Chapter Six
Now
Leonardo and I have gotten to be pretty good friends. It's nice to have someone to talk to for a change. We don't get to see each other very much because we have different therapy groups and different times with Dr. Murphy. Whenever we get to hang out though, we never run out of stuff to talk about.
We were just sitting down to breakfast; if you could call it that. It was typical cafeteria food; it could be described in one word: crap. Leonardo was poking at what looked like scrambled eggs, and I was hoping he wouldn't eat them; for his own good. Leonardo finally stopped poking at the egg-like mess and said,
"Dr. Murphy's really happy today."
"He's always happy," I replied, "it's part of the psychologist code of honor."
"More so than usual," Leonardo said, "his son got accepted to Harvard. I swear man, he was about to start doing cartwheels or something during our session."
"I have to in an hour," I said.
Leonardo put some of the egg crap on his fork and was about to eat it, but it slipped off onto the table. It bounced.
"I don't think I want to eat that," Leonardo said.
We both started laughing while people looked at us like we were crazy. Heck, we were crazy; that's the whole reason why we're here.
Dr. Murphy's Sessions with Ponyboy Curtis
Ponyboy Curtis: I heard your son got accepted to Harvard.
Doctor Murphy: Yes, he did.
PC: I bet you're happy about that.
DM: I am.
DM: So, Ponyboy, we agreed that you'd tell me something about your parents and Aurora today.
PC: Yeah.
DM: Do you know what you want to say?
PC: Yeah.
Here there is a long pause
PC: Mom and dad were really great people. They never hurt anyone; they didn't deserve to die so early. They weren't irresponsible, dad just had a really low paying job and mom never went to college. Even though we lived on the wrong side of town, they made the most of it. If any my or my brother's friends were in trouble; they'd try to help them. They actually cared about who we hung out with, and all that stuff; they weren't your typical greaser parents.
Here there is a long pause
PC: I miss them.
Here there is a long pause
DM: Ponyboy…?
PC: No response
DM: Ponyboy, are you alright?
PC: No.
DM: Do you think you could tell me about Aurora.
PC: Aurora… Basically she was living her mother's life. Her mom was a dancer and singer before she broke her ankle. When Aurora was born, she decided to make Aurora into another her, but she would actually become rich and famous. That was the only reason she didn't kill Aurora. Aurora liked singing and dancing, but she always wished that she didn't have to do everything so competitively. If Aurora did badly in a competition, her mom would beat her up.
DM: She beat her up.
PC: Yes.
DM: Did you ever witness one of these beatings?
PC: Yes. Her mom threw a chair at her, then picked her up by her shirt and slammed her into the wall. Then she hit her with a belt for a long time. Five minutes, I'd say.
DM: Anything else?
PC: She starved her once. She told her that if she told anyone, then she'd kill her. She told me though. I think that means that she didn't want to live.
DM: Why didn't you or your parents call the police?
PC: We did. They didn't do anything. I guess she just "fell through the red tape" so to speak.
DM: We think we might know where she is.
PC: You do?
Here there is a long pause
PC: I just want to see her. I need to know that she's safe.
DM: We're out of time; I'll see you in two days.
End tape
Exert from Ponyboy's memory
It was the most awful thing I've ever seen. Aurora and I were twelve, and she'd done badly in a dance competition. I was walking home with her.
"It's OK," I said as I tried to comfort a sobbing Aurora.
"No, it's not," she replied.
"It's just a stupid contest," I said.
"My mom doesn't see it that way. If I don't do well, she beats me up," Aurora said.
We stopped walking.
"What do you mean she beats you up?" I asked. I knew perfectly well what she was talking about; I just didn't want to believe her.
"I mean what I said," Aurora replied, "She hits me with a belt, chair legs, whatever she can find."
"Why?" I asked.
"I'm not good enough for her," Aurora replied.
We walked in silence for a while, and then Aurora started muttering: "You hate me? Fine, I hate you too, mom. I don't give a damn if I'm not good enough for you. I don't give a damn if you were a better dancer. Go fuck yourself."
"Rory, calm down," I said softly.
"I'm sorry," she said through her tears.
"It's not your fault," I replied.
"I should kill myself," Aurora said.
"NO!" I yelled. "You can't, you're my best friend."
"Life just doesn't seem worth it, Ponyboy," she said.
When we got to Aurora's house, her mom was waiting for her. Her face was almost purple with rage.
"Where were you?" she screamed, "Get your sorry ass in here!"
Aurora tried to get away, but her mom had her tightly by the wrist.
"Help me, Pony!" Aurora yelled before she was dragged in the house.
I didn't know what to do, so I ran to the window. Aurora's mom had her by the collar of her shirt, and she was slamming her into the wall as hard as she could. Then she took off her belt, and started to hit Aurora with it. That was too much, I started running toward my house, but before I could get there, I ran into Dally.
"Woah, Pony. Where's the fire?" Dally asked.
"Aurora's mom," I gasped, "she's beating her up. I think she's going to kill her!"
Dally started running toward Aurora's house. He liked her too; they always talked about how terrible life was. I heard them talking once about doing dual suicide. At the time I thought it was a joke, but now I'm not so sure.
When I got to Aurora's, the place was total chaos. It turned out that Tim Shepard's gang had gotten to the house before Dally, and they were all trying to help Aurora. Dally was tying Aurora's mom's hand's and feet together with duct tape, and Tim Shepard was punching her. After a few minutes, they stepped back.
"That'll teach you to beat up on her," Tim spat.
"You should be ashamed; she was defenseless," Dally said.
They left Aurora's mom, and walked over toward Aurora.
"Are you OK?" Dally asked.
"No," she sobbed.
"Come on," Dally said as he picked her up, "we'll take you to the Curtis's. They'll know what to do."
Mom did all she could for Aurora, but she needed stitches and had to go to the hospital for that. When we called the police, they got mad at Dally and Tim instead of at Aurora's mom. I knew that life wasn't fair before then, but I'll always remember that as the day that I found out life really isn't fair.
