Slashed Tires Chapter 25
A/N: Okay, well. It's getting there. Changed it a bit, cause I forgot some stuff that I was supposed to write before. Bear with me kay?
Dallas gritted his teeth and slowed the car reluctantly: he'd hit another red light. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, replaying the scene with Cherry over in his mind for what was probably the fiftieth time.
He caught himself smiling dreamily, and jerked himself back to the present. `This is stupid,' he thought angrily. It would never work.
"You are a greaser, Dallas. She's a Soc. The twain shall never meet," he said out loud. Dallas blinked in surprise. `The twain shall never meet?' he thought, frowning. It was probably something Ponyboy had said. He had the kids on his mind.
The light changed, and he sped the car forward, hearing the engine strain against the sudden movement. A car horn blared but he ignored it, his mind already back to the girl.
It was just the thrill of the chase.
`That's it,' Dallas thought, sighing with relief. It was nothing more. He didn't really care about her. He didn't care about anyone really.
`Except maybe, Johnny,' he thought, and the car roared, the speedometer hitting 90. He smirked, and slowed down (a speeding ticket was the last thing he needed). If only Two-Bit could see him now. Dallas shrugged the thought away from him. He liked the driver's seat best anyway.
His mind returned to the pressing subject of his feelings. `I care about Johnny,' he thought pointedly. `A lot. Maybe even love-' he winced, `the guy. But Cherry I don't care about.' That thought felt so wrong he sped up past the 90 mark, nearly running through a light. He slammed down on the brakes, the car jerking to a stop, and listened to the answering squeals of brake meeting asphalt behind him.
`Okay,' he thought, absently toying with a rip in his shirt. `I do care about Cherry. But I don't love-" try as he might, he couldn't stop flinching at that damned word, `her. But I love Johnny. So I'm gay??'
"No!" He said angrily. "We've been over this Dallas. You aren't gay. You don't love him that way..." But was it really possible to love someone in a different way? Johnny wasn't his brother or anything. `Maybe I love Cherry, and I don't love Johnny, but I just don't know which feeling is love.' His mind was spinning, searching desperately for answers he didn't have and was never equipped to deal with in the first place.
"Goddamn!" Dallas shouted suddenly, slamming his fist into the car horn. "Stupid ass feelings! I'm not gay, I don't love Cherry, and I...oh fuck, that is it, SCREW FEELINGS!" He leaned angrily on the horn for no reason except to demonstrate his new found hatred of emotions. The man in the car beside him gave Dallas the strangest look, but he didn't care at that point.
Dally pressed down firmly on the gas pedal, not caring that the light hadn't quite changed yet. Anger and frustration burned inside him. These were the feelings he was familiar with. He twisted the wheel violently, turning on to the freeway. The car leapt over a bump, soaring in the air, then landed, taking his breath away for a moment. He was going way too fast already, but he sped up even more, frantically trying to escape the dangerous feelings that haunted him.
~
Johnny yawned. He felt sleepy under the afternoon sun. He longed to be taking a nap like Ponyboy was, but it wasn't safe. He had to keep a lookout. His stomach rumbled and he reached for his baloney sandwich, only to throw it back in disgust. The thought of more baloney almost made him retch. A car roared in the distance, but so far no one had come near the church. Johnny wasn't worried. But as the car began to get louder he tensed. He stood, getting ready to yell at Pony to run for it. Finally he spotted it, soaring over the winding roads, at 90 or more, the engine pushed to its limit, heading straight for the church. The old T-Bird screamed down the road, disappearing in a cloud of dust when it pulled up at the church. Johnny backed up, staring at the slowly emerging vehicle. A slim, blond boy slammed the car door, and leaned on the T-Bird, head cocked, gazing back at him. Johnny's breath caught in his throat. After so long, it almost seemed like a dream...
The whistle started low, soft, and long, then suddenly, it swooped up, piercing the air in a shrill note. Johnny's excitement mounted, and he was barely able to return the call, before tearing down the steps and launching himself at the first human being beside Ponyboy he'd seen in a week.
"Oof!" Dally staggered back under the weight of the smaller boy. Johnny was thin, pale, his hair cut and horribly untuff. Dallas hadn't been prepared for such a drastic change in appearance. And he most certainly hadn't been prepared for Johnny throwing himself at him.
"I'm so glad to see you!" Johnny fairy squealed. Dallas had to bite his lip to keep from saying the same thing.
