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Summer Vacation, The Curtis’s Backyard, Tulsa, OK, June 1957
School was out for the summer vacation, and glory was it hot. Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk – or ‘hotter’n Satan’s armpit’ to quote my big brother Soda. I told him that Momma had best not catch him saying that sort of thing aloud, as sternly as my five-year-old self could manage, but he just laughed and declared that he wasn’t scared of Momma.
‘That’s a lie, Soda’ I said. Father Daniel had talked a lot about lies recently at Mass, and Mrs Monks had pretty much smacked it into us at Sunday School. Not that Soda went to Sunday School anymore – he’d got kicked out pretty quickly after he asked too many questions and wanted to know more details about the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception. Mrs Monks had squawked indignantly at some of the things he had asked, and Momma had dragged him home by the scruff of his neck, lecturing him all the way about how embarrassed and ashamed she was. Soda had gotten a good hiding for it, but afterwards Daddy had said that Soda didn’t have to go back to church if he didn’t want to. Momma had pursed her lips, but Daddy and Darry didn’t go either so in the end she gave in.
‘It ain’t a lie, honey. I ain’t scared of Momma.’ He grinned cheekily. ‘It’s Momma’s wooden spoon that I’m leery of!’
I giggled. Soda always knew how to make me laugh. We lay on our backs in the long grass of our backyard and stared up at the cloudless sky.
Soda is my favourite brother. I have two of them, both bigger than me, Darry and Soda. Darry is 12 and at the age where he’s started calling our parents ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ and is trying to leave ‘babyish’ things behind. Only last summer, he would’ve been lying in the grass next to Soda and I, giggling and wrestling and getting into trouble alongside of us. But nowadays, he’s more interested in playing football with his friends at Junior High, or taking classes at the Youth Club at the Y rather than playing games with his kid brothers in our backyard at home.
Sodapop is 8 and I love him more than anyone else in the world. He’s like a tornado of ideas and humour and craziness, but he has a real sensitive side too. He’s always willing to play games with me, or tell jokes and make me laugh. He’s never ‘too busy’ to talk to me, and he’s the first person I run to when I’m sad or upset about something. He gives the best hugs, better even than Daddy’s. I’ve heard teachers say that Soda’s dumb as a bag of rocks, but that just ain’t true. Soda is real smart in all the ways that matter. He knows all sorts of things, like how to shimmy up drainpipes, or scare away big dogs, or how to butter Momma up so she decides to bake a cake for us. And he’s always looking out for me. He’s the best big brother I could wish for.
I’ve only just gotten outta kindergarten so I’m still very much the baby of our family, but that ain’t a bad thing like Darry seems to think. It’s not my fault that I’m only nearly six while he’s 12 already. I like the ‘babyish’ things like playing pirates in our yard, or making up stories in my head, or reading adventure books (I learned how to read before I even started Kindergarten and I can read even better than Soda can now). Momma says I oughta stop daydreaming so much because life isn’t all roses, but Daddy says that life isn’t anything without a little colour and imagination. So I don’t really know who to listen to, but I daydream just the same. I can’t help it.
‘I wish we had enough money to go and get an ice-cream or something’, Soda sighed longingly. ‘That’d be so good in this heat.’
My mouth watered. I could just picture the chocolate sundaes served at the diner a few blocks away, the one Momma and Daddy took us to on very special but very rare occasions. I loved chocolate, and those sundaes were one of the best things I’d ever tasted – on a par with Momma’s chocolate cakes. The ice creams came in a tall glass and there was chocolate sauce and chopped nuts and whipped cream – and the thought of it was torture on the hottest day of the year so far. I fixed Soda with an irritated look.
‘You know we don’t get our allowances for another four days.’
Soda pouted. ‘I know. Even pooling our money, we still don’t have enough.’
I stared at the sky, idly wiggling one of my front teeth with my tongue as I lazed in the sunshine. It was loose, but not loose enough and it was starting to annoy me.
