hold on | johnny cade

19

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IT'S BEEN 5 DAYS and I was starting to get homesick. I wanted to get out of this hellhole, but we couldn't do anything about it, and that irritated me.

A lot had happened over these past few days: Ponyboy and I bleached our hair to hide our identity. Johnny couldn't because he was too dark-skinned to look naturally blond.

We also had multiple crying sessions because we were that lonely. Sure, we had each other, but we were worried about our families back home.

I was about to take a nap when I heard someone come in.

I peeked through a hole from the wall and saw Dallas walking around.

I ran to him and enveloped him in a hug. "Finally, a person from the outside world!"

He chuckled and patted me on the back. "Hey, kid. Where are the others?"

I grabbed his arm and pulled him to where the both of them were sleeping. He walked over to Ponyboy and nudged him with his foot.

That caused Ponyboy to wake up. It took him a few moments to realize it was Dally and he too hugged him.

All the ruckus made Johnny to stir and he greeted Dally with a simple "Hello"

"Golly, you guys dyed 'yer hair?" He asked as he ruffled Ponyboy's hair.

He swatted his hand away. "We know we look lousy, don't rub it in."

The three of us started bombing Dallas with questions and he waved his arms to silence us.

"One question at a time, guys. We have time to answer each of 'em. But first, you guys wanna eat first? I'm starving!"

"You're starving? Try eating bologna for a week!"

↭

"Glory," Dallas muttered as he watched us gobble up our food.

We could have cared less and Dallas slapped his forehead.

"I didn't tell y'all something, the Socs are having all-out-war-fare all over the city. It got so bad I started carryin' a heater-"

"Dally!" Ponyboy yelled. "You kill people with heaters!"

"And you kill people with switchblades too," He spat. "It's fine, it ain't loaded. It's good for a bluff."

He took a sip of his soda. "Also, did you know we got a spy? The redhead that I was hittin' on, her name's Cherry, I think."

Johnny choked on his drink and Ponyboy wheezed. Cherry, the Soc?

"She's gonna testify to the judge that it was all self defense. She'll do whatever she can to say you guys aren't guilty." Dallas explained.

Johnny was quiet for a moment. "We're goin' back and turn ourselves in."

Dallas gagged this time and looked at Johnny as if he were foreign. "What?"

"I said we're goin' back and turn ourselves in." He said with finality.

"I got a good chance of bein' let off easy; I ain't got no record with the fuzz and it was self-defense. Cherry, Ponyboy, and Nina can testify to that. We'll give you back everything and say that you weren't involved whatsoever."

Dallas pressed his lips into a thin line. "A-are you sure?"

Johnny nodded. "It ain't fair for Ponyboy and Nina to have to stay up in that church with Darry, Soda, and Two-bit worryin' about 'em all the time."

What he said was true. I patted him on the shoulder for his bravery. All he did was smile back.

We drive back to the church to get our belongings, when we saw a crowd and smoke.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Dallas whispered.

Before any of us could answer, Ponyboy got out of the car and ran towards the burning building. Johnny got the message and I hopped off as well, hearing Dallas cuss at us.

There was a fat man standing outside. "Excuse me, what's going on?" Ponyboy asked as politely as he could.

"We don't know for sure, we were having a school picnic up here and the first thing we knew, the place is burning up." Kids were scrambling around the scene. "Stand back, children. The firemen will be here soon."

"I bet we started it," I whispered to Johnny. "Y'all must have dropped a cigarette or somethin'."

A lady came frantically at us. "Jerry, some of the kids are missing."

"I'm sure they're here somewhere, you can't tell from all this excitement where they might be."

She shook her head. "They've been missing for at least half an hour, I thought they were climbing up the hill..."

Muffled screaming was heard inside the burning church. We all froze because of shock, but Ponyboy was first to break out of it and run towards the building, Johnny and I following close behind.

When we went inside, smoke was everywhere and my eyes started to water, We broke a door down to reveal a group of kids huddled together, crying hysterically.

"Shut up! We're getting you out!" Johnny yelled.

We passed each kid down to Dallas who was waiting outside the church and brought them down to safety. Once the last kid was gone, we headed towards the exit, when my shoe got caught on a piece of wood or rock, I wasn't sure.

"Ponyboy! Johnny! Help!" I screamed, coughing after inhaling a large amount of smoke.

Johnny came running in and carried me out. From the corner of my eye, I could see a piece of timber on the verge of breaking above us any second.

I guess Johnny saw too and threw me out of the hole. "Go, Nina!"

I fell hard on the ground and saw Johnny getting swallowed by the violent flames.

Then everything went black.