Chapter 33
Pony felt the bed jostle a little and when he started to come to, he realized that someone was slipping into bed beside him. Pony rolled over to see that it was just Soda. "Where ya been Soda?" He asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Shhh, Pony. Go back to sleep." Pony managed to catch a glimpse of the clock on the night stand, twenty pass two.
"Soda it's two in the morning, Darry's gonna kill you." Pony whispered.
"No he won't Pony. Now, please just roll over and go back to sleep." Pony did as he was told but not before questioning Soda. "Soda?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you still mad at Darry? Because I think he's sorry that the two of you fought tonight." Sodapop drew Pony closer to him.
"Don't worry about Ponyboy. It'll be alright." But before Pony could ask any more questions about their fight, Pony could hear Sodapop's light breathing and knew he was already asleep. His questions would have to wait until tomorrow he guessed and with that he closed his heavy eye lids and fell back to sleep pretty quickly himself.
The whole Curtis family finally was awarded some much needed sleep that Saturday night into Sunday morning. When the boys walked through the front door they all shared a gaze. For the house was deathly quiet. There wasn't a noise coming from anywhere. No tv on, no radio, no laughter, no fighting, nothing. Dally was so surprised that he actually walked back out the door and looked to make sure that Darry's truck was in the drive. When he spotted that it was, he sauntered back into the living room. "Hello?" Dally yelled through the house. "Anyone home?"
"I don't think anyone's here." Two-Bit said nudging Dally.
"I'm home!" Sara squealed rushing into the kitchen to greet the boys.
"Hey, Little Curtis, where are your brothers at?" Two-Bit asked digging around the fridge for something to eat. "No one's cooked yet."
"I don't know, I guess they're still sleeping. Are ya gonna cook Two-Bit?" Steve and Dally started laughing.
"Well, let's see. I can try cooking up some chocolate pancakes." Two-Bit joked.
"Over my dead body." Darry's voice came behind the refrigerator door.
"Hey, it's Superman, right on cue. Nice job there, Dar. Saving the day, as usual." Two-Bit didn't get to much more out before Darry slapped him upside the head.
"Got any more to say there, Two-Bit?" He grumbled trying to slam the refrigerator door closed.
"Nah, I'm good." Two-Bit smiled while handing Darry a cartoon of eggs and the bottle of milk.
Steve and Dally took a seat at the table and began a conversation that was purposely started for Darry's ears. "So, Steve, guess who was hanging out with Shepard's gang last night at Bucks?"
"Got me Dal? Could be anyone I suppose."
"Not just anyone, my friend." Dal said slyly. "I'll give you a hint. He lives here in this house." Well the minute Dallas said that Darry swirled around and shot daggers towards Dally with his ice cold eyes. "Yeah, I guess he needed to blow off some smoke when he ran into Tim, Wil and Chris. They brought him to Buck's. I met up with them after Johnny and I dropped Ponyboy off here." Dally knew just what he was doing, and started playing it up even more with Steve and Two-Bit.
"I thought he stayed home last night because Sandy was babysitting?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, well, I was hoping that Darry here could enlighten us with why Soda took off with Tim."
Darry turned to Sara and spoke with authority. "Sara, go see if Ponyboy is up yet?"
"Do I have too?" Sara asked sliding out of her chair which was soon taken by Two-Bit.
"Yes." Darry warned. Sara hesitantly walked off towards the boys' room where she kept looking back over her shoulder to see if she could catch anymore of the conversation that she knew she was being sent away from on purpose. Darry moved closer to the hall so he could make sure that Sara was out of ear shot before he engaged in any further conversation with Dal. Once she had pushed open the boys' door and disappeared into the room, Darry started right back in. "What the hell where you guys up too? He better of not been drinking."
"Whoa, Dar. I'm just trying to help out here. I just thought you would of liked to know who your brother was keeping company with last night, that's all."
"I asked you if he was drinking, Dally?" Darry was now towering over Dallas.
"No, Darrel. He wasn't drinking. Didn't touch a drop the whole time I was there, and I don't think he did before that either. They were just shooting the shit and playing pool. That's all. But if I was you I would keep a tighter leash on Sodapop. I don't think hanging out with Tim might be the best thing for him."
"Thanks for the advice there, Dal. I'll keep that in mind the next time he storms out the door."
"Hey, no need to get defensive, Man. I'm just trying to help that's all."
