Soda swung his legs off the couch, causing me to land ungracefully on my side.
"I was talking to Johnny, and I fell asleep in the lot!" Ponyboy half yelled. Darry's eyes were smoldering.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't think! I forgot! That's all I ever hear out of you! Can't you think of anything?"
"Darry…" Sodapop started, but Darry whipped around.
"You keep your trap shut! I'm sick and tired of hearin' you stick up for him." Darry yelled at Soda, who looked taken aback.
I pressed myself as far back against the couch as I could, something bad was going to happen. I could nearly taste the tension and anger in the room.
"You don't yell at him!" Ponyboy shouted. Darry spun around and smacked Pony hard, and he stumbled back against the door. All three of them stood there frozen, and then Ponyboy turned and ran out the door. Darry started to go after him, but Soda grabbed his arm.
"Give him some space, Dar." Soda said, pulling him back gently. The elder brother just stood there staring out into the cold, muttering to himself with a shocked look on his face. Soda finally closed the door, and Darry turned and settled himself on the couch. Soda sat at the kitchen table, looking at the newspaper, but not actually reading it. I could tell his mind was somewhere else.
I walked over to him and nudged his hand with my nose. He looked down at me with a halfhearted smile, and then stood.
"I'm gonna go to bed now, ya need anything?" Soda asked cautiously. Darry just shook his head without a word, and Soda headed off down the hall. I laid at my usual place on the floor by his head, but the room felt empty. Soda's breathing didn't get heavy like it usually did, and there was no tossing or turning from Ponyboy to keep me awake. Finally Soda rolled over onto his stomach, and looked down at me.
"Shadow? You wanna come sleep up here tonight? I miss having someone next to me." he whispered. I hesitated a second, and then jumped up next to him. It was hard to walk on, but I managed to crawl over next to him and settled down by his side. I heard him smile a little in the dark, and a few minutes later he put his arm across my body like he used to do with Pony. Finally I could tell he was asleep, and I drifted off soon after.
The next day I woke up slowly, my back pressed against Soda's bare chest as he breathed heavily. I wriggled out from under his arm, trying not to wake him, but I accidentally did. He sat up and looked around, letting out a long sigh. He slipped on a shirt and headed into the kitchen, where Darry was wolfing down some eggs.
"I gotta go in early to work, so I can leave early and go out lookin' for Pone. See ya later Sodapop." Darry announced, and headed out the door. Soda leaned back in his chair and looked through the mail. All of a sudden he stopped, and his face changed into some unreadable emotion. He slowly opened the letter, and walked back into the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed, and I could sense the waves of strong emotions coming off of him. First he was confused, then hurt, and then pure sadness was rushing off of him. He let the letter fall to the floor, and let out a choked sob. I only caught a glance of the name signed at the bottom of the letter, but it was there, clearly printed. Sandy.