Dealing—Part 9

Ponyboy's POV

Sodapop doesn't miss much when it comes to how I'm feeling, and this time was no exception. I know he'll always listen to me, but sometimes I wonder if he's tired of being the one who has to understand everybody. I wonder if he just wants someone to listen to him for once. So I was trying to do that more. Listen to him, I mean. Because when he was upset about Sandy before, I kind of didn't come through for him like he always does for me. Like I said in the theme, Darry and I just assumed Soda didn't have any problems, so we didn't pay any attention to them. Yet we expected him to want to help us solve ours. I know if I was him, I'd be sick and tired of it long before he finally snapped. Darry and I haven't had a huge fight since, but there have been minor disagreements. Well, we aren't perfect!

But this time I didn't want to bother Soda with how I was feeling. I mean, golly, he was going through enough, what with Sandy suddenly showing up again. I wonder, if he hadn't happened to be in the park at the same time as her, would she even have bothered to let him know she's in town? Maybe that would've been for the better. But Soda has to face his demons, I suppose, in the form of Sandy and her baby. And besides, I'm not done talking to him yet. He can try and laugh the incident off, but just like he knows my feelings, I know his.

Darry's POV

Working late. Again. It's not like my brothers aren't used to it by now, but I still hate having to make that phone call, the one that goes like this: "Hi, Ponyboy? It's Darry. I'm not gonna be home till late, so y'all can go ahead and have dinner without me. If Two-Bit is there, don't let him eat all the food. I'll see you when I get there—and do your homework!" Okay, so I still bug him about that sometimes. But his schoolwork and education is the only thing that's gonna get him out of this town! Seriously, I am one for two, in terms of my brothers and getting a good education, since Soda dropped out over a year ago. And so far he's doing okay at the DX, but really, how far is a job at a gas station going to get you in life? Ponyboy is the one of us left who can make something of himself. Now if only he would realize that.

"Hey, Curtis! Finish up that side and you can go home!" my boss shouted up at me.

"Better late than never," I muttered, hauling another bundle of roofing up the ladder. Staying late like this bugs me because I think I should be there when my brothers come home at night. But I also know that this is how we pay the bills, so I put up with it. I finished up as quickly as I could, and jumped into our Ford. It was already almost eight-thirty, and dinner and everything would be over and, hopefully, cleaned up. But if Two-Bit and Steve came over, I doubted it'd be clean at all.

Walking into the house, my hopes that it might be the way I'd left it that morning were immediately dashed, as I saw beer cans on the countertop, cake crumbs on the floor and a deck of cards randomly thrown on the table. I guess Steve and Two-Bit got sick of Soda trying to cheat at poker and threw in the towel (or in this case, the cards). And for a moment I wondered why nobody was saying anything, until I looked further into the living room, only to find all four of them fixated on the television screen, even Soda, who has never been able to sit through a whole movie in his life without getting up about a hundred times to go to the concession stand and find other various distractions. No wonder Pony went by himself that time, I thought vaguely as I tossed my lunchbox onto the table.

"Okay, what are you doing this time?" I said sternly, and Ponyboy jumped.

"Nothin', Superman, relax," Steve informed me. "Just watchin' TV."

Two-Bit piped up, "I can't believe I've never seen this before!" I wish I hadn't now, but I looked at the screen, only to see…Mickey Mouse. And from the look on Two-Bit's face, that was all we were gonna be hearing about for a while.

"Hey, Ponyboy? Did you know about this show?" he demanded, eyes still glued to the TV set.

Ponyboy shrugged. "Yeah, I thought everyone had heard of Mickey."

Sodapop laughed. "Welcome to the wonderful world of Walt Disney!" he kidded.

Two-Bit took his gaze off the screen long enough for us to see his eyes, blank and confused. "Who's he?"

After a long day of work, it was good to laugh again.

Hmm…should I do a section from Two-Bit's point of view or not? Please review!