Grown up kid

Safety

Everyone deserves a safe place.
I had Michael.
Pony had Johnny.
But I realized my eldest brothers had no safe place.
Tonight Darry worked extra late to fill the income gap that was caused by Soda's absence at DX. He had shut down more and more. Sandy never sent letters or called. Soda was broken. I tried to help, make sure he never ended up standing on the opposite side of bridge, but I'm not sure it fully worked.
You could see in his eyes he wasn't Sodapop.
Steve had worked his Steve-Randle magic and convinced Soda to go out to the movies. It took a lot of bribing but eventually he drug him out of the house into his rickety old truck.
So for tonight it was Michael and I and Pony and Johnny.
Michael sat on the floor; his back pressed against the bottom of the couch. I laid on the floor; my head resting on his leg. He stroked my hair gently. Up on the couch Pony was like a statue, unmoving, as Johnny leaned carefully into him, his head on his shoulder.
I had to compose my laughter. Pony looked stressed and scared at the whole situation.
"Pony do you want some water?" I laugh a little.
"Yeah sure," He looks me dead in the eyes. "Water would be good."
"Johnny you want some too?"
He nods.
"Michael?"
"I'm good," He pats my hand as I get up and walk toward the kitchen. A Charlie Brown Christmas was playing despite the fact it was the beginning of August.
I grab two glasses of cold water and walk them back into the living room. Ponyboy was shaking as I handed him the glass. "Relax." I mouth to him. Johnny's eyes are fixed to the tv.
"I can't," He looks down at Johnny who had nudged even closer to Pony. His hand rested, palm up, next to Pony's leg.
I fixed my eyes on his hand and flicked my head up to signal him to look. "Hold his hand." Pony sat his glass of water down on the end table and looked down at Johnny's open hand.
"I can't," He took a deep breath in. "What if Soda or Steve or Two-Bit or Dally come?" Ponyboy was scared of the world and the thoughts that raced in their heads at any moment.
"Just do it."
Pony carefully crept his hand toward Johnnys, pausing for a moment as it hovered above, then interlocked his fingers with Johnnys. I smiled at my brother. I knew why he was so scared now. I didn't get it back then. He had so many reasons to be terrified but we were safe here.
So I thought.
By the end of the night Pony had embraced the moment and they were laying just as Michael and I were. Pony had one leg down on the floor, the other up on the couch, his body was nestled into the corner of the couch. Johnny rested his head on the leg that rested on the floor. Pony was running his fingers through Johnny's dark hair. He seemed so happy. 
The front door swung open and two very drunk people stumbled in. In the dark of the night I couldn't tell who it was until they spoke. It was Soda and Steve. Before Pony could wake up and react to the situation, Steve flicked on the light.
Johnny nor Pony had no time to react. So in the sudden brightness everything was clear. Soda and Steve seemed to instantly sober up as they stared at the boys.
"Johnny?" Steve says.
"Ponyboy?" Soda says.
Michael and I had been laying on our backs in the middle of the floor. I had my head on his shoulder and his arm was around my back and settled on my waist. But now I had rolled over and was staring right up at Soda and Steve.
Johnny had quickly woke up. He sat up, his hair sticking in every possible direction.
"We can explain," Johnny was so scared again. He had that abused puppy look in eyes like when we found him the first ever time he was jumped. He was shaking. "It's not- It wasn't. We didn't." No sentences could form. Johnny's mouth hung up waiting for words to fall out into the open but nothing happened. It just made the silence a bit louder.

So many things happened that night. There was nothing I could do. Nobody could do anything about it. Steve was a rage-and-alcohol-filled mess. I just watched from the floor as Steve grabbed the collar to Johnny's shirt, picked him up from the couch, and swung a hard fist at him.
Thick blood trickled down from his nose.
Then his forehead.
Then his cheek.
I didn't mind blood anymore. But Michael couldn't look. He was suppressing gags.
The only sounds now were the sounds of Steve's fists making contact with Johnny's skin and the yelps that came from Johnny's small body.
This went on for eternity.
It was only about thirty seconds but each second more blood trickled from a new wound on Johnny.
"Stop!" Soda yelled.
Steve dropped Johnny Cade straight onto the hard floor. Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him over to him. Michael held Johnny Cade as actual tears dripped from his eyes. They both cried. Me and Pony stared, trapped in a daze of remembrance. All the times we'd been jumped flood in like the river after winter. Everything hurt so much.
"Johnny," Michael has his arms wrapped tight around the boy. Johnny was older but if you just looked at the two you'd assume Michael was the eldest. He got onto his knees and matched eye levels with Johnny. Johnny was leaning on one arm, his other rested on his face; his knees were tucked under him. He made Johnny look him in the eyes. "Johnny you are not a bad person." It's like Michael had known every one of Johnny's thoughts.
Pony was in daze on the couch still.
Steve had already went home by now. As Michael cleaned up Johnny, I went over to Ponyboy.
I kneeled in front on the couch. I collected my brothers hands in mine. "Pony."
He just stared at the wall ahead.
"Hey Pony. Pony?"
Pony blinked, a tear rolled down his cheek. I gently held onto his hands and pulled him down off the couch to the floor. He sprung forward, wrapping his arms around me.
"Aidy?"
"Yeah Pony?"
"Am I messed up?"
"No. No, Pony you aren't." All we did was cry.

We cleaned up Johnny and gave him a pair of Pony's clothes to wear. "You can stay here tonight. It's alright."
"But-" Johnny kept his eyes fixed on the floor. His hands were still trembling.
"He won't come back. Johnny you're okay." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he tensed a bit.
"I don't feel okay."
"You'll be okay."

Pony was dead asleep in the bed him and Soda shared. Soda had taken up the offer to sleep on the couch. I think that was for the best.
I helped Johnny into bed next to Pony. He laid on the edge of the bed, facing away from him.
I climbed into my bed. "Michael let's go to sleep."
"I'm not tired," He was definitely shaken up.
"Come on," Finally he complied and flopped onto the bed next to me. "He'll be okay. Johnny is one of the toughest kids I know. He's been to hell and back. He'll make it through."
"He was so scared. Aidy he was shaking and crying. He was just bleeding. How could they do that to him? Aidy he was terrified."
"Yeah. It's apart of being a greaser."
Over the past month I had slowly started realizing Michael was more of Soc then a greaser.