Darry led the way as he and I walked down the stone corridor of the County Courthouse. I was dressed well, in newer clothes from a consignment store Kathryn had taken me to, and Darry made sure I had new loafers to go with my outfit. I tried not to show my anxiety and fear as the two of us entered the courtroom and took a seat in the back. I slouched on the wooden bench and tried not to look around. The size of the courtroom was much larger than the rooms in the family court, and the trial had attracted a fair amount of attention, so almost all of the benches were filled with busybodies and reporters.
The proceedings against Duke Dobbins had started on Monday, but it took over two days to select the jury. They spent another two days on opening statements and now, on Friday, the prosecution believed they were ready to call me for questioning.
Darry looked down at me and grabbed my hand in his. I peeked up at him and appreciated his tiny smile, meant to offer me comfort. I hated the fact that Darry would have to take days off of work to be here with me. The lawyers for the prosecution told him they could appoint a court advocate to look after me, but Darry insisted on being there. I loved him for that.
"The prosecution will call their first witness!" The judge bellowed in a gruff voice and I heard the lead attorney, Jeff Montgomery, call for me.
"The State of Oklahoma calls Scout Curtis to the stand."
I looked toward the front of the courtroom and froze. Darry leaned down, whispered some words of encouragement into my ear and had to give me a little push off the bench to stand up. All eyes in the courtroom were on me as I slowly walked up the aisle to the swinging gate that separated the attorneys from the crowd. Mr. Montgomery held the gate open for me and offered a kind smile. When I walked past him he spoke in a low soothing voice, "Don't worry Scout, just answer the questions and you will do fine."
I walked past the man and headed straight to the witness stand beside the Judge. I climbed the two wooden steps leading to the witness chair and before the bailiff could cross the room to swear me in my eyes caught the image of Duke Dobbins sitting in front of me. Everything about his presence seemed wrong; he was dressed in a suit and not jail garb, his hair was combed and his mustache trimmed, instead of his past disheveled appearance. Finally, his hands rested freely on the table, no handcuffs as Owen had suggested. For a moment, I froze in fear. All I wanted to do was turn and run. I began to wonder why I had ever agreed to be here, why I was willing to take the stand and risk Duke remembering me, knowing exactly who I was.
"Miss Curtis?" A man's gruff voice called for my attention. I looked up at the dark haired judge who was intently watching me. "Young lady are you okay?" I blinked and slightly nodded. "Then please raise your right hand." The Judge then lifted his hand and gestured toward the bailiff in front of him who was holding a copy of the Holy Bible.
I laid my left hand on the book and raised my right hand to take an oath of honestly. That is when I noticed my fingers, hands and knees trembling, and I was sure everyone in the courtroom could see it too. I struggled to keep my mind free of bad memories as the bailiff walked away and Mr. Montgomery approached.
"For the record can you tell us your full name?"
I shivered, cleared my throat, and inadvertently whispered. "Scout Marie Curtis."
Mr. Montgomery offered me a smile and reached up to grab the rail of the witness stand. "It's okay Scout, just relax and speak up please." I nodded my head and noticed movement in the back of the courtroom. I leaned over to peer around the attorney and saw Darry walking to the front row of the courtroom. He stepped past one reporter and sat down just behind Duke Dobbins. The gesture brought a smile to my face because I understood that Darry was letting me know he wasn't going to let that man harm me again. With my hero in the front row I felt stronger and more confident, so I spoke my name again.
"Sir, my name is Scout Marie Curtis."
"Thank you, Scout." Mr. Montgomery patronized me. "You are doing an excellent job. I know how scary it is for you to sit up here and testify today. As you know we are here to determine if Duke Duane Dobbins is guilty on three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and three counts of kidnapping. It is my hope that you, Scout Curtis, will be honest and forthright with the court today and help us to bring this man to justice." The attorney paused to look at the jury for effect then turned back to me. "Do you see in this courtroom today the man who shot you, who shot Casey Dobbins and severely beat Mary Lynn Dobbins on that Saturday morning?"
