Dallas was furious with himself. He couldn't believe he had allowed this to happen. Even if he was supposed to keep a low profile, he had to draw the line somewhere. He should've drawn it here. So then why was he here now, walking up the dreaded steps, going through the dreaded doors, and entering a place he had despised for as long as he could remember?
Sure, he had argued. In fact so intense had the arguing been between him and Lisa that Brian had had to step in before the two came to blows. And finally, Dallas had just given in. It had been obvious there was no way to win with her. She had even gotten him into a hated suit! So now here he was, walking reluctantly up the steps and entering the church.
They were into the foyer, and many people were milling about, talking to their friends before heading on in. As Brian herded the group over to greet some of his friends, Lori pulled Dallas aside.
"Dallas, let me fix this tie." She undid his tie and began to refasten it correctly. "Honestly, it looks like a monkey did it. It's almost as if you've never put on a tie before."
I haven't. They're not that popular with the hoods today. Dallas bit back the comments, but only barely.
"There you go," she smiled as she tugged the tie into the right place. "Now it looks like a tie."
"Thank you so much," he said sarcastically.
Lori turned to join the family in their mingling; Dallas quickly loosened his tie. He sighed and resolved to stay as far back in the shadows as he could. He watched as Will, the guy from the rodeo, walked up to Jason.
"Hey, what were you calling my house last night? And asking for my dad?" The questions were asked lightly, but Dallas waited, anxious for the answer.
Jason gave a slightly nervous chuckle and then quickly explained, "Oh, that. Well.. I woke up in the middle of the night wondering about the game tomorrow, and I started calling you to ask a question about some baseball thing. And then I ended up asking for your dad. Weird, huh? I was so embarrassed I just hung up the phone." He laughed again, and Dallas tuned out as the friends started talking about other things.
When Will walked away, Dallas caught up with Jason. "Talk about baseball stuff? That's what you said?"
Jason glanced at him. "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing. I just thought you would be able to come up with a better excuse than that." Dallas threw Jason's words back in his face.
Jace grinned and shook his head. "Hey, I had to come up with that on the spot. You, you had lots of days to find a better excuse than low grades. And besides, I actually have called Will about baseball games," he defended himself.
"You're kidding?"
Jason sheepishly shook his head. "I get nervous before games."
The piano music sounded, and almost as one the people mingling about turned and headed through the double doors and into the sanctuary, all finding their favorite pews to sit in.
Jason joined the throng, and Dallas also, albeit a little more reluctantly.
These people must be the worst singers I've ever heard. Surrounded on all sides by the Mathews family, Dallas was amazed at their vocal talent. Brian and Lisa both had horrible singing voices, and it seemed Lori and Jason had inherited their voices. Even Carly, sweet little girl that she was, had a high, scratchy voice that grated on Dallas's nerves. Dallas, of course, wasn't singing at all. He hated this.
Church was a place he had always loathed, even when he was a kid. To him, it had always been the gathering place for the socs to gloat and pretend to be the sweet kids that they weren't. It was popular for a soc to be a Christian, but it wasn't for a greaser. It was popular for a Christian to talk about being kind to the poor greasers, and then they turned right around and beat them to a pulp. Church was for socs, not greasers.
Well, Dallas took that back. Pony and Johnny had gone to church for a while. Johnny had seemed to enjoy going, had even looked forward to going. That is, until the day Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit had joined them. Dal grinned to himself. He hadn't been there, but he could imagine the ruckus those three had caused. Whatever it had been, Pony and Johnny had been so embarrassed they never went back.
A tugging on his pants leg brought his mind back to the present. Carly was standing there, impatiently gesturing for him to look at her. Dallas finally obliged, and Carly shoved her hymnal into his hands. Her meaning was clear, but Dallas refused to sing one note. He wasn't going to go that low. He could pretend to be a soc, but he would never sing their church songs.
The music finally stopped, and the preacher took the stand. "Welcome, everybody. I trust everybody had a great time at the rodeo last night." There was a murmur of assent from the people.
The preacher started his drone, and Dallas quickly lost concentration, not that he was trying that hard. His mind drifted off into his own thoughts. But he was brought back to the present with a hard kick to his leg. Looking to see who had kicked him, Dallas became aware that everyone in the church was standing. He hurriedly stood up between Carly and Lori and stared straight ahead to block out Lori's death glares.
The preacher was sitting down on a pew facing the congregation as someone else led the church in prayer. Every head was bowed, every head except that of Dally's. The preacher glanced up as the prayer continued, and in doing so his eyes focused in on the one unbowed head. Dallas defiantly returned the stare.
Something shot through the air between Dal and the preacher, and Dallas quickly tore his gaze away. Just then, the prayer ended and everyone started their exit. He filed out into the aisle and tried his hardest to blend in with the crowd of people, but the preacher kept his gaze on Dallas a few minutes longer, before shifting his own eyes elsewhere.
The crowd filtered out of the sanctuary and once again into the foyer for some more chit chat. Dally once again tried to remain as inconspicuous as possible while the family mingled. Thankfully, the Mathews didn't try to introduce him to anybody, though whether that was because they were being cautious or they were just plain embarrassed of him Dal didn't know.
After several more minutes of mingling, the Mathews headed for the door. The preacher was standing next to it, shaking hands with people as they left. Brian walked over and shook the man, giving him a good natured slap on the back.
"Pretty good sermon today, Reverend."
