Feelings

(2)

Pony

The rain was beating hard on the windows. All of the water running down to the windows blurred the view to the outside and also trapped us inside.

I sighed quietly as I stared back into the pages of my book.

Wasn't it supposed to be sunny? It was Summer. We had just gotten out of school yesterday and then we were doomed to a day of isolation from the rest of the world.

The weather was murderous. No one dared to be outside right now. Steve and Soda was playing cards, Two-Bit and Dally was watching TV, Darry and I was reading. The only one of the Gang that wasn't here was little Johnnycakes. Everyone was worrying about him. No one wanted him out there, alone, in the rain....or elsewhere. I shivered at the thought.

''Thump''. The noise brought me out of my turbulence thoughts. I walked to the door, at which the sound came from. Everyone was staring, trying to see what had caused the sound.

As I pulled the door open, the figure laying on the steps, looking dead and beaten up worse than ever, made all of the color drain out of my face. "Darry! Come here! It's Johnny!"

The Gang jumped up at the sound of the boy's name. Everything was happening so fast. As soon as the boy was brought inside, Darry had stripped Johnny of his wet clothes, and had put them in the dryer. Steve put on clothes that Johnny had already here, while Soda had cleaned all of his wounds. With all of the accidents happening in the Curtis house, Soda actually learned how to stitch people up. Johnny had to get a lot of stitches. I actually had to turn my head away. Dally and Two-Bit paced, murmuring colorful curses and threats towards whoever hurt Johnny - his dad. Just by the look of his wounds, we knew that it was his dad. Even the Socs wouldn't go this far. I just stood there, plastered to the spot, trembling furiously. My body felt as if it weighted a ton and I was scared shitless. The way Johnny laid there on the steps, lifeless, as his blood was washed away with the heavy downfall scared me. The way his skin color had turned three shades lighter, scared me. He was like a ghost.

What is happening to him?

Is he dying?

It was hard to tell. It didn't look like he was breathing.

This scared me just like the time Johnny was in the hospital when we came back from Windrixville. Johnny's burns weren't as bad as everyone thought. But, still. . . it didn't mean that Johnny wouldn't have to carry those scars for the rest of his life. The burns that did the most damages was the ones on his back when the beam fell. With all of the embers burning off of the beam, it wasn't as heavy as it would be if it was the whole beam.

The fire on the beam caused more damage than the beam itself. The doctor caring for Johnny only said that because everyone was worried about what was going to happen because of his back. Even thought we were told such, it didn't stop how much we worried Johnny. Within a few months of the incident, Johnny was released, but for three months after that, we have to massage Johnny's back so that it would heal faster and take it easy with him - no roughhousing. I remember that Darry and Johnny would receive back rubs from me and Soda, side by side, while Two-Bit watched Mickey Mouse with Steve and Dallas was mostly there with us but some of the time, he was out. We didn't think of it like a burden or obligation but instead a time for us to be together like a family.

But this was a whole different situation. Fire and beams didn't cause these wounds, a person did- meaning that this was intentional. His dad is a sick bastard.

The whole house was on edge and looked like they were about to explode. Anger consumed their eyes and anticipation racked their bodies. Everyone just wanted Johnny to wake up to make sure he was going to be ok. Especially myself.