After Rhonda left, I finished up what film I had left, trying different shots of the Oak tree, and stuff like that. I was nearly done
with the book I'd been reading, too. There were only a couple of chapters left. I knew Ponyboy wouldn't care if I borrowed some
of his books, but I'd read most of them already, too.
Bored. That was me right about now. I even made brownies, and put pecans in them, the way that all the boys like them.
That made the kitchen all hot, though, so I went to lay on the couch, and listen to music. I was making some lemonade
when the telephone began to ring. I ran to answer it, and I was mostly surprised when Mrs. Wilson responded to my 'hello'.
"June? This is Mrs. Wilson. How are you?"
"I'm fine," I said, automatically, wondering what she wanted. Maybe she was ticked off because her husband had paid
me extra money the other day.
"Good, good. I was calling to see if you would be able to come over this afternoon," she said.
Mr. Wilson must not have told her about Darry being miffed about her not coming home.
"I can't," I said.
"Tomorrow, then?"
"No, I won't be able to-"
"I'll pay you five dollars tomorrow if you stay just two hours," Mrs. Wilson said, interrupting me.
I was surprised into silence.
"That's two-fifty an hour, June," she said, then, as if I wouldn't be able to calculate that out myself. "That's generous for
only two hours. I need to run a quick errand and then I would be back."
At my silence (I was still surprised) she said, "June? Would you be able to do that?"
"I'm not supposed to come over," I said. I figured I might as well tell her so she would stop asking.
"Really?" she asked, sounding faintly surprised. "Is this because I was late arriving home the other day?"
"Well, yeah," I said.
"That was unfortunate," she said. "I had some car engine problems. Perhaps if you explained that to your brother, it might
smooth things over."
I knew it would do no such thing. Darry would dismiss it as a bunch of nonsense. But, I didn't think I was going to say that.
"Please, June," she said, and now her voice had sort of a pleading tone to it, if you could believe that. "I would only be gone
for those two hours. I'll pay you seven dollars. That's more than fair-"
"Yeah. It is," I said, in agreement. Seven dollars for only two hours? That would be amazing. But Darry-I knew he wouldn't go
for it. Not only had he put the kibosh on me going over to the Wilson's, but now I was grounded on top of that. And, even if I hadn't
been grounded, he wouldn't let me go back over there.
"I'm not sure-" I heard myself say. It was so tempting.
"Well, I'll tell you-you come over tomorrow about one o'clock, and I could be back home again by three."
"I can't promise-" I told her. I had the thought then that neither Darry nor Soda had to know about it. I could be home before
they were.
"Well, alright," she said, sounding disappointed. "But if you are able to, give me a quick call in the morning to let me know,
alright?"
"Yes. I'll call if I can come," I said.
We said our goodbyes, and she hung up.
The rest of the afternoon, (probably from a sense of guilt for even considering her suggestion) I made beef and noodles. It
was hot, hard work, even though I used pre-made frozen noodles. I had it on low simmer on the stovetop, when Pony and Soda
got home.
Pony beat a path to the refrigerator the very first thing, taking out a bottle of Coke, and opening it. He tipped the bottle up,
and drank more than half of it down in the first swallow.
"Too damn hot out there," he complained.
Soda came into the kitchen and took a box of camera film out of his shirt pocket, handing it off to me.
I took it and said, "Thanks, Soda."
"You're welcome," he said, and took a look into the big pot on the stove. "Looks good. It wasn't your turn to cook
tonight, was it?"
Actually, it was Darry's night. But, like I said, I was feeling guilty for contemplating disobeying both Darry's order
about the Wilson's, and also leaving the house while I was grounded.
"It's Darry's turn," I said. "But-I thought I might as well do it. With him not feelin' good, and all-"
Soda gave me one of his daunting smiles-the one that goes all the way to his eyes, and shines back out.
"That's nice, June-Bug," he said, softly. "I'm proud of ya for that."
His praise, and that smile, and him thinking I did it out of a purely unselfish reason, that made me feel
really bad. Even more guilty.
"It's no big deal," I said, turning to stir the noodles and beef. "No need to make a big thing about it-" That was
all I needed. Soda talking me up to Darry when he got home-that would be even worse.
"Hey," he said, stepping over so that I had to look up at him again. "If ya do somethin' nice, it's okay for
us to say so, ya know."
"I know," I said.
He smiled at me again, just as Pony discovered the pecan brownies.
"Ya made brownies?" he said, sounding super excited, and already scooping out a large brownie from the pan.
"Leave some for the rest of us," Soda chided hm.
When Darry got home, I was setting the table. My mind was still in a twist about whether or not I was gonna call
Mrs. Wilson, and go over there tomorrow. The seven dollars would be easy enough to explain away-providing that any
of them even asked about it. They weren't really certain how much I had saved up. I didn't think I'd ever given them an
exact amount. What Darry might say, or do, if he found out that I'd gone, though-well, that made my mind race, and my
stomach quiver.
We could hear Darry coughing as he came into the house, and Pony and I exchanged glances.
As Darry came into the kitchen, to wash up, and sit down to eat, though, he seemed to be feeling better. At least he
looked as though he was.
"I was gonna cook up bacon and beans tonight," he said to me, as he took a helping of the beef and noodles. "This is
way better-thanks, Junie."
