Darry's POV
At three, the funeral director came up to me. "It's time for the funeral to begin. You and your brother can pay your last respects before I close the casket."
I nodded as I motioned for Soda to join me. When he reached me, I could see him trembling a little. "Are you ready for this, little buddy?"
"No." Soda replied. "But I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
I put my arm around his shoulders. "No, I guess not."
We stood in front of the casket for a few moments, just looking at Ponyboy. I felt tears flow down my cheeks and could hear Soda silently sobbing next to me. Behind us, more people were crying and there was the occassional sound of someone blowing their nose. But at that moment, it was just about me, Soda, and Pony. After this moment, Soda and I would never see Ponyboy again. I wanted it to last as long as possible. And I knew Soda felt the same way.
"Well," I said after a few minutes. "I guess this is it. Good-bye Pony. I'm proud of you, little buddy. Say hi to mom and dad for us."
Soda sobbed some more, then reached in the casket and pushed Pony's hair back. "We'll miss you, Pony. Things will never be the same without you."
Soda and I went to sit down then and as we did, the funeral director closed the casket. As soon as the casket closed, Soda's sobbing got louder. I kept my arm around him and noticed Steve and Two-Bit as they silently joined us.
Soda's POV
I was kind of glad when Steve and Two-Bit sat with me and Darry. They were only our friends but they were also family. Steve put his arm around me just like Darry did. It was nice having them there. But it didn't make it any easier. I couldn't stop bawling. When the funeral director closed the casket and Pony disappeared from view, I just lost it. I just couldn't take seeing the closed casket.
Darry leaned over and whispered, "Soda, it'll be okay. We'll get through this."
All I could do was sob even harder. Darry and Steve had been telling me that for the past few days. But, it was so hard for me to believe them. With Pony gone, I felt like my world was torn apart.
Steve's POV
I listened as the funeral director led the service. The whole time I was kept my arm around Soda. We had been best friends since grade school. But I had never seen him this upset. Not even after Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had passed. And he had been pretty upset then.
"Would anyone like to say a few words about Pony before we close?" The funeral director was asking.
Slowly, people started to come forward to share how Pony had touched their lives.. Each story was touching. And soon, I found myself crying just as hard as Soda was. The last person to go up was Darry.
"First of all," Darry was saying, "I want to thank all of you for coming. It means so much to me to know that Pony touched so many lives during his fourteen years. I'm sure my brother, Sodapop would agree. Pony was a good kid. I often yelled at him for not using his head, but that's because I could see the potential that he held. He was one of those kids who would share their dreams with you and you just knew that those dreams would come true. He loved being a greaser, yet, he was so different from them. He dreamt of going to college someday. His biggest dream was to become a famous author one day and to share his experiences with others. Not many greasers would want to do something like that. But, Pony, like his name was one of a kind. I'll miss having him around."
Once he finished speaking, Darry returned to his seat. But he didn't have to sit for long. The funeral director said a few more words, then everyone got up to head to the cemetary. Which was about a ten minute drive from the church.
Darry's POV
A half hour or so later, we were at the cemetary. Soda had stared back at the line of cars following us the entire way there. We would later find out that close to sixty cars had been in the funeral procession. It amazed me to see how many people had been touched by Pony.
At the cemetary, I put my arm around Soda again and noticed Steve doing the same thing. Two-Bit looked uncomfortable, so I put my other arm around him as well to include him. Together, the four of us stood there as the funeral director said a few more words before the casket was slowly lowered into the ground.
"No!" Soda cried. "This can't be happening!"
"Shh, Soda, it's okay." I soothed.
With that Soda turned and buried his head in my shoulder. "I want Pony to come back, Darry. He should be here with us. Well, you know what I mean. I can't take this! I want things to be like they were. I don't want Pony to be gone."
I didn't know what to say. And somehow, I don't think anything I could have said would have made Soda feel better. So, I just held him and let him cry as people slowly started to leave to go back to their normal lives while Soda and I had to go home to a life that was no longer normal. But before we left, I took a bunch of flowers that had been on Pony's casket and placed them on our parent's grave.