‘It’s a shame this tooth isn’t loose yet. Then the tooth fairy would come and we might have enough money to split a sundae.’
Soda sat up as if electrified.
‘Ponyboy Curtis. You’re a genius!’
The excited gleam in his eye was not a little scary.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Ponyboy looked worried as I explained my absolutely amazing idea. I’d seen them do it on the TV – they tied a string to the tooth and the other end to a door. Then, they slammed it and the tooth came out. Easy peasy, Bob’s your uncle. The tooth fairy would then come tonight, and by this time tomorrow we would be able to split a chocolate sundae.
Pony pouted.
‘That sounds like it’d hurt. I don’t wanna, Soda.’
I waved my hand impatiently. ‘It doesn’t hurt them on the tv. It’s not like when I accidentally head-butted you.’
That had been a few months ago. Pony and I had been wrestling and I’d accidentally sorta head-butted him right in the mouth and knocked one of his front teeth out. To be fair, it was a baby tooth and it had been loose already, but that didn’t save me from Daddy turning me over his knee right then and there and giving me a short but memorable spanking to teach me a lesson about being more gentle with my kid brother.
‘Sides, I’ve lost plenty of teeth and it don’t hurt a single bit. Trust me. That first one only hurt ya ‘cause I head-butted you.’
Pony looked like he was getting convinced, so I went in for the kill.
‘Just imagine, Pone. Chocolate ice cream.’
I watched my kid brother consider it more carefully, weighing up his fear of possible pain versus his love of chocolate, and I saw the moment he made his decision.
‘Well, ok then. If you promise it won’t hurt.’
‘I promise, honey. Trust ol’ Sodapop.’
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Maggie Curtis was folding laundry when she heard a terrible scream, followed by lots of crying and a panicked sounding Sodapop. She dropped the shirt she was holding and sprinted to the source of the sound.
Five year old Ponyboy had blood streaming out of his mouth all the way down the front of his shirt, while eight year old Soda was desperately trying to comfort him and mop up the blood.
‘Lord, what in the world is going on here?’ Maggie wondered, jumping to action. She picked up her youngest and carried him to the kitchen sink, stripping off his shirt, soothing and shushing him and sitting him on the counter.
‘Let me see, honey.’ She tried to pry Ponyboy’s hands away from his mouth and examine the damage, but he was crying too hard. She ran a clean rag under the faucet and wiped at what blood she could reach. ‘Soda, get some ice please, honey.’
Soda flung the door of the icebox open. ‘We’re outta ice, Momma,’ he called.
Maggie sighed. ‘Frozen peas?’
Soda nodded and grabbed the packet, carrying it over to where Ponyboy was howling.
‘Move your hands and let me see, honey’, Maggie cooed, wrapping the baggie in a tea towel. She took a firm hold of Pony’s hands and moved them away so she could assess the situation.
‘Aw, honey. You’ve lost another tooth. How did that happen?’ And why is it bleeding so much? She wondered silently, as she held the cold bag to her baby’s mouth.
Behind her, Soda shifted awkwardly, and she instantly knew he had had something to do with it. Once glance at his best innocent expression confirmed her suspicions. Soda couldn’t act if his behind depended on it, and it frequently did.
Ponyboy was gasping great shuddering breaths as he tried to calm down, and Maggie gently wiped the blood from his chin and kissed his forehead. Then, casting a silent prayer for patience, she turned to her mischievous middle son.
‘Ok then. Lay it on me. What did you do?’
Soda chewed his lip anxiously, and Maggie cast her eyes heavenward again.
‘Just start at the beginning, Soda, and don’t leave anything out.’
‘Weeeelll, it all started when I wondered if we had enough money left from our allowances to get a chocolate sundae…’
Maggie listened with increasing amazement as Soda told his tale of woe, ending it with producing Ponyboy’s bloody tooth still with a string tied around it. Lord, she’d only been folding laundry and look at what the pair of them had gotten up to when her back was turned. She could cry with frustration and wanted to simultaneously strangle and cuddle her middle son. He always got the craziest ideas into his head and he always ended up getting into trouble.
