awe sugar | johnny cade

chapter 9

JOHNNY CADE

(listen to the music while reading for a better experience ^^^^)

july 16th, 1963
tulsa oklahoma

the whole gang hasn't seen charlotte since the day i left her house, and i was getting real worried.

i sat with my head in my hands on the couch and i was bouncing my knee viscously. i played with my lower lip until dal knocked me out of my trance.

"you wanna go look for charlotte with me man?" he asked, gesturing towards the door. i nodded and stood up to grab my jacket, only to realize char still had it. i smiled at the memories from that night and jogged to her house.

dal knocked on the door and her old man answered.

"hey, do you know where charlotte is?" dallas asked him. a mischievous smirk danced on his lips.

"somewhere you'll never find em'. so screw off, you hoods." he spat.

dallas being dallas, he knocked him out and we ran into the house. i ran to her room first and found a note laying on my jacket.

hi johnnycakes,

i assume you'll be the only one to come find me, maybe dal or pony or andrea too. if you see this, get out of my house immediately. my dad is extremely dangerous, it's practically over for me and my mom. he found out about what my mom was planning to do and right now my door is locked and i'm somehow managing to write this for you. if you're reading this, just know that i'm sorry. i love you, johnny. i don't mean in the best friend way or whatever pony is always talking about. i love you. the way you play with my hair, the way you play with your lip when you get nervous, the way your hair flops when we wrestle, the way you hold me, all of it. i love you and only you and i don't want you to worry about me. please tell the gang i love them, and tell them thank you. thank darry for letting me stay there during hard nights. thank pony for enjoying sunsets with me. thank two for cheering me up and making me feel welcome. thank soda for always making me smile. thank steve for, well, being steve. thank andrea for saving my life when i wanted to hurt myself. thank dallas for being the big brother and father figure that i never had.

and johnny, thank you for being the most amazing person i've ever met. i love you johnny cade.

- charlotte

i clenched the paper tightly in my grasp and fell to the floor in pain. i sobbed her name over and over again until dallas grabbed the note from my hand. by the end, he was almost in tears. he bit his lip subtly and threw the note on the bed.

"we gotta look for her, man." he stood tall and pulled me up.

"charlotte?" he yelled, his voice deep. he kept yelling for her when i heard muffled cries from her bathroom.

"dal, i think she's in here!" i yelled, my voice cracking from the pain.

dallas picked the lock after 3 unsuccessful tries and the door opened to reveal charlotte laying down in a puddle of blood, next to her now dead mother. a bullet wound through her skull. i gasped in terror as dallas pulled charlotte out of the room. he cut the ties around her body, wrapped tightly, with his switch and removed the tape from her mouth. once he did so, she let out a scream. a mix of terror, pain, and tears laced the shriek and she threw the nearest vase across the room. i flinched as it hit the wall and shattered. she pulled dallas into a long hug and as much as dallas hates hugs, he hugged her back.

she then turned to me jumped into me, wrapping her arms all the way around me along with her legs. she squeezed as if she fell, she'd fall and never come back up.

————
CHARLOTTE BLARAKO

i was trapped in my bathroom for god only knows how long. my mom was dead, i had to sit next to her dead body for days and days on end. now, the only thing protecting me from reality was johnny. i need him almost as much as i need food and water.

i don't know how long i've been sitting in johnny's arms but at this point the cops were here.

"ma'am, what happened here?" an officer approached me and johnny. i just stared at him wide eyed and shook my head.

"i can explain for her." dallas stood up and the officer shot me a confused look.  i nodded my head slowly and they took dal to another room as he started explaining. i slowly separated myself from johnny and looked down at his shirt and gasped when i realized it was covered in blood. i tried to rub it off but couldn't, and so i looked up him with sorry eyes before breaking down into heart wrenching sobs one again.

"it's okay char, i didn't like this shirt anyways." he told me before blocking my few from my mom being dragged away, forever.

"do you wanna stay with me? my parents will be gone for a couple of days." i nodded and we went back to my place.

————

i took a shower and changed into johnny's sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts and laid down.

"will you be okay while i take a quick shower?" he asked with concern lacing his voice. i managed a nod and he left me alone in my thoughts. i played with my lip, a habit i'd picked up from johnny, and cried softly as i thought about my mom.

why is my dad so twisted? this is why we wanted him to leave in the first place. i mean yeah, my mom wasn't totally perfect towards the beginning. but she came around for my sake.

and now, he took her away from me. my beautiful momma was gone.

a few minutes later johnny came out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, and he immediately came over and hugged me. he played with my hair and allowed me to fall asleep, sobbing into his warm chest.