Chapter 35

The next day was a typical Monday in the Curtis' household. Darry was rushing the kids out of the door so that they all wouldn't be late. He was trying to remember everything he needed to get done today while Steve and Two-Bit were running their mouths as usually and interrupting every one of Darry's thoughts. The most important thought was how he had to make sure he got to a payphone during his lunch break. He needed to make two important phone calls and they couldn't wait until he got home. The first one was going to have to be to Dr. Robinson's office to see if they could see Sara this week, and the other was to answer the wanted add that he noticed in the paper the other night. Darry was so preoccupied by this that he wasn't paying much attention to anything else. He somehow managed to get all the kids out the door and to all the places that they needed to be and he himself was actually at work with two minutes to spear. The morning seemed to have flown right by and the minute Darry's foreman yelled up that it was lunch time; Darry practically flew down the ladder to get to his truck. They were actually roofing an antique shop down on Tenth Street so Darry was very close to a convenient store where he went in and grabbed a hot dog, bag of chips and a Pepsi. He noticed the phone both was vacant so he moved into it quickly before anyone else did. He took two big bites from the hot dog before digging into his pocket for the piece of paper with the two phone numbers on it. First thing first, Sara and Dr. Robinson, that was the first priority. Darry of course was placed on hold while he shoved the rest of the hot dog into his mouth hoping that he would have most of it chewed before the receptionist came back on the line. As she was apologizing for the wait, Darry was trying to swallow the hot dog, he would normally have said "that's alright", but he couldn't and quickly took a swig from the Pepsi bottle to help the hot dog get down his throat. Once it was clear he informed the lady that he needed to make an appointment for his sister. The receptionist again put Darry on hold while she looked at the appointment book. Darry took a glance down at his watch and noticed that it was almost time to return back to work. He had about 10 more minutes, and at this rate he was never going to be able to get that second call in before his lunch was over. The receptionist came back on and in her perky, annoying voice spoke to Darry.

"Well, Mr. Curtis we have no late appointments available this week. If you want to move into next week I think we might have a 4:30. But nothing for this week." Darry moaned into the phone. He knew this was important and he knew that Mrs. Roberts would be following up with him and wouldn't like that he hadn't gotten Sara into the doctor's yet. But then on the flip side he knew is boss Mr. Day would probably not be very happy if he needed to leave early either. He would just have to take that chance he guessed.

"What's your latest appointment for this week?" Darry asked with frustration.

"I can get you in tomorrow at two thirty, Mr. Curtis. Other than tomorrow I have mostly morning appointments." Darry was hoping that she would say three or three thirty for Mr. Day might not be so grumpy about a late afternoon, but two thirty might be pushing it, but Darry was caught between a rock and a hard place.

"I'll take it."

"Ok, now Mr. Curtis, we might need some paperwork updated when you arrive so if you could show five to ten minutes early that would be fantastic."

"Great." Darry mumble.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean thanks. We'll see you tomorrow." Darry slammed the receiver down a little harder than he intended. "Great, just great. Five, ten minutes early, Jesus. By the time I pick Sara up and get there five, ten minutes early I'm gonna miss practically a half of days' pay. Just great." Darry flung open the door to the booth and jogged over to his truck to get back to the site. He knew that Mr. Day wasn't gonna be happy about this, but it needed to be done. Darry sped back to the site and was running to the ladder while trying to get his toolbelt on.

"Curtis, you're late! Lunch break ended 4 minutes ago." Mr. Day yelled as Darry approached his make shift office.

"Sorry, Sir, trying to get an errand done."

"I'll let it go this time, Son." Mr. Day said looking over some plans for their next project. It looked like a new housing development. When Darry hadn't moved away from the table Mr. Day looked back up, "Is there something you need Curtis?"

"Umm, well there actually is Sir." Darry said trying to find the right words to ask for the time off tomorrow.

"Just spit it out Son. You're on the clock."

"Yeah, well, about the clock Sir. My sister needs to go to the doctor's and the latest appointment they had was two thirty tomorrow."

"The little one? Is she ill?" Mr. Day actually looked concern, for he had always taken a liking to that one.

"We're not really sure, Sir. I mean I don't think it's anything to serious but our social worker recommended that she go."

"Say no more Curtis. Take the afternoon off. We'll probably be finishing up here tomorrow and if all goes well, we might even finish before quitting time anyway. Get that sister of yours checked out."

"Thanks so much Mr. Day. I appreciate it." Darry started to hurry off to grab two bundles of shingles when Mr. Day hollered back over to him.

"Curtis, just remember it's without pay." Darry already knew this, but just nodded his head and went back to work.

