Chapter Thirty-Five
Confrontation
"Soda, wake up!"
Soda gasped for breath. He shot up, bolt upright as his eyes searched the space in front of him frantically. Slowly he began to take in the details around him. The light in the room was on. His familiar bedroom came into focus. He remembered that it was nighttime. After laying around most of the day they had all finally retired to bed.
As Soda caught his breath he looked over and saw Pony sitting on one side of him. That wasn't unusual. Then he turned and was surprised to find Darry on his other side, looking at him with concern.
"Sorry Darry," Soda said quietly as he felt his heart rate slow down. It had been a while since one of his nightmares had woken Darry as well. "Did I wake you?"
There was a glance passed between Darry and Pony, but Soda was too tired to try and figure out what it meant. "Yeah, it's okay, though," Darry said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Soda said as steadily as he could, which wasn't nearly as steady as he wanted it to be. He glanced from Pony to Darry, feeling uncomfortable like he was on display as they looked at him. He just wanted to disappear. "Sorry for waking you guys." Slowly he lowered himself back down and pulled the covers up over him.
"Soda," Darry said slowly. Soda looked up at him, not liking the tone in his voice. He could tell it was going to be a conversation that he didn't want to have. "Soda, if you're still havin' nightmares this long after coming back… maybe we should think about gettin' you some help."
"I'm fine, Darry," Soda said, not even considering the idea.
"You're losing a lot of sleep," Darry said. "That's not good for you."
"I'm not losing that much sleep," Soda mumbled stubbornly.
"You've been having nightmares every night," Pony pointed out slowly.
"It'll get better," Soda said. "I just need some time." There was a pause and Soda rolled over, putting his back to Darry. "Please," he said quietly. "Please, just give me some more time…"
He heard Darry sigh and then he felt his hand on his shoulder. "Okay, little buddy," he said.
Soda closed his eyes as he listened to Darry's retreating footsteps. He saw the light go out from behind his eyelids and then heard the door close. He felt his muscles relax. A moment later he felt Pony carefully climb back into bed.
"Soda?" Pony said carefully.
Soda reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at his little brother's form in the dark. "Yeah, Pony?" he asked wearily.
"You really think it'll get better?" he asked tentatively.
Soda was silent. He wasn't sure what to think anymore. But the thought of talking to a complete stranger about what he had been through was just too difficult to even consider.
"Yeah, Pony," Soda said, hearing the uncertainty in his own voice. "It'll get better… eventually…" He reached over and pulled Pony in close to him. I hope…
XxXxX
Two-Bit rolled over, blinking hard against the light in the room. It took him a moment to realize where he was. He had ended up crashing on the Curtis' couch in their living room the night before. It certainly wasn't the first time, but it felt different this time. The house felt emptier.
"Mornin', Two-Bit."
Two-Bit looked up to see Darry in the kitchen, already starting on breakfast. With an effort he heaved himself up off the couch and joined Darry in the kitchen. "Mornin'," he mumbled. He glanced around. "You the only one up?" he asked.
"Yeah, looks like it," Darry said shortly.
As Two-Bit sat at the kitchen table he studied Darry. He looked a little more tense than usual. "Did somethin' happen last night?" Two-Bit asked slowly.
Darry sighed heavily as he turned and leaned up against the counter, letting the scrambled eggs cook in the pan for a minute. "Soda had another nightmare last night," he said. "Pony came and got me before he woke him. He was talkin' in his sleep…"
"What was he sayin'?" Two-Bit asked.
"Most of it didn't make much sense," Darry said. "But he just sounded so… scared. I've never known Soda to be so scared of anything before."
"Well, he has been through a lot over the past year," Two-Bit pointed out.
"Yeah," Darry agreed. He paused. "I suggested that he should see someone."
"How'd that go?" Two-Bit asked, though he could guess what the answer was.
Darry shook his head. "Not well," he said. "He didn't even consider it. Just said that he just needed time." He paused. "I just don't know what to do anymore… I feel like this is way over my head, you know?"
