Chapter 5

The week passed by pretty quickly for the Curtis Family. The house was full of excitement for many different reasons. The gang talked about the rumble all week, while the Curtis members were trying to forget the rumble but focus on their family trip to Oklahoma City for Pony's State meet. Steve agreed to trade vehicles with Darry for the day, so the Curtis' would have more room when traveling. Steve didn't mind to much for he was working most of the day anyways and wouldn't really need any wheels. The Curtis' were at the breakfast table before any of the boys had arrived yet and Darry noticed that both Sodapop and Ponyboy were being awfully quiet.

"Guys tomorrow is a big day. We'll have to be leaving here around 4:00 in the morning, so that means you two will need to be in early tonight." Darry was looking back and forth between Ponyboy and Sodapop. "It's to bed early for us all." Darry added the last part to let Sara know that this meant her too.

"How do you expect that to happen with the rumble tonight, Dar?" Pony asked scooping up some scrambled eggs from his plate.

"Easy, because neither of you will be any where's near that rumble." Darry said sternly.

"Can't we just go and watch?" Pony continued to try to get the answer he was hoping for out of Darry.

Darry started laughing. "Yeah, right. Like you guys could stand just going and watching from afar. That's a good one Pony, but the answer is still no." Darry got up and walked his plate over to the sink. "I know I can trust you, right little brothers?" Darry needed to hear it from them to believe it. There was something in his head that was telling him that one of them wasn't going to listen to him. Darry was looking at both boys but neither said anything but both did nod their heads. "I want to hear it boys." Darry warned.

"I promise, Darry, I won't be going anywhere near the rumble." Sodapop said placing his plate down in the sink.

"Glad to hear it." Darry slapped Soda's shoulder. "Ponyboy?" Darry tuned and was glaring at him.

"I'm not going anywhere near the rumble, Dar." Pony said quickly moving his eyes from Darry's.

"Good, and Sara, I don't want you going anywhere near that rumble either." Darry moved over and started tickling Sara in the ribs and laughing, this got the rest of the Curtis family laughing too.

"I wouldn't ever do that, Darry." Sara was wiggling and laughing trying to get out of Darry's hold.

"That's my girl." Darry stopped torturing her with tickles and let her loose. "Now let's get ready to leave." He tapped her bottom and gently pushed her towards the bathroom. The boys showed up right as everyone was finishing with their morning routine.

"Who's ready for a rumble?" Steve hollered while entering the Curtis' house.

"Hate to tell you this Steve, but you've got a whole day ahead of you before that happens." Darry said grabbing his keys from the table. "Your job right now is making sure my little brother here makes it to school, and on time."

"Have you've changed your mind about letting these two fight tonight?" Steve asked while throwing a punch at Sodapop.

"No." Darry was grabbing Sodapop by the sleeve to get him out the door.

"Then, I guess you have a whole day ahead of you before changing your mind." Steve wise cracked back at Darry.

"No I don't. The decision was already made 5 days ago, and nothing is going to change my mind about it, so you can just drop it Steve, and get Ponyboy to school, would ya?" Darry, Sodapop and Sara were making their way out the door. "Have a good day." Darry hollered over to Ponyboy.

"Bye Guys." Ponyboy said picking up his lunch bag and books off of the counter, "Let's get to school." Pony said while trying to get Steve and Two-Bit out the door.

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The whole gang still gathered at the Curtis' house even though Darry made it clear for the millionth time that no Curtis member would part take in this rumble.

"Sodapop, leave Superman and the kid here at some and come fight with is. I'll watch your back, you know that. If the Fuzz shows I'll make sure to get you outta there. You can always make up some excuse. Tell Superman you're going to the dance tonight with Sandy or sneak out, you used to be good at that. We need you there, I need you there." Steve had cornered Sodapop in the kitchen to try one last time to convince him to come along.

"Steve you know you're making this ten times harder for me than it already is. You don't think I don't want to be there? It is friggin' killing me not going with you guys. Seeing you all ready to go, Jesus, I want to be there with you, but I just can't this time. You know damn well that Darry and I would be there in a heartbeat if we could, but this is what we need to do to keep Sara in this house. If Mrs. Roberts ever showed up tonight and knew that we had been fighting it would be over." Soda said snapping his fingers to reiterate how fast it would happen. "I can't, I just can't" Soda said pushing Steve out of the way.

"I've never been in a rumble without you, Man." Steve grabbed Soda's shoulders to stop him to listen. "It won't be the same. Whose ass will I have to be saving?" Steve was now trying to make light of the situation.

"Hey, watch it! I think it is the other way around there buddy. Plus you know you can always come back here after and fill me in on all the details. I'll live this one through you this time. You better kick their asses. I don't want to hear anything else. You got it?" Sodapop playfully slapped Steve's cheek. As Steve and Sodapop were walking back into the living room they heard Two-Bit loud laughter.

