"You can't be serious," I practically shouted at Judith Greene when she told me it was in my best interest to sign the girls over to the state.
"Jo-Anna, you won't have a place to stay until the investigation is taken care of. I know for a fact you can't afford to put the girls up in a hotel, and you aren't in any shape to be taking on any more hours than you already are," she said sternly. "If you let me take the girls, at least you'll know they're safe and looked after."
"No, absolutely not!" I snapped. "They need me, now more than ever."
"And just where exactly do you plan to keep them? How do you plan to keep them safe? You're one person, Jo-Anna Beth, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you aren't a superhero, you can't save everyone. Not this time," she said loudly. I was growing less and less patient.
"Ma'am, with all due respect, do you honestly believe that I haven't considered that? I have to look at the bigger picture here. Mary is almost 15. She's more than capable of watching her sister after school. Michelle's going to be 5 in a few weeks, I'll enroll her in school early, and it'll work out fine. I'll work a morning shift and an afternoon shift, and I'll be home at night," I argued.
"But where will you keep them? Jo, I know you want to keep the girls with you, together non-the-less, but this time, there's way to prevent it. I've already stopped by the house to collect their things. Time to face the facts, child, you can't fight this any longer. Your 4 year old sister almost died yesterday, and there's no way a judge is going to grant you custody after that," she said matter-of-factly.
"So that's it? You're just going to swoop in and snatch them up?" I felt tears welling in my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Jo-Anna, but there's nothing else to do," she said. With that, she sent me to retrieve them from Soda's room, where Darry was keeping an eye on them.
"Mary, Michelle, c'mere," I said softly. My voice broke the second Mary looked at me, her eyes wide.
"No," she whispered, begging me to tell her it wasn't so.
"Don't you worry for a minute, Mar, I'm gonna fight till the death if I gotta to get you two back," I promised as I wrapped her in my arms, hugging her for dear life. "It'll only be till the house gets cleaned up and that man gets what he deserves," I promised.
"What if they never catch him? Then we'll be at a girls home the rest of our life! Or what if someone tries to adopt Mickey?!" she screamed. "Please. Jo, don't let 'em take us away!"
I felt so defenseless, so broken. I looked at my little sister, tears streaming down my face.
"Mary, I ain't never gonna let that happen, you hear me? Don't you worry for a single minute, you understand?" I said, trying my best to keep my tone calm. "I love you and Mickey with all my heart and soul. Don't you dare forget it."
"But Jo!" she was sobbing now. It broke my heart to see her like this. I kissed the top of her head, before pulling Michelle off Soda's bed. She was crying loudly, trying her best not to let me pick her up. She would have succeeded too, had Darry not stepped in to help. He held her for me, while I wrapped my good arm around her tightly, kissing her head a million times.
"I love you so, so much, Mickey Mouse. I promise, baby girl, I'll see you real, real soon!" I sobbed. She wailed loudly, kicking and screaming all the way out into the hall. Darry didn't say a word, not even when Judith tore Michelle from his arms, her face drawn.
"I'll be in touch," she said softly as she pulled Mary away from my side, leaving me to stare on as they quickly walked down the hall.
I sank to the floor, my heart pounding so hard, I was sure the whole world could hear. Tears streamed down my face as I tried my hardest to get control.
How could this happen? I'd fought so hard to keep those girls safe, so fucking hard. Now, in the matter of hours, I lost them. I lost them just like I lost everything else.
I stood up and walked into Soda's room, staring at him. His eyes were wide as he watched me sit down at the foot of his bed. I felt him take my hand. His fingers were cold, but the rest of his hand was warm. In the few silent moments, I knew he was trying to make me feel better, just like he always did when someone was upset.
"You get well soon, you hear me?" I said suddenly, looking at him with fearful eyes. "I can't live with knowin' you're in here because of me."
"Don't be stupid," he said, flashing that big, shit eating grin that could cheer just about anyone up. I couldn't help but force a smile for his sake.
"I'll be back later," I sighed, giving his leg a pat before standing up, quickly exiting the room before anyone could stop me.
"Where are you going?" Steve asked, having chased after me.
"To blow off steam," I snapped. I wasn't angry at him. How could I be, none of this was his fault.
"Really think that's a good idea?" he asked softly. He of all people should have understood.
"Yeah," I said sourly as I pulled away, not caring if he was mad at me or not.
I stormed out of the hospital, not even caring for a second that my shoulder was aching something fierce. Instead, I stormed right out to Darry's car, for once, grateful that I grew up on the wrong side of town. I popped the lock and slid in, trying to decide just how ticked Darry would be if I borrowed his truck. Right when I was about to hotwire it, someone slammed down heavily on the hood. I looked up and saw Darry giving me the 'just what do you think you're doing' look.
I opened the door and tried to give him a dirty look, but I just didn't have it in me. Instead, I slid over and waited for him to join me. He did and started the truck without question.
"Next time just ask," he said gently as we pulled out of the parking lot.
"I'm surprised you're leaving the hospital," I said softly.
