"Hey Cliff," Dal replied to the blonde hood. He slipped the blade in his back pocket as easily and inconspicuously as he had taken it out of Jason's.
"Man, whatcha ya doing here?" the hood, now tagged as Cliff, walked over and slapped Dallas on the back.
"Staying here for a bit, what about you? I thought you were going off to see the world, heading to the big cities."
Cliff just shook his head. "Car broke down, tried to steal another one, got caught. But I'll get to those cities someday, New York, LA, whichever."
Dallas couldn't believe it; of all the hoods out there, it was Cliff Anderson standing right in front of him. Cliff had lived in Tulsa a few years ago. He was a born hood, and he had become bored by the easy Tulsa life, wanting to go to the big cities where the real action was.
"Oh, Dal," Cliff turned to look back at the other members of his gang, "this is Nathan Hanes," the obvious leader of the gang, "Alex Sharp," pointing to the boy on the right, "and that's Spence Krase." The one on the left nodded. Cliff pointed at Dallas.
"This, this here's Dallas Winston, the biggest and baddest hood of them all."
Jason turned to look at Winston. Dal just glanced coolly at each of the boys. They were definitely hoods, no doubt about that.
Nathan scowled at him and took a step forward. "I've heard of Dallas Winston. But, if he's the baddest hood, what's he doing with a soc?"
Jason cocked his head. "I guess that's supposed to be an insult?"
"It's the worst insult you could ever get," Cliff snarled. "Winston what are you doing with him?"
"He's staying with me for a while," Jason answered for him.
"You are?" Cliff asked Dallas in surprise. "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."
"Okay, enough chit-chat," Nathan stepped closer and Cliff stepped back. He pointed to Jason. "You soc, wallet."
Jason didn't move a muscle.
"Soc, I'm going to get nasty. The only reason I'm not beating you to a pulp is because I respect Winston's reputation and he probably has a good reason for hanging around with scum like you. But I don't stay kind for very long. Give me your wallet." Nathan stepped closer to emphasize his point. The other boys tightened their circle.
Dallas reached for his switchblade again. He was well aware of the irony of this situation. Here he was, one of the worst hoods, protecting a soc from some hoods just like him. And he had done the same thing many times before to other socs. But this time he had to be on the soc side. He flicked his blade out for all to see, no hiding it now.
"We're not giving you anything."
The gang stared at the knife. Dallas could almost see their thoughts racing. They didn't want to use their own blades and risk an injury to themselves, but they didn't want to give this up either. But they were four strong against only two. If they could get the knife from Dal, they would be able to win easily and get the money.
The gang started forward. Dallas and Jason tensed at the movement, and they got into ready positions. The gang was smart, knowing two in front and two in behind would give them an even better chance to grab the knife and get the money. The only thing they had forgotten was that Dallas Winston was a hood himself; he would be able to hold onto his knife.
The gang almost casually took another step closer. This was what they loved, they would've been disappointed if Dallas and Jason had just given up easily. They lived and breathed for fights. A final breath of silence as everybody tensed for the showdown-
"What's happening right here, I wonder?" the voice stopped the boys in their tracks. A police car had driven up during the confrontation. The cop was out and observing the boys almost in amusement.
The gang immediately backed up, all of them glancing innocently around the parking lot. Jason openly grinned at the cop.
"Now, boys," the officer continued, "I can arrest anybody for disturbing the peace, and sometimes I just have this urge to do so. I can hold you for quite a few days because of that. And none of you, I know, want to miss the rodeo." All four boys glared at him. The officer gave a smile and went on, "So, before I give in to my urge, why don't y'all get on out of here?" He motioned with his hand.
The gang just kept glaring at him, but then Nathan finally jerked his head and they slowly left. As Cliff passed Dallas, Dal murmured in a low voice, "Anybody asks, you don't know me."
Cliff looked at him curiously. "I heard some rumors about Tulsa." He nodded confirmation to Dal's statement. "See ya around, okay?"
Dallas nodded back to him.
Jason watched the gang leave, then turned to the cop. "Well, perfect timing as usual, Mr. Roberts."
"You all right, Jason?" After Jason assured him he was, Roberts turned his attention to Dallas. "I don't recall seeing you before."
