I ran after Ponyboy. By that time, he had run into Johnny. They were running away, and I only caught up with them because they stopped.
Pony was sitting on the curb, crying into his arms. Johnny sat down next to him, trying to comfort him. I wished I could do the same.
"Gotta cigarette?" Pony asked.
"Yeah." Johnny said, handing him one and giving him a light.
"What happened?" Johnny asked. "I never seen you bawl like that before."
"Darry hit me. I swear, we used to get along just fine, until Mom and Dad died. Now he can't stand me."
So that's what happened. I thought. Our parents are dead. No wonder they weren't there to stop me. I'm their guardian now. Then why am I so mean?
"Let's go walk to the park. Maybe by then I'll be cooled off enough to go home." Pony said.
"Okay." Johnny replied.
Good. They'll go for a walk, come back home and they'll be fine. Too bad that wasn't it.
The bright lights were shining down on me when I woke up. Where am I? I thought. Oh, I thought as I realized what happened, I'm in the hospital.
This time, no one was there to greet me. A nurse walked in, asked me how I was, and then left. I must have fallen asleep soon after, because I don't remember anything else.
"Johnny!" I heard Pony scream. What was going on?
The first thing I saw was Johnny getting beat up by some big guys. I wondered where Pony was. Panicking, I ran past them and saw Ponyboy being pushed into a fountain. His head was now underwater. I ran toward him, prepared to fight the guys doing it to him.
I took a swing at them, and my hand went straight through them again. What's going on? Why can't I touch them? Why can't they see me?
So I had to watch in horror as Ponyboy was drowning. I tried to go help Johnny, too, but nothing worked.
Finally, Johnny came toward them and stabbed one of them with his switch blade. The others all got scared, and ran into their car. The one who got stabbed fell to the ground. Blood spilled out of his side, and I got sick to my stomach.
Johnny pulled Pony out of the water, but he was unconscious or dead. I watched impatiently, trying to figure out if I'd lost my brother or not. If I had, it was my fault.
Johnny checked Pony's pulse, and he must have found one, because he just sat back against the fountain.
A few minutes later, Ponyboy regained consciousness. He started coughing and spitting out water. He looked frozen. Goosebumps were on his arms and his teeth were chattering.
"I killed him." Johnny said.
"Johnny, I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Go ahead. I won't look at you."
Ponyboy went over to the swings, and was silently sick for a while.
"Pony, you all right?" Johnny asked, still holding the switch blade that was red to the hilt.
"You really did kill him." Pony said.
"Yeah. I had to. They were drowning you. They might have killed you. They were gonna beat me up. The others all ran off when I stabbed him."
Finally, when they were done being too scared, they decided that they'd go to Dallas. They figured he could get them out of the mess they were in.
Dallas was great help. He gave them a gun, fifty bucks, and the idea to go to an abandoned church in Windrixville. I wanted to protest, but they wouldn't have heard me.
They jumped onto a train and made their way to Windrixville. When they got there, they jumped out of the train, and headed toward Jay Mountain.
As soon as they got there, they went to sleep. I must have, too, because the next thing I knew, it was daylight again.
Johnny must have gone to get groceries, like Dallas advised. Ponyboy was sitting in the corner, with a cigarette in his mouth. Johnny was sitting beside him, staring at the wall.
"Why does he hate me?" Pony said suddenly.
"Who?" Johnny asked, confused.
"Darry. He used to like me before Mom and Dad died. Now he acts like he hates me. What'd I do wrong?"
No, Pony, I thought, I love you. I didn't mean to hit you. I was surprised by my thoughts. I never knew I loved him.
"He doesn't hate you. He's just worried a lot. He'll come around. He still loves you."
Pony wiped his eyes. He was crying because he thought I hated him.