"It's okay," I said, letting my eyes slide away without ever looking directly at him.
He coughed a couple of times during the meal, but, later, when he'd gone to take a shower, Soda said that he
didn't think the cough sounded as deep, or as bad, as it had the night before.
"I'll still talk to him about goin' to the doctor," Soda said. "But nobody jump on him about it, alright?"
I nodded and Pony said 'okay'.
When the dishes were done, and we were all four just sort of lounging around the living room, Pony was finishing up
the brownies, eating right out of the pan.
"Makin' a hog of yourself, Pony," Darry said.
"I can't help it-I'm a growin' boy," Pony said, unruffled.
Darry started talking about how he and his crew had finished one of the two houses that had been on a time crunch lately.
"We oughta be able to finish the other one tomorrow, if the weather holds," Darry said.
"That's great," Soda said. "You've been bustin' your ass."
"I didn't wanna say anything too soon," Darry went on. "But if we finish by tomorrow, the owner's gonna hand out
a bonus."
He'd managed to surprise all three of us. "That's great," Soda said, again.
"Yeah, Darry, that's great," Pony chimed in.
"Maybe we can get caught up on some things around here," Darry said. And, then, he went into a coughing spasm. We
all exchanged a look and waited for it to be over.
Darry said, "Damn," and got up to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
He came back and sat down again, and Soda said, sounding, for Soda anyway, very firm.
"If ya aren't better by tomorrow-ya need to go to the doctor," Soda said.
"I'm better," Darry said, dismissingly.
"It sounds like you're hackin' up a lung, Darry," Pony said, in argument.
"Just drop it," Darry said.
"Why we gotta drop it?" Pony persisted. "If it was one of us-"
"It's not, though," Darry interrupted. "It's me. And, I say I'm better. So drop it. Alright?"
Pony shook his head, and went off to the kitchen, carrying the empty brownie pan, muttering under his
breath.
Darry turned his attention to me. "Ya did a lot round here today, Junie. And then, cookin' supper and all-"
I shrugged. "It's okay," I said.
"Ya can go take a couple dollars out of my billfold," he said, then. Effectively and totally shocking me.
"Ya already gave me my allowance," I reminded him. "Monday-remember?"
"Yeah. Ya earned a couple of extra dollars this week around here, though," Darry said. He looked at Soda. "Don't ya
agree with that, Soda?"
"I for sure agree," Soda said.
Well, my conscience was in perfect working order, let me tell you that. I know it was, because I felt lower than a snake's
belly right then. Here they both were, praising me and thanking me for doing chores, and all, and I'd been actually
considering goin' against Darry. And not in a small way, either.
I hugged my legs up to my chest, from my seat on the couch, and didn't look directly at either of them.
"Ya said there's a lot of bills, though," I said. "I don't need extra right now, Darry-"
Darry raised his eyebrow, and looked faintly amused. "What d'ya think of that, Soda? Ever hear of a kid turnin' down
money?"
"Nope," Soda said, grinning. "Especially not a kid of the female species."
Darry smiled, too, right before he started coughing.
Outsiders
I went to bed early, or at least to my bedroom. I had the radio on, real low, and I was reading, when somebody
knocked, and then after I said, "Yeah?', Soda opened the door and came in.
"Hi," I said.
"Hi." He closed the door, which I thought was sort of weird.
He came over and sat down beside me on the bed, lifting my feet to lay them on his leg.
"How come ya shut the door?" I asked him.
"'Cause I wanna talk to ya, and I don't want anybody listenin' in," Soda said.
"About what?" I asked.
"Did ya leave the house today?" he asked me, then.
I stared at Soda, puzzled. "No. Why?"
"Because I called-and ya didn't answer," Soda said.
"Ya mean this mornin'?"
"Yeah. This mornin'."
"I was outside," I said. "I guess I didn't hear the telephone."
Soda was looking at me, his head tilted, as if he was measuring what I was saying. As if, I thought, indignantly, that he
didn't believe me!
I sat up really straight, pulling my feet from his lap, and hugging them to my chest.
"I was!" I insisted. "Rhonda came over, and we were sittin' outside, in the sun!"
After another long silent moment, Soda said, "Okay."
"So, you believe me now?" I demanded.
"Don't get like that."
"Like what?"
"All dramatic," Soda said.
"Well, it's sort of insultin'," I said. "When ya come in here, and accuse me, and then think I'm lyin' to ya about it!"
"I'm not insultin' ya," Soda denied. "I have to ask ya, Junie. It's the way things are."
I gave him a hard look. Almost a glare.
"I just don't want ya to get into any more trouble," Soda said.
"I haven't done anything-so I won't," I said. And, then, I cursed whatever it was that made my face get all hot, as I
thought of how I'd been considering going to the Wilson's again.
"Okay," Soda said. He reached out to tug me over closer, but I resisted, feeling stubborn.
"Don't be a pill, Junie," Soda said, with a sigh.
I stayed quiet, stubborn, and Soda leaned over, so that he was peering up into my face. "How about we go out for
some ice cream?" he suggested. "I bet you'd like to get away from the house, wouldn't ya?"
Would I? Boy, would I ever! The desire for some new scenery trumped over my feeling indignant at Soda's questioning.
"Yeah, I would," I admitted.
"Well, come on," he said, standing up. "Get your shoes on."
Outsiders