They walked out the door and began cutting across the playing fields.

“Here,” David said, handing her the yellow disciplinary notice. “I think this is yours.”

Kerry took it and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. “I’m sorry, David,” she mumbled.

He stopped walking. “I don’t think that you have anything to be sorry about.”

They started walking again and Kerry kicked a Pepsi can, sending it bouncing out in front of them.
“We all have to make decisions, Kerry. You have to decide what’s most important to you.”
She looked at him with a confused look on her face.
“Do you want to keep staying with Courtney?
“Of course, and you!”
“Well, is that what’s most important to you?”
“Yes.”
They stopped walking again, and David looked at her.

“If you continue to get in trouble at school, they will want to talk to your mother. They will go to her house to find her. They will find that she’s not there, and, even more important, that you’re not there. They will get worried, and they will find out where you are. And they might not let you stay with me and Courtney.”

Kerry suddenly got that panicked look on her face that he hadn’t seen for a while.
“I won’t go!” she yelled defiantly.
David smiled at her. “Sometimes to get what we want, we have to give others what they want.”
Kerry thought for a minute. “If I don’t get in trouble…”
“Right.”
 “But I’m not rude!” she yelled.
“I know you’re not rude.”
Kerry looked at him. “I can be nice though,” she said.
“You are already nice. Maybe a different kind of nice would work?”
“What do you mean?”
“Try talking to the teachers like the other kids do.”
Kerry paused and thought for a moment. Then she looked at David. “I can do that.”

Kerry sat down on the couch next to him. Then he smiled at her.

“You’re the kindest person I’ve ever known.”

She looked away and wiped tears from her eyes. “No, I’m not.”

“I’m going to tell you something I’ve never brought up before. I married my high school girlfriend. She was…well, eventually I felt certain that she loved me. Then things got complicated. I made a bad decision; a really bad decision. I went somewhere I didn’t belong. When I got back, it just got more difficult. But I really did try to make the wrong things right. It wasn’t too much later that she simply left; no words, just a note. I blamed her, but then later I realized that I was at fault too. So I decided to put it behind me, and focused on other things. I sought out distractions to help me forget. As time went on, I found myself feeling like things had passed me by; like I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, but I had no idea where that was. Soon I believed that there was nowhere I belonged. I began to feel like I… like I didn’t have a reason to stay. The really strange thing was that I couldn’t hear it anymore; I mean, I listened, but I couldn’t hear it. Courtney and Donna came to stay with me and I began to feel a bit better about things. But I was still haunted by the feeling that I really didn’t belong anywhere. Then Courtney brought you here. One night you and Courtney had been drinking, and she got sick, and you were sitting on the back step crying. At first I thought you just didn’t want to leave; that you had chosen a place to stay. It was later that it dawned on me.”

“What?”

“You chose…me. Everything changed after that. It felt like I was starting over; like something had been made right. Then Lindsey and Nikki followed you here, and I came to realize over time that all of you chose me. I never thought that would happen; I never thought it was possible. But then it was. So in a real way, it was you who gave me a reason to stay.”

Kerry sat still, not knowing what to say.

David looked at her and smiled. “And I can’t think of anything kinder than that.” 
******************************************

“Hey guys, look who’s here!”

Tammy jumped up from the bed. “Hey Court!”

Kerry turned to Courtney. “Yeah, hey Court! I know what you need!”

She dragged her into the bathroom and turned on the shower as cold as possible. As she was pushing her in, Courtney grabbed her. Both tumbled into the shower and then sat up, cold water streaming down over them. Both laughed for a moment. Then they were quiet. Courtney looked up into the stream of water and let the make-up wash off her face. She looked at Kerry and smiled.

“You’re a good friend,” Courtney said. “You always have been.”

Suddenly Kerry’s expression changed. She leaned back against the corner of the shower and rubbed her eyes.

“You’re a better friend,” Kerry said, her voice trembling.

“How?”

“That night, when we went to my mom’s house…remember? She came home and we both split. You made me go home with you.”

Courtney suddenly remembered how the next day she told David why Kerry had to stay.

“You owe David more than you owe me,” Courtney said.

“I know. But I owe you too.”

The cold water continued to pour down over them.

