I went to the kitchen with Darry, (mostly because I didn't have a choice), and slid into my seat at the table. Two-Bit

was still there, and there were grilled cheese sandwiches on a platter, and a bowl of salad, and cottage cheese. Stuff was passed around

the table. I took half of a sandwich, and nibbled at that. It didn't appeal to me, even though it was real gooey with cheese, the way

that Soda makes them. The boys talked, mostly about things that weren't too serious, like how all their work had gone for the day.

Two-Bit regaled everybody with tales of funny customers at the lumberyard, and Pony said that Mrs. Thatcher had given him

a tip that day.

Darry said that he'd seen the man who owed him money, and that they'd had another discussion, and he would be

getting paid in two days time.

"How about the bonus?" Soda was asking.

"Likely not, but I'll just be glad of the regular payment, so I don't have to sue for it," Darry was saying.

I don't remember how the topic came up, but something was said about Pony's creative writing class at the YMCA, and

Darry said, "So no classes tomorrow, right?"

"Nope. Not till Friday," Pony said.

"Okay. Friday, huh?" Darry said, and I could feel his eyes on me. I was sitting there, leaning my head on my hand, my elbow

propped up.

"I'm not goin' back to class," I said.

There was quiet for a long few moments, and then Soda said, "How come?"

"Because I don't like the art one, and there's no use in goin' to the photography one, now that-" I let my voice trail off.

"Ya can still go," Darry said. "There's things you could learn-"

"No," I said, clearly and with no doubt in my voice. I swung my eyes up to his, and saw that he had that 'look' about

him. The it's time to listen to reason expression.

"What's the use, now?" I said, and my eyes filled with tears again. "I wouldn't be able to stand it!"

Darry had a stern set to his jaw, and I could tell he was struggling with what to say to me.

"Maybe you'll get another camera one of these days, Junie," Two-Bit spoke up, trying to be comforting.

"How could I?!" I burst out.

"Settle down," Darry said, and I sat up straighter in my chair, staring at him.

"Ya aren't gonna make me go back, are ya, Darry?" I asked, sitting up straighter in my chair.

"We'll talk about it later," he said.

I stood up, and took my plate over, scraping most of my sandwich into the trash can, and then putting my

plate in the sink.

As I walked past them all, still sitting at the table, I was trying not to cry, and I muttered,

"I'm not goin' to."

To his credit, Darry didn't call me back, or tell me off for being sassy. He let me go. At least for the moment.

I went to my bedroom, and closed the door. I got into my pajamas, and turned on my radio again, and sat on my

bed, feeling miserable.

They left me alone for the rest of the evening. I could hear them all moving around out in the other rooms, the water

running in the shower. There was a tap on my door, a light one, but I didn't answer, and whoever it was gave up. I knew

it wasn't Darry, because he wouldn't have given up. Nor Soda, either. It must have been Pony.

I don't know how long it took me to fall asleep that night.

Outsiders

The next morning, I woke up when I heard them all moving around again, making noise. I would have hidden away

in my room until they all left for work, but I really, really had to use the bathroom. So, I got up to do that, and when I came

back out of the bathroom, Two-Bit was folding the blankets from the couch neatly. He'd obviously slept over the night before.

"Hi," he said, softly.

"Hi."

I had my hand on my doorknob, ready to go back into my room, when Two-Bit said, "Hey," and I paused.

He came over to where I was standing. "You okay?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I guess."

Two-Bit regarded me solemnly, his gaze regretful. "I sure wish things would have gone different yesterday," he said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well-that somebody might have seen whoever took your camera, or somethin' like that," Two-Bit said. "So that way the

cops would have somethin' to go on."

I shrugged again. "Yeah."

"I feel real bad for ya, June-Bug."

I didn't wanna cry anymore. I really did not. But, darn Two-Bit, anyway! Being so sweet, and sympathetic, he was making

me feel all emotional again.

"Thanks, Two-Bit," I said.

Soda came to the door of the kitchen, a spatula in one hand. "Hey, I thought I heard ya talkin'," he said. "The eggs are

ready. Come and eat."

"I'm ready," Two-Bit said, starting that way.

I opened the door to my bedroom, and Soda said, "Junie? Come on and eat breakfast."

"I'm goin' back to sleep," I said, and, as Soda gave me a disappointed sort of look, I could feel Darry's presence

behind me in the hall, coming out of his bedroom. I turned to look at him, just for the briefest moment.

"See you guys later," I mumbled, and went back into my room, closing the door.

I laid on my bed, not sleeping, though. I'm like that. If I wake up, I generally just stay up.

When the house was quiet, I went out, and turned on the television, mostly for noise. I went and ate a bowl of Cheerios,

disregarding the eggs and bacon that Soda had left on the counter, obviously intended for me.

Afterwards, though, I did up the dishes, and swept the kitchen floor. I tidied up the house, and then, Two-Bit, bless his

heart, came over in the early afternoon.

