Okay...okay...okay. Sigh, grumble, tap dance, yawn.
I've been busy lately. This week especially. Exams and what not. You know, work before play, and things of that nature. But I had most of this done for a while. I also almost have the first chapter for the Roofer and the Debutant, and a small part of the first chapter for Viva Las Vegas!.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. I only own the relatives of Dally, and many nameless, faceless, insignificant others.
Warnings : Language (obviously, hello, WINSTON family. heh..), violence ( again, obvious ) and mention of homosexuality( If it bothers you, then don't read, cause there'll be more about it later chapters.)
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Dallas laid down on his cot, just staring at a spot on the ceiling. This wasn't going to be a very good week. Tomorrow he'd be taking his cousins out around town. Now, although they have alot in common ( Like they all have high-cheek bones and lynx like ears, they wear jeans and t-shirts, ungreased hair, and they all have a parton saint medal, although Dallas was the only one with St.Christopher, and all tough as a coffin nail ) But there was alot different too. Possibly the most different of the four was Ashley.
Aside from having a girls name, He wore girls dark denim bellbottoms and t-shirts that are too small and tie-dyed dark colors. Unlike most people on the Winston side of the family, his hair was jet black and fell over his shoulders, and his eyes were violet ( This led to much teasing, especially from his cousins, who insist on calling him Liz Taylor) He was the shortest of his cousins, only being 5'9. He lives out in San Fancisco His medal was of St. Sebastian
Then there was Beau-Jacques. His father wanted to name him Jack, after his Grandfather, but his mother wanted to name him Beau, after her Grandfather. So they compromised with Beau-Jacques. He had dirty blond hair that went down to the middle of his back, but was always tied back. His eyes were a blue-ish green. He had the same build as Dallas, and all his jeans and t's were faded and bleached from working in the sun almost every day. He lived out in a swamp somewhere in Louisiana. His medal was of St. Eligius
Last, but not least, was Adrian. He had shaggy light brown hair that was longer in the front than it was in the back and his eyes were grey. He stood over 6'5 and a good strong build. His father and mother had met in Moscow. They had lived there, too, untill about 5 years ago, when they moved to Alaska.English wasn't one of his strengths, and he always wore black jeans with a black t- shirt. His medal was St. Andrew.
Also going on tomorrow, was a rumble. They had it planed for a few days now. Two weeks earlier, some girl from the west side had gotten raped. Just about everybody on the west side thinks it was done by someone on the east side. But everyone on the east side thinks it was done by someone on the west side.The victim had been drugged, so can't recall who had done it. Everybody on both sides of town was starting to get sick of the spontaneous jumpings every other hour. They ( Dally, Tim, Two-Bit and some of the Burmly boys and several socs) had a meeting several days ago. After a couple of hours of arguing, they agreed to the rumble, the time, date and location were to be decided on a different day.
Dallas closed his eyes, then heard someone fall off of their cot. Judging by the French curses, he figured Beau-Jacques had rolled over and off of his bed. He heard a chuckle from Adrian, and a tired grumble from Ashley. Apparently Dallas wasn't the only one still awake.
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Dallas was the second one to wake up. Beau-Jacques was first up. He was already dressed, made his cot, and had started breakfast. The first thing he said to Dallas when he got into the kitchen was, ' You sleep in late 'round here, homme."
"Late? It's seven fuckin' thirty on a Saturday!"
"That's pretty late, Dal."
"Is not"
"Is too"
"Is not"
"Is too"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is nje," Adrian appeared in the kitchen while Dallas and Beau-Jacques were arguing, " Now stop beeckering. You two are seeventeen, nje seeven."
"Don't fuckin' tell me you're takin' his side?"
"Da, I am takeng hes side."
"Fuck. Why doesn't any one agree with me?"
"I agree with ya Dallas." Ashley said, yawning, as he stumbled into the kitchen, " Seven thirity is way to early.."
"Well, you're opinion doesn't count." Dallas growled.
"Since when?"
"Since you became a faggot."
The second that word left Dally's mouth, Ashley lunged at him, tackling him to the floor. They fought for at least five minutes before Adrian and Beau-Jaques intervened.
Adrian had lifted Dallas off the floor, and Beau-Jaques had just held Ashley back. They were still trying to get at each other. After a few minutes, they calmed down. Adrian put Dallas down and Beau-Jaques moved away from Ashley, and back to the stove. A few moments of silence later, Dally and Ashley started flighting again.
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Dallas had just gone to the store to pick up a few things for Beau-Jaques, who insisted on making supper ( The parents were going out, and none of them were (legally) old enough to go). He said he was making something called 'Dirty Rice',but only a few of the ingredients he needed were at the house. He needed rice, green bellpeper, celery, onions, and.. Half a pound of chicken liver? Jesus Christ...and a quarter of a pound of ...what the fuck part of the fuckin' chicken is the fuckin gizzard? When he was walking home, he had bumped into Two-Bit.
"Ho-ly shit, " Was the first thing Two-Bit had said.
"What? No hello?" Dallas faked an offended tone of voice.
"Where'd ya get that shiner?"
"Oh, that. Naw, I was just in a fight this mornin' "
"What?" Two-Bit asked," I thought those Soc's knew better, man, there ain't supposed to be anythi--"
"I didn't get in a fight with a soc, Two-Bit, alright?"
"Then who'd the fuck else would be stupid enough to pick a fight with you?"
