"C'mon, Pepsi, you gotta get up little lady, we gotta head down to the train station to pick up daddy," I pleaded, shaking my sleeping daughter again. It was early, but we needed to get an early start if we had any hopes of beating the train to the station.
"Mmm," she mumbled tiredly, burying herself deeper in her pillows.
"Pepsi Nikole Curtis, get your skinny little self up this minute!" I said, losing patience with her.
"Five more minutes," she pleaded. The way she said it, made me remember back to when Darry would have me wake up Pony and Sodapop for school and work. I smiled, shaking my head as I opened the curtains, letting the sunlight flow into the room.
"I'm coming to drag you outta bed as soon as I get the girls up," I warned, leaving her door open as I walked across the hall to Michelle's room.
"Mickey, up and at 'em, today's homecoming day!" I said, opening her curtains too.
"Can't I just wait to see them when they come back to the house?" Michelle said tiredly. "I'm sleepy."
"Darling, that attitude will not be tolerated. Now get yourself up," I scolded. I left her door open as I walked down the hall to wake up Mary. When I opened the door, I found an unexpected sight.
"I thought I warned you about sleeping together under my roof?" I said loudly. Pony and Mary both sat up, eyes wide, their faces turning bright red.
"Sorry, Jo, I forgot," Mary quickly said.
"You forgot to stick a sock on the door? C'mon now, you know the rules, up, up, both of you," I said, laughing softly. "Lucky it was me and not your niece!" I added over my shoulder.
I was in a good mood. I didn't care that everyone was being difficult to wake. It felt nice knowing it was the last morning I'd be waking up to an empty side of the bed.
"Thanks," I said as Darry handed me a cup of coffee. He was smiling brightly, scrapping eggs around the two frying pans.
"No problem. Everyone up?" he asked, looking towards the hall.
"Pony and Mar are, the other two are being difficult. I figure I'll give them another five minutes before I set Greaser on 'em," I laughed. Greaser was watching Darry intently, waiting for him to drop something. I smiled at the dog, rubbing my hands through his thinning fur before scooping a handful of eggs off one of the plates and tossing it down to him. He ate it up quickly, excited by the gracious treat.
"Where's the kitten?" I asked, looking around for Tuffy. She normally followed the first person up to the kitchen for a bowl of cream and some tuna.
"Haven't seen her," Darry called as I wandered into the living room. Much to my surprise, she was curled up on Two-Bit's chest, swatting at his nose as he snored softly.
"Up and at 'em Two-Bit," I said, shaking his foot, causing him to jerk awake, sending the poor kitten flying. "Now look what you've done," I teased, scooping Tuffy up in my arms. Her pale cream coat was fluffed up.
"Morning," he grinned goofily. I smiled and set the cat back in his lap.
"Feed the kitten when you're done," I laughed as I opened up the curtains, letting the sunlight flow through the house.
"Girls, one more minute then I'm sending Greaser in to wake y'all up!" I called loudly.
"No," Michelle groaned loudly. "Not that damn dog!"
"Michelle Catharine! What have I told you about that mouth of yours?" I hollered.
"Sorry," she grumbled, walking out into the hall, her hair a fluffy mess.
"After breakfast, have Mary help you with your hair," I said gently. "I have to finish patching your jeans, then you'll be all set. See if you can't wake up Pepsi while you're back there," I instructed.
"C'mon, can't you get your own kid up?" she said bitterly.
"Michelle, don't take that tone, young lady," I scolded. "At least bring her to the table so she can eat. The sooner everyone is up and moving, the sooner we can get out that door."
"I still don't see why we all have to go," she said with an angry look on her face. "It's not like all of us really want to sit down at the stinky ol' train station, just to be packed like sardines in the trucks trying to get back home."
"That's it!" I snapped, completely losing my patience. "If you want to stay home, fine! But you can expect to be seeing nothing but your bedroom walls for the next month!"
"I don't care!" she screamed bitterly, slamming her bedroom door shut behind her. I was shocked. For a girl so young, she sure had a fucking attitude, on a day that was supposed to be happy and bright.
"What's that all about?" Two-Bit asked, giving me a funny look.
"Ever since the twins were born, Mickey's been nothing but unreasonable," I huffed, scooping the kitten from his lap. "I swear, she's worse than Dallas Winston with that mouth of hers sometimes!"
Two-Bit didn't say anything as I moved back to the kitchen, setting Tuffy down on the counter so she could eat in peace.
"Greaser, go get Peppy," I said, pushing him towards the back of the house. His eager barks assured me that he'd wake her up, one way or another. Five minutes later, my very sleepy daughter walked into the kitchen, Greaser at her side, nudging her along every time she paused to rub her eyes.
"Morning sleepy head," I said with a laugh. I picked her up and sat her at the table, handing her a fork for her eggs. "Eat up, then I'm going to braid your hair."
"Mama, why's Mickey so mad?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Your aunt's just being a brat," I laughed, stroking her hair. "Don't fret little one, there's nothing to worry about."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Pony said, coming into the kitchen with Mary at his side.
"She's throwing shit around again," Mary added, shaking her head. "I thought she'd be as happy, if not more so, now that Soda's coming home."
