Chapter Text
The DX was quiet. Joel and Mr. Collins were off, and Steve was at school, leaving Soda to man the station. Of course there was Martin, but the guy didn’t talk much, and Soda had wasted way too much time trying. Martin kept to himself in the garage, burying himself in tools and oil. Ever since the school year had started back up, the garage was boring and quiet without Steve there to fill the space.
The air vent rattled, cooling down the space and making a faint buzzing sound as Soda rang up an older gentleman at the counter.
“That’ll be $3.79, sir.”
“Really?”
“Yep! The coke is twelve cents and the gas ended up being $3.64.”
“Oh alright, I added it wrong in my head.”
“No problem, I do that all the time.”
“Mhm,” the man nodded, “have a good day, son.” Letting the door shut behind him as the bell rang.
“You too!” Soda smiled as he always did, drifting back to the horse magazine he was looking at earlier.
A few minutes went by before another customer came by, this time it was someone from school, Chet Baker.
The two had roughed around a lot, along with Steve, before the whole greaser and socs situation crossed anyone’s minds. After people finally started to initiate the law of the tracks, Chet separated himself, causing a rivalry between him and Soda. They always went after each other in rumbles and shit-talked each other in the hallways while Soda was still in school. Neither actually hated the other, they just didn’t actually know how to act with each other. They still had a lot in common, both a liking for horses and baseball. Baseball was how they’d met originally. The two were on a little-league team together and had become fast friends. Though, everything ended when Soda dropped out, putting a pause in their complicated dynamic.
Chet sauntered up to the spot Soda was stationed at. “Well if it ain’t my least favorite greaser.”
“Aw how sweet, has my least favorite soc decided to pay me a visit?”
“Haven’t seen ya at school, didja’ finally drop out?”
“Oh, congratulations on putting two n’ two together!” Soda said, doing a motion of slowly clasping his hands together. “You’re so smart, Baker. I knew you could pass basic thinking”
“Yep.” Chet then paused – thinking back to what all Soda had said. “Wait- I- ah- I- shit. Shut your trap.”
Soda smirked. “Mhm. Anyway, why're ya here? We have a loitering policy, ya know.”
“Just need some gas, that’s all. I was hopin’ on avoiding you. Maybe talk to your little angry dark-haired-grease-ball friend instead.”
Soda whipped back quick and light. “One of my many reasons for leavin’ school was so I didn’t have to see your face every day. But I guess you can’t always get what you want.”
Chet began twirling his curly brown hair through his fingers as he leaned against the counter. “Just fill me up, Curtis. Then I’ll be outta’ your greasy hair.”
“Oh my gosh- I’m so glad you noticed! I put extra in just for you.” The teen put on his best movie star grin before pushing past Chet and walking out the door. They walked to the car, a mustang in the color “springtime yellow”. “Im surprised Daddy hasn’t gotten you the next model yet. Didn’t this one come out last year? It’s so old!” Sarcasm filled Soda’s mouth. His family still had the same old Chevy they’d always had. Who knew how often Socs bought new cars or how often they were able to afford one.
“Yeah yeah.” He waved his hand. “Just fill ‘er up, Soda, I’ll let you know when to stop.”
“My pleasure, just holler.”
The greaser clicked the gas cover off and stuck the gas pump in as his eyes drifted across the parking lot, looking at all the rubble and dirt. That was until he caught the eye of a man loitering around the building. He was a little taller than Soda and had short blonde hair, almost the same shade as the Middle Curtis’s, but a tad bit darker. He was tan too, like he’d spent hours upon hours working in the sun. His hair was clipped short, and paired with his scar and pants, Soda was quickly able to draw the conclusion he was or had been in the army. As soon as Soda made eye contact the man looked away, his thoughts then being broken by the soc telling him to stop the pump.
“I pay inside the station, right?” He tried to grab the teen’s attention, but Soda was looking off into the distance, blankly watching something. “Grease?”
“Huh-? Oh- yeah- yeah I’ll get you all checked out inside. Just- uh-” his eyes wandered again, searching for the man he saw seconds ago.
“You high or somethin’? Hey! Earth t-”
“No, Chet, I’m not high. C’mon, I’m done with you today.” Soda spoke, pushing himself out of his leaning position as he started towards the door, grabbing a tooth pick out of his pocket and putting it in his mouth to chew on. His vision drifted off to the spot, just to make sure he wasn’t going crazy. Lord knows that’s what Darry needed to deal with on top of bills and work. But there wasn’t a trace of someone ever standing there, just the breeze blowing the grass and weeds.
