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pocket money. There’s this girl I like and she won’t give me the time of day. You won’t even let me get a damned car!”
    â€œDon’t you cuss me!” she flashed at him. “Don’t you dare!”
    â€œLet me out.” He reached for the door handle, his eyes daring her. “I’ll do it, I swear. Stop this car and let me out!”
    â€œClay, where are you going?!” she demanded when he was on the pavement.
    â€œSomewhere I can be what I want to be,” he said harshly. “I’m not your little boy, Becky, I’m your brother! You just don’t get it, do you? I’m not a kid you can order around! I’m a man!”
    She slumped a little, stretched toward the open door, her hazel eyes weary, her face heavily lined. “Oh, Clay,” she said heavily. “Clay, what am I going to do now?” She broke down, and tears ran down her cheeks.
    He hesitated, torn between standing up for his independence and erasing that look from Becky’s face. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he wasn’t quite in control of himself these days. He had these violent mood swings….
    He slid back inside the car and closed the door, eyeing her warily. He felt suddenly older as he realized how much an act her strength really was. Guilt sat on him like a rock. He should never had added to her burden by acting like a stupid kid.
    â€œLook, it will be all right,” he began hesitantly. “Becky, please stop crying.”
    â€œGranddad will die,” she whispered. She dug for a handkerchief in her purse and wiped her eyes. “He’ll find out, no matter how hard we try to keep it from him.”
    â€œHey. How about if we move to Savannah?” he suggested, and smiled. “We could build yachts and get rich.”
    That brightness lifted her spirits. She smiled back. “Dad would find out that we had money and come looking for us,” she said with graveyard humor.
    â€œThey said he’d been arrested. Did you know?” he asked her.
    She nodded her head.
    He leaned back in his seat, glancing out the window. “Becky, why did he run out on us when Mama died?”
    â€œHe ran out on us long before that. You wouldn’t remember, but he was always out with the boys, even when you and Mack were being born. I don’t think he was ever around when we really needed him. Mama gave up eventually.”
    â€œDon’t you give up, Becky,” he said suddenly, turning his gaze back to hers. “I’ll take care of things, don’t you worry.” He was already thinking of ways that he could make enough money to take some of the financial burden off her shoulders. The Harris boys had made one or two suggestions. He didn’t have Becky’s conscience, and there was plenty of money to be made. What she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, and he’d be careful not to get caught twice.
    â€œOkay.” She turned into the driveway, wondering how to break the news to their grandfather, how to cope with the future.
    She hoped Clay would do what the juvenile officer had told him to. She hoped that being arrested had scared him. Maybe it would keep him straight.
    She didn’t know what to do. Life had become too complicated. She wanted to run away.
    â€œWhat are you thinking?” Clay asked with dark perception.
    â€œI was thinking about the chocolate cake I’m going to bake for supper,” she hedged, and smiled at him. The smile took more effort than Clay would ever know.

CHAPTER THREE
    G randdad took the news of Clay’s arrest better than Becky had expected him to. It was a blessing that Clay had been arrested in town, and not at home. To his credit, he didn’t balk at going to school, for once. He got on the bus without an argument, with Mack right behind him.
    Becky settled Granddad in his armchair in the living room, concerned at his silence.
    â€œAre you going to be all right?”