Star Light, Star Bright
AN: Been a while since I've submitted anything on here.
Hinton owns all characters.
Dallas Winston sat on the edge of the river bank, swinging his long legs over the water. It was a cool evening which would undoubtedly reach freezing in a few hours. He could vouch for that first hand.
About twenty feet away stood the old bridge he'd been sleeping under for the past three nights. He'd often seen guys fishing off here in the summer, with home-made sandwiches and juices in cooler boxes. He'd never got what anybody dug about fishing. It just seemed a stupid waste of time to him but he guessed he'd never really been taught how. He supposed when other Dads were taking their sons fishing his old man was at a rodeo or lying in a gutter somewhere. He knew that Mr Curtis used to take Darry fishing sometimes but the few times that Soda had gone along they'd come home early because they said he couldn't sit still and made such a racket he scared off all the fish.
Dallas stared down into the murky depths of the water as he thought about Mr Curtis. He'd always thought that if you had to have parents, the Curtis' were pretty much the best you could hope for. It sucked that they were gone now. A year ago today as it happened which was why he wasn't at the Curtis place now, and why he'd been giving the place a wide berth all week. Dallas didn't deal well with death or grief and if steering clear of both of those things meant he had to sleep rough for a few nights then so be it. He'd slept in worse places.
He'd been pretty much undisturbed down here by the river and he hadn't slept too badly despite the cold. In fact the only time he'd really been bothered was when he'd heard some bum singing on top of the bridge in the early hours. After yelling at the drunkard to keep it down and being completely ignored he'd gotten up grumpily to teach the guy a lesson. Turned out it was Two-Bit and that, coupled with the fact he had a bag full of beer, softened Dallas' mood somewhat. He'd threatened to bust his head in if he told any of the guys where he'd been sleeping but Two-Bit had assured him there was nothing to tell.
The bum was probably too drunk to even remember running into him at all. Or not.
Dallas squinted in the darkness as he heard the unmistakable sound of somebody trudging through the long grass. It must be Two-Bit coming to find him, maybe to see if he wanted to hunt some action. Truth was, Dallas wasn't really in the mood.
He was surprised to discover that the figure wasn't Two-Bit. The person was too short and too slight to be Mathews and on closer inspection he realized it was Johnny.
"Hey, Johnnycakes, what you doin' here, man?"
"Looking for you," Johnny said quietly, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans jacket. Even in the semi darkness Dallas could see he was hurt, his body leaning somewhat to the right. Dallas knew from personal experience that that favouring your right side was the easiest way to walk after you'd taken a pounding to the left side of your rib cage. He felt a silent rage towards Johnny's bastard parents but he didn't let on, instead he raised his head enquiringly.
"How'd you know where to find me?"
"Two-Bit said you been sleeping under the bridge."
Big mouth wise ass, Dallas thought, making a mental note to kick Mathews' ass later.
Johnny came over and sat down beside him, mimicking his position and dangling his legs over the river. The laces of his sneakers were undone and they trailed in the water as both boys sat silently for a few moments.
"I didn't wanna go over to the Curtis place, you know," Johnny eventually said, and Dallas nodded his understanding. They didn't need to say anymore, they both knew what the date was.
Dallas reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offering one to Johnny before lighting one up for himself.
Voices from behind them caused Johnny to stiffen and slip on his all too familiar 'deer in the headlights' expression. Dallas hated it when he looked like that, it reminded him of that damn day they'd found him bleeding in the lot, his face a mess of cuts from a Soc who wore too many rings. Damn cowards. If he ever got his hands on the guys that did that…
"Stay cool, Johnny," he said softly, his hand going to his pocket for his switch.
A low whistle made both boys relax as they recognized the familiar greeting. It was one of their own.
"So this is where the party is." Two-Bit grinned widely at them as he approached, a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
"So you really are sleeping out here, Dal," Steve Randle said from behind him. "Glory, it must get cold."
