Soda's POV

As soon as both hands on the clock reached 12:00 I jumped in the car and took off. Darry had wanted us to wait until the weekend to get Ponyboy, but Mr. Hall had offered to let me off work early on Thursday. How could I say no to that and yes to waiting? I couldn't, and now I had only a few more hours before my brother was really mine again.

It occurred to me, as I sped down the highway, that Darry may have wanted me to wait so he could come too. After all, Pony's leaving had been just as hard on him. He didn't show it, but I knew it had.

"But if I go Thursday, you'll get to see him that much sooner." I'd reasoned with Darry.

"Ok ok." He usually gave in to what I wanted. "You can go, but you'll have to get up early and take me to work."

That was fine with me. I'd been too excited to sleep anyway.

What was supposed to be at least a three hour drive had only taken me a little over two. As I rang the doorbell I realized that Ponyboy would still be in school and I would have to wait for him. I waited, almost wishing Rachel wasn't home, because I wasn't sure if I really wanted to see her right now or not. She hadn't been my favorite person of late. Actually, she never had.

But she was home and I was greeted with a warm "Sodapop, it's so good to see you!" and a pat on the shoulder.

You liar I thought, but I smiled nicely and stepped inside.

"Ponyboy told me you were coming, but I didn't expect you this early. He's still at school you know, but he should be here any minute. I guess you could come on up and get his suitcases."

As I looked towards the stairs I remembered the last time I had been here. I was five and I hadn't liked it one bit.

Rachel had been having some sort of party or something and Darry and I were supposed to stay upstairs, keep an eye on Ponyboy, and behave ourselves. We weren't allowed outside, and we weren't allowed to run. Darry, and even Pony, had sat quietly and looked at books and colored and I had almost gone insane.

I'd paced across the room, crawled across the room, and somersaulted across the room. Finally, I decided that anything would be better than staying in that little room, so I'd crept downstairs and crawled into the kitchen, undetected. The table was covered with food, but only one thing had looked at all good to me, and that was the chocolate cake - with chocolate icing. There were a few close calls when I had to hide behind one of the doors, but I'd managed to get three wonderfully huge pieces of that cake upstairs to my brothers.

A bit later, we'd been summoned downstairs for lunch. None of us were very hungry after eating all that cake, but we'd had to sit at the table anyway. I remember marveling at how still Pony could sit, even though he was only two. As grown-up talk circled around me and the sugar kicked in, I couldn't take it any longer. My leg had shot out and met with Darry's shin. He kicked me back and a leg-wrestling match had broke out until Mom caught our attention and sent a look that said we'd better stop immediately and sit still.

I had tried, but I had been so bored and restless that I had to amuse myself somehow. It was then that I'd taken notice of the potatoes left on Darry's plate and thought about how they looked like a pile of clouds. The carrot on my plate looked a bit like an airplane, so I decided to zoom it through Darry's clouds. It didn't really zoom well and it had sent potatoes flying onto Darry's lap. He gave me a death glare which I, for some reason, had found irresistibly funny. I'd had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing.

Pony saw what I'd done and began flying around his own carrot. This, Darry found to be funny and before I knew it all three of us were flying carrots and laughing hysterically. At least, we were until Dad had lectured us and then taken us back upstairs where we were condemned to stay for the rest of the day, and the next day too. Those had been two of the most miserable days of my young life.

It was to that room Rachel led me now. Just seeing it made me restless. Rachel cleared her throat, "If you'll excuse me, I have something in the oven I have to check."

She left and I couldn't help bending down and looking at the floor board next to the closet. "Sodapop P. Curtis" was still etched in scrawling letters. I wondered if she had ever noticed it.

"What are you doing Sodapop?"

"Ponyboy!" I turned lunged at him, nearly knocking us both down. "I missed you so much buddy."

"I missed you too Soda." He looked different somehow. Thinner and…the way he was dressed. He must have gotten new clothes from Rachel.

"Are you ready to go?" I was anxious to get out of this place.

"Yeah. Did Darry come?"

"No, he had to work." Pony looked a little disappointed and I wished again that I had waited for Darry. "He wanted to come, but I couldn't wait." I added so he would know it was my fault and not Darry's.

Pony shrugged. "Whatever. Hey you never told me what you were doing on the floor."

He knelt down where I had been and then looked up at me, confused. "When did you do that?"

I just grinned wildly. "I'll tell you on the way home." With a suitcase in one hand and the other on Pony's shoulder, we walked back downstairs.

Rachel pushed open the door to the kitchen, bringing the smell of over-cooked broccoli with her and I remembered what Two-Bit had said about her just eating "rabbit food."

"Won't you boys stay for supper?" She asked.

That was definitely that last thing I wanted to do, but I didn't want to be rude either. I looked over at Pony and he gave me a pleading look that seemed to say "Please don't make me stay and eat her food again."

A grin played at my lips and I shook my head. "No thanks, I think we better be going. Darry will want us home as soon as possible."

As I reached for the doorknob a small white dog came bounding into the room. It was like she knew Pony was leaving and wanted to say goodbye.

"That must be the dog Two-Bit was talking about." I commented. After he and Katelyn had been here, Two-Bit had gone off on another rampage about getting a dog.

Pony lifted the dog so she could lick his face. He looked a little regretful that he had to leave her. It was probably the only thing he would miss about this place.

He certainly wouldn't miss Rachel, who was now standing with her hands on her hips, "This doesn't mean I'm giving up you know. Your father wouldn't want you to be struggling like you are."

What did she know about our Dad. He would rather us stick together than to be rich and end up like Rachel. "Come one Pony, Darry's waiting." I said.

As we pulled out of Rachel's driveway, I hoped I would never have to see her house again.