Dal raised an eyebrow. When it was obvious he wasn't going to say anything, Jason spoke for him. "This is Da-" Dallas kicked him hard in the shins. Jason gave a glare at Dallas, and Dal gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head in response. Jason caught the message and acted to cover his unknowing slip. "This is Dad's nephew, my cousin."
"You have a name?" Roberts inquired further.
Winston finally spoke up. "Yeah, Matthews," he racked his brain, "Keith Matthews."
"You going to be in town long, Keith?" the cop asked, looking 'Keith' over a little doubtfully. Despite Jason's nice clothes, which he had been wearing ever since he had gone to the house, his being beyond repair, he was still distinctly greaser.
"A couple weeks," Dal shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. The two boys walked over to their car; Jason unlocked the doors and they got in.
"Tell your dad hi for me, Jason. And don't forget to take your cousin to the rodeo," Roberts called out to them.
Jason grinned. "Don't worry, we won't." He started the car and they zoomed out of the parking lot.
.....
"Well, looks like you got your knife back." Jason commented as he drove.
Dallas took the blade out of his pocket and looked at it. "Yep. You still should've given it back to me, though." He absentmindedly rubbed the handle with his thumb as he gazed out the window. His mind was replaying what happened in the parking lot.
"What rodeo was he talking about?"
Jason answered distractedly as he kept his attention on the traffic-filled road. "It's the Oklahoma State Prison Rodeo. Held every year."
"Prison rodeo?"
"Yeah, the rodeo is held in the prison and the prisoners do the rodeo. It's pretty cool, nobody wants to miss the rodeo, so Roberts used that against those hoods back there."
Jason paused for a moment and you could tell there was something he wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how. "So...you're a hood." He finally said.
Dallas stared at him, debating whether to deny it or not. It was already obvious that he was. "Yeah, surprised?"
Jason shook his head. "No." After seeing Dallas's disbelieving look he elaborated. "Come on, you really think I would have a stranger in my house without knowing something about them. My parents yes, they took you in no questions asked. But I'm not that trusting. I figured out you were a hood."
A few seconds of silence, then Jason spoke up in puzzlement. "Dallas, that guy that knew you, Cliff, even after he recognized you he was still ready to fight you. And then when they left, you two talked like you were buddies. That doesn't make sense."
"It does if you're a hood." Dallas struggled to find words to describe the actions of hoods. "We could beat each other to a pulp today, and tomorrow we'd be there to protect the other guy's back. Just the way it is with us hoods."
They pulled up in the driveway. Jason unbuckled his seat belt, but Dallas stopped him from getting out.
"Don't tell your parents."
"That you're a hood? They've probably guessed that by now."
"But I don't want it confirmed for them." He didn't want them to know a hood had recognized him back there.
"I have to tell them, Dallas. It wouldn't be right not to, now that-" he glanced at the blade.
Dal stared for a few seconds at the blade. "You don't tell your parents..." He looked at the blade one more time, but his mind was made up. He reached over and slapped it into Jason's hand, "and you can keep it until I leave."
Jason stared at the blade in his hand. Then his hand wrapped into a fist around it. He nodded to Dallas. They both got out of the car and headed to the house.
............
Dallas bolted upright. The noise had come from the kitchen. It was early morning. He had stayed up the entire night, having memorized his room exactly and playing hundreds of games of checkers against himself. And now was the first time he had heard anything out of the rest of the house.
He walked out of his bedroom and went into the kitchen. He didn't know what he was going to find, and was prepared to deal with a robber, or a wild animal. To his surprise, Lisa and Lori were in there, Lori rattling the pots and pans looking for a specific one. Lisa was getting out some eggs. She looked up when Dallas came in.
"Well, hey Dallas. You're up early."
"Up early? You're going to wake up the whole house with that racket."
"Aha! Found it." Lori finished rattling the pans as she pulled out the one she wanted.
"What are y'all doing?" Dallas asked, puzzled.
"We are making a birthday cake for Carly. It's easier when she's sleeping, that way she can't bother us, and we can hide it from her until this afternoon," Lisa answered.
"You want to help us?" Lori asked with a smile.
Dallas raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, right." He turned to Lisa, an idea popping in his head. "Can I use your phone?"
