Chocolate Cake and Beer for Breakfast

Twelve

I hate cold. This whole place is cold. I hate this place. The food is crap. People are too nice. I always fall asleep during visiting hours. I hurt. My leg can't move cause of my knee.  I want go get the hell out of here. I want to see Pony. I want to help Darry cook dinner. I want to clean the clothes I borrowed from Soda. 

"Alice?" Stupid doctor. Just let me get out of here. I've been hurt worse than this before, and I healed. Just let me go. "Alice, I have some news for you," the stupid doctor. I don't give a crap. "Your wounds are all bandaged; this is all we can do. You don't need to be here for anything. So you can check out tomorrow. We'll give you antibiotics, bandages, cleaning supplies, what you need to heal properly." I can go. I can leave this freaking ditch. My prayers have been answered. 

"But, we have more. The police have your attackers arrested.  They have questions for you," they're gonna put me up for adoption. I'm gonna be stuck in random homes of people who only want me for the money they get with the fostering business. 

"Do you have a family to call? A house to stay at? Your friends, the Curtises, have offered for you to stay with them, but what about your family?"

"My family is arrested. They...re the ones who attacked me," I sputter out. His eyes widen and he excuses himself. I sit there again. The Curtises? They want to take care of me. I can't hold in my smile. They just keep helping. 

"Are you Alice Dodds?" A tall, wide, mustached man cracks the door open and I nod. "The name's Deputy Crawford. I have to ask you about this incident," his voice is rather droll. It's boring. I have to force my eyes to stay open.  He pulls out a notebook. "If you don't mind, I have a few questions to ask you. Let's start with an easy one, yeah?" I don't really have much of a choice now, do I? I nod anyways. "Where is your family?"

"The police station."

"Why?"

"They got arrested for beating me up. In the park. They're the ones who attacked me, they're the ones who hospitalized me." He scribbles down what I said. 

"The doctor says you have many other scars on you. Where are these from?"

"My family."

"What did they do?"

"Punch. Stab. Yell. Kick. Everything."

"How long have they been doing this?"

"As long as I can remember."

"Why didn't you turn them in before?"

"I...rarely left the house," I started. "And I believe that I'm a piece of crap that isn't worth anyone's time. I believe it's a mistake that I'm alive." He looked at me straight in the eyes. I can tell he wants to tell me I'm not crap, but that isn't what his job permits. He continues anyways.

"Where do you live?"

"Oklahoma City."

"That's a long way from here. What brought you to Tulsa?"

"I..." if I tell him I ran away I'll get in trouble. I'll go to the juvenile court or whatever.

"Miss? Please. I'm doing this to help. We want to give you the best life possible."

"I ran away."

"You finally got the courage to leave?"

"No. My hatred for them overran."

"Did something in particular cause this?"

"Yes." I didn't really want to talk about Eleanor. I knew he'd press further though. And he did. 

"Can you emphasize on that?"

"They killed...my sister."

"They killed your sister...meaning their daughter?" I hate them. My eyes tear up and I start to sniffle. He gets my cue and stops pressing further. "Well, this has to go to court. In order to jail them, we have to take this to court. Will you testify against them?" I sniff again and nod. I do want them gone. But it won't bring Eleanor back. 

"Are you alright staying with the Curtis family?" I want to see Pony again. I want to make them another cake. But I don't want to be even more annoying to them. 

"They've done so much for me. I could just stay in the park or something and-"

"No. They said you'll probably try and not stay with them. They want you to come over," he smiles at me assuring me. "They're good people. You'll be safe there." He gets up and moves towards the door. "You haven't to worry about your family. They'll be locked up until the court session. I'll let you know what day that is scheduled for. Take care, Alice." He stars to close the door but stops suddenly. "Are you alright with having another visitor? Sodapop Curtis would like to see you." I urgently reply with a yes. Soda's nice.

"Hey Alice, how you doin?" Soda's reassuring voice echoes through the room. I smile at him. 

"So you're staying with us now. I know you're still hurt and all, but I can't help but ask-"

"Soda I'm fine. I've been worse than this before. I could probably walk if I need to."

"You've had an artery cut open before?" His eyes go wide open. I nod casually, it's not too bad. It hurts a lot, but it's happened multiple times. 

"Anyways, uh. Could you make another cake? We've all been raving about how good yours is. Darry's just wont cut it anymore," he says with a wink, causing me to laugh. I nod my head violently. 

"That's the least...I can do to give thanks.  I wish I could do more."

"No! Oh, right, listen to me. Darry wanted me to tell you this. You don't have to do anything for us. Your presence is a gift to us. We love having you! We want to pay you back for your time spent with us nerds. Well, my nerd brothers, anyways." I laugh again. 

"Sodapop? You have five more minutes." The nurse states warmly. She hasn't said anything that kindly to me all week. It must be Soda. He thanks her and she blushes. I giggle again. 

"You know Pony has less than a week of school left? He says he wants to hang out this summer, and I think he means with you. 

"He's been talking about you, a lot. He's been really worried about you. I think...he's gonna hate me for this, but...I think he likes you. A lot. I mean, he's talked about other girls before, but not this much. Like Cherry. He talked about her a bit, but not as much as he does you. Everything comes back to you." He grins widely before getting up. "And if you ask me, I think you two would be the cutest couple. Ever," and with that, he chuckles and closes the door behind him.