Chapter Six

I stood alone on the front porch, leaning against the railing, and looked back at the new home. It was remarkable. I looked across the front yard and imagined little children playing in a sandbox Darry had built for them. I wondered where Pony, Soda and I would fit into that vision. I imagined that Soda would leave as soon as he turned eighteen. Pony and I would stick around for another year and then leave for college. After that, Darry would finally have his life to himself. I wondered if he wanted that for himself sooner than later.

Kathryn stepped out the front door and joined me. "What are you out here thinking about?"

"Nothing much, just enjoying the sunshine."

"Hey kiddo," she sighed, "I'm sorry about all that crying I do all the time."

I quickly interrupted. "No worries. I understand."

"I know you do, but…"

"Kathryn," I interrupted her again. "Don't worry about it. It happens, that's all."

Kathryn ceased her explanation and seemed to accept that it was okay to just be okay with it. She changed the subject, "Are you ready to go? My Mom says she has all sorts of plans for you today."

I laughed, "She already let me know she has a few boutiques she plans to take me to."

Kathryn giggled. "I'll make a bet that before the week is over my momma will have bought you at least three new outfits and taken you to the beauty salon for some pampering."

"She doesn't have to do all that."

"She loves having a girl to dote upon and she is going to spoil you rotten. You may never want to leave."

I stayed quiet and looked to the ground. I thought about what Kathryn had said about not wanting to leave. She was wrong. I'd give all of my new luxury up for that chance to live in my home again.

Kathryn frowned. "Scout, I'm sorry you have to move."

"Well, it's kind of my own fault. I did nag Darry for an awful long time to give you a call." The two of us shared a laugh before. "It's cool. The new home is darling, and I am happy for you and Darry."

With a little hesitation Kathryn asked, "What do your brothers think about having to move?"

I paused to recall everyone's emotions. "It was a bit of a shock at first because we've never lived anywhere else, but we talked about it, and we all agreed that Darry deserves a home of his own to raise his family the way our parents raised us."

"You know, I only met them a few times. I wish I could have known them better."

"They would love you!"

"Thanks, Scout, and thanks for nagging your brother to give me a call." Kathryn gathered me up in a quick hug. "I love you, little sister."

"I love you too." I returned the affection, and looked down the street as a familiar car approached. "Looky who it is." I watched as Owen's Camaro pulled over to the side of the road. I could see through the windshield that his sister Olivia was with him.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." Owen said as he stepped out of his car. Oliva scampered across his seat to follow her brother. I heard him prompt his sister before crossing the street, "take my hand."

The siblings crossed the street and joined us on the front porch. Owen gave me a quick kiss on the cheek while Kathryn said hello to Olivia.

"What brings you over here?" I asked.

"It seemed like a good time for Olivia and me to get out of the house, so I told her about Darry's new home. She asked to see it, and here we are." Owen sighed, and gave me a look that told me to not to ask anything else in front of present company.

Olivia's tiny voice said with a giggle. "When he saw you, he told me, there's the other girl I love."

"Oh, did he now? I said with a giggle of my own and gave the little girl a quick hug.

The sound of the screen door drew everyone's attention as Ponyboy joined us on the porch, "Hey, Owen, fancy seeing you here. Did you have a good time at the dance last night?"

"I had an excellent time! It was the first time Scout and I were able to dance together the whole night. I tell ya, your sister is a pretty good dancer."

"Yeah, her and my dad and Darry used to dance to the radio all the time."

Owen looked at me. "It's weird, but the worst part of yesterday was having to say good night. I don't know why, but I think I missed you more last night then I ever did when you were at Ashford. I could hardly sleep. How'bout you? Did you sleep well?"

Pony looked at me waiting to see if I was going to tell Kathryn or Owen about my nightmares. I flashed a glance back at my brother that told him to keep his trap shut. Pony knew to change the topic. "While you're here you wanna see the house?"

"I wanna see the house!" Oliva cheered.

I added, "Yeah, let us give you the nickel tour?"

Owen grinned slyly, "But, I don't have a nickel."

I remembered saying the same thing to him when I first saw his parent's house. I flirted with my boyfriend, "Then you are going to have to work it off."

In front of everyone, Owen stepped chest to chest with me, leaned in and softly kissed my lips.

"You two make me sick," Pony said in jest.

