Chapter Two

Darry- 7

Sodapop- 3

Ponyboy- 1 year

Seven-year-old Darry Curtis shuffled behind his parents as they exited the car. Beside him, Sodapop scurried quickly to keep up with his longer legs.

"Can you believe it? Pony's gonna come with us to eat!" Soda exclaimed excitedly. Darry shook his head.

"No, I can't." It hadn't been his idea to go to the downtown restaurant with Ponyboy. He was a baby, after all! So what if he was starting to walk? That didn't mean he was old enough to actually sit down at a restaurant! Usually his parents got a babysitter, but what with all the separation anxiety Pony was having, they'd decided to just let him come.

Soda was evidently bored of Darry's brooding, so he ran to catch up with little Ponyboy, who was clutching his mother's hand tightly and taking very small, careful steps on his tiptoes. Mr. Curtis held the door open for his family, and placed a hand on Darry's shoulder, a gentle but firm gesture to have a less hostile attitude.

"Good evening, table for five?" A waitress with a huge grin asked, putting aside her menu-stacking to grin even wider at Soda tickling Ponyboy mercilessly.

"And a high chair for the young one, please," Mr. Curtis added.

"Okay. Please follow me." The seeemingly-elated waitress lead them to a daintily set up table with candles in the center and every color flower imaginable in a tiny glass vase. The Curtis' couldn't afford an incredibly fancy restaurant, but the nice candle-lit and soft music-strumming ambiance was quite enough for Mrs. Curtis.

"This is lovely," she breathed. "I'm so glad we brought Pony." As if in agreement, her youngest son cooed softly from the high chair her husband was setting him up in. Sodapop nodded vigorously. He was glad to come as well; he had only been out to eat with his family only a few times before.

After they ordered, Mrs. Curtis excused herself to use the restroom. That was when it seemed to all begin.

As she got up, Ponyboy let out a small whimper and stretched his little hands as if to magically teleport her back to his side. Darry noticed the warning signs of a tantrum right before they happened. The one-year-old's voice grew from a quiet whimper to a low wail.

"No, no, no, Pony!" Soda urged him gently. "Mama's gonna be back soon!"

"Mama! Mama!" Ponyboy threw his head back and screamed. Oh, how loud it was! Darry felt as if every glass in the room was going to break from the shrill howls emitting from Pony's mouth. Mr. Curtis and Sodapop frantically tried to get the baby to calm down, but Darry knew it was fruitless. Pony was not going to stop until his mother returned. People in the other tables craned their necks to see what was going on. An old man even made a face. It was mortifying. Darry's face grew bright red, and he slid down into his seat with his eyes closed. I want to be invisible. I want to be invisible. I want to be invisible, he thought miserably.

The grinning waitress that had seated them was no longer grinning. Her lips were pursed into a thin, hard line, like a permanent scar. She clutched the podium she was she was standing at so tightly, her knuckles grew white; meanwhile, Pony's face was growing ever redder. Darry was half-afraid the swinging light bulbs ahead of his table were going to burst from his ear-splitting wailing.

To add to his humiliation, some of the customers even stood up and left, clenching their ears and quietly muttering about the noise. Was this ever going to end?! Then, the bathroom door squeaked open. Darry let out a sigh of relief, and realized then that he'd been holding his breath, while clenching his stomach at the same time. The other people seemed to do the same thing.

There was his mother, tucking her hair beneath her ears and walking steadily over to her table. Darry wanted to jump up and hug her. By the look on her face, it was obvious she knew what had happened. She sat down smoothly and wiped the tears off her youngest son's face. All signs of his scene were gone, except for the red on his cheeks that was slowly ebbing. Ponyboy let out a happy gurgle, and clutched her larger hands with his tiny ones. Darry breathed another sigh of relief, and only just then noticed Sodapop and his father's stunned faces. He assumed his parents would wait a little longer before they took Ponyboy out again.

A/N I would like to give special thanks for all my first reviewers! Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! :)