The Outsiders spanking

A Conversation with Johnny

"Johnny?" Dally asked, looking down at the shrouded figure asleep in the lot. No, it couldn't be Johnny. Both Dally and Darry had told the kid he wasn't gonna be sleeping in the lot no more. If his parents were fighting, he could stay over at the Curtises' or at Two-Bit's or hell, even at Buck's with Dally, but there was no way in hell he was gonna be sleeping outdoors. When the figure shifted but didn't immediately wake up, Dally nudged him with his boot.

"Stay back," Johnny cried, still half asleep and searching frantically for something, probably his switchblade.

"Hey, Johnnykid, it's me," Dally said, putting his hands up in front of him.

"Dal?" Johnny asked, shoulders relaxing and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"The hell you doing out here, man?" Dally asked, starting to get pissed.

"My folks were at each other again and it's not too cold so I came out here to sleep." Johnny replied, sounding more coherent now.

"Why the fuck didn't you go to the Curtises' house? They live like two blocks away. Or come find me at Bucks if you had to?"

"Didn't wanna be a bother," Johnny mumbled.

"Huh, what's that?" Dally asked, holding a finger to his ear. If the kid was gonna say something so dumb, he might as well say it loud.

"It's late. I didn't wanna bother nobody." Johnny said, a little louder now.

"God, kid, I should kick your head in for being so stupid," Dally said, shooting Johnny a glare, "C'mon, get up."

"I ain't going home, Dal," Johnny said, causing Dally to roll his eyes. Of course he wasn't taking the kid home.

"No, stupid, I'm taking you to the Curtis'." Dally reached down and pulled Johnny to his feet.

"Can't I go to Buck's with you?" Johnny tried, "Darry'll kill me." Dally almost faltered at that. Johnny almost always looked kinda like a kicked puppy but damn was he pulling on Dally's heartstrings that night. So much for being tough.

"Ol' Buck told me no more kids hanging around," Dally replied. It wasn't a lie. His boss had told him not to bring the boys around after dark, but he didn't really give a damn what Buck said most of the time. He just didn't want Johnny hanging around with the low life crowd there too much. Plus, he'd made up his mind to let Darry deal with this.

"C'mon Dal!" Johnny complained, "Darry'll skin me for sure. You know he don't want me sleeping in the lot no more."

"Good. Maybe he'll finally knock some sense into you," Dally said, getting annoyed again. He didn't want Johnny sleeping in the lot neither. Taking a deep breath, he gave Johnny a none too gentle shove to get him moving. Gentle had never been Dally's strong suit.

The walk back was mostly silent as Dally tried to get a hold of his temper. No good going off at Johnny when he knew Darry was gonna read him the riot act anyway. God, he was pissed though. Pissed, and although he'd never admit it, scared. The kid could've got jumped again. It wasn't like they lived in a good neighborhood and even though it was their turf, there were always Socs out looking for a fight. As they kept walking, Dally felt his anger start to lessen and sympathy for the kid set in. He started to second guess turning the kid over to Darry. Darry was a good guy and all but he could be tough on the boys. He had whupped Dally twice and it damn well hurt!

"Darry's skinned you before, right?" Dally asked, wanting know what he was handing Johnny over to. He had a feeling that Darry wouldn't be as harsh with Johnny as he was with him, but he had to make sure.

"Yeah, a couple of times."

"Anything like what your old man does?"

"You kidding?" Johnny snorted, "My old man smacks me around till he either passes out drunk or gets bored and stumbles away, although these days he's been taking to acting like I don't exist. Nah, Darry puts me over his knee and it stings like heck but that's it. The worst part is that he gets all serious-- well, more serious than he always is-- and sad and stuff and tells me that he expects better of me."