Chapter 5 summary

The next morning, Ponyboy wakes up in the church and finds a note from Johnny saying that he had gone into town to get some supplies. When Johnny returns, he brings a week's supply of baloney and cigarettes, and a paperback copy of Gone with the Wind. Johnny suggests that they cut their hair to disguise themselves, and he bleaches Ponyboy's hair. For the next week, the boys hide out at the church, reading Gone with the Wind, smoking, and eating sandwiches. Later, Ponyboy revisits a Robert Frost poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay." The poem touches Johnny. After about five days, Dally shows up at the church with a letter to Ponyboy from Sodapop. Dally says the police approached him about Bob's murder and he told them that the ones who did it fled to Texas. He takes Johnny and Ponyboy to a Dairy Queen and tells them that a state of open warfare exists between the greasers and the Socs, who are furious about Bob's death. He also lets slip that Cherry Valance, feeling responsible for the murderous encounter, has been acting as a spy for the greasers. He adds that in a day's time the two groups will meet for a rumble