Warning - Mentions of suicide and gun violence

Chapter 6 A Night in the Lot

Later that night, around eleven o'clock, Ponyboy, Opal, and Johnny decided to head out to the abandoned vacant lot to chat for a little bit. Johnny could always stay out late as long as he pleased since his parents didn't give a damn about him, and Ponyboy and Opal still had a couple hours until curfew.

When they got to the lot, Johnny set up a fire for the three of them so they could stay warm and he then sat next to Ponyboy and Opal, with the latter lying down on her side while taking off her leather jacket, revealing her orange vest underneath.

Ponyboy was staring off into the distance while Opal was looking at the fire, and Johnny could tell that the two still had Cherry and the rest of the Socs on their minds.

"It was because we're Greasers," Johnny said before sitting down next to Ponyboy and Opal. "Might have heard a reputation or something, that's all. Don't worry about it."

Ponyboy still just stared off into the distance. "Yeah, I guess so," He responded.

Johnny then looked out into the distance as well and sighed as Opal turned to face him.

The three just couldn't have any better lives and always had to worry about getting jumped or attacked by a group of Socs. Not only that, but their home lives weren't any better, and Johnny and Opal had to live with the trauma they received from the fight with Bob and how it not only scarred them physically, but also mentally.

Opal threw her jacket off to the side as she sighed.

"Man, that was a tough car, huh?" Johnny asked Ponyboy, who responded with a yawn.

"Sure was," Opal responded with a look.

"Mustangs, they're tough," Johnny commented, still having the Socs blue Mustang car on his mind.

"And scary," Opal added, remembering the night she got attacked by the Socs after seeing their car pull up right in front of her.

"Big time Socs alright," Ponyboy said as he got off the ground.

Johnny looked up at him as Opal did the same, who gave her brother a raised eyebrow. "Pony, what's wrong?" She asked him.

"You know what's wrong, Opal. You know what happens whenever you walk home or try to fall asleep at night…"

"Hey! I told you not to mention that to anyone, Ponyboy!" Opal snapped at her brother.

Johnny looked at the both of them confused. "What'd he say about ya?"

Opal turned to face him in annoyance. "None of your business, it's just something we do NOT talk about around here, especially around Socs. Right, Ponyboy?" She then turned back to Ponyboy, who gave her a nod, indicating that he wouldn't say anything else to Johnny about her having nightmares. But thank god he didn't tell Opal he already told it to Cherry.

"Forget it. It's all the same." Ponyboy still remembered what Cherry told him about Socs having problems similar to that of Greasers, but he just couldn't believe her. The Socs were the same people who beat up Johnny, harassed and attacked his older sister, and even jumped on him whenever he was walking alone or didn't bring a weapon. How could the Socs be like the Greasers and make things different between them? It could never happen.

Johnny just looked at Ponyboy while sitting down and also looked at Opal for a second, who seemed pretty pissed off that Ponyboy almost told him about her having nightmares ever since the fight between her and the Socs. Johnny was still unaware of what Ponyboy was trying to say about it, but he could tell Opal was upset and he started to wonder if she had become so frightened and tired for a reason.

But even so, he couldn't ask her any of those questions since Opal was a sensitive person, and Opal wouldn't admit it either since she wanted to be seen as a tough girl considering she was already an extreme tomboy.

But it was unknown to her that even tomboys can have soft spots, and it was true for Opal since she seemed to have one for Johnny and the other Greasers.

As Johnny and Opal continued to sit on the ground, they watched Ponyboy lay down by the fire, where he took one of the sticks, snapped it in half, and threw it off into the distance. He was mad about the Socs as well and didn't believe that his life would get any better ethier.

Opal just watched her brother with sympathy and wished there was something she could do to make their lives better. If she could, she always dreamed she and her brothers would live in a good house and better town, and wouldn't have to worry about bills so that she could spend more time with them.

However, Opal's carefree life seemed pretty much impossible at the moment, and the bills her brothers would have to pay would always have to be paid.

But Opal's dreaming started to end for a moment when she looked over to Johnny, who looked absolutely terrified. He was breathing heavily and she absolutely knew something was wrong with him. "Johnny, are you okay?"

