ITS ABOUT TIME ➤ Ponyboy Curtis

9

𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚊 𝙳𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚠𝚜
    ♫ -

    I ran out my front door and jumped in the backseat of Darry's pickup. He was dropping Steve, Soda, and I at the DX. Steve took me down the night before to sign some paperwork and I got the job, because they'll hire really anyone. I was ecstatic. My old job made me miserable and this one seemed a whole lot more fun. Plus I got to work with two funny guys.
   "Don't be cruuuel-" Sodapop sang along to Elvis from the passengers seat and Darry subsequently turned up the radio to drain out Sodas voice. "Oh C'mon Darry, I'm just having fun." Sodapop shouted over the music.
   "You're annoying, that's what you are." Darry grumbled.
   Sodapop merely laughed and sang louder, resulting to me and Steve laughing at him. Sodas beautiful singing continued until we arrived at the DX.
   I got the hang of things pretty quick and it didn't get that busy, just a few people buying drinks and such here and there. I wasn't officially allowed to work on any cars but on my lunch break, the boys let me help them.
     "Look," Steve said while pointing his finger at the break system of the car he was working on. "the break pads are all wore down from pushing against the caliper, that little thing right here. That's why they're squeaking." Steve talks with his hands and has a gesture for every verb and adjective. It's was kind of hard to focus on what he was saying. "Firsts we gotta remove the wheel and slider bolt. You think you can do that?" He asked me. I nodded my head and got to work. It felt good doing manual work instead of sitting on a stool counting money.
   Steve explained every step while replacing the break pads. I asked a few questions and he answered them easily. He's a smart guy for a greaser—Not many grease guys are smart, except Pony. Smart and grease are antonyms around here. Him and Pony are gonna do good in life, I know that for sure. Steve has good grades and a good job. Me and him only work weekends while Sodapop's schedule changes. Soda also works full time while me and Steve will have school in two months and can't have full time jobs.
   My lunch break was over and I had to go back to the register. While organizing the candy bars that sit on the register counter, I heard the bell ring behind me and turned to see Ponyboy walking in.
   "Hey Pony!" I greeted. "Whatcha doing here?" I got behind the register and sat down on the the stool.
   Pony stood in front of me with his thumbs looped in his belt loops. "Darry called and said he's working late, so he asked me to tell you guys that you gotta walk home. I already told Soda and Steve. Darry also said that you can stay for dinner if you want."
    I peered over my shoulder at the clock that hung above me. "Is it already time to leave? That was fast."
    "Time flies." He smiled. "How was your first day?" Ponyboy asked, leaning on the counter.
  I bounced up from my seat and beamed a smile. The day was absolutely amazing. Pony laughed at my response. "It was great! The register is super easy and restocking stuff is kind of fun, to be honest." Pony listened earnestly as I described my day. "Steve let me help him in the garage on my lunch break and whenever Soda wasn't busy filling up gas or working in the back, we played hang man. I'm telling you, this is the best."
    "Any interesting people come in?"
    "No, just some old guys getting snacks and socs getting slushies. But this really pretty girl tipped me a whole dollar."
   "Did ya know her?" He asked.
   "No," I answered, "but Ive seen her at school. I think her names Sherry."
   Pony's smile dropped a bit. "Oh."
   "What's wrong with her?"
   Pony shrugged, "She's just rude, that's all." I personally didn't agree with that, given how we  gave me a whole dollar, but didn't mention it and instead unbuttoned my DX shirt that left me in a white blouse. Ponyboy took the shirt from me and held it under his arm while I fixed my hair. "Ready to go?"
   "Yep." I emerged from behind the counter and we walked out the front door and into the garage to collect Soda and Steve. "You don't have to carry my shirt y'know."
   Pony sheepishly laughed. "Well I'm a gentleman." He said as we got to the garage. "You guys ready?" Steve and Soda wiped their hands off on loose rags and followed us down the sidewalk.
    "You wanna stay for dinner, Stevie?" Sodapop asked his friend.
   "Cant, my aunt's staying over. We're supposed to eat dinner together like a normal family while she's here."
