When I went back into the house, my brother glared at me. He looked like he was very mad. I decided not to stick around and find out. I went over to my little room in the corner of the house to think about the events of that night. I was glad to help that little girl and her brother. I was also glad that I went out to get some exercise every night. It really helped me in that fight. I really didn't understand what the adults where arguing about but I was sure it was about me. I was startled out of my deep thought by my brother.
"I'm going to have to keep closer tabs on you. Do you sneak out like that every night?" His voice sounded good-natured enough but that didn't mean anything out of my brother. That tone of voice was used to make me comfortable talking to him. It didn't work much.
"No," I lied. "That was the first time." That was about the farthest from the truth that you could get. He looked at me suspiciously and mumbled something about me being a troublemaker from the start. This hurt me but then a lot of the things that he and my dad said hurt me, so I was quite used to it. As he left, he yelled "AND DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE AGAIN, ARTHUR!" This confirmed my guess about how tense he was.
I waited until his light turned off. When it did, I crept out. I went to the tree to observe my handy work, but somebody had already cleaned it up. So I decided to go running. That was my one escape from my life. I thought about visiting Miss Stephanie's house, but she had started to raise a ruckus about my visiting her so I decided against it. I decided to go downtown. I needed to see the doctor about my asthma, seeing how I had an attack when I fought that guy and I was still wheezing.
When I got downtown, I found out what they had done with the body. The garbage man (I think his name was Zeebo, I heard the girl shout it out once a while back) had loaded it up on his truck and was taking it toward the dump. I saw the sheriff arguing with an older gentleman I guess of some importance, considering the sheriff kept calling him "your honor".
"Your honor, Bob fell on his knife! I can prove it! This won't need to get out that Boo is some sort of hero and needs our immediate recognition! That would be devastating mentally to a guy like that! Like I told Atticus, it would be like killing a mockingbird and you know it."
"Mr. Tate, I don't really care. There will be an obituary and it will say an UNKNOWN assailant murdered him. I never said I would bring Mr. Arthur Radley to court on a murder charge. I won't even say what Mr. Ewell was doing the night he was murdered. Plus I don't think that anybody would care about his death enough to read about it."
"Well, just don't tell the editor to mention any names, or I will do something about it, judge."
"Heck, what could you do!?!?" Asked the judge. I was getting nervous that this whole discussion was on me. I personally agreed with the Sheriff. The judge went on. "All you could do is withhold evidence and that is breaking the law. But I give you my word that no name will be mentioned about this in the paper except for Bob of course."
"Well, that's all I need is your word as a Christian." The Sheriff said.
"Then you got it, Heck. Good Night" The judge said as he departed. I all of the sudden didn't need my medicine for my asthma. I ran back home, pausing only to get my bearings a couple times.
I decided to visit the little girl's house one more time. The sky was gray when I got to their porch. Looking inside I saw the boy lying in the bed the same way as I left him. He father was sitting by him with a worried look on his face. I went around the house and saw a woman lying on a couch. She was in an uneasy sleep. I felt sorry for the family and I thought of what could've been prevented if I had gotten there earlier. But then I though of what could have happened if I hadn't come at all. I guess I was worth something after all. I was a friend to the family I was watching.
I must have lost track of time because I started to hear the birds begin to chirp. Running I barely made it inside my house before my bother woke up. I decided to go to bed and not go out of my room for the rest of the day. I didn't want to face my brother's temper after what he displayed last night. As I went into my room my brother yelled at me to get back to bed, I need my rest. He also said the doctor would be over to see me about my asthma and check to see if I have pneumonia again. I said I didn't have it again, but what do I know.
"What do you know?" asked my brother. This was his way of joking with me to show me it was all right. "You are pretty intelligent considering you've had almost no schooling."
I laughed uneasily. "Thank you kindly, sir" I replied. There was a short silence, followed by the sounds of him going about his business. I was glad that I was finally left alone.
As I drifted off to sleep, I thought of the boy. I know he was going to live, but I still worried about how injured he was. Then I thought of the girl. I smiled when I thought of the kindness that she showed to me that night. I went to sleep just when the first rays of light where coming through the blinds. It was a great night, a night to remember.