I was so tired that I think I fell asleep as soon as I laid down. When I felt somebody shaking me slightly, it seemed as

though I had to break thru my cocoon of blankets that I was burrowed into.

I looked up into Soda's face.

"Hey," he said, talking softly. "I'm leavin' for work, and Pony's goin' with me so I can drop him off at the bowling alley.

I'll call later to see how Darry's gettin' along. Okay?"

I struggled to a sitting position. "Yeah. What time is it?"

"Six-fifteen or so."

"Why are ya leavin' so early?" I asked him.

"I've got some stuff to do," he said, in a non-explanation. "Ya gonna be able to manage today? Fixin' Darry

some breakfast and everything?"

"Yeah. I can," I said. I pushed my blankets aside, and stood up.

I followed him out into the hallway and towards the kitchen. Darry's bedroom door was still closed. Pony was

in the kitchen, drinking down a glass of orange juice, and slapping a sandwich together.

"Ready, Ponyboy?" Soda asked.

"Yeah."

I went to the front door with them, to see them out into the morning. "I'll call later," Soda said, again.

"Okay."

When they'd gone, I closed the door quietly, and went to the kitchen. I'd stay up, I decided, instead of going back

to bed. I needed to be up, doing things, so when Darry got up, I could tend to him.

I worked around the kitchen, doing up the dishes that the boys had used that morning. I could hear doors opening and

closing, and I went to the kitchen doorway.

Darry was walking towards the kitchen, dressed in his sweatpants, and sock feet, and shirtless, holding the brown

bandages around his left side.

"Hey, Junie," he greeted me, in a raspy sounding voice.

"Good mornin'," I answered.

"Did ya sleep alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Those pills pack a punch."

"Sit down," I told him, going to pull his chair out slightly from the table.

As he was beginning to sit, I poured him a cup of coffee and set it in front of him.

"Thanks," he said. "Soda gone to work already?"

"Uh huh. Pony, too."

"Why so early?"

"He said he had things to do," I reported.

"Mmm."

"I can make ya some eggs," I offered, going to pull out a skillet.

"Ya don't have to. I'll just have some toast or somethin'."

"I'll make eggs," I said, stubbornly. "Ya need protein."

"Well, make enough for yourself, too."

Darry sat, reading the newspaper, until I'd finished the eggs and toast.

I set Darry's plate in front of him, and then sat down with my own.

We ate in quiet for a few minutes until Darry said, "Good eggs, Junie."

"Thanks."

I got up to take my own plate to the sink, and refilled Darry's coffee cup.

"You're supposed to take a pill when you eat," I remembered, and went to pick up the bottle off of the cabinet.

Darry took it and shook out a pill, swallowing it with his coffee. He stood, and I took his plate as well.

"What would ya like for lunch?" I asked him.

"Whatever's in the refrigerator," Darry said. "No need to make anything special."

He went off, then, taking his newspaper with him. He went to sit in the living room, and I worked around the house,

and was carrying a load of jeans that needed washing to the laundry room when I saw that Darry was asleep.

He'd laid down on the couch, the newspaper still spread over his middle, and he had his good arm folded behind his head.

I stayed real quiet after that, going to the front porch to read for awhile. Darry slept for a long time, all the way thru

the lunch hour. I ate a peanut butter sandwich, and drank a Coke. When the telephone began to ring, I went to snatch it up.

It was Soda, calling to see how Darry was getting on.

When I'd reported that he'd eaten, taken a pill, and was napping, Soda seemed relieved.

"That's the best thing for him," he said. "I'm gonna be late gettin' home tonight, Junie. Ya'all don't wait supper

on me."

I didn't think Soda would go out drinking or out on a date. Not when Darry was only just home from the hospital.

But, I still asked. "What are ya doin'?"

"Found another job," he said.

"What?" I asked, shocked, but still trying to stay quiet. "You're goin' to quit Buck?"

"Nah. Another job. A second job."

"Why, Soda?" I asked.

