The next day was the last day of Pony and Johnny being suspended. They slept in, and woke up at around 11 a.m. the sunrays beaming through the window blinding them for a second. "I can get used to this," Pony yawned, reaching for his jeans and taking out the cigarette out of the pocket. He blew a perfect smoke ring – "You know, Darry said that him, Soda and Steve are going to get those socs that were bothering you, and will make them tell all their friends. They are not going to bother you again. They'll be running five miles away from you – Darry's exact words," Pony grinned. Johnny looked down. He felt bad that he couldn't take care of those socs himself.
They both got dressed, and went into the kitchen to discover a plate of pancakes covered with a towel so they wouldn't go stale and a note from Soda – 'made these this morning you better eat them, apple sauce is in the fridge, Soda.'
Pony and Johnny ate, and then Johnny noticed a notebook on the side of the table. He opened it and realized it was Soda's recipe book. Pony grabbed it out of Johnny's hands. Pony flipped through the pages – "chocolate peanut butter chip cookies - sounds delicious. Care to beat Soda at his own craft?" Pony wiggled his eyebrows, and Johnny chuckled. So for the rest of the day they baked cookies, read Gone with the Wind, and then Pony taught Johnny how to draw a horse. Then they made sandwiches for the guys as well.
The day was fun, and Pony and Johnny were bonding all over again, but there were even bigger plans for the evening. As Darry promised, they were going to fight the socs. It was easy to find them - they always hung out at Rusty's. "Can we go watch?" Pony asked Darry, as Darry took his tool belt off and proceeded to wash his hands.
"No, you better stay home, you already got three day vacations."
"Oh c'mon Darry," Pony whined, "no one will know we'd been there." Darry looked thoughtful, "fine, but you better stay in the truck, and not so much as stick your noses out."
"Not a problem," Pony grinned ear to ear.
In about 20 minutes Soda and Steve walked in. They looked pumped up, especially Steve – "ready to get some damage control?" Steve snorted, punching Soda in the shoulder.
"Hey, save that for the socs," Darry scolded, and then added "We'll wait till it gets dark."
"Better get something to eat, get some energy," Soda wiggled his eyebrows, grabbing a carton of chocolate milk from the fridge, and drinking right from the carton.
"We made some chicken and dried tomato sandwiches," Pony turned to face him.
"Good thinking," Soda said, searching through the fridge – "found 'em."
By the time they were done eating, it was dark outside. "Perfect timing," Steve said coolly and jammed his fists glaring into the distance as if those socs were in the room. Soda took out a pair of black leather gloves and put them on.
"What do you need the gloves for?" Pony looked puzzled.
"So I don't have to dirty my hands with the socs' bloody nose mucus as I beat the crap out of them." Steve snorted hearing that, and Darry shook his head. "Ready for the show?" He asked, and everyone nodded. They all got into the truck, making sure to help Johnny in his wheelchair.
At around 8 p.m. Darry parked the truck at the parking lot by Rusty's. They wanted to get the socs as they were going to their car, also it was far enough from the door and the windows of the diner in case there were more socs inside, they would not be able to see what's going on, and try to help Evan, Tom and David. They rolled the windows down and the fresh, night air made them feel more alert.
In about 15 minutes as on cue the 3 socs were walking across the parking lot, trying to walk to their car. They were swaying from side to side, clearly drunk. "They sell booze to teenagers in this joint," Soda gave it a whistle.
"The assholes have the cash, they are not drinking beer, they buy the best booze - whisky and scotch, that shit is expensive," Steve snorted.
"Alright, quit yapping, let's go," Darry hushed them. They opened the doors on each side, and got out of the truck.
Steve approached Tom from the back – "hey bro, got a light?" The soc turned around, searching his pockets for a lighter. At this moment Steve swung his arm, and hit the soc in the face.
"What a fuck?" the soc's hand flew to his eye, he squinted "Oh, I know who you are, you are that shit Curtis' friend."
"You got that right." Steve's eyes were blazing with anger. The 2 other socs caught on to what was going on, and walked over and tried to hit Steve, but then Darry and Soda approached them. Pony and Johnny smiled as they saw Soda punch Evan in the nose, whose nose started to bleed. "Needed those gloves," Pony chuckled, and Johnny grinned.
