Almost a week had passed since the funeral and Johnny was showing little sign of improvement. He still slept a lot, ate very little and talked even less. He had not gone to school since the day of the "incident" as everyone had started calling it. It seemed like a different girl came by the house each day with Johnny's homework, sometimes two. But never Caroline. Though there were probably a million other things bothering Johnny, Dally figured this was probably near the top of the list.
The girls came in their prettiest dresses, their hair and makeup just so, all hoping to catch a glimple of the now even more mysterious Johnny Cade who, with Caroline apparently out of the picture, was now fair game.
At first Dally found this all very amusing. He even commandeered a date or two for himself out of the batch of girls. This prompted a long and ridiculous conversation with Grandma Cade about a young girl's virtue and the reputation of the entire Cade family, which from what Dally could see was pretty much shot by now anyway. But, in the interest of keeping what shaky peace there was around the Cade household, Dally declined future offers of outings with the ladies that frequented the front porch. For now.
Dally knew he could have had all the dates he wanted right under Grandma Cade's nose, if he had chosen to do so. She had other things to worry about; first and foremost was how much longer she was going to tolerate Johnny's truancy from school.
Johnny had somehow made his peace with her, which had surprised Dally, but Grandma Cade was one tough lady. There really wasn't much arguing with her. She had had a long talk with Johnny one day and after that, Johnny started to interact with her. At least as much as he was interacting with anyone that he was on speaking terms with. Which at this point, included everyone but Will Cade. Dally could tell this just devastated Will, but he really didn't know what to do about it. Any time he tried to talk to Johnny about Will, Johnny would get all quiet and crawl back into his emotional shell. Dally had stopped bringing it up.
It was a warm afternoon when Dally ran into Caroline, purely by accident. He and Will had gone out to pick up some tools for the repair of the barn when Dally spotted her across the street with some other girls going into a soda shop.
He didn't know why he felt compelled to talk to her, but without even thinking, he told Will he'd be right back and he went running across the street.
"Caroline!" he called out.
She looked up, startled and then looked around, nervously.
"Hey," Dally said.
"Hi," Caroline answered shyly, her eyes downcast in guilt.
Her friends whispered, eyeing Dally.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Dally asked after nodding slyly and winking at the other girls. This sent them all into a tizzy of breathless giggles. But Caroline just looked sad and to tell the truth, a little scared. "Just for a minute..." Dally said softly, dropping his tough facade to put Caroline at ease.
"All right," she nodded, following Dally to a bench on the sidewalk. They both sat down. Caroline would not look at him.
"So what gives, anyhow?' he asked.
And to his shock, Caroline started to cry.
"Hey... hey, come on, don't cry. I ain't mad or nothin', I was just wondering what happened!" Dally said nervously. He'd seen girls cry before... hell, he'd made girls cry, but he never liked it. It made him very uncomfortable. But with Caroline, he just felt bad, the difference being that he actually liked her. Not in a romantic way. He liked her because she was nice to Johnny. Was... Dally reminded himself.
"Is... is Johnny ok?" Caroline asked through muffled sobs. "He... he doesn't come to school and my parents... they w-won't let me see him."
Dally nodded. He had figured as much. He had, for a moment or two, entertained the thought that it was Caroline who had decided not to see Johnny anymore after everything that had happened, but it just didn't seem likely.
"Johnny's all right." Dally started to reach out an touch her arm, but then stopped himself, not knowing what was considered appropriate. "Why won't they let you see him?"
Caroline could barely get the words out. "I felt so bad, I just wanted to talk to him, I wanted to come to the funeral, to tell him I was so sorry, but they just wouldn't allow it. Daddy thinks he's... dangerous, or at least he has a dangerous past, that's what he said... th-they don't want me to go over there because of what happened. They'd drag me home right now if they caught me talking to you."
