OUCH! ( stand by me. ) -ON HOLD-

one

the blackson family lives in the beautiful city of tacoma, washington. the weather during summer is the best it gets all year. with temperatures of 70 degrees and above, tacoma has always been perfect for this family.

♧♧

june 23, 1959

"vallory, get your ass down here and go get us some breakfast!" vallory's mom, alyssa, yells. vallory hears the demand, and changes into a baby blue dress with some white converse. she jumps down the stairs and over to her mother.

"i need money for the breakfast." she mumbles with her head low.

"my wallets on the counter, grab a ten. that should be good." alyssa suggests with trails of cigarette stench in her mouth. vallory walks into the kitchen and grabs the money.

"thank you, mother. i'll be back soon." vallory closes the door behind her and hops onto her bike. she rides to the corner store a couple blocks away from her house and stops. she enters the store, speed walking to the breakfast section. she grabs some milk, cinnamon rolls, cereal, and a new pack of plastic spoons. she glides over to the cashier, a pervy old man, and sets the items down on the counter.

"well hello ms. blackson. how are you today?" the cashier asks.

"i'm fine, thank you." vallory replies quietly.

"say, is that a new dress? it fits you very well." the cashier finishes scanning the items and is starting to bag them. vallory nods and pays, while she grabs the bag out of his hand. once she gets outside of the store, she puts the groceries in her basket and rides back home.

"i'm home!" she calls into the house. she unloads the items into their preferred places and sits on the couch next to her brother, daniel.

"hey val." daniel greets dryly with an angry look on his face.

"what's wrong? did mother yell at you again?" vallory asks worryingly.

"we're moving. in a few days." he sighed.

"what? where?"

"castle rock."

"where the hell is that?" vallory retorted loudly.

"oregon." daniel answers. vallory couldn't believe what she was hearing. moving? to oregon? why? they loved it here in tacoma. the people were all so nice, and the weather was amazing. but, she couldn't handle the news. she stomped up the stairs to her mom's cigarette smoke filled room. she opened the door and marched over to her mother.

"why the hell are we moving? i thought you loved it here!" vallory yelled at her mom.

"we got into trouble, vallory. we can't stay here." alyssa hissed.

"trouble? damn it, ma. i thought we talked about this? i thought that you stopped with all the gang shit! but what, do your drugs and, and  money seem more important to you than your own children? than your own family? hell, if dad were still alive we wouldn't be going through all this!" vallory yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"vallory susan blackson. don't you dare bring up your father, especially in this situation. and you know, it's way harder to get over an addiction than you think. we're drowning in bills and rent money and i wouldn't be able to keep this family together without that damn gang! you know that, honey. so go pack your shit, we need to leave in a few days." alyssa informed through tears.

vallory sat in her room, speechless. she threw her clothes into a box and her other things into other boxes. daniel helped her take apart her bed and store her mattress. within two days, vallory's room looked the way it did when alyssa found out she was pregnant. empty and painted pink.