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Sodapop Curtis may have not gotten the best grades in school, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. Everyone knew Pony was the brains of the family, Darry was the muscle and Soda was the looker. Even though being smart wasn’t his thing, he knew when he was being lied to, especially if it was his kid sister, Pony Curtis, lying to him. He could read her like a book (the only book he’d be able to read). Usually Pony would lie about dumb stuff like if she failed a test or if she felt sick. Usually…
Soda was working a double at the DX, he loved his job, he really did, but all he could think about was getting home and dozing off to Elvis. When 8 pm finally hit, he practically ran to clock out. Steve threw a bag of chips at his head.
“Soda! Get back in here!” Steve called out, “I ain’t cleaning up alone!”
Soda groaned. That was the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew if he wasn’t here to do it, Steve would do a halfass job and then their boss would yell at both of them!
Soda leaned against the doorframe then slowly dragged his butt back in. He gave Steve a deadpan look, his undereyes dark with exhaustion from a long day of fixing cars and helping people buy smokes.
As he was cleaning he couldn’t get his mind off home and how nice it would feel to lie down and enjoy the embrace of homely comfort.
Steve smirked and leaned against the counter next to Soda, “Dreaming about me, Loverboy?”
Soda hit Steve with a wet rag earning a yelp from the other, “You wish.”
After about a good 30 minutes of cleaning, Sodapop packs his bag and heads to his car. Steve trails behind him humming a tone from the radio. He starts the car and heads home.
They finally reach Curtis house and soda walks in and immediately stops in his tracks. His little sister… the girl he had helped Darry raise. She was on the couch with Johnny Cade on top of her, kissing and giving her a big hickey.
Soda slammed the front door, and Johnny immediately got off her. Pony looked guilty and flicked her collar up trying to hide the evidence of what she let Johnny do to her.
An awkward silence passed between the group, no dared to make a move. Johnny looked like a scared dog, Johnny’s mind was focused on one thing, Escape. Pony stepped forward shielding Johnny from the strom that was brewing on the other side of the room.
“Soda, it wasn’t what it looked like..” Soda lost it.
“What do you mean It wasn’t what it looked like?!” Soda stared at her deadpan, he could always tell her lies, “‘Cause it looked like Johnny was turning your neck purple!”
Johnny flinched and blushed so hard he could easily be sold at a farmers market as a tomato. “It wasn’t like that… We were just practicing!” Pony paused, “You know?”
Soda turned his head to give Pony a look that could only be described as “Are we being serious right now?” He stared between her and Johnny before sighing and rubbing his head. Steve walked in then slowly walked back out. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Pony could count herself lucky that it was soda that walked in on her and not Darry. She would have never been allowed to leave her room and Johnny would have been chased out of Tulsa. Even though Soda was more leant on the idea of Pony dating, he was still pretty mad that she hadn’t told him at all. He was her favorite brother! She always told him everything, and here she was lying to his face about something so obvious that even Johnny (whose life is basically on the line) knew that lying would get them nowhere. They were caught.
Soda walked straight up to Pony, “Pony, I may not be as smart as you but that don’t mean I don’t understand what you and Johnny were doing.” His southern accent became thicker as he continued.
Johnny shifted on his feet and Soda shot him a look. Johnny took that as his opportunity to leave and even though Soda wanted to have a talk with him, it was for the best that he and Pony were away from each other for a bit.
As Johnny left Soda turned back to his kid-sister, “Pony you know I love you, but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me?”
Pony lifted her head, her soft green eyes searching for the words in her clever mind. She really didn’t want to argue anymore than necessary, that was clear. “I just know how you and Darry get when it comes to me dating,” Pony whispered.
“How long have you two been sneaking around?”
“...About a month,” Pony sighed, “but we’ve liked each other for longer. Last month he worked up the courage to ask me to the drive in as… well ya know like a date.”