"We're gonna kick some Soc ass!" Two-Bit was jumping up and down, trying to control his adrenaline.

"While you're jumping around there Two, you can drop 10 cents into that jar." Soda said taking a seat down on the couch. Two-Bit was in such a good mood he didn't even think twice about dropping the dime in.

"Jesus, the thing is filling up fast. We'll be able to treat ourselves real soon." Two-Bit was digging in his pocket realizing what he just did.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Darry said laughing at Two-Bit watching him drop another dime into the jar.

When Sara entered the living room she couldn't believe how loud it was. The boy's voices were much louder than normal and they were trying to compete with the music that had to be turned up to at least 9 or 10. Two-Bit and Dally were practicing throwing punches at each other and were dancing around the room while Sara tried to slip around them without getting bumped. Darry watched Sara as she was making her way towards Sodapop and Steve who were on the couch. "Tone it down some, guys." Darry was afraid what might come out of their mouths next and didn't need Sara's ears hearing any of it.

Sara was trying to squeeze in between Sodapop and Steve, as she was sitting down she announced to the room, "Why are you guys so excited about fighting? I don't think I would be to excited if I knew I was going to get hurt and on purpose."

"Greasers and Socialites, that's who," Steve said squeezing the back of Sara's neck, making her scrunch up her shoulders.

"Pretty stupid if you ask me." Sara said trying to push Steve's hands from the back of her neck.

"Well, we didn't ask you kid. And someday when you're older you'll get it." Dallas said stopping from his practice fight with Two-Bit and picking up his beer from the coffee table. "Come on, Dar, there is still time to change your mind about joining us. Leave the runt here with Ponyboy and you and Sodapop come join us. We sure could use your muscles." Dallas said taking another guzzle from his beer.

"You already know what I am going to say, Dallas. So might as well save your breath." Darry and Dallas locked eyes and just starred at each other for a moment, letting their eyes do all the talking that needed to be done between the two. Finally Darry broke the lock and spoke to the boys. "I want you to all use your heads out there. Don't try to take everyone on at once. Focus on one guy at a time. Help each other out and if you notice someone in a jam. Try not to stay in of the middle of the fight. Try to stay on the edges so that you can see everything in front of you. When you get in the middle there is to much action going on around you and then you end up taking a worst beating than you should. We'll be here waiting for ya all if you want to come back here. The couch will be open for anyone that needs it, ya all know that. I just ask that you keep it down for we have an early morning. We are leaving at 4:00 in the morning so if you stay here, just be prepared that we will be up and about early on. But you are more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. I will try to help with any injuries that you might need help with." Darry finished giving the boys his speech and looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was 15 minutes of 7. "Now, get going, you don't want to be late." Darry stood up from his chair to bid the boys a farewell. "Good luck, boys." Steve was high fiving Sodapop from the couch and moved over to Darry where Darry was slapping each of the boys on their back as they were leaving. Two-Bit, Dallas and Steve were hooting and hollering as they descended down the Curtis' porch. Ponyboy and Johnny got up and started to head for the door as well when Darry put out his hand to stop them. "Where do you two think you're going?"

"Just to sit out on the porch for a while." Ponyboy said pushing Darry's arm out of the way.

"That's as far as you better be going. I am going to get Sara in the tub and Sodapop will be right here watching, so you better not go wandering off anywhere." Darry warned. "Sara, tub time." Darry motioned for Sara to get up from the couch and move on back to the bathroom. Ponyboy and Johnny let the screen door slam behind them but did have a seat on the porch steps and pulled out some cigarettes. "Sodapop just keep an eye on them." Darry said following Sara to the bathroom.

"Sure thing, Dar." Sodapop said getting up to shut the radio off and to turn the tv on.

Darry helped Sara get into the tub and stayed for a few minutes to help wash her hair. He couldn't believe how much easier it was now with it was so much shorter. "Darry, how come you guys like to fight?" Sara had been wondering this for a while now.

"We don't like fighting Sara, but sometimes it's the only way to solve a problem."

"It didn't look that way to me. The boys looked very happy and excited to be fighting." Sara was only being honest with Darry and calling it as she saw it. "So is it ok for me to fight if I need to solve a problem?" Sara asked.

"No, it's not ok for you to fight. " Darry knew that this conversation was not heading in the right direction so he tried to change it. "So, Sara we have a long day tomorrow, you know this right?" Sara nodded her head in agreement. "I need you to be on your absolute best behavior. You need to listen and follow direction. It is a big place we're going to and there is going to be lot of people there so it is important that you do as you're told. Got it?" Darry was starting to have second thoughts on letting Sara come with them; this sure was going to be an adventure, that he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"I got it. I'm excited to go on a road trip. I'm so glad that Steve is letting us take Old Bessie. You don't think she'll break down do you? That would be terrible!" Sara was starting to worry that they would be stranded on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere and that Pony would miss the meet.

