Dealing—Part 15

Darry's POV

I knew something was going on the minute they walked into the house. Sodapop was not an early riser. And Ponyboy's eyes were slightly puffy, which could only mean one of two things: either he'd been crying real hard, or they'd gotten into a fight and the bruise just wasn't showing up yet. The latter was a less sensitive matter, so I decided to look into that one. "Okay. What happened to you guys?"

The funny thing was, they looked fine to me. Sodapop looked perfectly normal, if a little guilty at being asked this. And besides the puffy face, Ponyboy looked just the same as he always did, although like Soda, startled at the question. I saw them glance at each other, could almost hear the silent exchange in that one look. Sometimes it was just like they were one person. Sodapop spoke up.

"We were just taking a walk, Darry," he said innocently—too innocently to be innocent. As far as I'm concerned, when something goes on behind my back, my middle brother is almost always partially responsible. It's just how he is.

"A walk? You, taking a walk before anyone else is up?" I said sceptically. "Sorry, but you're going to have to do a little better than that, little buddy."

"It's true," Pony defended him like I knew he would. But his voice cracked a bit. "We were taking a walk and talking about some stuff. Personal stuff."

Great. He'd played the sympathetic older brother card. Now how was I supposed to know whether he was telling the truth or not? I know how good a liar my youngest brother is. It's knowing when he is lying that's the hard part. "Well, why didn't you leave me a note or something?" I asked sternly, refusing to crack.

"We forgot," came Soda's brilliant response, his voice a little too bright. I just rolled my eyes, exasperated. If they weren't going to tell me, why should I force them? Honestly, sometimes I forget Soda is almost three years older than Pony, they act that much alike. Frustrating, but nice to see them get along so well.

By now Steve was up and groaning that we'd woken him from his sleep.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, Steve," Soda teased him. "You need your beauty sleep!"

Steve just raised his eyebrows. I guess he was thinking what I was thinking, Wow, Soda is making a joke. Haven't heard him do that in the last few days!

"Well, if I was you, I'd tidy myself up a little before that girl of yours comes around with you looking like you just got out of bed!" Steve retorted. Now I was bewildered. Since when did Soda have a new girlfriend? Why hadn't he told me about her?

"You have a new girlfriend?" I asked at the same time as he muttered, "She's not my girl anymore, Steve!" Then I finally understood what was going on. And I was not happy to find out like this.

"Sandy is back?" I exclaimed in disbelief. "Since when, Soda? When were you planning on telling me you were seeing her again?"

"I'm not!" Sodapop insisted. "She's here to visit her parents! And I was going to tell you…the other day, in the truck. But I…just…couldn't. Not then."

"Is that where you were just now?" my voice was rising, and I didn't care. "Sneaking out to see her at all hours, and dragging your little brother along so you'd be able to think up a decent cover story? How could you pull Pony into all this?"

Soda looked shocked—and hurt. "No! That's not where we were, Darry. I told you, we were taking a walk, that's all. I haven't even seen Sandy since yesterday. Why would I mix up Pony in my problems?"

"I don't know, Soda Patrick Curtis, but you'd better start explaining things right now before I lose my patience. And I want the truth from you, ya hear?" I commanded.

Sodapop nodded slowly. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Ponyboy jumped in and said in a rush, "I wanted to visit the cemetery so I could see Dally and Johnny's graves and I wanted someone to come with me so I asked Soda to and he said yes and we left early so we wouldn't have to explain all this but then you got mad so I'm telling you everything. Honest, Dar. It's the truth."

"You were at the cemetery?" I was surprised. Of all the places I'd imagined them sneaking off to, this was not on the list. "Why? You hate going by there, Pony."

Ponyboy shrugged, and I knew I wasn't going to get an answer out of him, so I turned to Soda and gave him a questioning look. He avoided my eyes and didn't say anything either. I was just about to give them a lecture on how dangerous Tulsa could be for two teenagers alone this early. And that's when Two-Bit came in.

