Despite my concerns about Darry and Pony starting the day off with an argument, it was Pony and me who got into it in the car, fighting over – of all things – Ben. He started as soon as we had dropped off Soda, who hopped down from the truck bed and took off with a wave and a goofy grin, yelling over his shoulder.
"See y'all tonight!"
Darry honked and pulled back out into the street.
"Ben coming over tonight for the fireworks?" Pony asked, in a tone I couldn't quite decipher.
"Yeah," I replied. "So?"
"Darry's right, you two spend too much time together. You're still too young." I didn't know where he was coming from, all of a sudden, but I wasn't appreciating his commentary. And Darry hadn't ever said anything to me about us spending too much time together.
"Darry doesn't mind," I snapped, "and Ben and Kevin have always come over on the Fourth. Right, Dar?" Darry didn't answer, just looking over at the two of us. I suddenly wished I didn't always have to sit in the middle.
"Yeah, well Ben wasn't stickin' his tongue down your throat back then," Pony sneered.
"Pony!" I exploded, "Shut up!" I didn't think any of my brothers had seen that happening.
"Scout…" Darry started, but I wasn't having it.
"Don't even start with me, Darry. I'm not doing anything you and Soda weren't doing at my age, and you know it! Just because Pony's jealous…"
"Yeah, that's right, Scout," he sneered. "I'm jealous. I wanna be making out with Ben Cummings. I don't think so."
"You know what, Pony? You don't have any idea what Ben and I do, unless you're spying on us, which would make you even more of a total jerk! And you're just jealous because we all have somebody – Darry has Ali, Soda has Sandy, and I have Ben – and you've got nobody! You'd rather read a book than kiss a girl!"
I was getting mean and I knew it, but – after all – he had started it.
"Yeah, well, maybe I ain't interested in bein' nothin' but free entertainment for the opposite sex," Pony spat, and I honestly felt like he had slapped me.
"That's enough, Pony," Darry snapped. "That's your sister you're talking about, for Christ's sake."
I closed my eyes, fuming, and wanting to cry. Was that what Pony thought about me, then, really? That I was some cheap, trashy girl? Did he think I liked what Steve had done to me - how he'd touched me? Did he think I'd ever take lightly any boy touching me, anywhere, in any way, ever again? I drew in a breath, trying with all my will not to cry, since there would be no way of hiding it, stuck in the cab of the truck, between the two of them.
I failed; Darry saw immediately that I was about to cry and pulled into the parking lot of a church.
I kept my hands over my face; the last thing I wanted was for Pony to have the satisfaction of seeing that he'd made me cry.
"Jesus, you two… I thought you were getting along now."
"She started it," Pony said.
"I didn't," I whispered through my hands. "Just because I like Ben… I'm not…a tramp, or some kind of cheap girl. Kissing a boy doesn't make me trashy. I like him."
"Darry tried to pry my hands off my face.
"No, you're not. And Pony knows that, he's just being a pain."
"I didn't say that," Pony snapped. "but I ain't jealous of y'all, either. I'm perfectly happy not dating anyone. I don't know why you can't just get that."
"Then why do you always have to give me such a hard time about Ben?" I wiped my eyes and lowered my hands from my face. "You never pick on Soda about Sandy, or Darry about Alison. Just because I'm younger doesn't mean you get to make me feel like some sort of tramp because I kissed someone."
"I wasn't saying that." He looked over at Darry. "I wasn't."
I just stared down at the floor of the truck.
"It's just… it ain't too comfortable to be around you and Ben now that you're all over each other."
"We're not."
"You better not be," Darry said.
"We're not. Don't exaggerate it, Pony, just to get me in trouble. All we even do is just kiss. Soda and Sandy are way worse, if you want to talk about being all over each other."
"Soda ain't my kid sister."
"Yeah, well I'm not gonna be a kid forever," I grumbled.
"Look, Pone," Darry started, "I see your point. Believe me, Scout growing up is taking some getting used to for me, too. But that doesn't make it okay for you to say stuff like that."
"Sorry… I wasn't tryin' to say that you were cheap. I just don't think you should be gettin' into things over your head with him."
"I'm not. I won't."
Darry sighed, realizing that this was probably just one of what was sure to be many arguments between two stubborn yet sensitive teenagers.
"Can we get back on the road, here, or do you two want to keep this going until one of you actually draws blood?" He looked over as us with a skeptical grin.
"Let's go," I said. "I'm over it. I should be used to Pony being a jerk by now anyway," I said, and Pony fake-shoved me against Darry.
"Not while I'm driving, you two," Darry warned. "Once we get there if you want to kill each other, fine, but I'm not going to let my truck be a victim of you two being imbeciles."
