I was awakened the next morning by Darry, who seemed to have abandoned his normal morning slow torture in favor of a more adult approach, which consisted of actually knocking on the door before entering and calling my name before he was even within reach of attacking me.

"Scout, c'mon. You have to get up. Two more days, then you can sleep later."

"I know." I rolled over and stared at him. He knew I was going to go back to sleep as soon as he left. I always did.

"Get up."

"I'm up, Darry."

"Not just awake. Up."

I sighed, threw back the covers, and sat up.

"Now that's what I like to see," he said. "Hurry up, breakfast is ready."

I gave him the evil eye and he turned and left, laughing.

"Yeah, funny," I grumbled at him. My whole body was sore again. I wondered how long after the accident that would last. I threw on some clothes, waited my turn for the bathroom, and sat down at the kitchen table. Darry shoveled eggs onto my plate.

"Brain food," he said. I didn't answer. I was definitely turning into NOT a morning person.

"Hey, how about saving some of that brain food for the other person taking exams today," Pony complained as he came in, immediately taking his seat and stealing a forkful of eggs off my plate.

"Stop it," I said, pulling my plate away. "Get your own."

"Knock it off, Pony, she's cranky," Darry said, handing Soda a bunch of pills, which he eagerly took and swallowed with a giant swig of milk. I looked up, wondering where my pill was. Darry knew what I wanted.

"How bad is it, really, Scout? I don't want to give it to you unless you really need it. I don't want you getting all groggy when you have exams. Can you wait til after?"

I guess," I said, not really having the energy to fight with him about it. He was probably right - the pill had made me sleepy each time I'd had one.

"I'll leave it with Soda, okay, you can take it when you get home? But don't take it if you don't need it." Darry was always uptight about us taking medicine.

"Darry, I'm not gonna turn into a drug addict from taking three pills. Actually, I'm not gonna turn into one no matter what." Seeing what Steve had done on drugs had pretty much killed any curiosity I'd ever had about that.

"I sure hope not, because I'd kill you if the drugs didn't first," he said, putting the pill bottles in his pocket. The rest of us didn't even know where he kept any prescription drugs – all that was ever in the bathroom medicine cabinet was Darry and Soda's shaving stuff, toothpaste, and band-aids. He didn't even trust us with aspirin, though I know Soda and Pony had some in their room.

"Pony, you only have two exams today?"

"Yeah."

"Well you're gonna have to wait around 'til Scout's done, then. I'm not makin' two trips to get you." I realized that, with Darry at work, Two-Bit in the hospital, and Steve out of the picture, there was nobody available to come get us at school.

"Can't I go with Kevin and Ben instead?" I really wanted to talk to Ben about everything that had happened while I had been gone. It had only been three days but it had felt like a month.

Darry thought about it and eventually gave in.

"Okay... but you and Ben are not allowed in the house alone unless Soda is here, okay? And not in your bedroom."

"Okay, okay. I know. I get it." I did think it was a little ironic that Soda was supposed to play policeman when we all knew what he and Sandy had been doing when nobody was around. And there was no way Ben and I were gonna be doing that anytime soon.

"Yeah, Darry, don't worry about coming to get me either. I can get a ride from somebody. Don't leave work just for me." Ponyboy wanted some time to himself, I was pretty sure about that. I wasn't too worried about it, as long as he got home before Darry did he knew neither Soda nor I would rat him out.

Darry thought about Pony's request.

"Alright... I guess. Just - you call home and tell Soda if you're stuck, and I'll call here after lunch and check in, and come get you if you need it, okay?"

"Okay," Pony agreed. Darry glanced down at his watch.

"We have to get going. Soda, you all set for the day? I'll leave the pills on the breadbox. Not 'til twelve-thirty, okay?"

"Got it, boss," Soda said, hobbling from his chair to the couch. Darry followed him, and I heard them talking quietly. I knew he was worried about Soda but didn't want either me or Pony to know. I guessed that I was really going to have to work on him to get him to accept that Pony and I could handle a lot more reality than he generally gave us credit for.

"Let's go, you two," Darry yelled, and Pony and I followed him out the door to the truck. We pulled up at the school and Darry looked across at us.

"I know you will, but I'm gonna say it anyway, because it's my job… Do your best."

"We will," Pony and I responded in unison, sounding completely unenthusiastic.

"Alright. Call Soda if you don't get a ride, okay? Otherwise I'll see you at home. Good luck."

"Bye, Darry," Pony said, a little too enthusiastically this time. Darry laughed and drove off.

"So, what are you really gonna do after school today?" I asked. "You better get home before he does."

"Scout, I ain't dumb. I got some stuff to do, okay?"

"Okay. I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble. Jeez."

"Yeah, well I don't need you babysittin' me. I can take care of myself."

