Chapter 21

Every few seconds Sara's eyes would start to flutter closed, but she would fight them to stay open. The Patty Duke Show was just coming to an end when Sara heard Darry's voice call to her. "Sara time for bed." Darry could tell that it was almost 9:00, if "The Patty Duke Show" was coming to an end. He had let her stay up 30 minutes passed her bedtime.

Sara grunted in response to Darry's request. "Just a little longer, Darry?" The Fugitive was coming on next, and that was not a show that he wanted her to be watching.

"No, Sara. I already let you stay up later than normal. It's getting late for you." Darry was pushing her legs off the couch to get her moving, but Sara was resisting Darry's nudges. "Sara, it has been a good night, let's not do this now." Darry pleaded to Sara.

"But I'm not tired, Darry." Sara was trying to convince Darry, but he wasn't buying it for one second.

"Bull!" Darry shouted a little louder than he intended to. "You can barely keep your eyes open."

"But I need to stay up longer." Sara was the one pleading her case.

"How much longer do you need to stay?" Darry had a funny look on his face.

"Midnight." Sara replied with a serious look on her face.

Darry responded with a laugh, "Yah, right. Not happening there little lady. Sorry. Now, up." Darry grabbed Sara's arm and gently pulled her up off the couch. Sara finally gave in and stopped resisting Darry's force. She started walking towards the bathroom to brush her teeth. Darry was waiting up against the door jamb for her to finish. After Sara was finished brushing her teeth, she closed the door on Darry. Sara had to use the toilet. Darry decided he would head down to her room and wait for her there. Sara was coming out of the bathroom and saw Darry standing by her door. She walked passed him into her room and was muttering under her breath.

"I can't go to bed now; he'd not even home yet." Sara said climbing up into her bed. And that is when it dawn on Darry what this was all about. The midnight thing, he's not home yet. She must be talking about Soda. A small smile tugged onto Darry's face. He walked over and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Sara, you'll see Soda tomorrow." Darry pulled her covers up around her shoulders. Sara flashed Darry a disgusted look.

"I'm not waiting for Soda." She snapped.

"Ok, then, you must be waiting for your invisible friend then."

"I don't have any invisible friends Darry. Maybe I am waiting for Dally, did you ever think about that? He taught me today how to flip a cap. Did you know that?" Darry shook his head."Dally, told me that I was getting good, too,"

"So, I heard." Darry smiled at Sara. For a split second when she was talking about Dally she had a smile on her face as well, but then again it disappeared as fast as it came.

"Sara, try to get some sleep." Darry bent down and placed a soft, kiss on her forehead. Sara just looked at Darry with sad eyes. Darry knew that she was trying to cover up and make him think she was trying to wait up for Dally, when Darry knew it was still really Soda. She then leaned into ear and said, "Sara, honey, don't lay here worrying about Soda all night. It will be fine tomorrow."

"Can I have my music on? Please?" Darry figured it might help her get to sleep and not worry so about Soda. He got up off the bed and walked over to her bookcase where the radio sat and turned the radio on. "Walk Like a Man" was on by the Four Season. Sara rolled over so that she was facing the door. "Thanks, Darry."

"Good night, BabyGirl." Darry was getting ready to shut her door.

"Can you leave it open tonight?" Sara laid her head down on the pillow. With the position that she was now in she could see right into the hallway, right across the hall from the boy's room.

"Will do."

"Love you, Darry." Sara's soft, young voice rang into Darry's ears.

"Love you too, BabyGirl. He left the door open just enough so Sara could still see clearly out to the hallway.

