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Virginia's opinions often had a mind of their own. For the most part, they had a recurring righteous, well-meaning intent behind them. But they weren't exempt from her vanity and preference for the world to work her way.
"Oh my, that looks bad."
Johnny Cade sighed and lowered his stub of a pencil. "I think I'll go on home now."
"No, c'mon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!" Virginia cried out, her shoulders slumping. She watched him set down the notebook and get up. "Johnny!"
He stopped in front of the door, rolling a cigarette between his tanned fingers. "It's like nothin' I do is good enough. I can't use my hands."
"Don't be silly. Sit," she commanded and pointed to the other end of the couch. She held her hand out and he hesitantly gave her his sketch.
"Oh, see it's not so bad," she reasoned. Her eyes scanned over the lines and little shadowing that he added. "These are exceptional, Johnnycake. I'm sorry if I was rude."
"Aw, it's alright, Blue," he mumbled timidly. His mind was occupied with the dark scabbing on his wrists and the back of his hands but that didn't go unnoticed by the ever-noticing Curtis girl.
"Stop that!" she said, frowning. "You'll bleed. I'm gonna get a band-aid."
Johnny immediately removed his nit-picky fingers from the rough patches. The last thing he needed on top of all his current worries was a band-aid to undermine his toughness.
"They're itchy. And they hurt," he said quietly. "I want 'em to be gone."
Virginia tilted her head sympathetically. She swore she could feel her heart splitting in two at the sight of the boy staring at his burns. Each scar and burn were a horrible memory, a devastating reminder of his trauma that she wouldn't have the audacity of speaking her mind about what he went through.
"They'll heal," she assured, scootching closer to him. She moved the two notebooks onto the table and took Johnny's hand. They weren't the same hands she remembered but just the feeling of his fingers squeezing hers was enough.
"Court's sayin' the doctors gotta clear me 'fore I..." Johnny trailed off before she could find out he was choking on his words.
To Virginia, there was nothing scarier than losing her loved ones. It was a deep pit of fear and darkness crawling in her stomach when the realization hit. It happened with her parents as soon as that police officer knocked on their door that fateful night. Every peripheral detail of what happened seemed to vanish. She could only remember hearing the official statement and seeing the life drain out of her brothers' faces.
Even with her own anxiety threatening to overwhelm her at that moment, she smiled and gingerly pushed Johnny's shoulder reassuringly. He didn't flinch, which was as bad as it was good. He was healing but every step he took closer to full recovery was a step closer behind bars.