Sodapop's POV

I was so relieved to see Two-Bit walk into our living room I could've hugged him. Only I didn't. Because that is not something greasers do very often. And not in a situation like this. So I settled for going to my bedroom instead, while Darry was preoccupied. Now this was fantastic. I was in hot water with Darry, and it wasn't even seven o' clock yet! Seriously, if there was one thing I felt like doing, it was crawling back into bed and sleeping for a few more hours, but I knew Darry would never go for it. Not to mention the thick stack of papers sitting on my pillow that reminded me of a story I needed to get back to reading…

I'd reached the part with the fire at the church in Windrixville. This was the part where it would get especially hard, when Johnny would start to leave us all over again, things would start going in a chain of events so fast none of us could stop the inevitable…this was the part where I started reliving my friends' last two days with us. And as I started reading about my brother running into the burning church—gosh, he was brave!—it hit me that I never said goodbye to Johnny. The last time I saw him was at the beginning of Pony's story, right after the Socs jumped him, my little brother. After that, things started happening without me. It was only then that I realized how small a part I had played in the unfolding events. Sure, I went to the rumble, but I didn't see everything happen the way Ponyboy did. No wonder he was feeling it more than the rest of us—everything happened in front of his eyes. He'd gone through so much, I was surprised he'd held up as well as he had. Until today, he'd been as strong as any of us. I could only imagine what he'd been holding inside before this. Now he'd finally gotten the chance to tell our friends goodbye.

I read until my eyes blurred. Then I shook my head and I knew I needed to get outside. The one place I thought of going was the park, just like I had a few days before. Darry was nowhere in sight. I guess he'd gone to work already. Steve and Two-Bit had disappeared too, and Pony was reading on the sofa again.

"I'm going for a walk, okay, Pony?" I said, just so he'd know where I was off to.

"Sure, Soda. And thanks for coming with me this morning," he answered quietly.

"No problem, little man. Anytime you feel like letting things out again, you come to me, all right?" I had to know that he was assured of the fact that I was always there.

"Yeah. Now get out of the house before you drive us both crazy!" Ponyboy ordered with a grin. And this time it reached his eyes too.

I sat on a park bench and out of the corner of my eye saw someone sit down beside me. Before I even heard the voice I knew who it was.

"Soda. We need to talk," Sandy told me firmly, and I knew there was no getting out of it this time. "I'm leaving tomorrow. My parents want me to go back to Florida."

I couldn't think of anything to say. How are you supposed to reply to a statement like that? So I just answered, "I guess this is it then."

"Sure," Sandy said lightly, like she couldn't care less, even though I knew she did. "But, um, Soda? I wanted you to know that I really am sorry. About what happened, I mean, with Daphne and everything. I just wish—that I hadn't—"

"I know. Me too. But I guess this is the way it was supposed to turn out." I was surprised to hear myself saying those words. Was that really me? I barely even remembered saying them. And I finally looked over at her.

And was surprised to see her china-blue eyes filled with tears. "You really think so?" her voice was soft, and she swallowed hard. "You think I was supposed to end up pregnant, and on my own with a baby?" now she sounded more bitter than sad.

I smiled just a bit. "Well, you love your baby, don't you?"

Sandy's eyes lit up at the mention of Daffy. "Of course I do. Even if I don't like the way I had her, I still love her, Soda. I just wish she had a daddy."

I really felt for her. Before, I never thought how hard it must've been for her, alone, trying to raise a little girl at sixteen. "Sandy, you're gonna be okay," I told her.

"Thanks," Sandy smiled through her tears, which were coming again. As I stood to leave, she said suddenly, "Soda, I don't know, but—I might give you a call sometime. After I'm back in Florida."

I looked at her, and remembered all the pain from when she first left me. I still missed her sometimes, but I knew what I had to say. "Don't, Sandy." And then I left.

Okay, I don't know if that's how Soda would have handled the situation, but I tried. By the way, we're almost done. I'm wrapping things up...reviews, please! And thanks for the ones you've already done!!!