3 years ago, I made the week long drive across the country, to save my brothers from a nightmare of a life, one I had left 6 years prior. I drove for long hours, and never stopped to second guess my decision to return to the family that had ruined any ounce of faith I may have had in humanity. Instead, I regretted leaving behind the man I loved, the best friend I cherished, and the gang who had raised me, supported me, and protected me through my entire life.
3 years ago, I left the life I loved to hate behind. Now, I'm returning home, with my youngest brother and our small family of dogs, to try and piece together the years I missed. A lot had changed in those 3 years. For one, Dallas Winston got himself killed only weeks after getting released from prison. For another, Johnny's parents pushed him over the edge, and without his 'hero' to guide him, he vanished. He'd been missing for 3 years, and I could only hope that returning to Tulsa would bring him out from under whatever rock he was hiding under.
Riley was only 16, but wanted to get away from our father, who was nothing but abusive. As for Timmy, Tyler and Tommy, well they all found lives for themselves. They stopped coming around a year ago, and left me to fend off my father, whenever he was high or heated. Or both for that matter. Riley became dependent on me, so when I told him we were going back to Tulsa, he had no objection. So when we loaded up the truck, and decided to take the dogs with us, he was equally as excited to see our home town, and return to a life of normality.
With Killer and his three puppies in the truck, we had to stop every few hours, unload, and let them stretch their legs. Killer had gotten out of the yard a year earlier, and had a litter of puppies with an elderly farmer's sheep dog. The puppies were then divided because the man did not have time to care for 12 dogs. We took 3, which we named Grace, Hero, and Temptation. Grace and Temptation were tiny compared to their brother, Hero, who looked exactly like his father, only furrier.
"How much farther do you reckon?" Riley asked early one morning after he woke up. I'd been driving for 18 straight hours, wanting to kill as much time as possible.
"We just crossed the state boarder, so I reckon a few more hours," I said sleepily. Even though Riley was old enough to drive, and had is permit, I refused to let him drive the distance. He didn't mind too much, because he'd rather spend the time watching the trees. It was early fall, but already the trees were changing colors.
"So by tomorrow?" he asked eagerly.
"Prolly," I said with a smile.
We drove in silence after that, each lost in our own thoughts. It was hard to believe how close he and I had grown those last three years. We rarely ever went a day without sitting down and talking about this that or the next thing. We always ate our meals together, and he was becoming more and more like Soda had been. Riley was always hyper active, but not the brightest of the boys. He loved to run around and ride the horses up at the ranch, and loved the fact that no one called him a Greaser up in New York. I had warned him that things were different in Tulsa. We were who we were, and there was no changing that. Life in the country couldn't break a Greaser, no more than a year in jail.
"Do ya reckon Darry'll have waited for you?" Riley asked suddenly, taking me by surprise.
"Soda said he did, but I'm not too sure," I said honestly. I had spoken to Soda a few weeks earlier, and told him we planned to come down sometime soon. He said that was real fine, and said he and Darry couldn't wait to see us. That was when he filled us in on Dally and Johnny.
As the day passed, I grew sleepy, and finally decided to pull the truck over. It was a cool night, but nothing we couldn't handle, as we moved the crated around in the truck's bed, and laid blankets down, watching the stars as we began to doze off, four very hyper dogs surrounding us.
"Hey Kay?" Riley asked right as I was about to drop off.
"Yeah?" I asked tiredly.
"Why do you love Darry so much? I always pictured you fallin' for Sodapop," he said.
"Darry...well Darry's Darry. Somethin' about him makes my heart melt. Soda's like a brother to me, you remind me a lot of him when he was your age," I said with a soft smile. "Now go to sleep kid, we'll be home in the morning,"
I woke early that morning, and softly picked Riley up and laid in him the front of the truck, before crating the dogs again. They weren't too thrilled about the arrangement, but Killer seemed to know we were heading home. I think he missed Tulsa almost as much as I had. He was getting old, and you could see it in his eyes. He wanted to die where he was born.
When I drove up the dusty road and stopped in front of the Curtis house, everything seemed so real, yet so dream like. The house looked the same, except the stairs had been repainted. The newspaper sat on the porch, just waiting for Darry to wake up and bring it in. I looked at the time, and saw it was just half past six. Too early to make my arrival known. Instead, I leaned against the door of the truck, and fell asleep, so overly exhausted from the drive, it was a wonder I even got us there in one piece.
It felt good to be home, after all those years. No matter how much had changed, I felt like this was where I was meant to be. Home, with the family I loved beyond words.
"Welcome home," I whispered as I finally dropped off into the first peaceful sleep I'd had since leaving Tulsa what seemed like a lifetime ago.
A/n;; And the story continues, 3 years after Kaylly went to New York to rescue her brothers, she's returned to Tulsa, in hopes of rekindling her love, her friendships, and possibly save a friend in trouble. But she gets more than she bargained for, when she finds out so much had changed. Does a visit from Ponyboy in her dreams point her in the right direction? Or does she continue to fight with herself, until finally, she gives in?