Darry grabbed David by the collar – "you so much as touch a hair on Johnny's head you will be dead, and I mean dead – you will join Bob at your fancy graveyard on the soc side of town, understood?" The soc looked down, "is that understood?" Darry's voice roared.
"Yes," the soc mumbled, trying to get out of Darry's grip.
"And tell all your friends to stay away from Johnny or they'll get it, understood?" Darry gave him a murderous look.
"Yes," the soc mumbled again.
"Now get lost scum," Darry released his grip, and the soc fell on the ground. The 2 other socs started helping him up.
"This was too easy," Steve sounded disappointed.
"I never seen Darry this mad," Pony said to Johnny, "not even at the rumble."
Darry, Soda and Steve climbed into the truck.
"Nice moves," Pony grinned, "we saw it from outta here."
"The bastards are not going to bother you anymore Johnny," Darry turned his head to face Johnny. Johnny's face reddened, "thanks Darry, I don't mean to be trouble to you." Darry's face got really serious, "Johnny you are never trouble to me, to any of us. We know you'd do the same for us, actually you did, you saved Pony's life." Johnny looked away, and Darry had a concerned look on his face.
When they got home, Pony went straight for the cookie jar.
"What's that for?" Soda snickered, wide-eyed, "I didn't bake."
"No," Pony smiled, "but we did."
"You baked cookies?" Soda looked perplexed, "you knew how?" Pony snorted, "Found this,"- he held up Soda's recipe notebook. Soda flashed him a smile – "that's cheating." Pony just grinned and grabbed a cookie out of the jar, he took a bite – "delicious." Soda poured chocolate milk for everyone, and they ate the cookies.
That night Pony slept a little better. Beating up those socs was some sort of reconciliation, some sort of revenge for Johnny. They will not be bothering him no more. Pony smiled remembering how they were baking the cookies, and Johnny seemed in a good mood. Johnny was still in a wheelchair, and Dally was still dead, but Pony felt better, even if it was just a tiny bit. He did not use the blade that night.
In the morning Pony's newfound sense of peace was shattered to pieces. Pony opened his eyes and saw Johnny's bed empty. They had moved one of their parents' beds into Pony's room so Johnny wouldn't have to be alone, in case he needs anything. So now Pony's room had 2 beds – 1 on each side of the room by the wall. Seeing Johnny's bed empty, Pony felt panic rise up in his chest. He threw the blanket off and sprinted out of the room.
As he entered the kitchen, he stopped in his tracks. Johnny was sprawled on the floor on his side, and the wheelchair was shoved aside and tilted. Seeing Pony, Johnny lifted his head a little – "'m ok, don't worry about it Pone." Pony felt lost for words, it was as if someone just electrocuted him and now he couldn't move. "Wh…what happened?"Were the only words he was able to say.
"I … ,"Johnny paused, "I needed to use the restroom, and I didn't want to wake you up." Pony froze, then he realized Johnny was still on the floor. He ran up to him, and turned him over to see his hand with a huge scratch mark bleeding. "Oh Johnny." Pony got the wheelchair, and was going to help Johnny to settle in, but Johnny swatted his hand. "I need to be able to get into the wheelchair on my own, you can't always be there to help me."
"Ok," Pony nodded, he was paler than a sheet. Johnny took in Pony's disturbed appearance. He tried to force a smile – "don't worry 'bout it, I have gotten much worse from my old man, this is nothing." Pony about lost it, he hung his head and started sobbing.
"Oh, Pony, please don't cry. I am not worthy of your tears." Johnny said affectionately. That only made Pony cry more.
All of the sudden the door opened, and Darry walked in, "what's going on?" he rubbed his eyes. Pony quit crying right away, and was about to say something, but Johnny spoke up first – "Nothing is wrong, I am just trying to learn to get into the wheelchair on my own, and Pony is helping me."
"Alright then, let me make some coffee." Darry proceeded to brew his coffee, while Johnny used his hands to pull the torso and legs into the wheelchair. Pony was standing next to him ready to catch him in case he fell. Johnny failed a couple of times, but then he succeeded, his face was sweating profusely, but he was smiling.
