Fireworks

I take another sip of vodka heading my steps towards the downtown .It is a cold December night three hours shy to the new year and I'm about to to put my bottle to good use at Bucks. Music,fights, broads and booze...what more can a man ask from a New year`s party-Nothing I tell you that.

The vodka warms my insides nicely and I almost feel like smiling. It's damn nice to be a hood at times like these. No responsibilities or boring cocktail parties to attend just living on the edge and enjoying the cheap moonshine with other lowlifes.

Someone is whimpering in a alleyway on my left. I roll my eyes . Pathetic. And anyway I am not gonna shame some guy further for being a wimp and crying in a alleyway. That would be embarrassing both for him and me and I ain´t some hen mother who patches up lil boys when they get hurt. But...there might be socs and I feel like having some fun so I turn around and peek my head around the corner to scan the situation.

John-ny? I strive around the corner to the black haired kid lying on the ground. "Kid what happened to ya?"

"Dal?" he asks with shaky voice.

" Yea, just me."

" I'm not sure. Someone kicked me in the head and I lost consciousness." He admits shaming and looking down.

"That´s a coward way to do it " I murmur. "Can you stand up?"

"Yeah." He says hesitating but manages to get up. " I`m OK" But drops to his knees when his hand leaves the wall.

"You are bleeding and can barely stand .."I look him into eyes and sigh putting an arm around him. "Come on kid."

I tell him to wait in a park bench and shout that I will back in ten minutes. I jog to the Buck's and snatch his keys declining offers for beer. I got more important things in mind right now..and I still got plenty of time to get drunk later tonight.

I pick Johnnycakes up and throw him my vodka bottle and some blue piece of clothing. " Clean up those cuts or those little bitches will get infected." He nods and I continue driving towards North.

"What were you doing outside anyway? Weren´t you supposed to be hanging out with Pony or something?"

" Yeah, but Pony got fever and I didn´t want to bother them..and then my parents were disagreeing and my dad..."

I grip the steering wheel. It is so fucking unfair that Johnny's parents can be abusive bastards freely but he keeps telling me that beating them up or killing them won´t do any good and I try really hard to convince myself of that.

"Where are we going Dallas?" Johnny asks hesitantly. After a while of seemingly aimless driving.

" Well, I was thinking about getting some food. I am starving." I can´t exactly drop him at Curtis like I planned so might as well do a favor for both of us and get something to fill our stomachs.

"Sounds good." He smiles. "But the guy who kicked me emptied my pockets."

"I will buy. One sweet socialite donated me twenty dollars earlier." I wink almost playfully and turn to a parking lot with flashing neon signs.

This place is none of my regular hangouts. But I don´t really care ...greasy burger and soda taste pretty much the same everywhere. I park the car and I slam the dinner door open. The place is half empty, which actually fits into my plans perfectly: Some food and then I'm gonna find out who beat up my puppy.

I order coffee , burger and fries and let Johnny have whatever he wants. Which turns out out to be water,Damn kid trying not be any trouble, so I order him a cheeseburger and fries to go with the water.

I dive into my food like a hungry wolf while trying to intrigue about the attacker but soon we get sidetracked and start talking about rodeos and that new movie with James Dean in it. It's actually nice for a change to just hang with Johnny and instead of the normal fighting with Sylvia and downing booze like I'd done any other Wednesday night. Johnny is good company and a lot more talkative when there is just two of us...if he was a broad I'd take him out and go through with all the bullshit of buying flowers and giving him my ring. Hell,maybe I'd like still to do all that but that's not exactly cheered upon around here. I mean two guys dating and all that jazz.

…

I lean to the dinner wall sipping my coffee and waiting Johnny to make it back from the toilets when I feel a huge hand landing on my shoulder. "What do we have here? Looks like the cat dragged a greasy little rat inside." Followed by laugh from at least three other cashmere sweatared fine young assholes.

I curse mentally. Four socs...and I my blade is in the T-bird . "I see that you ladies found something you like." I smirk.

"What do you say boys? Should we teach this piece of trash its place?" Followed from the positive mumbling from others. I see Johnny coming out from the bathroom and our eyes meet briefly.

"Oh would you be that kind?Are you sure the four of you is enough to deal with one greaser?" I answer mockingly.

"Just hit him already Paul."

"We got company. I see." Johnny smirks overly confidently standing behind the socs and in a second it takes them to realize what's happening I have throwed my coffee on pink shirted guy's face and tackled the other one while Johnny jumps on "Paul" and crushes his nose with a neat left hook.

Threre is nothing better than a good fight, but I see from my eye corner that Johnny has gotten black eye and "Paul" and the other one are getting strikes in though Johnny is not doing badly. Two against one is never easy situation. When suddenly I hear ah so familiar "Hands behind your head and on your knees. This is police." Socs freeze and start going on their knees. But I take off Johnny following on my heels. I'm not about to get arrested, especially when I got Johnnyboy with me. It doesn´t matter what I tell to police. With a reputation like mine hey won`t believe that I am innocent ...and if the pigs want me behind the bars they can always shackle me tomorrow. It`s not like they wouldn´t arrest me for any shit that happens around here anyway.

One of the cops starts chasing us but he is old and fat so we manage to lose him...after ten minutes we ease the pace and stop for a moment to catch some breath. " We made it. "I laugh veins full of adrenaline. "That was amazing..the way you beat up those socs.." Johnny breathes heavily.

I smile "You got real good left hook." And even in the dim light of the streets I can see his cheeks glowing red.

The big clock on Churche`s wall is two minutes to midnight. " It's almost next year.."

Johnny moves closer to see the clock and nods " You miss out the party Dal."

"I can get drunk any other night." I shrug.

"Should we make resolutions for the coming year ..I mean that's what people usually do on New Year`s Eve other than kissing their significant other when the clock hits midnight." He says looking shyly at the ground when he mentions the kissing part.

"Who would you like to kiss Johnny?" I ask.

Johnny looks down and whispers "You"

I step closer and while the church bells starts hitting midnight ding dongs and fireworks color the sky my lips meet and Johnny`s and for a moment there is only me and him and the wordless promise of a better year.

...

A/N: Thanks for reading lovelies! And happy New Year!