Speaking of which.
‘Sodapop Patrick Curtis, how could you do such a foolish thing?’
‘I’m real sorry, Momma.’ He turned to his brother with genuine contrition. ‘Sorry, Ponyboy. Honest I am. I really didn’t think it’d hurt or bleed that much.’
Pony sniffed and gave his brother a gruesome smile, what with the blood all over his gums and bottom lip. ‘S’Ok, Soda. I shouldn’t have let ya.’
‘No, you shouldn’t have’ Maggie agreed, rubbing her temples wearily. ‘What am I gonna do with the pair of you?’ She filled a glass and encouraged her youngest to rinse and spit, while she lectured them both. ‘I don’t know what gets into you two sometimes. I swear, I never had this much trouble with Darry.’
Soda made a face and murmured ‘That’s ‘cos he’s really boring.’
Maggie’s lips twitched and she bit on them to stop herself from laughing. She supposed that Darry probably did seem a bit boring to his younger brothers now that he was growing up. She schooled her face into a more serious expression and grabbed a wooden spoon.
‘Ok, come here, Soda.’
Soda fixed his beautiful big brown eyes on her, what she liked to refer to as the ‘Sodapop Special’. Unluckily for him, she had grown immune to it over the years.
‘Sodapop’ she warned. He reluctantly came over, and she grabbed his shoulder and spun him round.
‘You. Don’t. Practise. Dentistry. On. Your. Brothers.’ She scolded, whacking the seat of his trousers to punctuate each word, and then giving him one more to match his age. Soda bore it grumpily, tears springing to his eyes, and he rubbed frantically at the sting when she let him go.
‘Owww, Momma. That hurt.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘It was meant to. Maybe you’ll think twice before doing something so stupid in the future.’
Soda pouted and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. She gave it about two minutes before he was his usual cheerful self again though. He always bounced back quickly after a spanking.
Unlike his younger brother. Ponyboy was a more serious child, who took even sharp words to heart and brooded over them for hours. She knew that he was going to sulk heartily after he took his licks.
She checked Ponyboy’s mouth to ensure the bleeding had stopped and then wiped his face one more time. Then, she picked him off the counter and twisted him around, landing the spoon several times on his behind exactly like she had done to Soda.
‘And - Ponyboy. Curtis. Use. Your. Head.’
Her youngest wailed loudly, as he always did, but she ignored his histrionics. He cried no matter how light the spanking was so she paid his fussing no mind. She pocketed the spoon in her housecoat, having a funny feeling she might need it again that day. Summer vacation was always challenging with three lively boys at home.
‘Right, out into the yard with the pair of you and I don’t want any more mischief for the rest of the day, you hear?’
__________________________________________________________________________________
I had spent a glorious morning messing around playing football on the lot with my friends, but the summer heat was starting to get to us. Groaning, we collapsed gratefully in some shade and shared a canteen of water. I glanced at my watch, noting it was nearly lunchtime. I’d have to get going soon, Mom had said that she wanted me home for lunch so I could mind my kid brothers. Something about how it was her turn to clean the church or do the flowers. I don’t really listen much when Mom starts up about church.
I had scowled when Mom assigned me babysitting duty. I much prefer hanging out with my friends, roaming the neighbourhood. My brothers are so young and such babies at times, with their crazy schemes and play acting. I do love them something fierce and I’ve always got their backs, but they make me crazier than a soup sandwich when Mom and Dad leave me in charge. However, the little monsters certainly can’t be left unsupervised. Who knows what kind of trouble they would get into if left to their own devices? They’re bad enough when there’s a grown-up around.
I have two kid brothers. Sodapop, the eight-year-old, is full of energy, questions and ideas, his sheer physicality exhausting. That kid couldn’t sit still if he was glued to his chair. Soda often tries to follow me around like a lost puppy; it makes me so mad. Dad says that Soda looks up to me more than anyone, thinks I’m the tuffest big brother in the world, and that I should be nice to him. For a while, it was nice. Who wouldn’t like a little shadow thinking you’re the bees knees and looking at you like you hung the moon? But had gotten old very quickly. I just wish the kid would give me some space from time to time. And not give me the hurt sad eyes whenever I want to hang out with my friends.
