Dally Winston's Son Johnny: (One-Shot)
The day he was born, was the proudest day of my life. I never planned to have him, but it was one of those mistakes you make, that turn out to be good. The first time I held him gave me a feelin' that I couldn't explain. You know, like I wanted to protect him and all that. I had never felt that way about anyone, except for little Johnnycake. So of course there was no doubt in my mind what I would name him. His name was Johnny. After the tuffest person I've ever met, who's probably smilin' down at me right now. I looked at him; he barely had any hair on his little bald head.
"Don't worry kiddo, when you get older you'll have tuff hair like your old man,"I whispered to him as he looked up at me.
He had my eyes though. They were a light blue, but they weren't cold and full of hatred, they were innocent and filled with love. I kissed him gently on the forehead. I would teach him how to become like me, but with all the rough edges smoothed out. I'll teach him how to pick up fine broad, but at the same time how to treat them with respect. Of course someone'll have to teach me that first. I could teach him how to fight. Teach him all the rules and all the moves. But I had to make sure he grew up to be a good kid. Not like me, always getting arrested and into trouble. He'll get good grades, a perfect fuzz record, and a girl that'll actually stay with him. I'll make sure that he doesn't get messed up with all this Greaser and Soc crap. He'll know how to stay safe, but then again when to pull out a switchblade. And I'll tell him stories about the gang and me, and little Johnnycake. My eyes filled with tears. Johnny deserved more love than he ever got. He was so young when he passed and he missed out on so many things. I have to make sure that I raise this kid right. For Johnny.
His mom left pretty early on in his life. She said she had never loved me and that she could never love a kid that I was the father to. I was a single parent which was harder than I thought. I had to find an actual job, where I had to work in order to pay for bills and stuff. Until I did find a job, I relied on the gang. Ponyboy, SodaPop, and Darry, are who I relied on most. Two- Bit and Steve didn't really make a lot of money so I didn't wanna take from them. I took a job workin' at a grocery store and man, I hated it. But I didn't have a choice. I paid back the guys and then started supporting the family I had in front of me.
Every day, he grew bigger and bigger and then he started to go to school. I remember one day I came home from work and he started talkin' to me about this book, "Gone with the wind." He told me that Ponyboy had given it to him, and that he wanted me to have a note that was left in the book. It was from Johnny Cade talkin' about how he wanted me to see a sunset and really enjoy it. So, right then and there I took my kid up to Jay Mountain and we watched the sunset together. He fell asleep in my arms, but I had to wake him up because he still had homework to do.
"Dad, do I have to? I can do it tomorrow or somethin'," he told me.
"Nah, you listen to me Johnny. You're gonna do it tonight. And you're gonna keep on learnin' and studin', and goin' to school. You understand me? You don't wanna end up like your old man," I had told him and he listened.
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. Soon he was 18 years old. He already had a car and all that, and he even had a girlfriend who I thought was a real nice and tuff girl. He told me that he loved her and wanted to marry her, in which I said,
"You go right ahead and do that." And he did.
He and his girl found a house someplace in the country, and I was left alone in town. I still had the gang who were already startin' and had families of their own, but it felt like somethin' was missin'. After a couple more years, I got a phone call from my boy sayin' that his wife was gonna have a baby soon. Man, was I proud of him. I drove all the way to the country and stayed at their place until she had the baby, and I was a proud grandfather of a little girl.
Years and years passed, and I heard from my son, my daughter in law, and my granddaughter every month or so. I would visit them every summer until I got too old to travel that far all by myself and then they would come by my place in town. When I was about 87 years old the doctor said I had some type of heart disease which caused me to stay in the hospital hooked up to all these devices and stuff. My son and granddaughter would visit me, (my daughter in law passed), and they would read me chapters from "Gone with the wind." Half the time I wouldn't remember if they visited me one day or not, cause' my memory was slowly fading away too. The gang wasn't doin' so good either. I remember some glimpses of us back in the day, when we were young and wild and did whatever we could for kicks. Now we were old and dyin'. SodaPop went first. He passed away a long time ago fightin' some war in Vietnam. Steve went not too long after Soda in a drunken car wreck. Then Darry went. And Two- Bit. Ponyboy was last. They all had families left behind which was a good thing cause' they had left a mark. Now it was just me. I had outlived all of them and it didn't make me feel too hot. I was dyin' slowly in that freakin' hospital bed each day. I always thought that I would die starin' down a bullet, yet I didn't really care at the time either way. My last thought before I went, was of the mark I had left behind. Man, was I proud. And I grinned to myself thinkin', see you soon Johnnycake, hope I made you proud.