Pony on the other hand, was far from smiling. He was burning on the inside. He felt such agony and such defeat. He would give anything to see Johnny walk again. He only wished it was him in the wheelchair or better yet that those socs had drowned him in the fountain. Then both Johnny and Dallas would be fine. "Pony," Johnny's soft voice interrupted Pony's thoughts. Pony snapped his head up at Johnny, "We need to leave soon." Pony realized they were both still wearing their pajamas so he wheeled Jonny back to the room. They changed and left for school.
Pony felt like he needed a drink. He remembered both Dallas and two-bit tell him that it takes your mind off of things. But, of course he didn't have a drink. He had to be content with cigarettes. He smoked one after another. Johnny was shooting him worried looks, but didn't say anything.
The day seemed to drag forever. At least socs got the message. They didn't bother Johnny, and Pony was able to wheel him from class to class. People were still giving them weird looks, but Pony didn't care anymore. He just wanted to get to the end of the day so he could get some beer. Darry always had some in the fridge - mostly for two-bit rather than himself.
When they got home, Johnny looked tired. "I'm going to take a nap," he croaked.
"Sure, let me help you get in bed." Pony said softly.
"I got it," Johnny said, and Pony sighed.
Soon enough Johnny was asleep. Perfect, Pony thought, he grabbed one beer out of the fridge. Darry won't notice it is missing, he reasoned. He got the blade too, and proceeded into the washroom. After he drank, he hid the empty bottle under his bed. He felt weird. Am I drunk, he thought dully. He drifted off to sleep, but was awaken by the door opening and the sound of heavy footsteps. Darry, he thought. He quickly grabbed a book to pretend he was reading.
Soon there was a knock on the door. Pony opened it. "Hey," Darry said. Pony put the book aside and pointed at Johnny who was asleep, Darry and Pony walked out of the room to talk so they don't wake Johnny up.
"How was your day, were the socs bothering you or Jonny?" Darry had a stern look on his face.
"Not the slightest bit." Pony shook his head.
"Good," Darry nodded "but I got some bad news." It in that moment Pony yelled, "Please don't tell me Johnny has to go live with his parents." Darry raised his eyebrows, "No it's not that. I got a call from our social worker." Pony frowned, "Don't tell me they are splitting us up," he whispered.
"No," Darry paused, and Pony sighed in relief.
"But they were notified about you being suspended, and they are sending you to community service." Darry said reluctantly.
"What?" Pony ran his fingers through his hair. Darry shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, "yep, it's bad I know, but at least they are not splitting us up."
"Where?" Pony asked, leaning against the counter.
"At the warehouse for tiger parts."
"You mean the auto parts supplier?"
"Yeah, you'll be packing auto parts into boxes at their warehouse."
"Great," Pony said, sarcasm in his voice. "When do I start?"
"Saturday."
"It's on the weekend?" Pony frowned again.
"Yeah," Darry swallowed hard, "that's the whole point. They are punishing you by making you work on the weekend."
"Assholes," Pony pouted.
On Saturday at around 9 a.m. Pony was entering the tiger parts warehouse. It was all the way downtown in a really rundown part of Tulsa. As he entered, the smell of dust and machine oil hit his nose. The place was huge – wide and tall with isles and isles and shelves and shelves of boxes and boxes. Pony could spot some forklifts in a distance. Then he looked to the side, and noticed a small desk. Behind the desk was a guy dressed in tiger parts uniform. He was sipping tea and looking through some sort of magazine. He noticed Ponyboy. "You the new guy?" He yelled. Pony nodded – "I am here for community service." "Over there," the guy pointed his finger. Pony looked in that direction, it wasn't really telling him where to go since the place was so huge.
Pony started walking ahead, and then turned behind the isle. He saw two big guys carrying boxes. They were tall and they were wearing white tank tops and you could see their muscles, which were huge with tattoos all over them. Even Darry could envy those muscles. Pony looked closer - they seemed to be twins – only one had Elvis' haircut while the other's head was shaved. They were maybe 20 or 22 Pony thought. The one with Elvis hair cut turned around and noticed Pony, "You are the new guy?" Pony nodded.
"I am Elvis," and Pony thought it better be a nickname, in the mean time the guy continued, "I run the show here, you need anything you go to me, I check your work at the end of the day, what's your name?" Pony felt deflated in the presence of this "bodybuilder" "Ponyboy," he said looking down. Elvis snorted, "Hey Mikey, we got a Ponyboy over here." The twin smiled, "you don't say." and the light reflected in his fake diamond earring.
