Running Away is Easy

The Court Hearing

It had been 4 days since the big rumble with the socs. The last time Dally and I went to visit Johnny in the hospital, he seemed to have been doing better, but he still was in pretty bad condition. I wanted to see Johnny so bad but the nurses said it'd be best to let him rest for a few days so he would be able to recover. Besides, today was the court hearing for Bob's murder, so I wouldn't have had any time to see him today anyways.
Darry told me to put on my nicest dress shirt and a tie. He said it would make a better impression for the judge and we would have a better chance of staying together. I don't know what I would do with myself if I got thrown in a boys home, I couldn't even begin to imagine life with the Johnny, Darry or Soda, or the rest of the gang.
As we walked into the courthouse I could feel my palms beginning to sweat. Cherry, Randy, and a few of the other socs that had jumped me and Johnny that night were there. I had to make sure say all the right things, not just for me, but for Johnny. The only reason Johnny had killed Bob anyways was because he was trying to drown me. Johnny wouldn't have hurt Bob if it weren't for me, and I would never forgive myself if he got in trouble for that.
As the hearing went on, the judge was questioning everyone. Cherry had testified that Bob and Randy were drunk like she said she would. The hearing went on for what felt like forever, and i almost started thinking the judge was never going to question me. After a while I started zoning out, all I had on my mind was Johnny. I couldn't wait for the doctors to let us see him again. Johnny was my best friend and he was the only person I could really talk to about things, but since I was so stressed out about not being able to talk to him, it felt like it had been eternity since I last saw him, even though it had only been 4 days.
My thoughts were interrupted when I felt Soda nudge my arm. "Ponyboy Curtis?" I heard the judge call out. I suppose he'd called my name multiple times before as his voice sounded impatient and everyone in the courtroom was staring at me.
"Oh, sorry your honour." I felt my face go bright red, I hated having people stare at me. It always made me feel embarrassed like I'd done something wrong.
"Mr. Curtis, how are things at home for you? Do you enjoy living with your brothers?" The judge questioned.
"Well I, yeah things are good. I really do like having Darry and Sodapop care for me." I was a bit surprised, I was expecting questions about the murder, not about my home life.
"That's good! How about school? Do you enjoy school? What kind of grades are you getting?"
"Schools alright, I'm doing pretty decent, I mainly get A's and B's." I didn't bother to mention that I'd been flunking recently. I was only failing because of all the stress with everything happening. I knew in a few weeks once everything was back to normal I'd be doing alright again in school, so no point in making it seem like I'm a bad student.
He asked me a couple more questions about how Darry was treating me and Soda at home, and what I liked to do with the rest of the gang before saying, "Alright thank you Mr. Curtis." and he went on questioning the rest of the socs. The rest of a trial seemed like a blur, I don't remember much of it outside of what the judge had asked me.
All I had on my mind was Johnny. I decided that as soon as he was out of the hospital, I would take him to watch a sunset. I knew a little park with a nice a pond nearby where we could go to that had a great view of the sunset. Maybe afterwards we could watch the stars too. I know we could just go to the lot, but I wanted to do something do special for Jonnycake. He'd been so strong pushing through, he could have easily given up and just died, but he didn't and he deserves something special for that.
I suddenly heard the judge say "I now place Ponyboy Curtis and Sodapop Curtis in custody of their older brother Darrel Curtis." I looked over and saw a smile bigger than I've ever seen plastered across Darry's face as he grabbed me and Soda and wrapped us in a hug. Hearing that I wouldn't be placed in a boys home took my mind of Johnny for a while.
We walked out of the courthouse and into Darry's car, and he drove us all back home. When we got home, we all walked inside, and I saw Dally, Steve, and Two-bit in the living room. Steve and Dally were talking and Two-bit was sitting by them watching t.v.
"Pony! How did things go, what did the judge say?" Two-bit jumped up from the t.v. as soon as he saw us.
"Great, the judge gave Darry full custody of me and Soda which means I won't have to worry about going to a boys home." I explained.
"Really? That's great! What about Johnny what'd they say about him?" He asked.
"The judge said they'd let him off. Cherry said that Bob and Randy were drunk and it was all self defence." Darry responded.
Dally got up off the couch and walked towards me. He put his hand on my shoulder looking happier than I've ever seen him. "Hey man, You're never gonna guess what happened. I got a call from the doctors, they said Johnny should be good to be released tomorrow, but he's been asking for us, and was wondering if we'd stay the night with him cause the docs are letting people see him again."