Work Text:
Bo sat in the hard chair in the principal’s office. Everyone assumed he had been called here because he was in trouble again, but he knew the real reason. Principal Watkins pulled the folder out of his drawer and opened it up.
“Bo I want to talk to you about something important. You have more than enough credits to graduate early. You’ll still get your diploma, and you can still participate in the graduation ceremony but you won’t have to come here everyday. In fact you have the highest grade point average in your class. You will be named valedictorian and you can give a speech at graduation.”
“I don’t want to give a speech at graduation.” Bo said
“Bo this is a tremendous opportunity for you. Have you applied to any colleges?”
“No I don’t want to go to college.”
“Bo your extremely intelligent, you should consider it.”
“I’ll think about it, but I definitely don’t want to be named valedictorian. Do I need anything signed or can this just be between us?”
“Bo, why don’t you want anyone to know?”
“I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Bo doesn’t Jesse know about your report cards?”
“No, I stopped giving them to him when I got here. Luke has always been the smart one, I’ve always been the dumb blonde. I’m fine with that.”
“Your not dumb Bo. Far from it.”
“I know, but I don’t want anyone else to know that.”
“Ok. You can go back to class. Just do me a favor and think about what we talked about. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Bo got up and walked out of the office thinking about what the principal said. All of his life Luke has been the smart one. The one who came up with plans and ideas. The one who everyone worried now because he was gone fighting in another Country. Between the three of them he was the one that was worried about the least. Everyone said Daisy was the one who could fight for herself, take care of herself. Luke was the bright one. He was smart and would go far. He liked listening when people talked about how smart Luke was. It made him proud of him. When they started talking about him though he didn’t like it so much. He was always described as the trouble marker, the one who got hurt doing stupid things, the one who was always following Luke around causing him trouble. The one who would be lucky to graduate high school. He made his way up to the Indian Caves to think about what he had been told today. He and Luke came here when they wanted to skip school. He always wondered why the principal didn’t care that he skipped with Luke. Now he knew. When Luke had to go to summer school he went too. He went everywhere Luke went. He watched the sunset and realized that it was later than he thought. He got up and went to the car. As he drove home the CB came to life with Jesse’s voice.
“Sheppard to lost sheep. Sheppard to lost sheep.”
“This lost sheep Uncle Jesse.”
“Where are you? Daisy and I have been waiting for you.”
“Sorry. I was up at the Indian Dunes and lost track of time. I’m on my home now.”
“Ok. Sheppard out.”
Bo sighed and raced back to the house. He never noticed Rosco’s speed trap and got pulled over.
“Sorry Rosco.”
“Bo Duke. Do you know how fast you were going?”
“No I wasn’t paying to the speed just the road.”
“You were doing 65 in a 55. That’s a $10 ticket. You can pay it tomorrow at the station. Be careful the rest of the way home Bo.”
Bo took the ticket and drove the rest of the way home with in the speed limit. He got to the house and found Jesse and Daisy sitting at the table. Daisy looked up when he walked in. Jesse didn’t look up at all. He went to the sink to wash his hands and then sat down at the table. Jesse said grace and they ate in silence. When they were done Daisy cleared the plates off the table.
“Daisy Bo will do the dishes for the next two weeks.”
“Yes Uncle Jesse” Daisy said leaving the kitchen.
“Did you skip school again Bo? You need to stop doing that. You’ll never graduate if you don’t. Mrs. Whitmore called me and told me you were in her class this after noon. She gave me what you need for homework. I suggest you do the dishes and then do your homework.”
“Yes sir. Uncle Jesse I need to borrow $10.”
“Why?”
“Speeding ticket. Rosco said I can pay it tomorrow.”
“Dang it Bo! You know we don’t have a lot of money! I’ll give you the money, but your going to work it off this weekend repairing Mr. Johnson’s fence. You can be excused to do the dishes. Then do your homework.”