In the distance Pony saw another guy, he had jet black hair, and it was long - up to his waist, gathered in a ponytail. He was wearing tiger parts t-shirt and jeans. "That's Alex over there," Elvis said putting the box down, then nodded "lemme show you what you are supposed to do." He started walking through the isle, he stopped at a conveyer belt. "So, in the morning we receive the orders. Alex reviews them and then places here," he pointed to a small bin that was on the floor. "You pick it up and take the first sheet. You check the items on the orders, and take them from the shelves and place them into boxes, then bring the boxes to the conveyer belt." He looked Pony over, "you ever run a forklift?"
"Never," Pony shook his head, "alright, I'll show you later," then he looked Pony over again, "anyway, what'd you do to get here?"
"Got into a fight," Pony said simply.
Elvis snickered, "'s that right? You are kind of scrawny." Pony felt his face go red.
"Alright, you can start," Elvis placed a pair of gloves in Pony's hands. "You get a break at one for half hour, then we finish at five."
Pony started reading the orders, and then getting the items and placing them in boxes. He had to use the ladder to reach top shelves, and he nearly fell down a few times. He was just going through motions. He was not focused on the task. All his thoughts were about Johnny. He was sweating, the boxes were pretty heavy even though he didn't have to carry them, he placed them on a cart and wheeled them to the conveyer belt. Wheeling the cart reminded him of wheeling Johnny, and he felt like he just wanted to get out and run.
By 1 p.m. Pony was spent. He punched in his time card and almost ran outside. He immediately got his cigarette out and tried to light up. It was windy, and the wind kept putting the cigarette out. Pony felt adrenaline rush through his body, he was getting mad. He figured there was no wind behind the building so he took the cigarette between his fingers, and started walking around the building.
As Pony approached, he saw Elvis, Mikey, Alex and another guy whom he hadn't seen before. They were sitting on the grass in a circle. They didn't notice him. At first he was confused, but then he saw Elvis pass a pipe to Mikey. They are smoking pot, Pony realized. He was about to go back, but Elvis spotted him. "Hey Ponyboy," Elvis called. He was clearly high, and his eyes were sparkling like two sapphires, "you are not going to tell on us are you?" Elvis crossed his arms.
"No," Pony shook his head, he was quite shocked. Mikey snorted, "He is not going to tell if he knows what's good for him." Mikey sounded dangerous. Elvis' lips curved into a smirk, he looked at Pony's cigarette – "whatta ya smoking over there, get the real stuff," Pony's eyes grew wide.
"Here," Mikey stretched his arm with the pipe. What a hell, Pony thought, maybe it would make me feel better, plus he didn't want to look like a wuss in front of these guys. He walked up and took the pipe from Mikey's hands.
Pony carefully took a seat on the grass, and took a drag on the pipe. He didn't feel anything so he took another drag and another. "Easy," Elvis chuckled, "you need to give it time to start working." Pony passed the pipe to Alex. He waited for about five minutes, then he started feeling lightheaded and a little dizzy, but it wasn't bad dizzy, it actually felt nice. He looked at the guys and he couldn't make out what they were talking about. "Look at him, are you going to pass out on us?" Alex looked a little panicked.
"No," Pony shook his head. He felt at ease and very relaxed.
Pony looked over at Elvis – "So you like Elvis?" He blurted out all of the sudden.
Elvis smiled, leaning backwards, propping his torso on his hands – "he is the king."
"Yeah," Pony propped his head on his hand, and nodded enthusiastically, "he is. I like him too. I even got his records at home."
"Tuff," Elvis said, then added, "tell you what, you want to have real fun you go hang out with us this evening." Elvis was clearly high, and it made him act nice. Pony nodded – "alright." Then Elvis looked at his watch – "time to go bitches." Pony giggled and started getting up. The other guys started getting up too. Elvis took a small bottle out of his pocket – "here," he gave it to Pony. Pony looked at the bottle confused. "Some cologne so you don't smell like marijuana." Pony took the bottle and sprayed on his wrists and t-shirt. The other guys did the same.
For the rest of the day Pony kept working, but he was feeling much better. These are some tuff guys he mentally smiled, he wondered where they would take him in the evening. Finally it was 5 p.m. Pony placed the last box onto the conveyer belt. … To be continued.
