Friday- Courthouse date

Soda-

I groaned when i heard the alarm, I was up with Darry most of the night last night. He has margins and sudden bouts of pain. It's hard to watch sometimes but I know I have to help fix the pain. I eventually found the higher inject able pain killers from the lock box. I didn't Darry or I getting used to the higher dose to fix our problems so I kept it lock and only used it when the pain was real bad.

I rolled out of bed and got a shower, I would fix breakfast before I went to wake Darry up. Getting Darry out of bed in the mornings is a two man job that takes a while. But at least breakfast would be ready.

I scrubbed clean before pulling on clean sweats. I made my way into Darry's room. "Come on, Darry. It's time to wake up", I say gently. He groans lightly before I sit next to him and rub circles on his back.

"Come on big guy, breakfast is ready and we are going to get Pony back", I say

Darry perks up and rolls from his side to his back. "Alright , I'm up", he says half asleep-half wake. I helped him sit up and got him in a sitting position. He transferred from the bed to the wheelchair with ease. I knew each day varied on how he needed my help, some days he can get out of bed himself, others he can't. It's all about the pain and the ware it has on his damaged body.

I helped Darry get dressed in his slacks, he fixed his shirt and tie. I slipped on his socks and shoes. He combed his hair while i got dressed. He could hand this and come to the table. I dressed in my suit, dress shirt, tie and jacket. I slipped on my shoes and black socks.

I found Darry at the breakfast table ready to eat. I fixed his coffee and sat it on the table. I fixed ham , eggs, bacon and chocolate cake; the breakfast of champions. We sat and ate breakfast before leaving for the court house.

Pony-

I woke around seven, I got dressed in my slacks, blue dress shirt, tie and jacket. I slipped on my shoes and socks. I just combed my hair back neatly and put hair gel instead of grease. Hair gel and suits work better in court than converse and grease. I wonder my brothers were doing while i was getting ready.

I heard Alice and Jake moving around in the kitchen. They were already dressed as were Tommy, Sam, and Jimmy. I ate breakfast for what i hoped would be my last meal here. My things were already partly packed.

We left for the courthouse around eight, the hearing was at eight-thirty. I walked into the courthouse with the foster "family" which wasn't my family behind me. Sure, Tommy and I were friends but not brothers. I got along well with Jake and I loved Alice's caring ways. The younger two boys were funny but they weren't my brothers.

I saw Darry in his wheelchair looking strong and healthy in the way he was siting. He sat rathered than stood in the same manner that I knew i would come home. Superman was giving off his strong stance, which i was glad he was feeling better. I saw Soda looking nervous like a first time dad in the waiting room of the delivery room.

I ran to my brothers and gave Darry a hig hug. I missed him so much, i would rather be at home getting chew out about grades than have to be away from my brothers. I felt Darry hug back before tacking Soda into a hug.

I heard two people approaching , it was Alice and Jake. "Pony, these must be your older brothers", Alice says

"Yes, this is Soda and that's Darry", I say

"Nice, to meet you we are Alice and Jake Reed we are just temporarily looking after your brother ", Jake says

"Nice to meet you", Darry says shaking Jake's hand

Alice and Jake returned to their seats after meeting my brothers. I was relived to hear that this was just "temporary" as Jake put it.

Soon, the court came to order. Few people were present, there was Steve and Two-bit. My social worker and my "foster family" was sitting there. That was about it, the judge was seated.

I don't really know what happened in court that day. It was such a blur and fluzzy, i was too nervous to know what was going on. I sat with Mrs. Willams just like i was supposed to. I sat with my head on her shoulder watching from a distance. I was lost in my own little world.

I snapped back into the real world when Darry came to the stand, he rolled up their confidently. Soda wanted Darry and him to have joined custody. The judge seemed to like the idea that Darry would still be acting as a guardian along side Soda. If both of my brothers had custody every base was covered, they couldn't hit us from any direction.

Darry would still act as as he always had making sure i got everything done. He will work just not as much. Soda would pick up an extra job and wages wouldn't be lost.

The only thing i remember about the day in court was we won the custody battle. I was wrapped in the arms of my brothers. "We won, Pone", Soda cries out joyfully

"Let's go get your stuff and go home", Darry says

So that what we did, I got my stuff and we went home. It was a great day, we celebrated Soda's birthday two weeks late. This was a time to celebrate, all three Curtis brothers were home.