Not—Part 13

Sodapop's POV

Nothing was going to be resolved that night, so I left Ponyboy in our room and went into the living room. Darry wasn't in there, so I figured he'd given up and gone to bed. And I sat on the sofa, turned on the TV, and settled back for some relaxing. But there was nothing good on TV at this time of night, so I switched it off pretty quickly and just sat there, tossing a cushion up in the air and catching it, until I missed and it hit the floor. I didn't feel like getting up to pick it up, so I just stared at where it'd fallen.

I hated this, this feeling of emptiness in our house. The whole atmosphere of the place had changed, it was cold and tense. It wasn't just that Ponyboy and Darry weren't speaking—with all their fights, that had happened several times before—it was the fact that we all knew things had changed, and the adoption stood in the way of everything else at that point. The question that stood out most on my mind was: what do we do now?

For most of the night, I'd been the one trying to get things back to normal, lighten the mood by making jokes, and stick with both of my brothers, especially Pony. But where did all this leave me now? It was like it always was: I understood both of their sides.

Of course Pony was mad, who wouldn't be? He was confused and feeling betrayed by our parents and especially Darry, and wondering about his place in our family after all of this. I got all of that, and I really wanted to help him.

And Darry was feeling horrible and guilty for not telling him, but trying to explain that he'd wanted to, and not being able to get Pony to listen. He'd been worried sick about us when we were missing, and couldn't understand why Ponyboy didn't get that he was still his same older brother, and that was why he always did stuff like this.

And me? Well, I was confused too. I wasn't sure how to feel about Darry's hiding the secret from Ponyboy. And I was even sort of hurt that I hadn't been told about it either. I got that I'd only been a two-year-old when it all happened, but if they'd told me before, maybe I could've been the one to tell Pony about it, and then we wouldn't be in this mess. And I was probably even more worried than Darry about Ponyboy, because he sure wasn't acting like himself. This was different than any of the fights they'd had before, this one wasn't about something stupid, like homework. It was a jumble of lies, secrets, betrayal, hurt, and anger. Sounded like something out of a book Ponyboy might read, except his own life had already been far too much like a novel. My kid brother was one of the toughest kids I knew to be able to stand everything that'd happened in just over a year: his parents died, he'd been involved in a murder, run away, rescued some kids from a fire, watched two of his closest friends die, and now found out he was adopted. I don't know if I would've been able to take it all in the way he had.

What had our parents been thinking, hiding it the way they had? I know I told Ponyboy that it was so he would grow up in a normal family, but I knew that some kids who'd been told since they were little that they were adopted had grown up just fine with their adopted families. So why had ours been such a huge secret? And then another question struck me: who in the world were Ponyboy's real parents, then?

I decided that the only way to find some answers to my questions was to go straight to the source: and that place was our parents' strongbox.

Two-Bit's POV

When I got home from looking around Tulsa for the missing Curtis brothers, I immediately woke up my little sister from where she'd been sleeping and gave her a hug. She looked at me really startled, but I just grinned at her. "Just stay in your bed and promise never to run away on a train, okay?" I commanded, and she rolled her eyes before pulling the covers over her head and going back to sleep.

"Two-Bit? Is that you?" my mom called from the living room.

"Yeah, Ma," I answered, going over there. "Hey, have you seen Darry or Steve around? We were out looking for Sodapop and Ponyboy, but I couldn't find them so I came here."

"I saw Darry a few hours ago. He came to get the phone message from me and then he took off to a train station," Mom informed me with a pleasant smile.

My jaw dropped. "What phone message? You mean I've been wandering around town for hours to find them when they were sitting at home all this time?"

She looked concerned now. "I'm sorry you didn't get the message sooner, hon. You'll be staying in for the night, won't you? I've got to get to work now. Watch your sister, okay?"

"What's to watch? She's just sleeping," I muttered, and she laughed, for once the tired lines around her face disappearing. She left soon, and I went to the icebox, popping the cap off of a cold bottle of beer. Then I picked up the phone and dialled the Curtis' phone number, waiting for an explanation. It was picked up after only the first ring.

"Hello?" Sodapop's voice, but not sounding like normal. Exhausted and frustrated.

"Do you know how long I was looking for you?" I demanded. "I ran all over our neighbourhood for you two! And now I hear that you've been at home all this time?"

"Of course I wasn't at home," Soda said, more snappish than I was used to. "Pony and I were on a train, then we waited at a station until Darry and Steve came to pick us up. I only got back about an hour ago. Were you really looking for us that long?"

"Sure was," I declared. "And you serious about this adoption thing?"

Sodapop paused, then sighed. "Yeah," he said finally. "I'm serious. It's true, and I have no idea what to do about it."

"Get drunk and forget about it?" I suggested.

"Yeah right! I'm in over my head enough as it is!" Soda said in disbelief. "It's like I'm the only one here who can make things all right again, and I'm stuck in the middle, just like I always am. They're both in bed right now."

"Oops. Did I wake everybody up?" I asked guiltily.

Sodapop chuckled. "Are you kidding? Those two are some of the soundest sleepers I've ever heard of. You could chuck a football at Darry's head and he'd keep snoring."

"Remind me to try that sometime," I told him.

"And the only thing that wakes Pony up in the middle of the night is a nightmare, which I'm just hoping won't happen tonight, because the kid is drained from everything that happened today," he continued. "So it's just me who was disturbed by your call."

"But if you were awake, how did I disturb you?" I pointed out.

"Two-Bit, I'm disturbed by everything you say in a phone call," Soda said seriously. "And anyway, I can't sleep, so I was just sitting there on the sofa."

"Sounds like fun," I said cheerfully. "I guess I'll leave you to that then."

"Okay, buddy. Thanks anyway for looking for us out there," Sodapop told me, sounding genuinely grateful.

"Anytime, Blondie," I informed him, and we hung up after that. But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on in the Curtis house than Soda had let on.

You know what the only good thing about exams is? We get study days beforehand, and then I can update my stories! So I hope you liked it. I think Two-Bit might've been a bit off, but I'm not sure…