Chapter Fifteen

Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I'm updating as fast as I can, but I'm taking really hard classes this year, and I have a ton of homework. Thank you for being patient, and enjoy the chapter!

New Orleans

"Maybe you didn't understand," Neil said. "I was not asking you answer the question. I was telling you to answer the question."

Johnny was quiet. He and Neil had been talking for half an hour. Neil wanted to know where he was last night, but he wouldn't tell Neil where he was. He couldn't.

"Johnny," Neil said. He looked straight into Johnny's eyes. Johnny looked away.

"Look at me," Neil said. He grabbed Johnny's face and turned it so that he was looking at him. Johnny looked at Neil, and for a second Neil looked exactly like his dad. Johnny blinked, and Neil looked like himself again.

"Where were you?" Neil asked. "You're going to tell me, and you're going to tell me now."

"I can't," Johnny said softly.

"Oh yes you can," Neil said.

"You'll get mad," Johnny said.

"I'm mad already!" Neil yelled. "You will tell me where you were, and you will tell me where you were now."

"No," Johnny said.

The next thing Johnny knew, he was on the floor and his nose was bleeding. He looked up at Neil. Neil's hands were clenched into fists and he was breathing hard.

"That's it," he said. "I'm sick of your insolence. We've tried to give you a good home, but you just keep rebelling against us. I'm tired of it. It's military school for you."

Johnny sat on the floor, stunned. Blood from his nose mixed with tears and the mixture ran down his face and onto his shirt. He wanted to go home. It was better at home. At least at home when he was beaten up, he had his friends to go to. Now he was on the floor in a strange city, he didn't have any friends, and his nose was bleeding.

"Johnny, what happened?" A voice asked.

Johnny looked up and saw Ana standing in the doorway. She walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Neil hit me," Johnny said.

"I'm so sorry," Ana said. "I'll have a long talk with him. Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

A few minutes later, Johnny had stopped bleeding and he was wearing a clean shirt. He was sitting outside of the door to Neil and Ana's room, listening to them fight.

"I can't believe you hit him," Ana said.

"I can't believe you're being so nice to him," Neil said. "We still have no idea where he was last night."

"We also still have to punish America for having a party," Ana replied.

"Who cares about that," Neil said. "Stop trying to protect Johnny. He was out doing God knows what last night, and he needs to know that there are consequences for that. The boy needs to learn discipline, and I think that a year of military school is the only way to do it."

"You are not sending him to military school," Ana said.

"He needs to be punished," Neil said.

"We're supposed to be treating him better than his parents," Ana said. "You're not doing a very good job of that."

"Treating him well doesn't mean letting him run around the city without our permission at all hours of the night," Neil said.

"I didn't say that it did, but you hit him," Ana said. "You hit him, and not just once, but twice."

"Yes, but he deserved it," Neil said.

"You made his nose bleed!" Ana yelled. "That's not acceptable. You can't do that."

Johnny was tired of listening to Neil and Ana. He had heard enough fights when he lived with his parents. Johnny stood up and walked to his room. Then he flopped down on his bed and covered his ears to block out the sound of their yelling. It was only Sunday. Why did he have to ask for a bus ticket for Wednesday? He should be on his way home now.

Johnny heard his door slowly opening and he looked up. It was Ana. He uncovered his ears and sat up. Ana sat down on the floor and motioned for Johnny to sit down next to her.

"I want you to tell me where you were last night," Ana said.

"Not this again," Johnny moaned. "I already said that I can't tell you."

"I promise that I won't get mad," Ana said. "I won't yell, I won't hit you, I won't say anything at all. Just let me know that you weren't doing anything illegal."

Johnny looked at the floor.

"Were you doing something illegal?" Ana asked. "If you were, then I might have to give you a lecture, but that's all. I will not be angry with you."

"I can't tell you," Johnny said. "I can't tell you because you've been so nice to me, and I don't want to hurt you."

"You already are hurting me," Ana said. Her voice cracked. "I won't be mad and I won't tell Neil. Please, tell me where you were."

Johnny couldn't stand it any more. He cracked. "I was buying a bus ticket," he said.

"To where?" Ana asked. Johnny thought that she knew already, but he decided to tell her anyway.

"Home," Johnny said softly.

Ana sighed. "Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm miserable," Johnny replied. "I miss my friends, Neil is mean to me, America hates me, everyone hates me, I don't have any friends here, it's too hot here, I hate wearing shorts, I hate my hair because it's short and America wont let me grease it any more." Johnny paused for a second to catch his breath. "I just want to go home. My friends sent me money so that I could buy a bus ticket. It's for Wednesday."

Ana was quiet for a long time. Then she said something that surprised Johnny. "You should go," Ana said. "You have every right to visit your friends for a while. I'm not going to stop you."

"R-really," Johnny stammered.

"Yes," Ana laughed. "When were you planning on coming back?"

Oh no, another problem. Johnny thought that he was free to go home, but things never worked out for him. Now what was he supposed to do? What could he say?

"I don't know yet," Johnny said. "We haven't figured that out."

Ana looked like she was going to change her mind about letting Johnny go.

"I want to know when you're coming back," She said. "And you really should have told me that you were leaving. I want you to call your friends and figure out when you'll be coming back."

"And Johnny," Ana said as he was leaving the room.

"Yeah," Johnny said.

"I'm not mad…not that mad, but you're going to get a lecture," Ana said.

"Ok," Johnny said. Then he left to call his friends.

After the phone rang a couple of times, someone picked up.

"Hello," the person said. Johnny realized it was Pony.

"Hey, Pony, it's Johnny," he said.

"Hey, Johnny," Pony replied. "What's up?"

Johnny sighed. "We're busted," he said.