The next morning Darry had to wake me up. I begrudgingly opened my eyes as he shook me gently, whispering my name.
"Guess you're used to my morning noises already, huh?" he joked, once I looked up at him.
"I guess so."
"I already made breakfast, so come eat before it gets cold, then you can get dressed." He dragged me up out of the bed and into the kitchen. He'd made me an omelet – just the kind I like, cheese and mushroom, with crispy bacon on the side.
"This is fancy," I said, sitting down, and he laughed. His omelet had just about everything but the kitchen sink in it. I prefer to separate my meat from my eggs.
"So, how's the babysitting going, so far?" he asked as he downed just about an entire glass of milk in one sip.
"Good. So far, she's been really easy."
"I knew you could do it," he said, and I had to smile.
"Yeah, well, how about you? How's your job going?"
"Pretty good. The house I'm working on is almost done, but the guy next door up and decided he wants a new roof, too."
"That's good. He must have seen that you do a good job." I waited a second, then added, "Hey, Dar, did those guys from that fight ever bother you again?"
"Haven't heard a peep from those guys, or seen them, either. Are you still worried about that? I told you, don't worry about me."
"I can't help it… I always worry about you, a little."
"I guess that's a compliment," Darry responded, "but I wish you didn't."
"Well, I do. I know you worry about me too, and I wish you didn't. So I guess we just hafta live with it."
"I guess so," he laughed. We finished eating in silence, until I asked,
"So are we gonna eat like kings every morning before Soda and Pony get up and leave them to eat cereal?" They were usually pretty lazy about cooking breakfast. Darry went all out, and I did, too, but I was only very rarely the first one awake and, therefore, the cook.
"Hey, it's their loss, for being so lazy. I know they hear us awake." Darry laughed and stood up, taking my plate over to the sink along with his.
"Yeah, I guess they could get up," I admitted. I felt a little bit bad because no matter who cooked, they always made sure to leave me some.
"Alright then, Miss Worrywart, go get dressed. I'm gonna take out the trash and I'll meet you outside."
"Okay."
I brushed my teeth and washed my face, pulling my hair back into a ponytail, and threw on some clean clothes. I was just about to head out the front door when I heard Soda call my name.
"Yeah?" I turned around to see him standing in the living room doorway.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, before you go?" I glanced at the clock in the kitchen and saw that I had a few minutes. He sounded serious.
"Okay… is something wrong?"
"No, no." He sat down on the couch and pulled me down next to him.
"What?" I stared at him. He looked nervous.
"I think… I think I'm gonna go see him, Scout... Steve, I mean."
"Today?"
"Yeah, if Two-Bit will let me take his car. But I won't go if you don't want me to. I mean it. I don't want to do anything that is going to hurt you again."
"You're not... It won't. Are you sure it's what you want to do?"
"I'm not sure I'll ever know what I want to do – or what the right thing is. But I feel like I should do this."
"Then I think you should," I said, hugging him. "I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He hurt you, too, Soda… I know that. Not like… physically, I mean, but… he still hurt you."
"Yeah," Soda agreed, sadly.
"Scout, c'mon, we're gonna be late." Darry was suddenly in the screen door. He panicked when he saw me holding on to Soda. "What's the matter? Soda, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Soda answered, getting up and pushing me over toward the door. "You guys have a good day at work."
"Okay..." Darry answered skeptically.
"So what was that all about?" he asked me as soon as we got in the truck.
"He's gonna go see Steve today," I said, looking out the window.
"Are you okay with that?" Darry asked, and I could feel him looking at me, trying to tell if I was lying, even though I didn't turn around.
"Yeah, I just hope he'll be okay. I mean, Steve hurt him, too. I don't want them to get in a fistfight or anything."
"I know," Darry said. "Me neither." We were quiet the rest of the drive. We pulled up in front of Coach's house and I opened the door and turned to jump out.
"Scout, don't worry about Soda. He'll be okay," Darry said.
"I hope so," I answered, looking back at Darry. He nodded.
I shut the door and headed up into the house as Darry backed out and his truck rattled away.
…………………………
I entered the house to the sound of Laura screaming like I had never heard anybody scream before.
"We're not a very happy camper this morning," Coach said over her screams. "Usually when she gets this way she eventually just tires herself out and falls asleep."
"On the floor?"
"Oh yeah, she'll just crash wherever she runs out of steam."
"Okay," I said, wondering exactly how long the screaming would go on. How much steam does a two-year-old have, really?
"Well, I have to go, so… good luck! Call Barbara if you need anything."
"Alright. See you later."
I tried everything I could think of to distract that kid and cheer her up: food, toys, games, television – but she wasn't having any of it. She screamed until I was just about ready to sit down and scream and cry right along with her. And then, just when I thought I couldn't take any more, her screams turned to whimpers and, within minutes, she was out cold on her bedroom rug. Had I not been getting paid to be awake, I probably would have just lay down right there next to her and taken a nap of my own.
Instead, I wandered out into the living room and sat on the couch. I wondered if I used to scream like that, when I was little – I'd have to ask Darry. He remembered me being a baby. Soda did too, a little, but Pony didn't, really. I could remember Pony throwing tantrums when he was older – maybe five – but I realized I'd never know what kind of babies Darry and Soda had been, since the only people who had those answers were gone. Then again, I remembered seeing baby books for each of us in the boxes we'd found in Mom's closet – maybe she'd written about our temperaments in there. I'd have to remember to look.