He shuffled his tired feet and body back to the living room. On the way by the refrigerator though he opened it and grabbed out a nice cold beer. He hated drinking in front of Sara, and tried to wait until she wasn't around to have one. He was trying to be a good role model. He heard the voices from The Fugitive on. He didn't think it was a bad show so he picked up Sara's unfinished bowl of popcorn and sat down in his chair. He had his beer, bowl of popcorn, The Fugitive and peace and quiet. Now he just had to wait until the rest of the Curtis Family was under his roof in order to call it a day. He let himself relax for the 60 minutes that The Fugitive was on for. After it was over he decided he would throw another load of laundry in. One thing was for sure, was in this household there was always laundry that needed to be done. After he threw that in he decided he would look through today's paper. He grabbed another beer out of the refrig and sat back down in his chair. He always reads the paper from front to back. It was about 10:30 when he had gotten to the sports page. Right on the front page was a Headline that read, Will Roger's Curtis and Anderson qualify for State in Boys Track and Field. Ponyboy had made the paper. Darry was beaming from ear to ear, he quickly starting reading that article first. He was so proud to see Ponyboy mention in the paper. It was a good article he thought. He got up and walked to the kitchen drawer to grab a pair of scissors to cut the article out. Darry was just smiling as he placed the article on the refrigerator so that everyone could see. Darry returned the scissors back to the drawer and sat back down to finish the paper. The Twilight Zone was now on the tv. Darry wasn't very interested but left it on for background noise more than anything else. Darry was just turning the last page of the paper when he heard someone coming up the porch steps. He looked up at the clock, 10:45 it must be Pony. Darry, liked that he was early. Darry's eyes were on the door when it opened. He heard the person catch the screen door so that it wouldn't slam against the frame. Much to his surprise, it wasn't Pony at all, it was Sodapop.

"You're early." Darry stated getting up. Darry hadn't decided yet what he wanted to say to his brother. He was still a bit ticked at him for running out of the house like he did earlier. Darry was now carrying the empty bowl of popcorn to the kitchen and his two beer bottles in the other hand. Soda had eyed the two beer bottles, and probably figured Darry had a rough night. Soda was feeling a little guilty about it now, but Soda still followed Darry into the kitchen.

"Yah, well, I see that you gave into, and let her have popcorn after all, huh?" He nodded at the empty bowl in Darry's hand.

Darry didn't really want to get into it with Soda at this hour, but he was going to give him just enough to think about what he did wrong. "Yah, I did. She needed something to help cheer her up." Darry turned his back to Soda and was at the sink washing out the bowl. Soda turned and opened the refrig and took out a Pepsi. Darry looked over his shoulder, "Pepsi, at this hour Soda? You'll be up all night."

"Nah. Is that pizza I see on the counter? You even bought her pizza? Jez, Darry you were really feeling sorry for her." Soda was grabbing a cold piece out and started eating it. "What's up with getting pizza without Pony and I?"

"Hey, lay off. You both went out. I still had to feed one kid. And yes, I did feel bad for her, having to clean up your mess. Which I won't be doing again, it was yours to do, Sodapop." Darry took every opportunity he could to make sure Soda knew that what he did wasn't right, but without causing a big argument at the same time. "And quit your complaining, you're still getting pizza anyways." He pointed to the piece that Soda was popping in his mouth.

"Yah, but it's cold." Soda whined.

"It doesn't look like it is stopping you none." Darry chuckled. By this time Soda had wander away from the conversation with Darry and was making his way to the bathroom. Darry was placing the paper in the trash and the beer bottles in the return bin. When he looked up Soda had moved out of the bathroom and was now leaning in the doorway of Sara's room. He was just looking in with a sad expression on his face. Darry knew that Soda now understands that he did wrong by leaving earlier today, Darry decided that he would lay off for the night. Darry started to approach. As he got closer to Sara's room he could her "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons playing. This was one of Sara's favorites. She would sing this all the time. "We still need to talk about this afternoon." Darry nudged Soda.

"I'm sorry Dar. I screwed up. I know." Soda whispered to Darry, not wanting to wake Sara up.

"Maybe, you should apologize to her in the morning, too." Darry tried to get Soda to move away from the door so that he could shut it. But Soda wouldn't move. For some reason he just had to watch over her. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was the protective brother thing, who knows but he just couldn't move.

"Did you let her stay up late, like I suggested this morning?" Soda asked Darry. Darry smiled back at Soda.