"More like trying to start trouble." Steve coughed and muttered.
"I'll start trouble with both of you if you don't cut the shit right now!" Darry warned as he was mixing up some pancake batter.
"Let's take this out onto the field after breakfast, how does that sound boys?" Two-Bit asked hoping for some fun entertainment for the day.
"Sounds good to me, I've got the day off from the station. What about you Dal? Johnny?" Steve asked looking from face to face.
"Sure, it's not like I have anything going on." Johnny said softly.
"Well, I was going to head over to the stables and check out JD's new horse."
"Oh, c'mon Dal, you can do that another time." Johnny urged. Dally stopped and noticed Johnny's puppy dog eyes and gave in. "Alright, I guess I'll stick around for it."
"What about you Dar? Sound good?" Steve said getting up to head towards the ruckus he heard coming from the boys' room.
"It's on." Darry said smiling at the thought of having a good reason to take a hit or two on Dally for starting this crap first thing this morning. "What are they doing in there?" Darry shouted down the hall after Steve and Johnny who were heading in the same direction. The two boys walked in to what was Sara being tickled to the bone by Ponyboy and Sodapop. When Steve cleared his throat to get their attention it didn't stop them much.
"Well just don't stand there looking like statues, help me." Sara requested. Steve and Johnny just looked to each other and Steve shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry no can do. I don't play reindeer games."
"Ahh, Sara did you hear that? Steve doesn't play reindeer games. If it's not reindeer games than what type of games do you play?" Soda asked joking.
"Football. So get your candy asses up so that we can get our game on. I think Darry's a little ticked at Dally this morning, so this will make things even more interesting. So get up."
"I want to play too!" Sara yelled with excitement. The boys threw her gently off the bed as they too started to climb out. Steve leaned into the room closer and whispered to Soda.
"What the hell were you doing hanging out with Shepard last night?"
Soda looked a little surprised that Steve already knew this but then again if Darry was ticked at Dally this morning it problem meant that Dally was running his mouth about it. "Dally?" Steve shook his head up and down. "It was nothing. Shepard and Chris played pool against me and Wil. That's all. Just blowing off some steam that's all. I needed outta this house after Darry and Sara had their talk, and I knew you were with Evie. I just ran into them while I was walking around the neighborhood."
"Ah, I knew that it had to be something. What did you and him get into over Sara's punishment? Because Soda you know damn well she deserved everything she got."
"It wasn't really about that, it was just some other stuff. I'll tell ya about it later. C'mon let's go get some breakfast." The two walked out of the room together when Soda laughed and said, "Football game huh? Darry must still be pissed off at me then, but hey, let him get it out this way. Hell, it's better than me having to listening to him yell all morning."
Steve shared the chuckle with Soda as they entered the kitchen where Sara was begging Darry to let her play. "Please Darry? Take something else away, anything, but just let me play. I won't complain or whine or anything like that."
"Oh let the little squirt play Dar. Even though she's being punished the kid still needs to get some of that energy out somehow." Dallas always enjoyed when the Sara played in the games with them, she added a little more fun to it at times. She was pretty tough and didn't mind taking a soft hit or two.
"I would think that the 9 mile hike yesterday was enough exercise for the weekend." Darry corrected Dally.
"Yeah what's up with that? I heard Tim talking about it last night with this twit." Dallas said grabbing Sara out of her chair that she had just regained occupancy back from Two-Bit. "Now, you're pretty lucky I wasn't there with Tim yesterday because you know I would of dragged your ass home. Tim must be going soft or something, because I'm surprised he didn't do it himself. Next time you get into the car with him, you got it." Darry was trying to hide his smile from the group. Even though Dallas Winston could get his goat, he was good to have around for the look of fear on Sara's face was enough for Darry to know that she probably would do just that next time.
"There's not going to be a next time." Darry added to the conversation.
Sara took her hands and placed them on Dallas' checks. "Yeah Dally, there's not going to be a next time. I promised Darry so." Dally quickly placed his hands over Sara's and pulled them off his cheeks, but smiled.
"Don't be such a smart ass." Dally warned but quickly came to her defense with Darry and the game. "So Dar, can she play or not?"
"Let her play man. She's a good little addition to the game." Two-Bit added. Darry carried a plate of pancakes over to the table and noticed Sodapop had walked in with Steve. The two exchanged a glance but no words were said between either of them as Soda slipped into his seat at the table.