"Oooh… imbeciles…Darry used a big word!" Pony mocked, and I giggled. Every now and then he would come up with a word that was totally unexpected and served to remind us just how smart he actually was.
"You two are gonna drive me crazy before we even get to this party," he muttered, and both Pony and I were set off on a giggling fit that lasted until we pulled up at Coach K.'s house.
"Listen, you two," he turned to face us before we got out of the truck, "I'm here trying to make business contacts. Behave yourselves. Save the nonsense for when we're back at our own house, okay?"
"Okay." Pony and I answered in unison, both of us trying not to giggle any more.
Darry shook his head and hopped out of the truck just as Coach and Laura came around the side of the house.
"Darry," he said, putting Laura down since she was just about ready to leap out of his arms to get to me. "Glad you could make it." He came over and grabbed his shoulder. "Nice to see you too, Ponyboy."
"Hi,Coach," Pony said, looking a little uncomfortable. I guessed he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to hang out with the adults or the kids. I'd never really seen him around a little kid – he tended to avoid our littlest cousins. I picked up Laura.
"Hey Laura, this is Ponyboy, my brother," I said, and was met with immediate laughter.
"Pony! Pony! Boy!" she laughed again.
"I get that from all the girls," Pony joked, and suddenly he seemed comfortable again.
"Well, come on around back, guys," Coach said. "I'll introduce you around. Joe's already put out a good word for you – says the repairs you did on his house are more solid than the original ever was." Pony and I followed along behind them, Pony seemingly led by his nose right over to the table where hamburgers, hot dogs and a full array of salads awaited him. He had started filling up a plate before I could even blink. Meanwhile, I chased Laura over to her swingset. She pulled on the baby swing.
"Push!" She demanded. "Cowt! Push!"
"What's the magic word?"
"Police! Push!" I had to laugh at her use of "police" instead of "please."
I lifted her up and pushed her, watching as Coach got Darry a Pepsi and introduced him around. There was a whole lot of hand-shaking and back-slapping and it made me sad, in a way, that Darry didn't get to interact with other adults like that more often – he was stuck with us. Two-Bit was closest to him in age, but comparing his interactions with Two-Bit to how he was acting around these neighborhood husbands was different. They were older than him – by a few years, at least, but it seemed like now that he was the man of the house he had far more in common with them than somebody like Two-Bit or Kevin. He was talking and laughing and seemed so relaxed, almost like he was one of those young Dads, knowing his kids were safe playing in the yard and just hanging out with his buddies.
A couple of other young kids came over and asked me to push them on the swings, too, and after a while Dr. Bryant came over.
"Hey – it's nice to see you somewhere other than a hospital," he joked.
"You're not kidding," I laughed.
"Seriously, you look great. Everything's going okay?"
"Yeah. I haven't needed any stitches or surgery in a whole week now," I joked, and he laughed.
"So I haven't seen you around here – your brother still got you on house arrest?"
"No… I think I can start babysitting again this week. You could probably remind him that it's okay for me to have a life again, though."
"I think I can probably sneak that into conversation," he said, smiling. "So, are you still going to babysit for Laura after this summer?"
"I guess so, if Coach still wants me to. Why?"
"Well, Linda and I – we're gonna be needing a babysitter of our own just after Christmas."
It took me a second to figure out what he meant, and he stood there smiling as he watched it sink in.
"Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" I laughed at my own naiveté.
"Thanks. We're real excited. Having Laura around kind of made us decide we wanted a family sooner rather than later."
That comment made me think again about Darry's situation. He'd gotten a family to take care of sooner rather than later, too – but he hadn't exactly chosen it. I looked over at him and he was still laughing and joking with the guys. I heard pieces of the conversation and it was obvious that they were talking sports.
"Hey, Dr. Bryant?"
"Yeah?"
"I went… to the therapist. Me and Soda."
"Oh. Well, since you're still speaking to me, I guess it didn't go that badly."
"No. It was just – well, different than I expected it to be."
"But it was okay?"
"Yeah. It was okay. Maybe even good. I'm not sure yet." I realized I still hadn't done my "homework" and talked to Darry about what I was feeling.
"Well, I'm glad," he said. "I only wanted you to go because I thought it would help you, you know that, right?"
"I know." I smiled at him. "Do you usually bring your work with you to neighborhood cookouts?"
"No," he laughed, "You're right. I should keep work at the office. It's just so nice to see you looking healthy that I had to come over and say hi."
"Well it feels pretty good too," I said, as Laura started getting bored with the swing.
"Out!" she demanded.
"You sure you're ready for all this?" I asked.
"I guess we'll find out in December," he joked, as I chased Laura over to the food table where her Mom caught her just before she grabbed the tablecloth, which, if she succeeded in pulling it down, would have landed a bowl of coleslaw on her head.