"That's crazy!" Dally started to protest, but realized he was not talking to someone who needed convincing. Damn whatever's appropriate, he thought and took Caroline's chin, tilting her face up to dry her eyes with the cuff of his shirt sleeve. "C'mon, doll. Don't cry...you're turning those beautiful blue eyes all red."
She managed a weak smile. "Do you think... he's mad at me for not coming?"
"Johnny? Mad at you?" Dally laughed a little. "Not a chance. I think he really misses you," Dally added.
"Really?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure!"
"Oh, Dally, do you think you could tell him that I miss him too? I miss him so much! And that I feel so terrible about what happened."
Dally rolled his eyes good naturedly. "I ain't in the habit playing Cupid and getting all sappy, but for a gorgeous dame like you? Why not."
She let out a bit of a laugh then. And then her eyes grew serious. "I know a lot of girls have been going by to see him. I told one of my friends that my father had forbidden me to see him again and it was all over the school in an hour!"
Dally shook his head. "Dames. Oh..uh- I mean, some friend!"
"Well," Caroline continued, "I know there are a lot of girls that are interested in seeing him."
Dally surpressed a chuckle. The innocence of this girl and probably the others in this town was just fascinating to him. He'd never met anyone like her. Dally thought about how horrified she would be if she could see where Johnny and Dally had come from. How shocked she would be at the girls that dated guys like Dallas Winston. That was probably why her parents were so suddenly protective of her. A little piece of East-Side-Tulsa had followed Johnny to this quiet town and reared it's ugly head. But Dally was getting the impression that it was not both parents that were the problem.
"It's mostly your dad, isn't it?"
Caroline's now bloodshot eyes widened. "Yes! Mother thinks he's being ridiculous, really. She just goes along with him."
Dally raised his eyebrows. "Ridiculous, huh? Well, there's your window."
"My window?" Caroline looked confused.
"Sure," Dally started to take out a cigarette, but then thought better of it. "Your window of opportunity. You know, your chance to make things go the way you want them to."
"I don't understand."
"Get your mom to wear down your dad. Broads- ah, ladies... have a way of being very persuasive if they want to be. Just get your mom on your side, you know, sweet talk her and all, and it'll be two against one. There'll be no stopping you. Oh, and cry a lot, too."
"I already do that. But not in front of anyone-"
"No, no, no. Do it right where he can see you." Dally coached.
Caroline stared at him. "I don't know if that'll work, but I'll try." She said, still looking confused.
But Dally looked pretty confident and that made her feel better.
"Oh," Dally added. "And about those girls... the ones that came by the house? Don't worry, Johnny wouldn't give them the time of day."
Caroline smiled at him then.
Dally grinned at her. "I'll give Johnny your message, and I'll make sure he's back in school on Monday."
Caroline's jaw dropped. "Really? Oh, Dally thank you! Thank you so much!" she leaned over and kissed his cheek in classic Southern Belle fashion and then hurried off to her friends who were now swooning and flapping around like excited sparrows.
Dally's eyes widened. "See, doll?" he said when she was well out of earshot inside the soda shop. "You're a natural at this persuasive thing."
Dally thought about his promise to Caroline as he and Will drove home. It was likely that Johnny would go back to school on Monday anyhow because Grandma Cade was getting fed up, too. But it was time to get Johnny back on his feet. He should want to go back to school. For crying out loud, Dally thought, he should want to get up in the morning!
Dally turned to Will. "Hey, do you know Caroline's parents pretty well? Her dad?"
"Yeah, why?" Will asked.
Dally repeated what Caroline had told him. "Maybe you should go talk to him. Set him straight, you know?" Dally said.
Will thought about that for a moment. "Yeah... yeah, kind of sounds like I should. I didn't realize..." he trailed off, staring at the road, obviously taken aback that someone could consider Johnny dangerous.
