Love's the Funeral of Hearts

I slammed the door, to break the silence. Nobody looked up and everyone looked like someone had just died.

"Who died?" I joked but nobody laughed. There was definitely something wrong. Cynthia ran up to me and hugged me, tears in her eyes. Okay, someone definitely died!

"What's going on?! Does anybody want to fucking tell me?" I asked, very angry.
"Sit down, Cherie. This is big news." Steve said, wrapping an arm around Erna. He even seemed bummed. Like, extremely bummed, like he lost his best fri---

SOMETHING'S UP WITH SODA! HOLY SHIT! IS HE DEAD? No, he's sitting there on the couch, and he's looking pretty bummed too.

I sat down, started rolling my joint, probably going to REALLY need it afterwards, I'm sure. Everyone looked at one another, not sure who should tell me the big news.

"Cherie...I got a letter in the mail today." Sodapop started.
"Cool, I get those every so often too, ya know! Nobody's got to cry about it!" I joked and still, no one laughed.
"...This is serious. Cherie, I'm...Well...awh fuck, I can't tell you." Soda said before he burst into tears. This shocked me, Soda never really cried.

Darry stepped up and said the words I never want to hear, and I'm sure thousands of other wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers or whoever else NEVER wants to hear.

"Soda's going to war."