Later on in the day the gang was all hanging out in the lot: Johnny and Pony were sitting under a tree, talking about a book, Dally was leaning and watching everyone like a hawk, Two-bit had somehow managed to get Darry out of the house and throw a football around, and Soda and Steve were laying in the grass making jokes, occasionally getting up to do something random.
“Hey Darry, what do we have going on this weekend?” Soda nodded over to where his brother was standing, pulling a piece of grass and twirling it with his fingers.
“Me and you have shifts, I have a full shift on Saturday and half shift on Sunday morning, you have afternoon shifts on Saturday and Sunday. I was thinking about working extra since I have Sunday off.”
Soda looked up at his older brother, something about the new eye-bags he’d been sporting for the past 8 months still didn’t sit right with him. “Aw, Dar- why don’t ya stay home? We could do a movie night or something?”
“Oooo!! Family movie night, count me in!” Two-bit piped up as he took his eye off the football, allowing himself to miss the ball as it hit his ribs.
“Nope, if we’re doing anything on a Sunday night it’s going to be quiet.” Darry answered, catching the ball Two-bit attempted to throw harder as a way to get back at the older boy.
“I can be quiet.”
“Nothing about the nickname ‘Two-bit’ says anything related to being quiet, Keith.”
“Well alright then, Darrel, I see where I’m not wanted. I’ll hang with Johnny instead.”
“Wha-?” Johnny’s head poked up from where he was laying across Ponyboy’s lap. “What am I gettin’ wrapped into because of Two’s poor decisions?”
Ponboy laughed at his friend’s comment, “if Johnny’s going I’m going too.” Setting the book down in a triangle in order to keep their page, he untangled himself from the curly-haired boy.
“Yeah we know.” Dally teased, nodding over to where Johnny and Pony were still laying together, despite now being untangled.
“Leave em’ alone Dal.” Soda lifted his head off the grass, trying to get a hold of the situation before it unraveled.
“Yeah, leave me and Johnny alone, we ain’t doing nothin’ wrong.”
“Ponyboy you have a bunch of homework to get done – and you have a project due on Wednesday – and I highly doubt you’ll do it tonight.” Darry poked in, shutting down the idea.
“I can get it done, Darry! I swear. The project’s not that complicated, anyway.”
“Mhm, well if it’s ‘not that complicated’ how about you get it done early?”
Ponyboy quickly responded, raising his eyebrow at his older brother. “Beacuse unlike you, Darry, I like takin’ my time and doin’ things I enjoy, rather than work my ass off for no rhyme or reason.”
At this point Soda started to block out the conversation. He hated when his brothers fought. They’d been doing it more ever since their mom and dad passed away. Even the littlest things led to an argument between the two, which always ended with Soda in the middle.
Soda felt a nudge, causing him to look at the person who sat up next to him. “I still have no idea where that card went. Maybe the couch cushions?” Steve started, looking over at his friend. He’d noticed how much the bickering bothered him, so he’d decided to provide a distraction.
Even though he had no idea where it went, a habit of smiling even though he wasn’t lying decided to kick in. “It’s written all over your face, Sodapop.” He could almost hear his mama’s favorite saying. He’d been through multiple situations as a kid where he got blamed for another one of the boy’s shenanigans. Sure, he wasn’t that innocent, but he rarely actually lied. Steve squinted at him, seemingly reading his face.
“Soda. What happened to the card?”
“Uh-”
“You hid it? Didn’t you?
“I uh- listen, man, I got no idea.” Soda slowly stood up and started backing away with his hands up in surrender.
“THIEF!” Steve yelled, leaving no time for his friend to run away before tackling him to the ground.
Soda let out a small “oof” as he slammed against the ground a little too hard. They rolled around in the grass before Soda was able to pin Steve to the ground.
“Oh no you don’t-” Steve grumbled, kicking Soda in the ribs with his knee. Soda did the same back, allowing himself to get the upper hand when Steve weakly pinned him down, making sure to hold down his legs this time.
“You’re done for, buddy.” Soda smiled as he stared down at Steve, assuming he’d yield.
“Not for long.” Steve wiggled his arm free and swept it under Soda’s leg, knocking the teen off balance. “Hollar uncle!” He yelled, putting the blond-haired boy into a head lock.
“Never!” Soda choked out, trying to knock away Steve’s grasp. He looked around, hoping to catch Ponyboy so he’d come help. Instead, as his eyes sorted through his surroundings, he caught a glimpse of the veteran he saw earlier that day. He stopped struggling in his friend's grasp, looking around to see where the man had moved too.
