Because of You

8

While her grandma scampered around the house the next morning attending to chores and singing along to the Elvis Presley record she had been playing, Lo and her mother sat on the front porch, enjoying ice cold glasses of lemonade. Though the music was loud enough to hear through the screen door, Lo didn't pay it any mind while she read to Charlotte. At least once a week, her mother asked her to read aloud. The book didn't matter, but the time did. Charlotte felt no more content than when she was rocking back and forth on the porch swing, surveying the bright sun warm the grasses, and enjoying her daughter's ardent voice share a story. Today, Lo was finishing up The Outsiders. The two had already seen the film a few years earlier, when it came out in theatres, and loved it. They constantly found themselves leaving each other and racing to be the one to say, "Stay gold, Ponyboy!"

As much as Dot wanted to participate in this book club, she never did. Unbeknownst to Lo, Dot actually suggested the idea to Charlotte when Lo was first learning to read. Back then, the reading sessions would only last 10-15 minutes or so before Lo's attention span was exhausted. These days, the girls sat together for over a good hour discussing the characters and storyline. They would talk about the choices characters made, they'd fall in love with the male leads, and they'd cry when their favorite characters died. For weeks, Lo and Charlotte mourned the loss of Beth after finishing Little Women. The reading sessions were a collection of moments in time for Charlotte that she'd forever treasure. Every few minutes, Dot would creep past the front door, half-pretending to dust or vacuum, and hear snippets of what was being read. She wanted to be there. She really did. But, the bonding time for Charlotte and Lo was the greatest gift she could give.

Lo closed the book as she finished reading the last chapter and looked up to Charlotte. "What'd you think?"

"Well," started Charlotte, "I wish we would've read the book first. It was so much better than the movie!"

Together they said, "Always is!"

Charlotte continued, "I really enjoyed it - even if it did make me shed a few tears."

"I liked it, too," said Lo. "I really admire the Greasers."

"Mmm," Charlotte agreed, "Their commitment to one another is really something."

"It made me think about the sacrifices I would make for the people that I love," Lo said.

"Like the sacrifice Dally made?"

"Yes. And even for people I don't love. Pony and Johnny ran into that church to save kids that they didn't even know," Lo explained, "I guess the idea of self sacrifice stood out to me."

Charlotte nodded her head and waited for her daughter to continue.

"It makes me think about the person I want to be and who I want to surround myself with," Lo said.

"Reflecting like this proves that you're already an amazing girl."

Lo's head dropped and her eyes fell to the thick wooden beams holding the porch together. Through the gaps between them, she could see the dirt ground below - the same dirt ground that hosted her hiding spot in games with Jane many summers before.

"Do you think Dad would think I'm amazing?" she quietly whispered.

"Elowen Faye Eaton," Charlotte proudly stated.

Slowly, Lo brought her head up and was pierced with conviction in her mother's eyes. For a moment, she regretted asking the question.

Charlotte grabbed a hold of Lo's hands and squeezed tightly.

"Of course."

Lo smiled and used her feet to kick off the wooden beams, allowing their swing to sway as they sat. The sun was making its way across the sky, releasing its beams over the city of Harper.