I guess I musta dozed off since the next thing I know I'm practically fallin' outta the cab as someone yanks the door open.
"Woah, easy there, big guy!" Two-Bit crowed as he put his hands out to keep me in the truck. "Didn't realise you were catchin' fifty winks, buddy!"
"Wha?" I mumbled in confusion as I struggled to come to. Two-Bit's jabberin' is hard enough to keep up with at the best of times, let alone when a guy's just woken up.
"It's chow time, Soda. Darry says there's a 'diner' round back," Steve explained, makin' air quotes with his fingers around the word diner like the asshole he is. Although as I looked around groggily I could kind of see where he was coming from. We were parked up next to some gas pumps and what I assumed wass an autoshop of some kind although honestly it looks more like an old miner's shack than anything. It's hot and dusty and I'm not at all surprised when I see a big ol' tumbleweed go bouncin' along in front of the truck.
"If you guys wanna screw around in Hicksville, this is what you get! Move it, Soda, we ain't got all day!" I whipped my head around at the sound of Darry's voice and had the bad luck to make eye contact with him as he tugged a bleary eyed Ponyboy out of the truck through the driver's side since I was blockin' the other way. I guess he might not be too pleased that we'd both fallen asleep…
I decided I'd better do as he said and move my butt, so I quickly jumped down from the cab. Steve slammed the door behind me, mutterin' "Jesus, if we make it through this meal alive it'll be a miracle" under his breath. I shot him a look as we walked around to the other side of the truck to meet my brothers but, heck, he wasn't wrong.
Dar was waitin' on us like he didn't trust us to make our own way to the diner, one big hand resting on the back of Pony's neck. My kid brother looked like he'd just dropped in from another planet and somehow found himself in this sketchy-ass parking lot with no clue as to why. Out in the sunshine I could see how raggedy he looked, dirt smudged across his face from where he'd been playin' around on the floor and his clothes streaked with dust. I glanced over at Steve and Two-Bit and saw they had the same look to them, not dirty exactly, just kind of rumpled and dishevelled. And don't even get me started on our hair…! I guess it made sense since we'd spent the night in a police cell with no shower or wash basin or nothin', but it was still a shock to see the state of us in the cold light of day.
"Let's go," Darry ordered again, startin' to walk around the side of the building as soon as we'd come up to them. At least he didn't give us a little kid pep talk about how he expected us to behave in the restaurant but I was still feelin' pretty lousy as I fell in line behind Steve and Two-Bit.
To be fair, the diner was better inside than I was expectin'. We were greeted by a sweet little waitress who immediately ushered us over to a booth and slapped down menus without raisin' an eyebrow at a pack of filthy greasers showin' up at this itty bitty country place bright and early on a Saturday mornin'.
"Can I get y'all something to drink?" She asked, pen already poised above her notepad.
"Four Ojs and a large coffee, black, no sugar. Thanks." Darry rattled off our order with a tight smile, pointedly ignorin' the looks he was gettin' from three out of the four fellas sat around him. Pony didn't care since the only other thing he'd wanna order was a chocolate shake and no way was Dar gonna let him have that for breakfast but I'd been countin' on a big cuppa joe to get me through the next few hours and I'd bet my next paycheck Steve and Keith had been thinkin' the same.
"Sure, lemme grab those for y'all then I'll be right back to take your orders," she replied without missin' a beat. I guess when you work at a place offa the highway you have a high tolerance for weird.
"Wow, you gonna order our food for us too, Superman?" Steve snarked as soon as the waitress was gone. Darry ignored him.
"Y'all are gonna sleep as soon as we get home so I don't need y'all hopped up on caffeine, plus you could use the vitamins," he explained, lookin' at each of us in turn before glancing down at his menu. "Now have you two got money?" Both Steve and Two nodded, confimin' they could pay for their own meals without Darry's help, although I had a sneakin' suspicion Two-Bit was really just confirming that Steve had enough money to cover them both. Dar nodded back and turned his attention to Pone and me. "Ok, in that case, you boys can get anything under 75 cents that's not covered in chocolate."
I sighed quietly but nodded in understanding. Darry was cool with lettin' us have chocolate cake for breakfast in the privacy of our house, but on the rare occasions we ate out he always stepped up his guardian game and made sure we got meals that were at least semi-appropriate. I'd been dreamin' about a cheese burger since about 3am this mornin' so it was a-ok with me but when I glanced to my left at Ponyboy I could see him starin' blankly down at his menu so I figured I'd best help him out since Darry's patience was already stretched pretty thin.
