Anna and I couldn't stop talking about Alison and Darry at practice the next day.
"I've never seen him flirt like that before," I told her. "It was so weird!"
"She was totally goofy in the car on the way home! I kept trying to get her to admit she likes him but she wouldn't… I know she does, though!"
"Well, she should," I said. "Darry's a great guy."
"Well if he's that great why doesn't he already have a girlfriend?"
That was a good question.
"Well, mostly because of us, I guess. I mean, he kind of has his hands full with looking out for the three of us. I don't know – lots of the college girls would love to date him but he never seems too interested."
"Well, what is it About Ali then, you think?"
"I guess maybe she's safe? Like, I mean, she isn't after him because he's a football star or feeling sorry for him about our parents… I think the best part is that she showed up when he was least expecting it. Plus, she's pretty!"
"Well, lets keep our fingers crossed, maybe we'll be sisters in law!" Anna was maybe getting a little ahead of herself there, but I was excited too. It was so nice to see Darry thinking about something other than bills or us.
The next Thursday Anna and I were waiting outside when Darry pulled up in the truck. Pony and Soda were sitting in the bed so Anna and I hopped into the front. I noticed Darry was wearing new jeans and I think he might have even ironed his shirt. That right there said something about how he felt toward Alison… all of us hated ironing, so we just didn't do it. We were probably the most wrinkled family in Oklahoma.
"Hey girls," he said. "How was practice?"
"Ok," I said.
"Scout scored three baskets against the boys' varsity," Anna said. Sometimes our coach would ask some of the boys to stay and practice with us, to make us more confident, he said.
"That right, Scout?" Darry had played basketball too but football was really his sport.
"Not really. I think Coach Karis tells them to let us beat them. They hardly even defended me. I don't think they were trying"
"Don't listen to her, Darry," Anna said. "She was good."
Darry smiled and I wasn't sure who he believed. He had never seen me play; he probably couldn't really imagine it.
We pulled up half a block or so from Angelo's and hopped out of the car. I stood by the bed as first Pony then Soda put their hand on my shoulder as they hopped out of the back. Darry must have made them clean up too; they looked good. Darry took Anna's bag and carried it for her and for some reason I just had to smile. I just felt lucky to have them in my life. If I had to lose my parents, thank God for my brothers, I thought.
"My Dad's really excited to meet you guys," Anna said.
Apparently she was right about that. As we entered the pizzeria, Alison, who was standing at the register, noticed us, gave a quick smile and wave, and turned to say something through the window into the kitchen. Anna's Dad burst out the kitchen door, drying his hands on a dishtowel that he dropped on the counter as he walked by.
"Scout," he said, as he came over and hugged me. He was so nice. "You finally brought your brothers in to meet me!"
"Hi, Mr. Harvey," I said. "These are my brothers." I turned toward them and introduced them in the order they stood.
"Darry, Ponyboy, Soda."
Anna's dad took each brother's hand in turn and introduced himself. I liked how he treated Pony with just as much respect as he did Darry. I think Pony did, too.
"Well, come in!" he said. "We saved you the window seats!" He laughed at his own joke. There was hardly anyone in there. People came in and out to pick up take-out orders, but it was too early for the eat-in crowd to have arrived in earnest.
"Have a seat," he said, and motioned to the front booth. I sat in a smaller booth off to the side with Anna. "Can I get you all a drink?" he asked.
"Pepsi?" Pony suggested.
"Me too," Soda and Darry both said.
Mr. Harvey looked at me. "I guess that makes four of us," I said.
"I'll bring you a few pitchers," he said.
"Thanks, Mr. Harvey," Darry said to him as he walked back toward the kitchen. He stopped to talk to Alison at the register and I saw her take off her apron and talk to the other girl behind the counter. Anna had conspired with her dad to get him to keep the day waitress late so Alison could eat with us. Anna hadn't really let on that we were plotting to fix up her and Darry, she just played up the whole Ali wanting to thank us for changing the tire bit.
A moment later Ali came around the counter and over to the booth. Soda and Pony were on one side so the logical seat for her was next to Darry. Anna and I raised our eyebrows at each other.
"Hi," she said as she sat down.
