It was four pm. Tori made her way down the path towards Lingford Road. She could feel the rays of the warm sun beating down on her long dark hair, which glistened in the sunlight. She turned a corner and arrived at her street. She walked a short distance until reaching her house, walked up the steps and opened the wooden door.
The house was cool. Tori shivered. The air-conditioning was up way too high. She walked over to the cooler, and turned it down. The front door creaked open. Tori spun on her heels, anxious to see who it was. Thankfully it was her mother.
Janet Jameson was a tired looking woman, in her mid forties. Her dusty blonde hair hung lifeless around her shoulders. She stopped and looked at her daughter. Her face was saddened and grave.
"Hey Mom…." Tori started to speak but was interrupted by her mother.
"Tori, where were you last night! I was worried sick. Why didn't you call?" Tori's mother looked scared.
"Mom, I can explain. I was just at Kirsten's, I fell asleep. By the time I woke up it was too late to call, so I stopped the night and went to school this morning. I'm sorry." Tori lied.
"Don't lie to me Tori, I know you weren't at Kirsten's. John rang around your friends last night. We know you slept at that boy's house. Tori, if only you had rang. If you'd told us where you were- well told us you were at a friends… then maybe John wouldn't be so angry. Maybe things would be different…" Janet trailed off. She sat down, and put her head in her hands.
"Mom, what's happened? Are you okay? I'm really sorry. I didn't think." Tori started to think the worst, and however much she'd enjoyed herself at Soda's she wished she had just come home.
"It's Nathan. He's walked out. He's had enough. Went to stop at his girlfriends. John went crazy last night. He got real angry when you didn't come home. Took it out on Nathan. He hit him. It was the last straw."
"Nathan's gone…?" Tori's eyes started to fill up with tears. How could he leave? She thought, he was the one who had stopped her from running away so many times before. It was Nathan who had kept her going when their father had died, seven years ago. It was Nathan who had kept their Mom focussed and helped get them through it, even though it was really hard on him as well. "Oh, Mom, it's all my fault. Is Nathan okay? I can't believe he's left." Tori sobbed.
"Nathan's fine, he's just had enough of John." Janet's heart sunk. She was trapped. Her oldest son had left home because of her fiancé, John, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Tori…" Her Mom started to speak. The front door swung open. In walked John accompanied by his fourteen-year-old son.
John was 6ft 2 at least and built like a bull. He had brown hair combed over to one side, smothered in what only could be described as chip pan grease. His eyes were dark and cold.
His son was a smaller carbon copy of John. His name was Simon. He was as cruel and as calculated as his father, and they were both highly stuck up.
John turned and looked in the living room, to see the tear-stained faces of his fiancé and her daughter.
"What the fuck have you been crying for?" John bellowed.
"Oh, John. I'm sorry. I was just telling Tori about Nathan. I'm sorry." Janet cowered in John's shadow.
"Shut the fuck up. You are getting right on my nerves. Crying over that good for nothing waste of space you call your son. Its about time he left he's fucking nineteen for Christ sake. It'll be too soon if I ever see him again! And you, Tori. Where the fuck were you last night? You little whore." John closed in on Tori and pushed her Mom's fragile frame out of the way. Tori was shaking.
"I, I slept at a friends…" Tori's green eyes widened and her face was becoming blotchy as tears flooded from her eyes.
"YOU LIAR!" John screamed. He raised his fist and swung for Tori. She dodged his swing and made a run for it. She ran upstairs and stood against her bedroom door. Her chest was heaving. John belted up the stairs and began banging on the door.
Tori could hear her mother begging John. "Please leave her alone," her mother sobbed with desperation. A shrill scream was heard, followed by stumbling, bumping and banging sounds.
"Ha ha. Serves you right you stupid bitch." John howled. His son cackled simultaneously.
Tori swung open her bedroom door to see John had thrown her mother down to the floor, her eyes were tearstained, and she looked terrified. Before Tori could open her mouth, John had pushed her to the floor. She hit her head on what she could only guess was the corner of her chest of drawers. The next events were blurred except for the memory of pain. It happened so fast. It ended so fast. The last Tori remembered John say was something like "Don't bother coming home after school tomorrow". John left. Tori's mother had picked herself up and made her way to her daughter who was curled up on the floor sobbing and in pain.
"Are you okay Tori? I'm sorry." Her mother held her daughters shivering body.
"I'm okay." Tori sobbed, she wasn't okay. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine honey. Don't worry about me."
"Mom, I'm gonna stay at a friends for a while. I can't stand this. I, I just can't take it anymore." Tori burst into tears.
Her mother stayed quiet. She knew it was for the best. She wished John had never come into their lives, however she was too scared to leave him. He had threatened her. She didn't want anyone getting hurt. And besides everything was okay when Nathan and Tori weren't around. No matter how much she hated him, she couldn't help forgive him when they were alone. He was such a different person. He would never hit her or hurt her. He just used her children to hurt and manipulate her. And that's how he got his own way.
An hour later Tori was changed and had a bag packed. She said goodbye to her mother and told her she was going to stop with Nathan, which was a bit of a lie. In all honesty she didn't want to worry Nathan, she didn't know where to go. She left her house sporting a nice shiny black eye, and walked towards the park. No one would be there she thought, time was getting on.
She sat on the swing and began to think. She could go see Soda at work. But what about her black eye? Suppose she could say she had been jumped. But how would she explain leaving home? She could just make something up. But she had just started going out with Soda, she couldn't lie to him, and she couldn't bother him with all her problems.