But Johnny didn't answer her.

She knew he was either upset about the Socs or the fact that his home life seemed to be getting worse every day. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here for you," She tried putting her hand on his shoulder for comfort, but it didn't stop Johnny from breathing in horror and just feeling terrible.

He then snapped out of it and couldn't take it anymore. "I can't take much more of this, Ponyboy!" He cried as he put his face under his arms in distress. Ponyboy looked over to Johnny and both he and Opal knew he was worrying about his abusive and neglectful parents.

"Johnny, what's wrong?" Opal asked her friend as she put her hand over him for comfort.

But that was not enough to stop Johnny from feeling loneliness and ideas of suicide. "I'll kill myself or something!"

Both Opal and Ponyboy were terrified.

"What?! Don't do that, Johnny!" Opal cried as she threw herself over Johnny to comfort him.

"No!" Ponyboy immediately went over to comfort Johnny as well and sat down next to him. He began sobbing as his two friends did the best they could to talk him out of it.

"Johnny, you can't kill yourself," Ponyboy told him while putting his hand over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'd miss you too much. We'd ALL miss you too much. If you weren't around, I don't know what I'd do without you, I'd be all alone and then I would get the same feelings as you, but I wouldn't kill myself, because it's not worth it."

While her feelings of care did make Johnny feel a little better, he couldn't stop crying about it since he knew nothing would stop his parents from abusing him. "I gotta do something!" He sobbed.

Neither Ponyboy or Opal knew how to respond to that at first.

The two then decided to lay down as Johnny followed them, who still couldn't stop breathing heavily, flinching, or crying at his terrible homelife.

"Man, Johnny. It's gonna be okay," Opal tried to hush him while holding onto his arm.

"Seems like it's gonna be something without Greasers, Socs," Johnny just looked at the night sky full of stars as Opal held onto his arms and tried shushing him, indicating for him to forget about his worries and focus on the good things in his life for now.

"Must be some place," He then started to take deep breaths and calmed down a bit as Opal continued to hold his arm. "Just plain and ordinary people." Johnny then continued to breath slowly as he began to calm down.

"What are you talking about, Johnny?" Opal asked him, still holding onto his arm and now leaning her head against his shoulder.

Ponyboy also did the same, now leaning his head against Johnny's shoulder as well and starting to close his eyes. "People like that out in the country, away from all…big…towns." Ponyboy finished as he closed his eyes for a bit.

Opal then looked up at the sky, noticing that it was getting kind of late, and started to close her eyes as she continued to lean against Johnny's shoulder.

Ponyboy then began to have a dream, but it wasn't really a dream.

Ponyboy's Dream:

It was cut to a flashback of a beautiful sunset of a summer day in Oklahoma, and parked on top of a hill was a car.

Inside of the car came out a young couple, who just so happened to be Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, Ponyboy, Opal, Soda, and Darry's late parents.

The two got out of their car and Mr Curtis opened the trunk of the car to grab something and handed it to his wife. She almost fell back while grabbing the heavy object, but was able to hold onto it while she and her husband just laughed.

The two were a happy couple and their four children loved them very much.

But suddenly, the flashback soon turned into a nightmare as their car got trapped in between a railroad and a ditch and literally exploded before the couple had the chance to get out!

Both of the Curtis siblings' parents were killed that day and the four siblings were devastated at their parents' loss and left orphaned.

End of Ponyboy's Dream:

However, as Ponyboy continued to have a flashback of the horrific day his parents were killed, Opal wasn't dreaming any better. The dream she was having was also not a dream, but a flashback.

Opal's Dream:

It was a dark, cold night in Oklahoma, and Opal was just walking down the streets back to her house, trying to get back in time so Darry wouldn't be mad at her.

But just as she was getting closer to the street she lived on, she began to hear the sound of a car driving behind her and slowed down in her tracks to take a look behind. She looked behind and gasped in horror to see it was a blue Mustang behind her!

