I awoke to the front door slamming and a sliver of light appearing under my door, as the living room light was flipped on.
"It's too bad you're alive, Two-Bit, because you being dead is about the only excuse I'd accept for the shit you pulled tonight!" Darry must have been sleeping on the couch; there was no way he could have gotten into the living room so fast from his bedroom.
"Are they here?" Two-Bit sounded frantic. "Just tell me the kids are here, Darry. Then you can kick my head in, hard as you want." Two-Bit may have been drinking earlier, but he sounded stone-cold sober now.
"They're here, Two-Bit, and they're fine. No fucking thanks to you, by the way. Scout called and I went out to get them."
"Darry, I swear, I never meant to leave them there. I went off with some girls for a little fun and the next thing I know, I'm waking up, and it's eleven o'clock, and the kids are nowhere. I swear to God, my heart was in my fucking throat driving here. So go ahead and kick my ass, I know I deserve it." I was praying Darry wouldn't take him up on the offer.
"You know what, Two-Bit, you got goddamn lucky this time, because, if anything had happened to Pony or Scout, you'd be in the fucking morgue right now. It turns out they're fine. But, you know what else? Then I still had to sit here and worry about your dumb ass getting killed, because right now that would be too much for any of us to handle. We've all lost enough already."
"I know." Two-Bit sounded more remorseful than I had ever heard him; I was shocked. It had never occurred to me that something could have happened to him.
"You knew Dallas," Darry started. "You know what happens late at night at the rodeo. Some drunken cowboy finds you, drunk as all hell, shooting off your wise-ass mouth and you're a prime target to get robbed, or killed, just for sport. I don't want to have to look my brothers and Scout in the eyes and tell them somebody else they care about is dead. I fucking can't, Two-Bit. I can't." Darry sounded almost like he was gonna cry.
"I'm sorry. I mean it. I swear to God. All I can tell you is how scared I was when I got up and realized what time it was and that they were gone… It coulda been my own kid sister. It felt like it was. You know I care about this family, Darry… Jesus. I would never leave them on purpose. It won't ever happen again. I swear it, Darry." Two-Bit had a sister, even younger than I was.
"It'd better not. I mean it. It had better fucking not."
"It won't." I was pretty sure it wouldn't, too.
"Jesus Christ, do you realize how it would have looked if anything had happened to them? Two kids, left alone at the rodeo? Social Services would've been on my ass in a second, and Scout and Pony'd have been out of this house faster than we could count to two. I don't give a shit about you drinking on your own time, Two-Bit, but when I ask you to look out for them, I expect you to goddamn do it."
I couldn't hear his response.
"Just go the hell home. You got a mother at home that gives a shit about you, you know." I heard Darry's pain in that comment, as though he didn't think he had anyone to care about him; he just had to care about us.
"Alright, Darry. I am sorry. Really."
"Go home, Two-Bit." Darry sounded exhausted.
I heard the door close. Two-Bit must have been careful not to let it slam.
I heard Darry go into the bathroom and run the water and flush the toilet. When I heard him walking by my door on the way to his room, I whispered to him.
"Darry?" I heard him stop and push my door open.
"Sorry if you heard that, Scout."
"I'm glad you didn't hit him."
He came in and sat on my bed again, just as he had hours earlier.
"Scout, I hope you know that not every problem around here has to get resolved with fighting," he said. "I don't enjoy hitting anyone."
"I know," I said. I sure knew I couldn't solve my problems with anyone around here by fighting, anyway; they would crush me.
"What he did was really wrong, Scout. You and Pony shouldn't have been left alone there, at all. Something really bad could have happened." I wondered how he knew we had been alone, but I didn't ask. I thought about that guy's hand on my leg and wondered what would have happened if Luke hadn't been there. Probably nothing good.
"Well, everything is okay, Darry. Everyone's okay. Nothing bad happened."
"This time, yes. But, at the moment, I trust you more than Two-Bit," he said. "He disappointed me," he continued, "but… you didn't."
That felt good. I never realized how good it felt to know I'd made Darry proud.
"Scout, no matter what kind of trouble you are in, you can always call me, and I will come get you. I bet the boys made you call, right? So they didn't have to hear me yell?"
I didn't answer, but Darry knew from my lack of response that he was right.
"Look, sometimes I yell. Not even because I am mad at you, but because I'm worried. So, please- if you get into some kind of trouble, don't ever not call because you're afraid that I'll yell. I'll always come get you, or your brothers. No matter what, even if I am mad."
"I know, Darry. I'm the one who called; remember? I'm not afraid of you yelling. Maybe you should tell Pony and Soda. It was Pony who was afraid to call."
Darry sighed. "That figures." I turned over and snuggled into my pillow.
"I gotta sleep, Darry. School, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," he said, standing up. "Sleep tight."
"Mmmmm." I was already sleeping again by the time he closed the door.
A/N: Sorry, a short one. You didn't really think Two-Bit was just going to get away with it, did you? Thanks for reviewing!