Dally was at a party at Buck Merrils. Before we left, however, I sprinted over to the monkey bars and spotted a white handle standing out against the dark green. I held it for a second before tucking the knife back safely into my pocket. There were no words for each other as we ran. We stood shivering at the doorstep as Johnny rang the doorbell. Buck opened the door and gave me a quick nod before staring down at us. "Whattya want?" "Dally! we gotta see Dally' Johnny said. Buck took a swig out his beer can. "He's busy." I stepped up beside Johnny. "Buck, go tell Dally that Johnny, Ponyboy, and Aisilinn need to see him. Now." He backed up slightly from the look in my eyes and hastily climbed the staircase. A minute later Dally leaned out the doorway donning only a pair of jeans. His side was blooming a reddish color. "All right kids what ya need me for." "Johnny killed a Soc' Pony blurted out. Dally seemed unfazed, but I could tell he was slightly uneasy about the idea. "Well good for you." he saw Pony shivering.
"Glory kid, are you wet? Get in here before you catch pneumonia." He yanked all three of us inside before herding us up the staircase. We passed by my room on the way up. The lock was still intact on the door, thank God. As soon as we got inside Dally made Pony change his wet shirt into one that just about swallowed him whole. As well as throwing in his own leather jacket. He dug around in a drawer before pulling out a simple blue, long sleeved t-shirt. "Bathroom's over there". When I came out, the boys were all huddled into a corner. Dally handed something to Johnny, upon further inspection, turned out to be a gun, as well as fifty bucks rolled up. I sat on the end of the bed and leaned over so I could hear. He was talkin awfully quiet. " Catch the three-fifteen freight to Windrixville. Theres an old abandoned church on top of Jay Mountain. Buy a weeks supply worth of food, and dont so much as stick your noses out the door. I'll get up there as soon as I can." Johnny pocketed the items and we all stood up to go. Before we ran off outside though, Dally ruffled Johnny's hair. "Take care kid." Then put a hand on my shoulder. " Its gunna turn out. Eventually." I nodded before giving him a quick hug and running off to face God knows what.
We ran without stopping all the way to the train tracks. There were a few workers scattered around here and there, but nonetheless, silence was mandatory. We pressed our backs against the cool metal of the carts and listened to the sound of crunching gravel. When the coast was clear we all hopped on board, and pulled our clothes tighter against us when the movement of the train caused the wind to fly in all chill. I sat next to Johnny, rubbing deep circles onto the back of his hand while Ponyboy sat in front of us. We were all too busy trying to process everything that we hardly payed attention to what was happening around us. Ponyboy eventually fell asleep using Johnny's head as a pillow. I turned around so I was facing him, still holding his hand. "I didnt mean to kill him..but he was drownin Ponyboy, and God knows what those other Soc's would've done to you. They were gunna beat me up.."
"You did what any one of us would've done. You acted in self defense." " I feel so bad". Right then and there, I wished that I could trade places with him. He wouldn't even look at me. As if he could read my thoughts, he glanced quickly at me, barely making eye contact, and said "I'm sorry". I scooted back beside him, and just leaned against him, just to show that I was there. "I dont deserve ya Johnnycake." He shook his head, but didn't say anything. The gun sat glinting off to the side.
Neither Johnny or I slept the whole ride, and could barely muster up enough energy to jump off when our stop arrived. "I think you put my legs to sleep, Ponyboy." So we were finally in the country..how ironic. It was miles upon miles of endless hilly landscape, we trekked through the fields, my ankles itching from the long grass. There was a farmer on top a tractor just up ahead, and we nominated Ponyboy to go ask directions. He came back and we walked the last leg up to the church. It sure was creepy. The wood was all decayed, and there was cobwebs everywhere. As soon as we walked through the door Ponyboy flopped down on the hard floor and fell fast asleep. Johnny lied down, then wriggled out a little some so I could lie in between him and Pony. I tossed an arm under my head and pushed all thoughts out of my head.
It was in the afternoon when I woke up the next day...and almost had a heart attack when there was no Johnny lying beside me. I was about to check outside when I spotted something written in the dirt on the floor
Went to get supplies, be back soon.- J.C.
Ponyboy was about to wake up any minute, so I decided that I would do some exploring while I waited for Johnny to get back. But after finding nothing but moldy hymn books and super sized dust bunnies I gave up. A shadow cast on the ground, followed shortly after by Johnny coming through the doorway carrying a box almost full to the brim. Ponyboy and I gathered around and watched as Johnny pulled out random things, naming them as he did so. I laughed aloud when Ponyboy's eyes practically bugged out of his head when Johnny pulled out a copy of Gone with the wind. The last thing to be pulled out, next to a bottle of peroxide for Pony's hair, was a harmonica. "Figured we could use some stuff to pass the time. Maybe I should've asked if you could play before I went out, but..' I took it from his hands and blew into it, smiling when the rich noise echoed throughout the church, before fiddling with the different sounds.
Ponyboy was still eying that bottle of peroxide, then reached up a hand to run his fingers through his hair. "Johnny, you aint thinking bout.." He nodded. Pony's lip jutted out just a bit. Johnny handed me his switch, but chuckled lightly when I flicked out my own, and followed them outside. "Dont make it too short, Aisilinn" I had Johnny sit down on the steps and after a few minutes, he was done, although both me and Ponyboy didnt like him rinsing his hair with cold water. All in all, it didnt look bad. Now for the difficult part. "C'mon Pony, you gotta. You can always dye it back, right?" he trudged over towards me and I read the directions before pouring the liquid over his head. Failing to hold back a grin. "Glory be.." I took the piece of glass from Ponyboy. sat down to fiddle some more with my harmonica. I had figured out the tune for a couple of popular songs, and made up a game between Pony and Johnny to see who could figure it out first. When I played 'Stand by Me', though, Johnny and I locked eyes the entire time, with smiles on our faces.
It was nighttime now, and I sat against the wall eating half a candy bar, when I began thinking about the gang. What they were doing. If they were looking for us. "I'm still tired" said Ponyboy, and I leaned my head against his as he cried. From the other side of me Johnny apologized for cutting off his hair. " Shoot, it aint that..I'm just mixed up I guess." "I know, Pone, we are too." 'Last night..just last night we were just hanging out at the Nightly Double. Just last night we were dreaming..." Pony's voice trailed off, and I jerked my head away from his. I didnt want to remember last night. "Stop it! Will you shut up about last night? I killed a kid last night. And he couldn't of been no more than 18 years old! How'd you like to live with that?" By now we were all crying. I pressed my face into Johnny's hair, which felt kinda funny since he washed all the grease out, and wrapped an arm around Ponyboy as he sobbed into my shoulder. When we were all cried out, we fell asleep pressed against each other, like puppies in a litter.