Olivia giggled and told my brother, "They're kissing again!"

"I can see that!" He responded.

Owen and I separated and laughed with the others. I led Owen and his sister into the house for a quick tour before joining the others in the back yard.

Out back, Olivia noticed the swing set in the yard and ran off to test it out. Sodapop followed the little girl and playfully asked, "You want me to give you a push?"

"Yeah!" The little girl gleefully screamed as she sat down on a swing. "Really, really high!"

Owen and I wandered to the edge of the yard by the open fence gate. He asked, "Olivia and I are going for ice cream after this, do you wanna join us?"

"I do, but I don't know if I can. Mrs. Ottavi insists on taking me shopping, and I also want to spend some time with my brothers back in my neighborhood."

Owen grabbed my hand and laced my fingers with his. "That's fine, at least I get to see you now. I know last night you were worried about having to listen to James testify tomorrow, so I just want to be sure you were alright with everything."

I thought to myself about the roller coaster of emotions I was dealing with. "I'm worried, but maybe here's not the right time to talk about it all."

"Fair enough. Maybe tonight we can find time to go for a car ride and talk?"

"Yeah, that would be nice. I don't really know the rules I have to follow at the Ottavi's house, so I will probably have to…"

I heard the rumble of a car engine pull into the neighbor's driveway behind me. I turned and watched as a Pontiac GTO pulled up the driveway and came to a stop. I eyed the four head light design and long hood. The color was black. I remembered what that car looked like in the dark. I remembered the boys jumping from the hood to tackle me to the ground, and the way they called me greaser trash. My mind lost focus towards anything around me. My inner self defense mechanisms began to function as my heart beat picked up pace. I slowly stepped behind Owen. I told myself it was different car. I tried to convince myself those weren't the same boys. Then I called myself a fool. I knew better.

"That's a sweet car, huh?" Sodapop's question to Owen entered my ear.

"I'm more of a Chevy kind of guy." Owen replied back as the two boys stood together and compared likes and dislikes about cars.

I stared at the car and watched as the driver let two guys out of the back seat. Their physical build matched up with my memory of the Socs who jumped me. Then one of them yelled, "Hey, John! Bring me a Coke from the fridge!"

I jumped at the name. I remembered that name. My agitation accelerated. I didn't like this neighborhood anymore. I backed away from where I was standing, and turned and walked across the yard. I didn't want the neighboring Socs to recognize me. I was going back to the Cadillac to wait for everyone else to be ready to leave, and then I would tell them I wasn't coming back.

Mrs. Ottavi saw me coming, stopped me and smiled, "Such a nice neighborhood, isn't it?"

Really? She had to ask me that now! I struggled to control my emotions and mumbled back at the lady, "Just because it's a nice neighborhood doesn't mean there are nice people. I'm ready to leave."

Darry took notice of my tone, and asked me, "What's wrong with you?"

"I've had a change of heart about moving." I thought again about the GTO and the night it's passengers considered dragging me off into the dark to have their way with me. Then I thought of Dally, and how loyal he was to me. He was a greaser who wanted to protect me. That night he vowed to avenge me if he could find the Socs who jumped me, but he was never able to track them down. Now, they were within reach and the only one who realized this was me.

Mrs. Ottavi didn't pick up on my growing agitation as she attempted to reassure me. "You'll have a lot of nice neighbors looking out for you."

I snarled, "That is the part I don't like, we won't have anyone we can trust to watch our backs anymore, 'cept Socs we don't know."

Ponyboy wandered into the conversation, "Maybe in this neighborhood you won't have to watch your back."

"Yeah, right. Tough chance of that!" I barked at him, and glanced behind me to be sure the Socs in the GTO hadn't figured out who I was.

Pony tried to give me something positive to consider. "Don't get snappy! At least you'll be further away from the Northside Gang."

I thought of James and his friends and mentally compared them to the GTO Socs and the guys who had jumped Johnny and Ponyboy in the past. There was no difference. There was no more assurance of safety in this neighborhood than ours.

"Whether it's Socs or Greasers we'll still have to watch our back!" I growled at my twin for his lack of understanding.

"All right you two, that's enough!" Darry commanded. I think he wanted to grab us and drag us away from there to avoid further embarrassment.

"No Darry, let them speak." Mrs. Ottavi raised a hand to her shush her new son-in-law. "Scout, why do you think that?"

