Chapter 10

Anyone POV

Soda finally came home, but he was drunk. Darry noticed this, and asked him about it. "Hey buddy, where were you?" darry asked.

"Oh, I was just hanging out." Soda said while slurring his words.

"With who? Or were you by yourself?"

"Hmm? No, I was hanging with Two-bit."

Darry looked at him for a second. "Funny, because Two-bit was at Buck's today, and came here to tell me that Pony was at Buck's looking for you." As soon as Darry said Pony, Soda's eyes flashed with anger.

Darry broke the silence. "So you wanna tell me the truth or get grounded as well?"

"As well? What do you mean as well? Who else was grounded?"

"Ponyboy, but you don't need to know why. Now where were you Sodapop, and I expect the truth this time."

"Fine. I went to the Dingo with some friends. Happy?" Sodapop lied.

Darry studied Sodapop carefully and realized that he was lying. "You didn't really go to the Dingo... Did you?"

Soda looked down. "No. But why was Pony at Buck's?" Soda was trying to play innocent.

"I think you know Sodapop. I bet that you went to Buck's with your so called friends, and Pony followed you. I know that Pony just wouldn't go there without a reason, and you're drunk."

"Fine." Sodapop said angrily. "I was at Buck's. It doesn't matter though Darry."

"Yes it does. There is something that I have to do now." Darry looked at Sodapop as he yelled out, "Pony!"

They waited for a response, but heard nothing. Darry walked to Pony's room. He found Pony's blankets all in a big bundle, with something underneath it. Darry smiled and sat down on the bed. He started tickling the blankets, but suddenly stopped when there was no movement. He pulled the covers back to reveal nothing but pillows. Ponyboy designed them so that they looked like a person.

That's when Darry finally saw the open window, and the note on the dresser. He got up and read the note.

Dear Sodapop and Darry,

If you are reading this letter, it probably means that I'm gone. I'm really sorry I left. Please don't be mad. I know I'm grounded and all, but I guess that I just needed some fresh air to do some thinking. I'll be back later.

Ponyboy Curtis

Darry took a deep breath and set the note down on the dresser. "Sodapop!" He called, and Sodapop stumbled into the room. He was really drunk. "Pony ran away, but he'll be back later."

"Okay, so what's the big problem?" Soda stated.

"The problem is that your brother just ran away. He's not the type of kid to do that Soda. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Don't you care?"

Soda just stared at Darry with blank eyes. His eyes held no emotion as he said, "He'll be back Dar. It's fine."

"Yeah well, I'll be right back. I know that he just needed some fresh air, but he's grounded, and I'm going to ground you later too for lying to me about Buck's. I'm going to go out and look for him for a bit. I don't feel comfortable with him out at this time wih the socs and all, okay? I'll be right back."

"Why do you gotta bring him here? Why can't you let him stay out for a bit?" Soda asked, and he sounded a bit annoyed.

Darry shot up from the bed. "You're little brother ran away, and you think it'sokay?! What happened to you Soda?!... Your not the Sodapop I remember."

"Your right. I'm not. Now are you satisfied?!" Soda asked with an edge to his tone. With that being said, Soda stumbled into his own room and shut the door.

Darry sighed it off and left in the truck, looking for Ponyboy.

Ponyboy's POV

I didn't mean to run away, but I just needed to do some thinking. Something was up with Sodapop, but I didn't know what it was. I was snapped out of my thoughts by someone yelling, "Hey kid, wait up!"

I turned around to see Randy running towards me. He stopped when he got to me and got his breath back. "Hey kid, sorry if I frightened you. I just saw you walking and I was wondering if I could join you."

"Yeah sure Randy. You can join me. What are you doing out this late at night?"

"I could ask you the same question. I was just out getting some fresh air. What about you kid?"

"Same about me." I said. I didn't feel like telling him that I ran away at the moment. We started walking and talking. We just talked about random stuff. I'm not sure why, but I told him about Sodapop and the drag race.

"Well kid, if you ever need to get out of the house, you can come by me. I'll probably just hang around this area, or I'll be at my house."

"Okay. Thanks Randy. So, see you around?"

"Yup. See you around kid."

I walked back home, but the moment I got there, I regretted it.

Darry's truck was gone. I hoped that he wasn't out looking for me. If he was, I hoped that Soda was with him.

I opened the front door to find Sodapop sitting on the couch, drunk. He saw me and anger flashed in his eyes. "What the hell Ponyboy?! You just had to do that didn't you!" He stood up and stumbled over to me. I was scared.

"Do what Soda?" I asked calmly.

"You know what you did! You followed me to Buck's, and got me in trouble!"

"it wasn't like that Soda! I swear! Darry-" but he interrupted me.

"Oh I get it now. You're scared of me, aren't you! So you're blaming Darry, hoping I'll leave you alone, right?!"

"Soda no! I'm not blaming Darry! You're drunk Soda, can we talk about this later?"

Soda glared at me. "So you're scared of me now huh? You're scared of one brother and blame your problems on the other. What is wrong with you Ponyboy?!"

"I wasn't blaming Darry! Darry-" He slapped me across the face, and I fell to the floor.

"Stop lying Ponyboy! Stop blaming everything on Darry! Do you know how much he put aside for you?!"

Soda kicked me a few times, but I was able to get up and run out the front door. "Darry!" I screamed out into the night air, hoping he was close by and would come home.

"Darry's not here to protect you Pony. It's your own fault you know!"

I started running but didn't get very far. When Soda had kicked me, he had kicked a sensitive spot on my leg. He ended up catching me and started yelling and kicking me again.

Someone was suddenly yelling and grabbed Soda, pulling him off of me. I wasn't passed out, but I didn't feel like moving much, so I just lied there, shocked at what Soda had just done.

I looked over and saw Soda going back to the house. At the same time, I saw the person that had helped me.

It was Randy.