"What the hell happened to your hair?" Dallas demanded, untangling himself from the boy's grasp. Johnny blushed.
"We cut it. Me and Ponyboy. And we dyed Pony's hair. It's real blond now, almost like yours."
"Sure, kid. You sick or something? You're all pale."
"No." Johnny's exuberance had faded; he went back to his one syllable answers.
Dallas stepped inside the dusty church. Ponyboy was sleeping in a corner, wrapped up in Dally's jacket. He made his way slowly over to the sleeping boy. "Glory! He sure looks different with his hair like that." Dallas nudged the kid with the tip of his boot. Ponyboy grunted and pushed himself up, blinking sleepily.
"Hey Dally!" He said grinning, his eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning. `Jeez, they must really be bored,' Dally thought.
"Hey, Ponyboy!" He grinned. "Or should I call you Sleeping Beauty?"
Ponyboy's mouth opened and words tumbled out in a jumble, more words than Dallas remembered him ever speaking at one time.
"How's Sodapop? Are the fuzz after us? Is Darry all right? Do the boys know where we are? What..."
"Hold on!" Ponyboy fell silent, and Dallas almost laughed. It had been awhile since anyone had listened to him like that. "I can't answer everything at once," he said sternly. His stomach rumbled viciously. Startled, he realized that all he'd had for breakfast was a couple of french-fries and a bite of a burger. `Breakfast my ass,' he thought grumpily. "Y'all wanna get some food? I skipped breakfast and I'm about starved."
"You're starved?" Johnny's mouth was agape.
"It's safe to go out?" Ponyboy demanded.
"Yeah." Dallas patted his shirt-front, then slid a hand into his pocket. `Shit,' he thought, realizing he'd forgotten to get cigarettes. "Gotta cancer stick, Johnnycake?" Johnny tossed him a pack. Dally pulled one out, lighting it easily. He wrinkled his nose...damn Camels. He hated them.
"The fuzz won't be lookin' for y'all. They think you're in Texas. Look, I got Buck's T-Bird out front...Goshamighty ain't you boys been eatin'?"
Both boys looked up at him in surprise.
"Yeah, what gave you that idea that we ain't?"
Dallas took a drag off his smoke. "You're both pale. You lost weight." He paused, squinting at the two. "Y'all should get out in the sun more after this. You look like you've been through the mill." Ponyboy gave him a look, but said nothing. Dallas frowned, reminded suddenly of the way Two-Bit made fun of him.
"Here," he said suddenly, digging around for the Soda-note. "I got a letter for ya, Ponyboy."
"A letter?" Ponyboy seemed so stunned. "From who?"
Dally snorted. "The president, stupid. From Soda." He tossed the battered envelope at Ponyboy.
"Soda? But how..."
Dally shrugged. "Found out somehow or another. But kid, you oughtta see Darry. He's going crazy, all worried `bout you..." Dallas trailed off, realizing that Ponyboy wasn't listening. He watched the boy read the letter.
"Hey," he said suddenly, looking up at the blond. "Why'd you get hauled in to the station?"
Dally grinned. "Them boys down at the station know me. Anything happens on our turf..." he shrugged. "While I was there, I kinda let it slip that y'all were going to Texas. So they won't look for y'all around here." Dally took a drag of his smoke. Grimacing, he swore at it, annoyed it wasn't his usual brand.
"You sure can cuss good," Johnny said admiringly. Even Ponyboy looked a little impressed.
Dallas smiled. What a difference it made, to be able to lord around over the kids. He felt like his usual self. He flicked the cigarette away.
"Sure can," he agreed. "But don't go picking up my bad habits." He glanced at Ponyboy, smirking. The kid's hair was an abnormal shade of yellow, and it curled around his head like a wet mop. "Kid, I swear you look different with your hair all gone. You and Soda used to have the tuffest hair in town."
Ponyboy's expression darkened. "I know. I look lousy, but don't rub it in."
Dally rolled his eyes. "Y'all want something to eat now or what?"
Both boys leapt to their feet. "God yes!" Ponyboy groaned.
"Be nice to get back in a car again," Johnny agreed.
Dally shrugged. So he'd take a page from Two-Bit's book this morning. "Well, I'll give you kids a ride for your money."
