Pony:22
Davanee & Dillon: 8
Mercy & Scotty: 6
Darry: 28
Soda, Johnny: 24
Two-Bit: 26
Steve, Dallas: 25
Bo: 7
Maddie: 20
"Once apone a time, there lived a man and a women. The man and the woman were very poor. They barely had enough money to afford there tiny apartment. The woman had long, red, beautiful hair and the man had a silver pocket watch that his father had given him so many years ago" began Davanee. She loved telling the story of "the gift of the magi." It was her favorite story and Mercy and Scotty practically begged her to tell it again and again. I kinda liked it myself.
I waited till the story was over to break up the little slumber party.
"Ok girls, time for bed" I said, walking into the room. The door was already opened.
"Aww, come on, just one more story" said Davanee.
"Not tonight" I said, "we have a very busy day tomorrow."
"Why?" asked Scotty.
"Because it's the first day of school" I said, pulling Scotty and Mercy off of Davanee's bed, "and you guys gotta get to bed early tonight."
"And it's the first day of your new job" added Davanee.
"Don't remind me" I said. I hadn't gotten a job at the school as an English teacher. The next day was going to be my first day teaching, ever. I continued working at San Jose on the Sundays. You'd be surprised by how many people go to country clubs on Sundays.
I carried Mercy and Scotty off to there room and tucked them in. I felt bad about making them share a room but for the time being they didn't seem to mind. I think they liked each other's company.
"Daddy" said Mercy as I was tucking her in, "what was Mommy like?"
"Oh, I've told you guys a thousand times what she was like" I said.
"Tell us again" said Scotty, getting out of bed.
"I will if you get back into bed" I said. She stopped almost immediately and climbed back into bed. Out of the two of them, Scotty was the more energetic one. She'd be up at five in the morning every morning running around the apartment, like she had just had five bowls of sugar. The doctor's said it was just her being a normal 6 year old and not to worry about it.
Mercy on the other hand tended to be calm, but she could be energetic when she wanted. She was more clingy then Scotty. She always wanted to be around me. When she was a baby, she had a bad case of separation anxiety.
"Well" I said, sitting down on Mercy's bed, "she was smart, like both of you are. She was pretty, like you guys are. She was energetic, like Scotty is and she's sweet, like you are" I said.
"What about Davanee?" asked Mercy.
"Well, she was a good story teller, like Davanee is" I said.
"Oh" was all they could say. I smiled and gave them both a kiss goodnight. I turned out the light and shut the door. They almost always asked about there mom. At first I sort of annoyed me, but I don't mind it so much now. They have every right to know about her. They can ask all the questions they want. Mercy and Scotty didn't know that Anya wasn't Davanee's mother. Davanee didn't know that either. I thought 8 was a little too young to tell her. I wanted to wait until she was older, or at least until she ever asked.
I walked down the hall back to Davanee's room.
"So what grade will you be in tomorrow? 2nd?" I asked.
"3rd" said Davanee.
"Oh yeah that's right. Wow, 3 rd grade. You're getting old" I said.
"I'm not that old. I'm only 8" said Davanee.
"I dunno. 8's pretty old to me" I said.
"Too old to get a goodnight kiss?" asked Davanee.
"You're never too old for that" I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "night baby."
"Night dad" said Davanee. I pulled the covers over her and turned out the lights. I really didn't want to go to bed that night. I wasn't looking forward to the next day. It's not that I didn't want to be a teacher it's just that I was really nervous.
I went to bed that night with a stomachache. Davanee woke me up the next morning. She was all dressed and ready to go. I must admit for an 8 year old, she didn't have a bad sense of fashion. She had on a white t-shirt that had "kool" in big red letters, with bell-bottom jeans, red converse, and a red base-ball cap. Her hair was flipped up a little. Even though she was 8, she was careful when it came to curling her hair.
"Go get your sisters up" I said, still half asleep.
"Scotty's already up" said Davanee.
"Then get Mercy up. I'll start breakfast" I said.
I walk out into the hallway only to hear that the girls were playing David Cassidy on the record player as loud as they could. All three of them were in love with David Cassidy, even Scotty and Mercy. I personally didn't find the guy all that appealing but I guess he wasn't that bad.
When I walked into the kitchen, Scotty ran and jumped into my arms.
"Morning Daddy" she said, giving me a kiss.
"Morning sweetie" I said, putting her back down.
"We got school today" she said.
