I woke up Tuesday morning with a knot in my stomach. Ponyboy's funeral would be that afternoon. I had chosen to have the funeral on Tuesday in case some of Pony's teachers or classmates wanted to attend. But I doubted that would happen. Pony had always just hung around the gang.
Yawning, I got out of bed, grabbed the clothes I had laid out, and headed for the shower. It was going to be a long day and I had already had a long night with Soda insisting that we had to go to the hospital to get Pony after having some dream. I sighed as I thought about Soda. He wasalready a wreck. And I was worried that he'd really lose it once he saw Pony in the casket. I was worried I would lose it when I saw Pony in the casket. This day was not going to be easy.
Once I was showered and dressed, I went to the kitchen to fix breakfast. As I cooked eggs for me and Soda, I could hear him getting ready. Well, I heard the shower running. Usually, Soda would sing in the shower. But he wasn't singing today. Not that I blamed him. After a while, he emerged wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. Very similar to what I was wearing.
"Hey little buddy." I said gently. "Breakfast is ready."
"I'm not hungry." Soda said softly as he sat at the table.
"Well, eat what you can." I told him. To be honest I wasn't that hungry myself. But I knew we had to eat.
Soda picked at his eggs. He didn't even put grape jelly on them, which showed how upset he was. He just stared at his plate, pushing the eggs around with his fork, and paused every so often to take a bite.
Not that I was much better. All I could think about was that later that afternoon, I'd be at the cemetary, saying good-bye to Pony for the last time. And I knew Soda was thinking about it too. He had to be.
"Soda, we'll get through this." I reminded him. I guess I was also reminding myself. After all, it hadn't been that long since our parents' funeral. Now Soda and I had to go through it again.
"Darry, do you think anyone besides Steve and Two-Bit will be at the funeral?" Soda asked suddenly.
I thought for a minute. Pony had been involved with track, but had never mentioned having friends outside of the gang. That is unless you counted Curly Shepherd.
"I don't know, Soda. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." I told him.
"I'd rather see Pony walk through the door." Soda mumbled as he got up to leave the room.
After he left, I sighed and put my head in my hands. Soda had just spoken my feelings exactly. I would give anything to have Pony back. Anything at all. But sadly, all I would ever have is memories.