A/N Please read and review! Love y'all
It was a freezing night, around 10° to be exact. She was walking from her house to her real home, the one she built herself, after her mom had gotten strung up and locked her out. As she kicked the snow on the pavement in her sneakers, her oversized, heavily worn jacket barely keeping her warm, she saw a little boy, younger than her, laying on the ground in a popular lot that kids and teens alike hung around. She walked up to him, he was shivering fiercely, holding himself tight. A jean jacket the only thing keeping him warm.
"Hey kid." She said, walking up to him. He sat up, unable to sleep in the cold, windy conditions. "What are you doing out here?" She asked, but the bruises on his face told his story for her.
"Nothing." He replied back, he seemed shy, his voice meek. She didn't feel right leaving him there on his lonesome, although their neighborhood was close nit, this side of town was still dangerous.
"Looks to me like you're freezing to death." She retorted, his lips blue.
"I'll keep warm." He replied.
"Come with me to my house." She said, reaching down her hand.
"That's okay." He replied, staring at it.
"C'mon, I don't bite."
"What about your parents?" He asked, looking at her with uncertainty.
"There ain't no parents allowed." She retorted, with a friendly smile. He thought about it carefully before taking her hand, the two walking down the street. They went off path, walking into a lightly forested area, where as they walked it got more dense. They finally stopped when they came to a little structure that could pass more for a huge dog house than a tree house. "Well? Go inside." She said, giving him a nudge, he walked in the doorway perfectly sized for a child, blankets and pillows along with cans of food inside. She followed right after him.
"How'd you find this place?" He asked, sitting carefully not to touch anything inside.
"I built it myself, it took a long time and a lot of old timber from the lumberyard." She smiled back proudly, handing him a blanket. He hesitantly, but thankfully took it, wrapping it around himself immediately. She took the other one and wrapped it around herself as well. "I didn't catch your name." She said, looking at him.
"Uh, Johnny." He replied.
"Johnny what?"
"Johnny Cade."
"Well, Johnny Cade, I'm Jackie V." She said, holding out her hand, he took it and she give him a firm handshake. "How old are you Johnny?" She asked.
"I'm 8." He replied, warming up.
"I'm 12, which explains why i haven't seen you around in school." She said, thoughtfully. He nodded shyly. "You know, you don't talk much Johnny. It's okay though." She said with a grin, looking around on the ground before grabbing a can of green beans. "Are you hungry?" She asked. He shook his head, lying. She frowned, pulling out a switchblade and cutting the top of the can open anyways, handing it to him with a cold fork. "I know it's not much, but please take it." She said, he accepted it and began eating.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked, after swallowing a bite of salty, cold green beans.
"Because kids like us gotta stick together." She replied, looking at him, her face suddenly solemn. "Does your old man beat you Johnny?" She asked. He nodded, taking another bite. "I see the fear in your eyes."
"Does yours?" He asked.
"My dad ain't around anymore, but every now and then one of my mom's boyfriends do, it all depends on who she brings home." She replied, her eyes unreadable, she pulled out a cigarette and lit it, it wasn't unusual in this neighborhood for kids to start smoking young. "But that doesn't matter, one day I'm gonna be a professional, build real houses, make a lot of money so i don't have to keep going back there." She said, dreamily thinking about the future, "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" She asked.
"I dunno, I don't think that far ahead." He replied honestly.
"Well think now."
"Anything?" He asked.
"Well yeah." She smiled, shrugging.
"I wanna be a football player, like one of my buddies. They're tuff." He replied.
"That is tuff." She said. To her, it sounded unrealistic, but she didn't even consider saying anything to ruin his dream. She took a drag from her cigarette, the smoke filling up the small shelter but escaping through the cracks. "We're friends now, right?" She asked, she sounded like her true self, no longer having the facade as some overly mature protecter, but a lonely child seeking validation in any form.
"Yeah." He smiled softly, nodding. "Yeah, we're friends." He said. She returned his smile, putting out the cigarette on the cold ground to save the rest of it for later, before laying down and curling up, facing the wall.
