Ponyboy Winston Pov:

The train whistled signaling the stop at Tulsa. I grabbed the bag full of my belongings ( like five

items) and hopped off the train. It was suggested by the police that I'm sent to my brother dally

in Tulsa. I personally didn't want to even hear his name, but it was either this or a random boy's

home in NYC. Sometimes I wish my dad wasn't drunk or he wouldn't have been killed in a bar

fight. It's not a huge deal to me though, he probably asked for it. Honestly what scared me the

most was meeting Dallas again after eight years. He used to be the kind, gentle, brother, but

one day he left with a lousy note saying: I love you. I really hope I don't break down and lose my

cool when I see him. The little hope I had for Dallas was crushed when two strangers came up

to me. One was huge, broad-shouldered, and had ice-cold piercing blue eyes. The other one

had a generally good build, movie-star handsome face and was a few inches shorter than the

scary one. Both their features softened when they saw me though. It didn't make me feel too hot

knowing I probably looked as crushed and vulnerable as I felt. They both looked me in the eyes

for a few seconds until the handsome one spoke cheerfully.

" Hi, call me Sodapop and the scary looking dude is Darry, who is also my brother. We're here

to take you to our home. Dally will for sure meet you tomorrow once you're settled. You're gonna

love it here! We can play games, make cookies, and I'll for sure introduce you to the gang!"

At the last statement I froze. I didn't have great experiences with gangs. Most just used me to

help with some kind of crime back in NYC. I didn't have a choice though, I needed the dough

they would give me. Darry seemed to understand me and reassured me.

" What the knuckle headed brother of mine meant by gang is just a group of friends. There's a

particular guy in the gang named Johnny that I think you'll get along with. He's quiet and sort of

jumpy, but is less of a hood than the rest of the guys. Anyways, what's your name kid?"

I stared at the brothers for a second, contemplating whether or not I should even open my

mouth. Sodapop actually seemed friendly and they both knew my brother so I actually told them

my name.

"It's Ponyboy and how do you guys know my brother?" It was a simple question but hard to

even call Dallas my brother. It was like a jab to the heart knowing Dallas didn't care enough to

pick me up from a damn train station.

" He was wandering around Tulsa back when we first met and Sodapop here decided to bring

him to our house. Dally will never admit it but he grew attached to the gang and stayed with us

for like eight years now." Sodapop, noticing the tension, tried to crack a joke.

" Who wouldn't like me? I'm the most handsome, funny Curtis there is, and all the chicks dig

me! " Although it was meant to be a joke I found it quite offensive that Dallas liked a random

Curtis rather than his OWN FLESH AND BLOOD.

"Yeah, who wouldn't like you?" I mumbled bitterly, but I think Darry heard me because he

cleared his throat rather loudly and slapped the back of Soda's head. Sodapop looked about

ready to wrestle Darry to the ground, but Darry quickly ushered inside the car. The car ride itself

was a very quick fifteen minute ride, and it wasn't one of those awkward ones. Soda kept

blabbering about the gang. Apparently Steve is his best friend, and Two-Bit is a comical hood

who couldn't stop cracking jokes to save his life. What really caught my attention was when he

mentioned that Johnny and Dally were real close. It made me sad that I was practically

replaced, but I hid my feelings real well and instead bottled it all up. Sometimes that bottle

explodes and I have a panic attack, but those rarely happen. The last time I had an attack was

when I was locked in a cell with a hippie for stealing a banana. That hippie was high and kept

trying to give me drugs. At one point he took out a syringe and tried to jab me with it but I barely

missed it by a millimeter. Hearing all the commotion the officer finally came and took the hippie

to the beating room, but I was too lost in panic to realize that I almost could've died. I then

blacked out and was slapped in the face by my father as a "nice" wake up call. The truck then

abruptly stopped causing me to snap out of my thoughts. The house in front of me was nothing

special, but better than the homes in the downtown side of NYC. Home sweet home I guess.