes at us. "Ya'll don't need to worry about those sonofaguns. They just talk about stuff like that, but nothin' actually happens."
I had to swallow to speak again. "Dally," I said quietly. "The social worker said that we would be informed of Pony's foster home within this week."
Two-bit and Dally both flopped down on the couch beside us. For once, Two- bit was at a loss for words. There was total silence, broken only by the occasional sniffles of my two brothers.
Then Steve and Johnny walked through the still open door. They stopped in their tracks when they saw us. I tiredly gestured to them to come in.
We stayed in the living room together for most of the day. I guess we just needed each other. I don't know how Pony would be able to get through one day without the gang. Don't say that! I immediately scolded myself. Pony is staying with us. He's not ever going to be separated from us.
~*~SODAPOP'S POV~*~
Pony and I just sat on either side of our oldest brother, bawling our eyes out the rest of the day. The gang stayed with us. I knew I should be comforting Pony, but I couldn't stop crying myself. Our family couldn't be torn apart! We were all we had left.
We all jumped when the phone rang. Steve went and picked it up.
"Yeah?" There was a pause. Steve wordlessly held the phone out to Darry.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
Watching Steve's expressionless face curiously, I took the phone and held it to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Curtis, this is Ms. Vide."
I got up and walked out of the room, still holding the phone. I didn't want my brothers to have to listen to me argue with her.
~*~PONYBOY'S POV~*~
I knew it was the social worker. There was something in Darry's expression and his actions that made me absolutely certain of who was on the other line. Why else would Darry walk out of the room to talk on the phone? Although I knew it was wrong, I made up my mind. I had to know what was going to happen. I stood up.
"I'm going to the bathroom," I explained as Soda looked up questioningly. I had to turn away from him so he didn't see me blush. I was good at lying, but I hated doing it to my brothers.
I quickly walked out of the room, to Darry's bedroom, where I knew he would be. His door was closed, so I pressed my ear up to it to hear what was going on.
"I will be bringing this matter to court," came Darry's voice. "Are you sure?. . . One month is far too long. . . you say there's no guarantee?. . . Okay. . . Okay. . . You had better be. . . Bye."
The door opened before I had time to run away. Darry wasn't looking and almost walked right into me. I jumped out of the way, attracting his attention. He sighed as he saw me, and messed up my hair. He didn't holler at me for eavesdropping.
"I'm pretty sure that you know that was the social worker."
I nodded.
"She called to explain that you'll be leaving to Murray on Monday to a foster family, but it's only for a month while they decide what to do. We can't take this to court because of a complicated legal process, but we can have a trial afterwards for your custody."
"But there's no guarantee," I said, quoting Darry. I immediately wanted to kick myself in the head. Darry suddenly looked very young. I usually forgot that he only just turned twenty.
"I'm sorry Ponyboy. I promised you. . . last night. . ."
I suddenly didn't want him to finish his apology. I put my arms around him, and he hugged me back.
"It's not your fault, Dar," I whispered. Suddenly, I felt tears running down my cheeks. I tried desperately to stop them, but then realized with horror that Darry was crying too. I had never seen my oldest brother cry, not even at our parent's funeral. The fact that he was crying now scared me even more.
We clung to each other, not wanting to let go. This was the closest we'd been since mom and dad's death.
I looked up when I heard footsteps approach. It was Soda. He tried to grin when I looked at him, but for once, the smile did not reach his eyes. He looked like he wanted to cry again. Darry and I held out our arms, and Soda joined our group hug.
~*~SODAPOP'S POV~*~
The rest of the week past quickly. Too soon, it was over. Pony had a nightmare almost every night, and we were all pale with circles over our eyes because of lack of sleep.
The three of us stayed close together, not wanting to waste the last precious week of time we had together before Pony had to go. I think the worst part of it was not knowing if the state would allow Pony to come back.
