Save me, Dally

Chapter 8: Be Brave

I knocked on Stacey's front door, and there was an answer almost immediately

"Hello, and OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED?" She shouted at me, pulling me by the arm into the house.

I recalled recent events, including the parts were Dally was involved.

"Okay... so you need a place to stay?" she asked, a smile turning up on the corners of her mouth.

I nodded.

"Okay, let me ask the old man." Stacey said, sliding off of her bed.

There was a long fifteen minutes of bickering and begging, but I already knew the answer when Stacey came in looking distraught. She was teary eyed, and that's never good, because Stace is never teary eyed.

"I'm so sorry..." she whispered, running over to give me a huge hug. "He was spouting off some crap about you safety, and I just..."

I hugged her back and sighed.

"We could get Pete to open up a place for you! Or you can sleep in the diner's attic!" she suggested jumping up off of the bed.

"No, no, I know of one other place." I said finally.

"Is it Dally's?" she taunted, wiping tears from her eyes.

"No, it's a place where my parents won't go looking for me, if they even look at all." I said flatly, looking at Stacey.

Stacey got up instantly, knowing where I was talking about. We used to hide there from our parents when we were kids, and whenever Robin made me cry. It was there we went, when Stacey punched Robin in the face claiming that 'she deserved it'.

"Let's get you something to eat first." Stacey said nervously, taking me out through her pantry door.

"Take these, this, this, this... oh, and this." She said, handing me water, a jar of peanut butter, half a loaf of bread, forty bucks, and her favorite switch blade.

Then she leaned over and gave me a big hug.

"Be brave." She whispered before pushing me out the door.

I looked back at the teary eyed Stacey, as she promised to visit every day. I still had to go to work, but I'd have to leap on the train at around four every morning. As I walked towards the rail-road tracks, I knew it was going to be a tough couple of weeks getting situated. I'd be running from cops, ducking away from the grounds-keeper, and eating straight out of a peanut butter jar. Now I had to wait for my next pay-check, considering I blew the last one on my sorrows.

The train came barreling down the tracks, and as it slowed to a stop about forty yards ahead, I jumped into one of the empty carts. It reminded me of the times when Stacey and I would do this every weekend. You could hear the guard's feet crunching gravel as he shined the flashlight inside of each cart. I pushed myself against the wall next to the door, so he wouldn't be able to see me. After the light shone in the cart, and went away, I started breathing again. The train was already moving forward four minutes later, and I was already crying.

I guess being on my own wasn't all it was cracked up to be. After exhausting myself from crying, I fell asleep. The train ride was a good two and a half hours, and it was always on time. I drifted off and dreamed about all of the good things that could happen. I could gain a sense of self- confidence, knowing Robin wasn't there to push me down. I could spend more of my time trying to become an author. I don't know... something like that.

My dreams quickly turned to nightmares as the sky grew dark and the train slowed to a stop in front of the old abandoned church. My stomach turned into knots as I leaped off of the train cart, into the brush before the train guard could catch me. Once the train started moving away, I stood up and began limping to my doom.