It was crazy to think how such a tiny squirt could make such a huge mess.
Sodapop Curtis, newly 6-years-old and about the furthest thing from responsible, had been left as the caretaker for his tiny baby brother for the day. In a crazy chain of events, their oldest brother's football tryouts, as well as their parents having already left for the day, the young boy had amazingly been left home alone. It wasn't like he had much to complain about with the arrangement, considering as long as he was left alone, he could watch his cartoons for hours on end until his parents returned. The only issue was Ponyboy, his 3-year-old twerp of a brother. Of course, Soda loved the boy with all his heart. But it did not mean he wished to be in charge of him! Not for a minute, and especially not for a whole day.
After several failed attempts to carry Ponyboy, who would constantly squirm out of his grasp and get him even more frustrated than he already had been, Sodapop resorted to just dragging the child by the collar of his shirt. Stomping down the hall, they emerged into the living room. But it was only a moment later when Soda had heard a loud knock on their front door. He lightly shoved his younger brother into the room, boldly pointing a finger in his direction and calling out just before running off to answer the call.
"Pony! I need 'cha to stay right here! Got it?" He didn't wait for an answer, quickly running off to answer the door. It was quite a reach for a puny kid like himself, as the doorknob was nearly eye-level with him. He grabbed the handle, flinging the door open to see it was no other than Steve. He was relieved, to say the least. Unsure what he would have done if it had been someone looking for their parents- either that, or a friendly neighborhood burglar. Forgetting his responsibility for a moment, he chatted back and forth with his friend for a bit, not worrying too much about what kind of mess Ponyboy could be getting himself into. And he sure did have a knack for such things. When Steve brought up the possibility of him coming over, Sodapop had to decline, suddenly remembering he had left his poor, defenceless baby brother unattended.
Bidding the other boy an oddly rushed goodbye, Sodapop kicked the door shut and broke into a speedwalk back into the living room. Almost as expected, Ponyboy was nowhere to be seen. He groaned in irritation, bringing a hand up to push the sandy-colored hair out of his eyes as he scanned the room, looking for any place the kid could have hidden. He checked under the couch, behind the television, as well as in the closet in the corner of the room.
"Pooonyboy! Come out, Pone!" Sodapop called, grinning out of worry as he continued to search for his brother. That was, until he heard a loud and sudden crash from the kitchen which made him jump in surprise. "Ponyboy!" He rushed out of the room and into the kitchen, scolding himself for not checking other rooms sooner. And now it seemed that the little guy had only gotten himself into bigger trouble! Luckily, it seemed as though there was no damage to the kitchen, but his younger brother was another story. Sodapop groaned when he had seen the boy, who had somehow managed to get into last night's spaghetti leftovers. Sauce had covered Ponyboy's hands, as well as stains that lined his shirt- even his face and hair were dyed bright red! The boy himself was giggling, a large and happy grin on his face as if he were proud of the mess he had made.
"Oh golly.. Momma's gonna have a fit when she gets home!" Sodapop exclaimed, tossing his hands up in the air for dramatic effect before taking a few cautious steps towards his brother. He didn't want to be touched, and risk getting himself dirty too.
"Soda! I'm s'ghetti!" Ponyboy spoke up gleefully, reaching his dirty hands out towards the other boy, only to have them swatted away. He didn't react, persisting again and causing the older of the two to snag his wrists into a loose hold to keep himself from getting covered in the marinara.
"Hands off, spaghetti monster! You're all dirty!" Sodapop huffed quietly, trying to think about what his mother and father, or even Darry, would do in such a situation. Then he had it! A bath! Grinning slightly, he began to lightly pull Ponyboy along. The younger boy protested, planting his feet and whining grumpily when Soda would try and drag him forward. "Come on, baby! We have to clean you up!" It seemed as though Ponyboy knew exactly what this meant, as he perked and and smiled at the mention
"Tub! Tub, Rrrrrt!" The toddler shouted eagerly, using the small vocabulary that he had at such a young age. Sodapop nodded, smiling, and Ponyboy immediately stopped resisting. Sighing with relief, the older of the two was easily able to lead his brother into the bathroom. He looked the kid over, a discouraged expression on his face as he wondered how he would be able to even get the clothes off of Ponyboy with getting himself stained. But feeling as though he needed to man up and take it, he pulled the equally messy clothes off of the boy, before reaching over to turn the faucet on. Hauling the boy up, Sodapop placed him at the higher end of the tub, as it was a bit fuller than it needed to be.
While Ponyboy was too focused on squeezing the life out of the toy ducks floating in the water, Soda had already grabbed a washcloth, lathering it in soap and beginning to wash the sauce off of the younger boy's face. Large bubbles formed in the water, causing the toddler to go ecstatic as he flung his arms out of the water, unintentionally flinging soap and water all around the room. Sodapop grimaced, managing not to be hit by any of the bubbles or splashing water.
Soaping up Ponyboy's arms next, Sodapop stayed quiet as he listened to the younger boy's quiet babbling as he bounced up and down in the water, making small waves to crash against the sides of the tub.
"Quack, quack, quack.." Ponyboy sang quietly, shaking the plastic duck before chucking it out of the tub and clapping his hands together, looking towards Soda with a proud smile.
"Eyes shut, Pony!" Sodapop spoke up suddenly, setting the now stained washcloth aside and grabbing the nearby shampoo bottle, squirting a good amount into the palm of his hand.
Ponyboy brought his hands up, clasping them tightly over his eyes and scrunching his face up as his eyes closed shut. Using one hand, Soda lathered the shampoo into the toddler's hair, rinsing his hand in the water before reaching over to the cup left on the sink that his mother usually used when giving Ponyboy a bath. Turning on the faucet of the sink, he filled the cup to the brim. Sodapop carefully tilted his brother's head back to avoid splashing him in the face, before pouring the water atop of his head, the shampoo easily washing out. Ponyboy squealed at the cold water landing in his hair, kicking his legs up and down only to thrash more water about.
"All done! You're clean, Pony!" Sodapop exclaimed, ruffling the other boy's wet hair and giving him a broad smile. He couldn't wait to tell Darry and his parents about what a good job he had done giving Ponyboy a bath, and how responsible he could really be. Upon hearing he was done, the toddler staggered to his feet, shaking his body around and flinging water off of himself.
"Just a minute. Take it easy!" Soda laughed playfully, reaching for a towel and opening it up wide for Ponyboy. The toddler snatched it, putting it over his shoulders like a cape and easily climbing out from the tub.
Without drying himself, nor any warning at all, Ponyboy had already dropped the towel given to him on the ground, bolting out of the bathroom and down the hallway while giggling loudly. Sodapop hardly had time to react, groaning lightly before grabbing ahold of the towel and going after the boy.
"Come on, Pone! You're gonna slip!"
"Gotta catch me! Catch! Catch!" He blew a raspberry at Soda, bolting away. And just like that, the second eldest brother felt absolutely irresponsible yet again.