I looked at the disappointment on Darry's face and decided to clam up. "Nothing, I shouldn't have said anything. Let's just get outta here. I wanna go."

"No, I really want to understand this dynamic." Mrs. Ottavi gently insisted. "I want to know, in your mind, what makes a Soc a Soc?"

I looked back at the GTO idling in the driveway with the two boys inside looking out across Darry's new back yard. "It's simple, a Soc has all the power! So, they can get away with anything, and in my mind, that's as dangerous as any greaser with a blade."

Dorothy continued to question my reality. "Are you sure that's true?"

"Do you think Judge Carlson would have given so much grief to Darry when our parents died if we were Socs? No! In fact, it took a Soc to come in to help keep us together. Whether it's the cops or the Judges, we are worthless in their eyes. We couldn't win," I pointed at her husband, "Only he could because he had money and power!"

"That's how you perceived it." Mrs. Ottavi said gently.

"That's, how it is!" I yelled.

"Scout! That's enough!" Darry warned me to use better manners.

Annoyed with the lady's inability to comprehend, I ranted, "When Pony got drown in that fountain and Johnny saved his life, all the paper said was a rich boy was murdered! There was no mention of Pony's life being in danger. No one cared about what had happened to him."

Dorothy questioned, "Maybe because the boys left town before they told their side of the story?"

Her insinuation infuriated me. "Those Socs knew the truth! It took almost a week for them to tell it! If Johnny had been arrested that night, they would've never been honest. They would have gone on with their normal lives pretending they didn't do what they did! Just like the Socs who jumped me. They know what they did, they know what they planned to do if Soda and the boys didn't come along to save me, but they're not honest about it. And worst off, we couldn't do anything about it because we couldn't afford to tell the cops. We couldn't have the Judge hear about it cause he would have split us up. So once again the ones with money are the Socs and the Socs have all the power!" I looked over at Ponyboy to set him straight. "Just because we're poor living in a nice neighborhood doesn't mean were safe. People look out for their own, and we've got no one here looking out for us."

Ponyboy nervously bit his lower lip. He stuck his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and began to think about the past. Watching his friends die was as hard on him as it was on me.

"That's not true. I'll watch out for you, and so will all my 'Soc' friends." Owen told me with a hint of agitation in his voice.

Mrs. Ottavi added, "My apologies, Scout. I had no idea..."

"You don't know the half of it!" I snapped. "Now let's get outta'here!"

"I want to help you." Dorothy said with empathy.

"You wanna help me?" I said snidely and my eyes filed with angry tears. "You can start with the Socs who jumped me 'cause they're right over ... there!"

With that announcement everyone looked across the yard at the idling Pontiac GTO.

"I'm not staying here!" I angrily mumbled and stormed past the Ottavi's, but Darry grabbed ahold of me before I could get too far. I tried to pull away from him. "I can't win!"

"It's not about winning or losing, it's about perseverance. You know that, and you know you've got more of that than anyone in this family." Darry let go of my wrist, and we watched Soda and Owen walked towards the GTO and the young men.

Pony stood in the middle ground not knowing if he should be with me or follow the other boys.

"Hey!" Soda yelled to get the boy's attention as their friend John came out of the house with four cold bottles of Coca-Cola.

Owen put out a hand to slow Soda from being too aggressive. "Nice car. Have you had it since it was new?"

I watched the boys have a short conversation then Owen tugged on Soda's shirt and the two of them walked back across the yard towards the rest of us.

Soda turned towards Owen, "Why did you stop me? I beat them once, I can do it again."

"Because they don't remember you." Owen told him.

"So?"

"So! Scout is safer here if they don't know who you all are. Why give them a reason to get back at you, or her?"

"She'll be safer if we teach them a lesson to stay away."

"Really? How'd that work out with James?" Owen said with agitation.

Soda didn't have a comeback, but he didn't need one because we all noticed the boys climb out of the car, come through the open gate and stroll across Darry's lawn.

Ponyboy turned towards the Socs and took a tuff stance. Darry pushed me behind him, and Soda and Owen stepped up to stand beside my twin.

Mr. Ottavi looked down at me. "Could you identify any of the boys beyond a reasonable doubt?"

"I already told you, if you're a greaser everything you say is reasonable doubt."

"I take care of this." Mr. Ottavi said as he walked past the boys, and pulled out his wallet.