~
Johnny gulped down the last of his second barbecue sandwich. He glanced up, catching Dally's gaze. The older boy looked completely amazed at Ponyboy and his appetites.
"Glory," he drawled, and Johnny grinned, happy to hear that familiar New Yorkish accent. "Y'all don't have to eat like every bite's your last. I got plenty of money." Dally grinned remembering the Soc he'd robbed that morning. "Calm down, don't get sick on me. Man, and I thought I was hungry!"
"Hey kids, I didn't tell you something," Dally said suddenly, putting down his hamburger. "The Socs and us are having an all out war. Soc against grease. Started to be you couldn't walk down the street alone without getting' jumped." He paused, remembering Two-Bit and Angela. "I started carrying a heater." He'd almost forgotten. Dallas nodded at the car. "It's in there-"
"Dallas!" Ponyboy sounded so much like Darry that he made Dallas jump. "You kill people with heaters."
"You kill em with switchblades too doncha?" Dally winced inwardly watching Johnny swallow nervously. He hadn't meant to bring that up. Dallas shook his head.
"It ain't loaded," he barreled on. "I just use it for bluff. Tomorrow night, us and Shepards outfit are rumbling with them Socs. Got hold a one of their Socy club presidents. Had a war council. If they win, things go on as usual. If we win, they stay outta out territory but good. Hey," he yelped suddenly, remembering Cherry. "I didn't tell y'all. We got ourselves a spy."
"A spy? Who?" Johnny glanced up.
Dallas hesitated. He was enjoying not being teased and humiliated every few seconds. He didn't feel like giving it up right then just to tell a couple of kids that he had a crush.
"That redheaded Soc I tried to pick up that night you killed the Soc. Cherry what's-her-name."
Both boys choked and looked up at Dallas. "Cherry?" They gasped in unison. "The Soc?!"
"Yeah," Dallas said slowly. "She pulled up to your house the night Two-Bit got jumped. Tim and some of us were hanging out. She pulled up in her little red Sting Ray...took some nerve." He smiled remembering how he'd thought Cherry had been so brave. `Thrill of the chase,' he reminded himself. "Some of us," `Steve,' he thought with a smile, "wanted to jump her right then and there, but Two-Bit stopped them. Man, next time I want a broad I'll pick up one of my own kind."
"Yeah," Johnny said, but he sounded uneasy. Both boys were staring at him, hanging on to his every word.
"Yeah, so she said she thought the whole mess was her fault, which it is, and she wanted to help us out. And she'd testify that the Socs were drunk and it'd been self-defense. I," he paused, "I offered to take her to the Dingo for a coke. She told me `no thank you' and told me where I could go in very polite terms." He laughed bitterly. "That little gal sure does hate me." `Well, she will soon enough,' he thought gloomily. `Thrill of the chase, Dallas.' But the thought had lost some of its meaning. Dally sighed softly, wishing for a minute that he could just be normal. Even with all the teasing and Darry flexing his muscles to get him to do whatever he wanted him to. He was sick of pretending.
The boys finished their meal and hopped back in the car. Then Johnny dropped the bomb.
"We're going back to turn ourselves in," he announced and Dally gagged on his own spit. He swore. They couldn't do that! A flash of fear ran through him as they picture what would happen to the kids if they went back. The chair, jail...he shuddered.
"What?" he demanded. Johnny paled.
"We're going back-"
"Why?!"
"It ain't fair for Ponyboy, to have to keep hiding and running. I don't intend to stay in that church my whole life. And I got a good chance of being let off easy." Johnny swallowed. He'd started out confident, but fear had slowly and surely crept up on him. It was eating away at what conviction he had left, and he almost lost his nerve, almost told Dally to forget it, he was being stupid. Then he thought of the baloney, and started talking again.
"I got no record with the fuzz. And it was self-defense. We won't tell them you helped us," he added. Dally's jaw clenched. Ponyboy was silent in the backseat. He obviously had no problems with going back.
Dally swallowed nervously. "You sure? Us greasers get it worse than anybody else-"
"I'm sure," Johnny said firmly, homesickness welling up inside him. "It just...it ain't fair, Soda and Darry worrying about Pony so much. I guess...my parents aren't worried about me are they?"
Dally's heart lurched. `God,' he thought, his mind spinning. He'd hardly ever spoken to Johnny's parents. They hadn't done a thing as far as he knew to find out about Johnny. "The boy's are worried," he said instead, hoping his voice didn't quiver. "Two-Bit was going to Texas to hunt for ya-"
"My parents didn't ask about me though?"