"Depends, who are you going to call?" They had finished putting the ingredients in the bowl and now she was stirring it up with a wooden spoon.
"My dad, I...I want to tell him sorry about my bad grades at school and my running out." He hoped the lie was believable; it was hard to be very convincing at 5 in the morning.
"Yeah sure, use the one in the den."
Dallas walked into the den and picked up the phone. He paused, flexing his hand. Then he quickly dialed the number before he lost his courage.
The phone rang twice before somebody answered it. "Hello?" It was Soda.
Dallas forced his voice to remain normal. "Hello, Dad," he said for the benefit of the ladies in the kitchen.
"Dad?" Soda's puzzled voice came over the line. "I think you have the wrong-oh...Dallas! Is that you?"
"It's me."
"You all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine," his pulse quickened as he said the next words, "How's Ponyboy?"
"He's going to be fine! He woke up this morning!" Soda laughed.
Dallas let out his breath with a whoosh. "That's good."
There was a loud bang on the other end of the line and voices were heard.
"Hey, Soda who you on the phone with?" Steve's voice was unmistakable.
"Dallas."
A pause, and then Dallas could hear the two boys rushing over to the phone.
"You tell that Dallas he better have my knife or I'm coming after him." Two-Bit commanded Soda, who knew Dal had already heard it.
Dallas laughed; his first real laugh since the church had caught fire. "Two-Bit, I'll give it to you first thing when I come back. You really helped me out here. I met a cop and he wanted my name, so I gave him yours. Hope you don't mind."
"You gave a cop my name? Winston are you crazy?"
"You already have so many cops keeping an eye on you; I figured one more wouldn't make a difference."
"Ha, ha." Two Bit replied, then some muffled shuffling and Steve's voice came over.
"Where are you Dal?"
He paused, wondering if he should. "No, I shouldn't tell you. Police come over yet?"
"You bet they have. They told Darry to call them as soon as Ponyboy woke up; he hasn't yet."
"What've y'all told them?"
"The fuzz? For once we told them the truth; we had no idea." Steve laughed at the ridiculousness off telling the fuzz the truth.
Dallas talked with the gang for a while, the others taking turns, Darry coming and joining in. It was so good to hear their voices again; it reassured him that they didn't hate him. The gang still wanted him. Darry's message had said that, but Dallas needed more confirmation. And hearing them was giving it to him.
But after a while, he knew it was time to hang up; he didn't want the family mad at his phone bill. "Well, I gotta go."
Darry was on the line this time and he had one last question. "When are you coming back?"
Dallas rolled his eyes. "Well the dad, Brian, says in a couple of weeks. I think he just wants to make sure I'm fine. But I met up with an old friend, Cliff, and I think he can help me get a car-"
"No!" Darrel's sharp voice interrupted him. "You aren't going to do anything else illegal. You understand? You're in enough trouble. You understand me?" He asked impatiently.
Dal sighed, he usually didn't take orders, but Darry deserved to be ordering him around after all that he had put them through. "Yeah, I understand."
"Good." They said their goodbyes, the others included, and then they hung up.
Dallas hung up his phone. Well, it looked like he was actually going to stay here for the next two weeks. He couldn't steal a car and now that he had met that gang, it could've been so easy. Well, all he had to do was stay out of trouble. He'd been doing great so far, the rest would be easy. Yeah, right.
Okay, this chapter's up. Not really an awe-inspiring one, but a necessary for the story. Once again, reality is going to intervene from now on, and updates might not be as quick. They should be as steady, I won't take a break for months or something, but it might be a little longer between chapters. I apologize for this, but it's not something I can really control.
Tensleep- One of my faithful reviewers. Thanks for being the first one to review! I hate to shop too, it's such a pain. Thanks for your encouragement. I'm glad you understood why I didn't write on my vacation. And you do it too! That makes me feel better. =) Seriously, thanks for all your kind words. Hope you like this one!
CinderBrat- Well, I'm glad I was historically accurate about the doll. The doll your mother has should be a compliment; you said it was really cute. =) I sort of talk like my characters; I don't think I talk like a hood, though. So hopefully I'm close to how they talk. Hey, I don't mind, you go right ahead and get that bumper sticker! : ) Thanks for the review!
Jessie13- You got your wish, I updated. I'm glad you liked the other chapter, and hopefully this one is okay!
