Not—Part 14

Darry's POV

A new morning was always a good thing in a situation like ours. Overnight, we'd all had time to think about everything that had happened, and slept on it, and now, hopefully, we'd be able to talk things out more. If Ponyboy was willing to listen, that is.

I got up and took a cold shower to shake off feelings of anxiety that had persisted throughout the night. It had taken me a while to fall asleep, and I needed a coffee. Until I'd started working two jobs full-time, I never realized the difference a couple cups of black coffee could do in the morning.

When I went to the kitchen to make a pot, I found Soda stretched out on the sofa, eyes closed and breathing softly. There was a cold mug of coffee beside him on the table.

"Hey, little buddy," I said gently, shaking him slightly. "You stay here all night?"

"Huh?" Soda asked, confused in his groggy state. "Oh, Darry. I made you a coffee…" he trailed off as he touched the side of the mug, now stone cold. "Oh. Sorry. I guess I fell asleep. What time is it?"

"Just after seven," I told him, going back to pour the old coffee out and brew a fresh pot.

Soda groaned. "I didn't fall asleep until after six," he said to me, and I almost dropped the coffeepot.

"This morning?" I said incredulously. "Soda, you should've gone to bed!"

"I couldn't sleep," he said defensively. "You know I can never get to sleep when I'm thinking about too much stuff."

"That's why Dad always told you not to think about anything," I reminded him.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Soda demanded, but he was grinning. "It's okay. I don't have to work today, so I'll just sleep a little later." Ponyboy wandered in, saw that I was in there, and stiffened, but didn't go back to his room.

Soda bounced up, suddenly awake. "Everybody want some cake?" he offered.

"Is there any left?" I asked. Soda quickly checked the icebox.

"Aw, Darry, why didn't you make another one last night?" he complained, not finding any of his favourite snack.

"Well, let me think, Soda," I answered sarcastically. "I was a little busy trying to find my two missing brothers…"

"I guess it's just eggs today, then," Soda concluded, taking those out instead.

"I'm not hungry," Ponyboy told him. "And I've got to pack my stuff."

Soda looked as confused as me. "Pack? For what?"

Ponyboy hesitated. "My school trip. We're going camping, and I'm late."

Soda's eyes widened, and I informed my youngest brother, "You're not going on the camping trip, Ponyboy. I'll call the school and tell them."

"Yeah, Pone," Soda added, "They'll understand. I don't think Steve and Two-Bit will go either anyway, so don't worry about it. You want some grape jelly with your eggs?"

Ponyboy made a face. "It's the same every day, Soda. Nobody wants jelly but you!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep everyone healthy," Soda joked. I rolled my eyes and washed out the dirty mug. It came out sparkling white. Now if only wiping away this whole mess were that easy, I mused, then everything would turn out just fine.

"After breakfast, I want to talk to you two," I ordered them both as the coffee started to boil.

"Okay," Soda agreed, taking out the grape jelly for himself, and offering it teasingly to Ponyboy, who wrinkled his nose in disgust and poured himself a glass of chocolate milk. Other than the fact that the only person keeping any kind of conversation going was Soda, breakfast seemed to go pretty much like it always did. Then they sat down on the sofa, just like the night before, and I faced them. I was hoping it would go better this time. And I was ready to explain everything…

When the door burst open and in bounded none other than Two-Bit and Steve. Could these guys have worse timing? I inwardly groaned but kept it to myself.

"Hey, kid," Two-Bit greeted Ponyboy cheerfully. "I bet you're real happy to find out you're not related to a pansy like Sodapop, aren't you?"

I prepared for another outburst, but instead Ponyboy just laughed it off. But I could tell from the way he stared at the floor after that the joke had upset him. But for now, there was nothing I could do about it. My chance at getting through to him had been rudely interrupted. I could only wait until another opportunity arose. Whenever that might be. But for now, some heavy lifting at work might take my mind off the problem at hand.

Sodapop's POV

Darry left for work after finishing his second cup of coffee. It's funny how no matter what the circumstances, there are little routines everyone sticks to automatically. That was one of them—every day after his second coffee, Darry would set it down in the kitchen, grab his lunch made the night before and leave. He probably didn't even notice it anymore, he'd been doing it for so long.

Steve had to work too, so he just stuck around for a few minutes after Darry left, and then he made Two-Bit come along to drive him to the DX. It was just Pony and me.

"I've got homework to finish," Ponyboy told me, and went back to our room. I nodded and decided to take a nap. But just as I laid down to go back to sleep, I remembered what I'd been planning on doing. Going through that strongbox.

At the top were the adoption papers. I guessed Darry must've put them there after he found them on his pillow, where I'd left them for him to find. They basically spelled out what we all knew now: on his birthday, he'd been legally adopted into the Curtis family, blah blah blah…adoptive parents: Darrel and Jean Curtis; siblings: Darrel Shaynne Curtis, Jr., Sodapop Patrick Curtis; some signatures, and that was basically it. Oh, there was other stuff, but I didn't feel like reading it all. Then were our birth certificates…only there were four, not three...why was there an extra?

Darrel Shaynne Curtis, Jr.

Sodapop Patrick Curtis.

Ponyboy Michael Curtis.

And…Baby Boy Lawrence?

Who in the world was Baby Boy Lawrence? And what was his birth certificate doing sitting next to ours? And why did I have the feeling that everything had just gotten so much more complicated?

School's out for the summer…lol, sorry. I'm just pretty excited about it! And that might mean I actually get this story finished once and for all! Anyway, hope this one was okay too. Thanks again for all the reviews…