Steve let go, noticing the silence that followed Soda. “You good, man?”
It took a second, but then Soda responded. “Huh-? Oh yeah- I’m uh- ‘m fine.”
“You had your head up n’ the clouds for a sec, could’ve mistaken’ ya for Ponyboy.”
“I heard that!” The youngest Curtis called, running towards where Soda and Steve were lying in the grass. “You gonna get him, Sodes?”
His brother was staring off near the tree line again, seemingly lost in thought. “Oh- oh yeah.” Soda smiled again, tackling Steve off of his kneeling position.
That evening, once the gang had mostly dispersed, Dallas strode into the living room in his beat up riding boots and cowboy hat. Slamming the door behind him, like always. “You plannin’ on going to the rodeo tomorrow, pepsi man?”
The day was cold, but not too cold. Honestly it’d be considered warm. September’s temperatures could be anywhere in Tulsa. The Sun shone through the front window, catching on the back of the deep red couch and making the color brighter. The light reflected off of the scattered picture frames, making all of the images glow.
Sodapop had his limbs strewn across the couch, staring up at the ceiling as he watched the colors dance across the room. “Yep! Me n’ Stevie are gonna-”
“There is no way in hell Darry’s going to let you go, Soda. He’s been too worried about it since you fell last time.” Pony poked his head into the room from his spot at the table where he’d been forced to do his homework. Sure he didn’t mean it that way, but his comment was like a jab to the heart for his brother.
Soda winced at the memory, being transporterd back to when he was thrown off and landed wrong in the dust. He’d gotten a concussion and tore his ACL, leading his father to swear off rodeos. Even so, he put on his normal care-free smile and picked his head up off the couch cushion. “Yeah, sure, but that was years ago.”
“It’s been barely two.”
“Yeah, yeah, I just gotta ask Darry at the right-”
“Ask Darry what now?” The oldest Curtis came through the door behind Dally from where he was clearly listening to the conversation, pushing the scrawny boy to the side with an arm-load of groceries.
“Dal wanted to know if I was going to the rodeo tomorrow before my shift.”
“You plannin’ on ridin’?”
“No, just goin’ to see the horses and watch Dal. Steve said he’d tag along with me, so it ain’t like I’ll be by my lonesome.”
“Sounds fine. But if I hear you were ridin’, you’ll be grounded til’ you’re eighteen.”
“That’s almost a year, sounds like it’s worth the risk to me.”
“Sodapop.” Darry glared at him with that stone expression he always used.
“Alright, alright Dar. I was just jokin’. You’re gonna go grey if you keep thinkin’ the way you think.”
“What’s so wrong with the way I think?” His older brother raised his eye-brow exactly like Ponyboy had done earlier, earning a small laugh from Dallas in the corner.
“Nothin’, big brother. Don’t worry bout’ it.” Soda stood up and moved to his now shared bedroom to get his stuff ready for the next day, the adrenaline from just the thought of the rodeo already flowing through his veins.
Dust kicked up from the ground as the two blonds meandered through the stables, making Soda cough.
“So you plannin’ on ridin’? If ya are, we gotta go talk to the man in charge or I’ll have to threatin’ ‘em later.”
Soda walked slightly behind Dallas, making sure to look at each of the horses they passed. “Nah, I’m just gonna watch you.”
“You’re really that scared of your big brother?”
“No, I just feel bad. He’s got too much to worry about anyway. He don’t need me gettin’ hurt. Plus Steve would be left alone in the stands.”
“I still think Superman could handle it, loosen’ up a little. Speakin’ o’ which, where is Steve-o anyway?”
“He was helpin’ the manager at the DX move some boxes from a late shipment. He’ll be here soon. Anyway, what was it you wanted to show me in the stables?” Soda asked, looking at Dally.
“Well my dearest Dr. Pepper,” Dallas smirked, wrapping an arm around the boy next to him, “it’s not that excitin’ to me, but I know you get real excited about horses n’ shit.”
“Yeah?”
Dally led him over to a stall at the end, pulling Soda along. “Ta-da.” Dal waved his hand towards the horse, still with the other arm wrapped around Soda’s shoulder.
Soda looked up. Yes, there was a horse there. But for a second, there was also a traumatized pair of brown eyes staring back at him that belonged to that same damned figure. The teen let out a short, startling gasp, before twisting himself away from Dally’s reach and tripping over himself as he fell backwards, kicking up a ton of gravel on his was down.
