I looked at the stack of letters in my hand. It was pouring rain out, and despite the fact that I was finally coming home. I felt dreary much like the stupid weather.

"You know you did a good thing for your country." The cab driver babbled on. "Not many people support the war but I do, my family does too. They know more about what's going then we common people do."

I was slightly confused by the way he was talking, but I nodded and threw in some Yes and no's just to make him be quite.

"How long were you in Nam?" He asked.

"Five months." I mumbled.

"That it? You have to go back?"

"No, I did more damage in those 5 months then most do."

The cab driver went silent. He pulled up to the rickety house, I didn't remember it being that bent out of shape. "How much do I owe you?" I asked

He shook his head. "I can't take money from men who do service to this country. I'd go to war if I could but my left knee isn't too good."

I dug out my last couple of bucks to give him a tip. "Thanks."

"Thank you and God bless you." He answered.

I smirked as I got out of the cab taking my suitcase with me. I watched him drive off. I started out the house trying to take it all in. I felt like I had been gone for a year.

I could see the light on in Grace's room. I could tell there was a form in there. I picked up a hand full of gravel and began tossing it against her window. I watched the form jump and suddenly she was at the window. I had a sudden urge to run. I stayed frozen in my spot and finally waved. Grace disappeared from the window. I dropped the rest of the gravel from my hand.

"Sunny!" I caught her and she jumped on me. "OH God."

She didn't go on. I kissed her deeply in the middle of the pouring rain. I pulled away. "I'm home."

"How long have you been here?" she was holding me so tightly I thought the air was going to get squeezed out of me.

"I had the cab from the airport take me here." I answered. "You were my first stop."

I watched a row of little faces appear in the windows. "I was your first stop? I'm happy you are home! Sunny, come inside." She tugged at my hand to follow her.

I shook my head. "I don't want too."

"I'm sure you don't, you want to see your brothers?"

I nodded. "I have to get my keys."

"I'll wait for you in the car."

I rubbed my temples. "Come on please Soda, give it a rest for just a minute." He had been on the piano for the last three hours. I wanted to watch the ball game.

Soda twisted round on the piano bench. "You don't have to hear the game, you can watch and"

He stopped suddenly with a squeaking noise coming out of his throat. I looked up to make sure he wasn't choking. "You choking there, Pepsi Cola."

Soda jumped up suddenly as if some had lit a fire underneath him. I heard footsteps on the path. I got up to see what had made Soda go speechless.

The screen door opened and there was a man in a military uniform. A very familiar man. "Sunny!"

He grinned. "Hi, Darrel." He looked over at Soda. "Are you choking?"

I started laughing getting crazy stares from both Grace and Sunny.

"Gee," he looped an arm around Grace. "You two sure know how to greet someone who has n't been around for five months."

"Sunny!" Pony must have heard his voice from the room. He collided into Sunny with a huge hug.

"Hey kiddo. See he knows how to greet a guy!" Soda UN froze himself and went after Sunny in the same manner Pony did.

I stood back watching them hug. I didn't know whether to be mad for him never returning a letter, or be thankful that he was alive. "Are you on a leave of absences?" I asked pulling Pony back to hug him.

Sunny shook his head. "I'm home little brother, for good."

"How come you didn't write?" Pony asked. "Did you get our letters?"

"Yeah, I got them when the Chief handed me my plane ticket home. I wasn't allowed to write."

"How does a two year tour end up being five months?" I asked skeptically.

"Darry," Grace hissed at me. "Who cares, he is home."

I had forgotten she was there. I hadn't talked to her since our fight. I had a feeling things were going to get ugly sooner or later.

"I thought most people got skinnier when they came home from war. You look like you're stronger than Darry by a long shot." Soda looked up at him.

"Got news for you. I've always been." Sunny collapsed down on the couch."I got stabbed, that's why I got sent home early." He raised his shirt and showed a bloody, and bandaged wound.

"Sunny, maybe you should take that to Maria tomorrow. Let her fix that." Grace was gapping at his injury.

BREAK

"Hey, I figured you would sleep in." I grinned as Sunny came in the front door.

"I got up and figured, I'd go for a run. Ever consider joining a gym?" He asked.

"Used to, then I got the roofing job, same thing, but my more work."

"Yeah, well I'm joining one, if you want to tag along."