"Soda told me if I didn't go find you, he'd never speak to me again," he sighed. "Steve told us you took off in a hurry."
"Can you blame me?" I asked, tears welling in my eyes. "If I had just went home first or moved quicker or something, none of this woulda happened."
"Hey, you can't think like that. You're gonna get your sisters back, I know it. And Soda, well he's sittin' in there cracking jokes like nothing even happened. The Doc said he'll release him in a week if he keeps improvin' like he is," he said gently. "Everything's gonna work out."
We were driving down the main street when I saw him. His dark brown hair and bright, taunting blue eyes stood out as he crossed the street.
"That's him," I whispered, panic rising in my chest. What if he saw us? What if he had a gun? What if, what if, what if.
"Jo, Jo-Anna!" Darry's voice broke through. That was when I realized I was hyperventilating. I took a shaky breath, before staring out the window again. There was no one there.
"Where did he…" my voice broke off.
"Jo, there was no one there," Darry said calmly, his hand resting on my good shoulder. "Easy," he said softly. His hand rose to my forehead. I saw a look I couldn't quite place cross his face.
"What?" I asked, trying still to calm my racing heart.
"You're burning up," he said, trying to sound calm. He failed horribly.
"Hmm, no surprise," I sighed, leaning back. I carefully undid the bandage that was wrapped painfully tight around my arm, a sad smile crossing my face when I saw the green, sticky pus. "Guess someone's gonna be in the hospital a little longer," I said, almost comically.
Darry didn't say anything, just turned the truck around and drove back to the hospital in record speed.
I spent the next three days hooked up to an IV, waiting miserably for the infection to clear up. Once it did and my fever broke, the doctor decided it was probably better if he kept me one more day. I hated him for it, but I understood. Besides, he had went out of his way to make sure Soda and I were still sharing a room, so it wasn't so bad.
Soda was walking around for the first time since being shot when I woke up late that afternoon. I turned my head and smiled at him, still half asleep.
"You gotta call Judith," he said with a sour look on his face.
"Why?" I asked tiredly.
"Because she called looking for you, said it was important too," he said carefully. "How're you feeling anyway?"
"Better," I sighed as I sat up. "At least I'm not ready to kill everything that moves," I joked as I reached for the jacket that was thrown over the chair beside my bed. Only when I lifted it, did I realize who it had belonged to. It was Tommy's.
"Shoot," I muttered, finally having a chance to realize that my younger brother, a brother that I had been so close to, was dead.
"You good?" Soda asked softly.
"Yeah. God, what I'd give to have Tommy here right now," I sighed. "He'd have figured this whole mess out. Shoot, he did when mom died." It hurt to remember those dark, dark days. Even though the Curtis's had kept me from going completely insane, it was easier. Tommy was there to really understand it. This time, I was alone in the worst of ways.
Rather than feel sorry for myself, I stood up and slipped my good arm into the jacket, even though it was many sizes too big, and let it hang loosely on my other shoulder. I walked out of the room, but not before giving Soda a half hug. He smiled kindly, before giving me a single nod. He knew this was something I had to do alone.
I walked down the hall to the nurses' station and dialed the number to Social Services.
"Hi, how can I help you?" a woman's voice chimed brightly. What the hell did she have to been cheerful for?
"Judith Greene please," I said wasting no time.
"One moment," she said. I waited what felt like a lifetime, before the familiar, sad tone of our social worker came on the other end.
"Jo-Anna?" she asked. I guess she'd been waiting for me to call.
"Mhm," I said, only mildly annoyed.
"Jo, there's been an…uh, incident with one of your sisters at the home…" she said carefully.
"What kind of incident?" I asked, my temper flaring.
"Well, see, someone said something to Mary about Michelle…and well…Mary sort of…well," she couldn't seem to spit it out.
"What did Mary do?" I growled.
"She punched the girl and broke her jaw."
I don't know why, but that made me laugh. I felt a smile, a genuine, whole hearted smile cross my face.
"You're calling me to tell me that Mary broke someone's jaw?" I asked in disbelief.
"Well, yes. That sort of behavior isn't allowed in the home and well…Mary hasn't listened to anyone since she got there," she said, her tone proving how frustrated she was.
"Ma'am, with all due respect, I did warn you," I said, still laughing.
"Yes, well," she couldn't seem to find words. I heard her laugh softly on the other end of the phone. "I just thought you'd like to know."
"Thank you for telling me, Ms. Greene," I laughed softly. "I'll be calling you soon to discuss the custody of the girls."
"Oh, Jo-Anna, you know-," I cut her off.
"I know what you said. But that doesn't mean shit." I hung up the phone in a haste, still laughing to myself as I walked back into the room Soda and I shared. Darry and Ponuboy gave me a funny look when I burst out laughing again.
"What?" Soda asked, grinning even though he didn't know what was funny.
"Looks like Mary's got Steve's temper!" I howled, laughing so hard, it hurt.
This caused everyone to crack up. We all knew Mary had a temper, but this was the first time she punched anyone. I couldn't help but be proud of her. At least I knew she could carry herself and protect her little sister when I was unable to do so myself.