Ponyboy, the five-year-old baby of our family, is a completely different kettle of fish. While Soda openly admires me, Pony is jealous of Soda’s division of affection and often shows me how mad it makes him. He doesn’t care what I think or do, he is entirely too wrapped up in his own little world of books and stories and thinking mighty hard. Pony doesn’t realise it yet, but the reason the two of us don’t get along as well as we should is because we are entirely too similar but too far apart in age. Both of us are book-smart, stubborn and fiercely loyal. Mom told me that we’d be good friends when Pony is grown. As far as I’m concerned, the kid can’t grow up fast enough. His whinging gets on my last nerve.
I glanced again at my watch, and sighed. I’d better get going, I daren’t be late for lunch. I got to my feet and waved my friends goodbye, then reluctantly walked back home.
I found my Mom in the kitchen, slicing up some apples to go with our sandwiches.
‘Hey Darry, how was your morning?’
‘Hot. We were playing football in the lot.’
‘It’s good you came home then. Far too hot to be running around now.’
I shrugged. ‘I guess.’ I opened the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk.
‘Don’t fill up on the milk, honey, you won’t eat your lunch.’
I rolled my eyes. Since when have I ever not eaten my lunch? I’m a growing lad, ain’t I? I’m already taller than most of the boys in my grade, and some of the ones in the grade above. I had hoped that Dad would soon let me start lifting some weights down at the Y so I could bulk out a bit more to match my height, but Dad had said not until I’m older. It’s frustrating – I’m too old for some things like playing games with my kid brothers, but not yet old enough to go to parties or lift weights or go on dates with some of the pretty girls in my grade that were starting to attract my attention. I wish my parents would make up their minds – to them I’m either old enough to be responsible, like when they get me to mind Pony and Soda, or too young, like when Dad had said I’m still young enough to be going over his knee. They should just pick one and stick with it.
‘Could you call your brothers in to wash up? Lunch is nearly ready.’
I went out to the back porch to summon Soda and Pony. I found them lying in the long grass in the shade, whispering and giggling, and for a moment, seeing the two of them together, I felt a pang of…something. Nostalgia? Jealousy? I shook my head to clear it of the unwelcome thought, and called out to them.
Soda’s face lit up and he practically cartwheeled his way over to me, chattering with excitement and asking so many questions that I wondered how the kid had time to breathe in between sentences. Ponyboy followed, proudly waving something small and bloody in my face and my nose wrinkled in disgust.
‘I lotht a toof, Darry’, Pony lisped, smiling and showing off the gap in his smile.
‘Lovely. Uh, that’s er, real nice honey. Why don’t you wrap it up in a hanky or something to keep it safe.’ Lord, little kids are disgusting.
Pony grinned broadly.
‘Thoda tied a thtring around it and tied it to the door and THLAMMED it.’
‘It went BANG, Darry. Pony screamed like anythin’ but it worked. The tooth came out and there was blood EVERYWHERE.’ Soda deflated for a second, perhaps taking a second to refill his lungs. ’But then Momma spanked me and Pony with the spoon.’
I massaged my temples. I could feel a headache coming on.
‘Is that so?’, I said, half listening as I hustled my brothers inside. Soda jabbered relentlessly about his latest encounter with Mom’s wooden spoon, and I hid a smile at my kid brother’s outrage. It had been a while since I had been popped with the spoon, but I remember the sting vividly and could sympathise with Soda’s indignation.
‘And we wouldn’t have got spanked if Pony hadn’t been such a crybaby’, Soda continued, and Pony scowled at Soda’s accusation. He hated being called a crybaby, even if that’s exactly what he was.
‘We would too have. Momma would’ve seen the blood, dummy.’
