Lollipop Curtis

Restless Night

"Come on! Show me, show me how to do it right, Lollipop."

It was mom's voice.

I knew that voice anywhere...

"Good, Job hunny! That was beautiful!"

Then it started back again, "Show me, show me how to do it right, Lollipop."

I wandered my way downstairs to see Ponyboy was on the couch.

It was probably 2 in the morning, and it was a school night.

I was wondering what he was doing up and why he was up.

Darry was always so strict on him with homework and sleeping for school.

So was Sodapop and only because he had work every single morning well except on the weekends.

The video started over and I leaned over the couch to watch it with him.

"Come on! Show me, show me how to do it right, Lollipop."

"Good, Job hunny! That was beautiful!"

I saw myself smiling and spinning like I was in paradise.

The sound of her voice made me miss them even more.

Caroline told me they died because they hated me and wanted to be without me, but watching this makes me think otherwise.

They loved and cared for me while they were still alive.

Their death was by accident, and I knew that had to be true.

What I did not expect was to see a tear escape Ponyboy's eye.

I gently leaned over and brushed it away with my tiny thumb.

His jump startled me a minute as he turned his head to see me.

He shut the tape off and put it away trying to act as if he wasn't watching it.

"Lollipop, hey! What are you doing up?" He rubbed his eyes.

I then pointed at the tape to show him that the noise kept me up.

He asked, "Oh, was it too loud? I'm sorry. I'll try to keep it down."

I then whispered quietly to him, "I know you miss them....I do to."

I've kept my mouth shut for a year. Since Ponyboy was upset, I agreed to only speak to help him.

Then, no more talking.

He looked surprised for a minute and said, "It's not them I miss....it's you."

This surprised me very much. Our parents have been gone for a year, and I haven't talked for a year.

But I'm still here.

It's not like he's going to have to say goodbye to me I'm not going anywhere.

I walked over to him and sat right beside him as he kept talking.

I whispered again, "What do you mean?"

He then caught my tone and whispered back, "They're gone, but so are you.

Every single day after their death, we've always wondered what day you were going to say something.

It's like watching and waiting for a baby to say their first words.

We never knew when our baby sister would finally decide to come clean and say something to us.

Sure, we miss them. The gang, our family, we all miss them. But we've missed you a lot more.

You're the reason Darry, Soda, and I smile in the mornings.

You're the reason Two-bit comes to our house to watch Mickey Mouse.

You're the reason Dally started to steal things just for you.

You're the reason Soda invites you to the DX just because Steve likes your company.

And you're the reason Johnny tries to be brave...it's because of you."

I saw his lips slightly curve as he began to turn a dark red.

I didn't know what was happening, but after he said Johnny's name he smiled.

I looked away for a minute letting him regain his point.

"It's true, you haven't gone anywhere, but we miss you more than you know.

We miss your cheesy jokes, and your unbelievable smiles."

He began to tickle me just to make me smile and it worked.

I then whispered, "You need to sleep."

I reached up with my tiny arms bringing his head down and kissed his head goodnight.

I then walked back upstairs hoping he would do as I told him to.

My bed seemed strangely uncomfortable, but I somehow managed to sleep.

Next Morning...

I woke up to the sun in the window reaching out and slapping my face.

At least that's what it felt like the sun was doing to me.

I fell - not even joking - I fell out of my bed with my feet all tangled up in the bed sheets.

"Oofff!" I said as I fell to the ground with a thud like sound.

That was not as fun as going down a water slide.

Sodapop rushed up to my room and asked, "I heard you fall, are you ok?"

He helped me stand up as I felt like I was going to fall back down.

I then just nodded my head and walked in front of him out of my room.

If Soda was still here then that means it's not even 6 a.m. yet.

Ewww, I don't like waking up early! It was probably from Pony last night.

I knew I couldn't go back to bed even if I tried, so I managed to stay away through breakfast.

It was all okay, until Darry said the words I was regretting.

"Lollipop, since we will be gone today. Two-bit is going to look after you."

I buried my face in my hands to show my discomfort with their decision.

The last time I was left with this ding dong I got in trouble!

This was not going to be fun...

Thanks for Reading!
Stay Tuned for More!
~Stay Gold
-Ascool_114