ERMonkey, Burner of Cookies- Don't take that tone with me ERMonkey! =) Kidding. It tells me people are out there reading this story, and that makes me feel good. Thanks for the review!
Beth- Thank you so, so much for putting me on your favorite authors list! Well-plotted, well thank you! I'm honored that you have such confidence in me that you think I'll make you cry sometime in the story. Well, they were none of your guesses, but who would guess Cliff Anderson? You've never even heard of him! Well, Dallas didn't give Carly the dog in this chapter, but maybe in the next. =) Thanks for your review! For all your reviews!
Jaws- Thank you for taking the time to review my story. And, oh my! Wow! I'm on your favorite stories and author page! I'm so honored! Thank you very, very much!!!
steves-girl- Sorry, sorry! I didn't update very quickly, I know, and I'm sorry I kept you on a cliffhanger. And the stretched between updates will probably be getting longer! I'm sorry! =) Thanks for your review, I hope this was worth the wait!!
Robot In Disguise- A crush on Dal? Well, if you were eight years old and strange boy started living in your house, wouldn't you develop a crush? But yeah, I think she likes him. Sleepy eye dolls, is that what they're called? Learn something new every day. And yes, you really helped me out with that information, as you can see a little bit from this chapter. Thanks again!
MissLKid- Ahh, you don't like getting something for your little sister? Well, I hate shopping and picking out stuff too, so I can see where you're coming from. Thanks for your review. Hope this wasn't too long of a wait for you!
nighttime writer- I'm so happy I inspired you to write! I think you're right, a little love is coming through, not much, but a little. Thank you for thinking so well of this story to put me on author alert. That's so sweet! Sorry I left the story on the cliffhanger, but doesn't everybody like cliffs? =) Thanks for the review and your putting me on author alert!
Grease Girl- Well, you found out. Did you like it? No? Yes? This update was pretty much as soon as possible as I could get it. I had a little writer's block at one part, and I wasn't going to budge from that spot until I had written it. So a couple of days later, when I had time to sit down and write for longer than five minutes, I finished that part up. Thanks for your review! Hope you like it. Please review again and tell me what you think!
.......(from here 'til the next.... it's crimson cutie's reply. I had to break it up into paragraphs. Hope I don't confuse any people.)
crimson cutie- Wait. Just let me savor this moment. Ahh, another long review. Wow. But you've been reading this from day one, and only now you're giving me the joy of a long review?! But I know what you mean. Sometimes, you don't want to review too early, and then have the story go downhill from there. Makes you feel like you wasted a review. And that long of a review makes up for those other chapters you didn't review!
I guess I have made him softer than the book, but I've always thought that if you make yourself so hard, and you build up your defenses as hard as Dally did, you're trying to hide a very sensitive soul underneath. And when those defenses come crashing down, no matter how hard you try, it'll take time before you can build them up all the way again, and your soft self comes through. At least that's my way of thinking. You can tell me if you disagree.
Yeah, the rest of the gang probably wouldn't have had a clue about the phone call. I don't know if Brian will find out. Jason? He could begin to connect the dots, he has a lot of the dots, not all but a lot. Oh, yeah, I think Lisa has learned her lesson. Dallas isn't what you would call a very sociable person. =) You got your answer about Dal finding out about Pony. Funny, I thought since Pony is so smart and Dar makes him go to school all the time, he would try very hard not to get sick. And then he's in good condition because of track. But I don't own the book, so I'm basing this whole story on memory and asking some other authors questions. If you could send me an e-mail I would love to hear your opinions about Pony and about Dallas being soft. That goes for everybody. I love reviews and e-mails!
Hey, you're a good guesser! Yeah, they were pretty much just hoods who knew Dallas's reputation. Cliff knew him from a few years ago, but all the others just knew him on word of mouth. Oh, yes Dal is wearing Jason's clothes. I forgot to mention that in other chapters, so I put it in here. Thanks for letting me know I left that detail out. Man, I wrote a chapter here, didn't I? But I couldn't help it; you're review was so long! And you had all these things to say, they made me feel so good! Thank you so, so much for that review! I hope you like this chapter.
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Okay, guys, I think you know by now what I'm going to say. Review! I love reviews! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!