I was sitting on the couch staring out when I saw Linda from next door come out and get back to work on her garden. I saw that she had put aside some more plants for me and knew Darry would be happy about that. I hadn't expected anyone to be as excited about my yard project as they had been, though I had to admit, it looked good, and hopefully the State lady would like it.
I sat and watched her for a while until I heard Laura talking quietly in her bedroom. I went down the hallway and found her sitting on her rug, playing with blocks. She just sat there, looking up at me, totally happy, as if she had never spent three solid hours that morning screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Hi 'Cowt." I had to laugh. I could see how parents could so easily forgive their kids. All it took was one smile and all was forgotten.
I changed her diaper and took her outside to play until Coach was expected home – I figured Linda might still be out there and I wanted to ask her about how often I'd have to water the plants she gave me in order to keep them alive. Darry liked the yard now but I knew he'd get tired of it pretty fast if the water bill suddenly started going up. He already complained about how long Pony and I each took in the shower every day.
She was out there, sure enough, but she stood up quickly when she saw Laura toddling over.
"Hi Scout – can you pick her up if you're coming over here? I don't want her in the grass near the house."
I did as she said, meeting with small protest from Laura, who definitely preferred her freedom.
"What's wrong with the grass?" I asked, staying on the Karis' side of the line of tall trees that separated the two houses.
"Oh, probably nothing, but we had the foundation sprayed this morning and I don't want to risk her crawling around over here and getting sick. I'm not exactly sure what they use to spray, but I'm guessing it might not be totally baby-safe."
"Sprayed? For what?" The only thing I'd seen people spraying on their houses was water, to clean it.
"Bugs. Spiders, especially. I'm a northern girl, and I don't take too kindly to the warm-weather bugs you Southerners are used to. When Andrew got hired down here, I made him promise he'd keep the bugs out of my house. Outside, I'll deal with them… that's their house. But they'd better stay out of mine if they know what's good for them," she laughed. "We have the exterminator spray once a month."
"Believe me, not all Southern girls can deal with the bugs," I said as I let Laura down, blocking her path into the Bryants' yard. "I'm scared to death of spiders. My brothers think it's funny to tease me about it all the time."
"Well, I guess Northern and Southern brothers have that in common, then."
"I guess so," I laughed. "How many brothers do you have?"
"Two," she said. "One older, one younger. And an older sister. You?"
"Three older brothers. I'm the baby."
"Oh, poor you," she said… all that testosterone. "You and your mom must have a special bond."
I hesitated. People always felt bad when I told them about my parents, even though they had no reason to… who wouldn't assume a twelve year-old still had her parents.
"My parents died last year… in a car accident. My oldest brother takes care of all of us now."
"Oh, Scout… I'm sorry. I didn't know." She looked genuinely sympathetic.
"That's okay… I wouldn't have expected you to." I was momentarily torn away to go head off Laura, who had started heading toward the street. Just as I picked her up to turn her around, Dr. Bryant pulled into his driveway, followed almost immediately by my coach, into his own.
I scooped Laura up and stood in the yard with her until both cars were stopped. The minute Coach got out of his car, she yelled with joy, and the second I set her down she went running to him. He picked her up and came over to talk to me.
"So, how long did the tantrum last?"
"Pretty long. You were right though, It just… stopped."
"Yup. That's how you do it, don't you, little one?" he said, tickling her until she giggled and buried her head in his neck.
"Well, in any case, she certainly felt better after her nap," I said.
"Well, if you don't need anything from the house, I can take you home right now."
"Nope – just the plants from Mrs. Bryant. I'll be right back." I ran over to grab them and decided to ask about the watering the next day – she and Dr. Bryant were busy talking. Just as I turned to go to the car, Dr. Bryant called me back.
"Scout?"
"Yeah?" I turned, wondering if maybe he didn't want his wife giving me all this free stuff.
"I was wondering, do you think your brother would be okay with me taking out those stitches for you? It would save him a trip to the ER – I could do it right here."
I knew what he meant was that it would save him the price of the ER. And that was an idea I liked, for sure. And Darry probably would, too.
"I'll have to ask him, but I don't see why not."
"Okay, well, just have him come a little early tomorrow, and come over and ring my bell. I wouldn't want to do it without him there. But it's no problem, and it will only take a couple of minutes."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, I don't want to take advantage…"
"I'm sure, Scout. I'd be happy to. Just bring your brother over with you, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks, Dr. Bryant. And thanks for the plants Mrs. – uh - Linda."
"You're welcome," they both called back, as I ran over to Coach K's car and put the plants in his open trunk, hopping in the back.
Laura made up songs with nonsense words and sang to us the whole way home, making both of us laugh. I had such a smile on my face that when we pulled up at my house I had to struggle to figure out why Soda was sitting out on the porch, smoking, looking completely upset.
All at once, I remembered.
Steve. He'd gone to talk to Steve.
.....................................
A/N: Okay, I am willing to write the conversation between Steve and Soda that happened... but, obviously, it would have to be in Soda's POV, not Scout's. I am assuming people want to know what went down, but I don't want to ruin the flow of the story by switching POV if that will bother some of you. Let me know what you think. As always, thanks for reading!