So You're Leaving?

leaving in the morning

Dally was laying in bed when he heard Johnny and Coal come in through the front door. He listened to them climb the stairs, Johnny's feet barely making a sound and Coal's toenails clipping softly on the hardwood. He heard the water running in the bathroom as Johnny brushed his teeth. Dally closed his eyes for a few more minutes, not wanting to break the news to Johnny that he was leaving. Maybe I'll just go and not tell him, he thought. He seriously consiered it for a moment, but he knew it was a ridiculous idea. He could never do it. Finally, he got up and walked across the hall to Johnny's room. He tapped softly on the door before entering. Johnny was sitting up in bed. He had a pen in his hand and a book on his lap with a piece of paper on top of it. He looked up and grinned when he saw Dally. "Hey, Dal! I didn't know you were still up!" Dally ran his hand through his hair and yawned. "Yeah, just came in to see how your date went..." he said trying to grin slyly, but he had so much else on his mind... Johnny laughed and looked down. "Fine," and then he changed the subject quickly. "I'm writing a letter to Ponyboy, you wanna add anything when I'm done?" Dally sat down on the edge of Johnny's bed and rubbed his eyes. "Nah..." "Hey, I was thinkin'," Johnny said, bouncing to yet another subject. "Tomorrow I'm gonna take you to the river! You gotta see it, it's so cool-" his eyes were dancing as he told Dally about the river. He was so happy and so eager to experience life. Dally couldn't believe the difference in him. Even if Dally had been blindfolded and couldn't see the kid's face he would have been able to simply hear the difference in his voice. But when Johnny mentioned the river, Dally almost shuddered, remembering what Grandma Cade had told him about Christopher. "Kid... uh," Dally cut in, knowing he had to tell him sooner or later. "I gotta... get back to Tulsa tomorrow." Johnny just stopped and stared at him. "Huh?" "I gotta go home." "But... you just got here-" his eyes looked almost wounded. "Something... came up." Dally hated the position he was in. He knew he probably shouldn't tell Johnny what was going on and get him all worried, but he didn't want him to think he was just leaving for no reason. Johnny looked down. "Hey, come on, kid... what?" "I don't know... I just... I thought we were havin' fun! Why do you want to leave?" "Johnny, yeah... I'm havin' a great time. Look, buddy, I'll be back to visit, I promise. I just have to go home right now. "When are you going?" "In the morning. Early." "What time?" Dally hesitated. "Probably just before 4." "4:00? In the morning? Why the hell are you leaving at 4:00 in the morning?" Johnny's eyes got serious and his voice was quiet. "What's going on?" Dally debated again whether or not to tell him. "Well," he stammered. "The train leaves at 5 and if I let your uncle Tom drive me, he's gonna try to buy my ticket and I don't need his damn charity-" "Why are you leaving at 4:00 in the morning?" Johnny repeated, his jaw set stubbornly, sounding almost like a scolding parent. Dally was caught somewhat off gaurd by his tone of voice and he looked at him in surprise. Then he sighed and nodded. He was alreday hiding enough from Johnny at this point and he didn't want to keep anymore secrets. "All right, fine... you wanna know? Ponyboy and Darry aren't getting along so well. They had a fight. Darry... hit him and Ponyboy ran off-" "Ran off?" "Yeah," Dally said hesitantly. "He ran off. I guess they've been looking for him all day." "I'm coming with you." Johnny said descisively. Dally's eyes shot up. "NO!" His stomach went cold. He thought of Johnny's "father" finding him...finding out where he'd been. He took Johnny by both shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. "No! You are not going back there, you understand? Never!" Johnny's eyes widened in surprise. Dally caught himself and said, "You need to stay here. If Ponyboy calls, you're the only one he'll listen to. You got it? Look, he ain't even been gone 24 hours. He'll probably come home on his own, but even if he does, I aught to go back there and help them smooth things out. And I promised Ponyboy I'd be at his track meet next week anyhow." Johnny nodded, still somewhat surprised by Dally's initial reaction. "Can I at least go with you to the train station?" Dally bit his lip. He was really serious about Johnny waiting for Pony's call. He didn't let on to Johnny how concerned he really was about the whole situation. "I don't know, kid. You really should see if Pony calls, all right?" Johnny furrowed his brow in a slight scowl, but finally agreed to stay behind, for Ponyboy's sake. Dally ruffled Johnny's hair affectionately and stood up. "Get some sleep, Johnnycake." He did not miss the fleeting look of fear on Johnny's face as he stood. He paused and then sat back down. "Whatsa matter kid?" Johnny shook his head. "Nothin'," he said, putting on his best brave face. Dally recognized it immediately. Johnny was afraid of the whole ghost thing happening again. Now he would be alone. Dally sighed. "Are you worried about what you saw the other day?" Johnny didn't look at him, but he nodded. Dally put his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Hey, it's gonna be all right. You haven't seen anything in a week, right? Just don't think about it anymore. Think about cool stuff... you know, like the fact that a classy girl like Caroline has eyes for a greasy kid like you!" Johnny managed a weak grin at that and Dally stood again. "Dal," Johnny called after him worriedly. "Hmm?" "Will you wake me up before you go?" Dally shook his head and grinned. "At 4?" Johnny just looked sad and nodded. "Yeah, kid. I'll wake you up." Dally's expressioned softened. "But I can't wake you up if you're not asleep," he said and playfully shoved Johnny so he layed down. "Dal," Johnny said again, his voice full of worry. "What now?" Dally asked in mock exasperation. "Do you think... " Johnny couldn't quite get the words out. As had become their method of communication, Dally read Johnny's expression and answered before Johnny was able to formulate a question. "Yeah." he said with absoloute conviction. "I think he's going to be fine. We'll find him. Now go to sleep, Johnnycake."