Two-Bit nodded. "Yeah, I get that," he said. He felt the same way and wished he had some kind of suggestion to give Darry but he couldn't come up with anything so they lapsed into silence.
Darry turned and went back to cooking breakfast. As he finished Two-Bit helped him moved everything to the table. Just as they finished setting up they finally heard sound coming from down the hall. Soda was the first one to appear in the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane and already dressed for work. He didn't say anything as he maneuvered himself into one of the chairs and as Two-Bit studied him he could see that there were bags under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept much the night before… or possibly all week for that matter.
Darry eyed Soda wearily as he sat as well, but didn't say anything either, he just silently passed Soda his breakfast. They all began eating, though Two-Bit noticed that Soda was mostly just pushing his eggs around his plate. A few minutes later Pony came out and joined them, dressed for school. They all ate in silence. Not even Two-Bit could think of anything to say.
Pony was cleaning up breakfast before Darry finally broke the silence. "Soda… it'd be okay if you wanted to call in to work today," he said slowly.
"Why would I do that?" Soda asked, his voice a bit flat.
"Well, yesterday was kinda a rough day," Darry said.
Soda shook his head. "I can't just sit around here all day," he said.
Darry sighed but was obviously in no mood to make an argument of it. He simply let it go as he stood up and helped Pony with the dishes.
"You want a ride to school, kid?" Two-Bit asked Pony. "I got my car outside, we could drop you off before work."
"Yeah, sure," Pony agreed, though without much enthusiasm. It was certainly a dull morning.
"Pony, you got a cigarette I could bum?" Soda asked.
"Uh-huh," Pony said, pulling a pack and a lighter out of his pocket and handing it over to him.
"I'll be outside when you're ready," Soda said in Two-Bit's general direction as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. He turned and made his way from the room and they all listened to the door close behind him as he went out to the front porch.
"I don't think he ever really went back to sleep last night," Pony said quietly, glancing up at Darry.
Darry sighed. "Maybe I should make him stay home," he said slowly.
"I think it'll be better for him to get out," Two-Bit finally spoke up. "I'll keep an eye on him today."
"Yeah, okay," Darry said. "Thanks Two-Bit."
"Sure Darry," he said. "You almost ready, kid? We gotta get goin', I gotta stop by my house and grab my work clothes."
"Yeah, just a sec," Pony said. He disappeared down the hall and reappeared a minute later with his backpack.
The two said goodbye to Darry as they headed out the door. They spotted Soda standing on the porch, leaning up against the railing with a half smoked cigarette in his hand, his eyes staring off vacantly.
"Ready Soda?" Two-Bit asked. Soda didn't move, like he hadn't even heard him. Two-Bit exchanged a glance with Pony who shrugged. "Soda?" he said a little louder. Still no response. Pony started to step forward but Two-Bit reached out and held him back. He felt cautious after the last time Soda had accidentally hurt Pony. Ponyboy would never be able to look at his older brother as being dangerous in any way, but the truth was Soda was unpredictable. Two-Bit slowly approached Soda. "Soda?" he said carefully as he reached out and gently touched Soda's arm.
Soda jumped as he flinched away from Two-Bit's touch, looking around frantically for a moment. Two-Bit tensed. Finally Soda's gaze rested on him. "Two-Bit?" he said quietly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Two-Bit said. "I was talkin' to you… but you didn't seem to hear me."
Soda nodded, still looking a little shaken. "It's okay," he said.
There was an awkward silence. "You ready?" Two-Bit finally said. "We gotta get goin'."
"Yeah, okay," Soda said.
They made their way down the stairs and out to the curb where Two-Bit had left his car. Once they were all in Two-Bit started the engine, turning the key and listening to the engine cough several times before it actually started.
