Johnny, Be Good
Johnny would be the first to admit that he didn't like the effects that drunkenness had on some people, especially mean people like his father, but he had to say that it sure was funny seeing what his friends were like with a few drinks down them.
He was encircled within a group of raucous greasers. Most of them had got loaded at The Dingo, and stopped off at the grocery store, bringing back beer and liquor that they had paid for or not paid for depending on the ability of the individual. He'd met Two-Bit at the parking lot of The Dingo, seeking refuge from another violent fight between his parents which had threatened to spill over and include him.
Two-Bit had said nothing, sad understanding in his grey eyes, just pulled him into the group with his arm around him, ruffling Johnny's hair.
They were heading towards Two-Bit's place; his mom was away visiting her sister so he held court at an open house.
A few hours later, Johnny was laughing as Steve Randle picked a fight with another guy over who'd knocked over whose beer. Steve was always bitter and loved to show off his strength so this was a regular occurrence.
Johnny's laughter faded away and he shifted on the worn couch as arms encircled his waist. It was Sylvia, a young tough blonde. She'd been part of the greasers for so long, she had gone steady with most of them, including Dally. Her hair smelled of smoke and her lips tasted of dollar store lipstick, whilst her mouth tasted of beer.
Johnny pulled away and leant his head back against the couch, he wished Ponyboy was here, someone to talk to, but Darry had stopped him from week night outings as he always pushed Ponyboy to make his schoolwork come first
Johnny felt guilty for being at a party without Ponyboy especially since Sodapop was there, doing back flips off the porch steps amidst a group of cheering greasers.
Two-Bit stumbled over, a beer in each hand and a half-smoked Lucky Strike dangling from his lower lip, ash dropping everywhere. "Hey Johnnycake, looks like you got yourself a slice!" he leered at him. Sylvia giggled as Two-Bit winked lewdly at her.
Johnny scowled and moved over, letting Two-Bit flop down on the couch. He stole the Lucky Strike from Two-Bit's mouth, inhaling the warm smoke and feeling it settle his annoyance at Two Bit's drunken exuberance. Two-Bit didn't need drink; he was always like that, he was better without an alcohol high.
"So where's Kathy tonight?" Johnny shouted in Two Bit's ear, as Two-Bit handed him a beer, over the scratchy Elvis record blaring behind them.
"Yeah, Two Bit, where's your girlfriend?" Sylvia echoed, arching her eyebrows at Two Bit. Two-Bit chuckled and leant forward over Johnny's lap, a new cigarette in his mouth and Sylvia lit it and her own from a Zippo she legendarily kept in her bra.
He turned around, leaning his head on Johnny's thighs, and blowing smoke rings at his face.
"Ah, her parents caught us fooling around in my car the other night when I took her home so they grounded her. Normally her brother would take her out anyway but his car's broken down so she's stuck at home. I might go and visit her later though. Do a bit of Romeo and Juliet, through her bedroom window and all that."
Johnny moved uncomfortably, Two-Bit's head resting on his thigh was too much. The warmth and movement of his head as he talked animatedly to Sylvia, in between smokes of the cigarette clamped between his lips, caused the blood to rush from Johnny's head to his groin.
Johnny panicked inwardly and swore under his breath. This wasn't the time for a hard-on, especially not if it's being caused by your greaser friend resting his head on your thigh and looking at you quizzically through hooded eyes as he blew smoke up at the ceiling. For a split second, Johnny wished he was at home in his bed, under his thin blanket, so he could take care of it the usual way, eyes closed as his hand moved up and down, seeing lithe boys in tight jeans with smoky mouths that would capture his, their eyes glinting at him, blue or grey or brown. Johnny decided he had to do something and quick before Two-Bit noticed.
He leaned over and stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray on a corner table. Two-Bit sat up, letting him reach past, but as Johnny moved back to where he'd been slouching, he firmly tried to plonk his head back on Johnny's thighs, dangerously close to his crotch.
Johnny groaned and tried to push Two-Bit off, but Two-Bit wasn't going anywhere.
"Hey, what are you doing? I'm just getting comfortable here!" He exclaimed in mock protest as Sylvia giggled.
