Chapter Five

New Orleans

Is this good or bad Johnny thought as he got off the plane. He looked around. It was official, he was in New Orleans. In a way it was good because he would never have to see his parents again, but in a way it was bad, because he'd never get to see his friends again.

Johnny took a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. He unfolded it and read the name on it: Ana Sullivan; his aunt. Johnny started looking for someone that looked like her name would be Ana Sullivan. He didn't have to look for long. There was a woman standing in the middle of the terminal with a sign that said Johnny Cade in huge green letters. Johnny started walking toward her.

"Hi," Johnny said once he got to the woman. "Are you Ana Sullivan?"

"Yes," she said. "I am."

"I guess I'm your nephew," Johnny said.

Ana dropped the sign and hugged Johnny. She hugged him a bit too tight, he was having trouble breathing. After a minute or two Ana let go of Johnny and looked at him. She made a face.

"You're so skinny," she said. "And your arm. What happened to your arm? I bet that no good bum that your no good mom married broke it didn't he? He and your mom were a great couple, they were both good for nothing."

"Um…I guess so," Johnny said. He didn't know what to say.

"We'll, we'd better go to baggage claim and get your stuff. I'll tell you more about your no good parents later."

"This is it," Johnny said as he nodded to his small carry on suitcase.

"That's all?" Ana asked. "We'll have to take you shopping. Oh, and a bit of advice, you won't need that jacket. Not in the summer anyway, and it's summer now so…"

"I like my jacket," Johnny said softly. He was getting the idea that his aunt was crazy.

"Alright, you'll need it in the airport anyway, it's freezing in here," Ana said. "We'd better be getting home, it's late."

Johnny nodded. Ana started walking, and Johnny followed her through the endless hallways. Even though it was almost midnight, there were still a lot of people in the airport. For the second time that night Johnny wished he had a cigarette. He was nervous; cigarettes always calmed his nerves.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking around the airport and the parking garage Johnny and Ana were finally heading home. Ana was talking about New Orleans and Johnny was trying to listen, but Ana was talking fast, and Johnny had no idea what she was talking about.

"New Orleans is divided into different districts; they're kind of like neighborhoods," Ana said, "There's the Garden District, the French Quarter, Lakeview, Bayou St. John, and the list goes on and on. Anyway, we live in the Garden District; there are a lot of very nice, very big houses there."

"It's a nice neighborhood?" Johnny asked. He couldn't imagine living anywhere else but the East side of Tulsa.

"Oh yes, a very nice neighborhood," Ana said. "It's very expensive too. I guess you didn't live in a nice neighborhood in…Oh, where was it?"

"Tulsa," Johnny said quietly. "In Oklahoma. And we lived in an awful neighborhood."

"I'm sorry," Ana said. "I guess you lived in a small house then?"

"Most of the time I lived in the vacant lot," Johnny said.

"The vacant lot?" Ana asked. She sounded surprised.

"Yeah," Johnny said. "When I wasn't there I was living at friend's houses. The police didn't tell you that?"

"No," Ana said. "All they said was that they found you, and that they would put you on the next plane here."

There was a long pause, and then Ana said "Our house will be a big upgrade from the vacant lot. You'll have your own room. It's pretty boring now; just white walls and a bed, but we can decorate it if you want."

Ana stopped the car at a traffic light. She looked at Johnny.

"What happened?" she asked. "Your arm is broken, and you have bruises all over your face. And a scar, that scar is awful."

Johnny was quiet for a while, then he quietly said. "Dad would beat me up. That's what the bruises and the broken arm are from. Then there were these kids, the Socs, that liked to jump kids like me. They called us the Greasers because we grease our hair. They're the ones that gave me the scar."

The light changed and the car started moving again. Ana was shaking her head.

"I always liked to think that maybe you were in a decent home, even though your mom and dad were awful people. It wasn't decent though, was it?"

Johnny shook his head. "Far from it," he said.

"You must be tired," Ana said after an awkward silence. "We'll be home soon."

During the rest of the drive home Ana told Johnny about Marti Gras. It sounded like something Two-Bit would like. From what Johnny understood it was a big party with parades where you could easily get beer and get drunk. The people on the parade floats would throw beads at you, and a lot of people would dress up in costumes.

Ana also told Johnny about her family. She was married to a man named Neil, and they had a son named America.

"America has a lot of friends," Ana said, "You can hang out with them; I'm sure they won't mind."

"Sounds great," Johnny said, even though it didn't. He was hoping that Ana didn't have any kids so he could just hide out in his room all the time. It sounded like he would be forced to hang out with America and his friends though.

Eventually Ana drove the car into the driveway of a really nice house. As soon as Ana and Johnny got out of the car, a boy that looked about Johnny's age walked out of the house. He was wearing boxers and a white T-shirt.

"Hey," they guy said. He nodded to Johnny, "You're Johnny?"

"Yeah," Johnny said.

The boy nodded. "Cool. I'm America, you're cousin I guess. Word of advice, you don't want to wear jeans and a jacket here during summer. You'll fry."

"I know," Johnny said. "Your mom told me."

America nodded. "I'm hanging out with some friends tomorrow. We're leaving kind of early but do you want to come?"

"Sure," Johnny said.

"Cool," America said. He reminded Johnny of one of the surfer guys in beach movies. He had a deep voice, and he seemed like he didn't care about anything. He looked like Johnny, but he had green eyes, and his skin was darker. America also didn't have any bruises.

"What happened to your arm?" America asked as they walked into the house.

"Broke it," Johnny said.

America snorted. "I shouldn't have asked," he muttered.

America led Johnny up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a hallway with several closed doors. America nodded to one of them.

"That's my room," he said. Then he nodded to the one next door to it. "That's your room."

Johnny opened the door. The room was boring, just like Ana had said. The walls were white, and the carpet was a sort of off-white. There was a desk under one of the room's two big windows. There was an oak dresser next to the closet. A bed was in the far corner of the room, and there was a bedside table with a lamp and a clock on it.

"Kind of dull, I know," America said. "Mom and I didn't know what you liked or anything. We've had this room set aside for you since ever since I can remember. When I was little there was all this little kid stuff in it and this is what it looks like now."

Johnny nodded. He wasn't really sure of what he should say. It was strange that Ana and America had been waiting for Johnny to show up for all of his life, and he'd never heard of them.

"We thought you were in Mexico," America said. "Your mom sent my mom a letter from Mexico when you were a few days old. Mom kept trying to find your mom because she thought she'd find you. But I guess you weren't in Mexico, so that explains a lot. Somehow they realized that you had family here, so…yeah."

Johnny nodded again.

"You don't like to talk, do you?" America asked.

"I'm just tired," Johnny said. "My arm hurts."

"So, I'll leave you alone then," America said. "I'll dump cold water on you or something at about 9:30 tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good," Johnny said.

America left the room and closed the door behind him. Johnny walked over to the bed and flopped down on it. It was a big bed, Johnny could stretch his arms and legs out and they wouldn't hang over the sides. After the fascination with the huge bed wore off, Johnny started to feel homesick. Actually, he felt just plain sick. He hadn't had lunch or dinner, and he'd been through a lot that day. Johnny wanted to take a shower, but he was too tired, and he wasn't supposed to get his cast wet, so he wasn't sure how he would.

Johnny kicked off his shoes and took his jacket off. Then he pulled the blankets up to his chin and tried to sleep. He couldn't though, he missed his friends. A tear rolled down Johnny's cheek.

Johnny cried himself to sleep.