"Yah. Though she wanted to stay up until midnight."

"Until midnight? What the hell for?" Soda was surprised.

"For you." Darry was still trying to push Soda out of the way so he could shut the door. Soda put a slight smirk on his face. "Soda, I think she is sorry too for today." Finally, Soda moved away from the door so that Darry could shut it. Darry knew that Pony should be home any minute now and depending if he brought anyone home with him, like Johnny or possibly Dally he didn't need them waking Sara up. Soda had moved back towards the kitchen again and paused as Darry was passing by.

"She really wanted to wait up for me?" Soda really seemed surprised by this.

"Well, she was really cute about it. She didn't come right out and say it. But the little hints she kept dropping pretty much gave it away. I think she want to apologize to you. She was pretty choked up about it the whole night. She's worried that you don't love her anymore."

"Well, that is just nonsense. She should know better. Jez, just because I was mad, doesn't mean I don't love her." Soda was sputtering now.

"Well, maybe you can tell her that in the morning, huh little buddy?"

"Well, as bad as my date went, I should of just came home and talked with her earlier." Soda took a swig of his Pepsi.

"Not good with Sandy?" Darry asked.

"Nah, it just looks like Sara and I had the same thing bothering us all night. That's all."

"See, Darry does know best. Maybe next time when Darry tells you to come back in the house, you'll listen, huh, Pepsi-Cola?" Darry was shooting Sodapop an I told you so look.

"I know! I know! You don't have to rub it in, Dar." Soda was being a smart alec with Darry. But as Darry was about to say something back to Soda just as wise the front door caught there attention, this time it was Ponyboy and Johnny.

"Good, now that all Curtis' are present and accounted for I am heading off to bed. Soda, you should think about doing the same, seeing you have work in the morning." Darry warned.

"Yah, yah, yah."

"Johnny, are you staying the night?" Darry asked wanting to know if there would be extra people under his roof this evening.

"If you don't mind, Darry?"

"Not at all, you're always welcome. I'll grab you a pillow and blanket." Darry walked to his room and retrieved the pillow and blanket. He handed it to Johnny. "You two keep it down out here. Pony I want you to bed by midnight. You're watching Sara in the morning, while Soda and I are at work. "

"Ok." Pony sat down with Johnny on the couch.

"How was your night, Pon?" Soda asked leaning against the archway between the living room and kitchen finishing his Pepsi he had started.

"Not bad. The movie was one of those beach movies. Wasn't very good. Dally was causing trouble with some of the Shepard boys, so Johnny and I hightailed it outta there. We ran into Two-Bit and Cathy coming out of the movies so he offered to give us a ride back here.

"How did the date seem like it was going?" Soda asked the boys, hoping for some details.

"It looked like it was going good." Johnny answered while Pony started blushing.

"Golly, Pon, your turning awful red over there. Little young to be having a hot flash." Soda joked with his younger brother. The Johnny Carson show was just about to begin. Soda let out a big, loud yawn. "I'm calling it a night."

"Ok, Soda. I'll be in in a little bit." Pony looked like he was going to hang with Johnny for a little.

Soda walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth and washed up a little. He was shutting the bathroom light when he caught the sound of music playing. He followed the music and of course it leads to Sara's room. Darry must have forgotten to shut it off on his way by. Soda slowly opened the door and "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March was on. Soda walked over and turned the music off. On his way out he stopped one more time to watch his little sister. Sara was all curled up in a small ball, hugging one of her pillows. Soda bent down and places a soft, gentle kiss in her hair. As he was standing back up the smell of her shampoo still lingered in the air. He stood still and kept watching her sleep and breath. Gosh, how could he have gotten so mad at her today, he secretively wished she was up so he could tell her that he was sorry, but he guess it will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully she will be up tomorrow before he leaves for work. If not, he will not have a chance to tell her until late afternoon when his shift is done. He finally gave in to his exhaustion and turned to go to bed. He started to close her door again when he whispered, "I love you."