In The Ghetto
Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Outsiders'. I also do not own the lyrics to Elvis's song, 'In The Ghetto'.
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Dallas Winston barely noticed when Ponyboy and Two-Bit left the hospital room. His mind was filled with angry thoughts as he stared at Two-Bit's fancy switch blade and he knew that if he didn't think about things that made him mad, then he'd end up thinking about Johnny. He didn't want to think about Johnny being in another room down the hall; fighting for his life.
The thought of Johnny reminded Dally of how unfair life was. Dally had grown up on the streets for most of his life because his old man didn't want him around and his mother lived in an old apartment in New York with her current boyfriend. He lived with his mom for a few years after the divorce. But after he was put in jail for causing trouble, she sent him back to his father. He was twelve when his mom sent him back to Tulsa and he'd already been to jail in New York a few times.
Dally recalled the tears in his mother's eyes when he said he hated her. For a brief second, he had regretted it. But then he remembered how her boyfriend had tried to grab him, but Dally shoved him and ran to where the train was waiting. He never looked back. His mother probably didn't care if she saw him again anyway.
Being back in Tulsa wasn't much better. He was with his friends again, but he also had to put up with his old man who barely acknowledged him. His father never said anything about him getting into trouble all the time. Part of Dally wished he would. He wanted his father to tell him that he shouldn't do the things that he did, but knew that he never would.
Sometimes, the cops would tell him to stay out of trouble, but that was only because they didn't know how to deal with him. No one knew how to get him to control his anger. Then again, how should they when it was their fault for his anger in the first place?
Dally never asked to be born on the poor side of town. He never said that he wanted to go to New York shortly after his ninth birthday. No, everything was everyone else's fault and somehow he always had to take the blame. And to him that wasn't fair.
"What are you doing with that blade?" Dally looked up at the nurse who was now setting a tray of food beside the bed.
"Let me leave," Dally said. He suddenly wanted to see Johnny.
"I can't do that," the nurse told him. "Not until that arm heals a little more."
"Look, I've had worse injuries than this," Dally snapped. "Now let me go or you'll be laying on your own hospital bed."
He pointed the blade toward her and she backed up. A smile crossed his face as he realized that she was going to let him leave and all because the nurse was convinced that he'd slit her throat if she didn't. He'd learned at a young age that he could get his way if he threatened people.
Several minutes later, he walked into Johnny's hospital room and held back a gasp when he saw how badly his friend was burned. He didn't want to believe Two-Bit when he said that Johnny didn't look good, but now he had no choice and it scared him.
"Johnny?" Dally asked softly as he nervously sat down next to the still figure on the bed.
Johnny slowly opened his eyes and smiled weakly. He looked smaller than usual on that bed and weak. Dally didn't think Johnny could look so weak, but he did.
"Two-Bit and Ponyboy just came by," Dally said even though he knew they had seen Johnny first.
"Two-Bit got me another copy of Gone With The Wind," Johnny said and Dally had to lean over to hear him. "Pony and I were reading it at the church."
"I'm going to the rumble tonight," Dally told him. "After I get Buck's car."
"Dally," Johnny started to speak, but Dally stopped him.
"I'm going to be in that rumble," Dally repeated. "Those socs aren't going to get away with what they did."
"But you want me to get away with what I did?" Johnny asked and Dally lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He wasn't used to hearing Johnny stick up for himself.
"That's different," Dally said.
"No, it's not," Johnny argued. His voice was still soft, but it had a firmness that Dally never heard him use before. "I killed one of them. They didn't kill me or Pony."
"They could have," Dally replied and from the way Johnny closed his eyes, he knew he had struck a nerve. He knew that Johnny was aware that Ponyboy could have drowned if he hadn't killed that soc. However, Dally also knew that Johnny hated to hurt anything. Not even a fly. "Johnny, what you did was in self-defense. Those socs tried to hurt you and Pony on purpose. They were looking for a fight."
"So, you think you can get revenge by having a novel?" Johnny asked.
"Johnny, those socs have been jumping greasers for way to long," Dally said angrily. "If we win this rumble, they have to stay on their own turf."
