Dealing—Part Two

Sodapop came galloping back across the field with a whole chocolate cake. Ponyboy noticed that there were no forks or plates or even a knife to cut with. Knowing his brother, he probably hadn't forgotten these things, he just didn't think they were necessary. Like with his shoes.

"Hey, Two-Bit, can I borrow your blade to cut the cake?" Soda asked their buddy.

Two-Bit flicked his cigarette lazily. "Are you crazy, Soda? My prize blade?"

"Thought the one with the black handle was your prize blade," Steve remarked.

A flicker of a shadow crossed over their wise-cracking friend's face. "Yeah well, never got it back after they took away Dally's body, so I got a new one." He pulled it out to show it off, and Sodapop took the opportunity to snatch it out of his hand and begin cutting the cake. "Nice blade," he commented as he handed out the pieces.

Ponyboy grinned—his middle brother was quick as lightning when he wanted to be. Accepting his cake, he took a huge bite and choked on the crumbs.

Darry thumped him on the back quickly and ordered, "Slower, Pony!"

"Well, how is it?" Soda asked them, looking around the group. Ponyboy knew he'd just made it that morning, and didn't want to hurt his brother's feelings, even though the cake had icing that was too sweet and the rest not sweet at all.

"Well, Soda," he began, coughing one last time. "It's…uh…"

But he was cut off by Steve, who'd taken his first bite and spat it out. "Man, that cake is the worst thing I've ever tasted! What'd you put in that thing, Soda?"

Soda just grinned. "Gee thanks, Steve. It can't be that bad, come on, I'll try it and see for myself." He confidently chomped into his slab of the cake which looked delicious, but quickly found himself gagging over the disastrous dessert. Soda forced himself to swallow and managed to choke out, "Oops. I think…I forgot the sugar!"

Ponyboy couldn't contain his laughter at the stunned look on his brother's face. He should have expected this: when Soda cooked, it rarely came out the way it was supposed to.

"Well, I guess the answer to your question wasn't what he put in the cake, it was what he didn't put in, Steve," Darry, who had wisely put off taking a bite until after their reactions, teased them as he set down his piece.

Two-Bit, on the other hand, was busy finishing off his. "I don't see what y'all are making such a fuss of," he informed them. "This cake tastes just fine to me."

Steve's gaped at him wide-eyed. "Are you drunk, Two-Bit?"

"Not yet!" Two-Bit replied. Ponyboy knew that he would be soon. It bugged him sometimes how his friend always drank too much, but he still liked Two-Bit. More than he liked Steve, anyway. They still just couldn't get along no matter how Pony tried to give him a chance. Steve Randle was just convinced that he was a tagalong kid.

Sodapop grimaced. "Guess we got work in the morning, Steve."

Steve snorted. "You do, wise guy. I got school, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Soda said. "How's school going anyway? With the Socs, I mean?"

Two-Bit smirked. "Same as ever, what'd ya think? Most of em are still blamin' Pony for Bob dying and the ones that aren't just ignore us."

"Except Randy," put in Ponyboy quietly. He didn't usually speak up when the topic changed to things like this, but he didn't like to classify Randy in with the general population of Socs. He was better than them. At least he treated Ponyboy decently.

"Randy, Bob's best friend?" Soda mused. "Hmm. That's strange, you'd think because it was his buddy he'd be treating you worse than anybody. Guess he's moved on."

All of them sat in silence for a while. Ponyboy knew they were all thinking about their own friends who had died in the same week as Bob. How it was taking them so long to move on. How they really hadn't moved on at all yet…

"Well, I'm gonna split," Two-Bit announced. He always announced when he arrived and when he left. "Gonna play some poker or find some booze or something."

"Yeah, I'll follow you," Steve said, jumping up at the same time. "See you at work, Soda. Maybe I'll come by later tonight, I dunno. See ya, Darry." He walked away, making a point of not saying goodbye to Ponyboy.

So what? Ponyboy thought defiantly. I don't care about you, Steve Randle. But he knew Soda cared about how they acted around each other. Ponyboy wasn't sure whether or not his brother knew that they pretty much hated each other, but it was more than likely that he did. Sodapop may call himself dumb, but when it came to his brothers and his best friends, he didn't miss much.

"So, what shall we do, boys?" Soda asked his two brothers, tossing crumbs from the cake absently.

Darry shrugged. "You got any homework, Ponyboy?"

Pony shook his head. "Nope, finished it yesterday. I'm gonna head inside though, I got a book that I wanna get through." He rose from the grass and headed inside, just like he said. Darry and Sodapop watched him go, then looked at each other. Soda saw the worry and concern in Darry's eyes, Darry saw the admiration in his.

"What were you thinking?" Soda asked softly.

"How is he dealing with Johnny and Dallas lately? Is he moving on at all?" Darry replied. "Why? What were you thinking, Soda?"

"What would I do without that kid?"

Author's Note: Hope you liked this chapter, now I'm going to switch to separate POVs for the most part. Please review!