I realized I haven't put a disclaimer on here, yet….so, I do not own The Outsiders or any of the characters.
Well, here's the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoys! Also, happy Earth Day!!
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I was whistling as I walked through the front door of the Curtis' house on Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day outside, one of the nicest we'd had so far this spring. I was thinkin' it was a good day to get in a game of football with the guys before gettin' boozed up tonight. "Mornin' everyone!" I yelled. I found Ponyboy and Steve sitting at the kitchen table in silence. I didn't see why they should look so sulky on a day like this. "Geez, who died?" They both glared at me rather harshly. "Okay, I see we've entered the no humour zone. What's up with you guys today?" Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the words that were going to come out of Steve's mouth.
"Soda has cancer," he said bluntly. For a minute I just stared at him. Was he kidding? That was some sick joke he was playing if he was. I looked at him carefully, then at Pony. The kid looked like he was gonna start crying at Steve's words. Pony was good at a lot of things, but acting was not one of his many talents. That's when I knew Steve wasn't joking around.
I sat down heavily at the table and looked from Steve to Ponyboy. "When did you find out?"
"Last night," Pony answered. He was talking real soft. "He had a seizure so we took him to the hospital and they told us."
Glory. "Where's Soda now?"
"He's still sleeping," Steve said.
We all sat in silence. For once in my life I couldn't think of a single thing to say. After a few minutes Soda walked into the kitchen, still in his pajamas and rubbing his hair tiredly. "Mornin' guys." When we didn't say anything, he looked carefully at me and Steve, then sighed. "You know, don't you?"
"Yeah, man. How're ya holding up?" Steve asked.
Soda shrugged. "Okay, I guess." He went to the fridge and got out the chocolate milk, then got a glass and joined us at the table.
"C'mon, Soda, you can talk to us. It'll help," Steve pressed. I know he meant well, but man did Soda react bad.
He glared at Steve and burst out, "What do you want me to say, Steve? That I'm angry I'm sick? That I'm scared I'm gonna die? Sorry, but I don't see how talking is gonna fix that." He got up and stormed out of the room. We heard the bathroom door slam and the shower turn on a couple seconds later.
I turned to the other two. "Okay, I think we've established that he doesn't want to talk about it."
Steve turned to Pony. "Was he this angry last night?" Steve didn't show it, but I could tell he was upset. Sodapop never yelled at him.
Ponyboy looked dumbfounded. "No, he was real calm last night. He was alone with Darry for a bit, though, so I dunno what he said then, but I don't think he acted like this." I don't think any of us knew what to do, so we just sat at the table in silence again, each lost in our own thoughts.
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I slammed the bathroom door behind me and turned the shower on. I was furious; why did they want me to talk? Why couldn't they just let the subject drop? If I wanted to talk about it I would have said something. As I let the hot water run over me I slowly started to calm down. The longer I was in the shower and the more I thought about what had happened in the kitchen, the more I realized that Steve was just trying to help. I was starting to feel real guilty for yelling at him, actually. I was just so frustrated by this whole situation and I guess I just couldn't take it anymore. I knew I had to go apologize to him.
Once I'd toweled off and gotten dressed I trudged down the hall to the kitchen. I found the guys still sitting at the table. They all looked up at me when I came in, but no one said anythin'. I can't really say I blame them; they were probably afraid I was gonna blow up again. I sat down and turned to Steve. "I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to yell at ya like that. I'm just mad." I paused for a second, then added more quietly, "and scared."
"It's okay, buddy. It never happened." He clapped me on the shoulder and I smiled at him gratefully.
"Well, now that that's done, what're we gonna do today?" Two-Bit asked cheerfully.
Huh…what did I want to do today? I wasn't feeling too bad, physically at least, and I knew I didn't want to waste these next couple of days. I also knew I wanted to spend them with the guys. I thought about it for a few minutes and decided. Now I just had to convince Darry when he got home from work.
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I was exhausted when I got home. It had been a long night and I'd barely slept once I'd gone to bed. I'd talked to my roofing boss and managed to work out a schedule where I would go into work at lunch and leave a bit later in the afternoon. Even if I was there for less time, he knew he'd get more work outta me than most of the other guys. I'd also gone to my second job and cut my hours back from four to two shifts a week. Money would be tight, but I thought we'd be able to manage if we cut back on some things. Pony would have to cut back on his smoking and I was planning to stop my gym membership. I could work out at home for a while. I figured with this schedule I could stay with Soda in the mornings, Pony and the guys could come home at lunch, and then there'd only be another couple of hours before they were done school for the day. I hated to leave Soda alone for any amount of time, especially once he was out of the hospital, but I didn't see any other way.
Soda pounced on me almost as soon as I walked in the door. "Hey, Dar! How was work today?"
"Woah, little buddy!" I laughed. I was glad to see he was in a good mood. I was worried he'd spent the day moping around. "Work was fine, nothing exciting. I hope you took it easy today."
"I did!" Soda answered quickly. "We just sat around and watched T.V. and I even took a nap."
"Good, glad to hear it. We want to you rested up for Monday."
"So Dar, since I was real careful today, I was thinking…" Uh-oh. I should've known something was up. "Tomorrow can we go to Keystone Park? All of us?"