Johnny sighed as he closed his eyes again. "You can't always protect me and Pony. You know that don't you? You can't always get revenge for us."
"Two-Bit wants to be in this rumble, too," Dally pointed out. "And what about Darry and Sodapop? Don't you think they'd want some revenge? After all, Pony is their kid brother."
Dally knew that Johnny couldn't argue with that. If Johnny killed a soc in order to save Ponyboy, how could he argue about Darry and Soda being in the rumble?
"I'm pretty bad off," Johnny said suddenly.
"You're going to be fine," Dally said with determination.
"Dally, I don't have much time left," Johnny said in a gentle tone. "Earlier, I told Ponyboy that I wasn't ready to die. But how can I decide if it's my time or not?"
"Don't talk like that," Dally told Johnny.
"Can you bring Pony here after the rumble?" Johnny asked. "I have something to tell him and I want to make sure he hears it before I go."
"You're not going anywhere, but I'll bring him," Dally promised as he stood up. "I'll see you after the rumble."
"You can't always have things your way," Johnny said as Dally left. Dally paused briefly, then continued to walk down the hall and outside. He always got what he wanted and he was sure that he'd get what he wanted when it came to Johnny, too. He needed Johnny. If he had his way, Johnny would be okay. There was no way that he would accept anything else.
xxxxxxx
Ponyboy looked surprised to see him at the rumble a few hours later. But it wasn't long before the kid was fighting next to him. Something Dally didn't think would ever happen since Ponyboy had always seemed a little afraid of him.
"I don't need your help!" Dally shouted as Ponyboy shoved a soc off of him.
"You can only use one arm and I'm the smallest guy here," Ponyboy reminded him.
Dally looked at him briefly before grabbing a near by soc. He didn't want to admit that Ponyboy was right, but he had no choice. It was almost impossible to fight off the socs with only one arm and even when he used the burned one, it didn't help much.
"They're running!" Two-Bit yelled after what seemed like a few minutes to Dally. Although, he knew the rumble had lasted longer than that. He looked around, blinking as if he were coming out of a daze and noticed Soda as he dropped down to his knees next to Steve who was clutching his chest in pain.
"Come on," Dally said suddenly as he pulled Ponyboy to his feet. "Johnny wants to see you."
xxxxxx
When they got to Johnny's hospital room, Dally felt a sense of fear that he wasn't used to, but he pushed it aside.
"We beat the socs," Dally announced as he and Ponyboy entered the room.
"Fighting won't solve anything," Johnny said weakly.
"They're still writing about you in the paper," Dally told him. "We're all proud of you."
Johnny smiled, then motioned for Ponyboy to lean closer. He told him something about staying gold and Dally wondered what he was talking about and noticed that Ponyboy looked confused, too. But Ponyboy only nodded as Johnny closed his eyes.
"Johnny?" Dally asked after a few minutes of silence and he could hear Ponyboy's quiet sobs. He pushed back Johnny's hair and looked helplessly at Ponyboy who looked away in an attempt to hide his tears. "Please Johnny, don't die. You can't leave me. Please, don't die!"
But Dally knew his pleas were too late. Johnny was already gone. Tears filled Dally's own eyes as he recalled Johnny's words earlier that day. He was used to getting his own way, and now Johnny's warning had come true. Dally took one last look at Johnny's still body on the bed, then slammed his fist into the wall.
xxxxxx
Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
After he left the hospital, Dally drove around Tulsa not knowing what to do or where to go. He remembered how he had felt numb when Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were killed in the auto wreck, but he didn't feel that way now. His eyes were filled with tears and a huge lump had formed in his throat.
"I need you, Johnny!" Dally yelled in desperation even though he knew Johnny couldn't hear him. It was true, Dally did need Johnny. Even though Dally had always looked out for Johnny, he needed the younger greaser just as much as Johnny needed him if not more.
Johnny was more than a friend to Dally. He was like a younger brother. Even when they were in grade school before Dally moved to New York, he would see it as his duty to protect Johnny. And Johnny never seemed to mind. In fact, Johnny had always looked up to Dally and Dally knew it.