"Yes sir, I do," I said slowly, my hands and knees still shaking.
"Can you identify him both verbally and point him out."
"The man is Duke Dobbins." I lifted my finger and pointed at the man in hatred. The same way he had pointed his loaded gun at me. "He is sitting right there."
I remained on the witness stand for the entire day. By the time the court concluded, at four-thirty in the afternoon, I hadn't even been questioned about Duke being in the Dobbin's home. Instead, all of the questions were focused on building a story for the jury about two girls creating a friendship, a mom and daughter trying to start fresh and even my heroic efforts to save small children from sure death. I guess the prosecution wanted to be sure I was established as a credible witness.
Darry and I avoided speaking to the reporters and after a small conference with the prosecution lawyers we headed home. Glad to be out of the courtroom, I slouched in the truck seat and breathed a heavy sigh of relief as we neared our neighborhood. "Honestly, that was exhausting!"
"I'll bet." Darry simply said. "You did real good though. You answered all of their questions well, and I could tell the jury trusts you."
"You think?"
"Yeah I do." My brother looked over at me. "There aint no way all those adults aren't going to believe every word you say."
I let out a smile of relief. "At the rate they're going with the questions I don't think I'll be back to school till next Wednesday. That means you won't be back to work till next Wednesday either. Do you think we can really afford all of that?"
"Listen, paying the bills is my worry, so you and Ponyboy need to stop bugging me about it. Your job is to put the past in the past and focus on your school work and not much more than that."
I looked over at my brother. "Is that why you wouldn't let me go on a date with Owen last weekend? Because of my school work?"
Darry paused before he answered, leaving room for assumptions. "Yes… and I've been thinking, I don't want you dating anyone right now… you're just too young."
"I am not too young!" I sat up and argued, "you can't judge me on my age alone! You need to include how responsible I am, and the fact that next year I'll be a junior in high school." Darry didn't respond, but I could tell by his tight lip he wanted to. Knowing this I added to my argument. "If I wait till I'm older I'll be in college while my boyfriend is in high school!" Darry pulled the truck up to the curb and looked over at me. He opened his lips to speak, but ceased his sentence. I made one last, quiet comment. "He's not that bad of a guy, Darry. In fact, I like him a lot because he kind of reminds me of you." I climbed out of the cab of the truck to leave Darry alone to think about my comments, and his choices for my life.
On my way into the house I grabbed the mail out of the box and noticed an envelope addressed to Darry from the Juvenile Court. I turned around and handed the important envelope to him as he came onto the porch. My brother took the letter and sighed heavily as he read the return address. I followed him into the house. "What's it say? Who is it for?" Darry pulled the paper out of the envelope, but I couldn't read over his shoulder, due to his height. I started to get nervous, "Darry?"
"It's about Ponyboy, from the Juvenile Court. He's got a hearing scheduled for next Tuesday. They'll be deciding on custody then too."
Before Darry and I could discuss the impending day, Sodapop arrived home from work with Ponyboy in tow. My twin must have hung out at the DX station after school. Even though Ponyboy had a lot of homework to make up, it was best that he wasn't alone. He just hasn't been himself lately.
"Hey Pony. How was school?" I asked as my brother wandered past. He only shrugged his shoulders and mumbled that it was okay. I wanted him to stop and talk, after all I had a lot to talk about, but he wandered to his bedroom without another word. I turned toward Sodapop. "What's up with him?"
"Don't know," Soda said as he kicked off his shoes. "He barely said ten words to anyone today."
Before Ponyboy and Johnny ran off to Windrixville my brother and I had been the best of friends. Now, it felt like he didn't even notice me, and didn't even care. After all, I had just gotten back from my first day in court with Duke Dobbins. Surely, after the nightmares I had all week Pony would have cared enough to ask if everything had gone all right. Wanting my conversation with Ponyboy to continue, I headed back to his bedroom. I knocked once on his door, and invited myself in. "What's going on?" I asked casually.