After a while it started to rain. She decided to go to the DX she would decide what to say when she got there.
Tori turned the corner. The rain was getting heavy. Through the waterfall of raindrops she could make out a shifty looking figure. Was it a soc? She hoped not. But soc's wouldn't usually walk around greaser territory alone. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the droplets of water as they dripped down her forehead. The figure was becoming closer and closer. Still the stranger's identity was unclear. Tori was becoming increasingly worried. Whoever it was she didn't want to come to blows with, her day had become increasingly worse and she didn't really want to be bumping into some soc.
"Hey Tori, is that you?" the stranger raised his hand above his head in an attempt to block the rain out of his view. She assumed he was male, well if the stranger wasn't; she had an exceptionally deep masculine voice. The stranger repeated his question. "Tori, is that you?"
Hesitantly, Tori replied, "Yeah who's that?" She was confused, the voice sounded familiar.
"It's Dally." The voice, apparently belonging to Dallas Winston, replied. Tori sighed with relief.
"Hey." She said smiling. Dally approached her, his black leather jacket soaked through. "What you doing out here in the rain?"
"Just been to Darry's, on my way home, Buck's gone away so I've got the house to myself! What bout you? Geez Tori! What's happened to your eye? You been jumped?"
"What? Ah no. It was Joh.. I mean nothing just walked into something its nothing really. I'm just walking around thinking." Tori nervously fumbled with a section of her wet tangled hair.
"You're just walking? Yeah Tori. You wanna talk? You can come over to Bucks. Just to talk if you wanna. Get out of the rain?" Dally looked up at the sky, rain splattered in his eyes. He blinked.
"Yeah I suppose so. Guess it beats standing talking in the rain." Dally grinned, and motioned his arm for Tori to follow him.
They arrived at a house not far away. The journey was silent and quick. Tori followed Dally into the musty, dark house. She was cold and wet, and thinking about it, she probably looked a right mess. Dally turned on the lights. The room lit up. Buck must really like Hank Williams, Tori thought staring round the room. The walls were covered in posters of him.
"Dally, do you mind if I go get changed?" Tori asked clutching her bag.
"No course not. Actually that's a good point I think I will I'm soaked to the bone!" Dally said taking off his jacket, shortly followed by his white t-shirt. His bare chest was gleaming with water droplets. "The bathroom's just upstairs straight ahead. Help yourself to a towel." Dally said.
Tori smiled, went upstairs and got changed. Not long after she was downstairs sitting on the sofa. Dally was sitting on the chair opposite.
"Geez, Tori your eye looks, well it's a beauty!" Dally said. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Thanks Dal. It was an accident that's all." Tori said, fidgeting with her top.
"Yeah, who done it Tori?" Dally asked narrowing his eyes.
"It doesn't matter. It's just nothing. Leave it."
"Tori I wont leave it. Someone's hurt you. Just tell me who. I wont say anything. Was it Soda?" Dally asked anxiously.
"What? No! It was my step dad okay. Stop bugging me!" Tori waited for the laughter, no wait she heard laughter. The shrill, sharp, cackling of John.
"Shoot, Tori, you okay? You can't go back there tonight." Dally said in shock.
"I know I can't. He kicked me out." Tori started to cry.
Dally felt uneasy. He glanced around the room, as if waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He went over to the settee where Tori was sitting and hesitantly put his arm around her.
"Tori, you'll be alright. Have you told Soda? Is this the first time it's happened? You don't have to tell me but you know you can."
"No, I was going to tell Soda, I was gonna go over the DX, but I saw you first. I don't wanna worry him. I've just started going out with him I can't just land all my problems on him. Its not the first time John's done it, he does it all the time whenever he feels like it. He made my brother leave." Tori cried, normally she wouldn't cry in front of people she didn't really know, but right at this minute she didn't care, she was hurt.
"Fuck, Tor, I didn't know. I guess no one knows things that go on inside peoples houses. Guess you don't see your old man much then?"
"He died. Seven years ago. My Mom's been with John for about three years now. She's a shadow of the person she used to be. John was okay the first year and a half. Then he proposed. He changed started bossing Mom about and threatening her with hurting Nathan or me. At first it wasn't that bad, just if we done something bad. But then, it got to a point it was whenever he felt like it. He doesn't hit my Mom, just mainly me, and sometimes Nathan, but Nathan fights back. He doesn't hit his son. His son, Simon, he'slike a mini-John. I hate them. I hate them both." Tori was shaking, why was she telling Dally her life story? She didn't know him.
"Geez, am sorry. I don't know what to say really. Shoot, I'm no good at these sorts of things. He sounds like a right loser."
"Yeah I guess, I should shut up really. You don't wanna be listening to this. What are your folks like?" Tori asked trying to change the subject.
"Well. They're dead. Well as far as I'm concerned. They don't want nothing to do with me. I guess they never will. Doesn't really bother me." Dally looked at Tori, whose eyes widen.
Tori sat looking at Dally. Shit I've just been telling him my problems. He's got his own.
"So, how's things with you and Soda? I didn't know you were going out with him." Dally changed the topic of conversation, he could tell the previous one had been painful.
"Well, okay I guess. I only started going out with him last night. I fell asleep there and stopped the night, that's why John kicked off. But I do really like him. He's so gorgeous!" Tori's smile was beaming.
A few hours past and Tori and Dally continued to talk, Dally told Tori a bit about the gang and some of the crazy things they've done as well as the heroic tales of rumbles with the soc's and some of the things what happened when he used to live in New York. The pair fell asleep downstairs. Tori was shattered. It had been a long day.