I frowned. I wasn't so sure about that idea; I'd told the doctor we'd be careful. "I dunno, Soda. You need to rest--"
"But I did rest today! And I can rest at the park tomorrow, too. We'll bring a blanket and I can sleep if I get tired. Come on, Darry. It's only a half hour away. We can always come back if it's too much. Which it won't be," he added quickly.
His eyes were so pleading that I couldn't help myself. "Okay, we'll go," I relented.
Soda engulfed me in a huge bear hug. "Thanks, Darry!"
I wanted to make a few things clear, though. "Hold on a minute, Soda. We'll go, but no rough stuff for you while we're there. No football, no wrestling, and I don't think you should be swimming, either."
"Glory, way to be a buzz kill, Superman," Two-Bit piped up from the couch. "Ya gotta let him do somethin'!"
"It's fine, Two-Bit. I can watch you guys," Soda said. Wow. He must've been pretty convinced I would say no if he was giving in to my requirements this easy.
I suddenly realized that the house smelled amazing. "What are you guys cookin'?" I asked.
"Spaghetti and meatballs," Pony answered. "It should be almost ready," he added, going into the kitchen to check on it.
Once dinner was finished I ushered Soda off to bed. It was still early, but he was looking tired and I wanted him to enjoy tomorrow. I wasn't sure how long it would be before he got another day like it.
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I was in the truck ready to go before anyone else. I was determined to have fun today, even if Darry wouldn't let me do too much. I was so relieved yesterday when he didn't argue much that I didn't really care if he had restrictions. I wanted to avoid thinking about tomorrow, too. I was terrified about what was gonna happen. Dr. Sheldon had said it would be intense, but he hadn't gone into any details. Honestly, I hadn't wanted the details, anyway. I shook myself out of those thoughts and focused on today. Pony was finishing up the sandwiches and Darry was gathering together blankets and other supplies. I could see Steve and Two-Bit walking down the street towards our house. Two-Bit, of course, was carrying a day's supply of beer. I waited anxiously for Darry and Pony to finish gettin' ready; I didn't want to waste any of the day sittin' around in the driveway. I was happy when they were finally in the truck and we got going.
When we got to the park we set up camp on the beach. Darry spread a blanket out on the sand and made me stay there while the guys unloaded the truck. I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, Darry, I'm not made of glass," I told him, but I didn't argue more than that. It felt good to finally be out of the house. Aside from work and the hospital trip, I'd been cooped up for more than a week now. I stretched out and watched the gang. Once everything was unloaded and the guys had changed into their swim trunks, Two-Bit jumped right into the day.
"Hey, Darry! How 'bout a game of football? Me and Steve versus you and the kid….in the water."
Darry raised an eyebrow. "You think you can take us?" he challenged.
Two-Bit smirked. "I know we can. You're used to playing on land, Superman. The water is a whole different ball game!"
"You're on. C'mon, Ponyboy. Let's show 'em who the champs are." Pony grinned and followed him into the water, Steve and Two-Bit right behind them. I laughed as I watched them play. No one was used to playing in the water and the game quickly disintegrated into a dunking match. Pony may've been on Darry's team, but he ended up joining the other two in gangin' up on Darry. They all came back a while later soaking wet and riled up. Ponyboy collapsed on the blanket next to me, but he didn't get to rest for long. Darry glared at him. "Pony, I thought we were on the same team out there." Ponyboy shot him an apprehensive look; I think he knew what was coming next. Darry continued, "but, if we're not, then I guess there's nothing to stop me from doin' this…" He pounced on Pony, pinning him to the ground before Pony even had time to react. Darry started tickling him mercilessly and I burst out laughing. I joined in and laughed even harder as Pony struggled beneath us, giggling uncontrollably.
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It had been a fantastic day. Soda had clearly enjoyed himself and I was glad I had agreed to his idea to come here. I smiled as I remembered him helping me tickle Ponyboy. I know I hadn't wanted him to wrestle, but he'd just been having so much fun I hadn't had the heart to stop him. He was so upset on Friday and I was grateful for any chance for him to be happy. Now the sun was setting and Sodapop was lying down on the blanket next to me, half asleep. Two-Bit and Steve were tossing the football back and forth while Pony was sitting on the other side of Soda reading a book. I didn't want it to end, but I knew we had an early day tomorrow. I'd taken the whole day off work and Pony had convinced me to let him skip school. I really only gave in to him cause I figured he'd never be able to concentrate on his work, anyway. I turned to my youngest brother. "Pone, we should get going. Can ya go get the guys and pack everything up? I'm gonna get Soda into the car."
"Sure, Dar." He got up and ran over to the guys.
I ran my hand through Soda's hair, testing to see how asleep he was. "Soda, time to go home. You gonna make it to the car?"
He groaned and rolled over. "It's not morning, yet Dar," he mumbled. I guess he'd been more asleep than I'd realized. As the guys put everything away, I picked my brother up and carried him to the truck. Pony opened the door and I placed Soda in the front seat. He opened his eyes groggily and looked around. "Is it time to go home already?" he asked sadly.
"Yeah, little buddy. It's gettin' dark."
He yawned and closed his eyes again. "I had a real good time, Dar. Thanks."
I smiled at his sleeping form. "Me too, little buddy." I got into the driver's seat and pulled out once everyone was in the car. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day.
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As a note, Keystone Park is a State Park just outside of Tulsa. The website said they have swimming, so I'm assuming they are referring to a beach and not a pool. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I always love to get reviews!! (and they tend to make updating go faster-hint, hint)