Soda was shocked. A month. An entire month where his little sister had been sneaking around with some boy! He wasn’t angry, just upset that she felt like it wasn’t safe to tell him something.
“You know that you’ll have to tell Darry.” Soda replied with.
Pony’s eyes widened for a moment then she lowered her head back down staring at the floor. “I know.” Her voice was quiet and soft, she understood.
About an hour later Dallas and Johnny walked back into the Curtis house. Dallas was smoking and joking around with Johnny in the kitchen. Soda was sitting on the couch trying to hide the fact that he was watching Johnny closely. He knew him and Dallas were close, Dallas probably knew about them dating before he did. Soda didn’t like that thought, he wondered if Dallas may have helped Pony and Johnny sneak out on dates like giving them rides to certain spots…
Everything was going to explode as soon as Darry got home, Soda just knew it. At 9 pm on the dot, Darry walked in all sweaty and tired. Soda immediately jumped up from the couch and started trying to start the conversation.
“Woah Pepsi. Can this wait? I just got off work and I need a shower.” Darry’s voice was gruff but there was a hint of fondness as he looked at his younger brother.
“Ok-k just be quick!”
During the time Darry was cleaning himself up, Soda was practically jumping. Not with joy but with anxiety. He had banned Pony from going to her room until they had this talk. No skipping or trying to hide.
“Soda, this is so stupid!” Pony begged. Her voice was only a whisper but Soda could hear her anxious tone slip out. Pony shifted on the balls of her heels, she was not ready for this conversation. She wasn’t in the mood for an argument and Darry was always yelling.
“Ponygirl Michelle Curtis! You are not going to back out this,” Soda continued, “I’m not going to keep this from him, Darry has a right to know.”
“I have a right to know what?” The room froze. Darry was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. His massive 6 '4 frame filled the doorway and it was almost impossible to see behind him. Pony tried to take a step back to avoid his gaze but was pushed forward by Soda.
“Pony, why don’t you tell Darry what happened today?” soda spat out.
“Gosh you know I was going to!” Pony yelled, “Soda I don’t understand why you’re being like this!”
Darry stepped forward trying to defuse the situation, he shushed Soda before he could say anything back. “Ok, Pony I’m listening. What’s wrong?” Darry spoke cool and even. This whole thing felt weird to Soda. It was usually Darry yelling and getting hollered at by Pony, not him. He knew he was being unnecessarily mean to Pony but he was annoyed! And he had every right to be.
“Well… Darry, I know your rules and you know how you didn’t want me to have a boyfriend…” Pony stumbled over her words. She avoided this for so long, she hadn’t planned anything to say and it was obvious. Darry’s eyes sharpened as he listened to Pony’s words. It was about to hit the fan.
“Who?” Darry asked. And he wasn’t asking, he was demanding to know.
Pony lowered her head and gazed towards Dally and Johnny, who were hiding in the kitchen. They were trying to pretend that they weren’t listening in to the conversation happening in the next room. They were bad at pretending though. Darry followed her gaze and locked eyes with Dallas.
“Is it Dallas?” His voice was full of disgust at the simple idea that his kid sister would date a rough hood like Dallas. It was almost as bad as her dating someone like Curly Shepard. Pony quickly denied and defended herself hoping that Darry might be more chill with her dating Johnny because he wasn’t as rough as a hood as Dallas is.
Darry searched the kitchen and immediately locked onto Johnny. Johnny avoided his gaze and tried (and failed) to appear nonchalant. Darry immediately knew who Pony was talking about. He lowered his gaze to Pony who had taken a seat on the couch.
“It’s Johnny.” He stated it as a fact, because there was no doubt in his mind that Johnny was the one she was talking about. Pony didn’t deny it and just nodded, there was no point in lying when Darry had already unlocked the truth. Darry’s brain had finally put the pieces together. She was closer to him than anyone else in the gang and she had a habit of going places just with her and Johnny. Darry wasn’t actually mad, just upset at her for not telling him and himself for being so dumb and not putting the pieces together faster.
