(The Next Day)
By the time lunch time came around, Two-Bit, Steve, Bexley, and Ponyboy had gone out to the back area of the lot.
They walked over to a little store where they got smokes, cokes, and some candy bars.
It was a perfect place for Greasers to hang out. Since the socs would cause too much of a ruckus back at the school, they would usually have lunch out by that store.
And they thought the Greasers were bad.
Since everything went down, the soc girls aside from Marcia and Cherry Valance have been giving them a hard time, but they couldn't care less.
Bexley was smoking to relieve the tension she was feeling. Ponyboy was eating a candy bar while Two-Bit and Steve talked about blondes.
Bexley looked up and saw a small group of Socs starting to walk towards the four Greasers.
"Great, look who's comin'," Bexley said, looking up ahead.
They weren't scared of them though.
The socs stood less than a car length away from them.
"The hell do you want?" Bexley scowled at them, taking a drag of her cigarette.
"You're the two that killed Bob," one blonde haired soc said.
"And?" Ponyboy inquired, obviously not in the mood to deal with them.
"He was our friend and we don't like anybody getting between us, especially Greasers like you four," the same soc said.
"Haven't you done enough? Why don't you get your asses outta here before you get split?" Bexley said, stomping her cigarette out.
This made of the socs grab Bexley by the arm. "You best shut your mouth, she-grease," he said.
"Hey! Get the hell off me!" she shouted, pushing the soc off of her.
Ponyboy had broken a stray bottle and had broken it. He held it like Tim Shepard did and held it out in front of him in a firm hold.
"We've had about enough of you guys. Get in your car and get outta here before you do get split like she said," he told them.
The socs heeded this and they went back to their car, and they disappeared out of sight.
Once they were gone, Ponyboy threw the bottle on the ground.
Two-Bit and Steve had watched the entire time.
"Would you use that bottle, Pony? Steve and I would've backed you two up. Guess we didn't need to. We know shorty here is tough, but you'd cut them up for sure," Two-Bit said, throwing an arm around Bexley's shoulders.
"Keep it up with that name and see where it gets ya," Bexley said to the rusty-haired greaser, getting out from underneath his arm.
"I'll say it all I wanna, shorty," Two-Bit said with a grin, "You should'nt start gettin' tough, kid. You aren't like the rest of us. You ain't even like your sister here,"
Ponyboy rolled his eyes and bent downwards and started to pick up glass from the bottle he broke.
"What're you doin'?" Steve asked. "Pickin' up the glass. You don't want a flat tire, do you?" the youngest greaser said.
Two-Bit grinned at this.
(Later that Day)
Ponyboy was having a hard time trying to start his semester theme. He just couldn't figure out what he wanted to write about.
Bexley was in the livingroom, watching TV with her feet propped up on the coffee table.
Darry was at work. Ponyboy was in the bedroom, trying to work on his his semester.
Then, Soda walked in through the front door, getting Bexley's attention.
"Hey, Soda," she greeted him.
"Hey. Did the mail come today?" he asked, taking his DX shirt off and he threw it on the couch.
"I think so. Why?" Bexley asked, looking at him as he sat down next to her.
He started to take off his shoes. Soda looked at her for a minute.
"Nothing," he said after he got his shoes off. He threw them by the door.
He always hated wearing shoes in the house, hence why he could almost never find them.
Bexley could tell something was wrong with him because he went outside to smoke, which he rarely ever did.
She got up and followed him outside. He was leaning on the porch railing with a lit cigarette between his fingers.
She joined her twin brother and leaned against the railing.
"Pony's working on his theme for school. In case you're wondering," she said. "That's good," Soda said with a smile.
But Bexley could tell that it was forced. "Soda? Tell me what's wrong," she said, looking at him with a look of concern.
Soda looked down at his cigarette and sighed in defeat.
"Sandy's gone. She's in Flordia with her grandmother," he answered.
"Flordia? How come?" Bexley asked, hoping it wouldn't upset him.
"She got pregnant but it wasn't mine... she left me for another guy. I tried sending her letters but they always ended up coming back," he replied, tears running down his face.
Bexley paled when she heard this. How could Sandy do this to him?
"Oh, Soda... I'm so sorry," she said, giving her twin brother a comforting hug.
He hugged her back and sniffled. "Guess I ain't the only one to have their heart broken," she mumbled.
"Huh?" Sodapop asked, hearing what she said.
They broke the hug a minute later. "Johnny and I..." Bexley started but couldn't. But she didn't need to.
Soda knew how Johnny and her felt about each other and it was sad to see it end like this.
They hugged again, but for Bexley's expense. Ponyboy had yet to feel what they felt in terms of love. It wasn't a fun feeling at all.
(Later that Night)
Soda had made dinner that night, and the food wasn't green or purple like he usually made it.
Sometimes, Bexley would make it into unusual colors too.