"I know. Go sit down and I'll fix ya some breakfast" I said. Scotty ran to the table and sat down. She was quickly joined by Davanee and Mercy. Mercy was still half asleep when it was time for breakfast. She didn't really like getting up early. Unlike Scotty, she liked to sleep in till 8 or so. I helped the twins get dressed while Davanee got all of her stuff together. We were ready and out the door by 6:50. School started at 8. I had to finish getting my room ready and I thought it would take us a little while to get everybody situated. This was going to be Scotty and Mercy's first year in different classes. They had been in the same classes all through out preschool and kindergarten. They didn't really like to be separated from each other. I tried to get them in the same class but it didn't work.
The school was almost disserted when we got there. Besides the teachers and faculty, nobody was there. Davanee, Scotty, and Mercy stayed in my room until it was time for the kids to start showing up.
Scotty and Mercy cried a little at first, but once they met there teachers and a couple of the other kids, they seemed to be ok. Davanee was the same way, except she didn't cry. She was in the same class with Dillon that year, which made things a bit easier. Once everybody was were they needed to be, I went up to my room. The middle school hallways were so crowded, you could barely move.
I waited for a long time for someone to come. Finally, a girl who looked to be in the 8th or 9th grade walked in. she looked kinda scared. The girl brown hair that was curled up at the ends. She kinda looked like an older version of Davanee, except Davanee's hair was lighter.
"You're Mr. Curtis, right?"
"Yeah. What's your name?"
"Morgan. Morgan Thompson. 9th grade."
"Nice to meet you."
Morgan took a seat in the second row. Pretty soon, she was surrounded by a bunch of girls, laughing and talking up a storm. I guess she wasn't new. I had about 30 kids. The first day was terrible. I lost the lesson plans, the kids were crazy, and I spilt Pepsi all down the front of me. Normally, that wouldn't be such a big deal but I was wearing a white shirt that day.
I was more than glad when school was over. I picked the kids up and brought them back to my room. I still had some work to do.
"Daddy, look what I did" said Scotty, holding up a picture. It was a purple and pink butterfly.
"That's pretty. We'll hang it up on the refrigerator when we get home" I said. Scotty and Mercy drew on the chalkboard while Davanee did her homework. She never really needed help when it came to homework. She was pretty smart for her age.
We didn't get home that day until four. School got out at 2:30. Davanee was done with her homework so I let her go outside with Mercy and Scotty. There was a little yard in the back where the kids could play, but I didn't let them go outside by themselves. It wasn't the best neighborhood.
"Dad, watch this" said Davanee.
"Ok, I'm watching." Davanee did a cartwheel. Kara and Hailey had taught her how to do a cartwheel a couple of weeks before school went back. It was a bit hard to believe that Kara was 13 now and Hailey was 11. Haley just went back to staying with Stephen. Stephen got help for his problem. His parents were a bit hesitant about letting Haley stay with him, but they figured she had every right to get a chance to know her father.
Kara on the other hand moved in with Two-Bit. She claimed she couldn't stand staying with her mom and new boyfriend. Kara hated her mom's boyfriend. Two-Bit didn't really like him either.
"Dad, can we go to the park?" asked Mercy, pulling out of my daydream.
"Yeah, in a little while. We're gonna go see Uncle Soda at work in a little bit" I said. The girls liked seeing Soda at work. Soda let them help with the cars. Davanee loved working on cars. She had been working on them since she could hold a wrench.
We went to the DX about an hour before it closed. Soda owned the old gas station now. The old owner left to him when he died. After about an hour of playing outside, we walked down to the DX. Soda was working on a car when we got there. He may own the place, but he still likes working on the cars and stuff.
The girls ran up and gave him a hug, nearly tackling him.
"To what do I own this honor?" asked Soda.
"First day of school" replied Davanee.
"How'd that go?"
"It was ok" said Scotty.
"Yeah, it was just ok" said Mercy.
"Sorry to hear that" said Soda.
"So how was your day?" I asked.
"Girls, why don't you go work on one of the cars" said Soda. The girls ran off to the car Soda was working on.
"I gotta go to California" said Soda.
"Why?"
"They're trying to open a new store out there and they need me there. I leave sometime next week" said Soda.
"Who's gonna run the store here?" I asked.
"Steve and Ally will be here" said Soda.
"Steve and Ally are back in town?" I asked. Ally left a couple of months after Anya died. Steve had convinced her to go back home. He ended up leaving shortly after. He claimed there was nothing keeping him in Tulsa. Steve ended up moving to Texas with Ally. He's been there ever since. He never really visits us but he talks to Soda a lot. Soda will be happy to see him.
I know it's kinda boring but it'll get better, I promise!