S.E. Hinton: Yes, what do you want?
PonyDroverHPT: Well, my birthday is coming up…
S.E. Hinton: No way. Under no circumstance are you getting any rights to the Outsiders.
PonyDroverHPT: Ok, then. :-( ON WITH THE STORY!
Chapter III (Ponyboy POV)
"Pony, where are you going?" I knew my stealth wouldn't last as I walked into the living room. It was 7:00 Christmas Eve. All day I had been toying with the idea of going to a service, and thirty minutes ago I made up my mind to go. I had on my best button-down shirt, some khaki pants, and my best dress shoes. I greased my hair back nice and had a dollar in my pocket for Offering.
"I'm going out for a little, I'll be back in a couple of hours." I said to Darry who was sitting in his chair.
"Ponyboy, you better tell me where you're going." Darry's stern face was looking down on me.
"Ok, but promise you won't laugh. I'm going around the corner to St. Mary's for a Christmas Eve service," I said to my shoes. When I looked up, Darry's face looked shocked.
"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked kindly.
"No, you don't have to. You can come if you want to," I said, kind of shocked myself that he would offer to go.
"You know what; I think I'll go with you if you don't mind." Darry said, walking swiftly into his room to get changed. I grabbed a jacket and went outside to smoke. I didn't have long to wait, and Darry was walking out the front door looking almost identical to me (minus the hair grease).
"Do you wanna walk or ride?" Darry asked me.
"Let's ride. I wouldn't put it past any Soc to let up on us just because it's Christmas."
"Ok." We hopped into the truck and in less than five minutes we were pulling in front of St. Mary's Catholic Church. The last time we had both been there was for Mom and Dad's funeral. We grabbed a pew in the back and sat through the service. I was getting a lot out of it, when the priest kept saying that Christmas is a time of miracles. In the final prayer, I bowed my head and thought: God, if you're up there, I don't know if you realize how crummy my family's life is, if we're destined for this, but I pray that, just this once, you would send luck our way. I miss my brother, Sodapop, and any word from him would make me really happy. I also pray that somehow Darry and my relationship will get better, and we won't feel so weird around each other. Mom, Dad, if you're up there, I just want to apologize for everything. Please keep an eye on Soda, and don't let Johnny and Dallas give you too much trouble. Merry Christmas, Amen.
Somehow, I completely missed the fact that I was crying, and that Darry had at some point put his arms around my shoulders. I wiped my tears away hurriedly and Darry gave me a squeeze. The service had ended, so Darry and I stood up to leave, only to be stopped by the priest who was standing at the door.
"Darrel and Ponyboy Curtis, it's nice to see you both again. How are you?" the old priest said.
"We're alright, thank you Father O'Brian." Darry said respectfully.
"That's good, that's good. Where is your brother?" Father O'Brian asked innocently.
Darry and I looked at each other, not sure how to answer. "His number came up," I said quietly. Darry squeezed my shoulder again.
"I'm sorry," Father O'Brian said, "We will pray for him. Boys, I must prepare for the next service, but don't be a stranger around here." He put a hand on both of our shoulders, then walked back to the altar.
The ride back home was silent. We pulled up to the house and walked to the porch. Darry opened the door, but paused just inside.
"You coming in, Pony?" Darry asked me.
"In a minute, I'm just going to have a cancer stick, and then I'll come in." I assured him, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter. The heat of the stick made a nice contrast to the cold wind on my face. I thought for a while, while sitting in the winter moonlight. After my smoke was done, I ground the butt under my heel and went inside. Darry was standing in front of our pathetic Christmas tree with two rolls of wrapping paper.
"Curtis tradition," he reminded me, "We wrap our presents on Christmas Eve, except the ones for each other."
"Yeah, let me go get my bag," I told him, hurrying into my room to get my shopping bag, minus Darry's gift. I walked to the kitchen where Darry had already set up the paper, scissors, tape, bows, pens, and gift tags and was placing two cups of hot cocoa on the table.
"Looks great, Dar." I said, taking a sip of cocoa, "Do you want a sandwich?"
"Sure, thanks Pone." I made two ham and cheese sandwiches and sat down.
"Hey what did you get Two- Bit?" I asked while wrapping Steve's keychain in paper.
"I got him a Mickey Mouse coozie. What about you?" Darry said while keeping his eyes on the gift tag he was filling out.
"Just a little Mickey figurine," I said, finishing up Steve's gift and grabbing in the bag for the elusive mouse while Darry started on Steve's magazine. I took another swig of cocoa and then Darry started chuckling.
"What are you looking at?" I scowled.
"Pony, you've got a chocolate mustache."
"Oh," I licked it away hurriedly, and then rubbed my mouth with a dish cloth.
"Are you ready to split?" Darry asked me. I nodded, grabbed a role of paper, a pair of scissors, and a few pieces of tape, and dashed to my room. I grappled under my bed for Darry's football and began to wrap with great care. First I had to put it in a box and stuff it with old newspaper. Then I wrapped it, folding it on the sides, and taped it all up. I walked down the hall with my wrapped box and knocked on the side of the wall.
"Darry, is it safe?" I called.
"Yeah, it's clear," he called back. I walked back to my spot at the table, and finished the final details with the gift tag and the bow. I grabbed my gifts and made my way to the living room where our pathetic little tree sat. It had thin branches, small twinkling lights, and little school-made ornaments. It's kinda funny though. That tree resembled me. We were the same height, had strong cores, and any appendages were weak and gangly. Thinking of "my twin the tree" made me chuckle. Darry came in a little after me and laid his wrapped presents under the tree, too.
"The guys are coming around noon tomorrow. Do you want to have a family Christmas earlier or wait for the guys?" Darry asked me.
"We can wait. It would draw out the party a little more," I replied. It was supposed to be a good party. All the guys chipped in to get a turkey, and we were going to have mashed potatoes and green beans for the sides. The one day of the year that we really go all out was Christmas, so we weren't going to lose the tradition.
I was getting really tired, so after I cleaned up the paper scraps, I brushed my teeth and put on a sleep t-shirt. I walked back into the living room, where Darry was still standing in front of the tree.
"'Night, Darry." I said.
"'Night, Pony." Darry replied. I started down the hall when Darry called me back.
"Hey Pony," Darry started.
"Yeah?"
He looked like he really wanted to say something, but I guess he decided against it, so he said, "Merry Christmas."
"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you, too." I went back to bed and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.