Porcelain

Chapter 7

Babydoll stalked back to the abandoned house after leaving the Curtis house and went to the old and abandoned master bedroom. He carefully looked up, avoiding the bloodstains on the floor.

He went to the old dresser, and opened the top drawer and rifled through all of the old shirts to find a switchblade he knew would be there.

He felt dirty just holding the blade, knowing all the harm it had done. It was technically the weapon that ultimately ended his mother's life. It was also the weapon that had directly lead to his father's blood staining the floor, to that day.  Even knowing the hate that blade had carried out, he felt bad holding it for reasons even beyond that.

As he pocketed the blade, he vowed that he would never use the blade for anything bad as long as he carried it.
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As night fell, he went to a lesser populated and more woody area to go burn the clothes, but realized that even then, it would still attract attention with the smoke.

He groaned, and made a split-second decision, one he knew he might regret later. He went back to the old house, and packed all of his belongings that he could easily carry. Then, he went to find Dallas.

He first went to Buck's and when he wasn't there, he headed off to the Curtis house. There he was, on the couch. Babydoll quietly opened the door, and shook his leg and jumping back, just in case he would lash out.

Dally jumped awake, flinging his arms out.

"What do you want now?" He asked, annoyance clear on his face.

"I'm off too. I can't burn the evidence here, I'm off to the church too."

"Okay. Why are you tellin' me?"

"Cause you're in on the whole story too. That, and so when you go to get em back you know what happened."

"'Kay. See you."

"Good riddance."

"Aw, fuck off."
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Babydoll sat on the train, although agitated with the whole situation, he enjoyed the trip nonetheless, watching the scenery and munching on the snacks in his bag that he probably should have saved for later.

Early in the morning, he tiredly stumbled into the church, and found Ponyboy and Johnny asleep.

He smiled, seeing how peaceful they looked. They deserved it. They deserved peace in their lives.

He threw one of his jackets down on the dusty floor, and leaned back against the wall, drifting off to sleep.

"You bitch! Don't you know how to keep your fucking mouth shut?"

"No, you never taught me and never gave Mom the chance!"

"You ungrateful little cunt! You don't understand how much I've given up for you! You better learn to appreciate what you're been given, child. You'd better learn, what that bitch never did!" Babydoll's father snarled.

"Don't you dare say that about Mom! You know it was your fault she died! She was too good for you! You never deserved her, you greedy asshole!"

A hand quickly reached out and struck Babydoll's face.

"Do you hear yourself, you miserable cunt? This is why no one loves you! You brought this on yourself! And don't you dare call me greedy, I gave you everything you ever needed. And this is how you repay me."

Babydoll cowered as he pulled his belt from his waist.

"This is nothing close to what you deserve! You owe me so much more than a few lashes, this is your chance to learn to be grateful!"

"This isn't what Mom would have wanted from you! She tried! She tried to make you the best person she could!"

"Don't you dare bring that scum into this! She tried to manipulate me! She deserved the fate she got!"

"And you'll get yours too," Babydoll growled, tears spilling to the floor.

"Hey! Babydoll! Hey! Wake up!" Someone said, shaking his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Johnny. How are y'all holding up?" Babydoll said, stretching and yawning.

"We're doing just fine, what are you doing here?"

"Buying myself time. I can burn the bloody clothes out here, and the cops ain't gonna find me anyways."

"You have any smokes?" Ponyboy asked.

"Just check my bag, front pocket. Should be there. But be careful, one spark'll set this whole place on fire. And we might need to keep this shelter."

"Okay, thanks."

"There's some snacks left in there too, I bet y'all are tired of spam," he said, a half smile on his face.

While Ponyboy went off to smoke, Johnny turned to Babydoll.

"You don't have to answer me if you don't want to, but you were screamin' out in your sleep. Do you wanna talk about it?"

Babydoll clenched his jaw.

"I thought I was done doin' that. Don't worry about it, Johnny. Just bad dreams."

"Are you sure?"

Babydoll paused. "Do you really want to know?"

"I wouldn't say that, but if it makes it better for you."

Babydoll turned to Johnny, examining him. "If I tell you a secret, can you keep it?"

"Of course. You're keeping mine and Pony's, I can keep yours."

Babydoll took a deep breath.

"You know how no one knows where the hell I'm from?"

Johnny nodded.

"I'm from Tulsa. I've lived here almost my entire life."

Johnny looked confused.

"Then how'd no one ever know you? Did you just not go to school or something?"

"I did. I went to the same school as everyone else."

"Then why'd I never see you around?"

"Cause I didn't look like I do now. I looked like any other little Soc girl."