Johnny frowned at him. "Look, I think I've had too many beers and too many smokes. I feel sick, okay?"
Two-Bit moved his head so fast, Johnny thought he'd imagined it. He swung up and loosely grabbed Johnny by his thin cotton shirt front. "Come on man, I'll take you to the john and you can be sick to your hearts content. I gave you too many drinks for you to handle or maybe it's Sylvia and her lipstick. We need to toughen you up so you can hang out with us more."
As Two-Bit pulled him up off the couch, Johnny swatted his hands away, "Get off, I know where your bathroom is. I have been here before, y'know." Two-Bit let him go but as Johnny moved forward, the room swam before his eyes; he stumbled, leaning back into Two-Bit. The warm solidness of his chest steadying him, he soon felt the chest rising and falling as Two-Bit laughed gently.
"Whoa," he muttered softly. Maybe he had had too much to drink after all; he surveyed the room through the smoke and the chatter. Steve and Evie were glaring at Sylvia whilst Sodapop and Sandy were snuggled on the equally worn armchair, smiling at each other as Sodapop played with her hair.
"Come on, Johnny, I'll guide you to the john, I'm a bit drunk too, it'll be the drunk leading the more drunk."
Sodapop looked up, distracted by Two-Bit's laugh, he grinned as he saw Johnny looking bleary-eyed. "What's wrong with him?"
Two-Bit threw his arm around Johnny, nearly knocking him off balance. "I'm taking Johnny here to the John," he snickered and punched Johnny gently in the shoulder. "He's going to throw up. Our Johnnycake's becoming a real greaser!"
Sodapop laughed, "Just be careful with him, Ponyboy got drunk once and felt the side effects for a whole week!" As he carried on, cheerfully describing the punishment Ponyboy had got from Darry, Johnny noticed Sandy stealing glances at another guy, leather jacketed with a scar dividing his cheek, lurking in the corner of the room, promises in her eyes and the curl of her mouth as she glanced at him.
Johnny scowled, forgetting his slight hard on and the drink swirling around his head and lurched forward to tell her not to look at other greasers when she had the best one with his arm around her waist. Two-Bit stopped him, with a firm hand, but a sing-song voice, "Taking you now, before you throw up all over Sandy and Soda!"
He pulled Johnny away from the couch, through sprawled bodies lying on the floor in the hallway, to a stained nondescript door. After banging on the door and telling anyone inside to get out, he pushed the door open to see it empty and shoved Johnny in there, entering after him and shutting the door.
Johnny sat on the toilet, the lid down, his head in his hands. He was about to tell him to leave him alone as Two-Bit stood by the basin and sighed, "I shouldn't have let you come tonight. Drinking doesn't make your problems go away and I don't want you to develop a taste for it and become like your old man. Or even worse, me." He laughed bitterly.
Johnny's head jerked back like he'd been hit. He swore at Two-Bit, "You're not worse than my old man; you never could be mean to me. Sure, I don't like you drinking so much but it's you. You can handle it and even when you get drunk you're not horrible like he is." He stared at Two-Bit. "You're one of my best friends." Two-Bit ducked his head, grinning softly. "You take care of me, even though sometimes I wish you could take care of more." He swallowed, wishing he could swallow back the words; the liquor had done a good job of loosening his tongue too much.
Johnny brushed back his hair from his eyes, seeing Two-Bit staring back at him, confusion in his grey eyes.
He stood up, stepping forward, backing up Two-Bit against the door, ignoring his questioning protests, leaning in and locking the bathroom door under Two-Bit's hand. Johnny brushed Two-Bit's warm hand with his fingers, turning it over, tracing his fingers with his own. He grasped the hand and guided it to his own crotch, seeing Two-Bit's face flush as he felt the hard on through Johnny's tight jeans.
"I want you to take care of this" he whispered, as he moved the hand up and down.
Two-Bit's hand pulled away and dropped back to his side. His eyes widened whilst something flashed behind them, whether it was anger, confusion or lust, Johnny couldn't decide. Hell, he couldn't decide what he felt himself.
