"Johnny's Diary."
Dear Diary (Again being nerdy, but not really caring since nobody's going to read this),
Today could only be described as an average day.
I slept in this morning and was running late for school. I didn't think Dad would be up since he was up and drinking last night, but for some reason he was, and he wasn't too impressed that I was running late.
He didn't hit me though, just mentioned that I better get my act in gear or I wouldn't be hanging around with those hoodlums I hang around with. "No good, the bloody lot of them." He told me as I rushed around the kitchen making lunch.
I bit my lip (something I am getting better at lately) and said nothing. It wasn't worth reminding him that families like the Curtis' had it hard, and they coped without drinking and beating each other up. And that Darry, in his few years working, had held down one single job, something Dad hadn't done for years!
"Take that Dallas Winston. Mark my words Johnny, he's a bad one. He'll end up back in jail, and for a lot longer than he's ever been in it before." Dad continued as I thankfully finished making my lunch. We didn't have the money for me to buy it at school so I usually made my own, although it wasn't a rare occasion when I went without completely.
I left the house, and left Dad to his own tirades. I felt a brief moment of pity for Mom when she got up and hoped he didn't take his anger out on her, but in all honesty Mom's never been much of a Mom to me, so I don't feel pain when he starts on her.
My average day continued with me being late for homeroom and being berated by the teacher in front of the entire class. "If you can't be on time in future Johnny Cade perhaps it would be better if you just didn't come?" She suggested. "Or maybe I might have to speak to your parents about it?"
I lowered my head to the desk and said nothing. I didn't think it would help my case to point out that my parents wouldn't care what I did. Someone did though.
"I don't think they're going to care about it." A soc up the back commented. "I don't think Johnny's parents, like most greasers, care about what he does, or doesn't do as the case may be."
Other socs snickered, and I felt a few sympathetic looks coming from other greasers in the classroom, but I still kept my head down, trying to show them that I wasn't at all concerned about their smart comments. And it wasn't like they were lying, was it? Although Dad might be likely to smack me around a bit, before forgetting about it. And it wasn't like I needed any sympathy- after all, the soc who'd spoke was completely right!
Average moment number three came in history when I got an essay back. We'd been studying the civil war and told to write on whatever aspect we wanted. I'd written on the carpetbaggers, the scallawags who had profited from the war by stealing and selling from both sides. The essay had interested me, which meant that I thought it had turned out pretty well, especially when you consider the fact that I'd had to write it in the dark since one of my parents had forgotten to pay the electricity bill and it was a few days before it was eventually paid. And in the middle of that my parents argued twenty-four hours a day about who actually had been the guilty party. Apparently not; I got a C which dropped my grade point average down a few marks. It wasn't like I was extremely smart or anything, but I was certainly smarter than that. And I knew that the only way of escaping this crap life was to get to college. But it was sort of like a catch twenty-two situation. My homelife was not exactly conducive to study. Pony had once suggested I move into the Curtis' house, but I had shook my head. It wasn't like they were well off, let alone able to afford another person there. Although my parents would probably have loved me being gone. On the nights when I stayed out at one of the gang, or even in the streets, they never complained.
So my mood was far from great at lunchtime when I met with Pony and Two-Bit, the only ones in our group still at school. We went outside so that we could have a smoke and I complained about my history mark.
Two-Bit was in his usual fine form and told me that I had to get crap marks or else I wouldn't be stuck here forever with him. Some people at our school thought it was funny that there was an eighteen year old junior, but others thought it was great, and that Two-Bit was a complete legend. He won over a lot of people with his fun, joking attitude.
"That's all right for you. You don't live in my house." I muttered.
"You think my mom's easy to live with?" Two-Bit asked. "Wait until you meet her latest boyfriend. He's acting all father figure with me, actually tried to ground me the other night."
I snorted with laughter. "What did you do?"
"Debating beating him up or pulling a blade on him, but then opted for the safe choice of climbing out my window. Mom saw me sneak home later but she didn't say anything of course." Two-Bit replied.
Pony was looking thoughtful. "I sometimes wonder, if things had been different, would my mom have been like yours…."
"Not a chance." Two-Bit said, flicking his cigarette away. "Pony your mom was a champion."
"Yeah," I agreed as I finished my smoke and pulled out my lunch. "She was great. She made the best chocolate cake ever."
Pony nodded. "Yeah you're right. She was great wasn't she?"
We changed the topic as some other greasers came over and we got into a conversation about how much we hated the socs, but I was looking at Pony thoughtfully. It was the first time I had ever heard him express even something slightly negative about his mother, and it had surprised me. Pony's parents had been great. His Dad had worked long hours, but he was never grumpy, and all the boys adored him. The rest of us all admired him. Pony's mom didn't work, and whenever we came home from school there was always some tasty treat waiting for us. When they'd died it had hit us almost as hard as it had hit the Curtis' boys.
The bell rang signaling the end of lunch period and we made our way back inside talking about plans for after school. Pony and Two-Bit debated certain things before deciding instead to go down to the garage where Soda and Steve worked and hang there for awhile.
"What about you Johnny? You going to come?" Two-Bit asked.
I thought about it. It was certainly a more attractive prospect than going home, but then I thought about my terrible history mark, and my English assignment coming up. College was really going to be my only escape, and I couldn't let go of that dream of I'd be stuck at home forever. "Nah, I've got some homework to do."
Two-Bit rolled his eyes, but Pony understood. He was, like I've probably already mentioned, a pretty smart kid, and it was more than obvious he'd end up with the marks to go to college if he could work out how to afford it. But I needed a scholarship or that was it. There was no way my parents would be able to afford to send me to college, even though they would have loved the idea of sending me away for such a long period of time. So, as much as I liked spending time with the gang I was going to have to put some major work into this assignment to get my average back up to where it was before the C. I know that probably sounds like I'm making more of a deal of the whole thing than I need to, but surely if you lived where I live, with who I live you'd be the same. If I don't get out of there for college I may as well just die.
There was one good thing about this day though: when I got home my parents weren't there, they'd gone out, so I got some quality homework time, and made myself eggs and toast for dinner before getting back to the homework. As I write this I've actually almost finished the assignment, and I think it's pretty good because of there being no distractions and all. So maybe once it's done I can spend some time with the gang.
I'm going to bed now, don't want to be late up in the morning in case one of my parents is up. I wish Dad would hurry and get another job. Things would be far more pleasant around here. Although even despite his talent for getting fired frequently Dad always seems to find work pretty quickly so that's something.
J.C
