Soda's POV
I watched as Darry lifted Pony and brought him to our room. Pony was exhausted. He had hardly been awake since we found him in the lot. I think it hurt less when he was asleep.
When Darry came back, he sat down at the kitchen table with me. I stared at the chocolate milk I was drinking. But I didn't really feel like drinking anything.
Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face.
"It's not fair. Pony doesn't deserve this. What did he do? He's barely fourteen. He shouldn't have to suffer because he's a greaser." I said, as I wiped at the tears that continued to fall.
Darry came closer to me, so that I was within his reach. He hugged me, knowing I how upset and miserable I was.
"I know, little buddy. I hate to see him look so hurt. You know he's scared out of his wits. The poor kid. I just hate to think what this'll do to him." Darry wasn't much comfort. He was just as worried and scared as I was.
"I'd better get to bed. I need to keep an eye on Pony."
"Okay. Let me know if he starts hurting again, okay? I can give him some more pain killers if he starts hurting too bad."
"All right. Good night, Darry."
"Good night, Pepsi-Cola."
I walked down the hall and into our room. Pony was laying in bed, stiff and unmoving, I knew it hurt him even more to move; that's why he wasn't moving now.
"Soda?" I heard him say weakly.
"You still awake? You should be asleep by now." I sat down next to him, but I did it too hard. Pony jumped a little in the bed, and I heard him moan.
"I'm sorry. Are you all right?" I said, pushing back some of his hair.
He nodded, but I could see the pain written on his face.
I got into bed beside him, trying to do it as gently as I could, so I wouldn't hurt him.
I put an arm around his shoulders- one of the only places without too many sores.
Soon, we were both asleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night. The first thing I saw was the wall. Wait a minute! If I'm facing the wall, then that means I don't have an arm around Pony.
When Pony started having nightmares, I decided to sleep in the same bed as him. I wanted to help him out. Every night I'd place an arm around Pony, and the nightmares slowed.
I turned around in bed and saw Pony shaking like a leaf. Every few seconds, he'd let out a lonesome whimper.
I immediately placed my arms around him, and the whimpers stopped. But he still continued to shake. I stroked his hair, trying to calm him, though he was still asleep.
I finally got Pony to a point where he wasn't shaking or whimpering. I held him, and soon I fell asleep again.
Darry's POV
In the morning, I got up and went to the bathroom. I took out what few supplies we had left to fix Pony's cuts. I hated the thought that I had to use almost all our supplies on just Ponyboy. It was more than we'd ever used in a rumble, with seven guys.
I quietly stepped into Pony and Soda's room. Soda was already dressed, and was about to go outside. He was kneeling beside Pony when I came in.
Soda turned when he heard me enter. He pushed the hairs away from Pony's face, and then got up to leave. He placed a finger to his lips, showing me to be quiet. I wasn't planning on waking him, unless I had to.
I sat down on the floor beside Pony. I gingerly took off the bandage from his face. He didn't stir, and I was grateful. I replaced his old bandage with a new one. I didn't like the way it looked, but the cut was beginning to scab.
It wasn't until I touched his side that he moaned. I quickly withdrew my hand. Pony pushed at my hand. He still wasn't awake.
"Sorry." I whispered. I gently lifted his shirt.
The main cut on his chest didn't look any better. I took out some alcohol and wiped the cut. Pony gave a sharp gasp, and then he woke up.
"Sorry, baby." I said.
"Darry?" Pony asked when he opened his eyes. He could see out of his right eye today, so that was encouraging.
"Yeah, baby. I'm here. How are you feeling?"
"Horrible." He mumbled. Poor kid.
"You can go back to sleep if you want. You want some medicine?"
"Sure."
"Okay. I'll be right back." I ran into the kitchen and took out too pain killers. I poured him a glass of water and walked back to his room.
Surprisingly, he was still awake. I set the glass of water down on the table. With my free hand, I helped him sit up.
"Ready?" I asked.
When Pony nodded, I placed the pills in his mouth and put the glass of water to his lips.
He drank heavily, though he got the pills down with the first swallow.
When he was done, he sank into the pillows again. I watched him, and soon Pony shivered.
"What's that matter, baby?" I asked. I knew he wasn't just shaking for no reason.
"Nothing." He said, and turned on his side. I was done, anyway.
I pulled the covers up around his chin, and left his room, letting him get some sleep.
When I walked out into the living room, I saw Soda sitting on the couch.
"Shouldn't you be at work by now?" I asked.
"No. Steve will understand. I'll just come a little later than usual."
"Okay, little buddy. But don't wait too long. Call Two-Bit before you leave, so he can come check on Pony later. I shouldn't be too late tonight. How about you?"
"I'll be home early. Business has been slow. Everyone's on vacation or something."
"I'll see you later." I called as I walked out the door and to the truck.
Pony's POV
Soda had left for work. Darry had left for work. I was alone.
Every little noise scared me. I had turned into a chicken. The door would creek. The wind would howl. And every time it did, I pictured five Socs, coming after me.
I slept most of the day. Around one o'clock, Two-Bit came over.
"Hey, kid. How you feeling?" For once, Two-Bit was serious.
I moaned as I tried to sit up.
"I've been better, that's for sure."
"You scared us all yesterday. We thought you were dead, the way you were laying there."
"Sorry."