"Dammit!" Dally slammed his hand down hard on the steering wheel. "Johnny, no, they didn't. But so what? My old man," he paused, an unexpected pain shooting through him. `What the hell? Am I having a heart attack?' he thought frowning, but then the pain was gone. "My old man, he don't care nothin' about me. Don't care if I'm in jail, or dead, or what. Don't bother me none."
When Johnny didn't say anything, Dally swore. He started the car up, speeding it out of the Dairy Queen with a roar. Johnny stayed silent, but he looked as sad as if he was crying. Dally swallowed, and forced himself to think of something else. In the back, Ponyboy was so quiet he could have been dead.
"Damn it Johnny!" Dally growled, tearing around the corner. "Why didn't you think of turning yourselves in five days ago? Would saved a lot of trouble." He glanced behind him; Ponyboy was still there. `Damn that kid's quiet when he want's to be,' Dallas thought.
"I was scared," Johnny said seriously, and Dally's mind was yanked back to the present problem. "I still am." He tried to grin. "Guess we ruined our hair for nothing, huh Ponyboy?" `Must be as freaked out by that quiet kid as I am,' Dally thought glancing back again at the still silent Ponyboy.
"I guess so." Even when he spoke, you had to strain your ears to their limit to hear the words. Dallas hit the steering wheel again, frustrated, and a silence so heavy they could feel it descended on them.
"Johnny," Dally felt dizzy. His voice was high and unnatural, and he remembered, suddenly, his voice being that same way, just a last week (it seemed so long ago) with Tim...something about tires...
"I ain't mad at you. I just don't want you to get hurt. You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Damnit Johnny," Dally swallowed, brushing back his tangled hair, "you get hardened in jail. I don't want it to happen to you, the way it happened to me..." Dallas fell silent, realizing too late he'd said more than he wanted to.
Then Johnny started to say something. "Dallas..."
But Dally didn't hear it, because right in front of him was the church, it's dark painted steeple brilliant red with fire, flames licking at the walls all around. "Oh glory," he whispered, and then, before he could stop him, Johnny had leapt from the car.
A/N: Okay, well. It's getting there. Changed it a bit, cause I forgot some stuff that I was supposed to write before. Bear with me kay?
Dallas gritted his teeth and slowed the car reluctantly: he'd hit another red light. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, replaying the scene with Cherry over in his mind for what was probably the fiftieth time.
He caught himself smiling dreamily, and jerked himself back to the present. `This is stupid,' he thought angrily. It would never work.
"You are a greaser, Dallas. She's a Soc. The twain shall never meet," he said out loud. Dallas blinked in surprise. `The twain shall never meet?' he thought, frowning. It was probably something Ponyboy had said. He had the kids on his mind.
The light changed, and he sped the car forward, hearing the engine strain against the sudden movement. A car horn blared but he ignored it, his mind already back to the girl.
It was just the thrill of the chase.
`That's it,' Dallas thought, sighing with relief. It was nothing more. He didn't really care about her. He didn't care about anyone really.
`Except maybe, Johnny,' he thought, and the car roared, the speedometer hitting 90. He smirked, and slowed down (a speeding ticket was the last thing he needed). If only Two-Bit could see him now. Dallas shrugged the thought away from him. He liked the driver's seat best anyway.
His mind returned to the pressing subject of his feelings. `I care about Johnny,' he thought pointedly. `A lot. Maybe even love-' he winced, `the guy. But Cherry I don't care about.' That thought felt so wrong he sped up past the 90 mark, nearly running through a light. He slammed down on the brakes, the car jerking to a stop, and listened to the answering squeals of brake meeting asphalt behind him.
`Okay,' he thought, absently toying with a rip in his shirt. `I do care about Cherry. But I don't love-" try as he might, he couldn't stop flinching at that damned word, `her. But I love Johnny. So I'm gay??'
"No!" He said angrily. "We've been over this Dallas. You aren't gay. You don't love him that way..." But was it really possible to love someone in a different way? Johnny wasn't his brother or anything. `Maybe I love Cherry, and I don't love Johnny, but I just don't know which feeling is love.' His mind was spinning, searching desperately for answers he didn't have and was never equipped to deal with in the first place.