"I'll thinking about, but for now the subject is closed." Darry looked directly towards Sara and Dally.
"Ok, ok," The two said in unison. The group ate and just sat around chatting about this and that, until Darry cued them to start cleaning up. They all pitched in to help so that they could get out onto the field sooner. Ponyboy noticed that Darry and Sodapop were still tip toeing around each other but it didn't seem to bother Sodapop as much as it looked like it was bothering Darry. Pony was hoping for some time to talk to Soda about it more. He overheard Steve whispering to Soda in their room about hanging with Shepard's gang last night. And Pony didn't like hearing about it anymore than probably Darry did. Pony didn't have anything against Tim, but knew that they had promised Darry and Mrs. Roberts that they would stay out of trouble, and let's admit it; Tim always could find trouble, without even trying. The group started to toss the football around in the living room while waiting for the Curtis boys and Sara to get their act together, until Two-Bit accidently missed the catch from Steve and knocked the lamp off the end table, breaking the light bulb as it came crashing down.
"What the hell?" Darry asked running in from the back of the house.
"It just broke." Two-Bit said trying to pick up the pieces with his bare hands.
"Right, just broke my ass." Darry turned to go get the broom and dustpan. "Get out of my house with that thing. And Two-Bit, stop trying to pick it up with your hands, you're gonna cut yourself." Sara and Pony had run in to see what all the commotion was when Darry caught them both by the arm. "Whoa! Not so fast you two. Go get some sneakers on before entering. We don't need to be picking out glass from your feet." Both kids stopped but didn't attempt to move any further.
"Darry, my sneakers are by the door." Pony said trying to get a little closer to the living room.
"Mine too." Sara joined in.
"Then just wait here. I'll get it cleaned up in just a minute."
"But I want to get outside with the guys." Pony said pouting.
"Jesus, Pony, stop acting like a child. You can wait 2 minutes until I get the damn mess cleaned up."
"Yeah Pony, stop acting like a child." Soda said mimicking Darry's statement, but slapping Ponyboy on the back to let him know he was just harassing him. Soda watched Darry as he moved back to the kitchen to get the broom. Sodapop decided he was still pissed at Darry so he was gonna test Darry's authority some more. Sodapop walked right into the living room with just his socks on. But this soon set off a chain of events because as Ponyboy watched his older brother disobey Darry he too decided that he was gonna walk right in as well. When Darry came back he saw both Ponyboy and Sodapop by the front door putting their sneakers on.
"Nice, Sodapop, nice. I should be telling you not to act like a child." Darry reached down and patted Sara on the shoulder. "Thanks for being the only one to listen, Kiddo." Sara returned a big smile back towards Darry for appreciating that he had taken note that she was trying to be good, but Soda still being pissed had to get his two cents in and bring Sara's moment down.
"Yeah well that's because she knows she needs to be good, or else you won't let her play." Darry was getting a little fed up with Soda's attitude and was secretively hoping they weren't on the same team so he could get a couple of hard hits on his younger brother and maybe knock that attitude out of him. The odds were pretty good that he and Soda wouldn't be on the same team, they usually never were. Darry already knew what the teams were gonna be and couldn't resist the smiling tugging at his lips.
"Soda, that's not nice!" Sara yelled towards her brother.
"Just ignore him Sara." Darry advised while finishing up with the broken light bulb. "Go get your sneakers on." Sara moved around Darry cautiously and grabbed her sneakers from behind the door. She glanced up to Soda and couldn't resist herself even after Darry's warning.
"Why would you say that Soda? That hurt my feelings." Sara said with sad eyes.
"Sara, just drop it. Soda's just grumpy this morning because he was out late last night." The two oldest Curtis boys shared a glare before Darry added "A lot later than he should of been." He stressed. Soda slammed the screen door opened with his fist and scrambled out to meet the boys so he didn't have to listen to Darry and Sara anymore.
"Wait up, Soda." Pony hollered after him. Sara not wanting to let Soda get the last word in also started to scramble towards the door when Darry caught her by the back of her overalls.
"Not so fast there young lady." Sara tried moving her legs to get away from Darry when she noticed that they were moving but she was not. Darry had managed to pick her up off the ground so that she was just dangling in midair. When she stopped her legs from moving Darry plopped her in the armchair. "Now, I know that you're not gonna want to hear this, but I've made the decision that you can't play with us today."