Dallas rolled his eyes. Jesus, you couldn't hide from anybody, even way out here.
"You ever kept a secret in your life, Mathews?" He growled with menace.
"Secret?" Two-Bit gulped theatrically and looked from Steve to Dallas like he was thinking about making a run for it. He didn't fool Dallas for a minute.
"Gimme that bottle you little rat," he grumbled, stretching out and snatching the bottle once it was in reach.
"Hey Johnny." Two-Bit flopped down on the other side of Johnny and Steve slid down next to Dallas.
"Hey Two-Bit, Steve." Johnny gave them a half smile.
"So, this is the new fad." Two-Bit spread out his arm dramatically towards the river and the darkening sky. "Dallas Winston's a star gazer, come out here to be at one with nature. And we all know wherever Dally walks, a crowd follows,"
"Can you swim?" Dallas cut in icily, fixing his piercing blue eyes on Two-Bit's jovial face.
Two-Bit looked confused.
"Yeah, why?"
"'Cause if you don't shut up in the next two seconds you're gonna get a chance to prove it. You dig?"
Steve snorted but Two-Bit was unphased.
"What's the matter with you? Wake up on the wrong side of the bridge?"
Dallas lurched forward but Johnny, sandwiched between the two, jolted forward blocking Two-Bit from reach.
"Come on guys, not tonight," he pleaded.
They all fell quiet as they remembered just why they were sat in the cold by the river instead of the warmth of the Curtis living room.
"You see Soda today?" Dallas finally asked Steve, first taking a swig of the whiskey and then a long slow drag on his cigarette.
Steve shook his head.
"He didn't come into work."
The others looked at him in surprise. Like Darry, Soda never missed a days work. He'd worked right through the flu just last month, using one hand to fill up cars and the other to keep a handkerchief clamped firmly over his nose. Steve wouldn't let him near anything he was working on, too afraid of catching the virus.
Yeah, Soda had to be feeling pretty bad not to have gone into work.
"Come to think of it, I didn't see Pony at school today either," Two-Bit said thoughtfully.
At the thought of the Curtis brothers at home in pieces, Dallas felt angry. He knew he should probably be sorry, but he wasn't sorry, just mad. The universe could be a mean bastard when it wanted to be.
"You got a smoke, Dal?" Steve asked his friend, holding out his hand. Dallas gave the whiskey to Johnny while he fished in his coat for his cigarettes. After Steve helped himself, he passed the pack back.
"Hey down here, don't be shy," Two-Bit called hopefully.
"What am I, the salvation army?" Dallas muttered, but he threw the pack along just as Two-Bit knew he would.
"So what are you guys up to tonight?" Johnny asked Two-Bit softly, handing him the whiskey bottle.
"I'm broke and Kathy dumped me again." Two-Bit tried to sound morose but they'd heard it too many times to feel any empathy.
"Well maybe if you stop cheating on her, she'll stop dumping you," Steve said sarcastically from the other end of their row.
Two-Bit appeared to think it over.
"It might do the trick…but, nah, not gonna happen." He grinned. "I got too much love to share,"
"Too much love and not enough brains," Steve retorted. "My old man kicked me out again. Tonight of all nights. The one night I got no place else to crash."
"Ditto," Johnny said softly.
"Looks like your bridge is gonna get pretty crowded, huh, Dal?" Two-Bit piped up cheerfully.
"Shut up, Two-Bit," Steve and Dallas said in unison.
"Hey!" Two-Bit called and pointed into the night's sky where the first star had come out overhead. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight!"
They all followed his hand to stare at the singular star glowing in the darkness.
"Come on guys, make a wish!" Two-Bit urged gleefully with all the maturity of a seven year old.
"I wish for you to shut the hell up," Dallas said flatly. Steve and Johnny laughed.
"Aw come on guys, make a wish, just one wish," Two-Bit coaxed.