 Courtney laughed. “Hey, you remember when we were kids, and you got me to drink too much whiskey in the garden?”

Kerry smiled. “Yeah, and you still can’t hold your liquor!”

 “The last thing I can remember was David wiping my face off and you putting me in bed. Then he called you to the kitchen. What happened after that?”

Kerry’s expression changed. “I made a choice.”

Kerry Cooper: Guitar

Kerry was the only child of Virginia Cooper. Although she never knew who her father was, it was believed that he was a drug dealer named Crank, who was Virginia's boyfriend. He was only one of several criminals who were friends with Virginia, called "Ginny," who often hung around her house. After being threatened with a gun by a thug known as "Fixer," Kerry  leaves home whenever any of her mother's friends are around. She would wander around town until they were gone. From a young age, Kerry is constantly in trouble. One way she deals with her stressful situation is brawling with other kids. After Karen Marlowe makes insulting comments about her at school, Kerry ends up in a violent feud with Karen's sister, Nikki Marlowe. Kerry makes friends with another girl at school who shares her affinity for getting into trouble, Courtney Blaine, one of David's two nieces. After Courtney leaves her mother's house to live with David, she brings Kerry home to David's house, where she eventually lives permanently. Kerry plays guitar and Courtney sings. Then she brings her nemesis, Nikki Marlowe, into the band as drummer. She forms a strange relationship with Nikki, forcing her to keep a secret that both share. Their violent past could flare up in an instant, and eventually they part in a way they later regret.  Kerry and Courtney remain allies until the break-up of the band. Through David, Kerry finds what she needs most, although not until many years later. Kerry is the pivotal figure in David's slow path to epiphany. It is through her that he is able to free himself of the subconscious guilt he carries as the result of a mistake he made when he was young.

“Please help Courtney into bed and then come to the kitchen.”

Courtney was back on her feet. Kerry led her into the bedroom and helped her into bed. Then she pulled the covers over her. Courtney rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Kerry said, looking down at her.

Then she grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. Suddenly she stopped and turned around.

“Bye Courtney,” she whispered.

She reached up and hit the light switch. Then she left the room and slowly walked into the kitchen. David handed her a bucket.

“Go put this by her bed.”

Kerry took the bucket and headed back to the bedroom. Then she came back out to the kitchen. She began crying again, and looked down at the floor.

 “It’s my fault. I’ll go,” she said.

David looked at her. “Where will you go?”

“I’ll have to find a place.”

David suddenly froze. He felt an uneasy feeling come over him. It was as if everything just suddenly stopped. He sat there and stared at Kerry. It was only for a few moments, but it seemed like forever. Then he noticed Kerry was staring at him. It seemed to him like they were somewhere else. It was if someone else had walked through the room. Kerry turned around and started walking toward the kitchen door. And he sat and stared.

“Kerry, wait! Don’t go!”
She stopped and turned around.
“How’s it your fault?” David asked.
"I brought it from my house.”
“What?”
“Whiskey.”
“I see. So you forced Courtney to drink it?”
“What?” she asked.
“Did you pour it down her throat?”
“No. But…”
“Then it’s not your fault, it’s Courtney’s. Did you guys drink it all?”
“No.”
“Where’s the rest of it?”

Kerry dropped her backpack and stepped out the kitchen door, the screen door shutting behind her. Bending down, she picked up a bottle and held it up. She looked at David through the screen door. He saw that she was still crying.

“Where did you guys drink it?”

“In the garden. But I’ll go now.” She was about to leave when David called out to her.

“Wait! Bring me the bottle!” he said rather sternly.

Kerry pushed the door open and was about to step in when she suddenly stopped.

“Kerry, I said bring me the bottle!”

Again she opened the door, and then stopped.

“Why have you stopped?”

She turned around and sat down on the step, setting the bottle down next to her. She rested her head on her knees and sobbed uncontrollably. David opened the screen door, stepped out and sat down next to her. He picked up the bottle and turned it upside down. The remaining whiskey poured out onto the grass.

David smiled at her. “Will you do me a favor?”

Kerry looked at him and nodded.

“When you’re sleeping in Courtney’s room tonight, please let me know if she gets sick again.”

Kerry walked in through the screen door wiping her eyes, picked up her backpack and headed down the hall to Courtney’s room.