He came on in, as was usual. I usually locked the door when I was home alone, but I'd forgotten today.

"Hi, Junie," he said.

"Hi, Two-Bit."

"I was just checkin' on ya," he said.

"Oh. That's real nice," I said.

"Ya need a ride anywhere? Before I go to work?" he offered.

I thought for a minute. I had no plans to go anywhere any day in the near future. I would need something to do.

"Ya, maybe to the library," I said. "Would that be alright?"

"Sure."

"Could ya wait for me? I wouldn't take very long to check out some books," I said.

"Yeah, I could wait for a bit."

I went to grab my sneakers, sitting down to pull them on.

I hesitated, wondering if I should call for 'permission' for this. I mean, it was just to the library, and it was with Two-Bit,

but still-I knew Darry likely wasn't any too pleased by my sassy announcement about not going back to class, so I didn't want

to give him cause to come down on me.

"Just a sec," I said, and went to dial the number to Buck's.

It was Soda who answered the telephone.

"It's me," I said. "Two-Bit's gonna give me a ride to the library real quick."

"Okay."

"Okay. Bye," I said.

"Junie-"

"What?"

I could hear his sigh. "Nothin'. See ya later."

We drove to the library, mostly in silence, and Two-Bit waited outside while I went in. I checked out three books. I figured

I would need a lot to read. Since, I thought glumly, I had no camera, and I wasn't allowed to get a job.

When I slid back into the car, Two-Bit asked me if I wanted to get a shake at the drive-in, but I said no, and he drove

me back home again.

Outside the house, he parked, but left the engine on. "I best get to work," he said.

"Okay. Thanks for takin' me to the library."

"No problem."

I opened my car door, and then paused. "And thanks for yesterday, too. For everything ya did. I appreciate it, Two-Bit."

"It's okay, Junie. Like I said, I wish it had gone different."

"Yeah. See ya," I said, and got out.

He gave me a grin, and roared away. I went back inside the house, and locked the door. I went to the back yard, and

sat out in the sun, reading for the next hour or more. Pony got home awhile after that, and joined me in the back yard.

We sat, drinking Cokes, and just sitting in the quiet mostly. The neighbor's dog was barking up a ruckus.

"I feel sorry for that dog," Pony said.

"He barks all the darn time," I said.

"Only cause he's left alone all the time." He took a long drink. "I wonder if we could maybe get a dog sometime."

"Ya think so?" I asked doubtfully. "Darry probably would say it would cost too much."

"I can help pay for stuff," Pony said. "It could be belong to both of us."

I shot him a sideways look. "Thanks, Pone," I said. Suddenly grateful. Pony was a really good brother.

"Maybe we could, huh? Get a dog, I mean?" I said. It would be nice, I thought, to have company around the house

when everybody was gone.

"Did ya mean what ya said?" he asked, changing the subject. "About not goin' back to the classes?"

"Yeah. I meant it."

"Mrs. Richards said we had to go, though," Pony reminded me. "Ya don't wanna get Darry into trouble-"

I closed my eyes against the sun. "I won't get him into trouble. She doesn't have to know."

There was a silence, and then Pony said, "Darry's gonna bull up. He won't say ya don't have to go."

I sighed heavily. "It's been a stupid summer. I got into trouble, so now Mrs. Richard's is stickin' her nose into

our business again-and then practically the best thing that ever happened to me is gone, just like that."

Meaning my camera, in case you didn't know.

Pony made no response to that statement. "Guess I oughta cut the grass," he said. "It's gettin' tall."

I didn't want to lose his company. "Just sit," I coaxed.

"It's gotta be done. And Soda's workin' too much to do it, and Darry sure can't, not with his ribs the way they are," Pony said.

I felt suddenly guilty. "I should've done it," I said.

"Naw," Pony said, grinning at me as he stood up. "Cuttin' the grass is man's work."

"Oh ho," I scoffed, returning his teasing.

I sat for awhile longer, watching Pony work. When I finally went inside, I made a salad and put baked potatoes in the oven.

Soda came home while I was doing that, and came into the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted me.

"Hi, Soda."

"What's goin' on here?" he asked.

"Pony's cuttin' the grass, and I was thinkin' about supper," I said.

"That's good," he said, and took a piece of carrot from the salad and popped it into his mouth.

"I put in an extra potato for Two-Bit, in case he shows up," I said. "Are ya gonna be leavin' again soon?"

"Nah, not tonight. The fella whose car I'm workin' on is out of town."

"I'm glad," I said. "That you're gonna be home, I mean."

Soda washed up, and helped me finish up supper. He made chili dogs to go with the salad and potatoes.

By the time Pony was done cutting the grass, and came in to head to the shower, Darry was coming thru the front

door after work.

It was while we were eating supper, that Pony announced he wanted to go the movies that night, with Two-Bit and some

other friends.

