The Last One Standing (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1:
“You Bastard!” Dad yelled as he tossed me out on the lawn. “I want you gone!”

I stumbled to my feet. “I hate you!”

Dad clenched the belt in his hand harder, and belted me with it until I was off his property. He was yelling, “I want you to get off my lawn, hood! You’re a disgrace! I want you gone!” He always hated me. I guess I can understand. He’s always talking about how I’m not a good person. I guess he’s right. I live with him and only him, but sometimes I wished I lived with my friends; my gang.

I whipped around, and ran. I didn’t really know where to go, but I did know that I wasn’t accepted there. After a while, my feet began to hurt, so I slowed down to a walk. I walked along the road in the darkness. Orange light from the street lights was beating down on me. I shoved my hands in my jean pockets. I felt the extra change jump around as I walked to the beat of the club. From behind me, I heard the roar of a car. I turned around, and noticed Jack’s old sedan.

He hopped out of the driver’s seat, and walked up to me. “Jonah! What are you doing alone? You know you’re gonna get jumped.” Somewhere deep inside, I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to believe it. I always walked alone from my house and nothing bad really ever happened. The gang always lectured me about it, but I guess I just never really caught on.

I stopped, and turned to him. I didn’t say anything. I just looked off to the side.

Jack’s face looked concerned. He placed his hands on my shoulders, and turned my head to look at him. “Jonah? Hey, what’s wrong?”

I didn’t say anything.

He gasped. “Oh, no. What did he do to you this time?” Jack is probably my best friend of the gang. He’s always there for me when I need him. He always knew what was wrong. I loved him like a brother, and he always acted like a brother to me. I could always crash on his couch when I can’t come home some days. The only thing stopping me from living there is my father. He’ll kick me out one night, and whip me for leaving another.

Before I could tell him that my dad kicked me out again, we heard a loud car horn from behind us. The street was almost abandoned, so I couldn’t think of anybody who could be there except… the socs.

I turned around to look at them. They were getting out of their blue port holer, and trudged toward us. I noticed one of them had a switch blade. I turned to Jack in panic. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“Get in the car,” he ordered me. “Now.”

I sprinted for the car, but before I could, a soc came up to me, and knocked me down. I tried to stand up, and fight against him, but he was too strong. He pushed hard on my shoulders, pinning me down on the hard concrete sidewalk. Another one took his switch, and held it right up to my neck. They both laughed, and made comments, but I wasn’t paying much attention. I closed my eyes, and waited for it to end. Moments later, I noticed myself being lifted off the ground by a cold hand. Jack was grabbing my hand, and pulling me off the ground. I stumbled to my feet.

“You see, Jonah,” Jack commented as he stepped into the drivers seat of the car. “You could have been killed if I wasn’t here. Get in.”

I got into the car as he told me to. “What were you doing there anyways?” I asked.

“I was driving home from work, and thank God! Do you realize how much danger you were in? Jonah, you could have been beaten unconscious, or even killed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just know better next time, okay?”

“Okay.”

I knew Jack was always trying to protect me, but I never learned from his yelling. I never learned from anyone. Jack is pretty responsible for a high school drop-out. He got a job at a local diner. He was a chef even though he couldn’t cook to save his life. People mostly just go there for soda. He wasn’t really the smartest of the gang, but he was a really good guy.

“We’re here,” Jack reported, dragging me out of my thoughts.

I looked around, and noticed he’d parked the car right in front of his house as if he knew I wanted to stay here. “Hey, Jack.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I stay here for the next couple of days?”

He smiled. I could tell he knew exactly what I was talking about. “Of course.” He got out of the car, and motioned for me to get out too.

I got out of the car, and followed him to the front door. He unlocked the white door, but didn’t open it. He just stared at me with his dark brown eyes. “Don’t worry, Jonah. You are a good person, no matter what other people tell you.” I didn’t even tell him about that. He gets me without having me to tell him. He opened the door, and walked in. I followed. “Look who I found wanderin’ the streets.” He gestured to the door as I walked in. He shut it behind me, and went off to watch TV.

“Hey, Jonah!” Bill addressed me.

“How’s it goin, J?” Paul asked me.

Before I could respond to either of them, something hit me. “Jonah!” Denny screamed as he hurdled toward me from the torn up couch. Once he got to me, he tackled me, and squeezed me so hard that I lost my breath for a moment. He was always so spontaneous. Sometimes, he’s calm and shy, and other nights, he’s jumping off the walls.

Once everyone calmed down, Peter walked slowly toward me from the kitchen. “What the hell were you doing out there?” he screamed, his dark eyes piercing a whole through my head.

“I was just taking a walk.”

“Alone?”

“I had to. Dad kicked me out.”

“You should have called us. We would have taken care of everything.”

“Sorry!” I shot back.

