He Was Mine, I Was His

Trouble

    "Shit," Soda cursed before leaping off his chair.

    "Wait!" I called to him, not wanting him to get hurt.

    He turned around for a split second to say, "It's okay baby, stay there," before turning back around and running towards the fight. A few of the other guys' buddies had joined in so I knew Soda had to go in for backup.

    As soon as Soda got over there, he was met with a pool stick to the ribs. He was hit so hard it broke the stick in half. The guy picked him up from leaning over the pool table and punched him. After three punches, he fell, hitting his head on the side of the pool table on his way down. He wasn't moving. I ran over to Sodapop and pushed the guy off of him. As I knelt down beside him, I realised he was out cold. Suddenly there was a loud bang followed by complete silence.

    I looked around to see Buck standing at the staircase with a gun pointed at the guy who started the fight, "Get your friends and get your ass out of my bar."

    Slowly, the guys grabbed their things and walked out of the bar. They all gave Dally and Two-Bit a look as they passed by them. Even with blood dripping out of his nose, Two-Bit seemed proud of himself as he blew them a kiss goodbye.

    "You were a little late with that one," Dally said to Buck.

    "Yeah I thought I told you to quit starting fights in my bar," Buck grunted back at him.

    "Two, a little help over here please!" I exclaimed as no one seemed to notice Sodapop lying on the floor. Two-Bit seemed to chuckle as he looked down at him.

    "I've told him not to fight when he's drinking, He can fight like hell when he's sober but get a few drinks in him and he goes down faster than anyone I know," Two-Bit explained as he squatted down next to me, rubbing the blood off his face with his sleeve.

    "You guys are absolutely insane," I huffed. Two-Bit slapped Soda's face a little bit to try to wake him. "Hey! Be gentle."

    Soda's head started to move a little bit. "Worked, didn't it?" Two-Bit smiled.

    Soda moved his hand up to his head which has a small cut on it. He winced and grabbed his side as he sat up, "That didn't go as planned."

    "Yeah, sure didn't honey. We better get you home. Help me get him up Two."

    Two-Bit helped me get Soda to his feet. We said goodbye to Dal who decided to stay at Buck's and made our way to the truck. I drove them both back to Soda's house. As we drove, Soda kept wincing in pain. I couldn't help but think his injuries were worse than we thought. Eventually we made it back to the house where I knew Darry would be able to make some sort of diagnosis.

    "What the hell did you guys do now?" Darry asked when we walked into the house.

    "Darry, Darry, calm down. It's just like any old Tuesday," Two-Bit smiled as we set Soda on the couch.

    "They got into a fight at Buck's," I started.

    "Tattle-tale." Soda cut me off. He tried to laugh but it hurt him.

    "Come on little buddy, let me look at ya," Darry said, sitting down next to Sodapop.

    Darry lifted Soda's shirt to reveal a large bruise where he was hit with the pool stick. Darry started to touch it but he pulled away which made him wince in pain. Darry shook his head.

    "Long time since I've broken a rib but it looks like you did tonight Soda. I'd say one or two," Darry diagnosed.

    "Well that's just great," Soda huffed.

    "I think Soda just needs some rest, okay guys?" Darry said to us.

    "You got it Doc. Come on Marilyn. I'll walk you home," Two-Bit replied.

    I gave Soda a kiss on the cheek before we left, "I'll come see you tomorrow."

    Two-Bit walked me home before leaving for his own house. I told Elizabeth everything that happened. She said she would talk to Darry about bringing Sodapop in to see her at work just to make sure he was okay. That night was another one where it was hard to fall asleep. Worrying about Sodapop, wondering why those boys could be so violent at times, thinking about how easily a peaceful night could take such a turn. Thankfully, I was finally able to fall asleep. Even if it was as the sun was rising, it was still sleep.

    The next morning, I immediately went to see Sodapop. Elizabeth was kind enough to make the boys breakfast so I brought it over to them. Ponyboy answered the door and let me in.

    "Where is he?" I asked after greeting him.

    "In our room with Darry. You can go see him," he smiled.

    "Thanks, here's some breakfast Elizabeth made for you guys."

    He took the containers and smiled at me, "Thank you for taking care of my brother Marilyn."

    I smiled back at him, "I always will." I walked into Soda's room where he was laying on his bed, Darry sitting in a chair next to him. He got up when I walked in.

    "There she is," Soda smiled.

    "He's been waiting for you. He's a little loopy on painkillers so beware," Darry chuckled as he walked past me.

    "Thanks for the warning," I laughed back. "There's some breakfast in there from Elizabeth."

    "Tell her I said thank you will ya?"

    I nodded and walked over to sit by Soda, "How are you feeling?"

    "Dandy," he replied. "Like Darry said, I'm on lots of painkillers so I'm doing okay for now."

    "Can you do me two favors Soda?"

    "Anything hun."

    "One, stop getting hurt."

    He chuckled but stopped quickly when he remembered how much it hurt. "I don't know if I can promise that one, so how about the second one."

    I rolled my eyes. "Well do you think you can at least have Darry take you to see Elizabeth tonight? Just so she can make sure you're alright. You know she won't charge you anything."

    "That I think I can do. One one condition."

    "What's that?" I asked.

    "Kiss me," he smiled.

    "You really are drugged up, aren't you?" I laughed before giving him a kiss.

    Soda and I sat and talked for a while longer. I brought him breakfast and had Darry make sure Soda would keep his promise of going to see Elizabeth later tonight. After taking care of all the boys, it was time to go to work. Sometimes, I swear, it felt like I was their mother.