“Ok Uncle Jesse.” Bo said getting up and doing the dishes. When he was done he sat back down at the table and did the homework that Mrs. Whitmore had assigned. He finished the assignment and then went to bed. He couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about what Mr. Watkins said. He got up and went to the kitchen. He made himself a sandwich and poured a glass of buttermilk. He thought again about what was talked about and then he made a decision. He finished his sandwich and went back to bed. The next day he stopped by and paid his ticket and then went to school. He walked into the principal’s office. Mrs. Diamond was sitting at her desk and looked up when Bo walked in.
“Hi Bo. What can I do for you?”
“Hi Mrs. Diamond. Is Mr. Watkins in?”
“He has an appointment this morning and he won’t be in until 10.”
“Oh, ok. Thanks.”
“I’ll let him know you want to see him when he gets here.”
“Ok. Thank you Mrs. Diamond. Have a good morning.”
Bo left the office and went to his homeroom and sat down. He started his day and while he was in Mr. Schmidt’s History class Mrs. Diamond came in with a note and handed it to his teacher.
“Bo, Mr. Watkins wants to see you.”
He got up to whispers of people saying that he’s in trouble again. He walked down the hall to the office and Mr. Watkins was waiting for him.
“Bo, step into my office.” Bo walked into the office and sat down. “What can I do for you Bo? Is this about yesterday?”
“Yes. I thought a lot about what you said. If I can get a job during school hours in Capital City, I’ll graduate early, as long as I can still participate in the graduation ceremony and I can still do all of the assignments for school.”
“Well Bo it sounds like you thought a lot about this. It just so happens my meeting this morning was about you. I have a friend over in Capital City who is looking for someone to help him during the day. He’s the Superintendent of the schools in Capital City. He needs someone who can be secretary for the rest of the year. I told him that you might be looking for something to do during the day. If your interested you can go over there now and meet with him.”
“Won’t it be weird having a male secretary?”
“Nope. All your going to do is type up the letters he writes out, calls the schools for him to set up meetings and brings the mail to the post office. It will be the same times you are here.”
“Ok.”
“Your making a good decision Bo. I will say that I wish you told Jesse what was going on, but I’ll respect your decision. I’m not going to say anything to anyone since it’s no one’s business. There may be rumors that your expelled. I’ll just tell them your suspended for the rest of the year. Your teachers know though.”
“Ok. I’ll do it.”
“Great. Here is his name and where you need to go. I’ll bring you your assignments over there to you. I really do think you should let Jesse know.”
“I know. Maybe I’ll tell him. I don’t know though.”
“Just think about it Bo.”
“I will sir. Thank you.” Bo said shaking his hand and leaving the office. He got in his car and looked at the address. Capital City was about and hour away. He pulled out of the parking spot and drove to the Capital City School Department. He found his way there and walked into the office. He was greeted by a woman sitting there.
“Hi My name is Bo Duke. Mr. Watkins sent me over here to meet a Mr. Watkins?”
“Hi Bo I’m Cara Pringle. You’ll be taking my job for the next 12 weeks.”
“Oh, I’m sorry?”
“It’s ok Bo. I’m pregnant and I’m due next week. I needed to make sure my husband was set with someone who would be willing to do this job. When Jack suggested you to Mike, I hoped you’d consider it. I lost you didn’t I”
“No I just didn’t know that Mr. Watkins had a brother.”
“Jack and Mike are cousins.”
“Oh. Daisy, Luke and I are cousins. Luke is gone right now though.”
“I know. Jack said you’ve been having a hard time dealing with it. Your worried.”
“This is the first time in my life that Luke and I have been apart. It’s weird. I’m hoping he can get home before my graduation, but I doubt it.”
“Don’t worry Bo. God works in mysterious ways. Come on I’ll introduce you to Mike.”
Cara led Bo into the office of Mike Watkins. “Mike this is Bo Duke.”
“Well hi Bo it’s great to meet you. Jack has told me a lot about you. I’m glad you can help out.”