Dally stared at the road too for a moment. He heard the tone of Will's voice. Ordinarily, he would have stayed out of something like this. But he liked Will. And he'd decided that Johnny wasn't being very fair. An idea was brewing in his mind. "So, uh...can I borrow the Corvette tomorrow?"
Will swallowed. "Why?"
"I got an idea that might snap Johnny out of this mood he's in."
Will's expression changed then from fear to hopefulness. "Dally, if you can get him out of this mood, you can borrow that car anytime you want."
Dally grinned. Sure, he could have used Buck's car, but what fun would that have been?
Johnny was up in his room when Dally and Will got back. The kid hadn't been outside in days. But Dally had already decided that this had gone far enough. He had a plan formulated now. He would wake Johnny up bright and early in the morning.
'If it goes too far, you'll know', Darry had said. He was right. Dally knew. This had to stop.
The next morning as the sun was just getting ready to come up, Dally wandered into Johnny's room.
"Hey," Dally shook Johnny's shoulder.
Johnny let out a muffled whimper and turned his face into the pillow. He had slept in his clothes again, his old beat up jeans from Tulsa and an old black t -shirt.
"C'mon, get up, kid. We gotta go."
Johnny turned his head back to Dally and opened one eye slightly.
Dally frowned. It was never this hard to wake Johnny. He slept lightly and would awaken easily. "C'mon, kid. You can't be that tired. You slept all day yesterday. Now get up! We gotta go."
Johnny sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes. Now that they were open, Dally's heart sank. That "look" was still there. That blank, dead, lost spirit look. He hadn't decided which was worse, this new look, or the old fearful, nervous one he'd been used to for so long.
It didn't matter. He didn't like either one and he was bound and determined to get rid of both. He was going to see happiness in those eyes if it was the last thing he did.
"Where?" Johnny asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.
"Somewhere. Don't ask questions, just get up." Dally said, getting irritated that he was going to have to explain things if Johnny started questioning. Johnny usually just did what he was told.
He started throwing a few of Johnny's things into a suitcase... extra clothes, towels, shoes. It was all he could find to carry things in.
Johnny threw back the blankets and hopped out of bed. He looked eagerly at Dally.
Dally stopped and regarded his sudden change in attitude, a nervous feeling forming in his mind.
"Are we going home?"
Damn! Dally shot him a look that said 'if you don't shut up and get dressed you'll be going to the local morgue'. But behind the angry look, he was filled with guilt. He knew that was what Johnny really wanted.
Johnny read Dally's look to mean they were not going back to Tulsa and his posture showed his disappointment. "Look, Dal, I'm kinda tired. I ain't really in the mood for goin' anywhere-"
Dally threw down the suitcase cover. He put on his best threatening face and was inwardly pleased with the look of surprise he got from Johnny. "You better get in the mood, kid. This has gone on long enough. What is with this get-up, anyway?" Dally asked indicating Johnny's clothes. "This ain't who you are anymore, Johnny."
Johnny looked dejected and turned towards the door.
"You better be headed for the shower." Dally said.
"I'm going downstairs to watch TV."
Dally threw down the pair of socks he was holding and stormed over to Johnny. He stepped in front of him and got right in his face. "Look, kid, I've about had enough of this. Don't you get it? He'd dead, Johnny. He's DEAD."
Johnny was getting nervous. He didn't like it when Dally got angry.
"He's been dead for days, but it's like he's still smacking you around with two by fours and you're the one handing him the boards!"
Dally was yelling now and he braced himself for the inevitable look of hurt he saw in Johnny's eyes as he continued. "He's still hurting you and he's not even here, you know why? Because you're letting him! You're letting him, Johnny!"
Johnny backed up. Dally took a step forward. "You need to let go, Johnny. They're both dead, you have to let it go!"
Johnny's head shot up then and a look of anger burned in his eyes.
There, Dally thought. "Go ahead," he challenged, his voice raising. "Get mad. You should be mad! They took 16 years of your life, Johnny. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand here and watch this go on! Don't you give them one more day! Not one more damn day!"
