Darry's Point of View Omg my first Darry P.O.V!
Ponyboy's has been gone nearly 2 months, and it has killed me and Sodapop. Soda and I are working over time to try and raise more money so that we can fix our house up to "safe standards" regulated by the government. Soda and I were also thinking about transferring Ponyboy to a new school, a safer school where no one will know about last years incidents. We have been talking to the social worker a lot lately about how we are improving the conditions; she says that if we keep up our efforts she believes that the judge might side with us. We haven't heard from Ponyboy as much as we would have liked too, we are all worried about him, he rarely calls and when he calls he seems always sad and distant from the actual conversation. I hope that he's ok, but all I can do is keep working hard until the judge's court day in two more weeks.
Ponyboy's Point of View
It's been about eight days since ma'am throw the vase and the frying pan at me, but she hasn't stopped, ma'am has made it her favorite "game" as she calls it, she plays it nearly every night, I wouldn't want the gang to see me now with all my cuts and bruises. Every time that I'm washing the dishes especially pots and pans, I flinch, ma'am seems to notice too so she plays one of her "games" with me to punish me. Last night's "game," when I finishing my gardening chores, was she sprayed me down with the icy water from the frozen hose and slapped me continuously, the coldness makes the stings even more unbearable, then when the winds picked up, she wouldn't let me inside the garage to sleep. I had to sleep on the cold hard rocky driveway as the winds and the rains chilled my already frozen body. When she awoke in the morning she simply laughed at me and immediately sent me to start on my morning chores in my dampened clothes. I ran to the kitchen sink to start on the dishes, I turned on the hot water and was waiting for it to hit up so that I could warm my frozen fingers, unfortuanly she was watching me. She hit me with the lamp and the frying pan saying that I didn't deserve warm water. I didn't go to school that day because I didn't regain consciousness until nearly 1 pm. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear ma'am speaking to me. "Well boy did you hear me!" She screamed. I flinched, "I'm sorry ma'am no." I felt her hand collide with my cheek, the stinging sensation was painful but I didn't dare show my pain or else she would punish me more. "I said that your stupid brothers are going to the court tomorrow to see if they can regain the guardianship of you" she laughed bitterly. Immediately my whole body warmed up at the thought that I might be able to go home with my brothers, she must have seen the hope in my eyes though for she added "don't think that you're going home with them Michael, the judge will side with me, so don't you worry, we will be able to play lots more games together for many years to come" she spat through gritted teeth as she walked out with that horrid grin on her face. "Hurry up then go clean the pool Michael" she screamed through the house. I finished the laundry and I headed outside. I was picking the leaves out of water when I felt a hand on my back as I was thrown forward into the icy cold pool water. I was caught off guard so when I landed in the water cold frozen water filled my lungs. I choked on the freezing liquid in my body as I swam to the surface. I emerged out of the water, spitting up water but felt a hand grasp my hair as I was plunged back down into the water. I opened my eyes only for a second to see ma'am laughing evilly and I kicked in the water, trying to breath. Every second seemed like a minute as my chest began to ache from lack of air. I rose from the water to catch my breath as I was once again slammed back into the water. My mind began to fill with a reddy, greenish haze as I could feel my lungs about to pop. I felt her grip release from my head as I scrambled to the surface. I gasped for air while spitting up the water that still nestled in my lungs. It took all of my strength to pull myself out of the water and to lie on the concrete beside the water. I heard two voices coming from the kitchen, knowing that one was ma'am, and the other couldn't be sir because he was on a business trip for a few more days. Ma'am walked outside towards me with a fake frantic look on her face as the social worker emerged behind her. "I'm going home" I thought stupidly when I first saw her. "My word Ponyboy, what happened to you!" The social worker asked as she rushed over to me. I looked at her blankly; I wasn't use to being called Ponyboy anymore, so this was quiet weird for me. "Oh Ponyboy, son, did you fall in the pool again! I told you not to play near it!" Ma'am frantically hugged me as her horrid lies came crawling out of her mouth. "Ponyboy is this true?" Asked the social worker. I didn't know what to say, I was still in shock from nearly drowning and I didn't know why the social worker was here in the first place. I looked at ma'am fearfully unsure of what to say, then I looked back at the social worker. "I—I—um.. I don't know..umm what…happened" I choked out. I hated defending ma'am but I knew that if Darry and Soda lost the case, I was going to be spending my next 3-4 years here and I wouldn't be able to survive. "Why are you here?" I managed to choke out. "Well Ponyboy, I need to speak with you, alone" she replied to me. I didn't have any idea why the social worker needed to talk to me, they never did before, except when the state came to visit Darry Soda and I, but that was just simple questions such as, how are you enjoying school, nothing big. I slowly stood up from my spot and away with the social worker into the house, but before I did ma'am grabbed me by my arm and gave me this horrify look. "Mrs. Cole, aren't you going to get a towel for Ponyboy?" Asked the social worker. Ma'am looked really angry now, "of coarse" she said through bitter teeth.
"So Ponyboy" began the social worker once she and I were alone. "Do you like it here?" She asked. I had no idea how to answer this. My heart was pounding and my mind was thinking at a thousand miles a minute, 'this might be my only chance to get away from ma'am' I thought, 'but it could be just a simple question and she might not believe you, making ma'am even angrier' I also thought. I finally made up my mind as I chewed my lower lip. "I hate it here" I began unsure of what to say. The social worker looked startled at my response. "Why? You're family is very wealthy which means that they are able to provide nice clothes, a wonderful education and experiences beyond your wildest dreams." "Money can't buy happiness. I would be happy if I was with my brothers" I replied. My breath became normal again. The social worker gasped as she asked me what happened to my face. I assumed that my color had come back since being in the water and my bruises and cuts were clearly visible now. "Money provided it" I replied more confident than I had felt in months. The social worker gaped at me, "do you mean that Mr. and Mrs. Cole did this to you?" She asked while covering her mouth with her hand. "Yes, it happens all the time" I replied quietly. I think that the social worker had heard enough as she instructed me to take her to my room. This was going to be interesting. She and I walked through the house and down to the garage, "why are you taking me to the garage?" She asked me. "You told me to take you to my room, I am" I replied as I opened the garage door and entered my "room." She gasped as she saw my single blanket and my belongings spread out with about 5 feet of space.
Twenty minutes later I was being guided out of the house by a police officer and the social worker. Ma'am was watching with complete anger in her eyes. "WAIT!" She called to me. I turned around with the police officer and the social worker behind me. "Can I just say goodbye to him?" She asked as tears ran down her face, I didn't believe they were real. The social worker nodded silently and she guided me forward to ma'am. I walked up the stairs to the level where ma'am was. "Goodbye" she said in her fake sweet voice as she wrapped her arms around me, I flinched and began to relax as I realized she wouldn't do anything when the social worker and the cop were there. "I hope that you live a misery filled life" she added through gritted teeth as she pushed me backwards. My head hit the stairs as I heard the social worker scream, I continued to tumble as I heard ma'ams laughter. The police officer went up to ma'am and placed hand cuffs on her. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" he said. "In the province of Oklahoma it is illegal to hit or hurt a child in anyway, and you just showed it in front of 2 eye witnesses."
The social worker guided me to the car as I climbed in. We drove off just as the sun was setting, not knowing where I was heading next.