Tulsa Ripper

Chapter 12

Johnny shuddered. He glanced at Dallas, who was looking at him so intently... he was not backing down, and Johnny was starting to really wonder if he should just tell him. Could keeping the secret actually end up hurting Ponyboy? He thought about everything Dally had said and realized how oblivious he'd been. Dally wasn't as cold and mean as everyone thought, not deep down. Johnny remembered Dally watching out for him and Ponyboy for days on end when the murders were all over the news, he remembered Dally holding him the night he saw the guy in the porch. And he remembered Mrs. Curtis and what she'd told him that day so many years ago. ... Mrs. Curtis never yelled at Dallas. She knew he got into a lot of trouble, but she never once raised her voice to him. And he respected her. She was the only one who could actually make him feel bad about the things he did, and he really tried to behave himself most of the time while she was alive. She saw something in him that no one else did. She saw past his anger and the hateful expression he wore on his face at times. She saw his loyalty to her boys, and his steadfast protectiveness of Johnny and Ponyboy. Particularly Johnny. "I wish I had a brother," she overheard 10 year old Johnny say once as he watched the Curtis boys go flying out the front door with the football. They had, as usual, inhaled their lunch so they could get back outside. They chased eachother to the lot and wrestled in the grass when they got there. Johnny was still working on his lunch. He was a slow eater and he preferred to enjoy his food, as he really only had a decent meal when he was visiting the Curtises. He also enjoyed having conversations with Mrs. Curtis. She was so easy to talk to. He hadn't actually meant to say what he'd said outloud. He often voiced his thoughts absently around Pony's mom- she seemed to understand him so well that he was never concerned about telling her what was on his mind. She put down her dish towel and looked at him. Johnny stopped eating his lunch and looked back at her, wondering if he should have just kept that thought to himself. "Now why, Johnny Cade, would you say something like that?" She was still smiling, but she looked surprised. Johnny looked down. "I don't know... I just think it's neat how Pony, Darry and Soda have eachother... They seem really close."She walked over and pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. "Do you see that boy out there?" she asked pointing out the window to Dallas. Dally was out in the front yard working at the tree house "ladder" that was really just boards nailed into the trunk of a tall oak. He'd been preoccupied with it for most of the morning. Johnny nodded. "Well, do you know what he's doing?" "He's fixing those boards on the tree house ladder." "Mmm hmm. That's what he's doing. Do you know why?" "Because they're loose?" Mrs. Curtis smiled at him. "Yes, but Mr. Curtis said he'd fix it when he got home... Why is Dally out there doing it now?" He had wondered why Dally hadn't come in for lunch with everyone else. And now, everyone, including Two-bit and Steve, was in the lot kicking the football around. Except for Dally. Johnny just looked blankly at her. She laughed. "Dally's scared to death that you're going to fall out of that tree again and hurt yourself. He saw you fall yesterday and he begged me to let him fix it right now. Why, he even went up in there and checked all the knots on the rope swings." Johnny looked back out the window. There were usually three ropes hanging down from the corners of the tree house that he and Pony would swing on. Now there were only two. "What happened to the other rope?" Johnny asked. "Dally cut it down. Said it was starting to fray and it wasn't safe anymore. He wanted to know if Mr. Curtis might bring home another one." Johnny thought about this for a minute. "Dally went up in the tree house?" Mrs. Curtis nodded. Dally never went up in the tree house. He said someone might see him and he had a reputation to protect. He never said it in a condescending way, he never made fun of Johnny or Ponyboy for playing in it, like the Shepard boys did. He was very matter-of-fact about it. He was 11 and he had an image to up hold and that was that. "Don't you see, Johnny? Maybe you're not related by blood, but that doesn't matter! Dally loves you like you were his own little brother! Oh, he'll never say that of course, you know, he has an image and all..." Mrs Curtis rolled her eyes good naturedly. "But you watch him, Johnny, and you'll see. His actions speak volumes." Johnny's jaw had dropped. He quickly closed it before any food