"Goodnight Johnny." She said. He laid down on the other pillow, facing the other wall.
"Goodnight Jackie." He replied back. Early the next morning, she shook him awake, leading him back into town.
"I'll see you around okay? You can use my house anytime." She said, before they went separate ways.
"Okay." Was all he managed to say. She nodded with a smile before turning and walking away. He wanted to say thank you but he couldn't muster the courage, putting his hands in his pockets and walking away.
...
...
...
••8 years later••
"What do you have planned today?" Her roommate, Tracy, asked, as Jackie walked in dressed, pouring herself a glass of coffee.
"I have an interview later, but until then I'm going to work on that dog house for Mrs. Klein." She said, taking a sip before picking up the newspaper. She was balancing two jobs right now as a waitress and cleaning lady, but on the side she pursued her passion to build, hopefully being able to quit one of her jobs to work in some area of construction. It was her first time in almost a week she had some free time to herself, she looked at the headline of the front page 'delinquent youths turned heroes', but one of the boys on the cover looked familiar, she couldn't pin it but she knew she had seen him before.
"You believe that? I dunno if I could run into a building on fire, even if there were kids in there. The weird part is they're saying those are the kids that killed that boy I told you about." Tracy said, noticing her reading the article intently. Then she saw the name, Johnny Cade, and that night rushed back. She never did see the young greaser again and as she read the article her heart fell into her stomach.
"I have to go." She said distraught, putting the paper down without finishing the article.
"You okay?" Her friend asked as she slipped on her shoes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, grabbing her purse and going to her car. When she got to the hospital, she went to the front desk. "I'm here to see Johnny Cade." She said to the receptionist.
"Who are you?" The receptionist asked.
"A friend." She replied back.
"I don't think the nurses will allow you to go in." She said slowly.
"Look, you know it's bad, if that was your son in there, would you let him go through this alone? Are you that soulless?" She snapped, the receptionist stared at her with wide eyes before sighing.
"5th door on the left." She said. She immediately walked down the hallway, sneaking in the room without any nurses catching her. "Johnny?" She said softly.
"Who's that?" He replied, his voice sounded panicked. He looked awful, the burns on his back and arms horrible.
"Uh, it's Jackie. Do you remember me?" She asked, going to the side near his head.
"Jackie V?" He asked.
"Yeah." She chuckled softly, somewhat surprised he remembered.
"I thought you were my mom." He sighed with relief.
"I just wanted to come by, I saw in the paper..." She said, she hadn't been prepared for how bad critical condition was.
"I'm glad you did." He replied. "I reckon I'm going to die, Jackie." He said weakly. This immediately made her tear up, in her head she could only see him as an 8 year old boy saying this, even if years had passed and a teenager laid before her.
"Don't say that, Johnny." She replied, a lump in her throat. "I'll tell you what, when you get out of here you can come live with me. I have a real house now, you'll never have to worry about your folks again." She said, a tear escaping her eyes.
"That sounds real nice." He replied, hearing the emotion in her voice and not wanting to upset her more, but both knew he was right.
"I know you didn't kill that soc without reason, they won't send you to prison." She continued, "I'll get you back on your feet, hell, you'll even be a football player if you still want to do that." She said, making herself grin through a sniffle, he chuckled too but winced because it hurt to move his chest.
"Yeah right, are you still building things?" He asked selflessly, wanting to take her mind off of his condition.
"Just on the side, but I've been going to interviews." She replied, trying to stop the sadness from seeping in her voice so they could have a normal conversation.
"Don't give up on that, promise?" He said, his voice sounded pained.
"Promise." She replied.
"Ma'am, you can't be in here." A nurse said, coming in to check on his vitals. She let more tears fall, not wanting to leave him in his condition.
"Bye Johnny, I'll see you later, okay?" She said hopefully, not knowing this was the last she'd ever see or talk to the young boy again.
"I'll see you later." He repeated, she turned to walk out. "Oh, hey Jackie." He called, she stopped and turned to look back at him. "Thank you for being my friend."