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The first time Darry mentions a vacation, his brothers are sure he’s having some kind of stroke. He drops it into conversation casually too, over dinner no less.
“You know, I was thinking of taking a trip this summer. Somewhere on the coast, maybe. You guys in?”
Pony resists the urge to feel Darry’s forehead for a fever, but Soda does not. Darry swats him away and tells his brother he is a jackass, but he doesn’t mention it again for a few days.
When he does, it’s much more direct.
“I’m taking a trip this summer. If you guys want to come, you need to let me know.”
The fact that Darry has said it again tells Pony and Soda that he’s serious so, out of curiosity as much as anything else, they agree.
The Curtis brothers are going on their first vacation in... well, ever.
It’s not particularly hard for Soda and Pony to get a week or so off work. Pony has a part-time job at the local community library, and it’s a well-known fact that Mrs. Peters worships the ground he walks on. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Pony regularly takes care of the jobs that were beginning to become neglected as Mrs. Peters gets older and less able. Pony might not be as handy as his brothers, but he works hard and for the jobs he can’t manage himself, he enlists Darry or Soda to help instead.
The hardest person to convince is, ridiculously, Steve. He grumbles about the extra hours he’s asked to work while Soda is away, until he’s reminded that he’s usually complaining about not having more money to his name. After that, he keeps his mouth shut- he doesn’t want to look like a hypocrite, after all.
They decide on Wilmington, North Carolina for their destination, and plan to be gone for nine days- two days to drive there, five days for the beach and whatever else might take their fancy, and two final days to drive home again. Darry declares it a good plan and ignores the dubious looks that pass between his knucklehead brothers.
The morning of the day they are due to leave, Darry is bright-eyed and eager as he ushers a groggy Ponyboy and downright thunderous Sodapop into the car before the sun has started its ascent. He wants to get as much of the roughly seventeen hour drive out of the way as soon as possible, hopefully giving them at least an extra afternoon in Wilmington. After throwing his duffel into the back of the truck, Soda immediately climbs into the backseat to go back to sleep. Pony yawns widely, but he does offer to take a turn driving, and Darry surprises them both by accepting. Pony has had his license for six months or so, and while Darry doesn’t think Pony has the confidence yet for a long-distance journey, he can’t see the harm in letting his little brother take them the first hour, maybe a little more, out of town.
Soda wakes up a few hours later, thankfully in a better mood, as Darry and Pony are discussing where to stop for a quick lunch. The longer they’re on the road, the more excited the three of them quietly get, so they decide a bag full of gas station snacks will do the job so that they can get going again sooner.
They get to a motel in Columbia, South Carolina that night, and although Darry is exhausted from a full day of driving, he’s pretty pleased to realise there’s only about another four or five hours left of road until they get to Wilmington. Content, he manages to stay awake long enough to shower and chomp a few mouthfuls of the burger Soda goes out to get. Then, with the gentle hum of his brothers chatting in hushed, considerate voices, Darry is asleep before his head hits the pillow.
The next morning, they get a bit of a later start, which Darry is initially irritated about, until Soda reminds him with a cocky grin that ‘the beach ain’t going nowhere, Dar.’
Darry has to accept that Soda is right, so they spend the morning strolling around the area of their motel. They find a diner, and each have a big breakfast- Darry is adamant that they are not stopping again until they reach Wilmington.
Once they are on the road again, Darry asks Ponyboy to read to them. He’s reading ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and as much as Darry thinks there are a lot of words, the story is interesting enough, and he likes how all three of them seem to relax when Pony reads out loud. Soda’s knees don’t bounce as much; Pony sounds confident and assured in a way he doesn’t when reading his own work yet, and Darry’s own mind seems to empty, just enough, while he listens.
It does the trick, and the time passes quickly. Before he knows it, Darry spots a glinting in the distance, and it takes him a moment to find the words to tell his brothers it’s the ocean.
Pulling over might not be the smartest thing he’s ever done, but there’s absolutely no way Darry can carry on driving at that moment, and the road is quiet enough that it’s also not the dumbest thing he’s ever done either. Wordlessly, the three of them get out of the car and lean against the hood, admiring the view.
“Wow.” Ponyboy whistles after a few minutes, and when Darry glances across at him, he can virtually see the words forming in his baby brother’s head. He can’t wait to hear Pony’s description of this moment.
“You can say that again, P.” Soda answers, and Darry can tell they’re thinking the same thing.