"Hey, Alison," Darry said. "Thanks again for having us,"
"Are you kidding?" she said. "You guys really saved me the other night. Even if I did know how to change a tire, I wouldn't have ever unstuck that jack by myself." She looked at Darry.
"Well, that's why we keep him around," Soda said. "He's really good for loosening jar lids and stuff." Darry kicked him under the table and Pony and Ali laughed.
"Really," Ali said, "I appreciated it."
I was watching Darry, and it was almost like he was nervous around her. I had never seen him nervous about anything, but then again I usually hadn't seen him around girls. He had dated plenty of girls in high school, but I had certainly never accompanied him on any of those dates.
"So what's your specialty here?" Darry asked, looking at the menu.
"Well, all the pizza is pretty good, but the lasagna and spaghetti are good too… tell you what, you order whatever you want and I'll go into the kitchen and make sure it comes out good."
"Deal," Darry smiled at her. Now we were talking.
"So, Scout says you play football at Tulsa? You must be pretty good, playing as a freshman and all."
"Well, I play. The good part, the jury's still out on that." Darry said.
"Cut that out, Darry," Soda said. "He's real good, Alison. Made a killer catch to win the game Thanksgiving weekend."
Darry shot Soda a glance that said that was enough. Some guys pretend to be modest, but Darry really was uncomfortable when people talked about him.
Mr Harvey came back over with the soda and took our orders. We decided to split a few pizzas. Darry liked hamburg and bacon, Pony liked mushroom and onion, and Soda and I would eat whatever anyone offered us.
Darry and Ali started talking about football – she actually knew quite a lot. I guess she and Anna had both grown up watching it with their Dad – they seemed to know way more about it than I did. The pizzas were brought over and we all dug in. Darry and Ali seemed to be hitting it off great, and when Mr. Harvey came to the table and sat down with them next to Ali, he seemed really impressed with Darry. At one point he looked across Ali at Darry and said, quite bluntly,
"You know, Darry, I really admire you. There aren't many nineteen year olds who would be willing to take on what you have. I'm not sure that I would have been able to handle what you do at that age." I was so happy to finally hear somebody giving Darry credit for all that he does, rather than doubting his ability to handle it, as most people did.
"Thank you, sir" Darry said, "but honestly, there was no question about what to do. I could never live with myself if I let them split us up."
"Well, from what I can tell, you're a fine young man." Anna's dad said. "I wish there were more out there like you. It gets discouraging, seeing the trouble so many of the young men are getting themselves into around here."
I was glad Ali hadn't met Dallas yet, or Two-Bit or Steve. I wondered what Mr. Harvey would have to say about them.
"I appreciate your saying that," was all Darry said.
The pizzeria had started to fill up and we really had no more reason to take up a table anymore when there were people waiting, so Darry asked for the check.
"It's on the house," Mr. Harvey said, and, as Darry started to protest, he cut him off. "I insist," he interrupted. "My thanks for taking care of my girls last week."
I could tell it was killing Darry to give in but he did.
"It wasn't necessary," he said, "but I can see that I probably won't get anywhere arguing with you."
"And you're a good judge of character, to boot," Mr. Harvey said, shaking Darry's hand goodbye. "I hope to see you all in here again soon. I hope you know you're welcome anytime."
"Next time we get to pay though, OK?"
"OK," Mr. Harvey smiled.
Darry looked at me. "Put your coat on," he said. "It's cold out."
"Bye Anna," I said, as we walked out. We were going to have plenty to talk about the next day.
"Darry tossed Soda the keys. "You can drive," he said. "Warm up the car for Scout. I'll be right there." He hung back, and I saw Ali walk out with him and the two of them go into the alley between the pizzeria and the post office.
Pony climbed in the bed of the truck as I hopped into the cab with Soda. I realized that without a car now one of us was always gonna have to freeze in the back whenever we went anywhere together.
"Good going, Scout," Soda said.
"What?" I thought he was mad about something.
"You succeeded in doing what all the rest of us failed at."
"What's that?"
"You found Darry a perfect match," he admitted.
Soda turned the key and the truck roared to life. When Darry came down the street and hopped into the cab next to me, I could see in the light from the streetlight that he was smiling.