fell out of his mouth. Mrs. Curtis continued, "Like just yesterday when Ricky was picking on you and Ponyboy... well, you know I don't approve of fighting... but that little bully had it coming!" This time a potato chip fell right out of Johnny's mouth. Steve, Ricky and Soda had been good friends. Ricky's parents were moving to the South Side since his dad had gotten the big promotion. Ricky had been intolerable ever since his dad broke the news. He was always rubbing it in to Soda and Steve, trying to show that he was better at everything. He had gotten fiercely competitive. They were always racing in the lot, and Ricky would always win. But one day he made the mistake of racing Ponyboy. Or maybe Ponyboy made the mistake of racing Ricky, either way, the end result was a 10 year old getting into a fight with an 8 year old. Johnny had been at the finish line when Ponyboy crossed it first, so he was the one to step in when Ricky became aggressive to the youngest of the gang. Ricky turned on Johnny and swung a punch that Johnny ducked. Johnny didn't even have time to swing back because Dally came flying in out of now where and tackled Ricky to the ground. "You lay a hand on him and I'll pound you so far into the ground you'll be living on the South Side of China, you good-for-nothing asshole!" Dally added a few more choice words after that and started slugging Ricky. Mrs. Curtis had pulled the boys apart and Ricky had run off screaming. "Now Dallas! You know better than that!" Dally looked at the ground. But he hadn't missed the fleeting expression on Mrs. Curtis's face as she scolded him. She knew Ricky had asked for it. "And that language! I don't know if you'll be having cake with the rest of us this afternoon." Dally looked up at her. She was forcing a disappointed look and it wasn't working. He grinned at her. She turned away from him immediately and pretended to storm back to the house. Johnny had always wondered if she had been laughing. Later that same afternoon, Dally was given cake along with everyone else. Mrs. Curtis laughed, watching Johnny remember the events of the previous day. "He keeps a good eye on you... and Ponyboy too. Why, I think he'd do just about anything to keep you safe. But you didn't hear ANY of this from me, young man. Understand?" Johnny had grinned at her and nodded. But he wasn't sure if he believed her or not. Dally was the toughest kid in their neighborhood. He was the coolest person Johnny knew. And Dally liked to fight people. He would fight anybody for the sake of fighting, and, in Johnny's mind, that's exactly what had happened that afternoon. The thought that Dally would give a darn about anyone, let alone Johnny himself, was a bit much to take in. But Mrs. Curtis had been right. And Dally had actually admitted to it. And now Dally was insisting that Johnny tell him what was going on because he didn't want him or Ponyboy to get hurt. It all comes down to one question, Johnny thought suddenly. Who do I trust more? Dally or some psycho in the woods? And then it was as though a light had suddenly turned on. The man in the ski mask wouldn't necessarily leave Pony alone even if Johnny did exactly what he was told. Dally's right, Johnny thought. I can't protect him alone... The sky was growing darker and the heat had become oppressive. Johnny prayed silently that he wasn't about to sign Pony's death warrant by what he was about to do. He took a deep breath and looked toward the porch window. "All right," he whispered. "I'll tell you..." Relief flooded over Dally, but he remained expressionless, fearful that if he even moved, Johnny might change his mind. "But we have to be quiet," Johnny continued, his eyes betraying the fear he tried to hide. "If he hears me..." Dally's stomach went cold all of a sudden. If he hears me? What did that mean? This didn't sound like anything he'd been imagining. "Johnny, what are you talking about? Who's going to hear you?" he kept his voice low to comply with Johnny's request, even though he didn't understand. Johnny's breathing was becoming faster and he was shaking. He didn't look at Dally, but kept his eyes moving around the room, looking at the windows, the doors... "Johnny..." he whispered. "Who?" And then Johnny met his gaze, briefly, with eyes full of desperation and terror. "That... that guy... the one in jail for all the murders... it's not him. The real murderer is still walking around Tulsa." Dally could feel a chill run down his spine and every muscle in his body stiffened as Johnny went on. "I saw him in the woods. He calls the house when I'm here alone. He-he did this." Johnny indicated the gash on his