Soda's POV
I came inside our house when I got back from work. No one was in the living room, so I went into the room Pony and I shared, praying that no one had left him alone.
Darry was sitting beside Pony who had his face buried in his pillow. I could hear him crying, though the pillow drowned out most of the sound. I was confused as to why Darry wasn't holding him, and since he wasn't, I had an urge to do so for him.
I walked into the room and Darry looked up at me. His eyes were sad and I wondered what was going on.
Darry stood and motioned for me to follow him. We went into the living room and that's when Darry told me what was going on.
"Pony's blaming himself." He said.
"What? Why?" I said.
"I don't know. He blew up at Johnny and then he yelled at me. I don't know what's wrong. He needs someone to talk to. I was figuring you could."
"Well, if he wasn't telling Johnny anything, I doubt he'll tell me much."
"It's worth a shot."
"Why weren't you comforting him?" I asked before I walked out of the room.
"What?" Darry sounded confused.
"When Pony was crying, you weren't holding him or anything."
"He wouldn't let me. I tried before, but I pushed away from me."
"Oh."
"Trust me, I wanted to."
"Okay, Darry."
I turned back around and went into our room.
I sat down on the bed beside Pony.
"Hey, kiddo." I said.
I got no response in return.
"Pony, talk to me. What's going on?"
"It's all my fault." He said.
"What is?"
"Everything! It's my fault Bob died, it's my fault Dallas and Two-Bit got hurt. It's my fault."
"Pony, look at me." I turned his face so he'd have to look at me.
"This is not your fault. Those Socs are a bunch of jerks who like to mess with people's heads. And this time, they took things too far. Bob died because he did something stupid. You're lucky it wasn't you."
"But that's just it! It should have been me! Dallas shouldn't have gotten shot. I should have been shot, and I wasn't. This all started because of me. Why do I do such stupid things? Darry's right, I don't use my head."
"No, Pony. You do use your head." Darry said from the doorway.
He stepped inside and sat on the bed with us.
"I don't! If I had used my head I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, getting the picture that he might have done something after all.
Pony sighed. This wasn't easy for him.
"They're getting back at me for something I did." He said.
"What did you do?" I asked, thinking of nothing that could add up to all the pain Pony's been through.
"I. . . Bob was one of the smartest kids at school. Everyone knew it, and he didn't mind telling them if they didn't. He was always getting A's and he'd get all the answers right during class. But one day, he got stumped in math class. We were going over some statistics, and he gave an answer, but it wasn't right. I knew it, and he got jealous."
"Pony, that's nothing for him to beat you up over." Darry argued.
"That wasn't it. After class, he threatened me. He was mad that I got the right answer, and I just kept shoving that fact in his face and made rude remarks that only made him madder. Then, later in the day, I talked to his girlfriend. I didn't know they were dating. When he saw us together, he got mad again. Again, I said mean things and he was about to hit me, but he was going to wait, and make me suffer through it. I'd been terrified since that day."
Pony wiped at his eyes.
"So, that's why it's my fault." He finished.
Darry and I looked at each other, both feeling the same fear. If this was how they repaid Pony for what he did, then they're more dangerous than I thought.
"Pony, that still doesn't make sense. You didn't do anything that wrong." I said.
"But that's why they're doing this. And now, they're doing it because Bob died."
I leaned over and was prepared to hug him, but he turned away.
"Pony?" I said.
"No." Was all he said in response.
I looked over at Darry and his face showed "I told you."
We got up and left Pony, worrying about him.
Pony's POV
I need to do something. I have to take action against this. The gang can't keep suffering when it should only be me. What if it's Soda or Darry next? I can't bear to see one of them hurt because of me.
They can't get close to me. I can't let them! I decided the only thing to do was run away.
Darry and Soda were talking in the kitchen. It was a perfect time to make my escape. I slipped out of bed, and went to my window.
I opened up the window as quietly as I could. It squeaked, and I froze. Soda and Darry must not have noticed, so I went on out.
I had to get away from here, before someone else got hurt.
Darry's POV
I finished placing supper on the table. Soda was sitting already, prepared to eat.
"You thin Pony will eat something?" I asked.
"I don't know. I guess we could ask."
