Mickey & Minnie

Chapter III

My foot was rested heavily on the gas pedal, and I was alert, watching in all my mirrors for nearby cops. I didn't want to waste any time on the road, with Minnie in the hospital and all. All that mattered was bringing Michael, or Mickey, as we decided to call him, home.

I slowed my speed as I rolled into town, into the bright and bustling New York City. I grew up in a ghetto town less than a half hour away, but I was told I could find my brother in the big city. I drove around in the heavy traffic until I found the place I was looking for.

I quickly parked the car and ran to the front door. A lady walked up to me with a smile. "Are you here to visit one of the children?"

I shook my head. "I'm here to pick one up. Michael's in my custody now."

The lady smiled. "You must be Dallas Winston, from Oklahoma, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let me go get him." The lady walked into a nearby room. She returned a few minutes later with a small boy. He didn't look terribly happy-he didn't look sad, or upset, or annoyed, just emotionless.

"Hey, buddy. I'm your brother, Dallas," I introduced myself.

He just stared at me with his bright blue eyes. He made no acknowledgement of my comment, just stared.

"C'mon, man. We're getting you out of here." The kid still didn't say anything. "You can't talk either?"

Mickey just put his little hands in his pockets and looked down. "I can talk," he whispered. "I just don't want to."

"I won't make you. Come here," I said, picking him up and putting him on my shoulders. "Let's go home."

I pulled up to the side of the Curtis house, where I usually park, and stopped the car. "C'mon, Mickey." I led him through the front door and grabbed him something to eat from the fridge. "Okay, buddy. I need to go check on your sister in the hospital. You can come with me if you want, but you can stay with-" I looked around to see who was home- "You can stay with Johnny if you don't wanna come."

Mickey looked down. "I'll stay," he whispered.

I nodded. "Johnny, keep an eye on Mickey, man." Johnny nodded.

I drove to the hospital and walked to Minnie's room. "Heya, Minnie. How are you feeling?" She shrugged and held up five fingers.

"You're back," the doctor remarked, walking into the room.

"Did you find anything?"

"We found some sort of blood disease... but we've determined she is the first documented patient with this disease. It's cancer-like, in that it is rapid growing. The red blood cells are misshapen, not like Sickle Cell disease, though. There's nothing we can do at the moment, so we'll discharge her today. I want you to bring her back for a blood draw once a week, though, so we can attempt to find a cure or treatment."

My heart dropped. An unknown disease? Once a week? Thoughts were racing through my mind at high speeds, and it was scaring me. I was scared. I, Dallas Winston, the tough-as-nails hood who wasn't scared of anything, was scared. "Will she be okay?"

The doctor tapped his clipboard. "I can't say yet... we don't know enough about the disease."

"Will she always be this sick?"

"We're not sure about that either. However, her levels have been fluctuating. It could go several ways-she may be constantly sick, but she may feel fine at times. We'll see as time goes on."

I nodded. "We'll be going then."

"Does every Wednesday at three forty-five work for blood draws?"

"I guess it will have to," I sighed.

I picked Minnie up and hugged her tight. I'd grown extremely attached to my younger sister. I couldn't stand it if anything happened to her or Mickey.

We arrived home long after the sun had gone down, but I saw Johnny and Mickey playing catch in the front yard. "Thanks, Johnny," I said quietly. I turned to Michael. "You ready for bed?" He just nodded. I carried him in one arm, and Minnie in the other.

I tucked them into bed and got ready for work. I didn't like my job. I didn't like having one in the first place, but the Dingo is not somewhere you wanna be at night. But I didn't want to leave the twins alone that long. They needed a family just as much, if not more than I did.

I sat down at the kitchen table and rested my head in my hands and cried silently. Things had quieted down. It was late at night, and everyone was supposed to be sleeping, but I heard footsteps in my direction.

"Dallas, is that you?"

I hurriedly wiped my eyes. "Yeah, man."

Darry sat down in the chair next to me. "You alright?"

"How do you do it? You take care of your two siblings, all by yourself."

"It's hard, isn't it. It's so much responsibility, but no matter what you do, you'll always just be a brother, and that makes things difficult."

"It's just... so hard."

Darry sighed. "There's just so much I want to do for my brothers, but I just can't."

"I know what you mean. I would've someday had the chance to hear Marylynn's voice, but I'm a greaser. No, I'm a hood." I clenched my fists.

"Dallas, you're not a hood. You've completely turned your life around. You don't break the law all the time like you used to, you aren't sitting in jail, you have a job, and you're saving for a house." There was a brief silence after that. "What do you mean that you would've someday had the chance to hear Minnie's voice?"

"There's a surgeon in California that specializes in vocal cord surgeries... but it's very expensive."

"It can be fixed?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Her vocal cords were damaged from... abuse. It makes me sorta glad Mickey was in a boy's home and didn't live with our mother."

There was another silence. "You ought to get to work."

"Yeah, I gotta go. Make sure nothing happens to the twins."

"Alright, Dallas."