Darry and Pony left in the early morning hours that next Saturday. As I heard the truck start, I grabbed my clock and pulled it over to my face. Two forty-five. The meet started at ten, and I knew Darry wanted to make sure they were there early. I was sure Pony would fall asleep the second they pulled out of the driveway and not wake up until they got there. He could sleep anywhere. I put the clock back and tried to fall back asleep, but something just felt wrong, knowing that two people who should be sleeping in the house were gone. I wondered if Darry and Soda had that feeling when Pony and I were gone.

Even in the first nights after my parents died, I hadn't felt an emptiness like I felt right then. Knowing that it was just me and Soda in the house felt terribly lonely. It hit me how profoundly Pony's absence must have affected Soda, considering they slept in the same bed. I could feel Pony's absence from the house… I can only imagine how that feeling of absence must be magnified when you were used to feeling his presence right next to you in the bed.

I lay awake for a long time. Finally, just as the first rays of dawn peeked under my shades, I fell back asleep.

When I awoke again, I heard our front door slamming and voices. Two-Bit and Steve.

"Where's the birthday boy?" they yelled, and I didn't need to see it to know that they had burst into Soda's room and attacked him in his bed. He shrieked, and there was the unmistakable ruckus of a wrestling match. It was Soda's seventeenth birthday. Pony had tried to use that as an excuse for getting out of his track meet as well, but Soda would have none of it. He told him that all he wanted for his birthday was for Pony to be state champion.

I glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it was ten o'clock. Usually somebody was awake and making noise around the house way before that, but with Darry and Pony gone, nobody had awakened us. I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Two-Bit came out of Soda's bedroom and slapped me on the back on the way by.

"Mornin' Scooter. Rise and shine."

I didn't answer. I was finding that the closer I got to my teenage years, the less of a morning person I was.

I showered and dressed, and emerged from my room into the hallway to hear Two-Bit and Steve trying to convince Soda to go out with them that night.

"C'mon Soda, come out with us. We're gonna celebrate you bein' one year closer to legal," Two-Bit laughed.

"There's no way you're spending your birthday fucking babysitting," Steve said. I took that opportunity to enter the kitchen.

"He's right, Soda," I said, not even giving Steve the satisfaction of looking at him. "I don't need a babysitter. Go out tonight. Have some fun."

"That's a smart kid, right there," Two-Bit said.

"Thanks," I said, slapping him on the head.

"Look, I gotta get to work," Steve said, "but I'm comin' to pick you up at seven tonight, and you're comin' out. I ain't letting my best friend stay home on his birthday. We're gonna take you out and show you a damn good time, buddy!"

"We'll see," Soda said.

"No, you'll see," Steve said, and headed off to work.

I came around behind Soda and hugged him. "Happy Birthday," I said. The last birthday our family had celebrated had been mine, and I was sure that, for all of us, it was a bittersweet memory. My birthday celebration had been amazing- quality family time, yet, just a few hours later, any possibility of more of that family time had come to a very tragic end.

"Thanks," he said.

"So what're we gonna do for fun?" Two-Bit looked at us, clearly expecting to be entertained.

I looked at the clock. Eleven-fifteen. Soda was still in his pajamas.

"Go get dressed, Soda," I said. "Darry gave me some money. Me and Two-Bit are takin' you out to lunch."

"That's what I'm talkin' about," Two-Bit said, smiling. He was always up for a free meal.

"I guess that'll work," Soda said. Pony and Darry both had felt bad about being gone for Soda's birthday, and Darry had given me money after dinner the previous night, telling me to take him out for lunch. He hadn't mentioned bringing Two-Bit along, but had given me more than enough money to cover a guest or two. I was relieved that Steve had to work. It being Soda's birthday, I would have sat through lunch with him, but I definitely preferred not to.

Soda headed off to the shower, and left Two-Bit and me in the kitchen.

"We gotta cheer that kid up," he said, once Soda was out of earshot.

"I know," I said. "I just don't know how."

"He needs a new lady friend," he said. "There's no sense in him being hung up on Sandy. She's gone; she ain't comin' back. She made that pretty clear."

"I know," I said. The night I had seen Soda throw her letter in the trash, I had gone back and fished it out, just for the address. I had a good mind to tell her exactly what I thought about how she had treated him; I just hadn't been able to put it into writing thus far.

"We'll find him a girl, tonight. That's a pretty damn good birthday present, don'tcha think?" Two-Bit asked.

I didn't answer. I was pretty sure Soda wasn't ready to be with another girl; the only girl he wanted was Sandy. But I supposed that Two-Bit, being a guy, might know what Soda needed better than I would.

