Pony's POV

Rachel was in the living room putting together a couple of boxes. She looked up when the

door opened. "Ponyboy, there you are. You know you really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Do you have any idea what could happen...who's this?"

I put an arm around Johnny's shoulders. "This is my buddy, Johnny."

Rachel gave him a look of disgust. "Well, I suppose he can help us too."

"Help us what?" I wanted to know.

"Pack your stuff." Rachel said as she grabbed a box and headed for the back of the house.

"You're coming back to Oklahoma City with me."

"No way." I said, kicking one of the boxes to the side. "Besides, Darry and Soda would never let me."

"For your information, young man, Darry is the one who gave me permission. We talked about it yesterday."

"There is no way I'm going anywhere with you."

"Don't you understand? They can't afford to keep you anymore. Darry wants to get on with his life and you're just holding him back. You're in the way" Rachel paused to regain control. "Now, please help me."

I sat down on the couch and tried to keep my voice calm. "No! Why do you care about what happens with us anyway?"

"I'm your aunt, I'm supposed to care. I made a promise to your father and I plan on keeping it."

So it wasn't just guilt and pity, it was obligation. She'd probably look real good taking in her poor, orphaned nephew to help out.

I could feel my face getting hot. "You never cared before."

"Look. Either you can decide to come with me or I can take you to court."

"What?!" I looked over at Johnny. He looked as shocked as I felt. "Why?"

"Do you really think that Darry has the time and money to worry about going to court? You should save him the trouble. And if you come with me, I can get you a job and you can make a lot of money. You can show Darry that you're actually useful."

Johnny's POV

I felt really out of place and wondered if I should just leave or if Ponyboy would want me to stay. He was facing Rachel now. His fists were clinched by his side and his voice was wrapped with hatred. "I asked you why?"

"For one thing, to keep you away from hoods like him." She pointed a finger in my direction and Pony lost it.

"Get out! Get out of my house!" He yelled and all but pushed Rachel out the front door. "And take these with you." He threw the boxes out and slammed the door. Then locked it.

"Why didn't Darry tell me that's what she wanted? Why does he always treat me like a little kid?"

I hadn't seen Pony this mad in a long time. His breathing was ragged and he lit a cigarette to help calm himself.

"Hey Johnny, I'm sorry about what she said."

"Don't worry about it man, it ain't your fault." I was used to it anyway. My parents screamed at me a lot, and we'd certainly had plenty of Soc call us worse things than that.

"Come on."

I followed him out the back door. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, but Darry better not be the only one here when I get back."

Darry's POV

I had to work late and didn't get home until almost 8:00. The front door locked and I wondered why. I pounded on it, but no one answered so I went around to the back. I stepped inside and was welcomed by a silent house, which is extremely rare. The silence was actually nice, but I had no clue where anyone was and I felt a little left out. I hated working on Sundays because it was one day that no one else had work or school and we could spend the whole day together. I used to hang out a lot with Sodapop and Pony, but ever since Mom and Dad had died I'd been so busy. Sometimes I felt like I hardly knew Soda anymore, at least not like I used to. And I really had no clue how to communicate with Ponyboy. He always took things the wrong way.

I was headed to unlock the front door when I saw Soda run up to it. He always flings the door open real hard and this time was no different…only the door didn't open.

THUMP

"Owwww"

I opened the door and looked down at Soda, who was lying on the porch. "Door's locked, Little Buddy."

He stood up, rubbing his shoulder. "You could have warned me."

"You could try opening the door a little softer."

Soda rolled his eyes at me and went inside. He kicked off his shoes and threw his DX shirt towards the couch but missed. "What's it locked for?"

"You tell me, you were the last ones out this morning." I picked up the DX shirt and threw it back at Soda. "You could try putting this away for once too."

He just crinkled it into a ball and threw it towards his bedroom. "Last I saw Pony, him and Johnny were heading back this way for lunch. Maybe they locked it."

"These too buddy." I handed Soda his shoes and shook my head as they followed his shirt. "Where is Pony anyway?"

"Shoot, if I knew that I'd be able to tell you why the door was locked."

I gave him a playful punch and we sat down at the table. "He seemed a little riffed at me this morning. Do I really do that bad a job?"

Soda's face got serious. "No man. You do real great. You and Pony just need to try and understand each other more. He's still trying to adjust, ya know. I think he's hurting more than he lets on."

"I worry about him. He's my baby brother and I want him to do well. You know?"

"Sure." We sat there for a minute in silence and then the door burst open. Ponyboy walked in and slammed it hard. Sometimes it surprised me that the door was still in one piece.

"Hey Pony. What have you been doing today?" I asked lightheartedly. He didn't even acknowledge that I was in the room. "Pony?"

He looked at Soda. "How was your date with Sandy?"

"Umm…it was ok. Aren't you going to answer Darry?"

"Why? He wouldn't answer me yesterday. Tell him the next time he tries to pawn me off on someone, he should at least let me know first." Pony walked into his room, pushed Soda's shoes out of the way, and closed the door.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I felt like a complete failure. "I would never pawn him off, Soda. Where'd he get that idea?"

Sodapop came over and massaged my shoulders. "We'll get it worked out. He'll be ok." He stopped and rubbed his own shoulder. "My shoulder on the other hand….."

He gave me one of his crazy grins, but I knew he was as worried as I was.

I grinned back. "What would we do without you Soda?"