It had been almost 5 hours after Ponyboy ran away. The whole gang was worried sick for him. Soda and Darry went out to look for Ponyboy. All they found was Johnny sleeping in the lot- without Ponyboy.
Soda was rightfully angry with Darry. Darry felt sick to his stomach, no one knew where his baby brother was. All they could do was wait for him to come back if he ever did… Soon, the Curtis house was filling up with everyone but Ponyboy.
Darry asked Steve if he knew where Ponyboy way and all Steve could do was shake his head. Two-Bit asked, "Wouldn't he stay here?" Even Johnny was in the house and no one knew where Ponyboy was. Soda felt his stomach drop deeper and deeper when he heard the gang tell him that they hadn't seen Ponyboy.
Even Johnny said that he didnt see him in the lot. Soda wanted to hang onto the hope that Ponyboy was in the lot with Johnny. Or at least ran away with Johnny. Darry was going through it, he had made his kid brother run away!
It was like a little meeting in the Curtis house. Everyone was questioned about their whereabouts. Everyone except Dallas. Although, he wasn't expected for that day. He told the gang he would be busy. Everyone found themselves hanging onto the hope that Ponyboy would go to Dally for help. When Dallas burst through the door with some information about Ponyboy, everyone's hope for that diminished as quickly as it had come.
"Tim- Tim had a car and and-" Dallas was stuttering. He couldn't catch his breath with his broken ribs. That scared everyone, Dallas never stuttered. "Ponyboy stole the car and ran away."
Everyone couldn't help but just stare at Dally. From what it sounded like, Ponyboy didnt go to Dally by himself. So now, everyone was trying to find out where Ponyboy went. "Did he say where he was going?" Johnny spoke up.
Dallas shook his head and held onto his ribs. "Apparently Ponyboy ran to Tim's house. Then Tim took him to Bucks so that he could frame me with Ponyboy. Although I guess Ponyboy just didnt think and ran-" Dallas seemed to be shaking, "He ran out so fast and drove."
At first, everyone glossed over the fact that Ponyboy drove. Everyone except for Two-Bit, the one that taught him how to drive. Two-Bit mentally punched himself for teaching a 13-year-old how to drive. However after Dallas told them about Ponyboy driving, everyone started to point fingers.
"Who even taught him how to drive?" Steve just about yelled. While it was obvious he was worried for Ponyboy, he still found it in himself to try and berate him. "Do you think- he will ever come back?" Johnny asked quietly.
Everyone went to Johnny and tried to ask him about Ponyboy that night. Yet the question hung thin in the air. With Ponyboy's stubbornness, there was a chance that he would never come home. Dally couldn't help but speak over the silence, "Tim made it sound like Soda and Darry would do just about anything to get Ponyboy back. What even happened?"
Darry felt himself stiffen. That question was all the reminder that he was the reason why Ponyboy ran away. Soda glared at Darry with red-rimmed eyes. They both didnt sleep at all, Soda was crying over Sandy and Ponyboy while Darry just wanted to tell Ponyboy he was sorry.
Now, Darry wouldn't have a chance to tell Ponyboy. "I-I hit him…" Darry's face was firm, but in his eyes was regret. He regretted not going to sleep that night, not talking to Ponyboy in the morning, not yelling at Soda, but most of all he regretted hitting Ponyboy.
The gang was shocked at that. They all thought that the Curtis brothers would stay together. It was just about their motto, even if they didnt say it. Johnny looked like a deer in headlights. With that look, the gang knew that Johnny knew something about Ponyboy.
They got from Johnny that Ponyboy wanted to live in the country but wouldn't mind the city. That didnt help at all, Ponyboy could go all ways and still be unhappy. Soda tried to get more out of Dallas but all he could tell them was to ask Tim. So, ask Tim they did.
Tim came over and explained what he knew. Which was just about all that Dallas knew, including the new information about Darry hitting Ponyboy. It wasn't until one of Tim's gang members came by that something started to seem off.
"Why did you come here, Michael?" Tim asked suspiciously. Michael was fidgety, if he said the wrong thing he would probably be skinned alive. He was the tougher guy, the one who tried to kidnap Ponyboy. Although, maybe he could spin the story so that he didnt get in trouble…
"I-I saw him," That was all Michael could get out. Everyone just stared at him, Soda was starting to get more fidgety as Michael went on. "He was on highway I-44 or something like that. I- I raced him."
Everyone in the room stopped. "I thought it was a soc! I mean no one would expect a greaser to have such a fine Mustang like that… espeically with the black coloring it looked amazing…" Michael was trying to choose his words carefully, although it made him ramble a bit. All the attention was on him. "I gave him like $200 so he should be fine. Though he told me he's not going to California if that helps."
The gang was silent. Although it was more information, the information didnt really help as to where Ponyboy was. Soda found himself almost at tears again, no one knew where his kid brother was. It was unspoken but, everyone in that room knew that he might not come back.