"What are you thinkin', Pony? You wanna grilled cheese? Or they got pancakes?" He shrugged one shoulder disinterestedly and I looked across the table to see Darry watchin' closely.
"Ponyboy, come on now, don't start. You ain't eaten since I fed you dinner last night and you were fussin' then. You gotta eat, kid, so let's not make it harder than it needs to be, ok?" I could hear the veiled threat in Darry's words and hoped Pone would get it together before this turned into a thing.
My brother didn't react, just kept his head bent over the menu even though I know he wasn't readin' it. I hated when they got locked into this back and forth where Darry keeps pushin' and Pony keeps retreatin' into himself. We've been workin' on it as a family but it's a hard nut to crack and since we were all already kinda worked up I wasn't surprised we were fallin' down the same ol' rabbit hole as always. Darry made a sound like an ornery horse and I knew I was gonna have to step in.
"Soda can you just…help with him, please? I ain't got it in me today. Is he gonna be able to eat a full plate? 'Cause I don't wanna go payin' for somethin' if he's just gonna push it around and mess with it…"
"He ain't gonna eat a full plate, Dar. Maybe a side? Or we could ask if they do a kid's portion?" I kept my tone purposely light so as not to stress Pony out more while at the same time makin' a slicin' motion across my neck in the hope Darry'd take the hint and back off a little. He stared me down for a few long seconds before rollin' his eyes and pinchin' the bridge of his nose with a big sigh. There was a pause before he spoke and I knew he'd been countin' to ten in his head like they taught him at that parentin' class he attended at the Y.
"Ok, how about this. I'm gettin' the Big Breakfast so I'll order an extra side of home fries and he can eat that. Ponyboy, look at me, kid." I willed Pone to do as he'd been asked and glory hallelujah after a moment he did. He mouth was screwed up and pushed to the side, which in Ponyboy-talk means he's feelin' uncomfortable but the fact he'd reacted to Darry's instruction at all was a sign that the situation was rectifiable. "If I order you home fries you're gonna eat 'em, right?"
"Whaddya say, Pone? You can have 'em with ketchup," I coaxed, takin' hold of his right hand that had been pickin' at the corner of his menu and pullin' it under the table. After a second he nodded and I gave it a squeeze. It might not seem like much but this was definitely progress for him. His appetite is always the first thing to go if he's feelin' anxious and his go-to reaction is to just refuse food altogether so I was proud of him for meetin' Darry half-way. He gave me a small smile and squeezed my hand back.
"Good, that's the right answer, kiddo. 'Cause if you don't I'm gonna sit you on my lap and feed 'em to you whether you like it or not." That hard-won smile slid right offa Pony's face and I had to fight the urge to kick Darry under the table. Why couldn't he just say 'good job' and leave it at that? He didn't always have to have to last word!
Steve musta been able to feel my blood-pressure risin' since he gently knocked his knee against mine from where he was sat on my other side. I glanced over at him and he shook his head just slightly, warnin' me to let it go and I knew he was right but man, it was tough sometimes. I knew Darry had been tryin' real hard to understand Pony better but sometimes I still couldn't believe how clueless he was when it came to our kid brother. Stuff that was so obvious to me just seemed to completely pass him by and while I was happy to act as a translator for him, I was also more than ready for the day I could step out of my role as mediator and feel confident World War 3 wouldn't happen the second my back was turned.
We sat in awkward silence for a while until our waitress returned with our drinks and to take our orders. I think Dar musta realised he'd been a little harsh since he didn't blow his top when Two-Bit blew the paper wrapping from his straw at him, just sat back in the booth and gulped his coffee like it was gonna save him. Keith winked at Pony across the table and my brother ate his breakfast like a champ when our food arrived not long after.
We were quiet as we ate which was unusual to say the least. I think everyone was lookin' ahead to this afternoon and tryna make their peace with it. I felt exhausted, not just physically from the lack of sleep, but emotionally too. The last twelve hours had been stressful and I wasn't the kind of guy who thrived in situations like that. I mean, considering how bad it could've been, things hadn't turned out too rough but still, I think I'd had enough excitement to last me a good long while. The good thing was I'd decided to be 100% straight with Darry and just tell him everything that had happened from the moment he left to when he picked us up. I'm not a quick-thinker at the best of times and I knew if I started tellin' half-truths or tryna downplay things we'd just wind up in an ever bigger mess of trouble. So at least I wasn't havin' to rehearse my story and worry about keepin' fibs straight.
