The Outsiders Imagines

Johnny • Through the Window

trigger warning ~ abuse

All day his folks had been in a pissy mood and as a result, Johnny Cade had spent his autumn afternoon cleaning. He washed up the mountain of dishes that had been piling up for weeks, took out the trash, folded laundry, shooed racoons out of the trashcans, wiped down the kitchen table and  picked up empty cans of beer that had been on the floor for so long that they may as well have become part of the carpet. He often felt as though he was the only one that made an effort to keep the house kind of clean, but it was always messy and smelt like cigarettes.

It sucked, he could never have friends round after school, or ever really. Partly due to the mess that he was ashamed of but more so because of his parents always going at it. They didn't have the pride to quit fighting even if someone else was around. Plus, they were always drinking.

Still, despite being the only one that tried to keep the house neat, sometimes cleaning up was a good way to stay preoccupied on nights like this, when both of his parents were yelling at eachoher loud enough for the whole street to hear. All the neighbours were likely used to it by now, and he guessed that no one really cared either. They heard it almost every other night and no one ever said anything. Johnny would kill for someone to just ask him one time if everything was ok.

"Wheres my whiskey? Huh? You stole it didn't you? You did!" His Pops was barking at Johnny's Ma, who in her hand had her husbands' whiskey with a decent amount consumed, stumbling about drunk and swearing that she didn't take it.  Johnny cringed; trying to block it all out, but he heard their voices loud in his chest and its rattled his bones. Every corner he turned in his house, he was afraid to make noise in case someone turned on him. So he stayed close to the walls.

"I ain't got yours, this ones mine! It is!" she shrieked, louder and more shrill when she got shoved hard against the wall. Johnny could hear it in the next room. Boom boom boom. "Quit! Quit!" she begged, her back was probably aching at how hard that man was slamming her against the wall. Johnny didn't know if he ought to feel bad for her, its not like she was innocent either but he was just that kind of a person and he did feel bad. That was still his Ma at the end of the day.

He couldn't do anything about it though.

"Its yours is it? Drink it then, go on." He had her backed up where she couldn't run, snatching the bottle and spilling at least half of on her clothes. He was beating her up now and Johnny could hear it. They struggled drunkenly, sloppy and staggering about. She almost got loose, but he grabbed at her dress and pulled her right back, a hand on her neck. She was crying, Johnny supposed it must be bad if she was crying. Sometimes, most times that is, it all got to be too much.

"Pop, quit, please - look at her, you're hurting her!"

It took all his courage, but he stood in the doorway of the next room where it was all happening, trying his best to stand up to his bully of a father. The mans eyes filled with rage. He didn't look like his Pops, and he was glad of it too. That man was pale, with dark hair and an average build. His veins popped out of his skin, and his cheeks always had a reddish hue, a result of substance abuse. Johnny may have got his last name and his impulsive nature but that was about all they had in common.

"Feeling brave huh? You little faggot, c'mere." He barked at him, staggering over. He ought to have ran, he might have made it out the back door if he wasn't so scared as to feel like his feet were glued to the floor. He never fought back or made a sound, he didn't want to show his dad how afraid of him he was.

They both knew that he was terrified though.

His Pops grabbed at his white t-shirt, holding it so tight that when he let go, if he ever did; it was sure to be all crumpled up in the middle. "You're so pathetic you know that? Just like your mother." He hissed, slapping him hard across the face. It took Johnny a second to realize what happened but it didn't surprise him. He bit his bottom lip, eventhough it was already wobbling. He wasn't going to cry.