My leather pants were more than a little hard to run in, but with the adrenaline running through my veins, it was just like running in the ugly tracksuits they used to make us wear in gym. At that moment, I was glad I’d worn my sneakers tonight. “Darry!” I screamed as I ran down the street, my feet pounding on the macadam as I reached the gate to the Curtis house. As I jumped the gate with little difficulty Darry ran out of the house, pulling on a black t-shirt as he did so and running down the steps to meet me as Soda came out behind him. “Oh, Darry!” I sobbed, falling into his embrace.
“What’s going on, Cass?” He mumbled, holding me tightly against his chest as I cried.
“J-Johnny…he’s hurt bad.”
“What do you mean he’s hurt bad, baby?”
“Pony, Darry and I were coming home from the flick. We found his jacket by the lot and figured he’d ditched it and forgot it but then we saw blood on it. It was the Soc’s, Dare, they got the jump on him.” I cried out.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” He pulled back from me, grabbing my hand instead and passing the fence so that he could get to the truck. I sat between him and Soda, stilly crying as Darry wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “He’ll be okay, baby.” He whispered to me, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
When we’d reached the old lot that Johnnycake liked to lay in we all filed out, Darry following close behind me as I hurried over to where I’d left Johnny with Dally and Pony. Ponyboy was crying somethin’ fierce, much like myself, but he hid it well. Dally was cradling the young boy’s head, keeping it off the cold road. “Darry, Soda, and Cass are here, Johnny.” Dally told him in a low voice.
“Cass?” He rasped, moving his head so he could see me and wincing. “Cassie?” I lowered myself onto the ground, heaving his body off on the ground and onto my lap where it was at least a little warmer. My left arm went behind his back and around to his waist where I rested my hand, Dally reaching over to adjust Johnny’s head so it was resting against my shoulder, his face in the crook of my neck. His breaths were coming out in gasps, leading me to believe that he’d broken some ribs, and the way his hands were shaking to me he was either scared or cold. Maybe even both. Dally and Soda yanked off their jackets, helping me maneuver Johnny up so we could get both of the coats over his shoulders.
“It’s okay, Johnny. I’ve got ya.” I murmured to his, pushing back the greased hair that had stuck to his face because of the sweat he was producing. “It’ll be okay, Johnny. You’re alright.” I cooed, tears falling as I pressed my face into his hair and held him.
“Do you know who got the jump on ya, honey?” I asked, pulling back from him.
“Some guys in a blue mustang. The one that beat me wore big rings.” He managed to gasp out.
“We should get him home.” I said, looking over my shoulder at Darry. “He shouldn’t be out in this cold.”
We carried Johnny into the house, laying him down in Darry and I’s bed where he’d be staying for the next few days. His skin was hot, clammy, and dirty, streaks of smeared blood on his face where the tears had washed over them, but mainly crusted over dry blood. He had a small fever. 99.8. That might not have been anything more than the fact that he was constantly out in the cold, but I wasn’t too sure about that anymore.
I sat by Johnny’s side for a good few hours reading to him, wiping his forehead with the cloth every so often. Johnny was a good kid and I’d taken a liking to him as soon as I stepped foot in this shithole of a town almost thirteen years ago. My parents and I moved here to be closer to family and the ‘bad side of town’ was the most we could afford. Johnny was only three at the time, and Darry and I were only in elementary school, but we were good kids; smart, and we looked after Johnny. Sometimes we even pretended we were his parents.
Darry and I started dating in high school, and after his parents died I moved in to help him take care of Soda and Pony. It worked well, the boys treated me like one of their own and loved me like family, just as I did to them.
“Hey, doll, you comin’ to bed anytime soon?” Darry asks me, leaning against the door frame, bare chested and only in a pair of loose fitting pajama pants that hung low of his hips.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.” We’d set up a makeshift bed in the living room where we’d stay, ignoring Soda and Pony’s pleas for us to take their bed, or at least give Johnny theirs. They’d given up soon enough.
“How’s he doing?”
“His fever went up a little, then it came back down. He should be fine. I’ll wake up and check on him later.” I said, staring at the young boy with concern as I stood up, marking the page and sitting it on the nightstand.
“Or…” Darry trailed off for a second, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck softly. “You could just go to bed and let me take care of him.”
“You have work, Darry.” I reminded him, turning in his embrace and pressing my hands to his chest.
“I told them what happened. They understood. Gave me off a paid day for tomorrow.”
“I don’t know Darry, you’ve been working hard lately and…” He silenced me with a kiss on the lips that was so overwhelming I couldn’t even form a single coherent thought. He kissed me for a long time before he pulled back and stared at me, both of us breathing hard.
“Okay…fine.” He smirked down at me as I pulled myself from his grip and went to tuck Johnny in, laying a few sheets over him and brushing back his tuff hair before reaching over to shut off the bedside lamp and creepy out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind Darry and myself. The rest of the night was spent laying on the floor in our cocoon of blankets and watching late night TV on the stupid old thing that didn’t work for shit and cuddling together on the floor.
At about three I felt my warmth leave me and work up almost instantly. Darry headed towards our room and I followed after him, rubbing my eyes as I did. I got into the bathroom in time to find Johnny heaving into the toilet bowl. I frowned at Darry as he went and perched on the bathtub and rubbed Johnny’s hair, pulling some of his longer pieces of hair away from his mouth so he didn’t puke on it or anything. Johnny was finished rather quickly and went back to sleep as soon as we’d tucked him in again and told him we loved him, then we went back out and fell asleep as soon as we’d tucked ourselves in and told each other that we loved the other.
