My brothers and I were the first to arrive back to the courtroom after lunch. We walked to the front row of the gallery, turned to find out seats and then Sodapop stopped abruptly in front of Darry and me, causing a small collision.
"What's the matter?" I stepped backwards and looked up at Sodapop.
Sodapop looked back at me with an astonished look on his face. "There's money laying up here." He walked along the front row bench and picked up the paper bills and counted them. "It's forty dollars. Why do you think it's here?"
I rested my hands on my hips and looked back at Sodapop with disappointment. "Owen probably put it there." Soda looked back at me in question, so I clarified the situation for him. "When I went back to talk with him, I gave him back all the money he had sent me at Ashford. He told me to keep it, because my family could use it more than he could. When he refused to take the money back I threw it at his feet. After everything that's happened I didn't want anything from him."
Sodapop smiled and pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket. "Dig it!"
"Sodapop, we are not taking that money!" I spoke in a loud tone to force my opinion on my brother.
Soda looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Finders keepers."
"No! You're not keeping that money. It's going back to, Owen. I don't want it."
"Scout, this is almost a week's pay for me, and I aint working none this week and neither is Darry. We've got bills to pay and groceries and medicines to buy. So the way I see it, finders keepers!" Then Soda made it very visible to me as he stuffed the bills into his wallet, and put his wallet back into the pocket of his dress slacks.
I furrowed my brow and looked to Darry to hoping to have his support on my decision. To my dismay, he showed no signs of pride. I frowned hard knowing Darry wanted the money just as much as Sodapop did. I sighed heavy and knew neither of my brothers would be turning away the charity.
I walked along the bench silently towards Sodapop and took a seat as the defense team walked back into the courtroom. I watched them as they walked by. I didn't like them.
I knew I had to swallow my pride, just as my brothers had. I told myself to be thankful Owen had left the money for the only 'poor folk' he knew. Then I reached into the pocket of my skirt and pulled out the money Mr. Ottavi had given me almost a month ago.
"You can have this too," I spoke softly to Sodapop and handed over the barely worn fifty-dollar bill.
Sodapop's eyes grew wide with excitement as he took the money from my fingers. "Where did you get this?"
"It's the money Mr. Ottavi gave to me."
"You still have this?"
"Yes, there is nothing I need it for at Ashford. You keep it for bills and stuff."
Sodapop shook his head. "Na'uh Scout, you'll find something you need it for, like phone calls home. You keep it."
"No, Ashford pays for our phone calls when we earn them. Students only get a set amount of phone time each week and right now I've got zero. So you take the money."
Sodapop looked at me with his soft and caring eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Sure, I'm sure." I smiled back at him.
Soda's grin widened and I could see the relief of stress drift across his face. "Thanks, Sissy, this will really help out."
I sat back on the bench with a satisfied grin. "Speaking of phone calls, I can't wait to call Ponyboy tonight. He's going to be so excited to hear from me. Besides, he's gonna get it from me for not pinky swearing about all the stuff I wrote to him."
I looked over at my brothers for a response and noticed the two of them looking at each other as if they were playing a mental game of rock, paper, scissors. Then Sodapop seemed to lose. He turned to me with sadness in his eye. "Scout, you won't be able to call him tonight. Pony can only make and receive phone calls on Tuesday and Thursday nights and one on the weekend. Sorry." Then Soda perked up a bit. "But, I doubt you'll be done by tomorrow, so you'll be around to call him tomorrow night."
My brother was right, but after the miserable day I had been having I finally felt completely deflated. I leaned forward onto my elbows and rested my face in my hands. At first, I cursed my bad luck. Then I prayed that the trial would drag on and on so I could stay home longer. Finally, I closed my eyes and thought about Ponyboy. I really missed him. I couldn't believe we had been apart this long and waiting another whole day was going to be harder for me than Sodapop or Darry could ever understand. Ponyboy and I weren't like them. Darry and Sodapop were the best of friends, but Ponyboy and I were soul mates. My mind drifted to a memory of the two of us, and how we did even the almost everything together for as long as I could remember.
Pony and I nuzzled our two little four-year-old butts into our dad's chair in the living room, and Ponyboy opened up the storybook I had picked out.
"I read the first sentence, then you read." Ponyboy decided.
"Why you get to read the first sentence?" I questioned because I wanted to go first.
"Cause I'm older, that's why." Ponyboy said as I folded my arms across my chest and sunk into a pout. Ponyboy didn't care, he was in charge and that is all he wanted as he read the first sentence. "Little Red Hen woke up on a bright and sunny morning." Ponyboy looked to me.
I couldn't hold my pout any longer, because it was my turn and I didn't want to get skipped. I put my finger up to the words and read, "She walked across the barnyard in search of her friends." I finished my sentence as our father walked into the living room and looked down at us.