He smiled. "Wasn't your fault, kid. Don't worry. We'll get those stupid Socs back for you. We'll get 'em good."
I smiled at him. They would. The gang was made up of the toughest guys around. Even Johnny, really. Darry was the strongest, but no one ever wanted to mess with Dallas when he was mad. Not even Darry.
Two-Bit slid the tv stand in my room. He sat down in front of the tv and watched Mickey Mouse.
I fell asleep to the sound of the tv, and Two-Bit's laughter.
When I woke up, Two-Bit was gone. I looked at the clock. Three thirty? Soda would be home soon. I was glad. I was scared to death being alone.
I was trying to get to sleep again when I heard someone at the door. I was surprised. Usually our door was unlocked.
Figuring it was someone important enough to knock, I tried getting up.
As soon as I stood, I fell back down on the ground. I had forgotten that I had twisted my ankle in a hole in the lot.
I yelped with the pain. Not just the pain in my ankle, but the pain all over. It all hurt worse when I hit the hard floor like a ton of bricks.
I couldn't get up for the life of me. When I sat up, the room started to spin, and I had to lean back again.
I lay there on the floor, figuring whoever it was would either figure no one was home and leave, or be smart enough to try the door. I was hoping for the latter, because the floor wasn't very comfortable.
When I heard the door open, I figured they were smart enough to come in.
When they walked into my room, I wasn't happy about who was there to greet me. It was the Socs.
"Well, well, well. Look here, guys. It's that same greaser we beat up yesterday. I'm surprised he's still alive."
I whimpered from fear, and begged for the gang to show up.
One of the Socs reached down and pulled me up by the front of my shirt.
I shivered with fear.
"Hey, greaser. You need another working over?"
I shook my head, scared stiff.
"Well, that's not what we thought."
I nearly passed out with fear when I saw the guy with the rings take out the same gun they had pulled on me yesterday.
"Darry!" I called again, but I was given the same warning, and so I shut my mouth. Please, come, guys.
Soda's POV
"See you later, Steve!" I said as I began to run home. I knew Pony would need my help. I hated leaving him so long.
It was four o'clock when I got off work, and it only took me a few minutes to get home.
I was about to go inside when I saw the truck pull up. I waited on Darry to come up the steps.
"Hey, Soda. You get off work?"
"Yep. You?"
"Yep. I was too worried about Pony to stay gone too long."
"Me too."
I opened the door and we went inside. I ran to our room, but I didn't see Pony. A few things were scattered across the floor.
"Pony?" Darry was right behind me, looking just as confused.
"He couldn't have left. He's too sick." I said.
It wasn't until I heard a whimper that I realized where Pony was.
I turned around and walked to the closet.
I opened the door and found Pony at the farthest corner, shivering like crazy and crying.
"Pony? What happened?" I asked, confused as to why he was in the closet.
But he was crying too hard to answer me. I reached inside to pull him out, but he wouldn't let me.
Darry pushed me aside and reached in to get him out. He was more successful than I was.
Pony grabbed on to Darry's shirt like it would kill him to let go.
Darry wrapped his arms around Pony, holding him as he cried. I came over to sit by Darry and rubbed Pony's back, trying to calm him.
When Pony stopped crying, and only shook with fear, Darry spoke to him.
"Pony? What's wrong?" He asked him.
Pony shook his head, as though trying to get rid of the memories that plagued him.
"The. . . the Socs, the ones who beat me up. . . they came here." And that was all he could get out. He buried his face in my shirt, and I wrapped my arms around him.
I saw the anger in Darry's eyes, and I wondered if they only mirrored mine.
I rocked Pony back and forth. Pony shook without stop. How could those Socs do such a thing? They came here? How dare they!
I lifted Pony in my arms and placed him on the bed. I got in beside him, keeping my arm across his shoulders until he'd fall asleep.
Finally, Pony rested. I knew he was shook up and scared silly. But he'd have to sleep.
Darry got up and left the room, motioning for me to follow.
As soon as I closed the doors, I spoke my out rage.
"How dare they! They come into my home, and torture my little brother. Damn those Socs. They should all just. . ."
Darry stopped me from speaking what I really thought of the Socs.
"I know. I know. We'll get them. As soon as Pony's better, we're calling a rumble. And this time, we'll get them good."
It did nothing to ease the anger built inside of me.
We walked into the living room and sat down.
"Someone needs to be with him at all times. We can't have them coming at our house. Maybe we should start locking the doors."
"What good would that do? If someone is going to be here at all times, we won't need to do anything like that." I argued.
"That's true. What are we going to do about this? It's killing Pony."
I shook my head. I didn't know.
We sat there in silence, both thinking of some way to help our brother.
With the room being so quiet, it was easy to hear the loud thud coming from our room.
"What was that!" I exclaimed.
"Pony!" Darry replied. We both got up as fast as we could, running to Pony. Darry got there first, but I was a split second behind him.
Pony lay on the ground, and he called out in pain. He must have fallen out of bed.
He moaned, and did a flop on the ground. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before and that's what scared me. Pony lay face-down on the ground. Darry knelt beside him and turned him over gently.
Tears streamed down Pony's face. It broke my heart to see so much pain.
Darry gently lifted Pony from the floor and placed him on the bed. Instead of letting Darry go, Pony grabbed onto his shirt and buried his face in it.
We got to get those Socs. No matter what it takes.