Dallas watched his buddies eyes blow wide as he reached a hand down to help him up. He wasn’t scared of Dally, but something in the stable. “What? You scared of horses now? You look like a shook-up sprite bottle.” The attempted joke fell short as Soda nodded to Dally without his normal smile, clearly slapped on in a last attempt to cut off any thought Dallas had.
Like he always did, Soda was quick to avoid the awkward situation, forcing himself to look at the actual horse in the stall. “An Appaloosa? No shit! I haven’t seen one of these in a while.” Soda stepped towards the door so he could lean on it to stroke the horse. “He’s a beauty. Is he gonna be performing today?”
“Sure is.” Dallas decided to brush off the odd moment as he placed himself beside Soda on the door.
“Cool! Well I’m gonna go see if I can find Stevie. Catch you later, Dal!” Soda waved, walking out of the stable and over to the stands. Dally waved back, adjusting his hat before heading off in the other direction.
After the rodeo, Soda, Steve, and Dally ended up at Bucks. It wasn’t their first choice, but the Dingo was closed and there’d been some nasty fights on the Ribbon all week. Dallas had claimed he’d be in and out pretty quick, then the three could hang out by Buck’s car or on the front porch, avoiding whatever the building and people had in store. But at this point it’d been 7 minutes of Soda and Steve standing at the bottom of the stairs while dodging people and conversations.
“Hope he didn’t get lost.” Steve pulled his arms behind his head, stretching them out and yawning. His foot tapped anxiously against the floor as he looked back up at the stair case, beckoning the blond to come back.
“He’ll be out soon, Dal ain’t the type to just leave.” His buddy glared at him, giving him a look that said Soda was wrong. “Okaaay maybe he’s left us a few times, but that was when he got in a fight or found Ponyboy and Johnny cakes. There ain’t any fights tonight and I sure hope Pony and Johnny ain’t here.”
“True. Okay, but seriously, where did you hide that card?”
“I’m tellin’ ya, Stevie, I’ve got no idea.”
“Well you put it somewhere, we don’t have an invisible card monster round’ here. Did ya just forget? Maybe you just misplaced it, I mean, don’t get me wrong, buddy, but you’re not the best at keepin’ track of things.”
“If I put it somewhere I would've remembered or we would’ve found it. A queen of hearts doesn’t just disappear into thin air.”
“Maybe Johnny took it.”
“Johnny? Seriously Steve? That kid couldn’t hurt a fly. Now you' re just jumpin’ to random conclusions.”
“He flipped his hair in my face last week!”
Soda laughed at the mental image. “I’ll believe that one when I see it.”
“I’m serious though! I pissed him off and he whipped his tangle of curls in my face.”
“Mhm, mhm.”
Just as Steve was going to defend himself more, Dallas finally came down the stairs to meet with the two teens at the bottom. “Finally.” Steve muttered as the three headed towards the door.
The boys sifted their way through the crowd, trying not to get caught up for too long. While Steve and Dallas were used to it, being the continuous smokers they are, although one more than the other, Soda coughed when he inhaled the cigarette smoke that drifted in the room. A fit of coughs hit his throat, causing him to stop walking for a moment. He tried to catch sight of Steve and Dallas again, but instead caught an oddly familiar pair of eyes. There, standing amongst the other drunks, was that same Veteran. The man didn’t move a muscle, only moving his eyes to track Soda as he returned the eye contact.
It was a weird, surreal feeling. Almost like- “Hey, Pepsi?” Steve broke into his buddy’s wandering thoughts as he grabbed his arm, breaking Soda out of his head.
“Oh- uh yeah- I’m comin. Sorry.” The blond stumbled over his words as Steve led him through the crowd. Once they made it out the front door, they were reunited with Dally who was already striking a weed on his necklace.
“You okay, Soda? You’ve been starin’ into space a lot recently.”
“Yeah I’m okay, just-” He noticed Dally and Steve’s truly worried and almost suspicious expressions as he spoke. “Just been worried about a few things, that’s all. Nothin’ serious, just about Darry workin’ himself too hard.” The two boys across from Soda nodded in almost recognition.
“Right, cause you fallin’ on your ass after looking at a horse stall is very normal. Do you like Appaloosa horses that much?”
“I mean- they’re great and all but that’s not the reason I- well I-”
Steve quickly cut off Soda's nervous words, putting his buddy out of his misery. “Yeah I get it, he’ll be fine, Sodapop, don’t worry about it so much,” he nudged his friend in the ribs, “or you’ll turn into the old man himself. Ya know what I could go for right now?” He began again, turning to Dally, “a drink. You want anything?”