"Are you two cuddle bugs sharing a book again?" He asked and sat down on the couch.
"Yep!" Ponyboy answered and bragged, "I read the first sentence, because I'm oldest, then Scout read one and next is me again."
Dad laughed. "You two are best friends aren't you?"
"No." I shook my head and tried to improve my father's perception of the situation. "We're twins!"
My dad laughed even harder as Sodapop wandered into the room with his freshly made sandwich, and looked over Ponyboy's shoulder as the two of us continued to share sentences. After listening to a half a dozen words Sodapop interrupted us. "What are you two weirdoes doing?"
"Reading," I told him.
"Why don't you each just read your own book?" Sodapop looked at us in confusion.
"Cause we're twins," Ponyboy told him.
"That doesn't mean you have to share everything all the time," Sodapop informed us.
"Yeah it does," I told our seven-year-old brother.
"Well, if you ask me, I think reading is a waste of a day." Sodapop shoved a bite of sandwich into his mouth and darted out the front door to play.
My dad looked over at us from his own book that he had checked out from the public library. "Never mind that brother of yours, he must have been fed him an extra helping of jumping beans before he left heaven." Ponyboy and I giggled. Dad always said the funniest things.
"Darling?" The sound of James' mother's voice pulled my attention away from my thoughts. I turned and looked at her. "Before this starts again, I want you to know that James aint never had nothing but nice things to say about you."
"Thanks, Delores." I said softly and smiled politely hoping she would just go away. I looked down towards the floor, and thought about how I didn't care what James had to say about me.
Delores didn't get the hint that I wanted her to leave me alone. "I know I aint been that good of a mother to him as I should have. You really should know that."
I looked at her with raised eyebrows and an exasperated tone. "I know that, Delores." I looked away again and hoped she would leave before my true temperament towards her revealed itself.
The woman didn't appreciate her appeal for sympathy being ignored. She raised her voice, "I'm just saying, he's not really an evil boy."
My blood pressure shot up, and an appalled voice yelled from the back row of the courtroom. "He nearly stabbed her brother to death, and tried to kill her!"
Darry, Soda, and I turned our heads in unison to confirm with our eyes who we already knew had spoken up to put the woman in her place.
I noticed the scowl on Owen's face as he glared at the woman and finished what he had to say. "Now, go sit down on the other side of the courtroom and leave the family alone." Owen's presence was commanding as he sat coolly with his arm draped along the back of the wooden bench.
I took a long look at Owen. In that moment, his facial features seemed harder than they had ever been. Even when our eyes connected, I could see bitterness in them that I never realized he had. The boy peered back at me, emotionless.
With a broken spirit I turned back around on the bench. I noticed Darry lean forward, elbows resting on his knees. He was looking over at me. "Don't worry, he'll come around." Darry said with the same lack of emotion Owen was possessing.
I looked away from my brother, let out a heavy sigh. The courtroom filled with a few more spectators. I looked behind me and across the aisle and notice a few boys who didn't know to wear their Sunday best to a trial. I didn't recognize them and assumed they were James' friends from the Brumly gang. I looked away and watched the jury take their seats. Everyone in the courtroom then stood in unison as the judge took the stand, everyone sat down again, and then the prosecution called their first witness.
"The prosecution calls, Peter Roth."
I turned my head over my left should in time to find Pete's mom fiddling with his shirt collar before he walked to the front of the courtroom as his father patted him firmly on the back for support. Then I turned my neck a few inches more to the left and found Owen still sitting alone. His parents hadn't come, and I was almost sure they wouldn't be present for any of the proceedings. I felt bad for him, because I knew that my parents would have never made me go through this alone.
After swearing in and announcing his name, Pete readied himself for questions from the prosecuting attorney. "How do you know, Scout Curtis?"
I looked up at Pete and he grinned, looked to the back of the courtroom, and spoke louder than he had to. "Because my best friend is in love with her."
I swallowed hard and wished I had the guts to turn around and read Owen's reaction to the statement, but I didn't. Instead, I sat quiet listening to the questions and answers about James accosting me in the school hallways and later the incident in the parking lot at Rusty's Diner. One particular response drew my attention more than the others when he said. "I should have just left the two of them alone to kiss. I can't help but wonder, if I hadn't pointed the two of them out if James would have even known they were in the car. In a way, I've kind of thought this was all my fault."
I looked up at Owen's best friend and silently questioned how any of this could be his fault when clearly, it was all mine. I listened more attentively after that, and by late afternoon the defense was given the opportunity to proceed with a cross-examination.
At first, the defense attorney's questions seemed to be standard fact checking, but then the twist Darry had warned me about began to reveal itself.
"You say, Owen Jasper is in love with, Scout Curtis?" The defense attorney asked.
"Yes he is." Pete responded confidently.
"In your opinion, how often would a young couple in love go out on a date in a month's time? Just, in your opinion."