Shortly after, Soda reappeared, freshly showered and smelling like a Curtis male.

"So, where we going, Soda?" I asked. "You choose; it's your day."

He looked lost. He hated being the one to choose. I think he was always a little bit afraid that he would choose something that one of us had secretly hoped he wouldn't.

"Delores is workin' at Jay's today," Two-Bit said, elbowing him.

"Okay," Soda said, "Jay's, then."

We all got into Two-Bit's car and headed out. Jay's was packed- Saturday lunch was probably their busiest meal of the week, as everybody woke up hungry after their adventures of the previous night. Soda was a total celebrity, since Two-Bit took it upon himself to announce, the minute we came through the door:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present, our birthday boy, now seventeen years old, Sodapop Curtis."

Soda indulged Two-Bit by taking a bow, and within minutes, he was surrounded by his adoring fans, the vast majority of them female. Soda was friendly to them- shoot, he was friendly to everyone, but none of them sparked that glow in his eyes that he had always had with Sandy. I cursed her again for leaving. She should have been here for this, I thought. For all of his birthdays. He wanted to marry her; he loved her that much.

It was funny that Darry had given me money, because people kept buying Soda food and drinks: Pepsi after Pepsi, French fries, milkshakes… We all ate from the food that kept arriving for Soda, and the only money I ended up spending was to tip Delores, Two-Bit's preferred waitress of the hour. Darry would be ecstatic to get almost all of his money back, I figured.

I was sitting in our booth, sucking up the dregs of my milkshake through the straw, when I noticed a car in the parking lot that, for some reason, caught my eye. I watched as a group of guys surrounded it, a tall, overly greased one slipping into the driver's seat. Seeing him again, he looked far more intimidating than he had the first time. I don't know whether I made a noise, or if it was the way I was staring, or what, but Soda knew something was up.

"Scout, what is it?" he asked.

"Those are the guys… that came to the house." I stared out the window.

"Where?" he stood up.

"Right there," I said. "In that green car."

"Are you sure?" Two-Bit asked. He had heard all about it.

"Positive," I said.

"You stay here," Soda said, and he and Two-Bit got up and ran for the door.

I watched out the window as the car pulled away, and then Two-Bit and Soda appeared where it had been, yelling after it, but their voices went unheard. The car was gone.

They came back in and sat down.

"You sure that was them?" Soda asked.

"I'm sure," I said.

"Well, least now we know what they look like," Two-Bit said. "And the car."

I truly didn't know what to say. I was a little shaken. More than anything, I was glad that they had left, and there had been no trouble. If anything had happened to Soda with Darry gone all the way to the other end of the state, I'm not sure what I would have done. The last thing I needed with Darry gone was Soda and Two-Bit getting in a fight.

"Well, they're gone," I said.

"For now," Two-Bit said. "Now that I've seen them, though, they're gonna have some questions to answer next time we meet," he said.

"They haven't done anything, Two-Bit," I reminded him.

"They scared you, that's enough."

I just wanted to change the subject.

"So, it's somebody's birthday here… who wants ice cream?"

____________

By the time we got back home it was nearly two o'clock. Ben was outside shooting baskets and I joined him. After a while, Soda and Two-Bit must have gotten bored with each other inside, because they came out and started playing with us. The two of them made quite a team. As agile as Two-Bit can be in a fight or wrestling match, and as decent as he is at football, he couldn't play basketball to save his life. He was pretty amusing to watch, however. Soda was an okay shot, but was constantly getting the ball stolen out of his hands because he didn't pay enough attention to what was going on around him; he was too focused on shooting. It didn't seem to occur to him that somebody might block his shot or grab the ball right out of his hands, which both Ben and I did, again and again.

After an hour or so of basketball, we were all pretty well worn out, and ended up sitting out on the porch and steps just doing nothing. Two-Bit was still convincing Soda that he should go out for his birthday.

"I don't know, Two-Bit," he said. "I told Darry I'd stay in with Scout."

"I don't need a babysitter," I replied. I had heard Ponyboy sing that familiar song for years, and, suddenly, I was on board. I was twelve; there was no reason I couldn't be home alone for a few hours.

"I'll babysit her," Ben said, sitting on the step below me, and I kicked him, connecting with his back a bit harder than I had intended.

"Shut up, Ben," I said, as he rubbed the spot I had kicked.

"Darry would kill me," Soda said.

"Darry won't know," Two-Bit and I both said at the same time.

