Chapter 13-Part 4-The Next Morning

Michael POV.

I was in extreme pain for the second time that month. Except this time, I could feel every part of it. My whole body hurt. I almost wished I could get another concussion, just so I could ignore the pain. The thing that had hit me, a truck, stopped as soon as it hit me. I heard cussing and a door slam. Something appeared above me, but I was in too much pain to roll over and see who it was. More cussing, Louder and it said my name.

"Michael? Michael, can you hear me. Speak to me buddy. Can you speak?" Goddammit. I knew who it was. It was the Staring Neighbor. Darryl Jr. had friggin hit me with his truck. First I get ditched by Sodapop and then his goddamn brother hits me with a truck. What was with that family! I managed to moan one word.

"Fuck." Then I passed out.

Darry POV.

Shit! I go out looking for a kid and I end up hitting him! I got out of the car, cussing and walked over to him.

"Michael? Michael, can you hear me. Speak to me buddy. Can you speak?" Sodapop was so going to get it for this. Michael tried to move and managed to get pone word out before he passed out.

"Fuck." Interesting. I picked him up and dropped him off in my truck. I would just drop him off at the Emergency Room. No questions asked. I couldn't be dealing with this now. I had heard of people going to jail for like, a year for hitting somebody. I would be sent to jail. I was supposed to be a senior this year! I drove to the hospital nervously. When I got there, I carried Michael into the Emergency Room and left without a word. It was wrong, but I would get into major trouble had I stayed, I drove home cursing my self, Sodapop, and the gang the whole way. Why did they have to leave him out there? I soon as I got inside the door I yelled for Sodapop and the boys. Thank god mom and dad were out for the night. Soda come down the stairs with Steve and Johnny behind him.

"Where is Two-bit?"

"He left earlier. Why?"
"Where is Michael Henderson?"
"I don't Darry, with his new friends?'

"Don't lie to me Sodapop. What happened to Michael?"

"Oh, come off it. He was a sore the entire night, so I and the boys pulled a prank on him."
"What kind of prank Sodapop?"

"We ditched him at the Dingo."

"You just left him there?"
"Yeah, he just has to walk home"

"Walk home?"

"Yeah, ain't that far away."

"Then please explain why I ran over him just off the highway,"
"Oh my god, you ran over Michael?"
"Yeas Sodapop. He was not headed home."

"Why not?
"Oh I don't know, maybe because he didn't know which way home was?"

"Glory! You killed Michael" Steve shouted.

"Shut up, shut up. Listen. I can't go to jail right now. I have so much going me. We're going to need to hide this. Johnny, I want you to go find Dallas. He'll know what to do." Johnny nodded fearfully and ran out the door." He was always willing to help the gang. I sighed and sat down in dad's recliner. I ran over a kid. A kid my brother had lost. Mom and dad would kill us if they found out. I took deep breaths and waited for Dallas to com. I heard footsteps and thought my parents were home, but no, it was thankfully Johnny and Dally.

"What's the problem boys?"

"Darry might have killed someone." Dally snapped his head to me.
"I'm sure I didn't kill him. This new kid moved across the street and mom and dad wanted us to take him out for the night, you know, show him around." Soda picked up.

"So Darry dropped us off and sped away, even though he was supposed to stay. Well the kid was a real Ass, all night. Wouldn't even talk to us. Around the time Darry was supposed to pick us up, he went to the bathroom so we ditched him and told Darry he had gotten a ride home." I picked up again.

"Well I knew Sodapop was lying. So I went out to see what had happened to him. I was so caught up in my thoughts, I kinda ran over him coming on to the highway." Dally shook his head.

"Ya'll are meaner than me, and that's saying something. Where id he now?"

"I dropped him off in the hospital. Just left him in the waiting room. He'll be okay, right?"

"Yeah. You'll be fine too. Just don't give it away that you were the one who did it. The kid probably doesn't even know it was you. Make sure no one finds out." I nodded as I heard an engine come into the driveway.

"Crap, Mom and dad are home. Time to see if we can lie our way out of this.' We all waited as footsteps come up to the house and mom and dad appeared in the door way.

"Hi kids, how was hanging out with the neighbor boy."

"Oh it was great mom. He was real quiet, but he was okay. He decided he would walk home. Get acquainted with the town." That seems like a good enough lie.

"Oh Dallas, you're here. You should have been here earlier. We had a welcoming dinner for Miss. Hattie's great nephew Michael."

"A, that's okay Mrs. Curtis, I had stuff going on anyway." Mom and dad walked upstairs, obviously buying our lie. I relaxed visibly, as did the others.

"See guys, not hard at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to dealing my 'stuff'. See ya tomorrow." He left us brewing in our guilt. I headed up to bed with my head hanging. I should be ashamed of myself. What would old Miss. Hattie say when she found out? Sodapop followed me and went to his room, shutting the door behind him. I knew how he felt. I sat on my bed and tried to figure this out. I had already lied to mom and dad. I guess I would have to follow this through. I sighed and laid down on my bed, closing my eyes.

