Darry stood up quickly as Soda opened the door and looked in at us, just as the doorbell rang.
"What the hell, Darry? What do the cops want with us? You get in trouble drinking last night that we don't know about?" Soda looked worried.
"No… I don't know what they want any more than you do." Darry went into the hallway, calling back over his shoulder at me to get some clothes on.
I heard the door opening and then Darry talking in his reserved-for-parents-and-cops voice.
"Can I help you, officer?"
"I'm looking for a Samantha S. Curtis and a … uh…" he hesitated, "…Sodapop P. Curtis."
I froze, pulling on pair of pants. What the heck did the cops want with me and Soda?
"I'm Darrel Curtis, their guardian," I heard Darry tell him. "Can I ask what this is all about?"
"I honestly couldn't tell you, Mr. Curtis. Just here to serve them court summons. You said you're their guardian? So they're both minors?"
I peeked my head around the corner of my doorway. Darry's back was blocking my view of the cop. Soda was on the couch in the living room looking just as concerned as I felt. I wanted to go sit with him, but I didn't want the cop to see me walking by.
"That's right."
"Well, then I should deliver them to you, anyway. Samantha S. Curtis and Soda… Sodapop P. Curtis have hereby been served summons to appear before the court of the State of Oklahoma, Muskogee district, on the date and time indicated within."
I saw him hand some papers to Darry, then he had to sign something and give it back.
"Thanks. You have a nice day, now," the cop said as he turned to leave.
"You too, officer," Darry answered. The minute he shut the door I was in his face.
"What was that all about? What is that paper for? Why was he asking for me and Soda?"
"Relax, baby," Darry said. "You're not in trouble. They just assigned a court date for the trial about the car accident. This paper just says when you have to be there, since you and Soda were involved."
"When is it?" I asked.
He opened the letter.
"July tenth," he answered.
"Oh."
Honestly, I had nearly forgotten about the whole court thing, with everything else that had been going on. I felt that familiar dread rising in me again. Darry must have sensed it.
"Scout, you promised me, no worrying. You just tell them what you saw. You said you wanted to do this."
"I know," I said. Pony came out from the bathroom in a towel to find the three of us standing there.
"What are you guys doing? What'd I miss?"
"Scout and me got our court date," Soda said.
"Cool," Pony said, and walked through the group of us to his bedroom. "You guys should really make them pay… at least enough to get Soda a new car," he added, before shutting the door. Pony had loved Soda and Darry both having cars, it was a lot easier for him to get rides whenever he wanted to go to the movies.
I went into the living room and sat on the couch, thinking out loud.
"Darry, if we win, and the state has to pay us, how much money would we get? I mean, would it be a lot?"
Darry came in, sticking the papers the cop had given him under a picture on the fireplace mantel, and sitting in the armchair.
"I really don't know," he said, "I mean, people did die and everything, so I guess it might be a fair amount, if the court agrees that the state was wrong."
I thought about that some more. I wished Pony would come out of his room before I said what I wanted to say, but I was pretty sure Soda would back me up, too.
"Dar?"
"Yeah?"
"If we win and get enough money from it, will you promise me that you'll go back to school?"
"Scout, you're getting way ahead of yourself here. We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."
"I just don't want you to start – I mean, if we get the money – I just don't want you making all kinds of reasons why you can't use it for you. I mean, if we won, it would be really me and Soda getting the money, since we were the ones in the car, right?"
"I guess so, yeah."
"Then I should get to say what happens with mine. And I want you to have it so you can go back to school."
"Me too," Soda agreed. "All I want is a little bit to get a car again." He had finally accepted that the car from the accident was not in any way salvageable.
"Guys, look - we don't have any more money right now than we did fifteen minutes ago, so let's wait until after court to start making big plans for our riches, okay?"
"I just want you to go back. If you keep denying yourself stuff you deserve just because of us, eventually you're gonna hate us for it." I was sure that was the case. I mean, how couldn't he resent us, when he had to keep giving things up and making sacrifices for us all the time?
"I'm not… and I'm not gonna hate you for anything. Scout. You think way too much about some stuff." We stared at each other for a second, him trying to convince me, and me deciding whether or not to believe him.
"I'm thinking about how hungry I am," Soda suddenly piped up, trying to lighten the mood. "Anybody else want some lunch, since you all slept through breakfast?"
"I do," Darry said.
"Me too," I agreed. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until Soda mentioned it, especially since I hadn't eaten much at dinner the night before.
"How's grilled cheese sound?" Soda asked.
"Perfect," Pony answered, heading out of the bedroom and out to the porch to smoke. Soda headed into the kitchen, leaving Darry and me sitting in silence.
"Dar?"
"What?"
"When you were in school, what were you studying? I mean, what kind of job were you learning to do?"
"Engineering, just like Dad. And business."
"What is that, anyway, engineering? When I was little, I thought Daddy was a train engineer, like, he actually drove the trains, since he worked for the railroad, but I figured out when I got older that he wasn't… but what did he really do?"
Darry laughed.
"I think we all thought that about Dad when we were little, that he drove the trains… he was a different kind of engineer. He designed bridges and stuff for the trains to go on, made sure they were strong enough to bear the weight of the trains, designed stations, stuff like that."
"Is that what you want to do?"
