Chapter 20

About a week after Thanksgiving, I helped Darry and Soda put up all the Christmas decorations. Well, almost all of them that is. We didn't have a tree yet. Darry said the tree would probably be dead before Christmas so we had to wait. The gang came over that day but only Johnny and Steve helped with the decorations. Two-Bit and Dallas just watched TV.

"So what are you guys doin' later on today?" asked Johnny.

"I think I'm gonna do a little Christmas shopping. Get it done and out of the way" I said, untangling a strand of lights.

"You takin' Davanee with you?" asked Soda.

"Yeah, why not? She'll probably like seeing all the decorations and stuff" I said. When we where finished with the decorations, Johnny, Davanee, and I went Christmas shopping.

Davanee was very wide-eyed when she saw all of the decorations in the mall. I would be too if it was my first time seeing them. When we walked by the place where you can get your picture taken with Santa, Johnny asked "are you going to take her to see Santa?"

"Yeah, probably." There must have been thousands of kids waiting anxiously in line to see Santa. I remember seeing Santa when I was little. I told him I wanted a bike and a football. But I didn't get a bike or a football. All I got was a sweater and some books. The books weren't so bad, but the sweater was. It was one of those gaudy, holiday sweaters.

Our first stop in the mall was Dillards. We walked around the men's clothing section for a while until I found something for Darry. He had been saying lately that he wanted a new jacket . Besides, the only one he had was pretty shabby.

The jacket we were looking at had dark wooden buttons on the front and sleeves, with wool on the inside and black leather on the outside. And luckily for us, it was in my price range. I draped it over the stroller and started looking for Soda. Soda was a bit easier to buy for. He would be happy to with a shirt and jeans. So of course, that's what I got him. A red, plaid shirt and a pair of jeans.

"What about Anya?" asked Johnny.

"What do you mean 'what about Anya'?" I asked.

"What are you gonna get her for Christmas?"

"I dunno. I haven't really thought about it. What do you buy a girl for Christmas?" I asked. I had never bought a Christmas present for a girl before but I guess now I had no choice.

"Well, what does she like?"

I thought for a minute. She hasn't really told me what she likes. But then I thought about that navy blue sweat shirt she always wears. It was dirty and the sleeves had been stretched go so much that they fell over her fingers.

"She needs a new sweatshirt" I said aloud.

"Then get her a new sweatshirt" said Johnny. And that's exactly what we did. I figured she needed a bright, pink one since she already had one that was really dark. Once we bought all the clothes, we left. It was starting to get dark out and I had learned the hard way that it isn't safe to be walking in the dark in our neighborhood.

When we where walking home, I saw Anya walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk across the street. I turned to Johnny and was about to say something but he cut me off.

"Go on" he said, "I'll take her home."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Now go before I change my mind."

"Alright. Tell Darry I'll be there in a little while to put her to bed, ok?"

"Ok."

I ran across the street to talk to Anya.

"Hey" I said.

"Hey" said Anya in a whisper.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong. What makes you think that anything's wrong?"

"You're crying. People don't just cry, there has to be some sort of reason. What's wrong?"

"My mom and I got in this huge argument. I didn't even do anything. Can I help it that she had a bad day? I asked one question and she just started yelling at me. She kicked me out. What am I gonna do? I don't have anywhere's to go." Anya started sobbing. I didn't really see what the big deal was about being kicked out. It had never happened to me personally but tons of my friends had been kicked out. Steve gets kicked out at least once a week. But I guess this was a first time experience for her.

"It's ok" I said, giving her a hug. "You can come stay with us."

"Seriously?" asked Anya, her faced buried in her hands.

"Of course. You'll always welcome at our house that is if you don't mind always being around guys and a crying baby." She laughed slightly. According to my mom, laughter through tears is the best medicine.

"Come on, let's go for a walk" I said.

"Ok." So we walked around and looked at all the Christmas lights, my arm around her waist the whole time. For a moment, everything was perfect. I felt normal for once in a long time. I mean, a 14 year old kid isn't suppose to be home on a Saturday night changing diapers but I've gotta deal with what I've been given.

"You know, Anya I've been meaning to ask you something" I said, looking at her instead of the Christmas lights.

"What's that?" she asked, looking at a house that had twinkling lights.

I hesitated for a moment. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to ask her yet but this moment seemed like the opportune moment. I thought that if I wanted any longer, I would miss the chance.

"What is it?" she asked.

I could feel my palms getting sweaty. "Will you go out with me?"

She looked at me, a bit confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I asked.

Her smile was from ear to ear. I'm guessing she was hopping I would ask her.

"Of course." I planted a kiss on her soft lips. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes until she finally pulled away.

We walked around for about an hour, my arm around her and her head resting on my shoulder.

"Pony?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"It's cold, can we go home?"