"Nothing," Ponyboy said numbly, then lit a cigarette for himself.
I forced a smile and tried lighthearted conversation. "I thought you said you were gonna quit smoking."
Ponyboy looked across the room at me with a cold stare. "Why should I?"
I gave my brother an annoyed, crooked smile. "Cause they're bad for you, that's why!"
"Yeah right," Ponyboy said aloofly, "I forgot, you're a big Soc girl now. Smoking is only cool if you're wearing the right jacket."
"Ponyboy! What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you, and how much you've changed now that you've been talking to that Soc boy for the past few weeks". Ponyboy took a drag from his cigarette and his eyes flashed with anger. "Hell, you probably don't even tell his friends what side of town you are from."
I blinked with confusion, and looked to the floor recalling my brother's comments in my head. I couldn't believe my ears. He was accusing me of having changed? "Look whose talking! If you think I've changed then you better take an even better look at yourself!" I snarled back at my brother. "Nothing has changed with me, and I am not ashamed of my neighborhood, or my family!"
"What ever you say," Ponyboy arrogantly blew away the last of his cigarette smoke.
"What is your problem?" I snapped back, angered by my brother's curt response.
Ponyboy paused a moment in thought then turned his blond head to look at me. "Maybe my problem is you and that Owen guy. Why do you like that Soc anyways?"
"I don't know!" Frustrated, I threw my arms out then paced a little hoping to subdue my impending anger. "I don't know anything about him! I don't know where he lives. I don't know his family. I don't know how he really feels about me, but what I do know is that he makes me happy, and right now there's not a whole lot in my life that does that."
"Yeah?" Pony growled. "Well, I don't like him, and I don't like the idea of you dating a Soc!"
"Why Ponyboy?" I raised my voice slightly to match the raise in my brother's voice. "So what, he's a Soc! Not all Socs are like Bob Sheldon…"
"Shut up! You just shut up!" Ponyboy yelled, tears forming in his eyes. "I killed that boy! I stabbed him, and he's dead, and don't you ever bring him up again."
"No Ponyboy!" I blinked away my own first teardrops, and yelled at my brother hoping to break him free of his twisted memory. "You didn't kill that boy. Johnny did! Johnny stabbed Bob to save you life!"
"Johnny wouldn't do that! He wouldn't hurt no one! I did it!" Ponyboy yelled at the top of his lungs. Over the sound of my twin's hoarse voice, I didn't hear Darry and Sodapop running to his rescue.
Sodapop came through the door shoving me to the side. He walked up to Ponyboy and spoke gently to my weeping brother. Behind me, Darry grabbed my arm and forceful pulled me out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. I knew I was in trouble, and I didn't need Darry pointing his finger in my face to remind me that I had screwed up. "What are you doing? Huh? I know I already told you not to bring up Johnny, Dally or the stabbing. The doc says he aint ready to talk about any of that, but you bring it up anyway!"
My lip quivered as I worked hard not to cry in front of Darry. "I didn't mean too."
Darry stood tall and rolled his eyes. "Awe, here we go again! You and Ponyboy never meaning to do anything! Is it really too much to ask that you just leave him alone about all of this?"
I looked to the floor, half in anger, half in shame. I wanted to tell Darry that Ponyboy had started the whole fight by bringing up the Soc, Owen thing, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. Darry was working really hard at babying Pony to make up for hitting him. I didn't want to get in any more trouble, so I mumbled an answer. "No sir. I won't bring it up again."
"Good!" Darry scolded. "Go to your room till dinner's ready."
I turned and headed down the hall. I paused for a moment outside Ponyboy's bedroom door, and grew jealous that Sodapop was at his side trying to calm him down. Seconds later, I slammed my bedroom door shut, buried my head in my pillow and sobbed. Not just for myself, but for the friends and family that I had lost, both physically and emotionally.