Once all of my cuts and bruises were as covered in makeup as they were going to get, I took a deep breath and reopened the door.
   "Sorry about that," I said sheepishly. "I needed to get a more appropriate outfit on." I was beyond grateful that Bryce wasn't home; he had actually left me a note explaining that the roofing workers were going to stop by in the morning. He had also explained that he had gone out to the country with a few of his friends and that he wasn't going to be back until evening. His note had also included a few threats and rude comments directed towards me but I was doing my best to keep those out of my mind. "My brother left a note saying that you were going to be here to examine and fix the garage roof." Darry looked down at me suspiciously; I wanted nothing more than for to forget  my bruised figure that he had seen but I knew that he wasn't going to.
   "That is correct, we'll be getting to work on it right away." Or maybe he would; I nearly let out a sigh of relief when he didn't mention anything about my bruises. Darry turned around and pointed to the garage, "that's the area of the roof we need to work on, I'll be right over." He looked back at me, I gave him a forced smile.
   "Don't go carrying two bundles at a time ok Superman." I didn't care about my appearance at the moment; Darry's safety was more important. "I'll be inside, please let me know once you're done." Right as I was about to close the door, his hand grabbed it.
   "Not so fast," at the sound of his protective tone, I nearly groaned. "Where's Bryce?" He questioned me quietly.
   "He went to the country with some friends," I said truthfully. "They're not gonna be back until evening." Darry nodded as he took in what I said.
   "In that case get some shoes on," I cocked my eyebrows at his statement. I was about to ask why when he cut me off. "Head over to my place, there should be at least one person there who can take a look at your injuries." I was about to try and protest his orders, try to find a lie that would get me out of it, but he kept talking. "Don't even try to tell me that you're fine; I know how to tell when you're lying. Now get your shoes and leave; I only have a half day since today was supposed to be my day off until Bryce called this job in. I'll be there as soon as possible and I expect to hear the full, and true story, when I get there; understood?" I nodded, I knew nothing I said would change his mind. Without even closing the front door, I grabbed a pair of shoes from the closet and a key from the basket that we kept them in. Even though the likelihood that we would even be robbed was one in a million if anything happened to the house when I was supposed to be there, Bryce would kill me. Before I could leave, Darry handed me a small switchblade. "Stay safe, I'll be there as soon as I can." With that, he gave me a quick hug and then hurried off to where his fellow workers were waiting. I on the other hand broke into a jog, that soon turned into a walk because running was to painful, and started off towards greaser territory.