Chapter 9

We left the beach around 3:30, but it took a good 20 minutes to pack everything up and it put it all back in the car, with all the walking and the kids. As we were leaving, Emily, Rachel, and Xavier all had sunburns forming even though they all put lotion on. Right now their skin was pink. Emily had fair skin and Rachel and Xavier inherited it. Me, Soda and Matty's skin are fine as long as we put lotion on, and we can get tan, not just very dark. I'd say I'm the palest out of the three though.

Since the BBQ wasn't gonna start until 5:00, we all went home to shower and get rid of the sand and beach hair. On the way home I asked Angel what she thought. She liked it a lot, she just didn't like how she now had sand in her bathing suit. Which I consider a good and typical response from a four year old.

Once we got home I gave Angel a quick bath while Matty took a shower. Angel hates baths for only one reason, getting her hair washed. She likes her hair, and hates people messing with it. If it was up to her she'd never have to brush it or put up in a ponytail when it's hot out. But she does trust Matty with her hair more than she trusts me. She fusses more when I have to do something to it. Today was no exception.

I let Angel put her head under the running water to get it wet, as I put shampoo in my hands I could see her pouting. She didn't complain so much though this time. Until...

"Shit daddy you got some in my eye!"

Excuse me? Did I just hear what I thought I did come out of my four year old's mouth? I stopped right in my tracks.

"Angel, what did you just say?" I asked her. "I said you got shampoo in my eye." She answered. I grabbed a towel and wiped off her eye. "No, no. You said 'shit'. Where did you hear that?" I said to her after I did. "At the beach."

"Who said it?" I asked. "Some boy." Well this is just great. I knew she was going learn swear words and test them out someday, but when it finally happened it was a bit of a shock.

"Well don't say it anymore. Alright? It's a bad word, you can get in trouble for saying it." I told her with a stern voice (Something I don't use very often) so she knew I was serious.

"What does it mean?"

"You'll learn when you're older." I said and left it at that.

By the time I was finished with Angel Matty was out of the shower, so I had my turn while Matty got Angel dressed. We were a few minutes late getting out the door, but it's no big deal since we live down the street.

By the time we got there Em and Soda had everything set up. There was a table in the backyard that had drinks and chips on it while Soda was grilling up some burgers and hot dogs. I went over to him to help. At the picnic table was Emily, the neighbors- Patty and Ted- who me and Matty met a few times before and Emilyy's parents. Matty sat down next to them. She introduced herself to them. Matty use to act tough and not talk much to new people, but after getting a job as social worker she's learned to be more friendly. Emily's mother wouldn't stop talking to Matty about her pregnancy, but she didn't mind. Sometimes I think she likes the attention, but she'd never admit it.

At one point Soda's youngest Wendy over to her grandpa and sat as his lap. "I lub you pappy" She said and he kissed the top of her head. This made me think of how I never had grandparents. When I was younger I didn't think I was missing out on much, almost no one in my gang had them. But after Angel was born, it made me think of my parents, and how happy they would be, to have a grandchild. My mom sure would've made a great grandma. She'd probably baked Angel all the chocolate cakes she could eat. And Matty's parents aren't around anymore either. Her mother died when she was real little, and she hasn't spoken to her father since he was put in jail for beating her. He'd probably wouldn't make the best grandpa, but the way Matty talks about her mother makes her seem like the perfect mom and grandma.

As I was thinking about all this I looked over at Angel. She was playing with Dane and the one of the neighbor's kid in the sandbox. Dane was bragging about the sandcastle they made earlier and Angel was agreeing with everything he said. Even though some of it, like the living sand gaurds, was made up.

"Hey Pones, you ok?" Sodapop asked nudging my shoulder. "What? Yeah I'm fine, just blanking out, sorry." I answered. The food was all ready in a little bit, so we all sat down and ate. Just as we were eating I heard Dane say, "Shit" over at the kid's table.

"Don't say that Dane, it's bad word." I heard Angel warn him. But that only made him wanna say it more. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Stop it, Dane you're not being funny." Xaiver told him. "Shit!" He yelled. This time he got Soda and Emily's attention.

"Dane, what did you just say young man?" Soda asked him with a serious voice. "Shit." Dane answered like it was no big deal. "Stop it Dane!" Rachel yelled at him.

"Dane, you know that's not a nice word. Say it one more time, you'll get soap to wash out your mouth." Em warned him. But of course, he said it one more time. So Emily brought him in the house to take care of him.

"I'm real sorry everybody." Soda said to the adults. "Don't worry, he must of heard it at the beach with Angel today, cause she tested it out on me when I got shampoo in her eye." I told him. That made him crack a smile. "Just be lucky he didn't drop an f-bomb." Said Ted, making a few of us laugh. "What's an f-bomb?" Rachel asked. The adults started laughing again.

Emily and Dane came back out, Dane trying to wipe his tounge; probably trying to get the soap taste out of his mouth. Emily tapped his shouldermeans he dully said, "I'm sorry everyone for my fresh language." we all forgave him.

Once we all finished eating, it still wasn't dark enough yet for fireworks so we all sat around and talked. Sodagave the older kids some poppers to throw onto the ground as long as they kept them away from people's feet. Finally around nine, the sky was dark enough. So we all headed to Soda and Em's driveway and sat down to watch the neighbor's fireworks. I had Matty by my side and Angel on my lap. The fireworks weren't anything too special, they were pretty much the same thing they were in Tulsa. But they were still pretty, and fun to watch, the little kids covered their ears from all the loud banging.

The fireworks ended about 25 minutes after they started. By that point, all the kids were tired. Wendy was sleeping in Soda's arms. So everyone said their goodbyes and me and Matty started heading home with Angel on my back, ready to fall asleep any minute. When whe got home Matty put Angel to bed while I changed for bed and waited for Matty. She came in about ten minutes later.

"Did Angel fall asleep?" I asked as she changed into her nightshirt. "in two minutes. She didday she had a fun day though." Matty answered, pulling her shirt over her pregnant belly. She then waddled over and climbed into bed next to me, I wrapped my arm around her once she got under the covers. Right before she fell asleep I whispered in her ear, "I love you, Matty." She silently replied, "I love you too"

sorry this took forever, I would've had it up earlier but I was on vacation for a week and forgot. Anyway I wanna write an outsiders story that isn't in the something golden series, let me know if you would read it in the reviews. Thanks! Stay gold!