When Are You Coming Home

Finding the Letter

 (2:37 am)

Bexley woke up at around 2 in the morning simply out of thirst. She got out of bed to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Flipping on the switch for the kitchen so she could see, she rubbed her face and yawned.

She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got water from the sink. As she drank it, she noticed that one of the drawers was open ajar. She set the glass down on the counter and goes over to it. There was a piece of paper sticking out of it, so she made the mistake of looking at it.

She pulled it out and felt her heart shatter when her eyes looked over each word. 'No... no please god no...' she thought, her hands shaking. 'He's gonna die there... he can't go...' Bexley thought, her heart starting to race.

She crumpled the letter in her hand, now feeling angered that Soda had kept this from her and Pony. Why hadn't he told them about this? Was it to keep them from hurting? Keeping it from them would hurt them more.

She puts the letter back in the drawer and goes back to bed. Tears of anger were in her eyes that she didn't bother to wipe away. She slept in her own bed for the rest of the night.

__________________________________________________________

(7:30 AM)

The next morning, the three siblings heard Darry call for them to breakfast. Darry walked up to the door and peeked inside. "C'mon, get up, you three. School days," he said.

Bexley was still upset about Soda being shipped off to Vietnam. "Bexley, is something wrong?" Darry asked, noticing his sister still laying in bed, facing away from them. "I'm fine," she curtly said.

"Don't speak to me in that tone, Bexley Lynn Curtis. You and Pony need to get ready for school." Darry scolded in his authoritative voice. She slowly got out of bed and saw that Sodapop was getting up too. He smiled at her, but she didn't smile back.

All she did was walk out of the room without saying a word to her older brother. "Darry, what's wrong with her? She's usually a morning person," Soda asked curiously. "I don't know. I'll talk to her about it later. Right now, both of you get up. Breakfast is in ten minutes," Darry informed, walking back out into the kitchen.

Ponyboy and Soda both got up and both got ready to start the day. They all sat down to eat their breakfast. Bexley made sure to avoid eye contact with Soda, not giving him any attention. The brothers were confused as to why she was acting like this because she isn't usually like this.

After breakfast, they got their stuff and were ready to head out of the door. "Ponyboy, Bexley, go grab your school stuff and wait for me by the truck," Darry ordered. Ponyboy headed out of the door first. Bexley was about to head outside but Darry grabbed her by the shoulder.

"We're gonna talk about this attitude of yours when you and Ponyboy get home. You understand?" Darry said. "Fine," she curtly said before going to the truck. Ponyboy stood by the truck and saw his twin sister coming towards the truck, tears in her eyes.

"Bexley, what's going on with you this mornin'? How come you're mad?" he asked after seeing the tears in her eyes. "I'm fine, Pony," she replied, wiping the tears. She couldn't tell him that Soda was being shipped off to Vietnam; finding the letter that told him this.

"Bexley, I know something's not right. Did you have another nightmare about... y'know?" Ponyboy asked carefully. "No, I didn't. Now stop asking me," she spat. She didn't want to blow up at her twin brother; knowing how close they were.

Ponyboy knew if she was getting mad, not to rile her up. Especially after all the hell she's been through. So he just left her alone.

Soda and Darry soon came to the truck and they left the house. After pulling in front of the DX, Soda got out.

_______________________________________________

(At the DX)

Soda and Pony said bye to each other but Bexley didn't say a word. She only looked in the opposite direction. Soda felt hurt that his sister was mad at him, and he didn't know why.

Darry then drops off the twins at school, reminding them to stay out of trouble and reminding Bexley about the talk they were going to have about her attitude later that day. Afterward, he left for his own job.

Soda walked into the DX, where Steve was already there waiting for him. "Hey Steve," Soda said, sounding gloomy. "Hey, Soda. Man, did you get any sleep last night? You look terrible," Steve replied, noticing how tired Soda looked in the eyes.

"Thanks," Soda sarcastically said, "I got something in the mail that you won't believe." Steve was confused for a moment but took a letter out of his own pocket. "Is it the same as this?" he asked, holding out the letter for Soda to see.

Soda knew the paper instantly. "You got one too?" he asked. "Yeah. Never thought I'd be sent to a war," Steve said with a shrug. "Yeah, tell me about it. I have to tell Bex and Pony about it tonight. I'm scared of how they're going to take it. And... Bex is mad at me," Soda said, leaning against the counter.

"Mad? Mad for what?" Steve asked. "I don't know. She hasn't said a word to me all morning, which isn't like her." Soda replied. "You think she might've found that letter?" Steve theorized. Soda paled visibly and felt a knot form in his throat.

"There's no way that she found it. No way. I had it put up," Soda gasped, not wanting to believe it. "Even if she didn't find it, I still feel bad for them. Everything just got set right for you guys. Even when they were gone for the entire week, you couldn't cope. But going to Vietnam is more than a week," Steve said.

Soda swallowed the lump in his throat and he sighed. "I know, Steve. If I don't die in this war, then being away from my brothers and sister for months maybe years will surely do it," he said.

"I wish this didn't happen, man. But right now, we still have this job to do. We won't be here much longer." Steve said, grabbing two drinks. He tossed one to Soda and opened his. Soda barely drank his; the nervous feeling in his stomach was making him feel sick. He was scared that Bexley had found that letter, which wasn't supposed to happen. He couldn't leave having his baby sister mad at him like this.