"Goddamn!" Dallas shouted suddenly, slamming his fist into the car horn. "Stupid ass feelings! I'm not gay, I don't love Cherry, and I...oh fuck, that is it, SCREW FEELINGS!" He leaned angrily on the horn for no reason except to demonstrate his new found hatred of emotions. The man in the car beside him gave Dallas the strangest look, but he didn't care at that point.
Dally pressed down firmly on the gas pedal, not caring that the light hadn't quite changed yet. Anger and frustration burned inside him. These were the feelings he was familiar with. He twisted the wheel violently, turning on to the freeway. The car leapt over a bump, soaring in the air, then landed, taking his breath away for a moment. He was going way too fast already, but he sped up even more, frantically trying to escape the dangerous feelings that haunted him.
~
Johnny yawned. He felt sleepy under the afternoon sun. He longed to be taking a nap like Ponyboy was, but it wasn't safe. He had to keep a lookout. His stomach rumbled and he reached for his baloney sandwich, only to throw it back in disgust. The thought of more baloney almost made him retch. A car roared in the distance, but so far no one had come near the church. Johnny wasn't worried. But as the car began to get louder he tensed. He stood, getting ready to yell at Pony to run for it. Finally he spotted it, soaring over the winding roads, at 90 or more, the engine pushed to its limit, heading straight for the church. The old T-Bird screamed down the road, disappearing in a cloud of dust when it pulled up at the church. Johnny backed up, staring at the slowly emerging vehicle. A slim, blond boy slammed the car door, and leaned on the T-Bird, head cocked, gazing back at him. Johnny's breath caught in his throat. After so long, it almost seemed like a dream...
The whistle started low, soft, and long, then suddenly, it swooped up, piercing the air in a shrill note. Johnny's excitement mounted, and he was barely able to return the call, before tearing down the steps and launching himself at the first human being beside Ponyboy he'd seen in a week.
"Oof!" Dally staggered back under the weight of the smaller boy. Johnny was thin, pale, his hair cut and horribly untuff. Dallas hadn't been prepared for such a drastic change in appearance. And he most certainly hadn't been prepared for Johnny throwing himself at him.
"I'm so glad to see you!" Johnny fairy squealed. Dallas had to bite his lip to keep from saying the same thing.
"What the hell happened to your hair?" Dallas demanded, untangling himself from the boy's grasp. Johnny blushed.
"We cut it. Me and Ponyboy. And we dyed Pony's hair. It's real blond now, almost like yours."
"Sure, kid. You sick or something? You're all pale."
"No." Johnny's exuberance had faded; he went back to his one syllable answers.
Dallas stepped inside the dusty church. Ponyboy was sleeping in a corner, wrapped up in Dally's jacket. He made his way slowly over to the sleeping boy. "Glory! He sure looks different with his hair like that." Dallas nudged the kid with the tip of his boot. Ponyboy grunted and pushed himself up, blinking sleepily.
"Hey Dally!" He said grinning, his eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning. `Jeez, they must really be bored,' Dally thought.
"Hey, Ponyboy!" He grinned. "Or should I call you Sleeping Beauty?"
Ponyboy's mouth opened and words tumbled out in a jumble, more words than Dallas remembered him ever speaking at one time.
"How's Sodapop? Are the fuzz after us? Is Darry all right? Do the boys know where we are? What..."
"Hold on!" Ponyboy fell silent, and Dallas almost laughed. It had been awhile since anyone had listened to him like that. "I can't answer everything at once," he said sternly. His stomach rumbled viciously. Startled, he realized that all he'd had for breakfast was a couple of french-fries and a bite of a burger. `Breakfast my ass,' he thought grumpily. "Y'all wanna get some food? I skipped breakfast and I'm about starved."
"You're starved?" Johnny's mouth was agape.
"It's safe to go out?" Ponyboy demanded.
"Yeah." Dallas patted his shirt-front, then slid a hand into his pocket. `Shit,' he thought, realizing he'd forgotten to get cigarettes. "Gotta cancer stick, Johnnycake?" Johnny tossed him a pack. Dally pulled one out, lighting it easily. He wrinkled his nose...damn Camels. He hated them.
"The fuzz won't be lookin' for y'all. They think you're in Texas. Look, I got Buck's T-Bird out front...Goshamighty ain't you boys been eatin'?"
Both boys looked up at him in surprise.
"Yeah, what gave you that idea that we ain't?"