"I wish for a house all to myself," Johnny said, smiling in amusement at Two-Bit.
"That's the spirit!" Two-Bit waved his whiskey bottle wildly and Dallas wondered vaguely how much he'd consumed that day. "What about you, Steve?"
"Alright, I wish for a mustang," Steve said. "A convertible in red."
"I wish for a broad who keeps her legs open and her mouth closed." Dallas smirked, flipping up the collar of his coat to combat the growing wind.
"Now that-" Two-Bit pointed at Dallas with purpose, "is one hell of a wish, brother. But there ain't no such thing, trust me."
"What about you then, smart mouth?" Dallas demanded. "What do you wish?"
"For another bottle of whiskey of course," Two-Bit said, shaking the near empty bottle.
Dallas rolled his eyes while thinking at the same time that he wouldn't say no to a share in that.
"Wonder what Pony and the guys are doing now," Johnny said absently, staring up at the almost full moon.
As they all fell quiet again, each of them made a real wish, one that they would keep to themselves and amazingly, they all wished for the same thing.
Johnny, battered and bruised by neglectful parents didn't wish for a new set or a place of his own.
Steve, homeless for the night yet again, didn't wish his dad would stop drinking or his mom would come home.
Two-Bit, dumped and broke, didn't wish that Kathy would forgive him or that he'd stumble into a free bar.
And Dally, sleeping under a bridge without a decent family member to his name, didn't wish for a warm bed or a big brother to take him under his wing.
All four of them wished to take back the night that had occurred a year ago today, the night that had not only robbed Darry, Soda and Pony of parents, but the four of them too. They'd always preferred the Curtis place to their own and there'd been a reason for that. Mr and Mrs Curtis made them all feel like a real family.
"Come on." Two-Bit slung an arm round Johnny, finally breaking the silence. "You can crash at mine, Johnnycakes,"
"Room for one more?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure," Two-Bit answered, getting to his feet. "Hey, you coming, Dal? We can make it a slumber party,"
"Nah, I'm good," Dallas answered, pulling his coat tighter about himself as the other boys stood up.
"It's awful cold tonight, Dally," Johnny said hesitantly.
"It's been colder." Dallas shrugged and stared out across the water. He didn't need charity from anyone.
"Come on, you'll catch pneumonia out here," Steve put in. "I'm surprised you ain't already."
Dallas looked up at his three friends all looking at him expectantly and felt an involuntary warmth in the pit of his stomach. This was what people never understood, what Tim Shepard was always confused about. Why exactly did cold mean Dallas Winston hang out with guys who weren't even in a real gang? They got him.
They cared without making him feel like a pussy, and if need be, they'd die for him, every one of them, the Curtis brothers included. How many people could Tim say that about?
Of course, being Dally he didn't jump up straight away.
"If you start singing at three am, Mathews, I'm out, you hear me?" He barked gruffly.
"Cross my heart," Two-Bit said innocently.
The three of them waited until he caught up with them before they started out across the grass.
"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer!" Two-Bit sang gaily.
Dallas punched him none too gently on the arm.
"I thought I told you to cut that shit out!" He snapped.
"You said, don't do it at three am!" Two-Bit rubbed his arm, looking wounded. "I figured I had at least-" he squinted at his wrist watch "-five hours to go."
"He's got a point," Johnny chuckled from beside him.
"Thanks Johnny," Two-Bit smiled, clearing his throat. "Ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall, ninety eight bottles of beer, pick one up, smash one down, ninety six bottles of beer on the wall!"
"Get him!" Steve elbowed Dallas and the two took off after the still singing Two-Bit, who was now running for his life. Johnny hurried after them chuckling, the four figures now fast moving shadows under the night's sky.
Above them, the lone star they had wished on had been joined by dozens more. The black sky was lit up like it wore a million diamonds. And even though each of them had known that their secret wish could never come true, that first star still sparkled more brightly than any other.
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