While they were eating, or trying to eat anyway, Darry went on to patronize his youngest brother about his schoolwork.
"You aren't going to drop out. With your brains and grades, you can get enrolled into college. Ain't that right, Soda? Bexley, you agree with me, don't you?" the eldest Curtis said.
Bexley glanced up at Darry then to Soda, who sat down at the table in silence.
"You're living in a vacuum, Pony and you're gonna have to cut it out. You and Bexley don't stop living just because you lose somebody. Thought you knew that by now," Darry went on, his tone firm and parental.
Soda looked down at one of the unsent letters that he wrote to Sandy and he ran his fingers over it unconsciously.
Bexley looked over and saw what Soda was doing.
"Look, if you don't like the way I'm running things around here, you can just get out!" Darry shouted.
Ponyboy became tight and cold and he roughly got out of the chair he sat in.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you!? You'd like for me to just get the hell out! Well, it's not that easy, is it, Soda?" he said, walking towards the kitchen.
Soda couldn't take it anymore. "GODDAMN, YOU GUYS! LEAVE ME OUT THIS!" he snapped, getting out of his seat, knocking the chair over.
He then ran around the table and out of the front door.
They were all shaken up by his sudden outburst. "What's wrong with you?" Darry called after him.
Bexley gets out of her seat, anger on her face. "You see what you guys are doing to him!? Just stop it!" she shouted, going out of the front door.
They had to go after him before he did anything bad.
Darry and Ponyboy followed suit shortly after she did. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them
(Park)
Soda had made it to the park. "Soda!" Bexley called, but he just kept on running. He couldn't take the fighting anymore between Darry and Ponyboy.
Ponyboy had gone around him and managed to tackle him to the ground, knocking the wind out of them both.
Bexley and Darry had caught a second afterwards.
"Goddammit, Ponyboy. You're gonna have to take football instead of track," Soda commented, pushing himself upwards.
Bexley sat down next to Ponyboy, having one knee raised.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Ponyboy asked.
"I don't know, man!" Soda exclaimed, getting to his feet. He walked away from the group for a second.
He kept his back towards the trio for a minute.
"Its just sometimes, I have to get out," Soda said, turning back to face them, looking teary-eyed, "It's like I'm a middeman in a tug o' war or something betweene you guys,"
"I don't know, I can't take sides," Soda said, walking back over to the trio.
"I can't either, guys," Bexley added, looking at her other brothers.
They didn't like the fact they were getting dragged into Darry and Ponyboy's arguments.
Soda sat back down in front of them.
"Ponyboy, Darry could've put you in a boy's home and worked his way through college. Look, I'm telling you the truth, Pony," Soda said, getting Ponyboy to look up at him, "You don't wanna be like me anyway. Cause I'm happy working at a gas station. You won't be happy doing something like that,"
He then looked at Bexley. "Bexley. You don't need to drop out of school like I did. You and Ponyboy stay in school. You are much smarter than I am," Soda said to her.
Bexley glimpsed at him, and tears rose in her eyes. Just because they were twins, doesn't mean she had to be exactly like him.
He then looks over to Darry, tears rising in his eyes.
"Darry... you gotta stop yelling at him for every little thing that he does, man. He... feels things differently than you," Soda tells his older brother, a pleading look in his eyes.
Darry bit his lip and looked down for a second. "Bad enough that Bex and I have... have to listen to you... *Looks down and sniffles* B-But when you start trying to get us to take sides... We're all that we got left... now. If we don't have each other... you end up like Dallas. And I don't mean dead either, I mean how he was before..." Soda explained, starting to cry.
He couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "So please... *Sobs* don't fight anymore... please," Soda sobbed.
Darry looked worried now. He was only twenty years old. He wasn't much older than the rest of them to where he wouldn't have any feelings too.
Even though he was barely an adult, he did give up so much just so he could keep what's left of his family together.
"Sure. Sure little buddy. We ain't gonna fight no more," he said, leaning forward and embracing his little brother.
Bexley joined the hug, feeling Darry's arm around her back.
Ponyboy looked away, tears in his eyes. Bexley and Soda looked over at him.
"C'mere," Bexley said, extending her arm towards her youngest brother.
Ponyboy didn't hesitate to join the family hug.
"Now don't you start bawling too, Pony. One bawl baby in this family's enough," Soda said with a sniffle.
"I ain't cryin'," Ponyboy said, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Liar," Bexley chuckled. Things would be fine now.
Every family has drama every now and then, but you always come together and prove how much you really love them.
"Let's go home. I'm cold," Soda said as they break the family hug.
They all get to their feet and start making their way home, holding onto each other.
It was a nice night for a short race. It was clear and cold. The bright stars danced around the sky since the moon wasn't visible.
They all started to sprint as fast as they could back home.
By the time they made it back to the house, they were all neck and neck.
They all wanted to stay together.