Once they had gotten to Two-Bit's house, he asked the brothers if they wanted to come in. Soda immediately declined and then Pony did too. Two-Bit sighed. He headed into the house and quickly changed for work before heading back out to the car. The ride was quiet as they dropped Pony off at school before heading for the DX.
Their boss at the DX hadn't been able to hire anyone to replace Steve yet so it was just Two-Bit and Soda working the day shift. Day shifts were usually pretty slow anyway. Since Two-Bit wasn't very good at fixing cars it was a given that he would work the counter while Soda worked in the garage. Two-Bit felt a little nervous leaving Soda in the garage by himself, but he figured that at least he wouldn't have to deal with any customers. Periodically Two-Bit would wander around the store, pretending to be stocking when in actuality he was just going to the far side of the store where he could see out the window and into the garage. Each time he did he saw that Soda was actively working on different cars. Two-Bit figured that had to be a good sign. At least he was keeping busy.
The day was long and slow. Even though there wasn't a whole lot to do, at lunch time Soda refused to take a break and instead elected to keep working. Two-Bit ate his lunch in the garage while Soda worked and they talked a bit about nothing in particular. Finally at long last their shift was over and their replacements showed up.
"Soda, it's quittin' time," Two-Bit called as he walked into the garage. He glanced around, confused when he didn't see Soda at first.
"Yeah, okay," Soda called.
Two-Bit followed the sound of his voice and saw him working his way out from under a nearby Ford. He knew for a fact that Soda hadn't worked under a car since his injury, Steve had always done that. Unfortunately Steve wasn't here anymore. And Two-Bit knew there would be no telling Soda that he really shouldn't be doing that because it would be really easy for him to get stuck. So Two-Bit elected not to comment.
Soda groaned as he tried unsuccessfully to pull himself to his feet. He glanced over at Two-Bit. "A little help?" he asked.
"Sure," Two-Bit said. He moved over and grabbed Soda's hand, pulling him to his feet. Then he glanced around. "Where's your cane?"
Soda looked around and then cursed. "It's still under the car," he said.
"I got it," Two-Bit said.
Soda leaned on the car as Two-Bit crawled under it and found his cane. He handed it to him and they headed out of the garage and climbed into Two-Bit's car. However as Two-Bit went to start the car, no matter how many times he turned the key the engine only coughed tiredly.
Finally Two-Bit sighed and looked over at Soda. "You wanna take a look?" he asked.
"Sure," Soda said.
Two-Bit got out and walked around the car to help Soda out of it. Then he went to the front of the car and popped the hood. Two-Bit watched at Soda poked around the engine for a few minutes. He didn't know how Soda and Steve were so good at fixing cars. As he stared at the engine he could hardly tell left from right. It just looked like a mess of metal to him.
"Your carburetor's shot," Soda finally said, looking up at him. "I don't think I can fix it, you'll probably need a new one. I can take a better look at it tomorrow."
Two-Bit swore. He was about to ask if Soda could fix it tonight and then thought better of it. He looked dead tired as it was. Now there was the problem of how to get Soda home. "Maybe we could call Darry for a ride," he thought out loud.
Soda straightened up and looked at his watch. "He won't be home for another hour," he said. "It's not that far, we can just walk."
"You feel up to that?" Two-Bit asked carefully, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
"Yeah, I've done it before," Soda pointed out. "C'mon."
Two-Bit sighed as he slammed the hood of his car back down. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed Soda out of the parking lot and back toward the Curtis house. To avoid the awkward silence Two-Bit chatted about anything that came to mind and thankfully Soda made an effort to respond every once and a while. He was clearly still feeling down, but at least he was making some effort. Two-Bit also noticed that Soda seemed to be moving pretty well and wasn't wincing very much. He hoped that meant that Soda was finally improving.
They were still several blocks from the house when a loud honk from behind them caused them both to jump, Soda more so than Two-Bit. They both whipped around to see a red Mustang behind them.
You've got to be kidding me, Two-Bit thought to himself. Could anything else possibly go wrong these days? It seemed that the Greasers luck was worse than ever.
