~Cicada~ Johnny Cade x male reader

"Celebration at the Curtis House!"

    TW: VIOLENCE, MOMMY ISSUES, AN AUTHOR WHO DIDN'T DO MUCH RESEARCH ON EMANCIPATION SO DON'T COME AT HIM

          They all yell and holler as we make our way to the brawl site. There's already a gang of socs and a couple of greasers there waiting for us. On site, we all start going at each other. I managed to slug a hit on a tall, lanky blonde boy. He comes at me and grabs me by the collar. He slugs me in the face a couple times before I can raise my leg to kick him in the gut. He grabs his stomach and collapses. I kick him while he's down, and he goes unconscious. Then I hear yelling behind me. Some angry soc comes charging at me with a switchblade. I quickly take mine out and dodge him. However, on my way to the side, he trips me. After I fall, he climbs on top of me and raises his blade.

         I slice his arm while it's up and he drops the switch. With his other hand, he grabs me by the hair and pulls me up to my feet. I yelp, and he punched me in the gut. "Ugh- that smarts," I mutter painfully. He brings my face close to his. "There's more where that comes from. If there's one thing I hate, it's greasers, but I hate queer greasers even mo-" I cut him off by wrapping my leg around his, tripping him. This time, I climb on top of him and sheath my switchblade in my pocket. "You were saying, soc?" I said condescendingly before slamming his head into the ground, knocking him out as well.

        By the end of it, I took out four socs. Two-Bit took out five, Pony and Johnny took out three together, Sodapop took out six, and Steve took out two. On my face, I feel two bruises begin to take shape. One below my lip, and another on my left cheekbone. I have a couple scrapes and scratches oozing blood on my body, but my stomach still hurts from the punch the second soc landed. I couldn't help but remember that night with my mother. "This is the kind of treatment that disappointments get, and with grades like that, you'll be a disappointment forever." I can still hear those words that she said as she walked away from my crumpled frame.

         "We won, guys!" Two-Bit yelled, "Celebration at the Curtis house!" Sodapop laughed and told him that Darry would kill him, but they decided on it anyways. I put my hands in my pockets and turn to walk off. Two-Bit looks my way. "Ey, pipsqueak! That means you too! My mouth falls agape and my face heats up. "I...I mean, if you say so..." I switch directions and follow the gang.

         We soon arrive at the Curtis residence. Darry apparently is still not there. This house isn't actually that far from my own. We all walk in and and Sodapop grabs the phone hooked securely to the wall. "Yeah, we want an extra-large pepperoni pizza. When'll it be ready?" Sodapop has a short back and forth between the pizza guy, before he says he needs volunteers to go get it. I raise my hand. "And I just got paid yesterday, so it's on me," I say, with my hand still in the air. Sodapop dwells on this for a moment. "You gotta job, (Y/N)?" I shake my head yes. "Being able to keep a job and provide for myself was one of the conditions for emancipation," I told him. He nods, then turns to Johnny and Pony. "You two go with him, kay?" They both nod. We step out the house, and Pony looks at me. "You live on your own?"

"Yep. I have a real nice house not far from yours. Well, it doesn't look nice, but it's home."

         Pony hums. "Why don't you try getting emancipated, Johnny?"  Johnny shrugs. "They probably won't hear my case. I'm a Greaser after all." "Yeah, but so is (Y/N)!" I look at them. "Well, I wasn't always." They look at me confused. "My... mother...is a soc. But that's all behind me now." Pony looks like he still has questions, but Johnny shushes him telepathically. The look in his eyes makes it seem like he understands. It's awkward for a few moments before Johnny pipes up. "What's it like living on your own?" I smile. "It's...strenuous...and sometimes lonely....but freeing. It'd be easier if everything was free," I joke. I got a small chuckle out of the two boys walking beside me. "Hell, life'd be easier if everything was free," Johnny says.

         We finally make it to the pizza shop and they hand the pizza to Pony. "Hey," I call to one of the workers, "can I get an order of shakes to go with this?" They nod and ask how many. I give them the number, then turn to ask Pony and Johnny what flavors the gang liked. After ordering  and leaving the pizza shop, me and Johnny trying to balance the shakes in our arms, I ask, "Could you not tell 'em I paid for these? If they ask, say they just gave 'em to us free as part of a special deal?" They nod. Johnny says, "Sure, but why?" My face heats up and I look the other way. "Well... you.... uhm.... you can't have a celebration without shakes." They accept this answer, but Johnny looks at me suspiciously.

         The truth is, I just wanted to do something nice. But nice isn't tough, so I had to do something nice without them knowing I was doing something nice. Like I previously said, greasers always have to seem tough or they aren't taken seriously. Anyways, we finally made it back to the Curtis house.