Michael POV.

I came to in a hospital waiting room. That asshole Darryl Jr. had dropped me off in a hospital. I looked around for him, but he didn't seem to be here. I was still in a lot of pain, but I managed to get up and walk over to the receptionist.

"Um, when will the doctor see me?'

"Who are you?"

"Didn't he kid who dropped me off give you information?'
"What kid?" He didn't even bother to sign me in? My neighbors sucked. I sighed and left. I still didn't know which way home was, so I just went to the nearest park and fell asleep on a bench.

It was the damned chirping birds that woke me up the next morning. They just wouldn't shut up. I peeked through squinted eyes and saw the sun shining way too bright for my liking. I was still sore from last night; you would be too if you had just got hit by fast truck. I got up and looked around. I was literally in the middle of nowhere. The hospital was right there, but there wasn't any way they could help me. I had no money with me. Looked like I would have to hitch hike my ass into town. The highway was right there, so I just did what I had always seen my friends in the gang do. I stuck my thumb out and began walking. Several cars passed me before an old Junker stopped. It was a young greaser.
"Hey, you need a ride?"

"Yeah, I'm headed to Tulsa." He snorted.

"You know you're headed the wrong way, right?"

"No. Can you give me a ride?"
"Sure. Hope in." I got in the passenger seat and he turned and started off for the other way.

"I'm Tim by the way. Tim Shepard. Where in Tulsa are you headed anyway?'

"I'm not exactly sure." He gave me an odd look.

"Don't you live there?"

"Yeah, but I just moved in with my aunt yesterday. I don't know the address yet."

"Well, I know everybody in Tulsa, who's your aunt?"

"Hattie Henderson." He started laughing.
"You're Batty Hattie's nephew?" I nodded.

"Hell, I didn't even know she had a nephew. What brings you out here?"

"I got into a bit of trouble up in New York, so my parents sent me down here."

"Got hauled in by the cops or something?' I had to think about that. They hadn't really hauled me in. After they released my from the hospital, they had taken my fingerprints and story then released me to my parents. Might as well make it sound tougher though.

"Yeah, for fighting."

"Tuff enough."He whistled. We were entering Tulsa now. It was a lot more barren in the morning." We pulled up into my street. I chanced a look at the neighbor's house. It was calm and serene. Didn't lock like anyone was up. I turned back to Tim.

"Do you know who lives there?" I pointed to the house.

"Yeah, the Curtis's. There gang is always over there."

"What gang?"
"The Curtis gang." Ah, so the gang had a name. Not an inventive one, but it was a name. Tim was talking.

"Funny, I would have thought Mrs. Curtis would have had a welcoming dinner for you."

"She did." He gave me a questioning look.

"It's a long story." I said getting out.
"Hey kid." I turned.

"Yeah?"
"You wanna hang out with me and my gang tonight?"

"All depends. You part of the Curtis gang?"
"Umm, no?"

"Then sure."

"Great, pick you up at seven." I headed inside Auntie's house, ready for her wrath. She was no where to be seen. I shrugged it off and went to my bedroom. At first I thought I had accidently walked into the storage room. There were boxes everywhere. Then I saw the names on said boxes. Michael T. Henderson. Oh yeah, all my stuff. I began climbing, opening, and unpacking boxes. Most of it was clothing. Clothing that would never be caught in. What did she do, buy me a whole new wardrobe? Probably. There was a n envelope in one box. You would never guess what it had. Yup, more money. Now though, I would have a use for it. Looked like I would need a whole new wardrobe. I stonped out into the hall and dialed up my mom.

"Uh, hello?' She answered.

"Mother. What did you do to all my clothes?"

"Oh, hi pumpkin. How are you?"

"Don't avoid the question. Where are my clothes?"

"There all on there way to Tulsa. Did they not arrive yet?"

"No. A whole bunch of crappy clothes arrived. What are these?"
"Well, I wanted you to look nice for the new school year."

"Mom! I live on the East side now! I'll be a walking target if I wear these."
"There not that bad. Have you gotten your placement results form the school yet?"
"I don't know I'll check." The door bell rang.
"Mom, I gotta go. Someone's at the door."

"Alright dear. Love you."

"Bye." I hung up and walked to the door. Oh, it was the crappy Curtis's. I pulled it open with a scowl just for them. Their surprise was written clearly on their faces to see me. I came up with a sarcastic voice.

"Oh boys. I never got a chance to thank you! Thank you for ditching me in an unfamiliar par of town in the middle of the night." I directed to Sodapop. "And thank you for running me over with your goddamn truck then ditching me at a hospital. What do you want?" I scowled. They both shifted uncomfortably." Some of your Aunts mail got delivered to our house by accident." He held out a small stack of papers. I snatched them up and slammed the door. It wasn't very neighborly, but neither were they.

"A finished chapter on the best day ever. YAAAAAY!"