"Ahh, please Darry!"This news instantly devastated Sara. "I've just gotta play. The boys all said I could, please Darry. You can take anything away from me, just let me play." Darry knew that Sara thought that he was punishing her because of yesterday but that really wasn't what he was doing. And he wasn't doing it to be mean either. He was doing it to keep her safe. Darry knew that this could possibly be a pretty rough game and he didn't want to take any chances of her getting in the way, not to mention that possibility of getting hurt. But now he needed to explain this so that she would understand it. Yes, she was going to probably be pouty and would hold it against him for the rest of the day, but that was a chance that he was willing to take.
"I think that it would be best if you just watch." He tried to rephrase it.
"That's not fair!" Sara said shooting up from the chair, crossing her arms against her chest and stomping her foot.
"Watch it, Sara." Darry warned the instant her foot hit the floor making a loud thud.
"I don't get it. I've been so good this morning, you said so yourself, Darry. Please, pretty please? Just let me play. I've just gotta play Darry."
"Sorry Kiddo, but not today. You can come and watch or play nearby but not in the game."
"But why Darry? Why can't I?" Sara whined.
"Because I'm afraid you might get hurt today, that's why. It will be safer to just watch." Just as Darry was going to try to explain more Two-Bit had run up to the door and pressed his face up to the screen and peered into the house.
"Darry, are you coming or not? We're ready to rock and roll. C'mon the animals are getting restless, and you know what happens when they get restless." Two-Bit said through the screen with his goofy grin on.
"Yeah, yeah, tell them we'll be there in a minute." Darry gently placed his hands on Sara's shoulders and spun her so that he could see her face. "Sara, I know you probably think I'm being mean, but this is how it's gotta be." Darry could see the disappointment written all over her face so he thought by offering to spend time with her after would help. "After the game I'll throw the ball around with you if you still want." Sara just released a long, hard sigh. At the moment she didn't know if she still wanted to do that with Darry after being made to sit and watch all the action. She knew there wouldn't be any action after the game, everyone would be tuckered out and that disappointed her even more.
"Darry! Sara! Get your asses out here." Dallas yelled from the front yard. Darry moved his hand from her shoulder to her back bone and gently tapped her to move on out the door.
The boys were ragging on each other about what they were gonna do in the game while still tossing the football around. When they heard the screen door bang against the house they noticed that Darry and Sara were finally making their way out. Sara took hold of the rail and hung her head low while running her hand over the chipping paint of the rail. She couldn't possible make contact with any of the boys, especially Dallas Winston. She was on the verge of tears and she knew the minute that Dally said something, or made contact she wouldn't be able to hide the tears that were filling in her eyes.
"It's about time." Dally hollered at the two. "I thought we were gonna have to send in a search party for you or something."
"Are we picking teams here, or over at the field?" Two-Bit asked while opening the gate.
"We'll pick over there." Darry answered while still keeping his hand on Sara's back to make sure she stayed in his reached. As the two approached the boys at the gate, Dally couldn't help but noticed the frown on Sara's face, and he surly couldn't help what came out of his mouth next.
"Darry, stop being a douchebag. Let the kid play."
"Watch it, Dally. The last time I checked I was her guardian, and I'll make the decisions around here that pertain to her or these two here." Darry said pointing to Ponyboy and Sodapop.
"That's evident." Sodapop shot over to Darry. He just ignored it though and already had a plan in store for both Sodapop and Dallas Winston. The group of boys started walking down the middle of the road not caring one bit about any traffic that might be coming or going.
"It's just wrong, Man." Dally continues while still looking straight at Sara who was kicking at every rock or pebble that she came upon. He swiftly moved over and whispered real low. "Darry can't force you to stay put the whole time. When I give you the signal, you come play. Kay?" Sara's shot her head straight up and flashed Dally her pearly whites.
"You mean it Dal?"
"Sure do kid. Have you ever known me to lie?" He said smirking.
Sara let out a sweet little giggle, for she had known Dally to do a lot of thing and she was pretty certain that lying was one of them. "What are you filling my sister's ear with?" Darry asked giving Dally a friendly shoved that landed him right into Sara. Sara was half on the tar and half on dirt when her ankle rolled off of the tar and onto the shoulder of the road causing her to begin to stumble. "Whoa, there Sara. I've gotcha." Sara was relieved that a set of strong, muscular arms had just caught her and that she wasn't eating rubble at the moment.
