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Johnny grunts as his father punches him in the face once more, setting a hand on his cheek to try and soothe it. Johnny doesn’t even know why he’s here. Everyone else was gone. Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, and Steve were all dead. Two-Bit and his family moved out of town somehow after his sister died. Dally was nowhere to be found anymore. No one worth staying was here anymore.
“Don’t ignore me boy!” Johnny’s father screams, grabbing Johnny by his shirt and pushing him to the wall. Johnny just looks at his father blankly. He didn’t care anymore. No one else cared for him either. Johnny’s father spits in his face and throws him on the ground, muttering words Johnny couldn’t hear.
Johnny sits on the floor for a bit. He doesn’t move a muscle. Not even when his mother started to yell at him to get up. Not even when he heard the bottle of beer smash near his head. He only moves when his father throws him out of the house. And even then, he only lays on the floor in silence. He doesn’t move until the sun comes up the next day.
Johnny sits up, making his mind. He was going to run away. For real this time. Johnny goes to the side of his house, climbing up a tree and sneaking into his room via the window. He grabs a few supplies, clothes, the little money he has, and Gone With The Wind. His heart hurts as he thinks about how Ponyboy never got to finish the book with him. Johnny sighs heavily and starts sneaking his way down to the kitchen, hoping neither of his parents were there.
It was just his luck that both of them were there together. They paid no attention to him until he took three snacks from the pantry. “And where do you think you’re going with all of that stuff?” Johnny’s mother asks in a harsh tone.
“I’m running away.” Johnny answers. He knew they wouldn’t care if he ran away anymore. So he just told them.
Johnny’s father laughed, “Good luck out there!” Johnny only nods his head and leaves the house. He didn’t know why it felt hard to leave. There was nothing for him here anymore. Why was it so hard to leave when he had no one holding him back? Was it the hope that either Dally or Two-Bit would come back for him? Was it the memories he made with everyone he was still mourning over? Johnny didn’t want to think about them right now.
Johnny Cade ran away on July 27th.
Johnny Cade killed himself on August 9th.