"We'll talk about it later," he said. "Just-don't say anything to Darry about it, alright? Just tell him I'm workin'

late."

"Okay," I said.

I hung up the telephone quietly, and turned to see Darry rousing from his nap.

"That Soda?" he asked me.

"Uh huh. I'll make ya some lunch," I said, and hustled to the kitchen.

Darry and I spent the afternoon quietly. He read, and then walked around outside in the yard for awhile. I bustled around,

doing things, and hovering over him. Finally, when I brought him a glass of iced tea, he told me to sit down opposite and

play a game of checkers with him.

Ponyboy arrived home, via Two-Bit. I would have given anything, anything, for Darry not to have been hurt. But, it surely was

nice, having company during the daytime. It had been a lonely few days, stuck at home by myself.

I said as much at one point. When I was successful in taking some of Darry's checkers, I said, "At least I'm not bored

today, stuck at home by myself-"

They all three looked at me, and I shrugged, wishing I'd kept still.

"Maybe ya hadn't oughta get yourself grounded then, June-Bug," Two-Bit said, with a grin.

Outsiders

The four of us ate supper, a simple supper of leftover stew from the freezer, without Soda. I'd told Darry what

Soda had said to tell him. That he was working late.

It was nearing ten o'clock before he got home. I was still sitting up, though Two-Bit had left, and Darry and Pony

had gone to bed. I thought somebody should wait up for Soda.

He came in quietly.

"Junie," he said, in greeting. "What are you doin' still up?"

"Waitin' for ya," I said. "I have a plate put back for ya. Do ya want me to heat it up?"

"Nah. I ate somethin' already. I just wanna go to bed. I'm beat."

"Where's your second job?" I asked.

"Helpin' a friend of Buck's restore an old Cadillac convertible," Soda said.

"At night?"

"Yeah. He works in a bank or somethin' downtown. He likes to putter around with engines and stuff, but he doesn't know

a whole lot about it, and he needs somebody to help him, so Buck told him about me," Soda said.

"And he's gonna pay ya himself?" I asked, following Soda as he headed towards the kitchen.

"Yeah. Cash every time I'm there," Soda said. He went to the refrigerator and got out the bottle of milk, pouring

a glass.

"I'll put it away," I told him, taking the bottle of milk.

"Thanks." He sat down at the kitchen table, as if he was weary.

"How'd Darry do today?" he asked me.

"Okay, I think," I said, leaning with my hands on the back of a kitchen chair.

"Well, don't mention my other job to him just yet," Soda said.

"How come?"

Soda hesitated. "Because-he'll just get mad, and say I don't need to do it-"

"But, ya think ya should?" I asked.

"I know so." He hesitated again. "Junie, there's gonna be bills from the hospital, and all of that, and, as long as Darry's

not workin', he doesn't get paid. Things could get rough around here for awhile, money-wise."

"Oh," I said. It made me feel worried, thinking about it. I'd been mostly focused on Darry health-wise and all of that.

I hadn't thought of the money side of it.

"I'm not tellin' ya to worry ya," Soda said. "I just think-you're old enough to know what's gonna be happening, and all."

I nodded, and couldn't help feeling a comradery with Soda right then. He was treating me as though I was grown-up, or at

least, not a little kid.

"I'll tell Darry about it, in a day or so," Soda said. "Otherwise, he'll start fussin' about goin' back to work way before he should."

"Okay," I said. I nibbled at my lip in thought. "With your extra money, and Ponyboy's money from the bowling alley, will that

be enough to pay everything?"

"Well, maybe not everything. Not all of the hospital bill, probably. But, Darry's gonna get a bonus, maybe. I know he

had other plans for that money, though, not just for bills."

"I have some money," I said. "Remember?"

"Ya mean the money you've been savin' up?" he asked me. "For the camera flash?"

When I nodded, Soda said, "No, Junie," real darn firmly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Let's just wait on that until we see how things go," Soda said, seeing that I was getting het up.

