New Chapter in the Catcher in the Rye

I was finally on my way back home. Those last couple days went as slow as possible just because I didn’t have anything to do, or anywhere to be. That could have been why it seemed like such a waste of my time. Anyhow, all I could think about was how my parents took the news. Would they be upset? And what would they do to punish me if they were? I kept thinking about whether they'd ground me from the phone, keep me in for a month, not let me hang out with friends for a while, or make me do all the chores. But eh, whatever, I didn't actually care. I think the only reason I was thinking about that crap was cause there was nothing else to do on the train ride home.
Staring out the window, I began to recognize the area. I felt my chest bouncing as the train came to a stop. I jumped up, caught my balance, and calming strolled off the train. After walking about a mile from the train station, I finally made it to my house. I stood outside for a while before it hit me. I was home; away from Pencey, away from living on my own, and away from all those goddam phonies. Thinking about all that, I knocked on the door.
It wasn't my mom or dad who came to the door, but Phoebe. I guess I was glad about that cause Phoebe's more welcoming than my parents anyway.
"Holden! You're home!" Phoebe was doing her job in keeping my secret about expulsion. I told her to pretend like I was never there that one night I came to talk to her, and she did a good job at covering. Well, I guess my parents would have told her I got expelled after they got the letter from Pencey, but oh well, I guess she was still pretending. Anyhow, I talked to Phoebe for a while before actually coming into the house to see my parents.
"Oh…hello there Holden," was all my mom had to say to me. She looked at me, and then turned back into the kitchen. I stood there with little Phoebe by my side for a couple seconds and then we both just kind of looked at each other with puzzled looks on our faces.
"Umm, I guess mommy's a little mad about you getting into all that trouble at school," that was the nicest way Phoebe could think of to tell me that my mom was really pissed off at me for being such a screw up.
"Damn it! I knew I was going to get busted for getting kicked out, but I was expecting at least a little goddam sympathy for coming home. At least a little goddam hospitality! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" All I could do was get pissed at my mom for being pissed at me. I mean, I know deep down that she does have a good reason for being a bitch, but that sure didn't stop me from being pissed at her.
"Holden calm down. It's okay; they'll cool down after a little bit. I think they're just mad cause it was a big shock and no offense, but you didn’t have the best record before this," Phoebe all of the sudden wasn't very good at making me feel better. She actually made me feel worse.
"Goddam it Phoebe you're not helping!" With that I slammed the door and sat on the porch steps. About thirty minutes later, my dad came out and sat next to me. "What do you want? If you're gonna be rude to me like mom was, I don’t wanna hear it. I'll leave if you want me to, but I don’t wanna be around if I'm gonna be treated like crap."
"Holden, I am disappointed in you. I expected better out of you, especially after everything else that's happened before Pencey," I could tell I he was heading into the whole guilt trip speech, "Your mother and I have talked about what your punishment should be for this and we couldn’t come to anything. We don’t feel you deserve to go to another expensive private school, but we don’t want you in a public school either."
"I don’t wanna go to school. Public, private, college, none of that shit fits me. You know that, mom knows that, even ask Phoebe! Even Phoebe knows that!" I was trying to convince him not to send me back to school.
"I know that Holden," he was actually starting to sound more understanding. "I don’t know how to say this…but, um, your mother and I have come to the decision that you should be out on your own."
"What, you mean like, living on my own?" I said with sarcasm. But, boy was that a shock!
"Yes; on your own. It was a hard decision, but we both feel it's best. We don't know what to do with you anymore Holden; we've tried everything and you just keep messing everything up. I'm sorry son," he actually did sound sincere.
"You know what, fine. Imma go upstairs and get my stuff together and leave by the end of the day," I slammed my feet down on the ground as a jumped up and stormed inside. I walked up to my room to get my stuff and Phoebe was waiting for me on my bed. "So, I'm guessing you knew and you just didn't tell me?"
Phoebe shook her head, "Mommy just came in and told me when daddy was talking to you. Where you gonna go Holden?" boy did she sound worried.
"I dunno. Probably back to the city. Where else am I gonna go? California maybe, but I'd have to earn a hell of a lotta money to get me all the way over there," I just started rambling. I was so confused. I thought they'd take it bad, but I never saw this coming.