‘Boys, that is enough.’ Mom stood in the kitchen, hands on her hips. ‘We don’t call each other names.’
Pony blushed. ‘Sorry, Momma.’
I led my brothers to the bathroom to wash up, and we all sat down in the kitchen to eat. I drank my water thirstily, my head beginning to pound at the incessant noise.
‘How much money do you think the tooth fairy will give Pony?’ wondered Soda through a mouthful of tuna sandwich. Jesus, does that kid ever shut up?
Mom tilted her head, considering. ‘It depends how clean the tooth is.’
‘Looks pretty clean to me.’ Pony held the tooth under my nose. ‘What do you think, Darry?’ he chirped, and I tried not to gag at the vile, blood-encrusted thing.
‘Ugh, tell me you don’t still believe in the tooth fairy.’ I snapped.
‘Darrel.’ Mom said softly, but I didn’t pick up on the warning tone.
‘Only babies still believe in the tooth fairy,’ I continued, ‘There’s no such thing. C’mon Soda, back me up here.’
Pony’s eyes were huge and watery, and Soda looked uncertain.
‘There is TOO a tooth fairy’ Pony shouted, ‘She brought me a whole dime last time.’
He ran out of the kitchen, sobbing furiously.
‘Now look what you’ve done’ Mom hissed at me, before following after Ponyboy, leaving Soda and me alone.
Soda looked at me, hurt and confusion shining in his eyes.
‘Is it true? That the tooth fairy isn’t real?’
Aw hell. Those big brown eyes were filling up with tears and I felt an unpleasant squirming in my gut. I’d done that. I’d made him look like that. Not to mention making my baby brother cry too. I sighed. For all that I wanted them to grow up, I didn’t really want to be the one to make them look like that. I felt like the lowest of the low, lower than the fleas on a dog. I decided to try to fix it. Anything to make Soda stop looking like I’d cancelled Christmas or something. Even if he really ought to have been old enough to have stopped believing in the tooth fairy.
‘I was just messing with y’all. It was a joke. ‘Course the tooth fairy’s real. She brought you money every time you lost a tooth, didn’t she?’
Soda looked at me uncertainly, wanting to believe me but no longer trusting me. Well, I couldn’t have that.
‘You’ll see, honey. Pony’ll pop his tooth under his pillow and in the morning there’ll be a shiny new coin in its place.’
‘Promise?’
‘I promise.’
‘That was a real mean lie, Darry. You made Pony cry.’
I shifted awkwardly in my seat. ‘Yeah, I know. I’ll make it right.’
Mom came storming back into the kitchen and had clearly heard what I said. I blanched as she grabbed the spoon from the counter and glared fiercely at me. Shit.
‘Absolutely, you’ll make this right with your brothers. I don’t know what’s got into you at the moment but it stops right now, young man.’
Soda’s eyes had gone huge when Mom had picked up the spoon and he stared at her wide-eyed.
‘Are you gonna spank Darry? For telling lies?’
Mom’s eyes widened slightly but she caught on quickly.
‘You bet I am. Lyin’ is unacceptable, you all know that.’
Soda nodded solemnly as Mom turned her angry attention back to me. I shrank slightly under her stern gaze, suddenly feeling about as old as Soda. Speaking of which, was Mom really gonna spank me here in front of him? The very thought of being humbled right in front of my kid brother was horrible. Then again, maybe she’d go a bit easier on me with an audience. She probably wouldn’t make me bare my ass in the kitchen, would she? The furious glint in her eye did make me wonder though, and I swallowed convulsively around the lump in my throat.
‘Come over here, drop your pants and bend over the counter, Darrel.’ Mom’s voice was quiet but with a steel core. A shiver went up my spine and I almost obeyed automatically. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not with Soda right there. I hesitated, glancing at my brother and desperately trying to telegraph to Mom all I was thinking with the panic that must’ve been clear in my eyes. She narrowed her gaze at me, but – thank the Lord - she decided to be merciful.
‘Soda, honey? Be a lamb and go check on Pony for me would you?’