The anger flickered out as Johnny let Dally's words sink in.
Dally lowered his voice. "You said you trusted me. Did you really mean it?"
Johnny looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, I trust you."
"Then get ready and get in the car." Dally said and turned back to putting things in the suitcase.
Johnny went down the hall to the bathroom and got ready to leave.
When he came back, he was quiet again. His hair was still wet from the shower and he wore a new pair of jeans, a clean t-shirt and a grey hooded sweatshirt that Wendy had bought him. He didn't ask any questions, except one.
"Dally," he started cautiosly. He could tell Dally was on edge.
Dally looked up from the small pile of supplies he was arranging, daring Johnny to start up again.
"If we're going far away... can Coal come too?"
Dally's expression softened. He paused for a minute. "Johnny, when- and if- we decide to go far away... yeah, Coal will come too. Right now, I just... I want you to see something. Trust me, OK?"
Johnny looked at him hesitantly for a moment, and then he nodded. He had more questions, but he decided to keep his mouth shut.
He followed Dally downstairs and out into the driveway. The air was quiet and cold and dew still covered the ground. The first rays of sunlight had only just begun to peek over the hills and everything smelled like morning.
To Johnny's surprise, Dally started putting the top down on the Corvette and then hopped into the driver's seat.
Johnny stopped, his mind racing. What was Dally thinking? Was he stealing Will's car? Was he crazy? Did anyone know about this? Oh, Will would be so mad at Johnny for doing this-
Wait, Johnny thought. What do I care?
Dally watched Johnny's expression change from one of fear and doubt to one more like... well, like a Dallas Winston expression. And he got in the car without another word.
Satisfied that Johnny was not going to start up again with questions, Dally adjusted the mirror and started the engine.
They drove for what felt to Johnny like hours. They hardly spoke. Johnny still had a lot weighing on his mind, and Dally just wasn't sure what he could talk about with Johnny right now. Anything unrelated to the events of the past week just felt like superficial small talk and he had decided to wait to tell Johnny about Caroline until a little later.
Though still overcome with hurt and confusion to the point where almost nothing mattered to him, the silence was piquing Johnny's curiosity.
A few times he looked over at Dally and started to say something, and then he would sink back into his emotional shelter and just stare out the window.
Once Dally had to pull over and consult a map. Johnny leaned over to see what he was looking at and Dally pulled the map away and gave Johnny a playful shove. "Hey! No looking!"
Johnny laughed a little. "C'mon, Dal! Where are we going?" He tried to look at the map again and Dally closed it quickly and hit him with it.
"You'll see." Dally replied simply and went back to driving.
Johnny frowned and leaned back in his seat. The wind was cold and he wrapped his sweatshirt tighter around himself. But the fresh air felt good. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd been outside. He stared at the trees flying past him and eventually fell asleep.
"Johnny... Johnnycake, wake up..."
Johnny opened his eyes and looked around. Tulsa? Could he have slept long enough for them to be in Tulsa? No, this was definitely not Tulsa. What was that sound? There was a strange wooshing sound and a gentle calming breeze coming from beyond a grassy hill. He got out of the car and jogged to catch up with Dally who was already disappearing behind the tall weeds.
Johnny stopped in his tracks when he saw it. Suddenly the grass stopped and acres of sand stretched out before him and beyond that, the most massive expanse of water he had ever seen. He took a few unsteady steps forward, not looking at all at where he was going and stumbled a bit over some driftwood.
"Whoa, watch where you're goin', kid." Dally said catching him by the arm.
But Johnny's gaze was fixed straight ahead. "What is that?" he asked, his eyes wide and his voice quiet with wonder.
Dally looked back towards the water. "Africa."
Johnny looked at him. "What?"
"I don't know, maybe Spain? Or what the hell else is over there, uh...France? I don't know... It's the ocean, Johnny."
