Note: I'm writing so much unhappy, troubled Steve right now that I needed a little flash of what could be in later years after Hydra is gone and the Avengers can relax some. You have to look into this scene with the understanding that Steve is a little older. He's a settled family man now, and he's a school bus driver in the mornings and afternoons. Just because Hydra is gone doesn't mean kids have it easy in a mean world. He sees how mopey they are, and how some of them need a little boost. So, he thinks of something to hopefully motivate them and help them focus on the right path. Steve is Army, after all.
Steve flipped the switch for the flashing lights and the stop signs. His foot on the brakes eased the bus to a perfect stop right in front of where little Danielle stood by her family's mailbox. There was a new bus rider waiting with Danielle. He'd already known to expect the little girl.
"Good morning, Danielle," Steve said kindly.
"Good morning, Mister Rogers," the girl almost sang.
"That's right. You know its Monday. Who's this?" he asked Danielle as the small girl climbed up the steep black rubber steps with a heavy backpack on her back.
"This is my cousin Lily. She come to live with us 'til her mama gets home," Danielle said.
Steve bent down a little to talk to Lily. The child must be in first grade, second at the most. She looked at the bus packed full of rowdy kids with wide, nervous eyes.
"Hi, Lily. I'm Mister Rogers. Danielle already knows its Monday morning. We sing a song every Monday morning. It's a loud song, and it's fun, and if you listen, you can learn the words. Okay?" he said. He didn't want her to be scared when the noise started.
Lily nodded. Danielle smiled and bopped down the bus aisle to a rhythm that wasn't in the air quite yet. Lily followed along.
"Make some room for Lily," Steve called to the middle of the bus where Danielle always sat.
Steve closed the school bus door and got them rolling. He turned off the lights and brought in the signs. There was an unnaturally quiet hush in the air as they all settled in for the long drive to the school over rain-slick country roads. Danielle was the last stop and everybody on Steve's route was on board now.
Steve checked his mirrors for traffic, and he grinned at the huge improvement in the kids that his Monday morning cadence had made. Before their 'song', they'd been the mopiest, sleepiest, saddest gang he'd seen on Mondays. Worse than Avengers without coffee. Now they sat perked up and ready, waiting eagerly to answer him. He'd made them wait long enough. Steve opened his mouth and the hush intensified. He took a deep breath so he could be plenty loud.
"We got everybody,"
"we got everybody!"
"Now we're gone to school,"
"now we're gone to school!"
"Sit right down and shut yo mouth,"
"sit right down and shut yo mouth!"
"Best don't be no fool,"
"best don't be no fool!"
"Gone to sit in tha classroom,"
"gone to sit in tha classroom!"
"Bound to make them grades,"
"bound to make them grades!"
"Earn a big ole paycheck,"
"earn a big ole paycheck!"
"Goto tha beach and wear some shades,"
"goto tha beach and wear some shades!"
"Hoo-Ah!" Steve called out to finish, and a noisy, jumbled chorus of "hoo-ah!" answered him back.
He smiled into the mirror at them, and gave them a moment to quiet down. They didn't give him much trouble, because everybody knew who he was.
"You alright, Lily?" Steve asked.
He didn't hear a response.
"She said she's okay, Mister Rogers. I'll make sure she learns the words," Danielle called to the front of the bus.
Friday afternoon was the opposite of Monday mornings. The kids were excited and wound tight for the weekend. Sometimes there was football, sometimes there was a dance, and sometimes the older kids had sly, excited looks when they put their heads together to talk. Their attention span was short, so Steve kept their Friday song short, too. Simple was better on Fridays, with just the most important things.
After everyone was on and they were pulling away from the high school with more than fifty souls on board, Steve gave them a moment to shuffle around and settle their things for the long ride. When he started seeing eyes and smiles directed to him expectantly, he began. The boys were ready to yell out like cavemen, and the girls waited smugly for their part.
"What's the plan?"
"Be a man!"
"What's a man?"
"Do what I can!"
"Hoo-Ah!"
"Hoo-Ah!"
"Hoo-Hoo!"
"Ah-Ah!"
Steve gave them a moment to grin and swagger and dare the girls to out-yell them. The problem was that on this bus, the girls slightly outnumbered the boys, and they had plenty of spirit. Steve took a breath to start the girls going.
"What ladies do?"
"We make tha rules!"
"What are the rules?"
"Don't go with fools!"
"Hoo-Ah!"
"Hoo-Ah!"
"Hoo-Hoo!"
"Ah-Ah!"
The girls yelled with ear-ringing vigor. The boys covered their ears and stomped out the Hoo-Ahs.
Steve nodded in satisfaction and hoped that his little bit of goofiness might help them think twice before they got into trouble on the weekend.