Summer Nights // Sodapop Curtis

Two

We arrived in Tulsa around dinner time, and we were all ready to get out of the car. Charlie was asleep, and I was looking out the window. Nothing about this town seemed interesting. The houses were small and old, and there was not a single shop. We drove past a drive in movie theater, and a creepy diner.

"This town seems a lot worse than you described it Dad..." I said, looking around at the dump we were driving through.

"We're just driving through the rough part of town," he told me. "We're almost in the nicer area."

We drove for another few minutes, and then the houses started getting bigger and nicer, there were better restaurants, and I even saw a little shopping mall. I was relieved to see that the town wasn't as bad as it had looked, but I still didn't want to be here.

"Here we are!" Dad said excitedly, pulling the car into the driveway of a large house.

"Charlie!" I shook him awake.

"Go away!" He said angrily, and he pulled a blanket over his head.

"Honey, we're in Tulsa," Mom said.

"Yes!" Charlie screamed, and he threw the blanket off and jumped out of the car.

I looked up at the house, it was beautiful, and then someone ran out the front door. She had the same dark hair as my Dad, and I could tell they were related. We all got out of the car, and Dad embraced the woman in a large hug.

"Karen! How are you?" My Dad asked, and I remembered him saying his sister's name was Karen.

"I'm great, we're so glad you guys are here!" Karen answered as she went and hugged my Mom.

"Karen, these are my kids, Callie and Charlie," Dad introduced us.

"It's so great to meet you guys!" Aunt Karen hugged Charlie and I.

"I can't believe it's been this long since we last saw each other," Dad said to his sister.

"Well, come on inside to see the rest of the family, and we have dinner ready!" Aunt Karen said.

We picked up our bags and followed Aunt Karen inside. The inside of her house was even more beautiful than the outside, and a few more people came up to meet us.

"This is my husband, Tim," Aunt Karen said, gesturing to and tall man with dark hair that was just starting to turn grey. He hugged my parents and shook hands with Charlie and I.

"And this is our daughter, Amy," Aunt Karen said, and a girl who seemed to be around my age smiled at us. She had dark hair like her parents and tan skin, she was the exact opposite of me. "Amy is sixteen."

"How perfect, Callie is seventeen!" Mom said,"I bet you two will get along great!"

"Yeah," Amy smiled politely.

"This is our son, Peter," Aunt Karen put her arm around a boy, and he pushed her arm away. "He just turned thirteen."

"Charlie is eleven!" Mom said excitedly again.

"And then we have a three year old daughter, but she's still taking her nap," Aunt Karen said.

"It's so great that the kids are all close in age," Mom said.

"Is anyone hungry?" Aunt Karen asked.

"Yes!" Charlie yelled, and Aunt Karen led us into the kitchen.

"There's some plates over there, grab yourself whatever you want," Uncle Tim said, and we all grabbed some food. We sat down at their dinning room table, and we all ate while Dad and Karen talked. When we finished, everyone helped us carry our bags up to our rooms. My parents got their own room, which was huge, Charlie was sharing a room with Peter, and I was sharing a room with Amy.