"Kinda... not for the railroad though. I want to be my own boss. That's why I was taking business classes, too. I mean, roofing's okay for now, and I'm good at it, and people hire me since I have a good reputation, but… I actually want to build things. Houses, businesses, hotels. I just get how things go together, you know, kinda like how Soda knows cars and Pony knows art. I can look at the plans for a house and know just by looking whether or not it's gonna hold up, and how to fix it if it isn't. I want to be a part of making the whole thing, you know, not just the roof."
"I guess that makes sense." Darry always liked to be the one in charge, to make sure things were done right. I thought about my brothers, and the gifts they had: Darry for building, Soda for taking things apart and fixing them, and Pony for drawing and writing. I felt a little bit lost. I still had no idea what I would be good at. Except playing basketball, and there was no way on Earth anybody would ever pay me for doing that. Darry misinterpreted my silence.
"Scout, don't worry about court. I mean it. I won't let you testify if it's gonna get you all upset."
"It's not that. I just wonder when I'll know what I'm good at – what I want to be when I grow up."
"Like I already said, you worry too much. You're not even in high school yet! You need to stop thinking so hard, you're on vacation!" He laughed and suddenly bent down and grabbed me around my waist and flung me over his shoulder. I screeched and protested, but he carried me down to the kitchen to an amused Soda, who was just finishing up with a plate full of grilled cheese. Darry put me down as Pony came in and smacked me on the butt. I screeched again at him and sat down as all three of them laughed at me.
"I'm getting kind old for you to be picking me up."
"Sorry," he answered, " but until either you get heavier or I get weaker, there's always gonna be the chance of that happening." He tossed a grilled cheese onto my plate and sat down in the chair next to me.
I looked over at him and had to smile. As much as I wanted to grow up and stop being treated like a kid, I had to wonder a little bit if, when I did get older and they stopped teasing me, whether I might actually miss it.
………………………………….
By the time our early lunch was over, we were all complaining about the heat, so Darry suggested a trip out to the pond to cool off. Not all the way out to Keystone, just to a local swimming hole the kids from town took over every summer, much to the dismay of the local fishermen, as well as the police, who had to keep watch over the place as things occasionally got out of control. A few years back, a kid in Soda's class had drowned there after a beer blast on a particularly hot night. I called Ben, and he and Kevin decided to tag along, while Two-Bit met us out there along with his sister, Katie.
The shore was packed, and everybody pretty much went off in their own direction once we got there. Darry and Kevin found some high school friends home for the summer from college, Two-Bit found some girls to flirt with, Katie took off with a bunch of giggling girls, and Pony and Soda swam out to the raft, leaving Ben and I alone to wander around.
We walked over to some rocks along the side of the water where nobody swam, since it was more weedy than the rest of the pond. We climbed up and sat down on the highest rock, hoping to catch a breeze, and watched as Katie and a bunch of her friends picked on Two-Bit. Eventually she bothered him enough that he picked her up and threw her in the pond, pretty much soaking himself in the process. At that point all her friends ganged up on him and started splashing him anyway, so eventually he gave up and went in wholeheartedly, swimming out into the deep water to sit with Soda and Ponyboy on the dock. Katie didn't follow him, and I wondered if she could swim. Our Mom had insisted on all of us having swimming lessons when we were little, she'd had a cousin that had drowned and always watched over us all like a hawk in the water, despite the fact that we all could swim.
We sat there for a while, just talking and watching the people swimming, laughing at the little kids and gossiping about the older ones. I told Ben about the court summons coming and how I wanted to use any money we got if we won for Darry to go back to school.
"He and Kevin could carpool this year," Ben said. "That should save some money." Kevin was going to Tulsa in the fall too, and playing football there as well.
"Yeah, I guess." I hadn't ever actually told Ben how badly I wanted Darry to go back to school, but I was sure he knew. By this point, we were lying back on the rock, holding hands and nothing more, since it was way too hot to have any other part of our bodies touching. Ben leaned up on one shoulder and looked over at me.
"Darry will do what's best for everyone," he said. "You know that."
"Yeah, it's just that he forgets to include himself in the 'everyone' sometimes," I said.
"He can be stubborn, for sure. I'll give you that. But he loves you guys." Ben said, and leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
"Speaking of stubborn, you two need to get back over where Darry can see you." Suddenly Soda was climbing onto the rock next to us. "He sent me out looking for you, he's worried you're off fooling around somewhere."
"Are you kidding? In this heat?" Ben was only joking, but Soda raised an eyebrow at him, looking us over to make sure nothing looked out of place.
"If you're so hot, why aren't you swimming?" Soda asked.
"Well, I think we were just about to do that," I said, pulling Ben up with me and letting him help me down off the rock. We headed over to the swimming area, got a short lecture from Darry about staying within eyeshot, and went into the pond until the water was just up to our necks. The water felt refreshing and surprisingly relaxing after the dry heat of the sun. Ben reached out and held my hand under the water, and I let myself float up onto my back - eyes closed against the bright sun, the water cool over my body, hearing my brothers voices among the crowd, muffled by the water, and feeling Ben's hand holding me tight, keeping me safe.
As I floated along, I wished I could make that feeling of peace and security last all summer long.
XXXXXXXXXX
A/N: So sorry about the long wait. I thought I would have more time for writing while traveling, but I didn't! Now I am back from France – I had a great time – but I go back to work tomorrow after the summer off, so I may be back to a few days or so between postings. I'll do my best. Thanks for sticking with me. My summer may be ending, but Scout's is just beginning!