This one's for you, Julie! Happy birthday!

Soda's POV

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my words shaking.

"I shot him. Dallas had the gun, but I took it from him and shot Bob. Dallas had nothing to do with it, and he got shot. For no reason!" Pony argued.

"But. . . Dallas said that he shot Bob." I was confused.

"He was covering for me."

"This can't be happening." I shook my head trying to ward this off. How could this be happening?

"Pony, you all right?" Two-Bit asked as he came into the waiting room.

"I'm fine." He said, though I knew he was much worse than that.

"Okay. You worried me when you ran out like that."

"Sorry."

"It's all right." He said, grinning down at Pony and ruffling his hair. "I'll see ya'll later, okay?"

"See you, Two-Bit." I said, not as happily as I would have hoped.

Johnny came in and sat down by Pony. He looked at him out of the corner of his eye with a worried expression we all were wearing.

"Hey, Pony." Johnny said quietly. I smiled at Johnny. He was a quiet kid, but he was a great friend to Pony.

"Hey." Pony said, looking at his shoes.

Johnny looked at me, a question in his eyes. I shrugged.

"I'm heading to the movies. You want to come?" Johnny asked.

"No thanks."

"Johnny, if you're going to the movies, maybe you should catch up with Two-Bit. I don't want anyone being alone when these Socs are out."

"Okay. Bye, Pony. Bye, Soda." Johnny said as he got up to find Two-Bit.

Darry came out of Dally's room a minute later. I was glad. I needed some help.

Darry sat down by Pony.

"Pony. . .what's going on?" He asked gently. I was sure he was getting sick of that question, and I didn't blame him.

"Nothing." Why wouldn't he tell Darry what he told me?

"Darry. . . he said. . .he shot Bob." I said, barely getting the words out.

"What?" Darry looked as confused as I was.

"I shot him." Pony said again.

"No you didn't. Dallas did." Darry argued.

"It was me. Ask Dallas."

Darry looked mad suddenly, but he got up and went to Dally's room.

Darry's POV

"Did you shoot Bob or did Pony?"

The fear that flashed in Dallas' eyes scared me, like it was true.

"I did. Who told you differently?" Dallas said.

"Pony."

"It's the truth, man. I killed him. I had the gun. I shot him, not Pony. Pony was too busy staring at the end of the gun to know what was happening. Besides, he wouldn't have been able to see to shoot with all them tears in his eyes. Anyway, do you think Pony has murder in him?"

Of course I didn't! What Dallas was saying upset me. Ponyboy must have been out of his mind with fear. How was this going to affect him?

"Thanks." I said.

"No problem." Dallas flipped over and looked like he was preparing to sleep.

I walked back into the waiting room.

"Soda, come here." I said waving him over.

Soda got up, casting one last look at Pony before he came to me.

"What is it?" I knew he thought I had found out that Pony really had killed Bob.

"It was Dallas, not Pony."

Soda sighed with relief. He had the same reaction I had.

"I think it's the whole shock-thing. I don't think he knows what he's doing. I think he's trying to put the blame on himself to protect Dallas. I know Pony wouldn't kill Bob. Do you remember when we used to go hunting? Pony didn't even like to shoot the ducks."

"You're right. I just got so worried there for a minute. What if he had? He probably would have gone to jail!" Soda said.

"I know. That's what worried me." I agreed.

"Do you think he'll be ready for this rumble?" Soda asked.

"He'll have to be."

Two-Bit's POV

The night of the rumble came too soon. I hated rumbles, but I never let the gang know it. Nothing bad had happened to us Greasers since the Socs shot Dallas. I was glad. But we gave them a taste of what was coming to them when we jumped some lone Soc.

It was supposed to be a skin-against-skin rumble, but I came prepared for one with weapons. I knew the Socs were dirty, and they'd want to get back at us for the Bob kid. Besides, the Shepherd gang always played rough, as did the Brumly boys.

I was worried about Pony. He wasn't himself lately. He's not as big as the rest of us, even Johnny, so I wondered how he'd fair in this fight.

I walked up the steps to the Curtis' house, and found everyone else ready.

"Hey, Two-Bit! What took you so long?" Soda said before he tackled Steve to the ground.

"I got to look good for when these Socy-boys come around."

"That'll be a nice change." Steve said breathlessly, since he was being squashed by Soda.

"At least I'm not the one getting beat up." I shot back.

"Ooh. That really hurt, Two-Bit. Ow!" Soda had just pulled his arm behind his head.

I laughed at them.

Johnny was sitting on the couch, watching Soda and Steve fight. Dallas was laughing at them. I was glad he got out of the hospital so soon. Darry was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from supper. I looked around the room, and noticed Pony was missing.

"Where's Pony?" I asked no one in particular.

"He's in his room." Darry called. I hoped the kid was okay. He'd been through a lot lately. I just wondered how that was going to affect him in this fight.

Pony's POV

I could hear the guys in the living room. They were all ready for this fight. I wished I could say the same about myself.

I don't know why, but I wasn't seeking revenge for what they had done to me. They got enough pay-back from Bob's death. I knew I hadn't killed him, but I didn't want Dallas to get in trouble. Besides, it helped to make it look like I was at fault. And if I was at fault, no one would come near me, and that's the way I wanted it.

"It's time to go!" Two-Bit yelled gleefully. The rumble was set for 10:00, and it was 9:30 already. We liked to be early, but I knew we wouldn't be the only ones there already.

I walked out of my room and at least three of the six eyes locked on me. Darry and Soda looked worried, and Two-Bit looked confused. Why, I didn't know.

I was dressed in a navy blue t-shirt that was Soda's. It didn't fit him anymore, so I got it. Darry was wearing his black t-shirt, or what I liked to call his "rumble shirt." He always wore it when there was a rumble, and you could see why when you saw him in it. No one would want to mess with him tonight.

Soda was wearing something casual. Just a grey t-shirt and jeans. Soda never really went all out, except for with the grease.

We walked outside, and everyone started jumping around and screaming at each other. Everyone except me. Even Johnny was getting into it.

Darry turned around and looked at me. I tried to smile at him, but there was no smile inside me. He smiled at me, though I hadn't, and I nodded at him.

He turned back around and threw a punch at Soda.

"Hey!" Soda yelled, and punched Darry back.

"You want a piece of me, boy?" Darry said in a fake deathly voice.

"Yeah!" Soda jumped on Darry's back. Darry took a hold of his shoulders and tossed him over his head and onto the ground.

"Ow! That hurt." Soda yelped. Everyone was laughing at them, and as though they were doing it for me, they both looked eagerly at me.

I faked a smile, and their faces lit up. That was what they wanted.

We got to the lot, and the Brumly boys were already there, practicing on each other it seemed.

Darry walked up and greeted the leader of their outfit. Darry was our unofficial leader because we weren't a gang like them. We were more of a family.

Our group lined up, waiting for Shepherd's gang and the Socs.

Soon we heard the laughter coming from Tim Shepherd's gang. Surprisingly, Curly was there with him. He was usually in prison or juvenille detention. I noticed there were more of them than usual, and I realized Tim had called in reinforcements.

The backup guys looked like they were in it just for the fight. I doubted they even knew what we were fighting for. They were mean looking, and that scared me.

"Hey, Darry." Tim said to Darry.

"Hello, Tim." Darry said and they shook hands.

"Ya'll ready?" Tim asked us, and a loud cheer went out. Oh, yeah. We were ready.

The Socs' cars pulled up ten minutes later. They were almost late, and I was wishing they had chickened out.

I hated rumbles, and I knew with this one, everyone was out for blood.