It was finally Monday. The whole gang accompanied us to the airport. I looked down at Ponyboy putting a protective arm over him. He looked so small and frightened I just wanted to un over to that so-called Ms. Vide and beat the living daylights outa her for scaring my brother like that. My eyebrows furrowed. I usually hated to idea of hitting women.
~*~DARRY'S POV~*~
I don't think I had ever felt that helpless. I jammed my fists into my pockets, biting the soft inside of my cheek, something I always did when I was nervous. I tasted the coppery, metallic tang of blood. I couldn't believe they were making Ponyboy move to Murray, which was almost a four hour plane ride away. They wouldn't even give us any information on his foster family. All they told us was that he was going to be 'taken care of' by a single man by the name of Kevin Skinner, who lived in the country in Murray.
Well, I thought. At least Ponyboy loves the country. It could be much worse. He could be moving to China.
I hated how I felt so helpless. Suddenly, I remembered what my parents had said when Sodapop was born, and again when Ponyboy was.
"You're a big brother now, Darrel," mom had said, taking my hand. "Remember to always be a good example to your brothers and take care of them.
"And most importantly, never, for any reason, let them be taken away from you," dad had said, taking my other hand.
I've failed you, I thought miserably. I tried, I tried my best, but I couldn't live up to your expectations. I'm sorry.
~*~PONYBOY'S POV~*~
I was terrified. I had never been away from my family. Apart from when mom and dad were alive and we lived in the country, I had never even been out of Tulsa. Even Soda's arm around my shoulders did not reassure me, because I knew I'd have to survive for a month without him. Darry just stood them, a helpless expression on his face, with his fists jammed into his pockets. It reminded my of how he had looked at mom and dad's funeral.
The gang was standing awkwardly around us, and even Two-bit wasn't wisecracking. Only Steve wasn't there. He was in a corner, talking to a few girls with far too much make-up. Well, I thought, at least one person's happy that I'm leaving.
"Gate 14 is closing in ten minutes," came a voice over a speaker. "All passengers please proceed to the counter."
I checked my ticket. It was Gate 14.
"Come on, Ponyboy," said Soda softly.
Darry picked up my small suitcase. It just contained a few of my clothes, a toothbrush, a bottle of hair grease and a picture of our family before our parent's death. We all walked slowly to the gate. I wished we could just miss the plane, but knew the social worker would just organize another one and make us pay for it.
We stopped outside. I was shaking and really wanted to start bawling, but I didn't partly because I knew it would just make us all feel worse, and also because greasers never cried when there were other people around. Actually, most greasers never cried at all.
A few tears slipped down my cheeks as Soda enveloped me in a huge bear hug, but I quickly brushed them away.
"It's only for a month, Pony," said Soda. "You'll be right back before you know it."
I nodded into his shoulder, not trusting my voice. Then Soda pulled away, and Darry gave me one of his bone-crushing hugs. I could feel his chest racking with sobs he was trying to hide from me. I gathered up my courage.
"I love you Darry," I whispered in his ear. He was silent for a second, and I thought he hadn't heard me.
"I love you too, little buddy."
"Aren't we gonna get a hug too?"
I looked up. It was Two-bit, and a comical grin was on his face again. I let go of Darry, and gave Two-bit a hug. Johnny, Soda and Darry joined, and I saw Soda drag a protesting Dally into the group hug.
"Passengers, this is a last warning call," said the voice over the speaker again. "Gate 14 is closing in five minutes."
I sighed. Two-bit messed up my hair as we all pulled out of the hug. I saw that Steve was standing near us now, without the girls.
"Bye, Steve," I said, for the sake of courtesy.
"Bye."
"We'll miss you," said Johnny softly.
"See ya'll in a month," I said. I took a deep breath and walked to the gate. I turned around once just before I turned the corner. Darry had a hand on Soda's shoulder, and Two-bit, Dally, Steve and Johnny were all standing where I had last saw them. There were all watching me. I gave them one last wave, and they all waved back.
"We'll write!" called Soda.
I gave him a nod to show I heard him, and walked through the gate.
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!