The car came to a stop as several Socs began climbing out. There were four of them. Two-Bit's hand automatically went to his back pocket where his switchblade was supposed to be. He cursed to himself as he found the pocket empty. He had been in such a rush to change this morning that he had forgotten to take the blade out of the pocket of his other jeans. To his knowledge Soda didn't carry a blade. His gaze swept the ground around them, but didn't see anything useful.
"Hey Greasers," one of the Socs drawled.
"You're pretty far out of your territory there, buddy," Two-Bit said casually. "You better watch yourself."
"C'mon, Greasers, how 'bout a ride?" another Soc sneered.
"Gee what a kind offer," Two-Bit said sarcastically. "I think we'll pass though."
"I wouldn't pass so quickly," the Soc said. "Looks like your friend could use a lift."
Two-Bit glanced over at Soda, who's features had turned stone cold as he gripped his cane so tightly that his knuckles where turning white. At least he didn't look too skittish.
"We can manage just fine," Two-Bit said. Normally he would be all for a fight, but he really didn't like this situation. He knew that Soda could certainly fight if it came down to it, but he was unstable and had the obvious weakness of his injured leg. And if he went into one of his flashbacks there would be no telling what would happen.
One of the Socs stepped up and shoved Two-Bit hard in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. "Now you don't have to be rude," he spat.
Before Two-Bit had a chance to react suddenly Soda was in front of him and had hit the Soc with a hard jab to the face. That was all it took. Two-Bit pushed all his doubts aside as he lunged at the Socs who were surging forward. The fight was on.
Two-Bit did his best to stay near Soda but suddenly he was aware that he wasn't at his side anymore. That wasn't good. He tried to look around but the Soc he was fighting grabbed his arm and yanked hard in the wrong direction as he pulled him back around and landed a punch directly in his face. Two-Bit retaliated even as he felt blood pouring down his shirt from his nose and a throbbing in his shoulder. He finally managed to knock the Soc down to the ground and took the opportunity to look around again. He spotted the other three Socs all trying to shove Soda into the back of their Mustang, who was fighting back fiercely. He certainly wasn't helpless.
Two-Bit charged the Socs and managed to pull one of them off of Soda. With an arm free Soda managed to whip a fist around and pounded it into the side of the head of another Soc, causing his head to bounce off of the car before he collapsed. They each landed a few more blows before the Socs began retreating to their car. Two-Bit saw the opportunity and grabbed onto to Soda – who showed no signs of letting up and had one hand on the car for balance – and pulled him away from the car. This allowed the Socs to drag the Soc that was barely conscious into the car before they took off.
Together he and Soda stumbled over to the curb and fell to the ground, Two-Bit still sitting upright while Soda lay down in the grass. Two-Bit took a moment to catalog his own injuries. His knuckles were bloody and his nose was throbbing, though it had thankfully seemed to stop bleeding. His right shoulder was really sore but as he slowly rolled it he was relieved to find that it wasn't dislocated. The rest seemed to be just bumps and bruises and he was relieved to find that.
He looked over at Soda, who was laying in the grass next to him with his eyes closed, breathing heavily. He had a split lip and there was a pretty good bruise forming along his jaw, but other than that he seemed to be intact.
"Soda, you okay?" Two-Bit asked. Soda didn't answer and Two-Bit slowly reached over and touched his shoulder. "Soda?"
Soda opened his eyes and that was when Two-Bit realized that he was grimacing hard with his jaw clenched. "My leg," he groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut again and put his hands up over his face.
Two-Bit cursed. "How bad?" he asked.
"Real bad," Soda moaned through clenched teeth. Then he let out a string of swear words that would have made Dally proud.
Two-Bit glanced around. He realized what was missing… again. "Where'd your cane go, Soda?" he asked. He really just wanted to get Soda home.
"Broke," Soda muttered through his teeth.
