Pony's POV

It took us a while to get the kitchen cleaned up and when we were finished I went into my room to read. I would have gone on to bed but I wanted to wait until Soda came in so I could talk to him. And besides that, it was still early, especially for a Saturday night. When he did finally come in, I was almost asleep. He grinned at me like I was crazy.

Soda's POV

The light in our room was still on and Pony was lying on the bed. His eyes were almost shut and his book had fallen onto his stomach. I couldn't help but laugh at him. He must have heard me.

"Soda, tell me why Rachel was here."

I took a deep breath. "Ponyboy..."

"Please."

I sighed and flopped onto the bed next to him. "She wanted to give us money, ok?"

"Really?" His eyes brightened a little "Did you take it?"

I grinned real big. "No way. It was just out of pity. And guilt too. I think she feels guilty for not coming around more when Dad was alive. There was no way we were taking her money."

Ponyboy thought about that for a minute and then mumbled "Charity. From a rich, guilt-ridden Soc. I guess I wouldn't want it either. Was she mad?"

"You bet. She got pretty huffy when Darry said no." I leaned my head back onto my pillow, thinking about the look on Aunt Rachel's face. It had been priceless.

Pony propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me. "Why didn't Darry just tell me?"

I had already said more than Darry wanted me to, so I just got up and turned out the light. "Don't worry about it Kido."

Johnny's POV

I woke up in the lot, cold and stiff. My clothes were wrinkled and damp and still had remnants of chocolate cake on them so I went home to change. I glanced in our front window and saw Mom sprawled across the couch, probably sleeping off a hangover. I didn't want to chance waking her up so I crawled in through my window. I needed a shower, but that would have made too much noise and I really didn't feel like getting screamed at this morning, so I just threw on some dry clothes and crawled back out.

I headed to Katelyn's house. There weren't any cars in the drive way so I went ahead and knocked. If her uncle's car had been there, I'd have gone around to her window and knocked.

"Hey Johnny. Man, you look awful tired. Did you sleep in the lot again last night?" Katelyn worried about me when I slept in the lot.

I mumbled a yes as she continued. "I bet you haven't had anything to eat today. You can have Uncle Robert's breakfast. I fixed it, but he didn't have time to eat it." Suddenly her voice switched over to a British accent "Right this way sir." I followed her into the dinning room and sat down.

Katelyn threw a hand towel over her arm and pulled out an imaginary pen and paper. "Now then, may I start you off with a drink?"

I grinned at her antics. Only Katelyn could take an old house and turn it into a five-star restaurant in a matter of seconds. As long as she was acting, I might as well go along. "French coffee please Madame."

"And what can I get you for breakfast?"

"I think I'll have the sausage and gravy biscuits, fried apples, and eggs - slightly poached."

"Very good. I'll be right back with your order."

She pranced into the kitchen and returned a minute later. "Your order sir - milk, toast with jam, and scrambled eggs - slightly chilled. Can I get you anything else?"

I laughed and shook my head. "I'm gonna meet the guys in the lot and play some football. You could come with me."

"I don't know. I'd have to make sure I was back before Uncle Robert.. He'll be pretty upset if I'm not."

"He doesn't ever hit you does he?" Katelyn was like a sister to me and I couldn't stand the thought of anyone hurting her.

"Nah. He just yells a lot." I saw a flicker of hate behind her eyes. "I can't wait to get out of this house."

"Soon Kit-Kat." I took my plate into the kitchen but left the dish washing to her. "Come on and play some football with us. Your uncle won't be back before lunch."

Pony's POV

Me, Johnny, Two-Bit and Katelyn were playing against Dally, Steve, and Soda. They were beating us pretty good for a while, but we got our act together and were really starting to catch up. Two-Bit was running full speed, about to score, when a dog streaked out in front of him and knocked him flat.

"Hey wasn't that your dog Two-Bit?" I questioned him playfully.

Two-bit got up limping. "No way man. I ain't never gonna get a dog. Stupid mutt."

He had twisted his ankle pretty good and couldn't play, which was going to be a real set back to our team, but we still wanted to finish.

"I think we better just call it a game." Steve said. "Soda and I are supposed to meet Evie and Sandy pretty soon anyway."

"You're just afraid we're gonna beat you." I remarked.

"We aren't afraid…" Steve started but was interrupted by Katelyn

"I need to get home anyway. I gotta get the house cleaned before Uncle Robert and Dad get home."

"Don't let those two push you around too much." Dally said. "If your uncle starts bothering you, just let me know." We all felt pretty protective over Katelyn.

"Aye aye captain." She saluted and marched off.

Johnny and I headed for my house but stopped when we saw Aunt Rachel's car parked there again. I kicked the ground in disgust. "Shoot Johnny, what does she want now? Why can't she just leave us alone?"

Johnny took a long drag on his cigarette. "I don't know man. Do you wanna just head back to the park or something?"

"Nah, might as well see what she wants. Maybe I can find out why she was here yesterday." I also figured that if Darry found out I just left her again, I'd really get it, but Ididn't say that.