Darry knew it the most. After a bit more of talking to Johnny, they learned about how Ponyboy had felt all that time. It destroys Darry's heart to learn about Ponyboy being so scared to go to a boy's home. As the time ticked by, there were no signs of Ponyboy.
"Im going to look for him," Two-Bit concluded. The gang tried to stop him at first. In the end, Dally ended up going with Two-Bit. Dally played off his injuries and even Tim tried to stop him. Darry and Soda couldn't because of money, so the two without jobs/responsibilities stepped up.
"Do you think he went far?" Two-Bit asked Dally after a bit of driving. "That kid… he could probably be anywhere by now," Dallas was tired, they had been driving for well over an hour now. They had to stop at a gas station at 2 hours in.
"Have you seen a kid with a black Mustang around here?" Two-Bit asked the clerk. They just shook their head and Two-Bit went back. As he was filing the car he saw Dally smoking.
"You know you didnt have to come with me."
"I want to. The second I see him Im going to beat his head in," Dally wasn't smiling. His tone made him seem scary, but in his eyes there was fear. Two-Bit went inside the car and started it up. When they were off again Two-Bit made a mental note to get gas every 2 hours.
"Glory this car sucks," Two-Bit tried joking. Dally went to comment but was in too sour of a mood to. Two-Bit just bit his tongue, he wasn't used to silence. "Do you think he went a different way?" Two-Bit asked after a bit.
"Kid didnt have a map. It's likely honestly," Dally was smoking, and the window was down. Two-Bit didnt mind, as long as Dallas gave him some cigarettes to smoke as well. Although Two-Bit found the silence suffocating. When they got to the second gas station Two-Bit asked the same question. Dally had followed inside because he ran out of his cigarettes.
This time he got an answer. "Oh yeahhh! I think I saw him. He's got a nervous-sounding voice right?" The clerk asked. Then the clerk went into more detail about what Ponyboy looked like. Including the part of Ponyboy having a bruise on his cheek. Two-Bit couldn't help but find himself nodding. "Did he say anything about where he's going? Or did anything happen?" Two-Bit was starting to get excited, even Dally put down his cigarettes to pay for them.
"He didn't say anything but I saw a girl go up to him… I think she was holding a map or something," The clerk continued, "She's been hanging around here for almost a week. Although she's nice enough to talk to me when Im on breaks."
Two-Bit and Dally shared a nervous look. If she had a map that meant that Ponyboy now had a direction to go. "Did she say anything about where she wanted to go to?" Dally interjected. "Nope. When I talked to her it was always about me. Oh well, I guess she did say something about New York maybe? Maybe Texas? Or did I say that?" The clerk was getting off-topic.
"What's her name?" Dallas asked. Two-Bit wondered for a bit why he asked but the clerk continued. "She didnt really have one, so I just called her Kitty."
Two-Bit mentally cringed at the name. Why would he call someone that? He wanted to crack a joke but the look in Dally's eyes made him rethink that.
"What about her looks? What did she look like?" Dallas asked. Now he was just starting to sound like a cop. Two-Bit couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at Dally. "Are you looking for her?" The clerk asked and Two-Bit and Dally shook their heads. "The boy… he ran away," Two-Bit said.
The clerk perked up and sighed. "Yeah, so she had weirdly long brown hair. She didnt take care of it-"
"Just say her full appearance. Don't do the tiny details," Dallas interrupted. The clerk rolled their eyes and continued, "She had a red cardigan, some black pants, and I think a white button-up." Dallas nodded and fished in his pockets for a dime. "We need to tell Soda that his brother might be on a trip to New York or Texas."
Two-Bit took the dime and went to the pay-phone. He punched in the familiar landline and waited for the ringing.
"Hello?" Soda had picked up the phone.
"Soda! We found out about Ponyboy-"
"Did you find him!?"
Two-Bit sighed and continued after the interruption, "He might be on his way to New York… Or even Texas"
"WHAT?" Soda yelled and there was a bit of ruckus on the other end.
"Me and Dal are still working on it. There's a girl with him apparently. She might be the one to take him to New York or somethin'," Two-Bit continued. When there was a break in the phone call he got anxious. Then a familiar voice came again.
"Okay… Just please, find him." Soda was begging.
Two-Bit hung up and went back to the car.
"So New York huh… I knew I shouldn't have told him all about it…" Dallas was in thought,
"We aren't fully sure he's in New York remember?" Two-Bit tried to calm Dally down. Yet, the attempts didnt work because Dally just went on.
"Damn kid is out of his mind. He is going to be in jail by the time we get to him. Especially that girl, when we get them I'm going to make sure she is skinned alive."
Two-Bit cringed but couldn't help but agree with Dallas.
"Do you think she's also a runaway?" Two-Bit asked.
"With a name like 'Kitty,' I think her parents abandoned her," Dallas's tone was harsh. He really hated her, she was guiding Ponyboy to a place where his old man was. Now he had to face him and the hurdle of getting Ponyboy. So they continued driving, down I-44 until they would get to New York. Then maybe they would find Ponyboy and take him home. That was the hope they- the gang were hoping for.
But would it happen?