Soda shot me one last awe-filled look and then fled. As soon as we heard the door to their bedroom close, Mom advanced on me like one pissed-off bobcat, and grabbed me by my ear.
‘Owwww, Momma’ I protested as she hauled me up outta my chair.
‘Save your howlin’ for when I light you up. Get your pants down, and bend over right now.’
‘Yes’m’ I replied, fingers fumbling as I undid my fly and dropped my jeans.
‘Underwear too’ Mom snapped, and I went purple with embarrassment.
‘C’mon Mom, can’t you let me have any privacy? I’m not a little kid any more. Lemme keep ‘em up. Please?’
‘Darrel Curtis, I’m your Momma. I saw your bare butt before you were even aware you had one. Now, do as I tell you right now, or you’ll be an extremely sorry little boy.’
For a moment, I thought about disobeying her. I was already taller than her and stronger than her and she wouldn’t be able to spank me if I refused. It’s not like when I was little and she could just grab me, pick me up and turn me over her knee. I could just tell her ‘no’ and walk right out of the kitchen and she wouldn’t be able to stop me.
But, if I did that, she would tell Dad. And Dad was definitely bigger and stronger than me and would have no problem dragging my ass over the nearest convenient object and skinning me alive with his belt. So, although I really didn’t want to get spanked, I’d take that a thousand times over getting whipped by Dad.
Extremely reluctantly, I tugged my briefs down to join my jeans and then bent over the kitchen counter, presenting my behind for my punishment.
Mom wasted no time at all and immediately swatted me hard. I grunted and wrinkled my nose, screwing my eyes shut. I’d almost forgotten how much that spoon stung, but it was all flooding back vividly now. She applied a few good whacks before pausing.
‘Darrel Curtis, I am so disappointed in you right now. I didn’t raise you to be so horrible to your brothers.’ She swatted me again before continuing. ‘You’ve got a real attitude problem at the moment, young man, and I’m not a fan of it.’
‘I’m real sorry, Mom.’ I whined, feeling the sting building as she continued to bombard my butt with that nasty wooden spoon.
‘Oh you will be. I can’t believe you said what you said to Ponyboy. He’s five years old. He’s crying his heart out in his room, all because of you. When we’re done here, you are going to go talk to him, d’you hear? You’ll go and make this right – I don’t care how you do it, you just get it done. Your brothers look up to you, trust you – and look at what you did with it.’
I felt horrible, and not just because of the spanking. Mom was right, I’d been such a dickhead to Pony and Soda. Tears prickled in my eyes and I drew a shuddering breath. I did not want to cry over a few pops with Mom’s spanking spoon. I was twelve years old for god’s sake.
Mom seemed to have finished lecturing, and I hoped that it meant my punishment was over, but then she started laying down licks to the back of my thighs.
‘Owww, Momma!’ I yelped, straightening up and covering my legs. ‘C’mon, that ain’t fair.’
‘Back in position or I’ll make you touch your toes for the last few.’
Jesus, Mom was being such a hard-ass. That sounded more like something Dad would say. I pouted and she raised an eyebrow. Hastily, I moved my hands and bent back over the counter before she could carry out her threat. I wasn’t gonna mess with her when she was in this mood.
I yelped my way through the final swats, tears leaking down my face as I tried to maintain my composure. It was so embarrassing, being spanked like a little kid, and I didn’t want to start bawling like one too. But the sting and the heat were building and building as Mom lit up my entire rear end, until - finally - she stopped spanking me.
But then she spoke, and all my walls came crumbling down. I ain’t ashamed to say that it made me sob my heart out.
‘You brothers think the world of you, but only for the moment. How you treat them now will determine your relationships for the rest of your lives. Don’t make them stop looking up to you, son.’
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I lay curled up on my bed, hugging my pillow, with Soda gently stroking my hair. He had come in and told me that Darry had been lying about the tooth fairy not being real – but how did I know whether I could trust him? What if that was the lie and he was lying about telling the truth? Soda told me I think about these things far too much and that I’d give myself a headache.
