The Curtis Sister

Trust With Sad Dinners

      I rushed over to her and kneeled down, then pulled her hands from her face. She stared at me for a moment, then fell into me, latching me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her.
    "What happened?", I asked.
    She didn't answer. She got up, went to the counter, and picked up a piece of paper on top of piles of paper. She held it by the corner piece and away from her, almost like she couldn't bare to look at it. She handed it to me and then turned away. I read down the paper. It was a medical bill with a letter attached. I read the whole paper, but only one sentence caught my eye. Just one out off dozens. You're son, Edward Dean, has been diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.
      "Eddie?"
      She nodded.
       I put the paper beside me on the seat and hugged her again. It was completely silent, no talking outside the door, no clanging of dishes being washed, no silverware scraping on plates, no yelling, no music. Just the wind, our breathing, and the frequent sniffles from Gloria. I remembered what she did for me everyday before I went home. The leftovers she gave me. I assumed that the expensive medical bill would mean she needed those leftovers more than I did. Way more.
       I broke the hug and sat her down on the bench making sure to pick up the note and put it back on the stack of papers. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed some leftovers from before she closed the store. I put them on a booth near the window pointing towards the trees behind the Diner. It was pretty with the snow everywhere. No animals were around, except for bugs and squirrels. Maybe in the summer you'd see deer and rabbits. I walked back into the back room and grabbed her by her wrist. She followed without any objections. I pulled her onto the booth and pushed a plate in front of her. She looked at it and smiled at me.
      "What is this?", she asked.
      "Lunch."
      "Why are we having lunch?"
      "Because food is good."
      She laughed and started to eat the plate I gave her.
      "How's you're friends back at home?", she asked, trying to distract herself.
      I remembered them playing football outside, and sitting on the back steps, and then Johnny asking to come with me. And Johnny.
      "Dammit."
      "What?"
      "My friend Johnny is still in the car."
      "Bring him in.", she said.
      "I can't do that."
      "Why not?"
      "Don't you want alone time?"
      "Not when you have someone in a car outside just waiting for you."
       I got up from the booth and walked down the polished tile floors. Johnny was still in the car, his arms crossed against his chest, his head laying back on the seat. I walked up to the window, I was gonna knock on it, but he would've had a heart attack. I just opened the door instead. He still jumped.
"Still want that milkshake?"
He smiled and unbuckled his seat belt. We walked back into the diner and sat down at the booth. Johnny noticed Gloria was crying, but he avoided saying anything, which I was proud of.
"Hi Johnny, I'm Gloria.", she said softly. She had changed back to normal so quickly. I knew on the inside she was still crying, which made me wondered how many times shes done that to me.
       "Hi, Gloria.", he replied.
      "Oh. Your voice is quieter than I expected."
       "I've heard that a lot.", he slightly smiled.
      We sat down and talked, mostly about the guys. How Soda and Steve worked at the DX, how Two got me the job, and Darry's hospital visit. Once we stopped talking about stories I realized I hadn't said anything about Dal. Johnny did. And I only talked about Ponyboy. Did they fight again? I shrugged it off anyways. Gloria talked about how her parents lived in Florida and that she got this job when she was my age. It was a long lunch, in fact it was early-afternoon when we checked the clock. Johnny decided he'd wait in the car for a bit while I talked to Gloria. Once Johnny left she smiled a bit, then smiled at me. I still hugged her, because a few hours of talking certainly didn't cure Eddie's cancer.
       "Are you okay?", I asked.
       "I think so. I'm gonna clock out and go see him.", she said.
       "Okay. Call me if you need anything. At all.", I reassured.
       "Thank you, hun."
       "No problem, mom."
      I said that. It just slipped out. Of course I didn't mean to. I was so used to having long talks with mom, it almost seemed like the same thing. She smiled slightly.
        "I meant Gloria."
        "I know what you meant. You better get in the car, can't leave Johnny waiting too long."
       I nodded and walked out of the diner. Again, another embarrassing moment. It was a little more dull than it was this morning, probably because it was the afternoon rather than noon. Johnny was still in the car with his head laid against the dashboard. I opened the driver door and sat down.
"Don't trigger the airbag.", I joked.
He lifted his head back up and made a long, quiet sigh. Then he looked in my direction but instead dozed off at the door.
"What's wrong?", I asked.
        He didn't respond.
        "Hey. Johnny?", I shook his left arm.
       He turned towards me quickly. He looked annoyed, but not just with me, with everything.
        "I'm gay."
         I stopped for a second. Usually you don't see many gay people here, so the fact that I knew two boys that also liked boys, and they were so close to me, was shocking.
       "Oh. D-Does Dally know."
       "He already knew. He was shocked and worried that someone would hurt me, so I kept it a secret. But, some kids from school found out."
      "Did you tell them?", I asked.
      "That's the part."
      "What's the part?"
       I was scared, and more concerned for his safety.
       "I kissed someone."
       "A boy?"
       "No an octopus. Yes a boy.", he replied sarcastically.
        "Who'd you kiss?"
        "The part.", he reminded.
         I turned my head a bit.
         "Is it who I think it is?", I questioned.
        "I don't know, who do you think it is?"
        "I don't know."
        He cupped his face in his hands. His hair was a mess, he must've had a headache and tried to stop it. This is what he wanted to tell me, and I ignored him.
       "Johnny?", I regained his attention.
       "I kissed Ponyboy."