Chapter Text
I met up with Johnny later that day, I usually met up with him on the weekends. I saw him sitting around the lot by our house, the same lot where Soda had just done a drug deal. Thinking about that shook me up a bit. Darry was right, anyone could've seen Soda doing that. We lived in a decently big city and cops surveyed our neighborhood daily. The idea of any of us getting caught by the fuzz kept me up at night. I tried to stop thinking about anything drug related when I was with Johnny. He was my escape from what was happening at home. It's hard to try and be a normal family when you're all committing felonies, so it's best to find ways to not think about it.
Johnny waved me down and I caught up to him. He was leaning on a chain-linked fence looking deep in thought. This figured. Johnny was always thinking about something. I often question him about it and it starts off our conversations, but today he was the first one to talk.
"Am I early? Are you late? I feel like I've been standing here forever, man." He said. Neither of us carry a watch, it's a dorky look, so I try to look at the sun and gauge the time from there. Today, I knew why I was late.
"Maybe you're early, it's gotta be around 5 or something." I said, trying to get him off the topic.
"Nah, I started here around 5. I was hanging around with Dallas before that. He said he was going to your-guyses house, did you see him?" If I thought Johnny knew more than he was letting on, I would think he was wearing a wire. Johnny's more observant than any of the gang, quiet people have a tendency to do that. I'm quiet but I'm a little too wrapped up in my own business to notice small things. Johnny really doesn't have anything else going for him, so he picks up on other peoples details.
"I must've left before he came over." I lied.
Johnny didn't push it anymore, which I was grateful for. We carried on and walked downtown. We were trying to catch a movie, but we figured it was too late to see it and it'd be halfway over by the time we sat down. We walked around aimlessly, trying to see if we could bump into anyone we knew. Johnny talked about meeting up with Dallas, I shut that down fast.
We ended up bumping into somebody, but it wasn't someone either of us knew. He knew me.
It was a kid probably around Darry's age. He was tall, lanky, and had longer hair. He seemed unkempt, was wearing odd clothing and if I didn't know any better I would've thought he was homeless. He moved slow and the closer he got the more we could see his bloodshot eyes. He was high as a kite. I couldn't think why anybody that looked like him would try and associate with me, but then it had hit me. This was the same guy Soda was describing.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a nearby alley. Johnny looked scared out of his mind and ran in with me.
The hippie dude started talking, "Hey, uh... You're the guy who sold me the uh, stuff, right?"
Oh glory, he thinks I'm Soda. I was trying to think of what the correct response to this should be. Do I deny it? Do I go along with it? Do I run away? I couldn't decide in time.
"What do you want?" I said, a little rudely. I know I get sassy when I'm nervous, Darry tells me almost daily.
"Look, I'm not living in a place with an active phone line, but I'm really tryna score some more acid off of you for my buddies. You think you could meet me here tomorrow? Same time?" He said, pausing between almost every sentence.
Part of me wanted to say 'I hypothetically met up with you a couple hours ago, why couldn't you just say this then?' but I didn't. I just nodded. I didn't really know what I was nodding to, but I just wanted him to go away. He did walk away after thanking me. My heart dropped once I realized I had to face Johnny.
Johnny looked confused and conflicted, like he didn't know which one of us should talk first.
I did. "Look, it's... Man, I...." I knew I'd get my head busted in for telling Johnny about what we were doing and my brothers would rather me jump through hoops trying to deny what just happened, but I knew Johnny could keep a secret. I mean, he didn't really have anybody to tell other than me and Dallas, and Dallas already knew.
"Are you guys selling drugs? Darry and Soda don't work as many hours anymore, is that how you guys make your money?" Like I said, Johnny was observant.
"Johnny, I swear to God you cannot tell anybody about this. Nobody. Not even the gang. We are both dead if you tell anyone, okay?" I wasn't really as intimidating as Darry was, but I tried my best.
"I wouldn't dream of it, Pony, I swear." Johnny said.
I knew he wouldn't be upset about it. I told him to let it go, he did. He was a good friend.
We ditched downtown and headed back home.