darlin' || the outsiders

1

dallas lit his cigarette quickly before taking a puff from it. he had just left sylvia and was meeting up with the gang to discuss things.
"what happened, dally?" ponyboy rubbed his hands on his shirt due to the condensation that built up on his soda can.
"the broad was two-timin' me while in jail." he started, looking around everywhere but at ponyboy. "walked in on her shoving her throat down some other dude.".
ponyboy looked at darrel, who had been quiet until this moment.
"i'm sorry, dal." he muttered quietly.
"nah man. it's cool." dallas looked down at his burning cigarette. the smoke leaving his lungs through his mouth which was slightly gaped open.

dallas and ponyboy went to meet up with johnny at the lot. their footsteps were almost in sync.
"his folks been fighting again." ponyboy looked down at the dark concrete underneath his feet. dallas handed ponyboy a cigarette and lit it with a match and his necklace.
"again?" dallas looked up at the trees. ponyboy nodded his head before they saw the fences the blocked off the lot, only seeing johnny's faint outline sitting on the old car seat.

"hey man." dallas pat johnny's back. johnny looked up, a single tear fell down his cheek. ponyboy and dallas grabbed johnny's hands and pulled him to his feet. ponyboy embraced johnny in a hug, squeezing him like he was a teddy bear.
"it's alright. they're always going at it." johnny kicked a small rock. dallas lit another cigarette and started taking longer puffs from it.
"dally, you should lay off the cigarettes. the nicotine can make you sick." johnny sighed, grabbing dallas' newly lit cigarette.
"you little shit, don't tell me what to do." dallas growled. ponyboy and johnny looked at each other slowly.

the sun had started to set and dallas collected himself before heading to buck's. johnny and ponyboy sat on the empty car seat in the lot and the moon began to rise.
johnny leaned his head on ponyboy's shoulder and tears began to stream down his face once again. this boy was so exhausted mentally from his parents fighting. the gang was trying their best everyday to lift his spirits, but success only seemed to be temporary.
johnny and ponyboy fell asleep in the lot under the many stars that coated the sky.

••••
elsie's pov:

i held the small polaroid in my hand. the picture perfect family wasn't so perfect anymore. mom had left four years ago- out of the blue, might i add.
dad had began drinking again after being sober for five years. my mom was his support system. honestly, he never cared about me, he only wanted the charity money from the government. he was unemployed, a heavy drinker, and even took my money i worked for.

i locked myself in my room while my dad went through his drunken fit again. it became a few times a month thing to an every night thing. he was cruel. i used to love him, but how can i love someone when they think it's okay to put their hands on me?

"e-elsie." his voice was shaking. "w-where are y-you?". i put my hands over my ears as i sat against the door as a sort of barrier. my door had dents and scratch marks on the other side from the times he's tried to kick it down.
his drunk voice would continue to ring in my ears like heavy church bells in the wind. it was like everything would fall silent for only a moment, and then he'd start kicking my door.

"please, stop." i whimpered to myself. the music in my room mixed with the blasting tv volume. i heard dad collapse on the couch before everything fell quiet again. was he done?

with dad, it was a gamble. everyday i'd hope to come home from work and he wouldn't be drunk, but nine times out of ten, he would be just about black out drunk.

my daily routine consists mainly of getting up and going to school, come home for 20 minutes and then go to work until nine pm. i managed to have an A-B range in school, but i'd usually be up all night working on homework. weekend plans also don't exist in my life. i work ten to nine both saturdays and sundays. i'd be lying if i said i wasn't tired of living like this, but what other choice to i have?

i slowly opened my bedroom door and peeked outside. dad was passed out on the couch, thank god. at least he was finally done. i grabbed my laptop and started looking at train tickets. i thought about where to go; indiana? too close. new york? too crowded. i would've picked tennessee if it wasn't holding too many memories.

i scanned the listings for over an hour and found one that i could afford, and my dad wouldn't suspect anything. i pressed order and had to be at the train station by 9:00 am tomorrow morning. i glanced at the time, 1:32 am. i sighed and thought for a moment; he won't know. i just have to take my laptop with me. what am i even thinking? i want to leave... right?

i grabbed my backpack and shoved my laptop into the bag, along with my journal, some clothes, lots of socks, and finally, the polaroid photo of my family. i closed the bag quietly and slowly opened my window. i couldn't just use the front door, dad would hear me.

i dropped my bag outside before jumping out myself. i was only wearing a yellow dress with little red flowers on it. i didn't even put shoes on either. i just left barefoot with only my backpack.

i arrived at the train station around 3:00 am. it's quite a far walk from my house, especially barefoot. i'm surprised my fresh white pedicure lasted the entire walk.

i checked in and read the ticket slowly.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

••••
word count: 1015