“I’m happy too.”
Bo spent the day in Capital City. He enjoyed working for Mr. Watkins. He thought about telling Jesse what was going on, but he decided not to. For the next two weeks everything went fine. Then the following week everything blew up. There was rumor that Bo had been suspended. Jesse confronted him that afternoon when he got back home.
“Bo I need to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong Uncle Jesse?’
“I heard Mary Ellen Werner talk today about you getting suspended from school three weeks ago. When were you going to tell me?”
“Uncle Jesse I didn’t get suspended.”
“Don’t lie to me Bo. Dukes don’t lie.”
“I’m not lying! I didn’t get suspended”
“What did you do Bo?”
“Nothing! I didn’t do anything. I didn’t get suspended and I didn’t expelled!”
“I think you need to go to your room. Your doing all the chores for the next month and your not leaving the farm. Do you understand me?”
“Yes sir.” Bo lay on his bed and closed his eyes. He wished not for the first time that Luke was here. The next morning he got up early and did the morning chores, then made breakfast. He cleaned the dishes after everyone was done eating. When he was done with that he called over to Mike Watkins and told him what happened. He felt bad because he had promised them that he would help them and now he can’t. He spent the rest of the morning doing homework that he didn’t really need to do. He knew he should tell Uncle Jesse what was going on, but he just couldn’t and he didn’t really understand why. He got up and put his homework in his backpack and thought about what to do next. He could just go to school and drop off the work or he could stay here and paint the fence. He decided that since he was here alone there would be no harm in dropping his school work off, besides if he stayed here he would go crazy over the fact that they hadn’t heard from Luke in a few weeks. He usually got a letter a month, but he hadn’t gotten one last month. He was really starting to worry. Jesse told him he was probably too busy to write, and he would the first chance he got. He knew Jesse was worried, but he didn’t let it show. He grabbed his keys and headed out to go to the school. He was about halfway there when a black car came speeding down a side street and ran right into him forcing upside down over the fence, rolling into a tree. His last thought before everything went dark was that Uncle Jesse was going to kill him.
Rosco came up to the smoke billowing in the air. He stopped and saw a car with the driver side on the ground and its roof up against a tree. He stopped and radioed for an ambulance and tow truck. He ran over to the car and looked inside. His blood ran cold when he saw Bo Duke unconscious in the drivers seat. He reached in and put two fingers up to his neck. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a faint pulse.
“I’m going to get you put of here Bo. Don’t worry.” Rosco said as the ambulance came to a stop at the scene.
“Rosco!”
“Teddy it’s Bo Duke! I think he’s hurt bad. He has a pulse but it’s faint.”
“Ok Rosco, we’ll need your help to get him out. I need to put a neck brace on him and then we need to flip the car back over.” Teddy put a neck brace on Bo and slipped a back board behind him, then all three of them slowly and gently put the car back on four wheels. Teddy and his partner Nick slowly moved Bo out of the car. He was still unconscious and he knew that he needed to go to the farm to tell Jesse what happened.
“Teddy, I have to go tell Jesse what happened.”
“Ok. We’re going to bring him to Tri County. The tow truck is here.” Teddy said as the Hazzard County Police Impound tow truck stopped and Mike Watson got out.
“Rosco?”
“Hi Mike. I need you to get the car and bring it to the impound yard. I have to go make an accident notification”
“Oh Rosco. How bad?” Mike asked as Teddy and Nick sped away.
“Alive. That’s all I know.”
“Do you know who’s car it is?”
“You’ll know as soon as you see it.” Rosco said as Mike took a closer look at the car.
“Oh Lord is that Bo Duke’s Mustang?”
“Yes. I have to go tell Jesse.”
“If they need anything Rosco.”
“I’ll tell him.”