  "Ain't that a bite. Have fun, your aunts a real wet rag." Sodapop joked.
   "You're telling me." Steve said blankly.
  "What about you Georgie? Do you wanna stay for dinner?" said Sodapop, "I'm making mashed potatoes and beef!"
   "Sounds good, sure I'll stay." I wasn't gonna burst his bubble and tell him that Darry and Pony had already invited me.
   "You bet it's good. I'm an amazing cook." Soda bragged and returned to talking to Steve.
   I turned to Pony. "Is Two gonna be there?"
   He shook his head. "Him and Johnny and Dal are at one of Bucks parties. It'll just be you, me, and Soda until Darry gets home." We came up on Steve's street and he waved goodbye.
   "Is Soda really a good cook?" I asked.
  Soda, who was now listening in our conversation, answered for him. "Of course I am? Are you doubting me Georgie?"
  "No, I'm just.. skeptical."
  Sodapop scoffed playfully. "You're gonna be blown away once you take a bite of my food, just you wait Miss Georgie." He said, pointing a finger at me.
   I laughed. These nicknames kept getting dumber and dumber. "Alright then Soda. We'll see."
   The second we got home, Soda got to work. He was rummaging around the cabinets and was very focused on making the best dinner for me. He really wanted to prove his culinary skills. While Soda was hard at work, Pony and I sat in the living room and watched an episode of Lassie. I sat on the couch while Ponyboy sat on the ground in between my legs and let me braid his hair. All the guys, except Darry, kept their hair pretty long, so I was able to make one french braid stretching from Pony's forehead to his neck.
   "Oh, it looks so pretty Pony!" I cheered, wiping the hair grease on my jeans once I finished. All the guys put way too much grease in their hair, except Dal. He doesn't use any, resulting in his hair falling over his forehead in wisps and kicking out in the back in tufts.
   Pony stood up to take a look in the bathroom mirror. "Georgia!" He wined, "What did you do?"
   I stood behind him and put my hands on his shoulders. "I braided your greasy hair!" I smiled.
   Pony tried to contain his laughter but failed. "I look ridiculous." He turned around, "Can you take it out?"
   "Sit." I companded and put the toilet lid down. He did as I said and I started undoing the braid. It was disheartening ruining my hard work but it had to be done. I tried my best, but Ponyboy was making it hard.
   "Pony I can't undo it if you keep looking up. Put your head down." He didn't seem to hear me, or just didn't want to listen, and kept staring up at me. I looked down at him and giggled. He looked so cute, like a little kid on christmas. "Pony.." I said slowly while tilting his chin down.
   "Hmm? Oh, sorry." His face reddened. Pony quickly moved his head down.
   I laughed lightly. "That's alright Pone." It didn't take long for me to finish. Pony behaved the rest of the process, catching a glimpse of me every few seconds. We soon joined Soda in the kitchen after laughing at Pony's now wavy hair.
   "Blue mashed potatoes, Soda?" I laughed as I walked in on him putting in some dye.
  "Yep!" He smiled and turned on the hand mixer. "It makes them prettier."
   "You better not be coloring the food again, Sodapop." Darry grumbled as he walked through the font door.
   "Hey Dare, how was work?" Soda said innocently.
   Darry sighed and placed his keys on the counter. "What did I tell you about using the food dye?" He threw his hands up. " I thought I hid that?"
   "We saw him rummaging through the cabinets earlier." I giggled.
  "Where'd you hide it?" Ponyboy asked.
   "On the top of the fridge near the back." Sodapop beamed. He seemed so proud of himself.
   "I can't deal with you, Sodapop." Darry grumbled. Soda mischievously smiled and rushed to grab the hand mixer. He turned it on, outside the bowl, and sprayed potatoes all over us. Darry tried to stop him but Soda was running around trying to escape. We were all laughing, even Darry. After a few minutes of mess-making, Soda was forced to clean up his mess and set the table while the rest of us cleaned ourselves off.
   "Look at this art!" Soda jested, grabbing a spoonful of blue potatoes and plopping them down on this plate. Pony and I laughed and grabbed some food as well.
   Darry was not laughing. "Soda this is terrible. Look, the potato's clash with the peas."
   I giggled at his response. "Y'know you didn't have to invite me over for dinner."
   "Yeah and you didn't need to get potato's thrown at you."
   Ponyboy laughed and reached over the table to pick a piece of mashed potatoes out of my hair. I swear, Soda can make a mess of anything.