Pete shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, maybe a dozen days."
"Really?" The defense paced the floor and paused for effect in front of me. "How many days per month do Scout and Owen go on a date?"
"What kind of date are you talking about?" Pete questioned.
"A study date or out to a movie or out with friends."
"Maybe six times a month." Pete answered and you could see he was trying to discover the story the defense was attempting to create.
"Six?"
"Maybe." Pete said with apprehension.
"Not many for a couple in love, is it?"
Pete sat up in his chair. "Well, Owen tends to work a lot…"
The attorney interrupted. "Simply answer the question, yes or no."
Pete frowned and thought about what to say, and then he responded, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" The attorney questioned, "Well, do you find it odd that a young couple in love would choose to sit so far apart during a trial for a man who supposedly attempted to kill the young lady?"
"Objection!" The prosecution attorney declared from his chair. "The defense's line of questioning has no relevance."
"Your honor, the presence or absence of love between the two is relevant to the fact that James Young was misled by affections of that young lady." The defense attorney clarified his position and pointed in my direction.
My mouth dropped open in disgust, and I turned to Darry and whispered. "I never misled James with affection!"
Darry leaned in close to me and his whispered tone was forceful. "This is why I told you to focus. The defense is trying to make a case that you led James to believe you loved him, and feuding with Owen isn't going to help your case."
My eyes widened and my lips pierced themselves open in shock. Darry was right again. The rest of the afternoon, I sat back and listened closely as the defense finished their preposterous line of questioning with Pete that was riddled with calls for 'objection', the defense's explanation, and the Judge's responses of 'overruled' or 'sustained'.
By the end of the day I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe the defense has suggested I climbed out of Owen's car against his wishes so I could be closer to James to make plans to rendezvous later in the evening. The defense put the idea in the jury's head that I preferred James rough demeanor towards me, and that it was common among girls from my 'social class' to want to be ruled by our lovers, even a secret lover.
More times then naught, I wanted to stand up and scream how untrue the defense attorney's statements were, but I understood that he didn't work for me. I understood he was only making a case for reasonable doubt, and he was doing a mighty fine job of it!
A few minutes after Pete left the witness stand the judge dismissed the courtroom for the day. Eager to leave, my brothers and I stood up and moved into the aisle. I noticed Owen was gone from his seat and nowhere to be found. Through the small crowd of people Pete walked up to me with concern in his eyes.
"Scout, can I talk to you a moment?"
"Sure." I said softly, and the two of us walked between the empty wooden benches, a few feet away from everyone else.
Pete looked at me with a saddened face. "I'm sorry, I didn't do to well up there for you."
I smiled lightly to make him feel better. "Don't worry about it. You did just fine."
"I don't know about that." Pete said then he changed the subject. "Did you find the money?"
I raised my eyebrows a bit in revelation. "Yes, thanks for putting it there. My brothers really appreciated it."
"I didn't put it there," Pete said as he watched the smile slip off of my face. His eyes grew compassionate as he softly spoke, "He really does love you more than he knows how to show you."
I frowned. "I appreciate that, but…"
Pete interrupted me, "You have to realize that he's really good at being stubborn, and he knows he should have told you about the Debutantes Ball. I told him to tell you way back when it happened, but he didn't want you to be hurt or confused. Even though he didn't want to go, he also wanted to keep to his commitment to be there. He's funny that way, he doesn't like to let people down, and he knows that's what he did to you. I think that is what pisses him off more than anything. Well, that and the thought that you might actually give Lacey his letterman sweater to wear." Pete ended his comment with a chuckle.
I smiled back, but I didn't know what to think. "Thanks, Pete. I know Owen is really lucky to have friend like you, and if you'll excuse me I've got to get going."
"Sure, no problem." Pete said and we parted ways.
I walked out to the car with my brothers, and climbed in between them in the front seat. As Sodapop drove home, I couldn't stop my grinning, or the jitters of excitement in my belly as we turned on to my street and our dilapidated home came into view. All I kept thinking was 'I'm home. I'm finally home'. Even though I wanted to sprint into the house, I waited patiently for Darry to climb out of the car. My anticipation built as I slowly followed behind him and Sodapop through the front gate. Just as I was about to run around the two of them, and dart into the house, Sodapop turned around to me with the car keys in his hand.
"Scout, run on back to the trunk and fetch your suitcase."
I frowned, but did as I was told. By the time I had shut the trunk lid and started up the walk with my luggage Darry and Sodapop had walked into the house and shut the front door behind them. Stunned by their un-thoughtfulness I marched up the porch steps semi-dragging my suitcase along with me. I pulled open the screen door and pushed open our heavy wooden front door.
"Surprise!" A collection of voices yelled. I jumped at the sound then my eyes looked around the room to find it filled with all of the people I wanted to see the most.