He calmed down, and ran his fingers through his greasy, combed back hair. “Sorry, Jonah. But, I love you like a brother. I want you to be safe. I think it’s time you come to your senses.”

I walked over to the couch, and sat down. The guys were watching some documentary on Elvis Presley’s come-back. I watched in envy as Elvis, a grease, gets all this attention. All we get here is beaten, jumped, and shanked. I wish I had a life like his-- doing whatever you want whenever you want. And, if you looked as tough as him, you wouldn’t have to fight to get what you want. Bill and Jack looked like that. They always got what they wanted because they really looked like a couple of hoodlums. I wish I looked like them sometimes. Once I got deep into thought, the TV and light suddenly shut off.

“Peter! Did you pay the electric bills this time?” I heard Jack shout.

“Yeah! It was only one time! I found the money this time!” Peter snapped back.

We could hear a loud motorcycle driving up to the house. The door suddenly opened, and an orange glowing light came in. I could tell it was a cigarette. The person holding the cigarette brought out a lighter, and shot up a flame to reveal their tan face. It was Russell. He walked over silently to light some candles as everyone shouted “hi”, and asked him questions that he wasn’t paying any attention to. Once he set up a few candles, he went to sit down on the couch. He took a long drag on his cigarette. “Yo, uh, Jonah,” he addressed me. “What are you doin’ here? Huh? Shouldn’t you be out getting belted?” A couple people laughed at that but me, Jack, and Peter kept quiet.

Jack scowled at Russell. “Russell, he’s just a kid. Lay off.”

Russell’s eyes became cold, but he didn’t say anything back.

I looked at Bill, whose eyes suddenly lit up. “Jonah?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re bleeding.” Some dark brown hairs from the front of his mullet had fallen into his face, and got into his eyes. He brushed it to the side.

I touched my chin, and looked at my hand. Glistening in the candle light, I saw my dark red blood sticking to my fingers.

“I’ll go get a towel.” He ran off to the kitchen with one of the candles.

“What happened to ya?” I heard Denny ask from behind me.

I had forgotten he was there. I turned around to look at him, stretching my weak back. “When Dad kicked me out, I got jumped in the streets. One of them had a knife.”

“Yeah, good thing I was there for ya. You would have died.” Jack told me.

Bill came back with a bunch of paper towels, and handed me one with a big smile on his face.

I smiled back, and held it up to my neck. It hurt.

Russell grabbed his cigarette from his mouth, and pointed it toward me. “Ya know, kid,” he began. “I don’t know why you waste all your time at school.”

I had almost forgotten, Russell never finished high school. He quit the moment he turned sixteen. He was definitely the stupidest. I loved him just as much as the rest of the gang, but he wasn’t the kind of person you really want hang out with in public. A lot of things go wrong in public. I always get in trouble because of him. “Because I’m smart, and can actually pass tenth grade.”

The gang began to laugh, even Russell. I was worried he’d throw me all the way to the west side of town for saying an insult like that, but I guess he just knows he’s stupid. “Kid,” he started. “I think I’ve began to really like you.”

“Don’t like him too much,” Peter said, handing the gang a bunch of beers except for me and Denny. “He has school tomorrow. Jonah, why don’t you and Denny go to bed.”

“But it’s only twelve,” Denny shot back.

“Now.”

Me and Denny got up, and trampled down the narrow hallway, leading to three bedrooms. We walked into one small bedroom with a single bed and a small blow up mattress. They decided to get that last summer so that I had a place to stay when I couldn’t go home. He tossed a couple of blankets and a pillow on the air mattress. “You can sleep there,” he told me as he pulled his white sweatshirt and stained blue jeans off his body.

I followed, and got ready for bed too. Once the lights went off, I couldn’t sleep. I just stared at the ceiling, blankly. After a few moments, I realized that he was still awake. “Denny?”

“Yeah,” he moaned.

“Do you ever feel like you’re not worth anything? Like you wont amount to much?”

He groaned. “Yeah. Is this about your dad?”

I didn’t answer.

“Jonah, you are the smartest person I know. You will amount to much more than the rest of us.” he told me as if he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Then why does my father beat me? Why does he tell me I’m not worth anything?”

He sat up at the end of his bed. “Jonah, do you hate him?”

“Yes.”

“Then why do you care about what he thinks. He is a bad person. His judgment shouldn’t matter. I think you can do anything. Become a soc if you want. As long as it makes you happy.” He lied down in bed, and pulled the covers back over him with one hand.

I was silent as I thought about what he’d said. I came to the conclusion that he was right. He was always right. My dad shouldn’t be in my life anymore, and his judgment shouldn’t matter to me at all, but it did. I couldn’t let go of the fact that he took away my childhood with only a belt. I can never take my childhood back. That was the worst thing he could take away from me. It was part of my life wasted away with belt whips and squeals of pain.

To Be Continued...