"Ashley."
"A girl gave you a black eye!?" Two-Bit asked, in a ridiculously loud whisper.
"Shut the fuck up, ya mook!" Dallas growled, " Ashley my fuckin' cousin, man. He got alittle P.O'ed this mornin."
"Shit, man. Are your cousin's gunna be at the rumble?"
I knew I forgot something... " Yeah, they'll be there."
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When Dallas got home, he was almost run down by Beau-Jaques. He took the bags from Dallas, and began rummaging though it,"Yes, this is great. Thank you." He said, then hurried back into the kitchen. Dallas followed him, " Hey, Beau...just what the part of the fucking chicken is the gizzard?"
"The stomach." He said, unloading the bag.
"Man, that's fuckin' gross."
"Oh, trust me, you'll love it." Beau-Jaques said, taking a knife out of the drawer.
"Riiiiight..." Dallas shook his head, " Hey, guys, can you come in here for a moment.." He called to Adrain and Ashley, who had been playing gin in the living room.
They put their cards face down on the table, then headed into the kitchen, " Yeah?"
"Sit down a sec. I need to talk to ya'll."
Ashley and Adrian sat down, Beau-Jaques just kept doing what he was doing.
"Alright, now, it's like this...there's a rumble goin' on tonight, alot of Soc's are really pissed, and we're expecting more soc's there than usual. Which means we're gunna need more people for our side. So are you guys in?"
"You...want us to help in a rumble?" Ashley questioned.
"Yeah..pretty much."
After a moment, Beau-Jaques said, " I'll do it."
"Great...Adrian, what about you?"
Adrian paused for a moment, " Well..There es sayeng en Russia, ' V chuzhoy monastyr' so svoim ustavom ne khodyat' ."
"Huh?"
"Nobody goes to another monastery weth one's own charter..."
Dallas raised an eyebrow, and Adrian smirked, " Is like sayeng in Amereca, 'Vhen en Rome, Do as Romans' , da?"
Well, it's close enough, Dallas thought, " Yeah. Thats it. Good. So, that leaves you, Lizzie."
Ashley glared at his cousin," You want me to help you in a rumble?"
"Yeah, yeah. I mean, you're pretty tough...for a -"
"For a fag?" Ashley finished.
"Oh, don't be like that, Ash. Come on, you know I'm only foolin' around. I know you ain't like that..."
Ashley looked away..
"Ash...Ash, come on, I know you ain't like that..."
Ashley didn't say anything..
"Ash...Ashley, man...you ain't like that...right?"
There was three sets of eyes on Ashley. He offered no verbal answer. He reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. Opening it, he took out a small photo and handed it to Dallas. Beau-Jaques and Adrian went and stood over Dally's shoulders to look at the picture, too.
There was two people in the picture, the one on the left they knew was Ashely, the one on the right was slightly taller than Ashley with short, black greased hair and dark eye, a Mexican, it looked like. Both boys in the photo were smiling.
"Who'sat?"
"Santiago."
"Shit...no way...no fuckin' way, Ash...I mean...you can't be..."
"Why can't I?"
"Because...because..."
"Because why, huh? Give me a good reason why I can't be."
"I mean...I..mean, come on...you're tougher than a number of guys 'round here...Hell, Ash, you're tougher than some guys I met in the joint."
"Man, bein' tough or not ain't got nothin' to do with it." Ashley stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over. He snatched the photo back and left the room.
"...Fuck!"
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Supper was awkward, to say the least. No one was talking, and they seemed to avoid eye contact. About ten minutes into supper, the phone rang. Ashley had gotten up to answer it, he answered it, " City Morgue.."
Dallas jumped up and snatched the phone away from Ashley, shoving him back toward the table
"What?" Dallas practically yelled into the phone, causing his cousins to hold back a laugh.
"Yeah?...uh huh..what? Two-Bit, you moron, you told me seven...six?" He looked over at the clock on the wall, it was twenty to six, " Fuck. Ok..yeah...we'll be there in a few." He hung up the phone.
"What is it?"
"We gotta go."
"What? You said that rumble wasn't going down at seven"
"Yeah, I know, they fuckin changed the time earlier.."
Adrian and Beau-Jaques stood up and went to get ready, Ashley stayed sitting.
Dallas shifted his weight from one leg to the other, then went over to the table, " Ash...are...are you commin, or what?"
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"Hey, Dal. So I guess these are your cousins, huh?" Steve asked, looking at the two boys walking behind Dallas.
"Uh...yeah, this is Adrian, and that one's Beau-Jaques. Guys, this is Steve...that one's Two-Bit, and these guys here are Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy, " He turned to his cousins slightly, " They's brothers." His cousins nodded.
They waited around for nearly twenty minutes before cars started driving up and boys got out.
Adrian leaned toward Dallas, " Vhat are zey veaing?" He asked.
"Don't ask." Was his reply.
Tim Shepard was the Greaser that was going to start the rumble this time. Time seemed to slow down as Tim and one of the Soc's tried to stare each other down. Beau-Jaques was feeling a little nervous. The biggest thing he ever had to fight was an alligator that refused to leave the back step. He (barely) won that fight...he needed over 100 stitches. He hoped humans were easier to fight.
Things seemed to speed up after the first punch was thrown.
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- I originally was going to make this chapter longer, but then I wouldn't have anything for other chapters. Ha ha.