"Thanks." Sara said with relief.
"Are ya hurt?"
"Nah, just rolled my ankle I think." Sara gave out a little whence.
"Try walking on it." Sara wiggled free from the strong grip and took a few steps. It hurt a bit, but nothing that she couldn't handle. After a few steps her older brother was content that nothing serious was wrong. He was just glad that he was there to catch her fall.
"Nice job there Dal." Darry said taking the opportunity to give Dally another shove.
"If you'd quit shoving me around Darry, then I wouldn't of bumped into her in the first place." Dally noticed that Sara was moving a bit slower than she was before and he felt a slight pang of guilt run through him. He stopped Sara by the back of her overalls just like Darry had done back at the house. Dallas crouched down and bent forward. "Here, jump on and I'll give you a ride." Sara didn't hesitate and jumped onto Dallas' back. "Gosh, Darrel what are you feeding this kid? She's gotta weigh like 60 pounds." Dallas joked.
"Hardly, I wished she weighed 60 pounds. Try like 45 pounds; well that's what it was at her last check up anyway."
"What are you old ladies doing back there? Jeez whiz, my grandmother can walk and gab faster than that." Two-Bit teased.
"You just wait Keith! Payback is a bi…" Darry stopped himself for Sara sake.
"Payback's what there, Dar?" Two-Bit knew exactly what Darry was gonna say, and why he stopped, but he couldn't resist to continue teasing Darry about it. "I'm not too worried about it, Superman."
"You should be." The group had soon arrived at the edge of the field and Dally lightly tossed Sara down onto the grass and gathered around to determine what the teams were gonna be.
"Ok, so let's set the rules. First team to score 10 points wins. There is a two point conversion only if the scorer makes it back to the other end line. One hand touch has to be made from defender in order to stop the play. After two incomplete passes in a row, possession returns to other team. Two complete passes in a row results in a 1st down. All players are considered eligible receivers and there can be a snapper if your team chooses. We'll start with a shift between two offensive players at the beginning of play. Now teams… I'll quarter back for one team, who wants to quarterback for other?"
"I'll do it." Steve offered.
"Ok, teams. Steve, Dallas and Sodapop against me, Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Johnny."
"If you let Little Curtis play, we would have even teams Dar." Dally tried again.
"If ya gonna whine about it Dal, then we'll make Two-Bit all-time quarterback."
"Sounds good to us." Sodapop answered for his team.
"Fine, Two-Bit?" Darry and Sodapop where still shooting each other dirty looks.
"I'm good with it. Let's flip and get this game started." Two-Bit said digging in his jeans for a coin. "Darry call it."
"Tail" Darry called while Two-Bit flipped it in the air. As it landed all seven heads bent down to see what the result was.
"Tails it is. Darry do you want to receive or kick off?" Two-Bit asked picking up his coin from the grass.
"Kick off. Definitely kick off." Darry pulled Ponyboy and Johnny off to the side out of ear's shot of the other boys, but meanwhile Sara had ventured out onto the field trying to sneak into their little huddle. Darry had started on the play. "Ok, I'm taking Dallas, Johnny you take Sodapop and Pony you take Steve. Two-Bit always tries to find Dally and Steve first, so Pony you'll need to be ready for him to go to Steve because he sure as hell isn't gonna get far with Dally."
"I'll get Two-Bit." Sara piped in while giggling. Darry looked down and noticed that Sara had snuck into the huddle.
"Sara, I said no. Now go sit back down over there and wait."
"Ah, Darry, please?" But before Sara had time to say anything else Darry was leading her back over to the sideline, or basically the edge of the grass. She moped back and flopped herself down on her belly and propped her body up with her elbows. She watched on as the boys started their game. And as Darry had suggested to his team, Two-Bit did in fact try to send the ball sailing in Dally's direction but it was a short lived effort because Darry was all over Dally the second he caught it, and he landed a big hard hit that was for sure.
"Jesus Darry, that was a little more than a two hand touch." Steve accused coming over to help Dally up.
"Huh. I didn't notice." Darry glared down at Dally who was slapping Steve's helpful hand away.
"Do you feel better?" Dally asked pushing himself up off the ground. Both boys knew exactly what that hit was all about.
"I'll let you know later." Darry taunted. He then turned and jogged back over to his team and whispered to Pony. "Johnny, this time you cover Dallas and I'll take Sodapop." Johnny kind of gave Darry an eye but didn't dare say anything. Darry noticed and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder, "We're changing it up some. Keeping them on their toes."