Dallas took a drag off his smoke. "You're both pale. You lost weight." He paused, squinting at the two. "Y'all should get out in the sun more after this. You look like you've been through the mill." Ponyboy gave him a look, but said nothing. Dallas frowned, reminded suddenly of the way Two-Bit made fun of him.
"Here," he said suddenly, digging around for the Soda-note. "I got a letter for ya, Ponyboy."
"A letter?" Ponyboy seemed so stunned. "From who?"
Dally snorted. "The president, stupid. From Soda." He tossed the battered envelope at Ponyboy.
"Soda? But how..."
Dally shrugged. "Found out somehow or another. But kid, you oughtta see Darry. He's going crazy, all worried `bout you..." Dallas trailed off, realizing that Ponyboy wasn't listening. He watched the boy read the letter.
"Hey," he said suddenly, looking up at the blond. "Why'd you get hauled in to the station?"
Dally grinned. "Them boys down at the station know me. Anything happens on our turf..." he shrugged. "While I was there, I kinda let it slip that y'all were going to Texas. So they won't look for y'all around here." Dally took a drag of his smoke. Grimacing, he swore at it, annoyed it wasn't his usual brand.
"You sure can cuss good," Johnny said admiringly. Even Ponyboy looked a little impressed.
Dallas smiled. What a difference it made, to be able to lord around over the kids. He felt like his usual self. He flicked the cigarette away.
"Sure can," he agreed. "But don't go picking up my bad habits." He glanced at Ponyboy, smirking. The kid's hair was an abnormal shade of yellow, and it curled around his head like a wet mop. "Kid, I swear you look different with your hair all gone. You and Soda used to have the tuffest hair in town."
Ponyboy's expression darkened. "I know. I look lousy, but don't rub it in."
Dally rolled his eyes. "Y'all want something to eat now or what?"
Both boys leapt to their feet. "God yes!" Ponyboy groaned.
"Be nice to get back in a car again," Johnny agreed.
Dally shrugged. So he'd take a page from Two-Bit's book this morning. "Well, I'll give you kids a ride for your money."
~
Johnny gulped down the last of his second barbecue sandwich. He glanced up, catching Dally's gaze. The older boy looked completely amazed at Ponyboy and his appetites.
"Glory," he drawled, and Johnny grinned, happy to hear that familiar New Yorkish accent. "Y'all don't have to eat like every bite's your last. I got plenty of money." Dally grinned remembering the Soc he'd robbed that morning. "Calm down, don't get sick on me. Man, and I thought I was hungry!"
"Hey kids, I didn't tell you something," Dally said suddenly, putting down his hamburger. "The Socs and us are having an all out war. Soc against grease. Started to be you couldn't walk down the street alone without getting' jumped." He paused, remembering Two-Bit and Angela. "I started carrying a heater." He'd almost forgotten. Dallas nodded at the car. "It's in there-"
"Dallas!" Ponyboy sounded so much like Darry that he made Dallas jump. "You kill people with heaters."
"You kill em with switchblades too doncha?" Dally winced inwardly watching Johnny swallow nervously. He hadn't meant to bring that up. Dallas shook his head.
"It ain't loaded," he barreled on. "I just use it for bluff. Tomorrow night, us and Shepards outfit are rumbling with them Socs. Got hold a one of their Socy club presidents. Had a war council. If they win, things go on as usual. If we win, they stay outta out territory but good. Hey," he yelped suddenly, remembering Cherry. "I didn't tell y'all. We got ourselves a spy."
"A spy? Who?" Johnny glanced up.
Dallas hesitated. He was enjoying not being teased and humiliated every few seconds. He didn't feel like giving it up right then just to tell a couple of kids that he had a crush.
"That redheaded Soc I tried to pick up that night you killed the Soc. Cherry what's-her-name."
Both boys choked and looked up at Dallas. "Cherry?" They gasped in unison. "The Soc?!"
"Yeah," Dallas said slowly. "She pulled up to your house the night Two-Bit got jumped. Tim and some of us were hanging out. She pulled up in her little red Sting Ray...took some nerve." He smiled remembering how he'd thought Cherry had been so brave. `Thrill of the chase,' he reminded himself. "Some of us," `Steve,' he thought with a smile, "wanted to jump her right then and there, but Two-Bit stopped them. Man, next time I want a broad I'll pick up one of my own kind."
