Love, D. Curtis

Chapter 12

Today is Saturday. That means only five days left until my girls get home. I have been so alone even when the whole gang is around. Pony and soda have been fighting less. I'm happy about that because it made Poppy cry when she heard her uncles fighting. One time it actually got physical. Soda slapped Pony and Pony started beatin' the tar outta Soda. Poppy ran away and hid. My three year old was hiding under my bed and I couldn't get her out so I had to get Dally.

I began to make lunch for everybody and Poppy was in the kitchen too. I made ham sandwiches and macaroni and cheese. I didn't see or hear her behind me so I went to take a step back and actually stepped on her foot. I turned around and saw the most pitiful face in the universe. I picker her up and swayed her.

"I'm so sorry baby. I didn't see you behind me."

"It's otay, daddy." She sniffled. I wiped her tears away with my thumb and set her back down.

"DALLAS!" I yelled. I didn't know where he was.

"WHAT, MAN?!"

"COME GET YOUR NEICE PLEASE! SHE'S UNDERFOOT AGAIN!"

Then I heard grunting coming from the living room. I knew somebody was fighting again.

"PONYBOY MICHAEL AND SODAPOP PATRICK! IF YOU TWO DON'T KNOCK IT OFF, I SWEAR I'LL-"

"Watch what ya say there, Dar. Ya got a little one around here." Dal reminded me.

He picked Poppy up off of the floor and he took her out of the kitchen.
I finished making lunch and put the sandwiches on plates. I went out to the living room and saw Pony cleaning some new cuts on his face.

"Hey buddy. Lunch is ready." I said sympathetically.

Then I shouted it across the house. Everybody came rushing through the doorway to get to their food; Dal with my daughter in his arms. We sat down and ate our lunch.

Then I remembered that I had to get the mail. I had the guys watch my kid. That's super handy because Dal is always free, Two-bit is always free, Johnny and Pony habe school, and Steve and Soda usually work but sometimes take off to watch Poppy. I never have to worry about a babysitter.

I headed outside to the mailbox. I opened it up and there was another envelope. I saw that it was from Rosie. I went inside and sat down in my recliner and read it. It said

Dear D. Curtis,
I'll be arriving home early. We already have everything separated out and the Funeral was today (Wednesday). I will be home Sunday night. Don't worry about writing back. Alice is so excited to see Poppy soon. I am excited to see the whole gang, including you and Poppy. I miss everybody. I hope to see that the guys are keeping themselves under control. I hope nobody was hurt too bad or made too big of a mess while I was gone! I love and miss you! See you very soon!
Love,
Rosie

My jaw dropped when I saw that she'll be back Sunday night. I have to clean the house tonight and make sure everything is straightened up nicely. I also need to make sure that the guys don't beat the tar out of each other.

I rushed to the kitchen and slammed my hands down on the table to get everybody's attention. Poppy giggled and did it back to me which made me laugh.

"Guys, Rosie and Alice are going to be back tomorrow evening. We need to clean up and stop trying to murder each other." I informed.

Everybody scrambled out of their seats and began picking up and cleaning everything. I guess having a woman around really helps keep things under control. Ponyboy and Soda were actually helping each other. I don't know why they were fighting. They usually got along swell. Oh well.

I'm so excited for my girls to be home.