He Was Mine, I Was His

Tutor

    I was glad to be back home again. Glad to see Elizabeth, Ada, and Charlie. Charlie was doing well. His hearing hadn't returned yet but the seizures stopped and he was living with a friend a few towns away.

    I was excited to go back to school that next Monday. I was shocked to admit that I missed it. Mostly Cherry, Marcia, and Lucy. I had lunch with them and Cherry pulled me aside afterwards to talk to me.

    "Is it true?" She asked.

    "You're going to have to elaborate," I said, confused.

    "Ponyboy. Was he flirting with girls on that trip you guys took?"

    I nearly laughed, "No. Where did you heard that?"

    "An anonymous source," she crossed her arms. "Are you sure he didn't do anything? He hasn't talked to me since he got back."

    "I can assure you Ponyboy didn't do anything. Why don't you go talk to him yourself? See if he's okay. He would definitely be talking to you if something wasn't bothering him."

    "You're right. I'm sorry," she said, taking my hand and walking with me after the bell rang. "I'm just so out of it right now. Bob has been trying to talk to me again."

    I rolled my eyes, "Cherry we are not doing this again. You know what you need to do. You don't need me to tell you. I don't see why you don't just tell him you're taken."

    "I'm not. Pony and I are just friends for now."

    I set my hands on her shoulders, "If you were 'just friends' you wouldn't be worried if he was flirting with other girls. You wouldn't have gone out for Valentine's Day. Face the facts Sherri Valance. You're in love."

    "Oh fine whatever. I'm going to go find Ponyboy. I'll see you later," she said, waving goodbye.

    I sighed at their foolishness and walked to my locker. I wasn't there nearly five minutes before Two-Bit showed up. He was in a panic.

    "Marilyn, I need your help," he said softly. It concerned me how upset he was.

    "Yeah, of course. What's wrong?"

    He handed me a peice of paper. It was his final he took last semester for Civics. There was a big red F on it. "You've got to help me pass this semesters final exam. Mr. Winters said I have to get an 83% to pass the class. If I don't pass the class then I can't be a senior."

    "Um, since when did you start caring about your academics?" I asked with a small chuckle.

    "It's my mom. She got all upset last night when the school sent her a letter in the mail. She cried Marilyn. I disappointed her. I made my momma cry," he sighed.

    "Oh Two-Bit. Of course I'll help you. You're so smart, you just have to put some work into it. Once you get a list of what's on the test you can come over one day and we can start."

    He hugged me, "Thank you so much!"

    "You're welcome," I smiled.

    As he walked away, I felt bad. He was such a secret momma's boy. I knew it crushed him to see his mother upset.

    It was two weeks later when we started our study dates. Sometimes we had them at my house, others at his. Getting Two-Bit started in the act of studying was harder than I thought. On the first day, he just wouldn't sit down.

    "Stop looking for more snacks, Keith. We already have chips. You're just procrastinating!" I scorned.

    He groaned and moped over to the table, "But it's what I do best. You should know this by now!"

    "I do and that's why I'm telling you to sit down and let's get to work." He finally sat down. "Now what are the three branches of government?"

    "Umm, the president, congress, and uhhh, well I don't know, Disney?"

    I sighed, knowing he wasn't taking this seriously. I knew me asking him questions at the dining room table wasn't going to help him learn anything. I had to find something to get his attention. Something to make him excited to learn.

    I proposed the idea to Soda for his input. He thought I was joking at first.

    "The only thing that could make Two-Bit excited about learning is if Jean Shrimpton and Pattie Boyd were teaching the class," he laughed.

    "Soda come on. I'm being serious," I groaned. "This is super important to him but I can't get him to concentrate."

    "What about football? He likes playing with us. Could we use that?"

    I thought for a moment, "That's perfect Soda! You're a genius!" I hugged him tightly and gave him a peck on the cheek.

    He hugged me back, "Maybe I should have good ideas more often."

    Sunday afternoon, we all met at the lot for a game of football. I had been working with Two-Bit all week and I hoped it would pay off. My plan was to let them play as usual but if someone scored a touchdown, Two-Bit had to answer a question correctly for it to count.

    "You better get it together little buddy. I'm not losing points because of you," Darry joked.

    "Are you really going to do this to me Marilyn?" Two-Bit asked as if he were stressed.

    I nodded happily and the game was on. It was fun to watch them all run around, tackling each other, bringing out their competitive nature. Darry was the first to score a touchdown. He gave Two-Bit the stink eye as I asked him his question.

    "Let's start off easy," I said. "Who is the current President and Vice President?"

    "I swear if you get this wrong," Darry huffed.

    "Lyndon B. Johnson and Hubert Humphrey," Two-Bit said proudly.

    "Well done. Points valid," I smiled. "Let the games continue."

    As the game went on, I continued quizzing Two-Bit. He got a few questions wrong but for the most part, he was doing very well. I was honestly very proud of him. He was learning and actually enjoying himself in the process. I just hoped it would pay off.

    In the end Darry, Soda, and Two-Bit won the game. Steve wasn't too happy about losing. He tackled Two-Bit, going on about how it was unfair that he got to determine what touchdowns counted. Yes, maybe it wasn't fair but Two-Bit was learning. And he was happy. Even as Steve had him in a chokehold, he was happy. All because he knew he would make his momma proud.