Johnny almost made a run for the front door but Soda blocked him. “Listen Johnny we ain’t mad but we need to talk. Now.” Soda started and Darry nodded completely agreeing with what was being said.
Soda grabbed Johnny’s collar and “helped” him towards the couch which Pony was still sitting on.
“Alright man! I get it. Just let go.” Johnny finally found his words.
As they all made their way to the couch, Darry sighed long and heavy. “Ponygirl, I can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone. That was irresponsible and you have gotten yourself in a bunch of trouble!”
Pony lowered her head, she wanted to argue back and say that she wasn’t a little kid but she knew her brother would just fire back that she was a girl and therefore needed extra protection. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. Darry continued.
“Im slightly hurt that you felt the need to hide this from us. It’d be one thing if it was a real bad hood like Dallas but it’s not. You know we all love Johnny.”
Johnny’s cheeks flushed at the compliment but he had to hide it. One wrong move and Darry would beat him to a plum. “I'm sorry Darry! I know you care but you get all protective and mad-!” Darry cut her out.
“I get protective because I know what happens to girls who-who-who don’t use their heads and go out with hoods,” He stared at her, “You think everyone is as nice as Johnny?” Darry was clearly offended, in his eyes Pony had just told him that he was overprotective for no reason. But he wasn't stupid he knew about the girls who got a little too drunk at parties and woke up missing parts of their wardrobe or the girls who broke the heart of the wrong guy and ended up getting killed or worse.
“Sweetheart, you should have told us. We need to be able to protect you, even when you don’t think you need it.” Soda spoke, finally cooled down and on the same page as Darry.
Darry turned to Johnny and spoke the things that Sodapop couldn’t. “Johnny Cade, you know I love you like a brother but I swear on my mother’s grave if you hurt or get my little sister in any trouble there will be hell to pay, savvy”
Johnny gulped he had never heard this side of Darry directed at him before. He managed to stutter out a “S-s-savvy.”
“Darry stop, you’re scaring him!” Pony spoke out. She and everyone else knew Johnny was a good kid and would have never gotten anyone in trouble much less Ponygirl. Darry just huffed and muttered out some gruff nonsense, but that was his way of saying, “yeah yeah yeah I get it.”
The room fell into a comfortable silence. Darry looked between the group he needed to make sure one thing was clear going forward. “And also, I don’t want you two going alone anymore, especially after dark. You take someone from the gang with you. I don’t need my kid-sister to get pregnant.” Pony’s face turned bright red at that comment, it wasn’t like she thought it was probably never going to be like that. She turned to face Johnny and saw the same exact expression on his face, pure embarrassment. Soda hid his smirk and giggles in the collar of his work shirt, he knew Darry was giving him a glare but he didn’t care. It was funny to him to see his little sister get all squirmy and uncomfortable from one single comment.
“Ok ok I get it. Still don’t appreciate someone having to tag along for our dates!” Pony argues.
“Now you know how I feel when you always come on my dates with Sandy." Pony threw a pillow at soda, which he promptly caught.
“Calm down you two. Pony. Johnny. Im setting ground rules,” Darry spoke out his voice sharp but not unkind, “When Johnny sleeps over he doesn’t sleep in your room Pony, even if it’s on a sleepbag on the floor. He can sleep on the couch or in Soda’s room.”
Pony looked sad and nodded but then Darry got curious and eyed Johnny and Pony. “Y’all have done nothing yet. Right?” They knew what he meant, soda knew what he meant. They both stand straight up not expecting Darry to be so forward about everything.
“No! I swear only kissing.” Pony retorted.
Soda eyed her and quickly responded by flicking down her collar to expose the hickeys she had around her collarbone. Darry saw them and lost it, Johnny took this as his sign and quickly started running, with Darry chasing after him.
Pony started beating Sodapop with a pillow as he was laughing his ass off.
She was just glad everyone didn't hate her.