Begrudgingly, they get back in the car, but the last thirty minutes of their journey is thrumming with excitement. When they finally pull up to the motel Darry booked- beach front, which he’s very proud of- Pony and Soda are quick to unload their bags while Darry collects the keys.
The room is nothing special- two queen beds, a tv, a fridge and a bathroom- but it doesn’t particularly matter. Within five minutes of walking into it, the Curtis brothers are walking back out of it. It’s pleasantly warm, and the beach is full, so they decide to forgo it for now, and instead head out to find a grocery store. When they do, they stock up on bottles of water, soda and a few snacks to keep in their room. After taking their groceries back, they kill a few hours in the arcade on the boardwalk, and Soda is instantly enamoured with the stuffed penguin he wins after spending way too long at the claw machine.
Darry won’t say it to his brothers, but he gets tired earlier than he would have liked, because although it wasn’t as much driving as the previous day, it was still more than he’s used to. But, in the end, he doesn’t need to say it. Pony and Soda see him start to wane and wordlessly head towards the door. There is a small pizza parlour next to the motel that Darry predicts will get a lot of their business, especially when they each bite into the best slice they’ve ever had. The sun is just beginning to descend when they take a slow walk on the beach, the sand cool and soft beneath their feet. The sound of the waves filters all the way back to their motel room and has the relaxing effect Darry had hoped for when he’d suggested the coast for their trip. It’s enough to lull all three of them into the first deep sleep Darry can honestly say they’ve had for a while.
Darry wakes up the next morning to the sun streaming through the gap in the curtains. For a moment, he thinks about how nice it is for the sun to even be up before he is. He’s so used to rising in the dark for work. He stretches out and tucks his hands under his head as he glances across at the bed his brothers are sharing. Soda is sprawled diagonally across it, one arm dangling from the mattress and the sheet kicked off in a heap at the bottom. Pony, however, is nowhere to be seen, and Darry can’t hear the shower running, either. When he sits up, he sees there’s a note on the bedside table telling them Pony has gone for a run on the beach, and when Darry glances out the window, he sees his brother’s tiny figure bobbing along near the edge of the tide.
Vacation or no vacation, once Darry is awake, he finds it hard to stay in bed, but Soda absolutely does not have that problem, so he creeps around to get himself some clothes, and takes a quick shower. Then, since Soda is still sleeping and Pony is still jogging, Darry takes himself for a walk along the pier. At the end, he finds a small restaurant just opening up for the breakfast crowd, so Darry goes in and orders three breakfast sandwiches, as well as a cup of coffee to drink while he waits. He decides to make this the way he’ll start their mornings in Wilmington, and makes a mental note to maybe bring a newspaper tomorrow, but for now, he chats with the waitress. She’s a local, maybe Soda’s age, and gives him some recommendations for different places to check out in the area.
By the time Darry gets back to the motel, Soda has woken up and showered, so they fill the cooler with drinks, and a backpack with towels and sunscreen, before heading down to join their brother on the beach.
When they settle in a spot just far enough away from the water that they don’t worry about getting wet, Soda immediately lies down with one arm slung across his eyes. Darry watches Pony for a while, and holds up a hand when Pony looks over and waves. Even from their distance, Darry can’t help but notice how grown up Ponyboy is starting to look. In a few weeks, he’s going to be a junior, and that feels impossible to comprehend. Before he can sink too much into his melancholy, Pony jogs towards them and dumps himself, chest heaving with heavy breaths and flushed cheeks, on the third towel Darry had set out.
Darry drops a water bottle on Pony’s chest, and he immediately sits up and dumps a third of it onto his head before downing the rest.
“Thanks D.” He pants wheezily “Running in the sand is no joke.”
“Really? Because you looked funny doing it.” Soda comments, shooting a wide grin up at his brother.
“Shut up,” Pony retorts, though he does it with a small, amused chuckle “The only way you can run is with your mouth.”
“Damn straight.” Soda agrees happily “I’ll run if I’m being chased, and I’m ok with that.”
“You looked good out there Pone.” Darry adds sincerely “You’re signed up for track when you go back to school, right?”
“Yeah,” Pony tells him “Coach Dunston thinks I have a good shot at State next year.”
“Good job kiddo,” Darry grins, genuinely proud as he gives his brother a playful punch on his shoulder. “Coach Dunston? Good guy?”