Just then, Two-Bit and Johnny came through the door.
"I thought I smelled something good." Two-Bit said, taking a place at the table.
"And who invited you?" I asked.
"Me, myself and I. So there." He said, digging in to some fried chicken.
Johnny sat down, but didn't eat anything, fearing that they weren't really invited.
"Go ahead and eat some, Johnnycake. There's plenty." I said to him.
He gave me a small smile and started eating. The kid was too skinny as is.
"You want to go get Pony?" I asked Soda.
"Sure."
He got up and ran to Pony's room. He was back in a few minutes.
"Didn't Pony want some of this delicious food?" Two-Bit asked when Soda stepped inside.
I noticed the paleness of Soda's face, and I wondered what was wrong now.
"Darry. . .he's gone." He said.
"What!" I exclaimed. I ran over to his room, and, sure enough, he was gone.
"You guys know where Dallas and Steve are?" I asked Two-Bit and Johnny.
"Buck's." Johnny said.
"Two-Bit, you and Johnny go get those two. Look at the movies, and tell Steve and Dallas to look somewhere else. Soda, you and I will look over by the park. Remember, no one goes alone."
"What about Pony? He's all alone." Soda said, looking like he was about to cry.
I walked up to him and squeezed his shoulder.
"It'll be okay, little buddy. Let's go, guys!" I said, and we all got up to leave. I heard Two-Bit grumbling about not getting to eat, and I thought about slugging him.
Soda and I got into the car and drove off in search of Ponyboy.
Dallas' POV
Where the hell has the kid gone now? I thought as Johnny and I searched the streets. Johnny decided to stick with me and Steve and Two-Bit took off together. We were over by the Dingo, and no one we had spoken to had seen him. Even the kid was starting to worry me, and I thought no one could do that.
"Damn it, Johnny, hurry up." I barked.
I saw the hurt in his eyes, and I muttered a curse under my breath. I didn't mean to upset Johnny, but he wasn't fast enough for my taste.
We ended up passing Two-Bit and Steve. Well, they were on the other side of the street.
"Have you seen anything?" I yelled at them.
"No! You?" Two-Bit called back.
"No! Keep looking!" I called, and we ran on.
I was worried that we'd have to go looking at the Socs' side of town. That was the last place we'd want to go, but it may be our only hope.
Soda's POV
We ran through the park, looking everywhere for Pony. I was starting to shake with fear. I couldn't imagine the Socs getting into our house without us knowing. But what if they had? I couldn't imagine them attacking Pony again. It was too much for me.
Darry stole glances my way. I think he was worried about me, too. I didn't want to worry him, but I couldn't stop thinking about Pony in danger.
We got to the end of a trail. It was getting dark, and we'd only brought one flash light. I hated lurking around in the dark, but we had to find him.
We stopped to take a breath for a minute.
"Where could he be?" Darry asked the same question that was running through my head. I thought for a minute, a thought coming to mind.
Flash back
Pony and I would go to the lake over the summer. Sometimes Darry would come along, too. We both discovered a cool spot, and we'd always go there.
Swimming was one of my favorite things to do, so we'd always go for a swim at the lake. If we crossed the lake, we could get to our favorite spot. For a long time we'd have to take a boat since it was so deep in places. I was worried about Pony, so we'd take a boat out that our neighbor had lent us over the summer when they went away on vacation.
Just on the other side was a secluded area. No one came over there much, and we had named it our own island. I don't think even Darry knew about it. But me and Pony did. If we went deep enough in the woods, we could find the cliff. It was where we could get the best view of the lake. Pony and I would climb up to the top and point out all the places we could see. It wasn't very high, but we could see points of the park that we recognized. That was usually where we'd see if Mom or Dad was coming to get us.
The water on the other side seemed cleaner for some reason, and we'd swim for hours, only to go back home later. It was our own utopia, and we'd spend most of our summer there.
End of Flashback
"I know where he is." I said.
"You do!" Darry said, getting excited.
"Yeah. Follow me."
We ran through the woods, coming up on the lake. I saw a lone figure across the lake, heading deeper into the woods.
"Ready for a swim?" I asked Darry. He nodded, and we both got in.
Thanks for the idea, existing for penguins!