However, Johnny never knew that Dally secretly admired him. There was something about the way that Johnny managed not to be hateful that Dally liked. He knew that Johnny had seen to much to have the innocence of a child. After all, he had wandered the streets with him and Tim Shephard. Yet, somehow Johnny had managed not to get hardened despite his living conditions. In fact, Johnny was everything Dally secretly wished he could be.
Dally finally ended up in a parking lot outside of a grocery store. He wondered briefly how he ended up there since he had no idea where he was going. Then, he broke down and cried, slamming his fist against the dashboard of the car and cursing because there was nothing he could do to bring Johnny back.
"How am I supposed to live without you, Johnny?" Dally cried. "How am I supposed to go on?"
Dally lifted his head and looked at the grocery store. He didn't have the energy to move, but somehow he found himself sticking the gun in his pocket and getting out of the car. Then he walked into the grocery store and blankly looked at the items on the shelves until the person working asked him to buy something or leave. Dally looked at him and saw another adult that didn't care. Another adult who thought that he was nothing but trouble.
After a minute of looking at the clerk, Dally knew what he had to do and exactly how to do it. He'd thought of it many times before, but never attempted it. Now, he had no reason not to.
"Give me all the money," Dally said as he pulled the gun out of his pocket.
"Please, I don't want any trouble," the clerk pleaded and Dally found it amusing that the clerk suddenly didn't want to mess with him.
"The money," Dally repeated through clenched teeth.
The clerk quickly handed Dally a wad of cash from the register and Dally ran out the door. He ran down the street, leaving the car in the parking lot, until he got to a pay phone where he called Darry.
"Johnny's dead," Dally said once Darry answered. He wasn't sure if he said it to let Darry know that Johnny was gone or if he was trying to convince himself that Johnny really was gone.
"We know," Darry replied. "Pony told us."
"Look, I just knocked off a grocery store," Dally said, as he heard sirens in the distance.
"You what?" Darry replied.
"The fuzz are after me," Dally interrupted. "Meet me at the lot and hide me at your place."
"Dally, I don't know about this," Darry said.
"Meet me at the lot," Dally repeated and hung up before Darry could reply.
He ran and as he got closer to the lot, he could see the lights of the cop cars flashing as they also got near in the windows of some of the houses ahead of him. He could also see the rest of the gang running, or attempting to run to the lot to meet him.
The cops caught up with Dally before the gang could and he pulled out the gun. He realized for the first time that he was shaking. Johnny had told him that he couldn't always get his way and now he had to decide quickly if he wanted to do this or not. He could just as easily drop the gun and go back into the cooler for awhile. But for what? He had no reason to live. At least no reason that he knew of. Johnny was gone. So, Dally turned and pointed the gun at the first cop he saw.
"Dally, stop!" Dally thought he heard Steve yell that, but he wasn't sure.
"Drop the gun," one of the cops yelled.
Dally silently put his finger on the trigger, knowing that he wouldn't hurt the cop since it wasn't loaded. And just like he planned, the cops took out their own guns and shot him because as far as they knew, he was carrying a loaded weapon. They didn't know that they weren't in any real danger. As Dally fell to the ground, shouts filled the night sky as the remaining members of the gang ran toward him.
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
Dally had died instantly just as he had hoped. As his friends looked at his still body laying in the street, they knew that he got what he wanted. At least that's what they thought. But the truth is, Dally never really got what he wanted.
Buried underneath all the hatred had been a young man who just wanted someone to love him. Someone to accept him. Dally learned how to hate because no one really took the time to get to know him and to care about him. They just assumed that he was an uncaring hoodlum who just wanted to cause trouble.
If they had tried to get to know him and get below the surface, they would have realized that Dally wasn't as hard and uncaring as he seemed. He was just a young man who was hurting inside because he never really got the love that he craved. Instead, he got judged and looked down on because that's how everyone reacted to greasers. No one ever really gave him or his friends a chance. And no matter what happened, that fact never changed. It was just an unspoken reality anytime
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto.