It must be so bizarre for the gang to hear Ponyboy complaining that Darry hates him. Because compared to all their parents, compared to everyone else in their neighborhood, Darrel Curtis is the greatest guardian to ever exist.
Darry makes sure Ponyboy stays in school (he even checks his homework!), he always makes sure Ponyboy is safe, always worries when Pony doesn’t come home when he said he would. He actually keeps track of when Pony is supposed to be home! He works so hard and makes sure his paychecks go to his brothers before anything else.
He never hits Ponyboy. Ever. (Later he will, once and only once, and he’ll beat himself up about it so bad you’d think he’d killed the kid.) He never gets drunk in front of Pony. He never throws anything at him. He never puts out cigarettes on his skin. He never kicks him out of the house. Pony says Darry “hollers” at him. They know hollering. Darry Curtis might as well be singing lullabies.
And when Darry does yell at Pony, it’s always about doing his homework and coming home at curfew (he gives him a curfew!). Not for bothering him for rides home, but for not calling him for a ride. Because he wants to keep Ponyboy safe. He wants Ponyboy to stay safe so badly that he yells at him when he doesn’t. If Darry hated Pony, he’d yell at him to get the hell out of the house, not into it; to get out of his sight, not stay in it.
When Pony gripes about how “cold and hard and unfeeling” Darry is, they’re like, what the actual fuck is he talking about? No dad or big brother in their entire neighborhood is as affectionate as Darry is with his kid brothers. Only the gang is privy to Darry hugging or tickling or picking up and carrying his brothers, but anyone can see that he’s never rough or mean to them.
And when they try to point out all this hard evidence, Pony just…..doesn’t believe it. Like he can think of some other reason why Darry does what he does.
As if they didn’t need more proof that Darry isn’t a goddamn saint, he seems to go along with it! Shortly after Johnny and Dallas die, Darry says, “I’m trying to do like Soda said and be softer on the kid.”
And Steve and Two-Bit and maybe Tim are like, softer than what?
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