I don't own the Outsiders. If I did everyone would have lived and I would marry Sodapop.
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I've lived in Tulsa all my life. I've been called a greaser more times then I can count. I know people who have been jumped and nearly killed by socs. After a while you get used to the unfairness of it all. My name is Tessa, Tessa Winston. I go to East Tulsa Public High School, after school and on the weekends I waitress at the café that my aunt owns. She is my mother's sister, actually her twin, and since my mother is dead she is the closest thing I have to a mother.
The story goes that my mother was the rebel in a wealthy family. She dated a guy from the East (greaser) side of town in high school and had me shortly after her seventeenth birthday. Her parents didn't want an unmarried mother in the family and throw her out of the house. She was desperate and married my father hoping that her parents would speak to her if she were married. But her parents didn't want her to be married to a piece of white trash and refused to talk to her. My aunt secretly kept in touch with her because they were very close.
Marrying my father turned out to be the worst decision she ever made. He had and still has a bad drinking problem and one evening he was driving her to a friend's house and he was drunk. He lost control of the car and drove into a pole. She was killed instantly. I was only one year old at the time and I don't remember my mother at all. The only parent I've ever known is my father. When I was little I thought everyone's parents got drunk and beat the crap out of them. But when I got older I realized that only bad parents behaved like my father. I never have told anyone about my father and what he does. I just see it as admitting my weakness. It's not that I'm a tough person; it's just that it sounds so pathetic to say that my father beats me.
I know that my father that I had a brother who lives, at least the last I heard, in New York City but I didn't know I had a cousin. That is until the day he came, two years ago. I haven't seen him since that conversation. But when I was taking a couple's order at the café, he walked in, my cousin Dallas.
FLASHBACK
The day he came to the door I was in bad shape. I had a black eye and I was limping. These injuries were courtesy of my father of course. I didn't want to answer the door to a stranger so I asked through the door, "Who are you?"
"My name is Dallas, Dallas Winston. I think I'm your nephew. I'm fifteen. I lived in Texas for the past two years, and before that I lived in New York."
"Well I know for a fact you're not my nephew. What's your dad's name?"
"William, but he went by Will or Willy most of the time."
"I do have an Uncle Willy who lived in New York. I'm Tessa, by the way."
"Listen, Tessa, I really need a place to stay, at least for a little while. Please."
I opened the door to look at his face.
"Look, Dallas. You do not want to stay here."
"Please, I have nowhere to go."
"I'm sorry. I can't help you."
"Do you know anywhere I could go?"
"Do ride any animals. Horses, Bulls, anything?"
"Actually I do. Learned in Texas."
"Try Buck Merrill. He's an asshole and not real smart but he can always use someone to help out with his animals and to ride in the rodeos. He got this big house where he throws wild parties and shit but he lets people stay there for little or no money. I had a boyfriend who stayed with him for a bit."
"Thank you. I'll try there."
"Good luck, Dallas."
PRESENT
He stood and looked at me for a while. I spoke first.
"Dallas? Can I help you?"
"Hi Tessa. I ended up staying at Buck's. You work here?"
"Yeah. It belongs to my aunt."
"I didn't take you to be the related to a soc type. Who am I kidding? I'm here looking for one."
"What?"
"I'm looking for a girl, redhead, really pretty."
"Every guy in this town is looking for a girl, Dallas. You sure as hell aren't going to find one here."
"She said she was meeting me here. Her name's Sherry but she goes by Cherry."
"Cherry? She comes in all the time, but she has cheerleading practice for twenty more minutes."
"I'll wait."
"Okay. Have a seat."
Fifteen minutes later I get a break and go over to his table.
"I want to talk to you."
"Bout what?"
"About you being my cousin. We should get to know each other."
"You're right. We should."
"So tell me about yourself."
"Tell me about that black eye."
"Shit! Can you really see it?"
"Not really. You hid it pretty well with makeup. I only saw it cause I knew to look for it."
"You knew to look for a black eye on the cousin you only met once?"
"You had one the first time I met you."
"You remember that?"
"I remember wondering about it. How did you get it?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Just then Cherry walked in, "Hi Dally."
He smiled at her, "Hey baby."
Then he looked at me, "Come hang with me and my friends tonight."
He must have sensed that I didn't want to go to Buck's cause he said, "Not at Buck's! I have friends who go to East Tulsa High. You might know them. We're going to the movies and then hanging out at the Curtis brother's place."
"Sure, why not?"
"When do you get off?"
"In two hours."
"I'll just wait for you."
Cherry was listening to our conversation and interrupted us then, "You're seriously making plans with another girl in front of me? What the hell is wrong with you?"
I know Cherry pretty well she and I talk when the café's not busy.
"Cherry, I'm his cousin. We have the same last name."
"Oh Tessa, I didn't see it was you. He's your cousin? I didn't think you'd be related to a greaser," then she looked at Dallas. "Not that there's anything wrong with being a greaser, of course."
"Tessa's a greaser."
"Really? That must be why I didn't know you until I started coming here cause I didn't hang with greasers before I met Dally. Gosh, now I'm sounding so rude. I'm sorry!"
"It's okay Cherry. Can I get your order?"