I must have fallen asleep because I was sprawled out on the couch with the book on the floor. Someone was knocking on the door, but now it was becoming a pounding like whoever was there was losing patience. I sat up and scrubbed my face with my hand. I glanced down the hall to Mom and Dad's room and the door was closed. Not that that really meant anything. Their door was usually always kept closed. But they must have come home and decided not to wake me. Odd though, Mom usually at least puts a blanket over us if we fall asleep on the couch. But they must have gotten home late and she was probably tired too. They may have not even noticed me on the couch.
Another bang on the door. I stood up and stretched. I really hated sleeping on the couch. "I'm coming, I'm coming" I glanced at my watch as I walked to the front door. 1:24am. Who on earth was coming over at this time?
I opened the door and there standing in the doorway were two cops. One looked to be a few years older than Dad, the other was probably in his late 20s. I craned my neck to peer around them to see which of the boys they were dragging with them. I didn't see anyone, but they were probably still in the cop car.
Often times when a member of the gang got picked up they would give the cops our address. Mom and Dad were really the only present parents of the gang and you needed someone to sign off on the paperwork to be released. Steve once went so far as to tell them he was actually Sodapop and when Dad answered the door to hear that his son was picked up for stealing hub caps he was confused because Soda had been in his room moments before. When they pulled Steve out though, Dad didn't miss a beat and played along. Once the cops left though Dad told Steve that if he was going to pretend to be his son, he would be punished like his son. Everyday after school Steve had to come to the house and do various chores and wasn't allowed to go out with Sodapop that weekend. Soda and Two-Bit got a real kick out of that.
Dally was picked up the most and the cops got wise that my parents didn't actually have custody of him. But they still would drop him off here because otherwise no one would pick him up or at least try and discipline him. Given the state that Two-Bit was in earlier I figured it was him in that car and he was too drunk to give the right address.
I greeted the officers and opened the door a little wider. "Hello officers. Which idiot are you dropping off tonight? I think my parents are asleep, but I can go get them if they have to sign something. I know it's late and you probably want to head out of here" I gave a forced smile of politeness hoping they would just drop off whatever bone head had got caught tonight and leave. But instead both the cops looked very confused and then looked at each other. "We aren't here to drop anyone off son." The older cop addressed me. "Can we come in for a second?" He followed up. I frowned. Now I was confused. But I had been raised to be polite so I held the door open for them "yeah sure come in"
As they entered a very sleepy looking Soda came into the room. He was rubbing his eyes and after seeing the cops looked at me "what's going on Dar? Who's in trouble tonight?" I just gave a shrug "I have no idea what's going on" and then turned to the officers "can you explain why you're here?"
"How about both you boys come have a seat and we'll talk." The older man said once again. Soda and I exchanged a confused look trying to size each other up on if one of us did something earlier that would involve the cops coming that we hadn't told the other about.
As I was walking to the couch I was surprised neither Mom nor Dad had come out by now. We were clearly being loud enough that Soda had woken up. Soda was a very light sleeper, but even still Mom was sure to hear. She had like a 6th sense or something. I wasn't surprised Ponyboy was still asleep. That kid slept deep. We would always joke that he could fall asleep anywhere. At his desk, on the ground, on a moving train, probably even on his own two feet. And when he was asleep he was pretty hard to wake up so at least I didn't have to worry about him showing up if Soda and I were in trouble for something.
Sodapop and I sat down on the couch and the two cops sat opposite of us. The older man let out a sigh and the younger one looked like he was going to be sick and didn't want to be here. "I don't know how to say this boys." He started but then contemplated continuing. Finally he must have decided on the words "boys, there's been an accident. Your parents were driving home and the roads were really slick. They took a turn and slid off the road and hit a tree." He paused and was looking at both of us.
What? What was he saying right now? My ears were ringing. I felt light headed. What was he talking about? I glanced at Soda and he had the same expression I'm sure I wore. I immediately jumped to my feet and said "ok we will head to the hospital right now. Soda go get Ponyboy" I must have been yelling because the younger cop was on his feet with his arm outstretched trying to shush me. Who was this guy? None of this made any sense.