Johnny's eyes were wide as he took in the sight before him. A breeze whispered across his face and gentle rolling waves crept up on the sand and then receeded back into the vastness. The sky stretched out forever. Johnny had stood there almost a full minute before Dally broke the silence.
"Well, what do ya think?"
Johnny, without taking his eyes off the blue grey water, replied almost hypnotically. "I've... never seen anything like this."
Dally folded his arms proudly as though the ocean were his and he was showing it off.
Johnny took a step forward and then something else caught his eye. He looked down quickly and sucked in his breath. "Dal, look! Is this a seashell? I think I found a seashell!"
Dally raised his eyebrows as he watched Johnny pick up the small white shell next to his feet and stare at it in utter amazement. Then he held it out excitedly for Dally to see.
"Uh... yeah... that's a seashell all right."
"Wow..."
"Uh... Johnnycake," Dally scratched his head and regarded Johnny with veiled amusement. "There's probably about a million more of those closer to the water."
"Really?" Johnny looked at him as though he had told him there was gold and silver lining the shore of the beach.
"Yeah, really." This was actually working even better than Dally had expected. Johnny looked completly in awe of his surroundings.
"Well, I'm starved." Dally said then as he clapped his hands together. "You wanna go get something to eat?"
Johnny finally tore his gaze away from the Atlantic to stare at Dally incredulously. "Huh?"
Dally had to fight to keep a straight face.
"You drove all the way out here to show me this and now we're gonna 'go get something to eat'?" Johnny asked, still staring at Dallas as though he had suggested they try to drive the car across the ocean.
Dally tried to look innocently surprised and somewhat offended. "Look, man, I skipped breakfast! I gotta eat. Why don't uh... you stay here while I go find some food?"
Johnny looked back at the ocean. "All right."
"Ok. I'll be back in a little while."
Johnny watched as Dally walked off and disappeared behind the dunes. Then he turned his eyes back to the sea. He watched transfixed as the waves rolled in and pulled back. The more he watched, the more he became aware of a peaceful feeling coming over him. He began to feel small. His problems began to feel small. There were bigger, better, more powerful things all around him. A voice that was not a voice spoke to him about how vast the world was... how many things he had yet to see.
About a half hour had passed when Dally came strolling back over the dunes again carrying a box of food. He stopped just as the sand began to flatten out, noting with interest that Johnny was still standing in the same place that Dally had left him. He stood gazing off into the distance, his arms folded tight against his grey sweatshirt, the breeze blowing his hair. But he had apparently not been in that spot the whole time, there were footprints everywhere.
And then he suddenly took a step forward. Dally waited. Another step. The waves receeded. Step step step. Then the waves came rushing in again and Johnny stepped backwards quickly. He did this a few times and then caught sight of another shell. He stopped to pick it up and Dally cringed as he watched another wave come crashing into shore, soaking Johnny almost up to the knee.
Dally started laughing and almost dropped the box he was carrying. He started walking again and called out. "Geez, Johnny, why don't you take your shoes off?"
Johnny looked up, his face reddening, unaware that Dally had been watching him.
Dally strolled up to where Johnny was standing and plopped himself down on the sand.
"Find anymore seashells?" He asked with a coy grin as he started eating.
Johnny made a face at him, but Dally noticed that both of his sweatshirt pockets were weighted down and looking rather lumpy. Dally shook his head and laughed.
Johnny kept strolling back and forth along the edge of the water for a while as Dally gorged himself on french fries.
"Hey, Johnny! Ain't you hungry, kid?"
Johnny looked over at the food and then back at the ocean. "Yeah, I guess," he said finally decideing to go and sit down.
Dally was relieved to see that he was finally going to eat something.
Dally looked at him seriously then. He decided to get right to the point of this little excursion. "You got some thinkin' to do, kid."
"Yeah, I know." Johnny chewed absently on one of the fries. They were quiet for a while.
