Prologue
Johnny Cade couldn't believe it when he heard that his cousins were coming to pick him up. His parents were just going to let him live with his Uncle Billie up in Washington, a small town that was even smaller than Tulsa. He didn't know how he was going to break it to the gang. He kept it a secret that he was half Indian from them for so long that he just really didn't know how to break it to them, especially Ponyboy and Dallas.
Sighing, Johnny left the somewhat comfort of his bedroom, his bags were already packed, he wasn't sure if they were going to be driving or flying there, personally, he hoped that they were driving. Before he knew what he was doing Johnny found himself in front of the Curtis household. Laughter could be heard from inside and he hoped that the entire gang would be there so he could tell them all in one go. Taking a deep breath he walked up the steps and into the living room of the Sanctuary he and the rest of the gang had. He was happy to find that the entire gang was there and they all looked at him when he entered.
"Hey Johnny, I was about to come and get ya." Pony said from the couch, he was in the middle of putting his shoes on.
"Well, looks like I beat you to it." Johnny said and sighed again.
"Johnny, what's wrong man?" Dally said standing up.
"There's something I have to tell you. My mom is making me live with her brother up in Washington." he said just getting it out of the way. Suddenly everything was quiet.
"What do you mean making you, you can always stay here." Soda said with a desperate look.
Johnny shook his head in despair, "I can't stop it, my Uncle Billie and my cousin Jacob are already on their way here."
"Your Uncle isn't abusive is he?" Pony asked quietly.
"No, he might be a bit lonely after my Aunt passed a few years ago, but he is wheel chair bound and can't really do much."
"Great, just great, you're going to be in the care of some cripple?!" Dally asked almost angrily.
"Yeah, and he lives on the Reservation and there are a bunch of guys my age, I don't know what they will think of me."
"Reservation? Isn't that where they placed the Indians?" Two-Bit asked. Johnny nodded and Pony stood up in front of his best friend.
"I didn't know you where Indian." Pony said sadly.
"I'm only half, but it doesn't really matter." Johnny said.
"You can still call and write us while you're away, right?" Soda asked.
"We might be able to swing a road trip this summer." Darry said.
"I can't do that to you guys." Johnny said.
"I have a lot of vacation time saved up, so don't you worry about it Johnnycakes." Darry said walking up and giving Johnny a hug.
"Do you know when your uncle and cousin will come and get you?" Steve asked. Johnny shook his head.
"Nah, I just finished packing my things." Johnny said. There was a knock on the door and the gang looked at each other. Nobody ever knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" Darry asked as he walked over to the door.
"My name is Jacob, I'm Johnny's cousin." A voice said. Johnny couldn't help but smile, he and his cousin always got along really well they are more like brothers than cousins.
Darry opened the door to find someone who looked a lot like Johnny but with shorter hair and was taller and had a muscular build to him. Johnny ran to his cousin and hugged him then looked up at him.
"Good grief Jake, what happened?" he asked.
"I grew, don't worry, I'm sure you will too. Why don't you introduce me to your friends. Dad already has your bags in the car." Jake said.
"Right sorry, Jacob, this is my gang, Darry is the one who answered the door, his brothers Soda and Pony who is also my best friend, Dally, Two-Bit and Steve." Johnny said. The gang was shocked that Jacob actually got Johnny talking.
"Wow Johnny, you actually talked." Two-Bit said. Jacob lifted an eyebrow.
"You should have seen him when he was younger, you couldn't really shut him up." Jake said. This made Dallas angry at Johnny's parents; he couldn't understand why someone like Johnny could get parents who didn't give a rat's ass about him.
"Johnny, I hate to do this to you but we need to go." Johnny looked up at his cousin sighing and turned to the rest of the gang. Pony rushed to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. When Pony finally let him go Johnny got hugged from the rest of the gang before he left the house to follow his cousin to an old car that they rented from the airport.
The gang stood on the porch as they watched one of their own drive out of their lives for who knows how long. Darry wrapped around Pony's shoulder's as tears rolled down his face unashamedly.
"Don't worry Pony; he'll be back before we know it." Darry said.
"It's not like he can just ignore us for one thing." Soda said with a slight smile.
"I know, even with letters and phone calls it wouldn't be the same." Pony said wiping away the tears with the back of his hand.
"We know kid, we know." Dally said. When they could no longer see the beat up car they went back into the house, unaware of what changes would come to their friend.