"Stop worrying. Sodapop checked Old Bessie out today, he fixed anything that he thought might be a problem. We'll b ok. I am going to check on your brothers and make sure they're still here. I'll be right back." Darry got up and wiped his hands off on the hand towel and walked out to the living room. To his amazement, both Sodapop, Ponyboy and even Johnny were watching tv, good he thought. All day he had this eerie feeling that something was going to happen to one of them. He was glad to see that wasn't the case after all. The boys were watching Truth and Consequences with Bob Barker. Ponyboy and Sodapop were bickering about who was right and who was wrong. Darry had heard just about enough of it. "That is enough you two. Sodapop can you go get Sara out of the tub for me?" Darry thought the way to get these two to stop for sure was to separate them for a few minutes.

"I'll do it. This show is stupid anyways." Ponyboy offered up and headed back to get Sara.

"Sara, are you finished? Darry sent me in here to come get you." Sara was surprised to see Ponyboy. He never helped with stuff like this.

"Why are you helping? You never help me get out." Sara was pushing the drain down when Ponyboy walked over to the edge of the tub with her towel.

"Does it matter?" Ponyboy lifted Sara out of the tub and wrapped her up in her towel. "I'm here to help; I would think you would want to take it." Pony hissed at his sister.

"Ok. I'll take it." Even though Sara still thought this was weird but followed her brother down to here room.

"Here put these on. Are you all set?" Pony looked at his sister hoping that she would say yes.

"Yup." Sara answered struggling to get her shirt on over her head. Pony could see she was struggling some, he let out a heavy sigh, even though he was antsy he walked over and helped her get it over her head.

"There. You think you can manage your pants ok?" He asked walking back over to her door.

"Yes." She sure thought that Pony was acting funny but didn't want to start anything with him tonight before his big day tomorrow.

"Good then. I am going to my room." Pony walked out and looked down the hall into the living room. He could see Darry reading the paper and could hear Sodapop talking to Johnny, but Pony wasn't in the mood to join them so he entered his room instead. He flopped himself on the bed and his head was spinning with so many thoughts. Even though he had just had a cigarette he was still feeling jittery. He got up off his bed and was wandering around the room; it was there that his eyes landed on his window that was wide open, maybe just maybe the thought.

Soda and Johnny were sitting and watching the game show when Johnny turned to Soda and said, "What's taking Pony so long?"

"Ponyboy? What's taking you so long?" Sodapop yelled out to Pony. There was no answer. "Ponyboy? Are you coming back out?" Soda yelled again. By this time Darry had lowered his paper.

"Ponyboy, come on out here." Darry tried, and still no answer.

"You don't think he?" Before Sodapop could even get the rest of it out, Darry was up and out of his chair faster than lightening striking. Darry rushed to Sara's room.

"Sara, have you seen Ponyboy?" Darry asked with a little panic in his voice.

"He told me he was going to his room, but that was a few minutes ago. Do you think he's ok? He was acting weird." The second Sara said he was acting weird Darry left her room and darted into the boy's room, there he found Sodapop looking at the wide open window.

"He didn't. Sodapop tell me he didn't?" Darry was looking at Sodapop in disbelief. "Stay here! I mean it Sodapop!" Darry was trying to hold back Soda from fleeing out the door. "I can't risk you too. I'm going to get him!" Darry headed out the door and started running towards the field. Soda couldn't let Darry go alone he needed to be there.

"Johnny, stay here with Sara. If she comes out, tell her we'll be right back." Soda was out the door before Johnny could say anything. Soda could see Darry's dark shadow speeding up the road. Soda's head was racing. How could Ponyboy do this? But then again he doesn't know the circumstances that they are under with Mrs. Roberts. He didn't know that they were so close to being torn apart, but not only that, what if he gets hurt? He'll be throwing all of his opportunity away at State's tomorrow. "Stupid kid!" Soda said into the wind as he raced after Darry and Ponyboy.

"Johnny?" Sara called out into the living room. "Where is everyone?" Sara had heard the commotion and the screen door slamming a few times and knew she needed to come see what was going on.

"Umm. Sara, they had to go do something." Johnny wasn't expecting to have to deal with this; he was completely caught off guard.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't they have come and told me they had to go somewhere?" Sara moved over to look out the screen door as she was looking around the truck caught her attention, and then she moved her eyes from the truck to Steve's car and then to Two-Bit's car. Everyone's vehicle was still in the drive, so how would they go anywhere? "Johnnnny?" Sara started to say. "They went to the rumble didn't they? Pony went to the rumble didn't he?" Johnny slowly got up so not to scare Sara but he needed to be ready just in case she tried to do something crazy. "Didn't they?" Johnny noticed that Sara's hand was going towards the screen door.

"Sara!" Johnny hollered but it was to late, Sara had already pushed the door open and was heading out of it before Johnny could stop her.