Beach Babe | The Outsiders | Johnny Cade

| Sick | 60 |

To say I was sick the next day would be an absolute understatement. My entire world was spinning when I woke up and I couldn't move for a few hours. I think Theo was trying to talk to me at some point but it was all just sound. No meaning.

When the spinning mostly stopped I spent a few more hours with my head in the toilet. It was.. awful to say the least. Theo nearly called an ambulance, I stopped him. Why? Genuinely I'm not sure. Drug induced stupidity? Possibly. After a while I felt okay enough to go downstairs. I saw Theo sitting on the ground talking to someone on the phone, the cord stretched almost completely.

When he saw me he furrowed his brow but kept talking. "You're insane! Jesus just come home I don't- I can't-" He sighed loudly. "I hope he gets cholera." Then I heard the dial tone from the other line.

I leaned on the wall beside him. "Who..?"

"Mom. She's.. I told her everything. All of it. Jesse, August, Bob, the window. All of it. She isn't coming home, her boyfriend had surgery or something." He brought his knees up to his chest. "She doesn't believe me, about Jesse."

"She- She what?" If I wasn't still slightly drugged I probably would have ripped that phone out the wall. "So she- she isn't coming back? August is fucking missing and she just, what? Doesn't care?"

He nodded and buried his face in his knees. "It's like she's not even the same person... the hell happened?"

"No clue. She's a mean, cold, stupid, heartless bitch. Forget her. August'll come back soon enough. Then- fuck I don't know! Everything is so screwed!" I slid down the wall next to him. "Aussie is gone, Johnny's gone, Pony's gone. When they do come back is it even going to be the same? Will August still hate me? What about Johnny? Will he change? Or sweet Ponyboy? God... not to mention Jesse..."

"Stacy? I... I'm scared.." He leaned his head on my shoulder and leaned my head on his. At the time I didn't even realize he was crying. Drugs are bad.

"Me too."

We stayed like that for a while, slowly watching the sky get darker as the curtains of night fell. I was resisting every urge in my body to drink, I desperately wanted to drink tequila till I passed out. I needed that booze, but as long as Theo was here and August and Johnny were still missing I couldn't- I wouldn't. I wasn't going to let my intense craving for alcohol trump my love and worry for my brothers and Johnny.

"When did Davey leave?" I ask, breaking the tense silence.

"He left really early this morning. His brother called here." He takes his head off my shoulder. "How in God's name did he get our number-?"

I leaned against the wall, still not feeling entirely well. "Maybe Davey gave it to him. Did anyone swing by while I'd was out of it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, actually. Two-Bit did, he was trying to check up on you and asked if either of us heard from Dallas, said he took Buck's car and left town."

I straightened and looked over at him. "He what? That- That cannot be good..."

"Maybe he got into legal trouble. Maybe that's it."

"I can't have more people turn up missing. I can't. I'll go insane, if I'm not already." It's the truth. If one more person goes missing or - god forbid - dies I'll lose it completely. I'll drink myself into a coma, or get awful trigger happy with dad's pistol, or something equally bad or worse. I just can handle more loss.