"Fine. See you later then."

"Bye. Don't get into any trouble with Ben," he added, just to be a pain.

"Shut up, Pony," I said, turning and walking away. We were getting along a lot better, but sometimes I still wanted to punch him.

Exams were just as I expected, and I wasn't worried at all about doing badly. In fact, I thought they were all pretty easy. I had managed to track down Ben between my first two tests and he agreed to have Kevin wait until I was done and drive me home. I had just finished my last one for the day and was heading out to the parking lot when I heard my name being called.

"Scout! Hey, Scout!"

I turned around and was surprised to see my coach trotting over toward me.

"Hey, Coach K," I said. "What's going on?" I was surprised to see him looking for me. Basketball season and open gym had both long since ended, and I wasn't one of his students… heck, I wasn't even in high school yet.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just needed some stitches." I assumed he had heard about the car accident.

"Stitches? Why? What happened?" I guess he hadn't heard, then.

"Oh, my brother and I were in a car accident. But we're okay."

"Really? Darry?"

"No, my other brother, Soda. He broke his arm."

"Oh… well I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm glad I caught you. I wanted to ask you something."

"Well, okay. Ask away."

"Are you going to be around this summer? I mean, are you going anywhere in June or July?"

"I don't think so…" I had a feeling Uncle Pat might try to get us to come down to Texas for a week like we usually did, but Darry probably wouldn't agree. "Why?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you something. I know you'll have to ask your brother, and I want you to feel free to say no, but…"

"What?" I couldn't imagine what he was talking about.

"Well, I'm teaching summer school, and my wife works at the library during the mornings, so we were looking for someone to babysit for Laura. Just mornings… from eight to noon. I could pick you up, if that's a problem, and bring you home. We'd pay you seventy five cents an hour."

"I… uh… I don't know what to say. I mean… I'm not really experienced with little kids." I was the baby, for Pete's sake.

"Oh, she's easy. She walks now, and talks. You would have to change diapers though."

"Well, I mean… I'm real flattered that you would ask me, but I've never..."

"Listen, just think about it, okay? Talk to your brother and see what he says, and I'll give you a call tomorrow night, and you can let me know. If you say yes, I'll have you come over on Sunday and we'll show you the routine."

"Okay..." My mind was already processing the fact that this could help make up part of what we were missing with Soda not working.

"Great," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow night, then. I think you would do a great job, Scout. You may be one of the youngest kids on the team, but I think you are one of the most responsible, too. I really would trust you with Laura."

I had no idea what to say. I had just been handed a huge compliment, by someone I really respected, almost as much as I had respected my Dad.

"Okay... Thanks, Coach, I mean… for asking me." My head was still reeling. I just stood there for a second, watching him jog back into the school, until I finally turned and headed again toward the parking lot.

…………………………

As it turned out, I was done before either Kevin or Ben, and I was sitting on the hood of the car waiting when Kevin appeared.

"You're quick," he said. "Guess that explains why you got put up a year, huh?" He threw his books in the back seat and came back to sit on the hood with me.

"I guess," I shrugged. "How were your exams?"

"Fair, I guess. I don't think I failed anything, at least."

"That's good." I wasn't sure what to say. I was around Kevin a whole lot, but it wasn't really ever just the two of us.

"Scout... I never really got to say..." He started, and I knew what was coming.

"I'm really sorry… about what happened to you. The whole thing made me sick."

"Thanks." I had started to be less bothered by the whole "I'm sorry" thing than I had been at first. I understood that nobody knew what else to say.

"I never thought, I mean, Steve? I knew he was having problems, the drugs and all, but…"

"I know. Nobody thought. I hardly even believed it myself."

"Well, it makes me sick to think about it. I wish… I mean, I just hope you're okay. You didn't deserve that."

"Nobody deserves that, Kevin." I stared at my shoes. I was gonna need new ones soon and I was dreading asking Darry.

"You're right," he said. We sat in silence for a while and I was relieved when I looked back up to see Ben coming toward us.

"Hey," he smiled, and took my hand, pulling me down off the hood. Kevin hopped down and got into the driver's seat. Ben complained about his exams the whole way home and I tried to sympathize. Ben was by no means stupid, but he had to study a lot harder to remember things than I ever did. On top of that, he was a terrible speller. He actually was really smart, he just didn't tend to do very well on tests.

We pulled into Ben's driveway, and he went into the house to drop off his books while I headed over to our house to check on Soda. He was asleep on the couch but woke up as soon as I touched him.

"Hey, sleepy," I said. "How you feeling?"

"Oh, God… what time is it?"

I glanced in at the kitchen clock.

"Twelve-fifteen."

"Ugh… can you go get those pills Darry left for me?"