"Ok, Darry." Johnny said clapping his hands to break. The boys all lined up playing their positions and Two-Bit did exactly what Darry had predicted he would. Thinking that Darry was still covering Dallas he moved to his left and tossed a bomb to Sodapop who was already high tailing down the field, but his speed was not enough for Darry. Darry made a v cut and was side by side with Sodapop when Soda made the catch. Darry delivered a hard hit on Soda right side.
"What the hell, Dar? Are ya forgetting we're not in pads?" Soda screamed while trying to push his older brother off of him.
"Nope, just showing you who's boss that's all." Darry soon realized though that it was indeed a much more forceful hit than was necessary and tried to hold his hand out to help Sodapop up. It was kind of like his peace offering. Soda took one look at it and pushed it away like Dallas had just done moments earlier to Steve.
"Oh, you're real good at showing people who's boss aren't ya, Dar? Just look, Sara's the perfect example of that. Making her sit and watch, that's real nice. But I guess you're right Dar, you're real good at showing people who's boss. I got the statement loud and clear last night. So I think you can lay off some now. I'd like to stay in one piece throughout the rest of the game." By this time Steve had marched over to see what all the talk was about.
"Trash talkin' already you two?" He asked as he pulled on Soda's arm to get him back in the huddle.
"Nah, just him." Soda said tossing a thumb towards Darry's direction. Darry just shook his head at Sodapop and jogged back to his team's huddle. Sara couldn't stand just sitting there watching the boys play, so she watched Darry and the minute he turned his back to her she jumped up and raced over to the boy's huddle. She slipped between Soda and Dally and listened to the call that Two-Bit was making.
"No, that's not gonna work. Darry will figure it out." Soda spoke after listening to the play Two-Bit just called. "He's out for Dally and me. You'll need to find Steve this time."
"But he's gonna know that because he's the only one I haven't gone to yet."
"Sneak it to me. I'll run it in for a touchdown. Darry doesn't even know I'm over here. If you keep me hidden behind the formation he won't know. Please Soda?" The boys looked down at Sara thinking about what she had just said. "Please let me play Soda, it's so boring over there."
"What about your ankle?" Dally ask raising an eyebrow.
"It's fine, really. Please Soda?" The boys turned their heads in Soda's direction like they were waiting for him to make the decision.
"You know that Darry will be mad, and that he'll probably punish you for playing, right? I'm not gonna come to your defense when that time comes Sara." Soda remarked.
"I know. I just want to play." Sara said jumping up and down.
"Ok, then. Boys you know what to do," Soda clapped his hands and yelled, "Break." Dallas, Steve and Sodapop stood hip to hip, while Sara had one hand in Sodapop's back pocket and was hiding behind him. They moved up to the line of scrimmage and listened for Two- Bit to call the play. Sara still had a hold of Soda's pocket when the three boys separated from the line of scrimmage and she started running with Soda. But what the other team didn't know was that it was a fake play. They thought that Two-Bit had the ball in his hands and was ready to throw it to Steve who was now on the left side of the field but in fact Sara had the football tucked in her left hand and was running behind Soda for protection. The play didn't fool Darry for too long, for he noticed that Sodapop had an awkward stride to his run and soon saw Sara tailing behind him. Darry left coverage of Steve and started to dart across the field towards Sodapop and Sara when he hollered to Ponyboy for help.
"Pony, cut Sodapop and Sara off." Pony turned from coverage of Dally and noticed Sara and Sodapop. The two were almost to the end line and no matter how much speed Pony put on he wasn't gonna catch them, but he didn't want to disappoint Darry so he tried anyway. Pony was racing the field like the wind but by the time he was just about to tackle Sara her little feet crossed the end line, touchdown!
"I scored! I scored. Soda, I scored!" Sodapop picked Sara up and swung her around.
"It worked, Kiddo! You did real good! Real good."
"Good? She did great! Little Curtis you dig, real good." Dally said patting the top of Sara's head. Steve had even managed to make his way over to congratulate the kid for her score.
As the team was celebrating they heard a gruff voice announce. "Score's no good."
"What?" The boys yelled in unison.
"Everything was clean, Dar. She crossed the line fair and square." Steve challenged Darry's declare.
"No, everything wasn't clean. She had direct orders to not play. She wasn't an eligible player."