"What?" Two-Bit said, confused. He looked around again and then saw what he meant. He saw two perfectly round sticks laying in the road a few feet away. One of the Socs must have snapped Soda's cane in half somehow. Two-Bit cursed again. That damn cane just didn't fare well in their neighborhood. It automatically made him a target.
Without his cane in this situation was going to be a problem. He looked back down at Soda. It was the most pain he had seen him in. And Two-Bit wasn't in great shape himself. How were they going to get back to Soda's house?
"Just go," Soda said, seeming to read him mind. "Go and get Darry. I'll wait here."
"I can't just leave you here," Two-Bit said. "They might circle back. C'mon, you can lean on me."
Soda shook his head tensely and looked up at him with pain in his eyes. "I can't," he said. "It hurts too bad."
"Just try," Two-Bit implored. "At least get a little closer then I can just run to the house. The vacant lot is just two blocks over. C'mon, you know Darry'll skin me if I leave you here."
Soda sighed but reluctantly nodded. Two-Bit reached down and helped Soda slowly sit up. Two-Bit pulled himself to his feet before reaching back down and pulling Soda to his feet. Soda hissed with pain and all his muscles were tense. Two-Bit immediately saw the problem though. In order to support Soda on the side with his injured leg he had to support him with his hurt shoulder. Two-Bit moaned inwardly. This was going to be a particularly long trek.
"Don't put any weight on it," Two-Bit told him as he put Soda's arm over his shoulder, trying not to grimance too much.
With a deep breath they started forward with Soda putting most of his weight on Two-Bit and Two-Bit biting the inside of his cheek against the pain in his shoulder. As they went along Soda gripped Two-Bit's other shoulder hard, but he kept quiet, seeming to retreat deep within himself. It was slow going but Two-Bit didn't want to risk hurting Soda's by trying to hurry. When Soda was silent as they reached the vacant lot Two-Bit decided to just keep going. At long last they reached the Curtis house. Two-Bit was relieved to see Darry's truck parked in the driveway because he wasn't sure if he would be able to get Soda up the porch steps.
They paused as they reached the bottom of the porch steps. Two-Bit kept his hold on Soda, afraid that let him sit even for a minute he wouldn't get back up.
"Darry!" Two-Bit called, a hint of desperation in his voice. "Darry, help!"
Darry same out of the house a minute later at practically a run, Pony on his heels. "What the hell happened?" he demanded as he hurried down the stairs.
"Help me get him inside," Two-Bit said.
Darry ducked under Soda's other arm and practically lifted him off his feet. Working together they carried him up the stairs and into the house. Without pausing they made their way through the living room and back into the bedroom. As soon as Soda hit the bed his composure crumbled. He grabbed his leg as he rolled onto his side and curled into himself as he groaned loudly.
"What happened?" Darry asked again.
"We got jumped by Socs while we were walkin' home," Two-Bit explained. "He hurt his leg pretty good. The Socs also broke his cane."
Darry swore. He turned to Pony who was hovering in the doorway, looking concerned. "Go get some asprin and some ice," he said.
Pony disappeared and came back a moment later with the things that he asked. With some coaxing they got Soda to take four asprin and then put the ice on his knee. Soda lay very still, though he was still tense with the palms of his hands pushed into his eyes. Eventually, accepting that they could do nothing more for him right now they left him and went out into the living room.
"So why the hell were you two walkin' home from work?" Darry asked, turning on Two-Bit.
"My car wouldn't start," Two-Bit said as he made his way over to the couch and fell down onto it. He put a hand on his hurt shoulder and rolled it gently, wincing.
"You okay?" Pony asked.
"Hurt my shoulder," Two-Bit muttered. "Any asprin left?"
Two-Bit leaned back heavily on the couch as Pony brought him the bottle of asprin. He popped four. He sighed, feeling exhausted. It had been one day since Steve left. If this was a sigh of how the next year was going to go, he wasn't sure how any of them were going to get through it.