Shattered

uncle pony

Darry's POV

"Melissa, stop squirming." I say, shifting her in my arms. She giggles and hides her face in my shoulder, apparently thinking that this was a game. I smile and shake my head at her before turning to knock on the door of Ponyboy's apartment. "Are you ready to meet your uncle, Lissa ?" I ask and she nods her small head vigorously. I shift positions again, waiting for someone to answer the door. After thirty seconds, I knock again. "Ponyboy?" I call. I listen intently, wondering if anyone is even home and that's when I hear these strange noises almost as if someone on the other side of this door was being strangled. I test the door and when I find that it's unlocked, I look inside. I don't see anyone but the noises are definitely coming from in here. "Hello?" I call, stepping inside the apartment and shutting the door behind me. The minute I enter the room, I wince at the sight of the place. There are clothes and empty bottles of alcohol everywhere. The stench of the place almost makes my eyes water and stomach weak. I push piles of junk off of an area of the couch in the living room, one of the few pieces of furniture in here, and lay my jacket down for fear of Melissa catching some horrible disease from this filthy house . I sit her down on my jacket, "honey, let's play a game. If you can stay here for five minutes without moving or touching anything, we'll go get ice cream after this. Take this," I say as I take off my watch and point to the number three, "When the little hand gets here, that means it's been five minutes, okay honey?" "Yay, ice cream!" She yells happily, grabbing the watch out of my hand. I stand up and hurry into the kitchen before running into the next room, searching intently for the source of that horrible noise. When I reach the bathroom, I see Pony sprawled out on the bathroom floor and when I see him laying there on his back, I realize he's choking. "Pony!" I yell, dropping to my knees as I grab Ponyboy's almost unconscious self and hold him over the toilet. The second I roll him from his back and onto his stomach, he throws up violently. He was choking on his own vomit. I want to cry at the thought of Ponyboy sitting here in this lonely and depressingly bare apartment, drinking himself to death. He probably does this a lot guessing by the startlingly large amount of empty bottles thrown around. This time he couldn't drag himself to a toilet fast enough before he passed out. He seemed fine when I saw him a few days ago. We had made plans for me to come over here and properly introduce him to Melissa and for me to talk about, my wife, Alaska and my newborn son Michael. In fact, during his last visit, he said he doesn't drink often at all. I wonder what's changed or if he was even telling the truth in the first place. I'm lost in my thoughts and without realizing it, my grip on Pony loosens. He slips and before I can catch him, he hits his face on the bathtub faucet. He lets out a loud groan and blood starts trickling from the middle of his eyebrow. "Shit!" I yell, punching the wall in frustration.
"Daddy?" A little voice says and I spin around to see Melissa standing in the doorway, her bottom lip trembling. She's clutching my watch in her hands so tightly that her knuckles are white. She stares at Ponyboy, her eyes brimming with tears. "It's time for ice cream." She says and then she starts crying. "Don't cry, please don't cry, Mel." I say, trying desperately to soothe her. "Shh, you're okay." Melissa cries harder and I'm about to put Ponyboy down and reach for her when Pony starts throwing up again. Melissa screams and runs out of the room. "Mel, don't go anywhere! Everything's okay!" I yell, hoping she'll listen to me. I hold Ponyboy's limp body up as he vomits into the toilet bowl and when he's done, I sit him on the bathroom floor. The cut on his face isn't bad at all so I wash my hands and run into the living room to look for my daughter. I find Melissa curled up in my jacket as she lays on the couch, crying into the cushions. "Shh, come here." I say, scooping Melissa up into my arms. She buries her face in my shoulder, "What's wrong with him?" She sniffles. Melissa has never seen anyone in that state and I know she must be scared, i was never sick and when i was i hid it, Alaska was the same, and as for Michael he was to new to watch get sick. "Nothing is wrong, honey. Your uncle is fine, he's just not feeling very well. You'll have to see him another time. Mommy is going to come get you and you can get some ice cream with her. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I say quietly, kissing the top of her small brown haired head.