Steve arrived at the house shortly after nine. He was covered in grease from working on cars. Not that I was surprised. Steve is really good with cars. Almost everyone in town goes to him when their car needs repairs. He knows every make and model like the back of his hand.

"Where are Super Man and Pony?" Steve asked looking around.

"They went to see a movie." I told him. "Darry thought it would be fair since you've stayed here three nights already this week. I think Pony feels left out because his friends don't stay over."

Steve nodded then motioned that he was going to go clean up. A few minutes later, we were sitting at the kitchen table playing poker. "Soda, no cheating this time."

"Who, me?" I asked giving him my best innocent look.

Steve grinned and shook his head. "I don't know why I say that every time we play poker. I know you're going to cheat anyway."

I laughed. "Pony said almost the same thing earlier. He said he'd rather play with Darry because he follows the rules."

"Yeah, but at least you make things interesting." Steve told me.

I grinned and we played in silence for a while. I still wanted to talk with him before Darry and Pony returned, so after a few games, I said, "Steve, how are things at your house?"

"Okay, I guess." Steve replied as he discarded a card.

"Steve, we've been friends for a long time. Don't you think I'd know if something was wrong?" I asked. "I mean, you stay here more than you do at your own home. Not that I mind. I'm glad you stay here. But what's going on at your place?"

Steve sighed and looked at me. "It's the same stuff, Soda. My dad just gets on my case. That's all. Things will be fine tomorrow."

I shook my head. "Yeah, but what about the next day, Steve? Just because your dad will say he's sorry and hand you twenty dollars tomorrow doesn't mean that things are okay. If Darry did that that every time he got on Pony's case about something, Pony would have enough to move on the west side when he turns eighteen."

Steve chuckled at that last comment. Then got serious. "Okay, things aren't great. But I really don't want to talk about it. At least not now."

"Okay." I said, nodding my head.

Steve reached across the table and playfully punched my arm. "But, when I am ready, you, Darry and Pony will be the first to know."

I grinned. I knew Steve would talk when he was ready. He was my best friend. If he shared his troubles with anyone, it was me. Pony always tells me that I'm a good listener and that's why he and Steve feel comfortable coming to me if something is wrong. I'm not sure how true that is, but I'm always available if my friends or brothers need to talk.

"Do you know when Darry and Pony are coming back?" Steve asked. He put the cards away and looked at me.

"I don't know." I admitted. "But, they left at eight-thirty so they could be back at any time."

"I see." Steve said. Then, he walked to the living room, picked up a throw pillow from the couch and threw it at me. It barely missed my head.

"Hey!" I yelled as I threw the pillow back at him. Soon, we were hitting each other with every pillow we could find in the house. It was something we did every time Steve stayed over. Fortunately, we haven't broke anything yet. And it gave us something to do. At least until we decided to do something else.