Porcelain

Chapter 6

When Babydoll woke up, he was disgusted, between the still blood spattered clothes he was wearing, the musty bedsheets, being unclean in general, and the person beside him.

He slowly got out of the bed and opened the drawer, "borrowing" some clothes. He should get rid of the clothes anyways, they were probably evidence.

A quick glance confined that Dallas was still sound asleep, so he quickly changed into a different pair of jeans and a t-shirt before throwing his jacket back on. He hadn't had his jacket on while they were fighting, he'd grabbed it while they were leaving the park, so it was still fairly clean.

"What the hell is your deal with stealing clothes?" The formerly sleeping boy snapped.

"Well this time it's actually justified, i gotta destroy the evidence," Babydoll snapped back.

"This time," Dally snorted. "Do you just like stealing clothes or something? Cause that's a pretty weird thing to like."

"I dunno what to say, it's nice to have clothes, and I'm fucking poor. And I don't want a bigger record than I already have, with the cops, so i ain't gonna steal from stores."

"Oh come on, scared of a little trip to the cooler?" Dallas asked, in a mocking tone.

"Yes. Yes I am," Babydoll deadpanned.

"Jeez, maybe that's how you got a name like that, you pussy."

"You don't understand. You will never understand."

Dallas' eyes blazed. "I've probably been there more times than you, and you're acting like you own the place? Care to explain why I won't understand your poor little life?"

"No Dallas, I really don't. But remember how I mentioned what that Soc was about to do to Ponyboy before I stuck em? That's my trip to the slammer."

Dallas' glare softened a little, before being replaced by a look of confusion, then understanding, then disgust.

"They- they, did that to you?"

"That's what I said, yes. And that's also why I don't fancy going back."

Babydoll suddenly turned to Dallas. "I know we ain't friends, but can you promise me one thing? That if they try and put me in for killing that Soc, that I die first?"

"It was that bad?"

Babydoll got a far off look in his eyes. "They'd hold me down by my throat, till I passed out. Heard one of 'em say they thought it was funny how my eyes would flutter. And then I would wake up bleeding."

He stood up and grabbed his jacket, not meeting Dally's eyes.

"Here, take this and get rid of it or something. It's done more harm than good at this point," he said, placing his knife in Dally's hand. The knife wasn't the standard Greaser switchblade, it was a gleaming silver folding hunting knife with a wooden handle. Not as long as the typical switchblade, but just as intimidating and obviously just as deadly.

"This is what you killed him with?" He asked, holding the knife as if it would burn him.

"Yes. Do whatever you want with it, I don't feel good carrying it on me anymore."

"This is a good knife, where'd you get it?"

"Family," he ground out.

"Ooh, touchy subject?"

"You say that as if your pappy don't hate you too."

Dally scowled. Babydoll just smirked, but with no light in his blue eyes.

"Have a good day, I'm off to the Curtis house to push the limits of hospitality and make sure your little gang know the boys are okay."

"Don't you need to fixin' your problems?"

"Yes, but it's easier to fix other people's than my own," he said, walking out of the room, bloody clothes in hand.

_____
Babydoll first stopped at the abandoned house, where he knew no one would go. He threw his clothes into a corner, planning to burn them whenever it got dark.

He walked over to he Curtis house, loudly opening the door and strolling in.

He winced at Darry and Sodapop's hopeful faces, knowing that they were expecting, or at least hoping for, their little brother.

"Hey Babydoll, nice to see you around," Sodapop greeted nonetheless.

"Nice to see you two too. How are you holdin' up?" He asked carelessly.

That sparked their attention.

"What aren't you telling us?" Darry demanded, straight to the point.

"Look, this story's got a lot of holes. But after your brother left this house last night, he ran into some Socs, who dunked him in the fountain real good. If I wasn't there, he mighta drowned. Hell, he mighta drowned even though I was there." He said, all while grabbing food. After vomiting what little he'd eaten the night before, he was starting to feel the effects of not eating.

"Well," he amended. "Johnny was there too. He was prepared to stab that Soc, knife open, arm up, the whole deal. But I couldn't let Johnny do that."

"So you stabbed him? Is he dead? Are Ponyboy and Johnny alright? Where are they? Do you know?" Both Sodapop and Darry asked.

"Yes, yes, mostly, and I can't tell you," he said, uncomfortable being the bearer of bad news.

"So you do know where he is," Sodapop said, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not gonna lie to you. You deserve to know the best truth you can," he said, fidgeting with his hands. "With some help, I got both of them out of town so that the other Socs can't pin a crime on them. But I can't tell you where they are."

"Why not?" Darry asked, in that stern and intimidating voice of his.

"Cause that's not up to me. I know somethin' happened between y'all and Ponyboy. It ain't my place, that's family issues and I don't fuck with that. But don't worry, I promise he's safe," he said, trying to give the best answer he could given the circumstances.

Darry seemed to age 30 years in that moment. He looked much too old to be only 20.

Darry sighed. "It's not been easy, after our parents passed. I just wish I'd done things differently, if I had then Ponyboy would be home and there wouldn't have been a murder last night."

Babydoll winced at the word "murder."

"Don't blame yourself how it turned out. We just gotta make sure it all turns out in the future," Babydoll said, getting ready to leave.

"Wait, before you go, who helped you?" Sodapop asked.

"You aren't stupid, Sodapop. I know you'll figure it out pretty quick," he said, a bitter smile on his face.