Jesse was had noticed the missing car as soon as he returned to the farm. He was so angry that Bo would disobey a direct order to not leave. He didn’t know what he was going to do with that boy. He couldn’t really blame Bo for all of his anger. He was worried about Luke and he knew that Bo was too. He had tried to talk to Bo’s principal, but he said that Bo was fine, he had made a promise to Bo not to discuss what was going on at Bo’s request, but that he wasn’t suspended or expelled. He was hoping to come home and talk to him about what was going on. His anger at Bo subsided on the way home, but picked up again when he saw the car gone. He went inside and sat down at the table. He made some coffee and waited for Bo to return. He was going to radio him on the CB, an hour later when he heard a car pull up. Thinking it was Bo he opened the door to confront him, when he saw Rosco getting out of his patrol car.
“Rosco what are you doing here?”
“Jesse, I was doing a routine patrol and saw some smoke coming from the side Riddley’s farm. I stopped and found a car up on its side against a tree. Jesse I’m sorry it was Bo. He was brought to Tri County. All I can tell you is that when I got there he was alive. Is Daisy here?”
“No, she’s in Tennessee with some of her friend’s for the week. I’ll have to get word to her. I have to go to the hospital.”
“Jesse I’ll drive you.” Rosco said and Jesse nodded and climbed into the car. “Jesse, do you have the number for where Daisy is?” Rosco asked him as they drove to the hospital. Jesse was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear him. “Jesse, do you have the number for where Daisy is staying?”
“Huh, sorry Rosco. Yeah, she’s at the Elmwood Hotel. It’s in Elmwood Tennessee.”
“When we get to the hospital I’ll call over there at let her know.”
“Thank you Rosco.”
“Your welcome.”
They pulled up to the hospital and walked into the entrance. They walked up to the desk where a nurse was writing something down on a pad of paper.
“Excuse me, I’m here about my nephew Bo Duke.”
“Mr. Duke is still being examined by Dr. Roberts. I’ll let him know you’re here. You can wait in the waiting room. It’s right around the corner on the left.”
Jesse and Rosco went to the waiting room. Rosco went over to use the phone and then came back and sat down next to Jesse.
“Daisy wasn’t in her room, but Marla is going to keep trying for me. When she gets through she’ll let Daisy know.”
“Thanks Rosco. I wish I knew what that boy has been thinking. He hasn’t been going to school, he disobeyed my order about not leaving the farm. I know he’s worried about Luke, but I just wish he would talk to me.”
“I found his backpack in the car. It’s the backseat. Maybe there is something in there that will tell you what’s going on.” Rosco said
“I don’t want to invade his privacy Rosco. He’s always known he can come to me about anything. Usually he goes to Luke, but that hasn’t been an option. I think he’s scared and doesn’t know what to do.”
Rosco was going to respond but the door opened and a Dr. walked into the room.
“Mr. Duke?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m Dr. Roberts. Why don’t we sit down over here and we talk about Bo’s injuries.” After Jesse and the Dr. sat down he continued. “Bo has some broken ribs, a broken left ankle and a moderate concussion. He’s very, very lucky. I want to keep him here overnight, just to make sure his head injury doesn’t become severe. He’s being moved to a room right now. He’s still unconscious and he will be very dizzy and have a headache when he wakes up. He will be that way for a few days. Then he’ll only get them if he moves his head or sits up too fast. Come on I’ll bring you to him.”
Dr. Roberts led Jesse and Rosco to Bo’s room. He was laying in bed and his head was facing toward the window. A nurse was on her way out when they arrived.
“He just regained consciousness Dr. He’s not in any pain.”
“Great thanks.”
Jesse walked into the room and sat down next to the bed. He sighed and saw Bo closes his eyes.
“I know your awake Bo.” He was surprised when Bo slowly turned his head and his were red and he had tears on his cheeks.
“I’m sorry Uncle Jesse.”
“I know. Bo what’s going on in that head of yours huh?”
“Can we talk about it when I get home?”
“We can talk when you get home tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow! But I want to go home now.”