I would have argued, but I saw how tired he looked, so I held myself back. I would take it up with him later.

Outsiders

With the next day being Saturday, it was still just like the day before, pretty much. Pony was home, though, so

he cut the grass, and Darry walked around a lot. When I told him he should rest, he told me that he'd been resting

enough and that he needed to be moving around.

I came into the living room from the kitchen when I heard a knocking on the front door. Darry was already at the door,

opening it. It hadn't gotten so hot that we'd opened the wooden door to the screen.

"Hello, Darry," I heard a familiar voice say.

Ugh! Mrs. Richards. The social worker.

I stopped in my tracks, and when Darry returned her greeting, and she'd come inside, I brushed at my bangs, and

wished I could go back to the kitchen without it being noticed.

"I heard you'd been hurt-" she began. "An accident at work?"

"Yeah." Darry gestured towards the living room. "Sit down."

"Thank you. I thought we might talk a bit-" she began, and then saw me standing there.

"Hello, June," she said.

"Hi."

She went to perch on the end of the couch, laying her purse to the side, and holding her notebook on her lap.

She began to ask Darry about what had happened, how he got hurt, and all of that. Darry gave the minimum of details without

seeming to be hiding anything. At least it seemed to me.

"How is that going to affect finances?" she asked. "Will it present a problem?"

Darry looked toward me. "Junie, why don't ya go on outside. See if Pony needs anything."

Pony need something? Okay, that was silly.

It was darn obvious that Darry didn't want to discuss finances with Mrs. Richards in front of me. I didn't want to make

Darry look bad, or have it seem as though I wasn't going to mind him. But, it was silly, sending me outside like that. So,

I went to the kitchen, appearing to obey, and instead, peeked out the window at Pony, still cutting the grass, and then I poured

a glass of cold iced tea in one of our better glasses.

Then I walked back into the living room again.

They both paused in their talking to look at me.

"I brought ya some iced tea," I said, and handed it to Mrs. Richards.

She took it with a smile and a thank you.

Darry looked to me, plainly waiting for me to scoot on outside.

"Pony doesn't need any help," I said, in casualness. I was getting ready to sit myself down on the other end of the

couch, when Darry gave me a knowing look.

Just before I planted my behind on the sofa, he said, "Junie." He said it quiet-like, but it gave me pause.

"Go outside while Mrs. Richards and I talk," he ordered. There. I guess he thought that since I hadn't gone along

with the 'go see if Pony needs help' thing, that he would 'spell it out' for me.

Well, there was no way to not follow that. So, I went thru the kitchen, and out the back door. I went to sit at the picnic

table, watching Pony, until he paused, and ran an arm over his forehead to wipe off the sweat.

"I need a cold drink," he said.

"Ya can't go in right now," I said. "At least, not unless you're real quiet. Mrs. Richards is here."

"What's she doin' here?" Pony asked, looking peeved.

"I dunno. But, she asked Darry about money stuff, because of him gettin' hurt, and he threw me out."

"I'm gonna get me a Coke," Pony said, sounding stubborn.

"Well, do some listenin' while you're in there," I told him.

It wasn't even five minutes and Pony was back outside, carrying a bottle of Coke. He took a seat opposite me at the

picnic table.

"What's happening?" I asked him.

Pony shrugged. "I was barely in the doorway of the living room, and Darry just nodded his head for me to

disappear. I didn't hear anything."

"Darry thinks we're kids," I complained.

At Pony's raised eyebrow, I amended that to, "Well, I know we're kids, but we should be able to know what's happening

with money and stuff-and Soda thinks so, too."

"It's cause Darry wants to take care of stuff, and all that," Pony said.

"Yeah. But, you're bringin' money into the house," I pointed out. "So ya ought to be able to know things, shouldn't you?"

"Yeah. I oughta," Pony began, and then we both saw Soda's truck chugging up the street.

"Soda's home," I said, in gladness.

"Probably to eat before he goes to his other job," Pony said.

"Uh huh," I agreed.