Darry made the comment that it was alright if he went, as long as he stayed with the group, and wasn't out walking alone,

or past curfew.

"What'd you do today?" Darry asked me.

"Went to the library, and got some books," I said. "Two-Bit gave me a ride, and I called to let Soda know," I announced.

"Good," he said.

"I need somethin' to do to fill the time during the days," I said.

"Uh huh," Darry said.

It was later that night, and I was curled up on the end of the couch, reading one of my books. Darry sat on the other

end of the couch, doing his own reading from the newspaper. Soda had ended up going out somewhere, too, so it was just

me and Darry.

At one point, I lowered my book. "It's quiet," I said.

"Yeah. It's nice," he said, without looking up from the newspaper.

"Pony and I were wonderin' somethin'," I said. "We were thinkin' it might be nice to have a dog."

That got his attention. He turned to give me a look. "A dog?"

"Yeah. A dog. You know."

"We don't need a dog, Junie."

"Well, why?" I protested. "If it's because of the money, Pony said he would buy the dog food, and all-"

"We're not home enough to take care of a dog," Darry said.

I fixed him with a what do you mean sort of a look. "Darry, there's always somebody around here."

"Not when you and Pony go back to school. Then it would be alone all day."

"But, we'd be home with it on the weekends, and in the evenings," I pointed out. "Other people do it."

When he was silent for a moment, looking as though he was thinking, I pressed my advantage. "Think about it. It would

be nice to have a dog sittin' here with us right now, wouldn't it?"

To my surprise, Darry looked amused. "Yeah. I guess it might be."

"You mean it?" I asked.

"Well, we can talk about it," he agreed.

We went back to our respective reading, and then later, he went to the kitchen to make popcorn.

He returned, handing me my own bowl of popcorn, as I turned and stretched my feet out on the couch.

"Thanks," I said.

"Yep." He sat down again, but didn't pick up the newspaper. "Let's talk about somethin'," he said.

I lowered my book. "About gettin' the dog?" I asked.

"No. Not about gettin' the dog," he said.

"Well, what?" I asked. He looked suddenly very serious.

"Class on Friday," he said.

"Oh," I said, feeling wary, and sad all over again, thinking about not having my camera.

"Yeah. Mrs. Richards wants both of ya to go to those classes, Junie. It's not a negotiable thing."

I sighed. "If it was up to just you, would you make me go?"

"That's not really the point," Darry said.

"I know. But, I wanna know. Would you?"

Darry hesitated, and then said, "I don't know. Probably."

I sank back against my end of the couch, defeated, and sighing again.

"It's just-I was liking the photography class, and then-well, now I won't have anything to share with

the class. When everybody starts bringing in their pictures that they've taken and all," I said.

"You have pictures to share," Darry pointed out. "You've taken a ton of them. And they're good, too."

"Thanks. But-it's still hard, Darry."

"I know. But, didn't you tell me that you were gonna start learnin' how to develop film, and all of that?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's somethin' that would be interesting to learn. And, you'd know how, then, for the future. In case you

stay interested in photography, I mean," he said.

I thought that over for a moment. "Yeah. I guess."

"I did have another suggestion," Darry said.

"What?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"Since the classes haven't been goin' on all that long, ya might be able to go in to the register person, and see if they'll let

ya switch to another one."

"Ya think they would? Let me switch?" I asked.

"They might. Ya won't know unless ya ask."

"I guess I could," I said.

"Sure. There has to be other things they're offerin' that you might like."

He went back to his reading, and I went back to mine, both of us munching on our popcorn.

After a few minutes of quiet, I lowered my book again. "Why does Mrs. Richards think Pony and me need to

do these classes?" I asked.

"She thought it would be good for both of ya to have somethin' to do to fill your time," Darry said, without looking up.

I thought that over. It was irritating to me. That the state still had to have a say-so in our family business.

"When is she gonna realize that you handle things just fine?" I said.

He did look up at that comment. And he gave me a 'do I'? look.

"You do," I said, firmly. "We don't need her, Darry."

"Well, maybe sometime we'll get to the point where she thinks that too."

It was later, after I'd taken my shower, and was getting ready for bed, that Pony got home. I went to the living

room, as Darry was turning off the lights, except for the one lamp for Soda to see by.

He was picking up the newspapers that had been tossed around.

"Darry?"

"What?"

"Do ya think I should switch classes?"

"I said ya could ask," he said.

"I know. But, I was wonderin', what ya really thought about it?" I asked.

He paused, his hands full of newspaper, to look at me. I think he knew at that moment, that I was asking, his

real opinion.

"I think ya should stay in the photography class," he said.

I nodded. "Okay."

"I'm not sayin' ya have to, Junie. I know it's a real bummer, goin' when you don't have a camera."

"Yeah. It would be. But, if they don't let me switch, I have to keep goin' anyway. Right?"

"Right," he said.

"Okay." I gave him a half-smile. "Night."

"Night, Junie."

Outsiders