Dally looked up from the cigarette dangling from his lips,“guess so, if you’re paying.”
“How about you, Soda? You look like you’ve needed a beer all week.”
“I mean,” Soda took a deep breath, “eh- sure why not. Not too much though, I’m a light weight to begin with.”
“Oh trust me, bud, we know.” Steve quipped as he opened the door to the red lit building again, smoke coming out into the open and swiftly being whisked away with the wind.
The rest of that night turned into a blur of fluorescent lights and loud noises. Sodapop’s head was banging by the time Steve dropped him off, causing him to automatically flop into bed and pass out.
The next day was a little rough, even though it was a minor hangover, being he didn’t drink that much, he still had a headache plaguing his head the entire day.
By the time he got home from his afternoon shift, all he wanted was to take something for his head and hopefully join his brothers in the living room for a quiet night in. Luckily the house had no obnoxious noise when he kicked his boots off. From what he had gathered from his conversations over the last few days, Johnny was staying with Two-bit this week, Dally was well – no one ever knew where Dal was, and Steve had a date with Evie, finally leading the Curtis household away from its constant rounds of chaos.
“Hey Soda, didn’t see you when I left this mornin’. Did you sleep in?” Darry peered around the corner from the kitchen, where he had most likely started on dinner.
“Yeah sorry bout’ that, I could’ve made breakfast if you needed me to. I had a little bit of a long night with Stevie and Dal.”
“It’s okay, little buddy.” Darry paused. “You didn’t get on a horse, did you?”
“Nope, just looked at ‘em. I promise.” Soda made a “crossing his heart” motion with his hands as he threw his DX shirt over the arm chair.
“Good, I’m glad to hear.”
“Did you and Pony do anything together this afternoon?” Soda quickly asked, wanting to get away from anything remotely related to him being slightly hung over this morning.
“We uh-” Darry looked up from where he was chopping something on the cutting board, almost running through the scenarios of what to say next. “We went to the library so he could turn in that overdue book and check out a new one. I mean 30 cents, Soda, 30 cents! We could’ve avoided that if he’d just-”
“It’s okay, Dar, let it go. It’s over and done with now. Nothin’ we can do.” The boy soothed as he made his way over to the kitchen table, realizing he’d need to clean it off if they ever wanted to eat.
“Yeah I know, I know I need to go easier on him, he feels differently, I get it. But the kid just-”
“Darry.” Soda looked up from the stack of papers and bills in his hands, making eye contact with his older brother.
Darry huffed as he slid the vegetables off the cutting board and into the pot. “Could you go see if Pony’s done in the shower yet? I sent him in ages ago and I just-”
“Yeah, sure.” Soda smiled up at Darry, making his way down the hallway before tapping on the door. “Dinner’s bout’ to be ready, Pones. It’s a normal color too, Darry beat me to it.”
Ponyboy opened the door slightly as steam slipped out, allowing his voice to be carried. “Great, my favorite! I’ll be out in a minute.”
With that, Soda made his way back into the kitchen to help Darry set the table.
Dinner went well for a Sunday, surprisingly Pony and Darry didn’t make any jabs at each other, allowing the three brothers to have a nicer conversation. By the time they all finished, Pony was begging to watch a new episode of something before he went to bed. Seeing as he’d already done his homework, all three boys ended up snuggled under blankets in the living room, watching whatever the new science-fiction show was.
The tv lit up the room, shining across the low table that sat between the tv and couch. Darry was sitting in his armchair while Soda and Pony were on the couch sharing one of their mom’s quilts. The screen door rattled against the door frame as the light breeze swept outside, slowly trickling in and adding a slight chill to the house as the rain pattered against the windows and porch. The lighting of the room changed with a random noise outside, causing all three of the brothers to look away from what they were focused on.
“Must’ve been one of the streetlights.” Darry’s head poked out as he set the newspaper on his lap, opting to glance out the window. “Yep, street light, they really need to get some of them-”
His brother's words were drowned out into the background as Soda looked behind the couch and out the window. His ears rang as he realized there was a figure standing under flickering light. It was the same person who’d seemed to appear wherever the middle curtis looked these last few days.
Same scar.
Same hair.
Same jacket.
Same expression. Empty and unreadable.
With a sudden movement of Soda throwing off the quilt, the teen ran out of the house and into the cold rain, curiosity and fear filling his veins. His heart thumped in his ears as he approached the man, making sure he didn’t blink and allow the figure to slip away into the shadows again. His wet socks thumped against the pavement as he sprinted across the street, reaching out a hand to touch the veteran’s shoulder.