“Sorry Bo, they want to make sure your concussion doesn’t get more serious. Sometimes these things can lead to bleeding in your brain and they just want to make sure you don’t have one or one comes up.”
“Oh, well I should be fine right. I mean you can’t hurt what you don’t have right.”
“Bo what are you talking about?”
“Everyone knows that I’m not the brains of family right? I hear it all the time. ‘At least two Dukes have brains.’ Poor Luke must hate having to always keep an eye on Bo’ Why can’t you be smart like Luke?’ ‘Don’t worry Bo you don’t need brains if your pretty.’ ‘You don’t need to be the smart one, that’s what Daisy and Luke are for.’ ‘You’ll be lucky if you graduate.’ ‘You can be named class loser.’ ‘I only want to date guys that both pretty and smart, so when is Luke coming home?’ I heard it all Uncle Jesse. I’m just the pretty face who will never make it anywhere. I guess this just proves everyone right.”
“Bo you are smart. People just talk. Your smart Bo. Don’t take what people at your school say to heart. You still might be able to graduate. We can talk to your principal.”
“Jokes on them Uncle Jesse.”
“What do you mean?”
Bo sighed and then explained “I already graduated.”
“What do you mean you already graduated?”
“You know how I went to summer school?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t do it because I needed to. I did it because I was bored and missed Luke. With those extra classes and my grades I had enough credits to graduate at the beginning of the year. Principal Watkins wanted me too, but I didn’t want to be home because Luke wasn’t there. I thought about it and decided that I would as long as I could get a job someplace that took up my time so I wouldn’t think about Luke. He got me a job with in Capital City helping his cousin who is the superintendent of schools. I wanted to be at graduation and still wanted to do the homework assignments and tests. He agreed.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Bo?”
“There’s one more thing Uncle Jesse.”
“What?” He asked as Bo bite his bottom lip.
“He told me something else and I turned it down.”
“What did he say?”
“Not only could I graduate early, but I also have the highest GPA of anyone in the class. He said that makes me valedictorian. I could make a speech at graduation. I turned it down.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Come on Uncle Jesse, I’d have to make a speech in front of everyone. I don’t want to do that.”
“Bo why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“I don’t know. I guess it was just easier to be known as the dumb pretty one than the smart one.”
“Bo if we did anything to make you think that your not smart…”
“No Uncle Jesse you didn’t. It was just me.”
“You kind of got lost in your own insecurities.”
“Yeah.”
“Usually you have Luke here to get you out of them. I know him being gone has been hard on you Bo and I know that your worried.”
“I’m scared Uncle Jesse.” Bo said with tears streaming down his face.
“I know Bo.” Uncle Jesse said reaching over to give Bo a hug being careful of his ribs. He held him running a hand through Bo’s hair, while Bo cried. He whispered reassurances in Bo’s ear until he fell asleep. Jesse gently repositioned Bo on the bed and crept out of the room. Rosco was standing in the doorway. “Sorry Rosco I forgot you were here.”
“It’s ok Jesse. I understand. I’ll need to talk to him about what happened, but I can come back. How about I come back later today?”
“Ok Rosco. I’m going to be here until they kick me out.”
“Ok. Oh Daisy should be on her way.”
“Thanks Rosco.”
When Rosco got back to the station there was a call for him from the sheriff of Chickasaw County. It seems there were two bank robbers who fled in a black four door sedan and was last seen headed toward Hazzard. Rosco put a bulletin out for all patrols to be on the lookout for the car. Later that day he went back to the hospital to see Bo. When he walked into the room Jesse and Daisy were there with him. He was awake and he looked a little than that morning.
“Hi Bo. How are you feeling?”
“Hi Rosco. Better. Um I heard that you found me. Thanks Rosco.”
“I was just doing my job. Now I need to ask about what happened.”
“Ok. I was driving to school to drop off my homework. A car came out of the side street and ran right into me and pushed me off the road.”