The older cop stood up as well "I'm sorry to tell you, but they didn't make it. They passed at the scene of the accident." I heard Soda make a noise I've never heard before. It was some kind of sob. The room was spinning a bit. This couldn't be happening. No. They were in their bedroom right now. They were just still asleep is all. The older cop put his hand on my arm and pulled me to sit back down. He might have been saying something but I'm not sure. I couldn't hear him.
I was sitting again as reality sunk in. Soda was bawling like a baby next to me. Both cops were looking at something in the hallway and were talking. I had no idea what they were saying or what they were looking at. Soda clearly didn't notice anything. Just then the older man stood up again and put his hand out like he was going to grab someone still looking in the direction of the hallway. I finally turned to look at what he was seeing. There standing in his pjs with his hair stuck up in all different directions looking all but 10 years old was Ponyboy. And he was absolutely losing it. I'm not sure how long he had been there but clearly he at least heard the news.
It was like everything all of a sudden clicked in my head. Reality hit me and I was back in the moment. I stared at Ponyboy and knew exactly what was going to happen next. I could see it on his face. I jumped up. Jumped over the coffee table and grabbed the mop bucket that was sitting empty in the kitchen when Mom had last mopped. Probably this morning. I held it under Ponyboys head right as he started to spew. Like with any kid, any person really, throwing up just made Ponyboy cry even harder which in turn made him throw-up even more. He couldn't stop for a moment but finally I could tell he was done. At least for now. I set the bucket down and led him back over to the couch. From all the drama that just happened Soda wasn't sobbing anymore but he was staring at us with puffy eyes.
Both cops looked stunned by what they witnessed. The younger cop spoke first. "Wow. That was a real Superman move right there. I have never seen anyone react that fast. That was incredible" the older man gave him a glare clearly thinking now wasn't the right time to tell someone they were incredible or a superhero. I sure didn't feel like one. I sat down with Pony and Soda immediately threw his arms around him and drew him in close. Pony just buried his head in Sodas chest and continued to silently cry. I turned back to look at the cops who had ruined our lives. I finally found my voice although it was a whisper "so what now?"
The older cop had such sympathy in his eyes. I imagine he probably had kids around our age too and hated doing this "well there's a lot that will happen now. But most of it you don't have to worry about right this second. Someone will contact you in the morning, but there will be a funeral to plan, and lots of legal paperwork involving the house and property. But that can all be discussed later. The only thing we have to take care of tonight is what to do with the minors in the home." He looked right at Soda and Pony who were clinging on to each other like their lives depended on it and I'm sure in this moment it actually did. I don't think Ponyboy was listening to anything around him because he didn't so much as flinch at that comment. Just continued to clutch onto Soda and silently sob. Soda though turned to the cop "what do you mean what to do with us?" He sounded so scared.
"Well since you are underage you need to be with a legal guardian of some sort. We have emergency care available to take you right now until full time care is decided, unless your brother decides to take custody temporarily until it can be determined where to place you." The cop then turned to look at me. They were going to take Ponyboy and Sodapop away? No. I wouldn't let them do that. They needed to stay here. They needed each other and I needed them. I wasn't going to be alone in this house tonight. I answered as fast as I could "of course I'll take them tonight. You're not taking them anywhere!" I think I might have been screaming again. The younger cops face hardened and he looked prepared to fight if needed. The older cop just held out his hands. "Ok everyone stay calm. After what I've witnessed I determine this to be a safe place for the boys and will leave them under your care until things are decided. You just need to sign a few things and then we will leave you for tonight." He pulled out some paperwork and showed me where to sign.
I wasn't even sure what I was signing but I wasn't too concerned about any of that at the moment. Once I finished, he took the paperwork back "I'll get this filed right away. A social worker will be calling in the next few days to discuss the options for the boys along with some other legal workers to talk about the estate. I'm really sorry for your loss boys. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you" and with that both cops stood up and let themselves out.