"Right? It just doesn't make sense," I sighed, shaking my head. "I feel bad for startin' in on her, but man, that attitude is something else. You were never that bad," I couldn't get past it. Of all of us girls, I had had the worst attitude growing up, but damn, I was nothing like Michelle had been. I had my mouth washed out with soap enough times to learn to mind my tongue when I was her age.
"Maybe she's just afraid to admit how much she missed Soda," Mary suggested, handing me a plate of eggs before taking her seat. "I mean, we all knew she really looked up to him and all. Maybe him being gone for so long reminded her of mama and dad. Here one minute, gone the next."
I hadn't thought of it that way. Never once did I see it like that. Suddenly, it all came together and made sense. Maybe that was why for the last four years, she'd been hard to handle to say the least. She'd been shutting everyone out, especially me and Mary. It broke my heart that this was the first time I really took the time to think about how she might be dealing with this whole mess.
"I'll be right back," I said, swooping to kiss the top of Pepsi's head before walking down the hall. Instead of going to Michelle room, I went into my own, pulling a small wooden box off the top shelf of the closet. Along with the box, I pulled a worn out, ripped jacket. I cradled the items in my arms before knocking on Michelle's door.
"Go away!" she screamed. I could hear the tears in her voice.
"Mickey Mouse, I want to show you something," I said softly, leaning on the door, waiting to hear her response. She didn't say anything, but came and opened the door, before walking back to her bed, where she sat down on the blue and white comforter.
"What?" she grumbled sourly.
"C'mere," I said, pulling her towards me. Once she was in my lap, I laid the jacket out on the bed in front of us. "Do you remember this jacket?" I asked her softly. She shook her head. "This is the jacket Soda let to sleep in the might we took the truck out of town for the weekend, right before Martha and Darrel passed away. I remember when we got back, Martha hit the roof for us running off with you with us, but Soda swore up and down you wanted to come. You were only about 2 at the time," I smiled.
"Really?" she asked.
"Mhm," I smiled and opened the box, taking out a few photographs. "Normally Darry or Ponyboy or Mary took the pictures, since Soda was too caught up in chasing you, and I was too busy chasing him," I laughed as I showered her one of the pictures from us chasing her around the empty lot. "You fell and scraped your knees and Soda patched you up real good. You wouldn't let go of him the rest of the day."
I continued to show her the photos and little keepsakes. Keepsakes that had gotten me through some of the harder nights. I even showed her a lock of his hair, that I had insisted on keeping after we shaved his head before he left for 'Nam. I showed her the letters he'd written before he went missing, even showed her the first letter he ever wrote me, right after our mama died.
"Why are you showing me all this?" she asked, looking up at me with sad, deep blue eyes.
"Because," I said softly, kissing the top of her wild head. "Soda means the world to me, but he also means the world to our family. Steve too."
"You think they're gonna be the same as when they left?" she asked.
"The army changes people. But I think after some time to adjust and recover, they both are gonna be back to horsing around and causing trouble like always," I said, though I didn't really believe it. I'd seen what the army did to people. Pedro's son, a smart, near Soc of a man, was drafted two years prior to Soda and Steve and when he returned the summer after they left, he came back a totally different man. He was cold, emotionless and cruel. When Steve left, he already had so much hate for the world. I didn't think he could hate any more than he already did. But Sodapop…well he was the happy-go-lucky, full of life type. I was terrified to see what the army did to the man I loved.
"Can I…can I come with you guys?" Michelle finally asked, after holding the jacket close.
"Of course," I said, kissing her head again. "Help Mary with Pepsi and get dressed. We'll leave in an hour. I'll have your jeans ready in a few minutes."
"Thanks, sis," she said, hugging me tightly. I smiled and took the things back to my room, quickly setting about patching her jeans before changing into one of my few skirts. I choose a navy blue; knee length skirt and a t-shirt, before tying my hair back, letting the curls fall in loose, curly waves.
By the time everyone was ready to go, it took me a few minutes to figure out the seating arrangements. Ideally, I would take Pepsi in my truck, so that Steve and Soda would also be able to fit in it comfortably, but that would mean trying to fit Darry, Pony, Mary, Michelle and Two-Bit in Darry's truck, which was possible, but not my favorite plan. After thinking it over, I came up with a plan that I think everyone would settle on.
"Mary, you're gonna drive my truck, with Two-Bit, Michelle and Pepsi, since the girls can both fit in the cab just fine, and I'll ride with Darry and Ponyboy for the time being," I said after loading the blankets into the truck. I tried to never leave without them, since the bed of the trucks could get uncomfortable.
"Alright," She agreed with no problem. I buckled the girls in, before giving her a stern look.
"You stick right behind us, and when we get there, you wait for me to get the girls, alright?" I said softly.
"Alright," she nodded, catching my tone. "What's got you worried?"
"Nothing right now, but I've been down there when they brought home troops before. It isn't the best place," I said carefully. "I don't need either of the girls getting scared and trying to run off and getting hurt or lost, alright?"
"Sure, I get that, don't worry," she said. "I've got this covered."
I nodded and loaded Greaser into the bed of my truck with Two-Bit, who took hold of his leash, no questions asked. I climbed into the bed of Darry's truck, leaning back on the blankets.
"All set?" Darry called through the open window.
"Yeah," I said. A moment later, we were on the road.