Phoebe walked out of my room in tears and slammed her door. I felt terrible. I let her down. I was her role model, and now she can't even look up to me. But I don’t want her to anyway. What the hell kinda example am I? Goddam it Holden! I just kept saying that to myself in my head, over and over again. I finally finished all my packing and somehow managed to squeeze everything into one backpack. I put my red hat on and walked downstairs to say goodbye to my weeping mother and my frustrated father just before walking out of the door for the last time. Well, at least until I get back on my feet. Maybe they'll forgive me if someone discovers that I'm actually a genius waiting to be found and turned into a millionaire. Nah, what the hell was I thinking? I'd never become a millionaire. I was just a screw up.
I'll skip all the boring stuff I did that day cause I don’t think you really wanna hear about it. It was basically me sitting in a park, wallowing in self-pity. That night I found myself at some small bar a couple blocks from home. I remembered I used to sit outside of that place as a kid with Phoebe there and we'd always talk about hanging out there when she got old enough. I felt a small hand touch my back and at first it didn’t phase me, but then it started poking me so I turned around only to find Phoebe there, right behind me. I jumped off the stool and questioned Phoebe like a worried mother would.
"Holden, I'm running away with you. The only reason I stay at home is to wait for you to come back from school, and now your out for good, so lets go rent a place," Phoebe said all that with a cute little girl smile on her face.
"Phoebe what the hell do you think you're doing? You can't come with me. Hell, I don’t even know where I'm going, how the hell am I supposed to watch out for you as well as figure my life out?" I sounded furious, but actually I wasn’t. I was really glad Phoebe decided to come with me, she'd keep me company, but what about my frickin' parents? "Phoebe you can't come. Mom and dad would freak."
"Don't worry about it Holden, it'll be fine. They won't even notice. The only thing they needed me for was to give you a reason to come back on your breaks," Phoebe sounded so sad, yet happy at the same time.
"I'm not sure why, but I guess I'll let you come with me. Except, I don’t know where I'm going so your just gonna have to bear with me," Phoebe was my life saver, although I still wasn't sure how I was going to support us both on the streets, you know, after I spent all my money expecting my parents to be forgiving folk.
"Sweet! Let's go to that motel we stayed at that one Christmas!" Phoebe sure seemed awful excited to be homeless.
"Okay, we can try I guess, I don’t have much money, but we'll see what we can get," Boy was I starting to sound like an adult. But I guess I had to seeing as though I basically had to be Phoebe's new dad cause she's so young and all.
Anyway, a couple days passed and Phoebe was doing great. She loved the idea of living in a motel with her big brother. Me on the other hand, boy was I getting annoyed. All she wanted to do was go to the park. I was getting so sick of that goddam park. A couple more days passed and we got kicked out of the motel because I could no longer pay. Phoebe suggested staying at the park like actual homeless people, but I wasn't up for that. I wanted a bed under a roof. Hell no was I going to sleep under a tree. But, where did we end up? Yeah that's right, we ended up at the park under a tree. Phoebe was thrilled and I couldn’t take being so poor anymore. I decided to apply for jobs the next day. But what was I going to do with Phoebe while I was at work?
"I can go with you and we can get paid double!" Boy was she clueless.
"You can't work Phoebe! Only I can! You can't! Get it? Goddam it!" I overreacted as usual and Phoebe started to cry. I felt bad so I held her and we fell asleep under the tree.
The next morning I applied for a job at some bar, but they didn’t believe me when I said I was twenty-two. So I tried the bookstore across the street. I was hired almost immediately, but I didn’t take it as a compliment or anything. I just figured the guy needed a worker so he picked the first guy up for it. He told me I was going to start the next day at 8:00 am. I grabbed Phoebe's hand and we walked out of the store.
All of the sudden, she stopped walking and just stared at the window. "Phoebe what is it? C'mon we have to get going, I don’t wanna be here all night, let's go!" I was very impatient, but didn’t even bother looking at what she was obviously interested in. She didn’t' budge. Even when I tried pulling her, her eyes were locked to some sign on the window. I finally decided to check it out and I was completely in shock.
"Lost: Phoebe Caufield (age: ____, height: ____, eyes: ____, hair: ____) If you've seen her, please call: 555-1325" That's what the sign said. I looked down at Phoebe and she wasn't there. Apparently she had run away, or back home. Either one would have screwed my life over even more. "Phoebe! Where are you? C'mon Phoebe this isn't funny!" There was no reply.
This really got me pissed cause I had to deal with finding Phoebe, as well as my parents if they could track me down in the big city. Goddam it Holden, you've really screwed up this time.
END OF CHAPTER