Title- The Tale of Ronnie

Chapter Title- Did He Just Say Something?

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsider

Reviewers-

XAmberX- Dogs always pee at the worst moment. My dog pees whenever my dad's friend Jim comes in the house…

Punk4ever- Thank you

BlackLightningDX- I guess it is true

Note- Oh my god, my sister is obsessed with Emilio Estevez... I mean obsessed. The worst part about it is she makes me watch every Emilio Estevez movie with her. Tonight's (8/1) movie is The Mighty Ducks.

I was ready to go to bed one night. It had been a long day, Nate and I spent it trying to train Chocolate. Chocolate didn't like to listen to us. Well, listen to me, Nate didn't talk. I was already in my pajamas and Nate was in the bathroom getting into his. Nate had this thing about changing in front of people. He didn't do it in front of anybody. Nate came in and sat on the bed next to me.

"Nate, why don't you talk?" He just shrugged.

"There must be a reason," I said. I wanted to know. I was dying to know.

"Ronnie," my mom called from the living room, "your dog peed on the floor! I just cleaned the floor! Come in here and clean it now!" I groaned and got off the bed. I went into the kitchen and got a wet cloth. I found a dry one so I could dry up the floor.

"Where is it?" I asked. Mom pointed to a spot on the floor and wrinkled her nose. I bent down on my knees and cleaned it up. I walked back into the room and Nate was already asleep. He should be, tomorrow was the first day of school. I hoped he wouldn't give mom any problems tomorrow morning.

Nate rolled me over onto my back and pulled open my eyelid. The room was still dark.

"What is it?" I snapped. He backed away.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. What's wrong?" I saw him look around the room. He checked for signs of people.

"Nightmare," he said. I sighed. He only spoke in single words.

"Do you care to explain?" He shook his head 'no'. I gave him a hug and went to get him a glass of water. I saw the television on and tried to see who it was on the couch. I just shrugged figuring somebody left the television on. I got a cup and filled it with water and walked back to our room.

"Here ya go," I told him handing him the cup. He nodded and drank it. He handed it back to me. I had to go bring it back; he didn't like walking at night. On the way back I decided to go see who was on the couch. It looked like mom, but I couldn't tell.

"Mom," I said softly. I saw the figure move.

"What is it sweet heart?" she asked.

"Why are you out here?" She sighed and sat up.

"I couldn't get to sleep, but you should go back to sleep. Good night," she told me. I gave her a kiss and went back to the bedroom. Nate was already asleep. He falls asleep really quick. I put my face into the pillow and slept until mom woke me up.

She looked horrible. Her hair was a mess and she had dark circles under her eyes. She sounded tired, like she hadn't slept in a long time. She was fustrated when I tried to go back asleep again. She picked me up and dropped me on the chair.

"I am not in the mood to put up with you," she told me. She handed me a slice of cake, an egg, and a glass of chocolate milk. Nate was happily eating his hard boiled eggs, the right way. I finished my food and went to get dressed. Mom had bought me a new pair of pants and a nice shirt. I didn't like skirts, not one bit. The last time she bought me one, I threw it in the road and watched a car or two run over it. I walked out of the room so Nate could get dressed.

"Mom, are you okay?" I asked her. She didn't eat anything at breakfast.

"I'm fine, I just feel a little sick. I'm gonna stay home from work today. Where's your hairbrush?" I put my hand to my hair. I hated getting my hair brushed. Mom sighed. I went into the bathroom and got my hairbrush. I handed it to her and she brushed it. I winced at the pain and was glad when she finished. She put it into a nice ponytail. I loved my hair. It was dark brown and pretty long. I don't ever remember it getting cut.

"One day, we are gonna get your haircut, it's too long." I backed up.

"Mama," I whined, "you can't cut my hair. You told me it looked pretty long."

"Yeah, I guess so. Shouldn't your brother be done by now?" Didn't she know he was probably hiding under the bed?

"I'll get him," I told her and opened the bedroom door. I saw Nate's feet sticking out from under the bed. I crawled under there with him.

"C'mon on Nate, we gotta go to school," I told him.

"No," he said sternly. That was the loudest I heard his voice.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Too many people," he answered slightly softer. Was he afraid of people?

"Are you scared?" I asked him. I was finally getting more than three words out of him in one day. It was only the morning. He nodded.

"Why?" He didn't have time to answer. My mom stood in the door way and cleared her throat.

"We gotta go," she said and I crawled out.

"C'mon, you'll be with me," I told him. He got out and grabbed my hand. Mom put on her slippers and went out to the car. She looked funny. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail and she was wearing what seemed to be a pair of dad's pants, but I don't know.

I had to drag Nate out of the car and he squeezed my hand until I felt it would fall off. I walked to the playground and dragged Nate with me. Mom had dropped us off early, and we weren't allowed in the building before the time school started. They didn't want the school being destroyed; all though it would get ruined either way. There were two boys standing a tree. One of them was leaning against it and I got very scared.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Curtis couple."