Family Is Found (Sequel to Running Towards Home)

CHAPTER 19

ARLENE'S POV:

My mom gets out of the car. Johnny pushes me behind him as we stand up. "What do you want?" He snarls at her. She looks to be still drunk, not quite steady on her feet. I hear the door open behind us, and the gang comes out. They stand behind me. "Get out of here!" Darry yells at her.

"Give me my daughter!" she shrieks at us. "No. Now get out of here before we call the cops." Darry yells at her again, coming to stand on the other side of me. "Arlene! Get over here right now or God help me-" I cut her off. "No."

The look on her face is one of pure shock. "No?" she repeats. "I'm not going back with you! I'm done! You don't get to hurt me anymore!" I scream at her. I never thought I could stand up to her. But with the gang by my side, holding me up, keeping me strong, I finally gain the courage to tell her how I feel.

"Fine! Stay here. I never wanted you anyway." She hisses at me. She gets back in her car, and drives away, swerving along the road. All the breath leaves my body. Her words stab my heart, but at the same time, something inside of me is freed. Johnny hugs me. And then it hits me. The one member I have left of my family is gone from my life. I don't have a home, a family. "Johnny. She left. I don't have a family anymore." I whisper to him.

"That's not right. You have all of us. We are your family now." He whispers back. We all head back inside. "Where am I going to stay?" I ask out loud. Soda offers for me to stay here, but I turn him down. "Sam is already staying here. You don't have room for anyone else." They know I'm right. Then, Two-Bit gives a perfect idea.

"Buck has an extra room at the bar. She could stay there with Dally." he says. Everyone agrees. It's the best idea. We decided to go and ask Buck today. Sam gives me a bag with some clothes and other necessities, and I drive over with Darry and Johnny. We go inside, and the music is blaring even though it's only noon. "We need to speak to Dally." Darry says. Buck yells out for Dally. I don't know how anyone can hear anything over all the noise, but Dally comes to the door.

"Jeez, kid. What happened to your face?" he asks as soon as he sees me. "Thanks, Dally. Good to see you too." I joke. "Why don't we talk outside?" Darry suggests, and we all follow him outside. "Whatcha guys doing here?" Dally asks. Johnny looks at me, and I explain what happened. When I tell him about what my mom did, his jaw tightens and his fists clench. "I'm going to kill her." He growls. "Dally, I'm okay. Don't worry about me. We actually came to ask if I could stay at Buck's." I say.

"Probably, let me go ask." Dally says, and he leads us all inside. He goes up to Buck, and they talk for a few minutes. Then Dally comes back. "He said it's fine. Let me walk you up." he says. He starts to lead me through the crowd. Somewhere along the way someone grabs at my chest, and Dally promptly punches them.

We finally make it up the stairs, and Dally leads me to a small room. It has a bed, a closet, and a small bathroom. It's perfect. "Thank you, Dally." I say. "No prob, kid. We'll leave you to get settled. Darry and the boys said they're gonna head home." The boys leave the room. I set my stuff down, and sit on the bed. It's not the nicest place, but it's somewhere to stay. I lay down, and I feel myself drift off to sleep. The craziness of the last two days is catching up to me, and my body needs to recover. I finally sink into the relief of sleep.