𝗜 𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗧 𝗔 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗔 | ponyboy curtis

chapter five: our comedy of errors

~~~Johnny~~~

I have a sister. My father had a baby with someone I don't know, but I have a sister! Honestly, I don't know what to do now. I always wanted to be friends with the girl, she seemed like a really nice person, but I didn't want to interfere with Pony's first relationship. I finally get some family that likes me.

"So," she said.

"So."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," I replied. We had sat on a bench. Pony had gone to get pizza, and Marina and I were leaning on each other.

"Can I meet our dad?" She looked up.

"You wouldn't want to," I told her. "He's not a good person. He won't treat anyone the way they should be."

"Oh," she said, looking down, "Does he, um, does he hit you?"

"Sometimes," I said, looking the same way.

"I'm sorry," she told me. She didn't have to be.

"It isn't your fault, Marina."

"Oh. Sor-" she went quiet, then giggled softly.

Ponyboy came out of the pizza place with a big pizza box. He sat down on the other side of Marina and put it on his lap.

"Are we really goin' to be able to eat all that pizza?"

"I am, I don't know about you," he replied, digging in. Marina did the same. They were practically the same person, other than the looks. Same big brain and appetite. I only had two slices, which was more than usual for me, but I hadn't eaten breakfast. Both Marina and Pony had three, which was normal for them both.

"So what do we do now?" Marina asked.

"I'm not sure," I replied.

"Hey, why not after the race I take some tuff pictures of you and the gang?"

"You have a camera?"

"Yessiree. I got it back in Arkansas cause my mom felt bad for having me leave my friends."

"Why'd you leave, anyway?" Pony asked.

"Mom got a promotion to be the secretary to the head of the Tulsa office. We didn't want to go in the first place, but her salary got an advance and we needed it. This was the only neighborhood we could afford. I'm glad we chose this one though," she said, then kissing Pony.

"Get a room!" I replied, my hand in front of my face. They laughed.

~~~Marina~~~

The race was intense. I personally love a good race. Shepard did win. The gangs in this town stick together, though there aren't really any organized gangs out here. It's just groups of friends against the rich kids. Tim had slashed a soc's tires on his brand new car for kicks and when the guy caught Tim, challenged him to a race in the middle of town after he got new tires. The boys are friends with Tim Shepard. Dally gets on his nerves every once in a while though. That's bound to happen, anyway. Dally can't go anywhere without making a little action for himself. I personally didn't like him much. But you had to respect him.

We went to take pictures by a hillside. It was pretty dry since summer had only just ended. Darry was mad he was always in the back. We had to get something for him to stand on. But the boys couldn't wait to see the pictures. We used a whole roll of film. Soda said I should be their personal photographer. At my mom's office, there's a dark room. She knows the guy that works it, so I'd given her the roll of film and asked her to take it to the guy. She said he would have them in two weeks. The guy's pretty speedy. (Author's note: that is a little lower than the average time it takes to develop a roll of film)