Chapter 17

"Soda!" Darry screamed. "Soda!"

I heard someone running back toward the room and then Soda was standing in the doorway.

Darry pointed with a shaking finger at the gun, "Take," he sobbed, "take that thing outside and bury it. Bury it deep."

"Darry?" Soda asked timidly, "What happened? Why do you want me to…"

"Just do it!" Darry barked.

Soda hurriedly picked up the gun and left the room. Darry held me for several more minutes. Then he saw my suicide note on the table. He picked it up and read it. Then he looked at me, his ice blue eyes filled with tears, "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. His voice was hoarse from crying.

"I didn't want to worry you," I said.

Soda came back in an hour or so later covered in dirt. Darry handed him my suicide note. Soda looked at it, and then at me. Then he sat down next to me and Darry on the bed.

We sat there like that for several hours.

We decided then that we were moving. It looked like the best thing. Soda and Steve still hadn't made up for one thing, but the main reason was me. I had tried to kill myself. Darry had promised that he wouldn't send me back to the asylum or school, and we were going to start packing and filling out all the papers to sell our house the next day. I didn't know what Two-Bit was going to do. He hadn't been talking to Steve either, he would be all alone. I guess I wasn't too worried about him though, Two-Bit would be able to make new friends.

That night, Darry and Soda sat next to me while I slept. One of them always had a hand on my shoulder. It was like they couldn't believe I was real.

The next morning Soda and I were eating breakfast. Darry was out looking for boxes to pack stuff in.

"Pony," Soda said. "Don't ever do this again, this is the third time we've almost lost you, and that's three times too many."

"I won't," I said, "I promise."

A few hours later, Darry was back and we started packing. Two-Bit showed up a while later and helped us. He was upset that we were leaving, but after hearing that I had tried to do suicide again I don't think he minded as much.

Within a few weeks we had everything packed and we had sold the house to these two hippies. We had no idea where we were going, but we were leaving. Two-Bit was waiting out at the car.

"Bye ya'll," he said. He was trying not to cry.

We all hugged Two-Bit and promised we would write to him or call or something. We should have taken him with us. Darry and Soda got in the car, but I stayed outside and talked to Two-Bit for a minute.

"Take care of Aurora for me," I said.

Two-Bit looked confused, he had every reason to.

"Make sure she has flowers, and that no one spray-paints her tombstone or anything like that," I said.

That time Two-Bit understood. He nodded and said "Sure thing, kid."

I realized that Darry and Soda were looking at me. They probably wanted me to wrap this up.

"We'll come back and visit," I said. "I promise. Bye, Two-Bit."

"Later kid," he said as I go into the car.

Darry started the car and we drove off. Two-Bit stood in front of our house and watched us leave. He finally turned around and walked away. I watched our neighborhood get smaller and smaller until there was nothing left of it. I looked ahead of us and there was nothing but the open road. There were new lives out there somewhere for us, we just had to find them.