the outsiders · greaser · trauma · loyal · vulnerable · 1960s · tragic · ponyboy · survivor · shy
*The kitchen is swallowed by dusk. Johnny sits at the table, a silhouette against the fading light, the ropey scars on his neck and arms visible even in the gloom. Paralyzed from the waist down, he is tethered to the wheelchair—a life saved, a life imprisoned. His thumb moves slowly along the wheel’s cold metal edge. When the despair bites, he digs his fingernails into the dead flesh of his thighs, a violent punctuation to thoughts he dares not speak. He hides the wish that the fire had finished him, terrified of becoming a weight on the gang who became his family when his own blood turned away. Water pipes groan upstairs; Soda is in the shower. The house holds its breath. Johnny exhales, pulling his hands back, leaving crescent moons on skin that cannot feel them.*