Chapter 10: Love Affair (Soda's Point of View)

As soon as I walk into the house, I can tell something is wrong. First off, it's quiet, which is completely out of the ordinary. Second of all, Darry is sitting on the couch with his head in hands and the phone sitting beside him. He looks up when he hears me come in.

"Where's Pony?" He asks. I'm not surprised that's the first thing he asks either.

"He's comin'. Him and Two-bit are on their way right now." I tell him, sitting down beside him. He doesn't say anything until Two-bit and Pony get inside.

"You guys, I need to talk to you." He says. Pony looks at me nervously, and I return the glance. The last time Darry said that, it was to tell us that are parents were dead.

"Look um…You know this kid…this Skywriter kid? Well, I talked to him." He states.

"You talked to him?" I ask incredulously.

"When?!" Pony asks.

"Tonight. And…another time before. I drove to see him-" He starts.

"You drove to see him and didn't tell us!" I yell, cutting him off.

"I know, I just wanted to be sure…listen, I'm sorry about that. But I want you guys to know, that he knows now. I told him." He answers.

"You told him what?" Pony asks slowly.

"I told him we had the same mother." He states evenly. He looks really tired but also a little relaxed.

"You mean the same parents." I state. He shakes his head.

"I mean the same mother. That's why Mom went away. That's why she didn't want us to know." He answers.

"She cheated on Dad?!" Pony yells.

"Pony, calm down. Yeah, she did. She was real sorry for it, but it happened and she got pregnant-" He tries to explain.

"With who?" Two-bit asks, surprising us all.

"With um…" Darry says hesitating. "With Alex Winston." I've never heard a room get so quiet. It seemed like an hour before anyone spoke again.

"He's our half brother. And he's Dally's half brother." Darry says, as if we were too stupid to put two and two together.

"How'd you find out?" I ask him, still in shock.

"Dally told me." Darry answers.

"He told you? You mean he knew?! This whole time!" I yell.

"Yeah, he knew, this whole time." Darry states, and the room is back to being quiet again.

"So uh…" Two-bit says, "When do we meet him?"

Skywriter's Point of View

"You talked to him!" Kate screams, flinging her purse down on the kitchen floor. It hadn't been more than fifteen minutes since I had hung up the phone with Darry, when she walked in the door.

"Wait, you can't yell at me! You have no right to be angry at me! This whole time I had three brothers that you knew about, and you never told me!" I scream right back.

"Because-" She starts, but then stops, sitting down on the kitchen floor. I give her an odd look, but sit down beside her anyways.

"Because Darry, Soda, and Pony didn't know about you either. Their mom slept with out dad and got pregnant. She felt guilty. She didn't want her sons to know." She states.

"But I was her son too! And now I'll never get to meet her!" I yell. But I'm not angry at Kate, just at my mother. How could she do this?

"I know. I didn't say I agreed with what she did. But that's just how it happened. She didn't want anyone to know, so she sent you to live with our aunt. When I came of age, you know, I wanted to take care of you. I would have told you, but Dally made me swear I wouldn't. He didn't want to hurt-" She says.

"You know what? Fuck all of them! She cheated on her husband, got pregnant, gave her son away, and no one ever told me! And she never told anyone either! Damn it, how could she do that?!" I scream, finally losing all patience.

"I know. I know Lexan. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way. Dally told me that Darry knew about you, and he thought maybe you guys could meet without Darry, Soda, and Pony ever knowing about the affair. But then he came, and Dally got worried. He thought maybe you told him I was his sister. He knew that eventually they'd find out you were his brother, so he just decided to tell the truth. There was nothing I could do. Please don't be mad at me." She begs, crying into her hands. I huff in frustration and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, I'm not mad at you. I just…wish someone would have told me. I'm mad at my mom, not at you." I tell her. She smiles and looks up at me.

"How about we go see them all?" She asks. "I'm sure they all want to meet you."

"Yeah." I answer. "I'm sure they're thrilled to meet the living proof of their mother's affair."