“He’s alright,” Pony answers, though he scrunches his eyebrows at the unexpected question “He can be a hard-ass sometimes, but usually only when the Freshmen are goofing off. Why’d you ask?”
Darry shrugs casually as he picks up the bag from the restaurant “No reason. Here, I picked up breakfast. It should still be warm too.”
Pony isn’t dumb, he knows his brother has changed the subject on purpose, but he lets it slide. For now.
“Finally.” Soda sighs as he takes his sandwich, and is quick to unwrap it. “I thought we were never going to eat.”
“You guys didn’t have to wait for me, you know.” Pony tells them, a twinge of guilt that he’d let his run go on for so long.
“We eat together when we can, that’s the rule, even on vacation.” Darry replies firmly, though he’ll admit his own stomach has been growling for at least the last ten minutes as well.
They pass the rest of the morning on the beach, alternating between lying on the sand and wading into the water. Pony alternates between reading and writing, and Darry and Soda hit a volleyball between them before the sun beats down too hot for much activity.
“Ok Dar, give it up.” Pony announces suddenly, his voice laced with exasperation as he slams his book closed. “What’s going on?”
“What are you talking about, Ponyboy?” Darry asks, genuinely surprised by his brother’s outburst.
“You’ve never relaxed a day in your life. You think sleep is a waste of time, and now we’re taking vacations? What gives?”
“Don’t ask him that, P. I love being on vacation, and it’s only been a day.” Soda chimes in, his voice relaxed and playful as he takes on the role that has become second nature to him when it comes to his brothers: peacekeeper. Sometimes that comes in the form of distraction. “Would I rather be here with Ann-Margret? Sure, but you guys aren’t a bad second choice.”
Ponyboy carries on as if Sodapop hasn’t spoken and keeps a steady gaze on his oldest brother.
“Since when do we have vacation money, Darry?” he asks, his voice low and serious, and laced with enough worry that Darry feels his gut twist guiltily.
“I used my severance packet.” Darry tells them simply, before returning his cap over his eyes to avoid the expressions of surprise he knows must be written all over his brothers’ faces.
“Your what?” Pony exclaims at the same time as Soda demands “You got fired? From which job?”
“The roofing company.” Darry answers as casually as he dares considering he’s fairly sure his brothers are about combust “And I didn’t get fired. People were being let go; I was one of them. That’s all.
“Jesus.” Soda huffs, sitting up and scrubbing a hand over his face before looking back to his brothers with a grim determination “Ok, it’s fine. I can pick up some more shifts at the DX until you find another job.”
“I have another job already.” Darry reveals, forcing as much nonchalance as he dares considering he can feel his brothers vibrating with worry. He does feel bad about that- he hadn’t intended to make them anxious “I start in a few weeks, and I have some extra handy man jobs lined up over the summer. We’re fine, guys.”
“Wait, you already have a new job?”
“Yep.”
“And when exactly were you planning to tell us?”
“I’m telling you now, ain’t I? Relax about it.”
“Ok, there’s no way he just told us to relax.” Soda hisses, shooting an exasperated look over at Ponyboy before turning back to Darry “Who are you, and what would an alien race want with the real Darry.”
“When you’re done being a drama queen, I’ll tell you about it.”
“Well, spit it out, Dar!”
“You’re looking at Will Rogers High School’s newest assistant football coach.”
“You’re kidding!” Soda yells, leaping to his feet.
“Well, I was going to make more of a thing about telling you, maybe over a nice dinner, before Pony jumped the gun,” Darry chuckles, giving Pony a light shove “but I’m serious.”
Soda draws the attention of the other patrons of the beach as he skips around his brothers, whooping and cheering.
“I knew you could do it.” Pony tells his oldest brother sincerely, knowing how much Darry had worried about passing the certification to coach. “I’m proud of you, Darry.”
“Thanks, kid.” Darry answers softly.
“Screw a fancy dinner,” Soda yells across at them “I say let’s celebrate now! There’s got to be somewhere around here that serves steaks, right?” As he talks, he’s already shoving his things back into the backpack, as well as what looks like half the sand on the beach and slams the cooler closed. “And the last one back to the room has to pay for them!”
He has a split-second head start, and he takes full advantage of it as he takes off across the beach. Darry and Pony shoot each other amused grins before scrabbling after their brother.
Pony has no trouble closing the gap between himself and Soda. And if Darry pretends it’s the cooler that slows him down enough that even Soda beats him back, rather than Darry letting them beat him? Well, his little brothers don’t need to know that.