"Nice catch, Barbara," Darry quipped. "You'd make a good wide receiver."
"Oh, no," she laughed. "Sports is Mike's thing. But I appreciate the compliment. I guess you'll be well equipped someday when you have a toddler of your own, though."
I expected Darry to say something about how it would be a million years before he had a kid of his own, but he didn't.
"I guess so," was his reply. I realized that, without us to take care of, Darry could well be married with a kid in four or five years, after college. Just one more thing he might have to put on hold because of us.
I filled up a plate with food – I was sort of hungry after avoiding the purple pancakes that morning, and sat down on the side of Laura's sandbox to eat. The little kids seemed to be running out of steam – a few were actually napping on blankets in the grass – and I looked around, wondering where Pony had gotten off to. It took me a while to find him, and when I did, I was completely shocked.
He was sitting in between Coach and Dr. Bryant's houses, leaning back against a tree. Sitting next to him – right next to him was a girl! Not just any girl – a cute girl, who, upon further inspection, I noted, had curves in all the right places. Pony was talking to her, laughing, and the expression on his face was one I had never seen before, on him. It was what Darry looked like when he looked at Alison. I actually laughed out loud.
No more than an hour after he had assured us that he was perfectly happy by himself, Pony was making eyes at a girl! My first instinct was to run over to Darry and point it out, but I knew that would just make Pony mad, if he thought I was making fun of him, so I didn't. I just sat there and watched, for close to an hour. There was nothing more illicit than giggling going on, but I was fascinated. It was a side of Pony I had never seen before – he seemed completely relaxed in a way that I had never seen him act with anyone other than Soda or Johnny. Seeing him that way – it made me giddy in a strange way, and I felt bad for picking on him earlier. It was clear to me, suddenly – that of course he wished he had someone special of his own, but just wanting that somebody doesn't just make them suddenly magically appear.
It was Laura that brought me out of my daze.
"Cowt! Come!" She stood about ten feet away, yelling. I stood up, walking over to her. She grabbed my hand and dragged me up. I dropped my paper plate in the trash and followed her to where Coach and Darry stood talking, as Laura interrupted, tugging on his arm.
"Okay, Daddy. 'Cowt! 'Cowt here!" Coach laughed.
"Good Job, Laura." He picked her up, kissing her cheek.
"Hey," Darry looked over at me. "You about ready? Where's Pony gone off to, anyway?"
"Yeah…I'll get him," I said, knowing he wouldn't want Darry catching him off guard. I turned back to Coach K. "Thanks for having us over."
"My pleasure. Darry said you can start back again tomorrow? Laura's missed you. We've had to leave her with Barb's mom, and that's been harder on everybody. Not that it's your fault, of course!" he reassured me.
"No, that's great! I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning then!" I was glad he and Darry had already worked that out, with no pleading necessary on my part.
"Perfect," Coach said.
"Pawfict!" Laura mimicked, and we all laughed.
"So, Dar, I'll get Pony and we'll meet you at the truck, 'kay?"
"Fine. Hurry up, though, I gotta get the grill goin' for our ribs tonight." Dad always said the secret to a great barbecue was "aged" charcoal – that is, a grill that had been burning for a few hours before you started cooking on it. I was glad to see that Darry was following tradition.
"Okay." I ran off towards where I'd seen Pony and they both were still there, that same goofy look in their eyes.
"Pony, it's time to go. Darry's waiting at the truck."
He seemed completely shocked to hear my voice and looked for a minute like he didn't even know who I was. Then, just as quickly, the spell was broken. He turned to the girl, explaining my presence.
"Uh, this is my sister, Scout. Scout, this is Tricia… uh, Patricia."
"Nice to meet you," I said. She blushed.
"Can you give me a minute?" Pony asked. "I'll meet you at the truck, okay?"
"Okay," I said, and it was immediately understood that as far as picking on each other about interactions with the opposite sex, a truce had been initiated.
I ran back to the truck and jumped in.
"Pony'll be here in a minute," I said, out of breath. Darry stared at me.
"What?"
"What's with you?"
"Nothing." I couldn't help it, I was grinning from ear to ear. I reached over and tickled Darry to distract him. As he easily swatted me away, Pony came over to the car and climbed in,his face completely unreadable. I sat up as Darry started the truck, staring out the windshield. About halfway home, Pony broke the silence.
"Hey Dar… do you think I could invite somebody to the barbecue tonight? Her Dad can drive her… and pick her up, too."
I bit back a smile.
"Yeah," Darry said, trying to hide the amusement in his voice. "I think that'll be fine, Pone."
I swear, I could actually feel it, as Pony turned toward the passenger window and smiled what I knew was a real, genuine smile. It had been a long time, and it was a good feeling.