He Was Mine, I Was His

Healing

    Elizabeth let me stay home Monday. I woke up in kind of a slump. I was confused. Last night I was so confident that I could turn things around for the better. Maybe getting over the abandonment was going to be harder than I thought. 

    In an attempt to revive myself from this slump, I got up and took a shower. I put on a nice skirt and tucked a T-shirt into it. When I walked into the kitchen, Elizabeth was making breakfast. 

    "Good morning, sweetie," she greeted. "Want some eggs?" 

    "Sure," I replied. 

    We ate breakfast out on the porch. She started to talk about her conversation with the custody judge. She said that she had signed the papers and all they had to do was be accepted. Then I was hers. For the first time, I was kind of okay with being her kid. Maybe it was just the anger I had with my mother but I was starting to get comfortable with the idea of staying with her. I hoped that feeling would last longer than the whole 'turn my life around for good' idea did. 

    Later that afternoon, I decided to go see Sodapop at work. I had forgotten to call last night so I thought I'd make up for it. I decided to go around lunch time in hopes of possibly running into some other friends as well. No one else was there when I arrived and I hoped I was early rather than late. 

    "Hey there stranger," Sodapop greeted when I walked through the door. He was sitting on the floor restocking  candy bars. I sat down next to him and started to help.

    "Sorry for not calling last night. Things got a little crazy."

    "That's alright. Who was that guy anyways?" He asked. 

    I sighed, "My brother."

    "Oh. Are you okay?"

    "Yeah," I nodded. "It was nice to see him again."

    "Ya know the guys and I are here for you right?" Sodapop asked, putting his hand on my shoulder. 

    "Yeah I know. Thank you," I smiled.
 
    "I better get ready, the lunch crowd will be here any minute," he chuckled as he grabbed empty boxes and got up. 

    I got up after him and stood by the counter. Soon enough, kids started coming by. Eventually, Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally walked in. I noticed Ponyboy had a bruise on his cheek. 

    "Woah what happened to you?" I asked. He came over and leaned up against the counter with me. 

    "Randy," he responded softly. 

    He knew that was all I needed to know to put the pieces together. Randy and Bob hadn't been able to get a hold of Johnny and Ponyboy since the night at the park. At least, not off school property. They knew better than to attack the boys at school even though all they would get was a slap on the wrist. 

    "Don't worry boys," Dally said, throwing his arm around Johnny. "We'll take care of them this weekend."

    "We will?" Soda asked.

    "Oh well uh, Sodapop, I may have gotten you into something," Ponyboy replied.

    "Excuse me?" Soda exclaimed.

    "Sunday, 7 o'clock," Dally explained. "You and Randy man."

    "Fighting?" I asked, concerned.

    Dally laughed, "Oh hell no. Street racin'. Soda is the best in town."

    "I didn't know you raced," I said, looking towards Soda.