"You know he's not gonna be home 'til after midnight," Two-Bit continued. "That's plenty of time to have some fun."

"Soda, I'm gonna feel guilty if you stay home because of me," I said. "Go out. I'll be fine. I'll stay home and lock all the doors and windows." I meant that to be funny, but immediately thought it probably hadn't been the smartest thing to say, considering the visitors we'd had the week before.

"I think you'd better," he said.

"I will, if you go." I smiled at him.

"I'll think about it," he said. I knew right then that he would go. God knows, I thought, if anyone deserves a night of fun, it's Soda. He'd been miserable for the past month or so; if Steve and Two-Bit knew how to cheer him up, I was all for it.

Two-Bit also must have known that we had convinced Soda, because he stood up, announcing that he would be back to go out with Soda and Steve later. I was sure he was going somewhere to do some pre-party partying.

It was nearly four-thirty by the time Soda, Ben or I motivated to do anything but sit on the porch and talk. Ben was interested in cars, and most of their conversation revolved around that, so I just tuned it out, thinking my own thoughts. I wondered how Pony was doing at his meet, how he and Darry were getting along. I looked over at Ben, watching him talking about transmissions and chassis with Soda and realized that if Soda went out, Ben and I could hang out alone. I thought about that beer that he had invited me to drink at his house. Tonight just might be my chance.

"Scout?"

Both Soda and Ben were staring at me.

"What? Sorry." I had no idea what they had said. I hadn't even heard them talking to me.

"What color do you think Soda should paint his car?" Ben asked.

"Blue." I didn't even hesitate. Our parents' car had been blue; we had always had a blue car.

"Blue it is, then," Soda said, and squeezed my shoulder. He always understood.

Just then the phone rang. Soda stood up and went in to answer it.

"Ben?" I asked. There was no point in beating around the bush.

"Yeah? You all done spacing out?" he replied.

"So, if Soda goes out tonight, I'm coming over for that beer you offered," I said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yup." Who knew when I would ever get another chance, with all three brothers gone.

"Okay…" he said, with a tinge of something in his voice that I couldn't quite decipher, and I didn't have time to, because Soda was at the door.

"Hey Scout, your brother the state champion wants to talk to you."

I jumped up. "No way!"

He handed me the phone.

"Pony? You won?"

"Yeah, the two mile and the hundred meter. Came in second in the two hundred."

"That's so good!"

"Yeah," he said. "I think so." It was funny, to hear him, he was clearly so happy that he didn't even know how to react.

"I'm really proud of you, Pony. I wish we all could have been there," I said. Though, really, I think both Soda and I had wanted just Pony and Darry to go together, alone.

"Yeah, me too. Here, Darry wants to talk to you."

I heard the phone being passed and then Darry's voice.

"Scout?"

"Hi, Dar," I answered.

"Everything going okay there?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine. I took Soda out for lunch, like you said, but he was like a movie star and everybody bought him stuff, so I still have most of the money."

He laughed. "Well, that's Soda for you. Put the birthday boy on? I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Pony and I are just gonna get some dinner then we're coming back." I looked at the clock. It was five… with dinner and a six hour drive they would be back around one or two in the morning.

"Soda, Darry wants to talk to you," I called. He came back into the room and I handed him the phone.

I heard him tell Darry about lunch and headed back out to the porch with Ben. He looked at me skeptically.

"I want to," I said. "I'll bring the beer." I was pretty sure nobody would notice if I took some from my fridge.

Ben opened his mouth as if to say something, but Soda came back out to the porch before he could say anything.

"That's cool, huh? About Pony?"

"Yeah. Looks like you got your birthday present," I said.

Soda grinned.

"Soda, you're going out tonight," I said. "You better go get cleaned up," He was all dirty and sweaty from our basketball playing.

"You're okay, Scout," he said, winking, as he headed off to the shower.

I headed in after him, telling Ben I'd see him later, and getting to work cooking up some pasta for dinner. No sooner had we finished, but Steve and Two-Bit were at the door.

"Okay, birthday boy," Steve said, "Let's go. Tonight's your lucky night!"

"Up and at 'em," Two-Bit added, pulling him up from the table.

Soda looked at me with an expression that read half-apology, half-thanks, and stood up, allowing himself to be led off by Two-Bit and Steve.

"Lock the door, Scout," he called, as they led him out the door.

"I will." I answered, and smiled, despite myself.

_________________

A/N: I promised things would get complicated… They will. I hope you're ready.

THANK YOU to everyone who has read and reviewed my recent one-shot, "Their Hands."