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"I want to come with you too, Dar. You know how she gets when she gotta go there."

"Soda, really I can handle this. You don't need to be missing out on work too; it's bad enough that I'm gonna be missing 3 hours pay for it."

"Then let me take her. Steve, can you cover the rest of my shift tomorrow and borrow your car?"

"I guess so." Steve said looking up from his math book.

"See Dar, I'd only miss and hour or so. I was supposed to be out at 3:30 anyway." Darry sat at the table looking over Ponyboy's homework and thinking about what Soda had just proposed. It would help out finically but Darry just couldn't let it happen. No, he should be the one to take her. It wouldn't look right to Mrs. Roberts if she found out that it was Sodapop who took her and not him.

"No, Soda, I'll take her." Darry said.

"What the hell? Just make a friggin' decision. It's not that hard for Christ Sake. What time she gotta be there?" Steve asked from the couch.

"She has a two thirty doctor's appointment. We'll figure it out." Darry said noticing an error on Pony's homework. "Ponyboy!" Darry hollered down the hall. Soon Pony was slowly emerging from the kitchen with a cookie in his hand.

"What?" He called in between chews.

"You need to look this history paper over again. I think you are a bit confused on why the Battle of Gettsyburg was the most pivotal battle of the Civil War. I want you to reread it again and think about the answer you wrote here."

"Really Dar? I know why it was the most pivotal battle."

"Pony you wrote because it was the battle that involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war."

"It was Dar, it's a fact." Pony said shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Yes, you're right but Pony, but it was so much more than that. I want you to look it over again and think about this." Darry held out the paper for Ponyboy to take it back and do again. Pony moved his gaze from Darry and over to Sodapop who was sitting with Steve on the couch watching The Dating Show. When Sodapop noticed how quiet it was between Darry and Pony he took his eyes off the tv and over to the two. It was then he noticed Pony looking to him for some help. Soda shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry Pony I have to support Darry on this one. Even I know he's right. You can do so much better than the most number of causalities. You're smarter than that Ponyboy." Rarely did Soda step in between Darry and Pony about homework, but even Soda knew that this was weak for Pony's standards. Ponyboy let out a grumble and headed back to his room to try again. As he was heading down the hall he passed Sara who was carrying a book in her hand and stopped to talk with her.

"What ya got there Sara?"

"Rapunzel. Can you read it to me Pony?" She asked sweetly. Even as much as Pony would like to ditch the Civil War and read to Sara, he knew better.

"Sorry Kiddo, Darry is making me do this homework over again. Maybe tomorrow night?" He suggested.

"Can't ya do both?" Pony shook his head no. Sara's shoulders dropped in disappointment but let out a slow soft response. "Ok. I'll go see if Soda will read to me then." Ponyboy ruffled the top of Sara's head and moved into his room to look over the chapter in his history book about the Battle of Gettysburg. As Sara moved through the kitchen she could hear the boys talking from the living room.

"Does she even know yet Dar?" Soda asked while getting up from the couch to go find himself chocolate chip cookies that he had made earlier.

"Nah. I thought it best if we don't tell her. It'll just get her all work up and she won't be able to sleep. It'll just end up a disaster."

"I think you should tell her." Steve added his two cents worth while hammering out his math problems.

"Tell me what? That you're taking me to the dance?" Sara asked with excitement in her voice.

"Ah, no, sorry Sara, we weren't talking about the dance. Steve and Sodapop were talking about taking the girls somewhere on a date. That's all." Darry was telling a little lie to help cover up for the conversation about the doctor's.

"Oh." Sara said with disappointment.

"Whatcha need?" Darry asked getting up from the table and moving towards the refrigerator looking for a beer.

"I was hoping that someone would be able to read to me?" Sara asked while moving Rapunzel out from behind her back. Darry looked down at the book with a little bit of disgust.

"Not tonight, Sara. Why don't you just look at the pictures until you go to bed?" Darry had no energy nor was in the mood for reading tonight. All he wanted to do was sit with his beer and paper and try to relax some.

Sara stood stiffly and quietly and just staring at Darry with her wide puppy dog eyes. Darry dropped the paper a bit and peaked over the top of it to spy Sara who was still standing in front of him.

"Please, Dar?"

"Go ask Ponyboy." Darry was hoping that he could spawn this off on one of his other brothers.

"He can't. He said you're making him do his homework over again. Please Darry?" Sara begged. Darry slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "You don't even need to read the whole thing, just some of it."

"Oh, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down you're golden hair." Steve recited from the couch once he caught glimpse of the book Sara was holding in her hand.

"Cut the crap Steve." Darry warned knowing that wouldn't help anything.

