Chapter Eight
Tulsa
Dally was out of the cooler a week early.
He was heading toward the Curtis'; he figured everyone would be there. As he walked up to their house, he decided he would check their mail for them. It was partly one of his very rare random acts of kindness, and partly that he wanted to see if there was anything interesting.
"Bill, bill, credit card offer," Dally muttered as he looked through the mail while walking up the steps to their house. Then he stopped in his tracks.
He was staring at an envelope that was postmarked from New Orleans one week ago. It wasn't that the letter was from New Orleans that made it stand out; it was who the letter was from.
It was from Johnny.
Dally stared at the envelope. It was addressed in Johnny's messy handwriting. He was surprised that the mailman could even read the address. He checked the postmark again. Sure enough, it was from New Orleans. It didn't make since though. What would Johnny be doing in New Orleans? Dally decided to read the letter, he tore open the envelope and started to read:
Hey guys,
I hate it here.
I forgot to pack cigarettes. I don't know how I did something so stupid, but I did. No one here smokes, so I can't borrow one. I tried to buy some, but I got carded and they almost called the police. Could you please send me some cigarettes? And try to hurry, I'm dying.
It's really hot and humid here. Everyone wears shorts. I only have jeans, and I looked kind of stupid. No one greases their hair either. Isn't that weird? My aunt lives in this really nice house in a good neighborhood. It's a lot better than the vacant lot. My aunt's son, America, is there too. I thought he seemed kind of nice, but now I think he hates me because I made him look bad.
I realized that I didn't get to tell Dally goodbye because he was in the cooler. How much time does he have left? Do you know how I can write him a letter? I know he won't be very happy about me leaving, and I don't want any of you guys to have to tell him.
Well, I guess that's all. I miss you guys.
Johnny
Dally was confused. He didn't like being confused, that made him angry. No one wanted to be around him when he was angry. He stormed into the house. Two-Bit, Pony, and Soda were sitting on the couch. They all looked up when he came in.
"Hey Dally," Two-Bit said. "You're out early."
"What's going on?" Dally asked. He held up the letter. "Where's Johnny? Why is he in New Orleans? How long has he been there?"
"It's a long story," Soda started.
"I've got time," Dally said coldly.
"Johnny's dad got caught beating him up and they put him and Johnny's mom in jail. Johnny has an aunt in New Orleans and they sent him to live with her. He left about a week ago. Is that a letter from him?" Soda said.
"Yeah," Dally said. He gave the letter to Soda. "He needs cigarettes, I'm going to go and buy him some."
Dally left the house and started walking. Why did Johnny have to go to New Orleans? Dally tried not to show it, but he really cared about him. It just didn't seem worth it without him. He didn't even get to tell him goodbye. Dally shook his head and told himself to pull it together. He was the toughest hood in Tulsa, he couldn't act like this.
But he found himself wondering about how Johnny was doing. He'd gone more than a week without cigarettes. Was he Ok? Was his aunt nice? Did she and her husband beat Johnny up like his parents did? Was he finally starting to fit in? There was one question that Dally really wanted to know the answer to:
Did Johnny miss him?
A few minutes later, Dally was leaving the drugstore with about ten packs of cigarettes. He laughed to himself.
"That ought to last him for a while," he muttered.
He wondered if there was a faster way to get them to Johnny than just mailing them. He couldn't think of a way. When he got back to the Curtis', Pony was sitting on the couch writing something. Dally sat down next to Pony and started reading it. It was another letter to Johnny.
Hey Johnny,
We miss you. Sorry you're not fitting in, maybe it'll get better.
Dally got out of the cooler a week early, he wasn't too happy to hear you were gone.
Nothing much is happening here. We're sending you a bunch of cigarettes. I hope they'll last you a while. Could you give us you're aunt's phone number? If you think she wouldn't like us calling you then that's Ok, but we'd like to talk to you if you don't think she'd mind.
So, I guess that's all. We miss you
-The guys
Pony turned to Dally, "Think it's good enough?" He asked.
"Sure," Dally said. "Hey, do you think you could give me the address? Just in case I want to send Johnny something."
Pony looked kind of confused for a second, and then he wrote the address on a piece of paper and gave it to Dally.
"Thanks," he said. Then he left their house.
Dally knew what he was going to do. If things didn't get better for Johnny in a few weeks, he was going to send him a bus ticket home. Tickets weren't too expensive. Sure, he'd have to cut back some on beer, but it was worth it for Johnny.
In a way, he hoped things wouldn't work out for Johnny. That way, he'd get to see him again.