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CHAPTER VII IN WHICH THEY TALK !
November 12 1969 ;
LILLY LIES ON THE HOOD OF HER VAN, Sodapop lying beside her, their hands lying intertwined in between them.
"I trust you," Lilly tells Sodapop, moving her gaze from the stars to Sodapop.
Sodapop looks over at her and smiles, "Really?"
"Yeah," She says, "I do."
"Good," Sodapop says turning his gaze back to the sky but Lilly continues to watch him.
"Back in California," Lilly begins, "I was completely different, I needed a fresh start. That's why I left."
"You don't have to talk about it," Sodapop says.
"I want you to know I trust you," Lilly says.
"You don't have to tell me if you're uncomfortable. I know you trust me Lilly," Sodapop says turning to face her, she does the same.
"Well uh," Lilly says, "My family . . . my parent specifically, had a bit of a problem."
She glances over at Soda, "Like I said, I first smoked at age 13 or 14 but it wasn't a big surprise because my older siblings, Daisy and Mikey, had both smoked around that age. My parents are the ones who started it."
She looks over at Sodapop again but he wasn't looking at her, "They started doing other drugs...ya know, my parents did. Then they got me and my siblings sucked into it and well, my sister came to her senses first. She yelled at us to stop, got us all help. They turned their life around, but I didn't want to."
Lilly glances at Sodapop again to find him watching her, "One night, I had pushed it too far, I told my family I was going to the sessions, getting better. They believed me. I asked them for a few bucks, but they declined saying our money was low. I went out and I really needed a smoke so I went to a bar and got really drunk."
"Lilly—" Sodapop says.
"I'm fine," She says, "I stole some stuff from this guy. I took it and ran, but I was really drunk. I got home though and my family asked what I had and I told them. They all got really mad, I just think we all overreacted. They yelled at me for lying to them about getting better. But they were too. They told me to get out, to leave the house so I did. I was in Arizona for a while, and I got better. I did, I tried contacting my family but they didn't listen to me, so then I left Arizona and began traveling. Takes my mind off everything."
Sodapop reaches over and brushes hair from her face, "Hey it's okay. We all have family issues whether it's big or small. Everyone's feelings are different, just because it seems small doesn't mean it is."