‘’Sides – Momma’s lightin’ Darry up something awful for tellin’ lies,’ explained Soda, his nose crinkling with distaste at the thought of anyone, let alone Superman, getting spanked. ‘She was real mad about it.’
‘But what if Darry wasn’t lying?’ I protested.
Soda rolled his eyes at me. ‘Then Momma wouldn’t be spankin’ him, would she?’
I chewed my lip considering, and jumped as a particularly loud smack sound echoed from down the hall. Soda cringed visibly. He was always sad whenever anyone of us got licked.
‘I s’pose so.’ I said, cuddling closer to him. ‘But I’m still worried he was right. What if there really isn’t a tooth fairy?’
Soda yawned, clearly done with this line of talk. ‘You’ll see, Pone. Just put your tooth under your pillow tonight.’
We lay there, trying not to listen to the distant sound of Darry’s spanking but unable to help it. Our house is small and the walls are thin, you can hear everything, though we always pretended we couldn’t. Well, nearly always. Sometimes we couldn’t help teasing each other. It can be real satisfying to hear one of my brothers get his ass handed to him when he’s been winding me up, and even more fun to tease him about it afterwards.
‘Maybe we can get Darry to play pirates or something this afternoon?’ wondered Soda. ‘Or cops and robbers?’
‘Maybe’.
The sound of Darry’s punishment had stopped, and I sat up as I heard Darry coming down the hall. He came into our room and I was shocked to see his face all tear-stained like he’d been crying. My big brother didn’t cry, he was tuff. Far too grown to cry at a spanking. Momma must’ve hit him real hard.
Without even thinking about it, I launched myself into his arms, hugging him fiercely. He sat down on his bed at the force of the impact, wincing as he settled me on his lap.
‘I’m real sorry, Darry’ I said, squeezing him tight.
He stared at me, bewildered. ‘What on earth for? You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.’
‘But if I hadn’t gotten so upset, Momma wouldn’t have been so mad.’
He gave me a watery smile. ‘Oh honey, that’s not true. Momma was angry because I lied and told you the tooth fairy isn’t real. That was real mean of me, and I’m sorry – and not just ‘cos I got licked for it.’
I cuddled closer for a moment. ‘Was it really a lie, Darry? Is the tooth fairy really real?’
He grinned. ‘Course she is. How else do you explain the dime you got when Soda knocked your other tooth out?’
I chewed that over for a moment, but I had nothing. ‘It’s just…how do I know you’re not lying about lying?’
From his position flopped on our bed, Soda let out a frustrated groan. ‘Glory, honey – you just never let things go, do ya?’
Darry looked serious for a moment, thinking about what I had just said. Then he brightened.
‘Well, maybe we will just have to prove that the tooth fairy exists. Then you’ll definitely believe me.’
Soda sat up, his attention caught.
‘How are you gonna manage that?’ He said, eyes wide.
‘Well…we will just have to set a trap and catch her! Then we’ll have all the proof you need.’
__________________________________________________________________________________
When Maggie Curtis came to tuck her boys into bed later that night, she had to negotiate her way around an elaborate series of booby traps. She couldn’t help but laugh at the gleeful look in Soda and Pony’s eyes when they explained exactly what had happened to turn their bedroom into a tooth fairy trap, complete with ‘bait’ (according to Darry, Soda had been all for trying to extract more ‘bait’ from Pony’s mouth but fortunately Darry had managed to talk him out of it). Darry had, by his own admission, been instrumental in the design of some of the more complicated bits and the three boys had spent a happy afternoon creating the ‘Ultimate Tooth Fairy Catcher 500’.
Maggie smiled at Darry, letting him know with an affectionate kiss to his forehead as she tucked him in just how much loved him and was proud of the clever way he had made up with his brothers.
And she laughed to herself at the thought of Darrel Curtis Sr having to negotiate the booby traps later that night to slip a coin under Pony’s pillow when all the boys were fast asleep.