Inside of the Outsider (Inspired by 'The Outsider')

Chapter 2

Pony and I walked down to the park and we sat on the swing set. I watched a family of three have a picnic and play football.

"Pony?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he said.

"What was mom like?"

It took him a while to answer me, but he did.

"She was golden, why?"

"I don't know. Each day we all get older, I feel like I'm forgetting her. What she was like, sweet, 'golden', and every word that related to beautiful; but I'm growing up too, you know what I'm saying? Darry has the most weight on his shoulders, then me and Soda, and then there is you."

"Why am I last?"

"Cause, you still get to be a kid. How many kids do you know have a job at fourteen, have a family of boys to take care of, with themselves and two other guys that drop by every day?"

"Besides you, no one.

" "Exactly. Let's go home. Darry'll skin us if we aren't back before midnight." We ran home until we got to the vacant lot, where Pony had stopped. I dragged him along and saw the truck in front of the house. Soda didn't touch his dinner when we walked in. Darry had nodded his familiar head nod, and I sat at the table.

I woke up to Pony's voice as he was talking to Darry about the newspaper. I smelled burnt bacon and eggs. Soda was sitting on the couch watching TV. I shuffled my feet towards Soda, laying my head on his lap. He felt my face and said "You feel hot, lil mama."

Darry and Ponyboy were over me in a second. "You okay?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Just a little bit warm that's all. Ain't none to sweat over,"

"Pony, you take real good care of her, savvy?"

"Yeah, I will," Pony said.

Soda had carried me to bed, and then I'd dozed off with Ponyboy singing me to sleep, and the feeling of two aspirins burning off inside of me. I felt chills going up my spine that triggered my sleeping misshapen. I grabbed Pony's robe and went to find Ponyboy. He was sleeping in Darry's room. I woke him up and he jumped in bed.

"Can I have some soup?" I asked.

"Yeah." He mumbled. As he made the soup, I sat down at the table with my head on my arms. Pony had lifted my arms up and picked me up and sat underneath me. He weighed only about 140 pounds, but since his weight's changed since his adventure in Windrixville.

"Willa?" he asked.

"Yes?" I mumbled in his shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just runnin' a fever. "

"Okay."

The next week flew by as I had gotten better. Pony insisted on taking more aspirins. Pony and I were playing poker when Darry and Soda came home with Dairy Queen.

"Daddy's home," Soda said.

"With four cow parts with fries and soda pop bottles," I mumbled. "Alrighty lil mama, you asked for it," he said as he came around the table, holding me upside down; making my cards fly everywhere.

He set me down on my feet and Darry said, "Don't shake her around too much, cause we'll need her magic touch."

I grabbed my food and sat down at the table.

"Let me get something straight." I said.

"Nobody's running away, leaving or anything in that area, cause like Soda said 'we are the only thing we've got left' and we stay together as a family or split up for good. That's hard enough feeding four mouths already. Darry, try not to get frustrated at Pony. Pony, try not to irritate Darry. Soda, keep giving Darry massages. Savvy?"