"He said twelve-thirty. I don't want to turn you into a drug addict, Soda," I kidded.

"Seriously, Scout… I'm dying here. I swear to God, we never let the hospital be late for one single pain pill when you were there, or you would completely get this."

I felt pretty bad. He was clearly hurting.

"Sorry, Soda... I was just kidding. Do you want anything else? Are you hungry?"

"No… just the pills. And some water."

I went into the kitchen and met Ben just as he was coming in the back door.

"Soda okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, his arm just hurts. I just have to give him these pills, then we can go outside." It was a beautiful day, and I knew as soon as Darry came home he'd make me stay in and study, so I was planning to spend the entire time until he got home outside.

I brought in the pills and water, and Soda was sitting up waiting for me.

"I swear to God, Scout, if I felt pain like this all the time I'd definitely become an addict."

That comment, interestingly, only served to make me wonder what kind of pain Steve might have been trying to fight with his drug use. I wondered if I'd ever know.

"It will get better, Soda. I guess I didn't get out of the hospital until my wrist felt better."

"Lucky you," he groaned.

"Yeah, I guess. Ben and I are gonna go outside… Yell if you need me, okay?"

"I'm just gonna sleep," he said. "That way, if it hurts, at least I don't have to think about it."

"Okay, well… sweet dreams, then."

"You two stay out of trouble," he called as Ben and I headed out the front door.

"We will."

Ben wanted to toss around the football, but I made him sit with me on the steps and listen as I told him everything that had happened on our trip – driving through the deep south of Alabama and Mississippi, Soda wanting me to tell him about how Steve had attacked me, how Sandy's Nana had been so angry, and finally about her losing the baby and Darry wanting me to go to court again. I considered telling him about that other thing – that huge rite of passage that had happened to me in the middle of nowhere in Alabama, and how much it made me miss my mom again – but, for the moment, I decided to keep that to myself.

"Wow," he said, when I finally finished. "That was certainly an interesting trip."

"Definitely," I said.

"So… anything else?" he asked.

"I don't think so."

"Okay, so… now can we play catch?"

I laughed. "Yeah."

We had been tossing the ball around for half an hour or so when Darry's truck came rattling into the driveway. He looked surprisingly chipper as he came around into the yard. He dropped his tool belt and ran over, snagging the ball in midair just as I was throwing it.

"Gotta keep your eye on the defense, Scout," he scolded, tossing the ball at Ben.

"Sorry… I thought you were on my team," I responded, which got him to smile.

"How were your exams?"

"Okay."

"Okay good, or okay bad?"

"Good, I guess."

"Well, I hope there was no guessing involved."

"Darry, it was fine. I'm sure I did fine."

"I know. I'm just giving you a hard time… it's my job." He messed up my hair. "Twenty more minutes out here, then you're coming in to study," he said, as he grabbed his belt and headed inside.

I didn't even try to argue. I knew I would never win.

Ben and I had only tossed the ball a few more times before Darry was back on the porch.

"Scout, where's Ponyboy?"

"I don't know." I tried to act nonchalant, still tossing the ball at Ben.

"Who'd he get a ride with?"

"I don't know, Darry. I didn't ask. He was being a pain."

"Scout, he woulda finished his tests before you. So why isn't he here?"

"I don't know, Darry. Seriously. He doesn't tell me everything he does." I walked over and took the ball from Ben, who had stopped tossing and was holding it while Darry and I were talking. I was cursing Pony for not being back yet, especially since he knew that lately Darry had been getting home early from the job he was working.

Darry started to say something else about how Pony would be in for it when he got home, but my attention had been hijacked by a car that I saw turning the corner – a car I recognized as the one belonging to the guys who had scared me at the house, the ones we'd seen at Jays, and the ones who had beaten up Two-Bit.

"Ben, go get Kevin," I whispered, as they pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"What? Why?"

"Just go get him, Ben. These guys are trouble." I motioned to the car just as they were getting out. Ben turned and took off around the corner of the house.

Darry had noticed them, too, but he had no reason to know who they were. He looked on with interest as they came up to the gate. I glanced at him and he must have read my apprehension.

"Scout, get in the house," he said, in a tone I couldn't remember ever having heard before.

Four guys came through the gate, each at least as tall as Darry and at least two of them matching him in bulk. Darry stood alone on the porch; I stood between him and the strangers.

"Inside, Scout. Now." he was almost yelling.

Not sure what I had in mind, and knowing I was certain to pay for it later, I stood my ground, staring the strangers right in the eyes, and said just one word, in the loudest voice I could muster.

"No."

I heard Darry curse behind me.

...........................

A/N: I am not sure who is still reading this! If you followed me here from Complexity, can you drop me a quick review or PM and tell me what you think? I'd appreciate it! Thanks, samaryley