Alarmed by the sudden appearance of the car, Opal began to make a run for it, but was too late. She was not fast enough to make it past the speeding car, and she immediately took a stop as the car flew up and pulled up in front of her, almost hitting her in the process!

Opal stopped and looked ahead in fear as five boys got out of the car. They all looked to be the same age as her, but they sure weren't allies of hers. She tried to back away from the group as they began to approach her from their car, and she looked on in horror to see one of them carrying a switchblade.

Opal tried to back away and make a run for it, but she ran into someone coming from behind her and turned away to have a gun pulled at her forehead!

Opal screamed as the boy shot the gun at her!

But she woke up with a gasp of horror to find out that the bullet that went through her head was nothing more but a dream, or a nightmare to say the least.

End of Opal's Dream:

Opal started breathing heavily and looked around in horror as she tried to pull herself back together from the terrible dream she just witnessed.

But while she was doing so, she looked over to see Johnny trying to wake up Ponyboy, who was still asleep. "Pony, wake up!"

Johnny tried shaking Ponyboy to wake him up and Opal leaned over to see what was going on.

Ponyboy then finally woke up and saw that Johnny and Opal were both right in front of him.

"Ponyboy, you alright?" Opal asked her brother.

"Yeah," He responded while yawning and rubbing his eyes to wake up further. "I guess. Are you alright?"

Opal knew the answer was no, as she just witnessed another one of her nightmares, but she didn't want to tell Ponyboy the truth this late at night, especially since Johnny was with them. "Sure. Now could you please tell me where the hell are we?" Opal asked, wondering why she and Ponyboy were out with Johnny so late at night.

Ponyboy then got up and wondered what time it was as well. "God, what time is it?"

"I don't know, me and Opal went to sleep too." Johnny responded, also not knowing how late it was.

Ponyboy and Opal knew that they must have been asleep for a while and if they didn't get home soon, they could get in trouble big time with Darry.

The two siblings then got up as Johnny turned around to lay back down. "You two gotta get home, alright? I can stay all night out here, who'll care anyway."

"I care." Opal told Johnny with a smile.

"Besides you and Pony." Johny responded as he laid down. "I've quit worrying about my parents for now, so quit worrying about me for once, Opal."

Opal just looked at Johnny with sympathy and wished there was something she could do for him. He didn't deserve to get beat up or neglected by his parents, and she still hoped that one day, she would be able to stand up to them for him. "I'll quit worrying about you when I'm dead, and I won't be dead anytime soon, so don't worry."

She then leaned down to Johnny and got close to his ear to whisper something to him. "One day, things will get better for you, when we grow older, you'll come live with me and Pony, and you'll never have to worry about the hell you call home again. I'll be sure to let your parents know they're messing with the wrong person when it comes to me being with you, and if they ever try to hurt you again, I'll let them know you're stronger than they think."

Opal then got close to Johnny's face and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll always be there for you."

Opal's words of kindness and support made Johnny smile, which was something he rarely ever did, and he knew that he couldn't commit suicide now, escpally when one has a girlfriend like Opal.

Opal then left Johnny and got back up on her feet next to Ponyboy. "I'll always be with you, as long as I'm still alive, that is. Darry's gonna kill me if he finds out how long me and Pony's been gone."

She then grabbed her jacket and stood next to Ponyboy as Johnny got ready to fall asleep in the lot.

"All right, if you get cold, come on to our house." Ponyboy told Johnny.

"Yeah, all right." He responded as he lied down and began to fall asleep again.

Ponyboy and Opal then knew it was time to head home and the two both knew Darry was gonna be absolutely furious if it was past one in the morning.

"Jesus, man. Darry's gonna kill us." Opal replied with a worried tone.

"What is Darry gonna say?" Ponyboy asked as he and sister began to walk back home.

I'm gonna be honest, but I kinda really feel for Johnny and Opal in this chapter since their experiences and fears remind me a lot of myself. That's why I've always looked up to Johnny Cade because he's honestly my hero. But Opal's nightmares are really scary and serious, and they'll get even worse later on. But hopefully Johnny will be there to help her overcome them when things start to get really bad, which will start happening soon...