Soda's POV:
Sometimes silence can be just as loud as a crowd of thousands. It's harder to get away from your thoughts that way; there's nothing to distract you.
Somehow, I'd managed to make it through the day for the kids, but the last thing I wanted to do was wait around in the office with Ben and Maggie for someone from Darry's babysitting service to show up. I hadn't even waited for Luke's mother to pick him up before I'd busted out of the back door and headed down the alley towards home. Call me crazy, but for some reason I didn't particularly want to be walked home like a mutt from the kennel.
Besides, I wasn't the only one who would be troubled by the thought of my being out of a job, and I wasn't itching to tell Pony or Darry. While Pony would only be frustrated at the thought of it taking even longer for us to be able to save up any dough, Darry was sure to take it a step further.
As if he didn't worry himself needlessly enough with my safety, he'd have this to agonize over too. "What ever am I gonna do with my dim-witted brother now?"
I was tired of being a burden on him. Pony tried hard not to make me feel that way, but I wasn't blind to everything he'd had to give up, either. I guess part of me knew he'd always felt guilty and responsible for what had happened that day at the river. It almost seemed like he believed that guilt would go away if he could get me back into school somehow, but over the years those dreams had really become his more than mine.
I stopped walking as I realized it was raining pretty hard. I figure it had been ever since I'd left the rec center, but I'd only just noticed then. My shoes were soaked straight through to my socks and water was trickling down my back now. I slowly realized that I wasn't even walking the right way to get home.
Looking around, I saw the dim glow and flicker of a neon sign across the creek bed. I'd never been to Buck's before, but I'd seen through the windows with Pony-when we were younger-and heard plenty of stories from Steve and Two-Bit about what went on there.
I stood there, ankle-deep in a puddle, trying to keep the rainwater from streaming into my eyes, when I felt a gruff hand take me by the shoulder.
I stiffened, seeing Darry's unyielding face flash in my mind. I'd scoffed at him and staunchly declared my bravery all those times that he'd warned me not to walk alone. At that moment, however, I wasn't as fearless as I'd thought and wished fiercely that I'd obeyed him and was still sitting dry and safe in the office of the rec center.
Before I even had my wits, I'd been spun around and was face-to-face with Dallas Winston.
He was holding his leather jacket over his head-probably to protect his cigarette. Automatically, I reached out and plucked it from between his teeth, desperately needing a drag. Dally's face went from dumbstruck to furious in a matter of seconds, as he hauled me through
the rain and into the front door of Buck's.
He stomped around for a minute, shaking his coat out and attempting to slick his hair back, before turning to me. He held his hands up and widened his eyes at me as if to ask, "What the hell were you doing out there?"
I shrugged and resigned myself to studying the grain of the wood floors, hoping he wouldn't press me for answers. Dally looked around, running his hands through his hair once more, then took me by the shoulder again, guiding me towards the bar.
As we sat side-by-side, and the barmaid slid me my first ever shot of whiskey, I silently thanked God for people like Dallas Winston.
