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The following evening Ponyboy and Johnny were both hanging out in the backyard of the Curtis house. Pony had opened the fence so they could go out further and together they set up a trap for a rabbit that had been going after his mom's garden.

He put a carrot underneath a box and propped it up with a stick which he tied a piece of string around. Ponyboy and Johnny waited behind a bush for a few minutes before the rabbit appeared and went over to the carrot.

"Now!" Johnny yelled.

Pony pulled on the string and the box tipped over but the rabbit was too fast and ran away before it was caught. The two boys then ran after it but it was able to get away before either of them could catch up with it.

"Thanks a lot Johnny." Pony said while playfully pushing the other boy's shoulder.

"Hey, he was right there. You just pulled on the string too slow."

He pushed Ponyboy's shoulder back but that only got him tackled to the ground. The two boys rolled around the grass, wrestling with each other for a few minutes before Pony separated himself from Johnny and sat up, brushing the grass from his face and hair.

"So what are you up to tonight?" Johnny asked while standing up, brushing the grass off as well.

"I'm heading to the movies with Karen."

"Oh."

"You can come with us if you want."

"Na, I don't want to spoil things for you."

Pony then gave his friend a look as he stood up.

"It's not a date, we're just going as friends."

"Sure."

Smirking a little, Ponyboy then turned around and headed back in his house.

"See you later, Johnny."

"See ya."

After leaving the Curtis house, Johnny hung around the bowling alley playing pinball for about two hours as it slowly started to get dark. He decided he'd had enough and headed back for his house. Once he walked through the front door, he smelled something from the kitchen and walked in too see his mother sitting at the table.

"Oh, mom. I didn't know you were home."

"Yeah, I got off early." Sarah responded. "I cooked some dinner."

Walking over to the stove, Johnny looked down and saw that his mom had cooked some kind of stew. He shrugged before getting a bowl for himself. His mother cooked decently, but it was nothing compared to how Mrs. Curtis cooked.

Sitting down at the table, Johnny began to eat and looked over at his mom seeing that she was reading over some kind of letter.

His mom and him had developed a much better relationship ever since his dad died. They talked much more than they use to, but still, Johnny could tell that the two of them were still a little uncomfortable around each other.

But Dally had asked him to fix things with his mom, stay out of trouble and stay out of school. And had kept his promise to Dally.

Johnny tried to think of something to say but his mom spoke up before he could.

"Johnny, I need to talk to you about something."

"Alright."

"Well, ever since your father died I've been struggling to pay these bills. The mortgage for the house is way too high."

Johnny nodded. With his dad never having a permanent job, he wondered how they got the house in the first place. Sarah then took a deep breath and continued.

"And well…we're going to have to move."

He then blinked in surprise after what his mom just told him.

"What…to an apartment?"

"No, my sister and her husband have a house. She's offered to let us stay there for a little while, until the money situation is better."

"You have a sister?"

"Yes, they have more room in the house now that her son has gone off to college."

Johnny then shook his head as he tried to take all this in. Not only were they moving but he had aunts and cousins that he didn't even know existed.

"When are we moving?" He asked.

"At the end of the month."

"That's two weeks from now."

"I know, Johnny." Sarah said as she got up. "It's hard, but we will get by."

She turned to walk out of the room, but Johnny had one last question.

"Wait…your sister. She lives around here doesn't she?"

"No, she lives in California."

After hearing that, Johnny quickly rushed out of the house and ran down the street. He needed to tell Ponyboy or Two-Bit about this, that he was moving all the way to California. He couldn't believe this, when he moved here he finally made real friends and now he was going to lose them.

When he reached the vacant lot he dropped down to one knee to catch his breath. Johnny then looked up at the sky…seeing how pretty it was tonight. He then wondered if it would look like this were he was moving to.

Suddenly, he was then grabbed roughly from behind, pulled roughly to his feet and then punched in the stomach. Johnny gasped for air as he fell to the ground and then heard the sound of two boys laughing.

He looked up and standing over him was Jason and Aaron Brumley.

"Well, well, well." Aaron began. "What do we got here?"

"It's Dally's little friend." Jason said.

Johnny tried to get up to run away but Aaron caught him and put him in a chokehold. Johnny's eyes widened as he struggled in his grip. The last he heard the Brumley Boys were in jail, when did they get out?

"Ever since we got out of jail we've been lookin' all over for him." Jason continued. "The Shepard's say they don't know nothin' but what about you?"

Aaron loosed his grip so Johnny could answer.

"I don't know where he is." He gasped.

But that only earned him another punch.

"Don't mess with us, boy. We're dangerous."

Jason then flicked open a switchblade and Johnny's began trashing in Aaron's grip but it got him no where.

"Why don't we start cutting him? Maybe that will loosen his tongue."

Slowly, Jason began to approach him with the blade.

'BANG!'

All three boys jumped when the sound of a gun went off. Aaron was so startled that he lost his grip on Johnny.

They all looked over to see Buck Merrill standing no more than ten feet away, a pistol in his hand that he had pointed up at the air. He then lowered it and pointed it directly at the Brumley Boys.

"You've got five seconds to get your asses out of here!" He shouted at the Brumley's. "And don't think I'm gonna tell you twice!"

Both Aaron and Jason quickly turned around and ran for it as fast as they could. Buck then put his gun away and ran to Johnny's side who was now laying on the ground.

"Johnny? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

However, Johnny didn't answer. His eyes gazed over and he passed out.