2. Happy birthday, Johnny!

"Ya really would use a blade on ya old man? Ya own dad?"

"Normally ya also ain't too good for beatin' me, ya own son!" Johnny only replied cold.

This drove his old man mad and he came towards Johnny with his swinging belt. Johnny got wide eyes, yielded a further step back and stretched his blade out. And with the sharp blade of his switchblade Johnny cut into the arm of his father. This one hissed and looked at him furious. With his left hand he held the slight bleeding wound of his right arm. He dropped the belt with that.

"Ya rotten little bastard!" he shouted and rushed to Johnny.

But this one blocked the attack by stepping aside. His old man ran with full impact against the wall, where he sank to the ground short time after that.

With angry shining eyes he stared at Johnny and swore, "Just wait! Ya wanna regret this! The devil shall catch ya!"

But he didn't get ready for rise.

Johnny looked at his old man condescending, turned around and murmured, "He already was here long ago..."

Then he walked determined into his room, took his old backpack and put his few things into.
He wouldn't stay any day longer in this house, where he wasn't welcome in any case.
He would go away, simply just out of this house, no matter where. But he didn't know where he should go to instead. But he still would think about that. At first he would go out of this house. What he would do further, he'll see.

Then he went downstairs with his things. But suddenly he stopped in the middle of his movement and then he went back again; straight into the bedroom of his folks. There he turned to a bureau and reached for a small box behind a drawer. He opened it and was surprised when he looked inside: a few notes his selfish mother hid secretly. He thought about it a moment, before he took some of the money.

While he put the box again on its place, he murmured to himself, "Happy birthday, Johnny!"

Then he really went downstairs.

When he passed the kitchen his old man still sat on the ground.

This one shouted behind him, "Where ya wanna go to?"

"Away." was Johnny's short answer.

"Where to?" his old man kept on asking.

"Why ya wanna know this? Ya never ain't interested in that before!" Johnny asked back, shrugged and turned towards the front door without a further word.

And without looking back once more, Johnny walked out of his parents' home and left his swearing old man behind.
When he was outside he breathed out once and thought about, what he should do now. He decided to go to the lot. There was his second - his true - home.

When he arrived there he sank to the ground and thought.

"What shall I do now? Where shall I go to? Don't wanna go back no more! Never again! Should I go to the Curtis'? Maybe they would put me up... Um, they certainly would, but can I do this to them? Darry already has it hard enough to reconcile things. There I just would be another burden."

With those thoughts Johnny looked around and sighed.

"Oh gosh! What have I got here? A messed up life, a beatin' old man who gets drunk and damned Socs, which make my life even worse as it is already.
I always would kill myself, but the only thin' that kept me from doin' that so far, were my buddies.
I know they're worried 'bout me, but I can't load 'em constantly with my problems. Finally each of 'em has his owns.
Maybe it's better, when I disappear out of their life. Better for all.
Then I wouldn't feel guilty any longer that they're worried 'cause of me. I don't wanna be also a burden to 'em... 'cause they don't deserve that, none of 'em!"

So Johnny rummaged in his backpack and then he took a crumpled old paper and a pen out and wrote a notice. Then he hung it on a tree and then he set off into the big wide world; all alone and without any determined destination...