Though I didn't want this night to end, I knew that we had to go home eventually. So we walked home, looking at all the lights that we passed on the way. It was almost midnight when we got back. Darry and Soda were still up when we got there.

"Where have you been?" asked Darry.

"Sorry, I lost track of time. It's not past midnight, is it?" I asked. Midnight was my curfew and Darry always got mad whenever I missed curfew.

"No, it's only 11:40, but you've got someone who won't go to sleep unless you put her to bed tonight."

"Oh, I totally forgot. How long has she been crying?"

"Since we tried to put her to bed." I left Anya out in the living room with Soda and Darry. How could I forget about my own daughter? I never forget about her. How could anybody forget about something so important?

The door to the nursery creaked open. Davanee was sitting in her crib, her face red and tearstained from crying so much. She calmed down a little when she saw me. I immediately picked her up and rocked her in the rocking chair. I sang to her softly and rubbed her back while she stopped crying. Slowly, yet surely she fell asleep. I laid her down gently in her crib and gave her a kiss goodnight.

I said "sorry baby" and gave her another kiss. I turned off the light and shut the door behind me so that she wouldn't wake up.

"Is she asleep now?" asked Darry.

"Sound asleep."

"I'm gonna go to bed" said Darry, heading towards his room.

"Wait, there's something I gotta ask ya" I said. Darry turned and looked at me.

"Ummm……….Anya got kicked out of her house earlier today and I was wondering if she could stay with us for a little while until her and her parents get everything worked out" I said.

Darry thought about it for a moment. We already had a house full of people so it was kinda hard to accommodate one more. But Darry wasn't known to turn people down, especially a 14 yr. old girl.

Darry took a deep breath before saying "alright but just until she gets everything worked out and she sleeps on the couch, got it?"

"Got it" I said, my smile from ear to ear. I got a bunch of blankets and pillows out of the hall closet and made a bed for Anya.

"Thanks Pony" said Anya, taking her shoes off.

"It's no problem. We have people staying over here all the time. What's one more, right?"

She smiled and got under the covers.

"Night" I said, giving her a goodnight kiss.

"Good night." I turned off the lights and went back to my room. Soda was sound asleep by the time I got there. I guess had a long day at work. He always goes right to bed whenever he has a long day. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed next to Soda.

I woke up early the next morning. The house was quiet so obviously everybody was still asleep. Davanee wasn't even up yet which was odd because she was usually the first one up.

I made the breakfast and set the table. I decided to go in and check on Davanee. It was almost 8:30 and she still wasn't up. When I walked into her room, I was surprised to see her awake. She was just laying there, shifting her eyes from one spot to the other. Something wasn't right.

I picked her up and felt her forehead. She was hot. I grabbed the baby thermometer from the changing table. We always kept the thermometer close at hand. It read 101. I changed Davanee into a shirt, jeans, jacket, and shoes. I had to get her to the doctor.

I marched into my room only to find that Soda was just starting to get up.

"I need you to drive us to the doctors."

"Why, what's wrong?" asked Soda, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Davanee's sick. She's running a fever. Come on, get up."

"I'm up, I'm up. Just let me change first, ok?"

I pulled on a pair of jeans and a jacket while Davanee sat on our bed.

We left without telling Darry or Anya. I directed Soda to the doctors office and we where there in less then 15 minutes.

"Ponyboy, I wasn't expecting to see you today. What's wrong?" asked Dr. Irene.

"She's sick" I said, "she's running a fever."

"Well, it's probably just a fever but let's have a look just to be safe. Follow me." I followed Dr. Irene back to an exam room while Soda waited in the waiting room amongst all the kids with there sneezing and runny noses.

I sat and watched as Dr. Irene examined Davanee. I never liked going to the doctor when I was little. I didn't like it when they used the tongue depressor. It always made me gag.

"Her throat appears to be a little red" said Dr. Irene.

"That's it?" I asked.

"It's just a cold. It'll pass in a couple of days but in the mean time you can give her baby Tylenol to reduce the fever and soar throat. Give it to her every four hours. I'm not going to write a prescription this time because you can normally buy it over the counter."

"Thanks. Sorry."

"Oh, it's ok. It's perfectly normal for first time parents to freak out whenever there baby gets sick."

I thanked Dr. Irene again and left.

"What's wrong?" asked Soda as we drove to the drug store.

"She just has a cold" I replied.

"That's all?"

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing" I said.

"No, it's a good thing it's just that for some reason I expected it to be more, ya know? She has been acting kinda funny lately."

"What do you mean she's been acting funny?"

SODA'S POV

"Well" I began. I had to think of a good example. "For instance, she doesn't giggled whenever she sees you. She use to do that all the time but she hasn't lately. And she hasn't been playing with her butterfly or teddy bear lately. It just seems weird. But I'm sure she's ok. The doctors probably right."

"Of course she is. She spent 8 years in college" snapped Pony.

"I thought it was 6."