side. Dally stared at him... he couldn't imagine Johnny making something like that up, but it sounded absolutely crazy. And horrifying. "Johnny, " he said slowly and quietly. "You're making that up, right?" Please say you're making it up, Dally thought to himself. But he knew by Johnny's behavior that he wasn't. And then Johnny did finally take his eyes off the window and looked right at Dally. Then he knew for sure. "I swear I'm not making it up, Dal. I wish I was." He knew Johnny had been hiding something big, but this surprised him. Johnny was shaking violently and he was talking so quietly that Dally could barely hear him. "He's probably watching us right now... He watches me all the time... and Ponyboy. He said he doesn't want to kill anyone for a while because he doesn't want them to know they got the wrong guy, but I saw him in the woods. He says he's going to leave Tulsa soon, but he's sticking around for a while to make sure I don't tell anyone. He said that if I said anything to anyone, he would kill Pony. And then me. He kept telling me it would be my fault. It would be up to me if I wanted to put the Curtises through any more hell." Dally was taking this all in and trying not to show fear. How did this guy know so much? Johnny continued. "He said he could get Ponyboy when he runs in track practice, and he said he can get me real easy because I'm always alone." Dally felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Johnny was always alone. He'd been so careful to watch him when the killer was roaming the streets a few weeks back, but when he was really in trouble, where had he been? You can't hover over him all the time, he told himself. And now was not the time for guilt. He would have to worry about that later. "I... I wanted to tell you... anyone... " Johnny's was choking on his words. "But I was afraid he'd hurt Ponyboy.. I'm still... Dally... what if he goes after Ponyboy?" Johnny was getting frantic. Dally could hear the panic in his voice. "OK," Dally whispered. He put his hand on Johnny's arm to steady him. "All right, we'll figure this out... everything's gonna be fine, Johnnycake..." He knew Johnny didn't believe him. Dally didn't believe himself. But right now, he had to take some kind of action. And this was too big to handle alone. He had to call Darry. Dally breathed deeply and carefully steadied his voice. "All right. You know what? We have to call Darry and have him pick up Ponyboy from school. He doesn't have practice today, does he?" Johnny shook his head. He'd been carefully keeping track of Ponyboy's schedule. "I don't know who this guy is, but we aren't taking any chances. OK?" Johnny nodded and pulled his knees into his chest. "All right, I'll be right back. Relax, buddy. It'll be all right, " Dally said and hurried off to the kitchen. Johnny heard him dialing the phone and asking for Darry. He listened while Dally started to tell Darry what was going on. Then the screen door burst open making Johnny nearly jump out of his skin, but Two-bit announced himself loudly as he entered the room. "Woo! It's a hot one out there today! Looks like a big old storm headed this way. How goes it, Johnnycake?" he said as he made his way to the kitchen to look for food. "Hey Two-bit." Johnny suddenly noticed he was alone. "Where's Ponyboy?" "Coach scheduled a practice this morning. He's at track." Johnny's whole body went numb. Two-bit had disappeared into the kitchen. "Wait, Darry, I hear Two-bit," Dally said into the phone. "They're back. You better come home anyway." He hung up just as Two-bit walked into the kitchen . "What's goin' on, Dal?" Two-bit asked as he pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. "A lot..." Dally said and quietly told him everything. But a minute or two into the explanation, Two-bit stopped him suddenly. "Dal, Pony's at track practice right now!" "WHAT? He's not with you?" Dally stared at him for a brief second and then noticed the complete silence coming from the other room. He felt as though a block of ice had suddenly formed in the pit of his stomach. He shoved past Two-bit and went to the livingroom. Johnny was not on the couch any more. Please be in the bathroom... Dally prayed as he made his way to the hallway. The bathroom door was wide open and no one was in there. Dally swore and slammed his fist into the wall. Then he bolted out the front door and down the front porch steps with Two-bit at his heels. Dally ran with every ounce of strength he had left. All thoughts of how exhausted he was left his mind. One of two things had just happened. Either Johnny had gone to get Ponyboy... Or the killer had come to get Johnny.