“Do you remember what the car looked like?”
“Yeah. There were two guys in it and it was a black four door sedan. I didn’t get a good look at the license plate though.”
“Do you know which direction they were coming from?”
“Yeah Chickasaw. They were headed toward Hazzard Square.”
“Ok Bo thank you. I need to go see if I can find it.” Jesse looked at Rosco and noticed that his demeaner had changed a little. “Bo did you get a good look at the guys?”
“I only really noticed the driver. I could probably describe him though.”
“Ok. I’ll send Toby Matthews here for a sketch.”
“Rosco what’s going on?” Jesse asked
“I got a call from the Chickasaw Sherriff. There was a bank robbery this morning. Two guys driving a black four door sedan. They were last seen headed toward Hazzard.”
“Rosco is Bo in danger?”
“I don’t think so Jesse, but I want someone to stay with him just in case.”
“Ok. We’ll stay too just in case.”
“Ok. Don’t worry Jesse.”
“All I do is worry about my boys.”
“I know. I’ll come back with Toby and see who I can get to stand here.”
Bo spent the day sleeping off and on. He gave a description of the driver of the car to Toby and he did a sketch to give to Rosco and Rosco got a new deputy from Chickasaw to watch out for Bo just in case the robbers panic about being seen. The next morning Bo was released and thanks to Bo’s description of the driver the robbers were caught trying to rob Hazzard Bank. Three weeks later they were getting ready for Bo’s graduation. Since he was still on crutches from his broken ankle he didn’t want to go to the ceremony. Jesse convinced him he should or he might regret it. Everyone was in Hazzard Square for the graduation ceremony. When Bo’s name was called he hobbled across the stage and got his diploma. What he wasn’t expecting was who gave him the diploma. When he looked up Luke was standing there. He had a big smile on his face. Bo took the diploma from him and then moved his crutches to one side and flung an arm around Luke. He let go and Luke helped him back to his seat and then went out into the audience to watch the rest of the ceremony. After the ceremony Bo met his family. He flung his arm around Luke again and this time when he buried his face in Luke’s shoulder he cried. Luke rubbed his hand up and down Bo’s back. When Bo let go Luke looked at him.
“What did you do to yourself?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got plenty of time.”
“Do you want from the very beginning or just the most recent?”
“How about we start with the crutches?”
“Oh I’m so sorry Luke I wrecked your car!”
“How did you do that?”
“Bank robbers drove me off the road. I flipped over and ended up drivers side down up against a tree. I broke my ribs and my ankle. I still have some side effects from the concussion. Rosco found me.”
“Oh Bo! I’m glad your ok.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Do you want to tell me the rest of the story?”
“I missed you and got bored. I went to summer school, did my homework, got straight A’s in like everything. Got to graduate early. Didn’t know if I wanted to.”
“Why wouldn’t you want too?”
“Because I’m the dumb one.”
“Bo you are so far from dumb. You are the smartest person I know. I’m so proud of you. You got lost in your insecurities didn’t you?”
“Yeah I did. I made a deal with the principal and I didn’t have to go back to school, but I could still participate in the graduation ceremony. I was still doing homework and tests, just doing them at home. I would drop them off at school every morning. Anyway I didn’t say anything to Uncle Jesse and then I got grounded, went to drop my stuff off one morning and had the accident. Then I felt guilty about going out and not telling Uncle Jesse what was going on. Now I feel guilty that your home and I wrecked your car.”
“Hey don’t worry about it. Maybe it can be fixed. We’ll just look at it and if it can’t then we’ll work on a project car together.”
“Ok. Hey Luke.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t leave again. Please.”
“I won’t Bo. I’m home for good.” Luke said and Bo buried his face in Luke’s shoulder again. Everyone squeezed into the pickup and drove back to the farm for both a welcome home party and a graduation party. Everything in Bo’s life was back to normal, or at least as normal as it gets in Hazzard County.