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"Hi Steve," Pony whispered uneasily.

Steve stared at him with cold eyes, and Pony was so scared he couldn't speak. Nobody seemed to notice the tension in the room, and Soda jumped on Steve and tackled him to the ground.

Unfortunately, Steve was saved by Bryon, (not yet, he's not guilty yet…) who came in. "Hey, Curtis."

"Hey Bryon," Pony said, still wary, "thanks about… you know."

"No problem kid," Bryon said, cracking one of his rare smiles.

They talked on, and celebrated, but no one thought to ask Ponyboy about who had hurt him. Darry had told all of the guys this outside, saying that Pony maybe wasn't emotionally prepared to reveal this hidden enemy.

Pretty soon, a doctor came in and shooed them all out.

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The next day, Pony wasn't well enough to be seen. However, Soda and Darry, who already knew that Pony was on the road to recovery, didn't press. They visited him the day after that. Pony stayed in the hospital for three more days, and then he was allowed to come home.

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Hobbling along on a pair of crutches, Soda helped his brother to the house. He and Darry had set up the couch so that Pony could just stay there until he got better. The doctor had ordered that Pony should stay in bed for another week or two. It was very late when they got back, so Pony collapsed on the couch, and Soda curled up next to him. Darry pulled out a chair nearby, and they all fell asleep.

The next day, Darry had to head off to work. "Pony, no smoking," he warned. "You can't; the doctor says so."

Pony grinned and said weakly, "Don't carry too many bundles of roofing, ok?"

"Ok, little buddy," Darry said, smiling at him. "Bye baby, ok? Listen to Two-Bit."

Two-Bit had been recruited to baby-sit Pony, because Soda had to leave shortly after. But at the moment, he was still there.

Sitting down in a chair near Pony, he stared at his younger brother. "How could they do it?"

Pony didn't know what he was talking about.

"What?"

"Who did this to you Pony? Every single night since it happened, I've been just staring out in the middle of nowhere. Who did this to you? How could they? What did you ever do? It was those Socs, wasn't it? It was those Socs! I'm going to kill all of them, trust me Pony, I'm going to get every single one!" This was Soda's moment. This was the time when he expressed all the desperation and emotion that had been weighing him down every since Bryon had come in.

"Pony, I'm just asking you. Who did this to you?"

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Pony stared at him, wide-eyed in shock. "You won't believe me," he managed to whisper in a pained voice.

"Yes I will Pony, yes I will!" Soda yelped in desperation. "Please Pony," he begged, "I've been going crazy. I can't see how anybody would hurt you. I love you so much, and how could anyone hurt you…" his voice dropped to a whisper, "you were worse than Johnny, Pony. Who could have done this to you?"

There was silence. And then, "It was Steve."

xxx

duh duh duhn. review?