It made me feel rotten to do it, but I also knew I'd have to tell Darry about Pony's little drinks party with Curly Shepard. I believed him when he said he didn't like the taste - those idiots had been drinkin' hard liquor straight - but I knew how easy it was to go down the wrong path when it came to alcohol and Ponyboy just had too much goin' for him. It would be in all of our best interests for Dar to nip it in the bud now, even though it would break my heart to snitch on the kid. Sometimes bein' a big brother sucked.
Since no one was talkin' or creatin' a ruckus we finished up pretty quick and the nice waitress was back clearin' our plates in no time.
"Am I doin' one bill for y'all today?" She asked the table and Darry nodded, raisin' his hand tiredly in a 'give it here' gesture. Even though it'd already been decided we were splittin' the cost, he always insisted on doin' the math himself. She ripped the check offa her little notepad and handed it to him with a smile. "Y'all can just leave it on the table when you're ready. Can I get anyone any refills before I go?"
"No, thank you," Darry replied for everyone, feelin' around for his wallet. She took the hint and left us to it.
"Well, I think this is an opportune time for Ol' Two-Bit to be hittin' the john," Keith declared, standin' up purposefully and startin' to shove past Darry to get outta the booth. "You can spot me, right Stevie? You know I'm good for it as soon as I cash my next paycheck."
He grinned cheekily over his shoulder and Steve gave him the finger without lookin' up from where he was rummagin' through his own billfold. He knew he'd be payin' for himself and Two right from the beginnin' since Keith never had any money unless his Dad had been hangin' around and that seemed to be happenin' less and less nowadays. It goes without sayin' Keith had never cashed a paycheck in his life.
"You got it, Steve?" Darry asked, throwin' a frown towards Two-Bit. He'd chip in if needed but Steve nodded and threw down a note and some change. Addin' that to his own pile of cash, Dar turned towards Two-Bit. "Ok, freeloader, you can make yourself useful and take Pony with you, get him cleaned up a little."
"Yessir," Two-Bit saluted, reachin' across me and Steve to help Pony scramble over us to join him. "One hobo-bath for the kid, got it!"
"Make sure he washes his face!" Dar called after them as Two-Bit hurriedly lead my brother over to the bathrooms with an arm across his shoulders. "Y'all look terrible."
Steve and I said nothin' since he was pretty spot on. Another loaded silence followed until Steve cleared his throat and look up at my brother.
"Two and I talked on the way here, Dar, and we wanna come back to the house with y'all."
"Steve, you don't have to -" I started because honestly this whole thing was pretty much my fault and I was already draggin' Ponyboy down with me, I didn't need my buddies on my conscious too!
"Butt out, Soda," Darry snapped, cuttin' me off. "You sure, Steve? You understand what you're signing on for, right?"
"Yeah, we know. But we figure we're in this just as much as Sodapop is, so it's only fair." I felt like the invisible man as they carried on their conversation despite my scoffed protests.
"Steve, no, you know it was my id-" Once again I was cut off by Darry.
"Mind your business and worry about yourself, Sodapop Curtis! There's more than enough blame to go around and believe you me we're gonna talk all about it once we get home so for now just can it. Now, do either of y'all need to go to the bathroom before we leave? Because I ain't stoppin' again."
And that was that. We were back in the truck and on the road again in no time at all, speedin' towards whatever was waitin' for us back in Tulsa. Ponyboy, his face clean but the front of his t-shirt completely soaked, tugged my arm around his shoulders and tucked himself into my armpit as soon as we'd climbed in. I held him tightly, kinda wishin' I had someone there to do the same to me. But I knew it was time to step up and face the consequences of my choices, not hide from them. That was the difference between bein' a kid and bein' an adult and I was certain Darry was gonna make sure I learned that lesson real well before this day was through.
Guys, I'm serious, you all need to look up the cost of eating out in the 60s because it was ridiculous! Even Darry's limit of 75c was pretty pricey for back then! Thanks for reading, reviewing and supporting!