We waved and called out to Soda as he got out of his truck, and he walked over to us, instead of heading into the house.

"Whose car?" he asked, thumbing at the car in the driveway behind Darry's truck. "It looks like the one that Mrs. Richards

drives."

"It is," I said.

"What's she want?" Soda asked.

"She's in there askin' Darry about money and stuff," I said. "And, he won't let me or Pony be in there."

"Oh," Soda said. "Well, I'll go in and see what's happenin'."

Soda went off to the house, and Pony and I sat there. We sat long enough for Pony to finish his Coke, and then Soda

whistled at us from the back door.

"Mrs. Richards wants to say goodbye," he told us.

We said our goodbyes to her in the living room. She was as nice as always, and reminded us

that the next Monday was signups for the classes at the YMCA.

I guess both Pony and I seemed less than enthusiastic, because she said, in a cheerful tone, "I really think you'll

enjoy it, both of you."

"They'll be there," Darry said.

When she'd gotten into her car, Darry went back inside, and we all followed.

Once inside, he turned furiously on Soda.

"Why would ya do that?" he demanded.

"Because it was a necessary thing," Soda answered.

"It's not a necessary thing," Darry contradicted.

Pony and I looked from Soda to Darry, perplexed as to what was going on. Something must have been said

in the talk with Mrs. Richards.

"I happen to think it was," Soda said, and started towards the kitchen.

"Damn it, Soda!" Darry said, raising his voice. "I'm not gonna have it, do ya hear me?"

Soda paused in the kitchen doorway and looked back at Darry. "I'm eatin' a sandwich, Darry, and then I'm goin'

back to work. And, then, when I'm finished, I'm goin' over to Booker's house to work on the car."

He turned on his heel and went on, to the refrigerator, where he began pulling out sandwich fixings. When Darry stalked

after him, Pony and I followed.

"I told ya-we don't need ya to do that," Darry persisted, holding onto his side again. "I oughta be gettin'

that bonus, and there'll be enough."

"Well, this will help that along," Soda returned, spreading mayonnaise on his bread.

Darry let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't have to be so damn stubborn, Soda-"

"I learned from the best on that, Superman," Soda said.

Darry gave him a narrowed eye look at that remark, and Soda plopped down at the table, biting into his

sandwich.

"Any Coke left in the fridge, Pony?" Soda asked.

"Yeah," Pony said, and reached into the refrigerator to take out a bottle of Coke, opening it and then handing

it to Soda.

Darry sat down, as well. "You should've talked to me about it-" he began.

"Ya would have reacted just like ya are now," Soda said, unperturbed. He swiped crumbs off his mouth, and said,

"Look. If ya get your bonus, then we'll be sittin' in clover. This second thing of mine-that's just extra, so ya don't

have to worry so much."

Darry was silent, looking at Soda.

"I get paid on Tuesday," Pony spoke up. "We're mostly done with the paintin' down there, but I can look 'round for

somethin' else, too-"

"No. You've got classes at the Y startin' next week," Darry said.

"I don't hafta do that, Darry," Pony began.

"Yeah. Ya do," Darry said, with finality. He gave both Pony and I somewhat of a fierce glance. "I don't want any

protestin' or anything about those classes, alright? Even if ya don't wanna go, we all have to do things we don't

always wanna do-"

"Okay, Darry," Pony interrupted. "I'm not squawkin' about goin'. It was just a suggestion."

"Alright," Darry said, looking somewhat mollified.

"I want to contribute, too," I spoke up. "It makes me feel low-horrible-that I'm not helpin'-"

"You help every day around here," Darry said. "I don't wanna hear that."

"I mean really help," I insisted.

"There's other ways to help besides with money, Junie. Ya know that," he said.

After that, Soda went on back to work, and Pony went to finish up the grass. Darry went to lay on the couch,

where he fell asleep. I stood in the living room, looking at him, and thinking that he had to be the most stubborn

person on the entire face of the planet.

Outsiders