I shrugged. "Hey, think you can pick Soda up from school?" I asked.

"I'm going into work today. What time?" Sunny seemed annoyed that I even asked him. Normally, he absolutely loved picking them up from school. I didn't know why but he did.

"Are you okay?" I asked, I watched him as he chopped some carrots up. "I'll pick him up, 3:30 Right." He slammed the knife down and then went into the bathroom and slammed that door.

I looked down at the eggs I was making for breakfast. What the heck got into him? I wondered. I shook my head. He wasn't even here for an entire day, and he was already frustrated with me. I heard the shower run. Suddenly, I didn't want to work late anymore.

I grinned when I saw the mustang pull up at school. I wished Jay and Allen would have been around because they would have flipped to meet Sunny. I jumped in the passenger side of the Mustang. "Hi, Sunny!"

"Hi." He answered. "Do you always wear your dirty work shirt to school?"

I looked down, it wasn't dirty just stained. "I work after school on Friday, so yeah."

"Can't you just wear the white shirt that you put underneath it?"

I didn't say anything. I twiddled my thumbs and hummed along with the radio.

"SODAPOP! Answer me!" He shouted. "God, damn it I hate it when you people don't give me a fucking answer."

"I guess, I could."

"Was that so hard?"

I wanted to change the subject. "We had our Congressman come into class today." I said.

Sunny reached over and grabbed his cigarettes. "What'd he have to say?"

"He said he supported the war, then got booed out of class."

Sunny laughed, before I could add on that I didn't boo him."He said what we were doing over in Vietnam was good."

Sunny turned and looked at me. "Let me tell you something, those fucking bitches who sit up in the office and say they support the war, do know anything about what is going on. You think our congressmen go over and see the war, you think they see what's going on, this bastards are selfish liars, anyone who supports this war ought to be damn to hell. It's not heroic, we aren't doing any good, but they'll lead anyone to think that way. Don't you go believing them. Do you understand me?"

I nodded, and then I realized it wasn't directly answering him. "Yeah, I understand you." I was never happier to see work in my life. "Thanks Sunny." I slammed his car door and went to work.

"What do you expect Sunny, you were supposed to have a two year tour. He offered you the same position." Darry was hunched over the counter mixing something.

"Part time for music, the other position he offered me is to watch the fucking politicians and document the world revolving around the war. Do I look like I do some fucking documentary?"

Darry laughed. "You still have you old job, you just have to split it."

I opened the fridge to grab a Pepsi ignoring their conversation. "You are supposed too be studying." Darry frowned.

"I've been studying since I got home. I need a break."

"Ponyboy, theses exams are going to make or break your grades. You need to do good on them." He wasn't telling me I needed to do good, he was commanding me to do good.

I wanted to tell Darry to shut up but I resisted that urge. I wasn't going to be grounded the first week of summer. "Darry, come on five minutes isn't going to make or break my grade. Besides, my grades are fine." I felt a sharp pain in my backside. I knew Sunny was standing behind me.

"Don't you ever back talk, like that again." He bellowed.

I starred at him confused as ever, that wasn't even back talking. I had back talked before that wasn't it. I wasn't going to get into a fight with Sunny. It really wasn't worth it. I took my Pepsi and made my way around him.

Dinner was awkward. Darry and Soda had gotten into it over Soda doing homework earlier. I pushed my pees around on my plate. "Hey, Sunny I get out of school after exam. Want to go see a movie?"

"I can't, I have work to do." Sunny said.

"You are going to come to the concert tomorrow night right?" Soda asked. His school had a huge end of the year concert. Soda was in almost everything, and he had a solo. He had been practicing non stop.

"Yeah," Darry glared at Sunny from the other end of the table. "He is. I had to pull teeth to get another ticket."

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. I was trying to keep my composure. Count to ten, I told myself. "I need a cigarette." I said, leaving the dinner table. I stepped outside. I couldn't explain why, but every little thing made me want to scream and yell. I inhaled as deep I could and let the smoke hit my throat.

"What's wrong with you?" I said out loud. I felt like my sanity was slipping through the cracks. I slipped off the couch and laid in the grass. I lit another cigarette and starred up at the stars. I could hear the neighbors down the street screaming at each other. I closed my eyes, I tried to block out screaming. Instead my mind took back.

"YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" I kicked over his bed. "You want to fucking die?"