Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders
Dallas took a sip on his Pepsi and sat it back on the kitchen table. James looked at him. "That leg of your any better."
"Yeha."
"Good, nothing like a couple of aspirin to do the trick."
"Mmmm." Dallas agreed. In the back of his mind he thought of Ponyboy and how he always took more then a couple of aspirin. There was an awkward silence and finally James broke it.
"You know, Dallas, you're so much like your mother." he said softly.
Dallas leaned back in his chair. "And how would you know that?" he asked coolly.
James was quite. He got a far of look in his eyes and stayed silent.
"Well," Dallas asked curtly, "are you going to tell me or not?"
James nodded and took a swallow of his own Pepsi. "Annie and I grew up together. We used to spend hours helping my dad here at the center. It was his place. I moved back here a few years ago to take it over when he died."
"Get on with it."
"Okay. Well like I said we were practically joined at the hip. She was my best friend." James laughed. "She was a pistol and a half."
Dallas nodded. He tried to suppress a smile. Pistol did not begin to describe his mother. He sure missed her but he wasn't about to admit it. He should never have brought it up. Before he could say anything James went on.
" Your mother had a temper on her. You should have seen her before she could keep it in check. She got into a lot of fights the first ten years. I think the principal wanted to expel her. It's amazing she didn't get into more trouble then she did." James's eyes teared up. He brushed them away and gave a sad sort of laugh.
"She loved to play pranks. I remember the time she put sticky glue on the toilet seats in the girl's bathroom. Then there was the time when we were nine and she convinced me to help her put tacks on all the pews at the church."
This made Dallas laugh. "Sure is a long way from being a preacher aint it?"
"Hey none of us is perfect Dallas. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. But I can honestly say I loved playing pranks with your mom."
"So, what else did she rope you into?"
"We let the frogs lose in the biology lab. Your mom may have been a tough gal but she sure couldn't stand the thought of killing in the name of science. Food she was fine with, but cruelty to animals, never." James paused. "I remember the time she dove in the creek saving some poor puppies somebody tried to drown. She was about fifteen then. It was dead winter. She caught pneumonia and got to keep the pups. She was quite a woman.
Man was she ever a looker. I remember half the boys in town chased after her. Never gave them the time of day though. If they'd of tried anything she would have beat the living daylights out of them. The girls used to be so jealous of her. There they went all dolled up with makeup and pretty little dresses. Then she just wore blue jeans and worn out flannel, never did bother with her hair. And yet here were the boys going gaga over her."
"Sounds like you had a thing for my mom too." Dallas said mockingly.
James blanched but he didn't deny it.
"So I was right." Dallas laughed sarcastically. Mocking kept his mind off things.
Again, James didn't say anything. He looked down at the ground. "I think you better go now Dallas. Come back if you feel like it. You can help me at the center. I think I need to be alone for now though."