"Soda? Will you come read to me?" Sara had now given up on Darry, so she only had one last chance to get someone to read to her. She moved away from Darry and his chair and closer to the couch.

"Ah, not tonight Sara." Soda said softly as he let down his sister. Sara dipped her head down low and let out a groan. She turned without saying anything at all and shuffled quietly back to her room. She closed the door behind her and went to turn her radio on when she remembered her restriction and quickly pulled her hand away. She crawled into bed and snuggled Mr. Bear close and wrapped the blankets up around her shoulders. She laid on her side and flipped through the book telling herself the story as she moved from page to page. She was fighting with every inch of her will to keep her blue eyes open, but in the end sleep won and Sara was now out.

Steve and Sodapop were playing some card games while the tv blared, but when The Alfred Hitchcock Hour came on Darry soon realized how late it was. He had totally forgotten to go check on Sara and Pony. Darry pulled his achy body up from the chair and spoke to the boys on the couch. "Hey, it's getting late guys. I'm gonna check on the kids and then head off to bed. Soda, don't stay up to late. And Steve, there's a blanket and pillow in the closet. Help yourself. See ya in the morning."

"Night, Dar." The boys answered in unison. Darry gave a slight wave and moved on through the kitchen depositing his beer bottle in the return bin and moved onto the boys' room. He heard soft snoring and poked his head into to see that Ponyboy was slumped over his desk, with his head resting on his left arm. Darry pushed open the door a bit and was just about to call to Pony when he felt Sodapop come up behind him.

"I was wondering why he didn't come join us." Soda slide in beside Darry and entered their room. "I'll get him to bed, Dar. Why don't you hit the sack, you're looking a bit worn out." Sodapop moved his way over to his little brother and carefully lifted his homework. Soda skimmed over the paper and when he came to the end he had a big smile on his face. "He fixed it, Dar. I know he had more in him than just the most deaths. It's pretty good. You should read it." Soda reached over their bed and handed it to Darry. "Ponyboy." Soda said shaking his sleeping brother. Pony flinched some but didn't open his eyes, so Soda shook a little harder. "Pony, you need to get to bed."

"Yeah?" Pony mumbled.

"C'mon, Pony I'm tired too. Let's get you into bed." Soda was starting to pull Ponyboy's t-shirt off when Pony started to realize that he had fallen asleep at his desk.

"Oh." He said pushing Soda's hands away so that he could undress himself.

"Get some sleep guys. I'll see ya in the morning." Darry started to head out the door when Sodapop stopped him. "Dar, don't forget to pick me up on your way to get Sara tomorrow." Darry let out a big sigh. "Sodapop, we discussed this already, you don't need to go."

"No,Dar, we didn't discuss anything. You basically told me what's what."

"Jesus, Sodapop, it's late, do we really have to do this right now?" Darry's frustration was starting to rise.

"Nope, we don't. Because there isn't anything to talk about, except that I'll be waiting for you to pick me up around quarter past two."

"It's a waste, Sodapop, a waste of money and a waste of your time. I can deal with this on my own." Darry didn't want to be arguing with Soda about this at this time of night; actually he didn't want to be doing this at all.

"It's not a waste when it comes to our sister, Dar." Soda was pulling back the covers as Ponyboy was climbing into the bed, still half asleep and not paying any attention to Soda's and Darry's conversation. The two older brothers were quiet as they watched Pony slip into bed and cover his head with the blankets. Soda slid his sweatpants off and jumped in next to his little brother reaching over him to turn the light off. "Night Darry." Soda said throwing an arm across Pony.

"Night Soda, night Pony." Darry watched his brothers get comfortable before he closed the door behind him. He moved out into the hall and noticed that Steve has shut off all the lights and tv in the living room. He was probably getting comfortable on their old, lumpy couch, but hey, all the boys knew it was a better alternative than being at home. Darry stopped in the bathroom and relieved himself of the beer he just drank and took a couple of aspirins and brushed his teeth. He moved on towards his room, but before getting there he stopped at Sara's door and tried to open it so that it wouldn't creak. Darry moved in almost of his tip toes as to avoid the loose floorboards. As he approached Sara's bed he noticed that Mr. Bear had fallen on the floor so he bent down and picked him up and placed him next to Sara. He tugged the covers up and as he did it knocked the Rapunzel book to the edge of the mattress. He quickly grabbed at it before it crashed to the floor. Darry placed it on her bookcase and leaned in and smoothed her hair before leaving her for the night. As he was leaving he thought how weird it felt not having to turn her radio off, like normal nights. He had to confess that she was acting like a big girl and taking her restrictions very well, not much complaining, so far. He moved on to his room and shut the door where his bed was surely calling his name tonight.