Summer Nights // Sodapop Curtis

One

I threw a few outfits into my suitcase, zipped it up, and I was ready to go. My parents were dragging me to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the summer. My dad had grown up there, and he wanted our family to see what it was like. I had never been to Tulsa before, but it didn't sound like the place I wanted to spend my summer. While my friends were going on plane rides to the beach, I was driving ten hours to the middle of nowhere. My little brother could not be more excited, but he didn't know any better. All my dad talked about was how amazing Tulsa was, but from what I could see was, there was no beach in Tulsa, and I wanted to spend my summer in the water. I also wouldn't know anybody besides our family that lives there, it was going to be a lonely summer.

"Callie! Are you ready to go?" I heard my mother yell from the other room.

I grabbed my bags and brought them to the living room of our apartment. My little brother, Charlie, was ready to run out the door, and my parents were gathering all of our things. We had a lot of bags, we were going to be in Tulsa for three months, so we had packed almost all of our belongings.

"Let's go to Tulsa!" My dad cheered, and we followed him out the door, struggling to carry everything. We barely got down the stairs, and it was nearly impossible to fit everything in the car.

"It doesn't seem like there's going to be enough room," I said, "I think it's best if I just stay here."

"Get in the car," Mom said sternly, she was already tired of me complaining and we hadn't even left yet.

We piled into the car and headed off, it was going to be a long ride. Dad turned on the car radio, Mom was sewing a dress together that had ripped, and Charlie and I were playing cards. We had left at 6:30 in the morning, and the sun was just starting to rise.

"Goodbye Chicago," I whispered, as we drove away from the tall buildings and noise of the city.

After a few hours of driving, Dad suggested we stop and get something to eat for breakfast. We pulled into the parking lot of an old diner in a small town in Illinois, and we all got out of the car and walked into the restaurant.

"Good morning!" An overly cheerful waitress greeted us. "Welcome to Rosie's! Can I get you a table for four?"

"A table for two," Dad said to the waitress, "the kids will sit at the counter."

Charlie and I walked over to the counter, where there were red stools for us to sit on, and empty coffee mugs set out. We sat down towards the end of the counter, and looked over the menus.

"Do you want me to ask for a kid's menu for you?" I asked Charlie.

"I'm eleven," Charlie rolled his eyes, "I do not need a kids menu."

"Well, I'm seventeen and I still want a kids menu!" I laughed.

"Can I get y'all something to drink?" An older man asked us.

"I'll take a large chocolate milk," Charlie said. 

"I'll have coffee," I answered.

"I'll be right back with those," the man sighed, he talked like he was barely awake, and it was obvious that he didn't want to be working here, and he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Why do you always look so sad?" Charlie asked me. "We're going on an awesome vacation for the whole summer!"

"I'd rather stay home in Chicago," I shrugged.

"Why? Dad says that there's a summer carnival we can go to, and a drive in movie theater, it will be so much fun!" Charlie said, getting more excited as he talked.

The old man, who's name tag read Murray, came back with a very large chocolate milk, and a steaming cup of coffee.

"Can I get you something to eat?" Murray asked in his sad voice.

"I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate sauce and whipped cream on top," Charlie said, he was excited that Mom wasn't there to stop him from eating whatever he wanted. "Oh and a side of bacon please."

"Can I have the buttermilk pancakes with strawberries?" I asked.

"I'll be right out with your orders," Murray said, and he left.

"You think I seem sad, have you seen that guy?" I asked Charlie.

"He seems like someone just punched him," Charlie said.

"Where do you even come up with this stuff?" I laughed at him.

"Do you think we'll like our family?" Charlie changed the subject, we had never met my Dad's side of the family, and they all lived in Tulsa.

"If they're anything like Dad, then I think we'll love them," I said, putting my arm around him.

"Get off me you butt," Charlie laughed, and I scooted my chair away from him.

"You're so mean," I pretended to be sad.

"And you're such a baby," he laughed.

"But I'm your favorite baby!" I tickled him.

"Stoppppp!" He said between fits of laughter. I stopped tickling him and took a sip of my coffee, just as Murray emerged from the kitchen with two plates.

"I added some extra chocolate chips on top for you," Murray said to Charlie, and for once, he didn't sound as sad.

"Thanks sir!" Charlie said as he stuffed his mouth.

"And I added some more strawberries for you," Murray said to me.

"Thank you very much," I said politely.

I looked down at the huge pile of pancakes in front of me, and then I looked at Charlie, who already had chocolate all over his face. I ate my pancakes, I wasn't quite as messy as Charlie, and we talked about what we wanted to do during our summer in Tulsa. Charlie decided that he wanted to buy a bicycle so he could ride around town, and I decided I wanted to go to the beach, but that wasn't going to happen. When we finished our food, I left a couple dollars on the counter for Murray, and we went over to the booth where our parents were eating.

"We're almost finished, why don't you take a walk outside for a few minutes," Mom suggested.

Charlie and I walked out of the diner, and down the street of the small town. There were a few little shops, and there were barely any people out on the streets.

"Do you really not want to go on this trip?" Charlie asked me.

"I don't want to go at all," I replied honestly.

"You're going to have the best summer ever, I promise," Charlie said, and little did I know, he was right.