Sodapop Pov:

When the officers knocked at the door, I immediately thought of two things: They either have

bad news or someone got arrested. Last time they arrested Two-Bit for trying to wisecrack out of

a speeding ticket. This time all of the gang was crowded in the house so I knew it was bad

news.

….10 minutes later

I will never see the gang again, Darry will lose custody of me, I'm now an ORPHAN, oh God,

oh dear God, mom and dad are DEAD….. This was my reaction for a good two minutes before I

completely broke down and started bawling. Someone was reassuring me but I was blinded by

my tears. It wasn't until Two-Bit's loud voice broke into my train of thoughts that Ponyboy

crossed my mind. He was like a little brother I never had. To be honest, I had gotten too

attached to him that I felt like his brother as equally as Dallas would. Now, there was a

possibility that I would never see him again, when I would be taken to—NO! That will never

happen….Darry will never…I will never be taken. I felt at that moment that Ponyboy deserved to

be told about my parents, so with one last sob I gathered up my tears and stood up. Dallas then

stopped me and said that he will do it. I knew I wasn't emotionally prepared to repeat the dark

truth, so I obligingly agreed. A sob I tried for so long to hold back came out when we realized

Ponyboy had escaped. I broke down once again as people around me barked orders and ran

out to find Pony. Steve however stayed behind after Darry whispered something to him. He got

me back up and talked to me in a low voice. He wasn't being cocky or smart like he always

acted like, this was a completely new side of him I never saw.

We both walked out and Steve said to split and spread out to find Ponyboy faster. This got

me to gather myself up and sprint to the park. The voices of the gang echoed around our

neighbourhood as we hollered for Pony. Eventually after ten minutes, Two-Bit came hobbling

back to me stating that he swore he saw Ponyboy hopping on a bus. Then the rest of the gang

retreated back to my house. I had cried myself out, so it was just stricken silence ( yes, even

Two-Bit shut up) until Darry came barging in dragging a hysterical Dally. Everybody watched

with silent eyes as Dally started hollering about how he Ponyboy was probably lost in the bus to

who knows where and that we were just doing nothing. Darry then shouted back and that was

the start of the chaos.

" WHAT do you mean we're doing nothing?! There is nothing that we can do Dallas! Face it!

Your brother is already gone. All we can do is wait." Darry's voice boomed across the room.

Now it was Dally's turn to look stricken before spitting out a comment that was even harsh for

him.

"You mean gone like your parents?" Everybody was too stunned to gasp, Dallas knew that it

was too soon to even mention our parents. Darry turned into a new shade of red as he hooked a

good one at Dally. Dally stumbled back from the blow and wrestled him to the ground. Time

seemed to slow down as Steve tried to intervene and got sucked into the fight. He

unintentionally hit Two-Bit and Two-Bit swung back. They all took hits and laid hits until Darry

tripped. This resulted in knocking over Steve who bumped into Two-bit, and then Two-Bit

slammed into the wall. The wall vibrated as the last family picture of my parents dropped and

shattered into a million pieces. Everybody turned to look at the ruined picture and Dally tried to

say something, but I cut him off.

"Oh-you guys…" With that I turned around and slammed the door to my room. I locked it and

ignored the rattle of the doorknob. I leaned against the wall and listened to Darry's voice that

had now gone back to normal, he ordered everybody out telling them to come back once

they've cooled off. There was a mixture of apologies as I heard the front door slam shut. A tear

rolled out of my eye. Not long after, a Darry softly knocked at my door. I unlocked it and let him

in.

" You know? We're awful sorry we fought, but Dallas had no right to speak about our parents

like that." Darry spoke softly as if I was gonna run away like Pony did.

"It's not JUST about that, Darry. It's just-it's just that we are all that's left. Now that mom and

dad are gone it's just me and u and the gang. I swear if anything happens to Ponyboy it'll never

be the same again. It feels empty, you know? The house feels empty without him." Darry

seemed to understand me as he knelt down beside me.

"I know little buddy, and I promise that I will not rest until I have full custody of you or until

Ponyboy gets home. Darry then hugged me in his embrace. The next day went by slowly

without Ponyboy there. Everybody eventually came back and Dallas apologized. We spent the

days trying to distract ourselves by playing poker or wrestling. Even the chocolate cake seemed

to taste like sawdust. We kept our eyes peeled for newspapers or phone calls. Hell, Dallas even

went down to the station and asked the officers for help. Exactly two days later we got a phone

call.

It was the hospital….