Soda looked confused as he couldn't tell if the attorney was going to argue a case, or help in the rumble Sodapop believed was about to happen.

"Do we know you?" One of the Socs, dressed in a green plaid button up shirt asked to no one specifically.

"It appears you may." Mr. Ottavi pulled four business cards out of his wallet and presented them to the approaching young men. "I'm Mr. Arthur Ottavi, Tulsa City Attorney. It seems you may have had an altercation last year with this young girl."

The social boys looked at me. The boy in the green plaid spoke up again. "No Sir. I don't think we have."

I stepped up, just behind the attorney, and pointed at John. "He has!"

John eyed me, but it appeared he couldn't remember who I was. He looked to his friends for confirmation, but no one wanted to admit that they remembered.

"I was fourteen years old. You and your friends jumped me on Milton Avenue. You held my arms behind my back while your friend punched me in the face. You tried to talk your friends into having their way with me down by the tracks. You called me trash!"

The blond boy standing next to John shoved his hands in to the pockets of his blue plaid shorts and quickly looked away.

John's eyes grew wide. He looked at me, then at Sodapop, and I knew his memories were flooding back to him too.

The third boy, wearing a white polo, looked at me. "You're that girl who saved those kids in that church fire, aren't you?"

"She's also the girl who's gonna kick your buddy's ass if he doesn't fess up to what he did." Sodapop said with cocky confidence to get me riled up.

The fourth boy, in a green plaid shirt, laughed at Soda's insinuation then looked to Owen. "What's he talkin'bout, Jasper."

"He's talking about the past, but if I hear of any of you bothering anyone in this family I'll be the one settling the score in the future."

"I don't even know what's going on." The Soc innocently told my boyfriend.

John looked at the business card then back at Mr. Ottavi. "Sir, I think you have me mistaken for somebody else, but I can tell you that you don't ever have to worry about us having any trouble with you or your family in the future." Then John glared at Sodapop before telling his friends it was time to go.

"Do I have your word on that?" Arthur asked.

"No!" I barked and hot tears filled my eyes. "He needs to admit what he's done. He can't just lie! He can't just walk away and get away with all of it! I got jumped, and all I was doing was minding my own business!"

"Just let it go, Scout. It don't mean nothin'." Ponyboy quietly suggested.

Pony was wrong, to me it meant everything to hear the boys say they were wrong. Of all the misery I had gone through and not one person had ever said they were sorry. Not one, and I wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by me without fighting for what was rightfully mine.

John turned his back to me to leave.

I lunged forward, and with two hands I pushed him to the ground. I heard Kathryn and Dorothy let out audible screeches of shock as I started punching him with both fists anywhere I was able to make contact. I screamed at the boy, "You know what you did!"

Seconds into my attack, Ponyboy wrapped his arms around me and tackled me to the ground to pull me off of the boy.

"Let me go! He owes me!" I looked up from where my brother had me pinned to the ground. I was surprised to see that no one else had moved. No rumble had started. Owen had a scared little sister in his arms. Sodapop was grinning ear to ear laughing at the fact that I had jumped the boy, while Darry had positioned himself to protect Kathryn if need be, but I was the only one expelling my rage. I looked over at the boys wearing the green and white shirts. Both seemed stunned by the scuffle. I wiped tears from my eye then notice the boy in the blue plaid shorts do the same thing.

"I did it!" He suddenly said. "And it's been eating me up inside ever since. I'm am so sorry. I punched you, but once I saw you were a girl… I'm sorry. I truly am, and I haven't jumped anyone since." The boy looked over at Arthur. "Aint no point in it."

Soda's expression went ice cold and his blood began to boil. The boy in the plaid blue shorts took notice. "Hey, we're even! You and your friends worked us over pretty good that night."

"She's my little sister! Do you have any idea what she's been through?" Soda angrily asked.

"I know! Trust me!" The boy pleaded with Soda as he put his hand up to make my brother keep his distance. "I've read all about everything, and I am so, so sorry. We were young and stupid and drunk."

Soda's chest puffed up, and he looked at John. "What about you?"

"I agree with Garrett." John stood up and said. "I was tanked that night, I barely remember any of it. I don't know much of what I did, or said, but if I said what you are saying I can understand why you are so mad." John looked down at me. "Especially after what that greaser boy did to you. You seem like a sweet girl and we … were just jerks."

