Stay Gold, Ponyboy, Stay Gold.

Dally Was So Real He Scared Me.

... Hey, I Didn't Know You Didn't Like Baloney." I Went Cold. "i Don't Like It. I Never Liked It." Soda Just Looked At Me. "you Used To Eat It. That's Why You Wouldn't Eat Anything While You Were Sick. You Kept Saying You Didn't Like Baloney, No Matter What It Was We Were Trying To Get You To Eat." "i Don't Like It," I Repeated.

We Had Played A Kid's Version Of Gang Fighting Called "civil War," And Then Later We Had Got In On The Real Thing, We Fought With Chains And We Fought Barefisted And We Fought Socs And We Fought Other Grease Gangs. It Was A Normal Childhood.

I Like Having A Private Name And A Public Name. It Helps Keep Things Straight.

I Had It Then. Soda Fought For Fun, Steve For Hatred, Darry For Pride, And Two-bit For Conformity. Why Do I Fight? I Thought, And Couldn't Think Of Any Real Good Reason. There Isn't Any Real Good Reason For Fighting Except Self-defense.