"What's up your ass today Darrel? She was on the field before the count. You're just pissed because we scored first." Dally started heading straight to Darry.
"Didn't you hear the rules at the begin Dally? She wasn't an eligible player. I told her she couldn't play so no score."
"I'm outta here. I don't need this shit. It was a fair score, just because Superman has a stick up his ass today doesn't mean I need to stay around and deal with it." Dallas swiftly moved his way across the field towards the road. Johnny hadn't really heard the conversation but could tell by the deepen wrinkles in Dal's forehead that things weren't good.
"C'mon Dal. Just stay." Johnny called out. Dally didn't even stop to listen to the kid, but instead kept strolling towards the road. "Dal, wait up, Man." Johnny quickened his step to try to catch up to Dallas but wasn't having any luck. "Dal!" He tried again, but this time louder. Dallas final swung around and stopped for the kid.
"What?" He hissed.
"Just wait up a sec." Johnny had finally made it to Dal a little out of breath but he made it. Dallas stood waiting impatiently, fidgeting in his pocket looking for a cigarette.
"Got a cancer stick Johnny?"
"Yeah, right here." Johnny pulled out a half empty pack of Kool's and a lighter, handing them over to Dally. Dallas grabbed them for the kid and quickly light one up. He took a long drag and turned his head so not to blow the smoke in his friend's face. "Why are you bailing?" Johnny asked with a slight nod back towards the field.
"Just feel like it, that's all. I want to head over to the stables to check out the new horse. You want to tag along?" Dallas knew that this was putting Johnny in a tough position and all, but to be honest he could use some company, company that could possibly keep him from doing something stupid.
"I don't know Dal, the game and all." Johnny managed to muster up the courage to say. Dallas took one more glance over to the gang who looked like they were still arguing over the score.
"Yeah, well, I just thought I would offer. Maybe next time then?" Dal asked slapping Johnny on the shoulder and tossing him back the pack that was now down three. Johnny frowned noticing that more than one was missing. Dally took note and tried to defend it. "For later." He grinned and started back towards the road. Johnny silently watched his buddy wander towards the road, and once Dallas was heading east and was no longer visible he turned to see what the gang was up to. He noticed that Darry was escorting Sara by the collar to the sideline and placing her on the grass. It looked like to Johnny that she had gotten her one and final chance of having any fun today. As he was passing by he heard Darry reaming her out.
"I told you to stay here. Now if you can't stay here than I'll make sure you do. Are we clear?"
"But I just wanted to play Darry."
"I know what you just wanted little girl." Johnny tried to flash Sara a sympathetic smile but Sara missed it do to Darry getting into her face. "Sara, please just let us play. If I notice you sitting here and being good, maybe towards the end of the game when everyone is getting tired I'll let you come in for a play or two, how does that sound?"
"Ok, I guess." She replied with not much enthusiasm.
"Good." Darry ruffled her head and started back towards the boys when he caught up with Johnny. "Dal quit huh?"
"Yeah, he wants to get to the stables to see JD's new horse."
"Well, makes teams even now I guess." Darry met back up with the guys. "You boys want to finish this game or what?"
"Sure." They answered. The game continued on in a little bit more of a friendlier manner. Darry was getting his frustration out with hard play, but with fair play, and Sodapop was quickly losing his attitude and it was becoming more like a football game rather than a war. Darry even let Sara join in after about 20 minutes of watching. The boys of course let her score and soon there was a big pig pile up on Darry, who did deserve some of it for the unnecessary roughness he had earlier on in the game. After a few minutes of silly play the group of seven strolled off the field and back to the Curtis' house for some much needed lunch. The group was laughing and teasing each other as they took their time leaving the game behind. Sara was bunched in between her two oldest brothers. She softly slipped one hand into Darry's and the other into Soda's as like she was playing peacekeeper between the two. She looked up to one and swung his hand, and then looked up to the other and swung his hand, trying to release a hint, which worked on them both. Soda turned to Darry and smiled and Dary turned to Soda and grinned back when Darry started counting. "One, two, three." Both boys lifted Sara and swung her forwards, lifting her right off the ground. The gang couldn't help but laugh as they heard Sara's squeal in delight and beg for more. Darry and Sodapop obliged with a few more lifts. The group of seven didn't enter the field very united as a gang or friends, but by the time they were walking off of it they looked more than just a gang and friends, they looked like a family.