"Yeah," Johnny said, but he sounded uneasy. Both boys were staring at him, hanging on to his every word.
"Yeah, so she said she thought the whole mess was her fault, which it is, and she wanted to help us out. And she'd testify that the Socs were drunk and it'd been self-defense. I," he paused, "I offered to take her to the Dingo for a coke. She told me `no thank you' and told me where I could go in very polite terms." He laughed bitterly. "That little gal sure does hate me." `Well, she will soon enough,' he thought gloomily. `Thrill of the chase, Dallas.' But the thought had lost some of its meaning. Dally sighed softly, wishing for a minute that he could just be normal. Even with all the teasing and Darry flexing his muscles to get him to do whatever he wanted him to. He was sick of pretending.
The boys finished their meal and hopped back in the car. Then Johnny dropped the bomb.
"We're going back to turn ourselves in," he announced and Dally gagged on his own spit. He swore. They couldn't do that! A flash of fear ran through him as they picture what would happen to the kids if they went back. The chair, jail...he shuddered.
"What?" he demanded. Johnny paled.
"We're going back-"
"Why?!"
"It ain't fair for Ponyboy, to have to keep hiding and running. I don't intend to stay in that church my whole life. And I got a good chance of being let off easy." Johnny swallowed. He'd started out confident, but fear had slowly and surely crept up on him. It was eating away at what conviction he had left, and he almost lost his nerve, almost told Dally to forget it, he was being stupid. Then he thought of the baloney, and started talking again.
"I got no record with the fuzz. And it was self-defense. We won't tell them you helped us," he added. Dally's jaw clenched. Ponyboy was silent in the backseat. He obviously had no problems with going back.
Dally swallowed nervously. "You sure? Us greasers get it worse than anybody else-"
"I'm sure," Johnny said firmly, homesickness welling up inside him. "It just...it ain't fair, Soda and Darry worrying about Pony so much. I guess...my parents aren't worried about me are they?"
Dally's heart lurched. `God,' he thought, his mind spinning. He'd hardly ever spoken to Johnny's parents. They hadn't done a thing as far as he knew to find out about Johnny. "The boy's are worried," he said instead, hoping his voice didn't quiver. "Two-Bit was going to Texas to hunt for ya-"
"My parents didn't ask about me though?"
"Dammit!" Dally slammed his hand down hard on the steering wheel. "Johnny, no, they didn't. But so what? My old man," he paused, an unexpected pain shooting through him. `What the hell? Am I having a heart attack?' he thought frowning, but then the pain was gone. "My old man, he don't care nothin' about me. Don't care if I'm in jail, or dead, or what. Don't bother me none."
When Johnny didn't say anything, Dally swore. He started the car up, speeding it out of the Dairy Queen with a roar. Johnny stayed silent, but he looked as sad as if he was crying. Dally swallowed, and forced himself to think of something else. In the back, Ponyboy was so quiet he could have been dead.
"Damn it Johnny!" Dally growled, tearing around the corner. "Why didn't you think of turning yourselves in five days ago? Would saved a lot of trouble." He glanced behind him; Ponyboy was still there. `Damn that kid's quiet when he want's to be,' Dallas thought.
"I was scared," Johnny said seriously, and Dally's mind was yanked back to the present problem. "I still am." He tried to grin. "Guess we ruined our hair for nothing, huh Ponyboy?" `Must be as freaked out by that quiet kid as I am,' Dally thought glancing back again at the still silent Ponyboy.
"I guess so." Even when he spoke, you had to strain your ears to their limit to hear the words. Dallas hit the steering wheel again, frustrated, and a silence so heavy they could feel it descended on them.
"Johnny," Dally felt dizzy. His voice was high and unnatural, and he remembered, suddenly, his voice being that same way, just a last week (it seemed so long ago) with Tim...something about tires...
"I ain't mad at you. I just don't want you to get hurt. You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Damnit Johnny," Dally swallowed, brushing back his tangled hair, "you get hardened in jail. I don't want it to happen to you, the way it happened to me..." Dallas fell silent, realizing too late he'd said more than he wanted to.
Then Johnny started to say something. "Dallas..."
But Dally didn't hear it, because right in front of him was the church, it's dark painted steeple brilliant red with fire, flames licking at the walls all around. "Oh glory," he whispered, and then, before he could stop him, Johnny had leapt from the car.