"This place makes you feel... different," Johnny said quietly, watching the waves.
Dally nodded.
Then Johnny turned and looked at him. "That's why you brought me here isn't it?"
Dally didn't answer. He just kept on eating.
"How'd you know?" Johnny asked.
"Huh?"
"How'd you know... about the ocean?"
"Everybody knows about the ocean."
"C'mon, Dal, you know what I mean."
Dally chewed uncomfortably on the end of his straw. He looked out at the waves and sighed the way he did when he didn't really want to talk about something. "My grandmother..."
Johnny raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.
"When I was in New York and my parents were about to split for good... she took me to see the ocean."
"How old were you?" Johnny asked cautiously. He knew that hearing Dally open up about anything in his past other than criminal mischief was like trying to keep a soap bubble from popping.
"Not very. Anyhow, it uh... made things not so bad... for a while, you know, so I could think, clear my head. When I was a little older, I went once... after she was gone."
And that was it, the bubble popped. That was all he was going to get, he could tell by the tone of voice. But he was impressed that he'd gotten that much.
"So, yeah. I brought you hear so you could think. You gotta decide what you want to do. And if you decide you really want to go back to Tulsa, I thought of a way we might be able to keep social services away from you for a little while, but I don't know."
"How? I can't live with the Curtises The people from the state are already breathing down their necks."
"No, you can't really stay with the Curtises...but I'm 18 now." In the midst of all the chaos, Dally's eighteenth birthday had come and gone with no one noticing. Not even the birthday boy himself. He had woken up one morning and just remembered.
Johnny's head shot up. "What?" He thought for a minute. "Oh my gosh, Dal, I forgot, sorry-"
Dally shook his head and waved away Johnny's appology. "Nah, kid, I don't care... I'm just saying that maybe you could stay with me if I got a job or something. I mean, I kind of doubt that the state would let that fly for too long, but by the time they mess around with all their paper work, you'd probably be getting pretty close to 18 yourself."
Johnny looked at him with disbelieving admiration. "You'd do that for me?"
Dally's eyes narrowed, sensing he'd showed a bit too much compassion for a tough hood. "Yeah, but I'd put you right to work. Don't think you'd sit around like Two-Bit does after school. And for your 18th birthday you're getting a swift kick out the door."
But Johnny wasn't fooled. He grinned and laughed.
Dally shook his head and looked at the sand, something was obviously weighing heavily on his mind. "You know, there's nothing that would make me happier than to just bring you back home and forget all this... except for one thing."
Johnny looked expectantly at him. When Dally looked up, the expression on his face surprised Johnny. He looked... sad, tired almost.
"I'd rather see you safe and happy and surrounded by people who can give you a future. We can't do that for you kid." He said 'we' and Johnny knew he meant the gang.
So this is what it came down to. He had to chose between his two families.
"There's no future for you in Tulsa, Johnny. You wouldn't be happy and God knows we all tried to protect you, but we never really could."
"Don't say stuff like that, Dal." Johnny said quietly, pushing the sand around with his wet sneaker.
"It's true, kid. And you know it. You need a real family."
Johnny looked up then, struggling to keep back tears. "You are my real family!"
Dally steadied himself and didn't break Johnny's gaze. "And we always will be Johnnycake... but you need to make a choice. I know you're still kind of mad about all that went on, but you need to really think about this... They never meant to hurt you, buddy. Believe me, if I thought for one second that they did, we'd already be back in Tulsa. They're good people, Johnny. They really care about you."
Johnny stared sadly at the sand.
"But if what you really want is to go back to Tulsa, then that's what we'll do. I wanted to make sure you thought about this with a clear head. It's time to make up your mind and I ain't gonna tell you what to do this time, Johnny. I can't."
Something about the finality of that statement scared Johnny for a minute. Dally was stepping down. He was handing control to Johnny. And Johnny was going to fly. Or he was going to crash and burn.