A Boy Named Pony - A Sequel to East West Sunset

Chapter Sixteen - Betty

For the next week after the robbery, Ponyboy didn't come to school. He called me every so often, saying he felt real sick and that's why he wasn't coming in, but something was even more off than it had been before. He sounded even more distant, almost a little scared. I worried and worried about him until I just couldn't stand it, and decided I had to go see him again. For that reason, I volunteered to deliver his makeup work to his house for him.

I looked up his address in the student directory and took the public bus straight from school to the stop closest to it. My father would scold me later for spending money on the bus fare, but I didn't care. I hadn't seen Pony for a week - I'd gladly pay the twenty cents to go see him.

I had to walk two blocks or so after getting off at the bus stop before I reached his house. I recognized the rusty old car parked in the driveway as his brother's.

For some reason, my stomach gurgled with nerves, and I paused in front of the torn screen door. In the muddy flower beds next to the front stoop, the decaying, dried stems of violets chattered in the chilly breeze. I swallowed hard, my heart galloping unchecked in my chest.

I was saved the potential embarrassment of having to knock, however, by the front door opening for me. An older boy with soft brown hair and equally soft brown eyes stood before me, smiling a movie star grin. He was real handsome - but I noticed I only found him handsome because he sort of reminded me of Ponyboy. Not in looks, that was for sure, but in his rakish, confident way of standing.

"H-Hi," I squeaked, caught off guard by his sudden, stunning appearance. 

"Hey! I saw you walk up," the boy explained. "You here to see Ponyboy? You must be the girl he's been talking about."

"Ooh, the girl?" Behind the boy, a girl about his same age peeked out at me with interest. She had the same soft brown eyes and wavy chocolate hair. "Betty Anne Kay, right? Please, come in, come in!"

Their excitement and seeming recognition of me threw me off guard, so it was with some effort that I tiptoed across the threshold and into the Curtis house.

There were a bunch of people already assembled inside. A man, maybe in his early twenties, lounged in front of the television, which was playing a Scooby Doo cartoon. I recognized Bryon Douglas sitting next to him, but another man, whom I didn't know, sat on the couch. Then, of course, there was the two who had let me in. Every single pair of eyes flicked to me almost cartoonishly in unison, and I waited to be introduced.

"Hey, you hooligans, stand up! This isn't how you greet a lady," the girl chastised the ones still seated.

A little sluggishly, they clambered to their feet.

"I'm Betty," I blurted. "And I'm hardly a lady, so don't trouble yourselves too much, you know."

The boy who let me in grinned. "I'm Sodapop Curtis, Pony's older brother. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Bryon. You know me already," Bryon muttered.

"I'm Steve," the man who had been sitting on the couch said with a reserved smile. "Nice to meet 'cha."

"And I'm Two-Bit! Really, it's Keith, but no'ne's called me that since grade school. So you can call me Two-Bit, too," the last man beamed.

I felt instantly more at ease. They all seemed friendly (save Bryon, but from what I'd seen of him at school, he wasn't really the extroverted type). I turned to the girl with a questioning look, realizing she hadn't introduced herself yet, and wondered if she was the Diana person Pony had often mentioned.

"Oh, right!" She gave herself a light slap on the forehead. "I'm an idiot. I'm Diana, Darry's girlfriend. Pony's sister - practically."

I couldn't help but study her a bit closer as we exchanged our nice-to-meet-yous. She wasn't exceptionally pretty, like Soda was, but her eyes were deep and expressive, and her lips and nose were full and symmetrical. She also had this slightly dreamy air about her, as if she were only made of happiness and she was fully satisfied with her lot. I remembered what Pony had said about her and Darry, about how they were sure to be married one day, and it all made sense. Part of me turned green with jealousy; I wanted that kind of security. Still, I couldn't help but be drawn to that kind of unconditional joy, which she exuded from all angles.