Ponyboy Curtis...

When I stepped out in the bright sunlight from the dark movie house, my eyes half shut. I looked at my brother,who was already walking away , and ran up next to him.

"What time is it?" He asked me rushing home.

"Almost 12" I said trying to keep up with him. We were to be home at 11:30 but the movie ran late and we weren't keeping track of time.

"Dads gonna freak." He said as we passed the bar on the left side of the road. There was a group of drunk men standing by a mustang smoking with beers in hand. My brother sped up when we passed them, not looking at them and keeping me from looking. We walked up the front steps of our house and opened the door. I didn't even have time to step a foot inside before my dad hit my brother in the stomach. He fell down and my dad kept on hittin him. I didn't know what to do.

"Daddy stop it!" I yelled with tears filling my eyes. I tried to push my dad away but he pushed me down too. My brother helped me up and pulled me out the door. We ran until we couldn't run anymore. It was sunset now, and people were starting to disappear off the streets. We ran some more until we got to his buddy Dals place. Dal was surprised to see my brother in the beat up state he was in because he could easily fight if anyone who tried to hurt him.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Dal asked.

"Our dad started beatin on us again...we got home too late" my brother stated.

"We wanna get outta here before he starts lookin for us.." My brother said.

"Alright sit down Johnny..." Dal said.

I stepped into his room a little further and shut the door behind me. I've never really talked to any of Johnny's fiends before, cause he always told me to stay home and keep outta trouble. Dally looked at me and gave Johnny a concerned look.

"You're taking her with you?" He asked.

"I can't leave her here...he'll start beating on her I I go."

Dally went to his drawer and pulled out a gun and gave it to Johnny. Dally grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to him.

"Listen kid...it's rough out there but your brother is a tough guy. Your daddy won't be hittin you anymore okay? We're gonna take care of you..." I shook my head and dally looked back to Johnny.

"Thank dal. I know where to go...will you meet us there?" Asked my brother.

"Yeah...gimme a few days..." He said. Dally gave me one last stern look.

"Hey..." He said stopping me and taking something out of his pocket.

"Here. Be safe." He gave me a pocket knife and lead me out of the room. He shut his door behind us and my brother grabbed my hand, pulling me outside. We ran again, until we hopped onto a train that took us to New York. We made our way to a small town just as it was getting lighter outside. We walked into an old house but no one was there.

"Johnny, Who lives here?"

"No one...it's ours for now" he said leading me into my new room.

"Get some sleep...I'm sorry by the way...you won't be able to go to school no more." He shut the half broken door behind him as he left.

"Goodnight!" I heard him yell. I looked around the dirty room and pulled all the covers off the bed. To my surprise, there was no bugs or stains. They looked like they had just been washed, unlike anything else in the room. I put then back onto the mattress and laid in them unsure.

"Night!" I yelled back to him.