"Darry why didn't we go after those Socs that jumped Pony? I'm sick of them giving him trouble. Next time I'll make sure they don't ever go near him again."

"We don't know exactly who it was." Darry said. "I would've liked to get my hands on them too. I still don't understand why they'd take him Oklahoma City."

Soda shrugged and took another bite of pizza. "Some stupid joke I guess."

"Yeah but that's a five hour round trip from here. I don't know why they'd go to that much trouble just to get even with a fourteen year old kid."

"He didn't even do anything." Soda said, angrily.

"I know." Darry said. "I'm considering beating the crap out of Tim." Darry and Sodapop suddenly heard the front door swing open and a cursing Steve stomp in. Soda got up and poked his head out of the kitchen. "What happened?" He stopped when he saw that his best friend was stumbling all over the place. "You're drunk, sit down." He went over to Steve and put a hand on his shoulder.

"My old man." Steve grumbled. "I swear I hate him!" He said and fell down on the couch. "He thinks he knows everything. My or my mothers opinion doesn't mean nothing as far as he's concerned. I wanna knock him out cold sometimes."

"What's up?" Darry asked, walking out and surveying the scene. Steve's dad kicked him out a lot and later he would always apologies. Apologies don't mean anything though if you go and do the same thing again. Steve lived with a great hatred for his father.

"He's drunk." Soda said, nodding towards Steve who was groaning a bit and holding his stomach. Darry wondered if he'd throw up.

"Well I can see that but what happened? You don't usually get drunk for no reason at all. You're dad giving you trouble again?"

"Yeah. I hate dat upid bastered." He mumbled.

"How many beers did you have?" Darry asked. "I ain't seen you like this in a long time."

Steve shrugged. "A whole buncha em, I had a whole bunch. I'm gonna go sleepy sleep now." He said and laid his head down on one of the couch pillows.

"You are gonna have a killer headache in the morning Stevie." Soda told him even though he couldn't hear him. Steve would be out for the rest of the night. "How many you figure he had?"

Darry shrugged. "To many is for sure." He turned to Soda. "If you ever do that I'll skin you."

Soda smiled. "I know." He sighed. "Darry, I was thinking that maybe I could go down to Florida to see Sandy. I know the address and-"

"That won't work little buddy. You know that. Do you have any idea how much a plane ticket to Florida would cost? And when you got there where would you stay? A hotel? Besides you can't go all by yourself and I sure can't go with you."

Soda nodded. "I know. I'm gonna go check on Pony." He walked into his room and Ponyboy was lying on his bed reading like he always was. "Hey kid."

Ponyboy looked up. "Hi. I heard Steve out there cussing like crazy. What happened."

"His old man." Soda said and that was all he had to say. "Pony you didn't really have a history test today, did you?"

Ponyboy chewed on his fingernails and didn't say anything for a minute. "I'm gonna go to bed." He said and got up to go to the bathroom. Soda sighed and shook his head as he watched his brother walk off.

***

The next day Darry got a phone call from the guy they had crashed into. Repair to his car was gonna cost three hundred dollars. Darry choked back a gasp and got the mans address so he could give him a check.

"Crap!" He yelled as he slammed down the phone that morning.

"What's wrong?" Soda asked, as he ate his chocolate cake.

"That guy called. You know the one that we ran into last week. I owe him three hundred dollars. That's just gonna make money tighter this month than it already is."

"We'll pull through, Dar." Soda gave him an affectionate punch on the shoulder.

"Yeah." Darry sighed.

"Darry, can I have a few bucks?" Ponyboy asked, coming into the kitchen.

"You picked a great time to ask him that." Two-Bit said, laughing. He had overheard the conversation from his position on the living room carpet where he was watching Mickey Mouse.

"What for?" Darry asked.

Pony shrugged. "I dunno, I just want some money. I spent all of mine."

Darry shook his head. "That's your problem, little buddy."

"Well can I have my allowance then?"

"You don't get allowance till Sunday. It's the middle of the week. What makes you think I'm gonna give it to you now?"

"It was worth a try." Pony said. He turned to Two-Bit. "We gotta go."

"I know." Two-Bit said, standing up and stretching.

Darry was busily writing a check and Soda peered over his shoulder. "What do you want nosy?" Darry asked.

"Nothing." Soda said. "You gonna mail it to him?"

"No, I'm gonna drop it off at his house on the way to work. His place is close anyways. It'll save me the hassle of buying stamps. Have Pony and Two- Bit left yet?"

Soda shook his head. "I think their on their way."

"All-right, we gotta go too." Darry said. "Steve get your lazy ass off the couch."

"Hey, how come you get to say stuff like that and I don't?" Pony asked, once he'd released himself from Two-Bits head lock.

"Because I'm a grown up. Go to school. Ya'll are gonna be late and so am I if I havta tell you again."

"I hate hangovers." Steve grumbled as they all walked out. "I think I'll go home and sleep all day."

"Soda you gonna go see that new girl you met?" Pony asked before walking down the street with Two-Bit.

"I don't think so." Soda said, getting into the truck. "I ain't ready."

Two-Bit rolled his eyes and pulled on Pony's arm. "C'mon kid. Your brothers out of his mind."