"6, 8, who cares? Just as long as she was there for a long time." Pony was starting to act a little weird too. He normally doesn't snap at people like that, especially me. Maybe he was starting to get sick again.

"I hope she doesn't have what I had" said Pony.

"Probably doesn't. You weren't around her long enough" I said, pulling into the drug store parking lot.

"I'll go in and get the medicine. You comin'?"

"No, I'll stay out here with her." I didn't really feel like goin' in with him. There are some odd people in drug stores.

PONY'S POV

It was freezing cold inside the store. I think I even saw an ice sickle hanging off one of the shelves. Wait a minute, that was a Christmas decorati0n, never mind. They were playing "The Entertainer" over the speakers. That is one of the only songs I know how to play on the piano. Mom would play one part and I would play the other. 'Maybe I'll teach Davanee how to play that one day' I thought to myself.

I found the medicine isle as soon as I walked into the store. At first I thought they didn't have any baby Tylenol but then I found that it was all the way at the end of the isle. But then it was divided by age. I figured that Davanee fit under the "2 years and under" category.

Luckily for me there was no line at the check out counter but since there was no cashier at the counter, I had to wait a little while. I decided to read one of the magazines on the magazine stand. I normally don't read magazine but this was just because I had nothing better to do.

As I was flipping through the magazine, looking for a decent article to read, I looked up at a mirror that was right behind the counter. I noticed about four or five Socs wondering the isle. They acted like there where interested in what was in the store but occasionally they would look at me. I had a feeling something was about to happen and whatever it was wasn't going to be good. I tapped my fingers on the counter nervously, hoping that the cashier would hurry up. No such luck.

The Socs put down whatever it was they where looking at and started walking towards me in a slow sort of stalking manor. I pretended like I didn't notice them.

"Hey greaser!" one of them called. I could feel a chill run down my spine. It didn't feel good to be called greaser in public. I prayed that Davanee would never have to get involved in the whole greaser, soc thing like I was but I had a feeling she would. It's almost impossible in our neighborhood.

I turned around to see the socs right behind me.

"What do you want?" I asked, even though I already knew what they wanted.

"We heard you dissed a couple of our friends the other day" said one.

"The other day? That was almost a month ago" I said, folding my arms across my chest, " a little slow, aren't you?"

They just stared at me with cold eyes. Before I could say anything else, they had me down in a second, driving their knees into my elbows. Trust me, you don't know how much that hurts. Somebody hit me square in the eye while two others where kicking me in the back on the head. I would've blacked out had it not been for the manager running out from the back of the store. He scared them off.

"You ok kid?" asked the guy, helpin' me up.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Anything I can get you?"

"Just the Tylenol" I said, gesturing to the bottle.

"You know son, baby Tylenol ain't gonna help you much" said the manager.

"I know. It's not for me" I said.

The manager looked at me funny but gave me the Tylenol anyways. I was about to pull out my money but he stopped me.

"It's ok. It's on me."

I smiled and said thanks. Normally I wouldn't take charity from people but I wasn't in the mood to stand there and argue with the manager.

"What happened?" asked Soda once I got back in the car.

"I got jumped."

"What?! When?"

"Just now, in the store."

"Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine. I got a couple of bruises and cuts but I'll be ok."

"You sure?" asked Soda, a bit more concerned then usual.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can we go home now?" I asked.

Soda just gave me a concerned look before starting the car. I know it may seem like I was acting a bit more edgier then usual but I was hurting, Davanee was sick, and I wanted to get home. The rest of the car ride was silent. Davanee had fallen asleep while I was in the drug store.

When we got home, I put Davanee in her crib and let her sleep for a little while. It probably helped the fever.

"Is she ok?" asked Anya.

"Yeah, she'll be ok. She just has a cold" I said.

"What about you? Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Would you people quit asking me."

"What's wrong with you?" asked Anya.

"Nothing, I'm just tired. I think I'm gonna go back to bed. Wake me if she wakes up, ok?"

"Ok."

ANYA'S POV

What was wrong with him? I had never seen him so edgy before. Maybe he really was tired. Or maybe Davanee had more than just a regular cold. I was hoping that it was just him being tired.

"Darry, I'm going out" I said, pulling on my old sweatshirt.

"Where ya goin'?" he asked.

"I was gonna go back to my house and get some of my stuff" I said.

"You think that's a good idea?"

"It's ok. My dad's normally out during the day and my mom works all day."

"Ok, just be careful. Don't stay out all day."

"Ok, see ya later."

"Bye." I walked outside into the freezing cold air. It was a long walk between the Curtis house and my house but I had time. I didn't have anything important to do that day.

As I walked to my house, I stopped and talked to a bunch of people. I guess you could say I was popular around this part of town. Almost everybody knew my family.

As I approached my house, I saw something standing in the front yard. I thought that perhaps my mom had put up some sort of Christmas decoration that year but as I got closer to the yard I could see that I was wrong. Way wrong.