Ponyboy loosened his grip on me. I immediately jumped to my feet, and cried. "So you think you can just apologize and get away with it?"

Both boys immediately looked to the City Attorney for answers. Mr. Ottavi stepped close to me and spoke in a calm voice. "What do you want to happen?"

"I don't know… don't they have to go to jail or something?" I whimpered.

"If they go, then Soda and the other boys will have to go to. These boys for assault and the other boys for disorderly conduct."

"How is that fair?" I questioned with disgust.

"It's the law." Mr. Ottavi told me.

"Just let it go, Scout. You wanted the apology, and you got it." Pony tried to reason with me.

I looked to Owen's solemn expression. He held onto his sister to protect her. He spoke gently, "Maybe it'll help to accept the apology."

I looked over at Darry who was staring coldly at the two boys who had admitted fault.

"Darry?"

Without shifting his gaze my guardian told me. "I want nothing more than to have a fair swing at both of them, but Owen is right. They're not worth the energy. You've got more important things to focus on. Accept the apologies and move on."

I looked into Ponyboy's eyes for clarity and he told me. "If you accept the apologies and move on, that'll be two less things you need to worry about. You dig?"

I looked away to consider my options, then I turned back to the two boys. "I accept your apologies."

John breathed a sigh of relief. "Good deal, come on guys, let's get out of their hair."

The boy in the white shirt said, "Catch ya later, Jasper. Sorry about all the commotion."

"Not your doin'." Owen replied.

Garrett stepped closer to me, his eyes red from tears and guilt. "Thank you. I want you to know, it hasn't been easy living with what I had done. Your forgiveness means a lot more to me then you might think. Can I … would you mind if I gave you a hug?"

I stood still for a moment to decide.

Mrs. Ottavi spoke softly, "I think that would do both of you a world of good."

I looked back at the lady then over to Sodapop who shrugged his shoulders because he had no idea if it was a good idea or not. Reluctantly, I stepped a few feet closer. The Soc stepped towards me, wrapped his arms around me to gently hug me and apologize one last time.

"You take good care of yourself, you hear?" The Soc said as he let me go. "If I ever see you needing help you can bet I'll be the first one to the fight to help you out." Then he turned and walked back to the GTO with his friends.

I stood frozen in the yard as my perceived reality began to crumble and reshape itself around me.

"You okay?" Ponyboy asked and reached out to touch my arm.

I shook my head no, and blurted out, "I think I need to be by myself." Then I ran into Darry's new home, past the new washer and dryer and up the stairs to my empty future room. I slammed the door shut, leaned against the wall and bawled my eyes out. Each tear working to help cleanse away some of the burden from my past.

Once I calmed myself to a few remaining tears there was a knock at my door. I invited the person to come in. The door opened. Sodapop and Ponyboy came in and sat by my side.

"I'm sorry about everything." I told them as I wiped my eyes.

"Here," Ponyboy said then handed me a clean handkerchief. "Before Mr. Ottaiv left he said you might need this."

"You feelin' better?" Sodapop asked.

"It's kind of hard to understand, but I think I do."

"Forgiveness is a powerful thing. That's what mom always said." Soda reminded me.

Ponyboy put his arm around my shoulders to help comfort me. "You did the right thing, you should be proud of yourself."

"Yeah," Soda added, "and it wasn't easy either. That takes a lot of guts to forgive someone like that."

"That's why you're the strongest one in the family." Ponyboy said sweetly.

"I aint sure I truely forgave them."

"Maybe not," Soda said, "but you started to, and that counts for something."

I finished drying my eyes, blew my nose into the handkerchief and asked, "Where's everyone else?"

Pony answered, "Darry and Kathryn went out with her parents to look at furniture for the baby's nursery. I guess they're gonna buy the crib or something like that, and Owen and his sister left too."

"Is he mad at me?"

"Owen? Shoot no, what's he got to be mad at you about?"

"My behavior."

"Scout, you got to quit thinking that way." Ponyboy told me.

"Truth is," Sodapop joked, "We all drew straws to see who had to deal with you today and Pony and I lost. So everyone else went home happy 'cept us cause we have to hang with you all day."

I smiled and asked. "Do you think we can go home without Darry with us?"

Sodapop wrapped his arm about me too and said, "when your with us, you're always home."