Author's Note: This story is AU - there is no Ponyboy. He doesn't fit into the story I want to tell. Darry and Soda have a sister instead. As the story continues, you will see why a female sibling is needed. Hope you give it a try and enjoy!

The sun began its descent over the top of his house as he pulled the truck up to the curb. The long day had been cut short by the foreman's lack of purchasing sense, but Darry was content with being home before dark for the first time in a while. He entered the house to find Soda and Steve throwing playing cards at each other across the dining room table - another poker game gone awry. Steve stopped mid throw and stood. "And that's my cue. See ya tomorrow, buddy." He made a beeline for the door with a quick "Hey, Darry," tossed over his shoulder as he left.

"What's his hurry?" Darry asked, sitting to take off his boots.

"Uh, hey, Darry," Soda said, ignoring the question and gathering the cards. "You're home early tonight."

"Yeah, we ran out of supplies. Scott said he'd pick more up in the morning and sent everyone home. Where's Julie?"

Soda had made his way to the kitchen and started pulling ingredients out of the fridge for dinner. "Well, that's nice. Getting home early and all."

Darry rose and walked to Julie's room as he called, "Hey, Jules!" Finding her room empty, he went to the kitchen. "She's not here, is she?"

"Looks that way." Soda did not even look up from his task of throwing hamburger in a pan to crumble.

"Sodapop! Where is she? Did she get detention again?"

"I don't know, Darry. I'm sure she'll be home any minute."

"Goddammit! What is this? The third time in two weeks?"

It was the fifth, but Darry only knew about three. "I guess. But, hey, we don't even know that she has detention. Let's try not to think the worst."

Darry grabbed a can of beer from the refrigerator and sat at the table with it, not interested in the least in helping fix dinner. "You know it. I know it. We both know it, Soda. And we both know it ain't ok."

"She's a good kid."

"She's mouthy. She's mouthy with me, and I've let her get away with it, and now she's mouthy at school and getting called out. Dammit! I can't keep letting her get away with this."

"You're kind of hard on her." Pasta water on to boil, he returned to the browning meat. "You yell a lot for a big brother."

"Well, yelling doesn't seem to be doing the trick. If I was hard on her, this wouldn't be happening. And we both know I ain't just her brother. I'm her guardian. I'm responsible for raising her where mom and dad left off." He took a swig of beer and pointed at his brother. "You know this is not how they raised us. They would have cracked her ass a long time ago if they were here."

Soda stopped and looked at his brother. "You can't do that! And if yelling's not working maybe cool it a little, alright?"

"Well, I can't let this keep happening either. It's going to start affecting her grades and she has got to keep them up. And I know she wants to try out for the track team in the spring." They were still staring at each other as the front door swung open, and slammed shut.

"I'm home," Julie's shout was unnecessary in the small house. She dropped her things at the table and said, "You're home early."
"And you're home late," Darry said, standing.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She moved around Soda to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of juice."

"Hey, Julie," Soda said. "Supper's almost ready. You hungry?"

"A little," she said, reaching for a glass.

"Hey!" Darry said. When she looked up he continued. "Did you have detention again?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. It's no big deal."

"Was it because of that damn mouth of yours?

"Does it matter?"

"Actually, no it doesn't, because whatever it was, you are grounded."

She nearly choked on her first swallow, "What? You can't do that? Soda, can he do that?"

Darry did not give his brother a chance to answer. "You better believe I can! I am calling here every day at four o'clock and you had better pick up that phone. Ya hear me?"

Beverage abandoned, Julie grabbed her bag from the chair and started towards her bedroom. "Whatever!"

Darry followed her and the flat of his hand caught the door before she was able to get it closed. He thought about not yelling, as Soda had suggested, and managed to keep it down a bit. "How many times do you think they're going to give you detention before they suspend you? And let me tell you right now, you are absolutely not to get suspended! If you cause any more trouble at that school you are getting a good hard pop on the ass. Understand?"

Her eyes watered in spite of herself and she said, "Yeah."

"Start your homework. You can eat dinner later." He closed her door and turned to find Soda, wide-eyed behind him.

"Seriously?" Soda asked.

Darry let out a huff of air. "You know I'm right." He headed back towards the kitchen.

"I guess." Soda followed him. "Are we going to feed her or have we stopped that?"

Darry pulled plates from the cabinet and set them out on the table. "Yeah, smartass, we're going to feed her. Let's eat first, then you can bring her a plate. Ok? And you can check on her and tell her how mean I am."

Soda added spaghetti to the boiling water. "You're not mean, Darry. I won't tell her that. I just. . . why is she getting in so much trouble at school?"

"I don't know. But mom and dad would put a stop to it, so I have to, too. It'll be ok. Let's just finish making dinner. I'm hungry."

OOOOOOOOOO

Julie finished her homework, spending more time on biology than she thought she should have, then removed the envelope from her backpack. She turned it over in her hands and tried to see through it to no avail, before dropping it under a pile of papers in the top drawer of her desk. No chance existed of her handing that over to Darry tonight. Its contents remained a mystery to her, but it seemed unlikely to be good news. What principal hands a kid a good report on their way out of detention?

OOOOOOOOOO

Darry entered the kitchen the next morning fighting with his belt as his brain operated faster than his fingers at the early hour. Pleased to see Julie finishing off her breakfast and Soda washing dishes, he sat at his place and dug into the food prepared for him. "Morning," he said as his first bite approached his mouth. Soda returned the greeting while Julie muttered a response. "You have a ride, Soda?"

"Yeah, Steve will be here any second." He reached for Julie's now empty plate. "Two-Bit will take Julie to school." They all knew this. The routine rarely changed. But there was a tension in the air which Soda needed to fill.

Darry took a swig of his coffee and tried to catch the eye of the girl kitty-corner from him who seemed intent on avoiding him. "You remember our conversation from last night, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not dumb." She downed her remaining chocolate milk and stood to bring the glass to the sink. She did not mean to be flip, but it was a stupid question. Soda gave her a look to tell her to cool it.

"Really? It sounds like you might have forgotten a few things!" Darry could not believe the tone she was taking. When would she stop this?

"Darry, I swear to God, I'm trying my best to stay out of trouble."

This ticked him off more. "You're not! I've seen your best, little girl. This ain't it!"

A car horn honked, followed by another car honking twice. The cars began a series of ridiculous beeps as Steve and Two-Bit played some kind of game with each other. The occupants of the house were already on edge, so Soda decided to temper the frenzy. "Ok!" he said in a voice loud enough to halt his two siblings who were about to amp up, "Here's what we're going to do. Julie is going to go to school and do her best to stay out of trouble." He handed her the backpack that hung from her chair. "And Darry is going to go to work and do his best not to fall off a roof. Anyone who fails gets their ass kicked. Dig?"

Darry grinned in spite of himself as he brought his half empty plate to the sink. Julie cheered up and asked, "Oh yeah? What about you, Soda? Are you going to do your best today?"

"Hell yeah, I am. I'm going to do my best at being the best looking greaser at the DX today!"

None of the siblings noticed the ceasing of the car horn game until Steve grabbed Soda from behind in a bear hug. "Sorry, buddy, but that ain't gonna happen!"

Kitchen cleaned to his satisfaction, Darry took control of the room. "Alright, out of my house everybody and stay out of trouble!"

AN: Thanks for reading!