"Johnny, I, I can't. You're drunk and you're horny and you're young, you're bound to be confused, look, I'll go and get Sylvia, she can help you. I think she was planning to anyway." He laughed nervously but stopped as Johnny angrily shoved him against the door.
"Don't laugh at me, Two-Bit. You're not going anywhere, not if you're going to tell people about this, about me."
Two-Bit pushed him away, anger making his eyes dark and stormy. "For Christ's sake, Johnny, I'm not laughing at you. I'm just nervous as all hell because this has come outta nowhere, you were kissing Sylvia, you start feeling sick and now you want me to touch you up, I'm sorry if I'm a little confused!"
Johnny sank down against the wall, his head in his hands. Shit, he'd just ruined everything. He heard a sigh, and Two-Bit's boots were in front of him.
Two-Bit knelt in front of Johnny, pushing his head back and his hair from his eyes.
"Kiddo, I'm sorry, I know how it feels. I was confused when I was younger too. Hell, that's why I latched onto Darry, He was older and tuff and...well, nothing ever happened; I just drank more, to shove these feelings down. I found Kathy, she was more appealing than the broads I'd had before and I do love her, maybe not as much as I should but still. I just can't do this because then we'd change, our friendship would change and I don't want that."
Johnny gulped, swallowing down tears.
"Damn you, can't you be like a normal greaser and knock the stuffing outta me for hitting on you?"
"Aw man, if I did that I'd have Dally on my back for touching you. You're his pet. Plus I'd have to knock the crap out of every greaser I've met, since I'm so irresistible and all." Johnny met his eyes, mischief dancing in them, and grinned.
"Come on, I'll go and get rid of everyone then you can get a good night's sleep, after all that's what you came for. I can go and see Kathy tomorrow, she's working down at the Dairy Queen and if I time it right, she'll score us both a free burger."
Two-Bit yanked open the door, letting in a guy who'd been slumped on the door, crash-landing on the floor, a dark patch running down his denim clad legs.
Two-Bit snickered as he poked his leg with his foot. "I guess poor Tom here couldn't last that long. Ah he'll wake up later or I'll dump him in a cold bath."
Johnny edged his way around Tom's unconscious form, as Two-Bit headed towards the blaring stereo player. Amid protests, Two-Bit pulled the plug and told people in no uncertain terms where to go. Grumbling, they grabbed their jackets, their beers and their girls. The last few stragglers departed, falling over the porch steps in their inebriated state, and Sodapop and Steve had left, saying goodbye and taking Sandy and Evie with them. Two-Bit had thrown Sylvia out, turning a deaf ear to her protests and pleading. It was only then that Johnny felt that he could relax properly.
Two-Bit appeared in the hallway, pulling Tom's body behind him. As he strained to pull him across the living room, he met Johnny's eye and grinned, "I think he'll be better out on the porch".
Johnny joined him and helped escort Tom to the porch, leaving him sprawled out between crushed beer cans, a pool of vomit and a stained jumper some broad had left behind. As they shut the front door behind them, Two-Bit scanned the living room and groaned at all the mess. "Looks like my mom will have a hell of a time cleaning this up; well at least no-one's set fire to the curtains this time. She gave me hell for that one."
Johnny rolled his eyes at his friend's couldn't-care-less attitude, and yawned, the alcohol catching up with him.
Two-Bit pushed him towards the couch and as Johnny fell on it, and sat to take off his shoes, Two-Bit left the room. By the time he came back with a pillow and a blanket, Johnny was already curled up on the couch, snoring gently
Two-Bit placed the pillow under his friend's head gently, being careful not to wake him. Draping the blanket over Johnny's warm sleeping body, he stood back, seeing how peaceful the younger boy looked whilst he was asleep.
He sighed, remembering what the boy had asked of him earlier, making a mental note not to get him too drunk in the future. He didn't know if he'd be able to turn Johnny down again, not with the way his eyes had connected with his in the bathroom and the feeling that had struck him down in the pit of his stomach as Johnny had taken his hand.
As Two-Bit walked to the safety of his bed, Johnny was deep asleep. And this time, he was dreaming about only one boy. A boy with grey eyes, a wicked laugh and a Mickey Mouse shirt.