"Thanks, Brian. But you probably fell asleep three seconds into it as usual." The preacher joked as he gave Brian a hearty handshake.
"I did!" Carly eagerly volunteered. As Brian tried to shush her she looked up confused. "Well, I did."
So did I, kid, Dallas thought to himself. The others filtered by, the preacher having a word to say to each of them. Dallas moved to slip by as the preacher finished asking Jason about his baseball game tomorrow.
"And just where do you think you're going? No one gets out this door without a handshake from me." The preacher walked over and stuck out his hand. Dallas reluctantly took it.
"I haven't seen you around before. Just who might you be?" the man asked with a warm smile, but his eyes still made Dallas uneasy. It almost seemed as though the man could see right through him and knew exactly what he was.
"Friend of the family," Dallas replied as he smoothly extracted his hand from the man's surprisingly firm grip. He quickly walked out the door and down the steps. Quickly, but not hurriedly. A hood was a hood after all.
"Ohh, it's going to be so much fun with you home, Brian," Lisa sighed as she collapsed onto the couch. "A whole day off. You've been working like a dog this entire week."
"Yep, but now I get to just sit back and relax, read the newspaper and watch TV." Brian collapsed onto the other couch.
Lori grinned at her father. "That's what you're going to do all day? You'll go crazy."
Brian just sighed and closed his eyes. "Bet you ten bucks I don't, little girl."
"No bet, Daddy. But I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a college girl," she said proudly.
Mr. Mathews pulled a pillow over his face to block out the light. "You'll always be my little girl. Even when you're sixty-two you're my little girl."
"Sixty-two? Yeah thanks, I really want to think about that. Can you imagine what I'd look like at sixty-two?"
"Can you imagine what you look like now?" Jason shot at his sister. Lori gave him an evil smile, snatched Brian's pillow off his face, and launched it at Jason's head
"Hey! Give me my pillow back! You kids," Brian grumbled as he walked over and got the pillow back from his son.
"Sorry Dad," Jason said sheepishly as he handed the pillow over.
Dallas watched as the family interacted. They all seemed genuinely excited that Brian had a day off. He did spend a lot of time at work, but he did get home at reasonable hours. Guess he's just like Darry, never takes time to rest.
Dal stopped and considered the absurdity of his thought. He had compared a rich soc to a poor greaser like Darry. Did he really think they could have something in common?
He was interrupted out of his thoughts by the phone ringing.
"I'll get it," Jason called as he raced into the kitchen. "Hello?...Okay, hold on for a second please." Jason made his way back to the living room. "Dad, a guy's calling for you."
Brian instantly got up to answer it, but Dallas's attention was fixed on the family around him. All of them were staring at the kitchen, all their happy expressions from a few minutes ago wiped away.
"Here we go again," Lisa muttered under her breath.
Brian came out of the kitchen, wearing a guilty look on his face. "Uh, Lisa....that was work, and..uh..well they're really in need of some help, I mean three of the guys have the flu, some others are taking the day off same as me, and they really need my help." He started out slow and then rushed to get his explanation out as quick as he could.
Lisa crossed her arms and gave a weary sigh. "Fine. You gotta go, you gotta go." After seeing Brian's hurt expression, her voice softened. "I understand. I really do. Go on and save some people." She smiled at him.
Brian gave her a kiss, and headed out the door. The smile stayed on for a full two seconds after he left, but then the smile wearily vanished. She stayed quiet for a moment, Jason and Lori sharing a knowing glance between them.
"Dallas," Dal looked up as Lisa called his name, "don't ever marry a doctor." She laughed at her own statement.
No one spoke.
Lisa swallowed, and much like Dallas, she put her mask back in place. "Well, I better get some work done now that I have some time." She gave a totally unconvincing smile and went to her study.
Dallas forced himself out of his bed. It had been a tiring day; he had had to spend it playing with the siblings, which was essentially trying to keep up with the whirlwind Carly. Dinnertime had come, and Brian had gotten off work for the rest of the day, which had made the family extremely happy.
He had gone to bed exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep. He had had several days without the nightmares so he had thought he was safe. But no such luck tonight. Maybe after talking all about it the night before with Jason had reawakened the nightmares. So he was off to get something to drink that would hopefully help him stay awake the rest of the night.
He walked through the living room and started for the kitchen, when a head popped up from the couch. Dallas instantly jumped backwards, his hand reaching in his back pocket for the blade that wasn't there.
"Dallas, it's just me." Brian sat up straight. "Sorry I scared you like that."
Dallas slowly got out of his battle position. "It's okay, sir." For some reason, he felt he should call the man sir. The corners of his mouth twitched. "What happened? Your wife throw you out?"
Brian's downcast face made Dallas for some reason start to regret his comment. "No, Dallas. I just needed some time to think by myself. What are you doing up?" He switched topics.
Winston found himself getting defensive. "I was just getting a drink. I couldn't sleep either," he said quickly; the interrogation last night was starting to make him jumpy. He had no idea if Brian was going to start calling the police at the first sign of suspicious activity by Dallas.
Brian waved his hand in the air. "Oh, well feel free to get whatever you want."
Dallas nodded and went to the kitchen. He searched for a bit, and then finally settled for a Pepsi. There was nothing else in the house. He walked back to his bedroom.
"Hope you sleep better, Dal," Brian said as the teen passed by his couch.
The teen stopped and looked back at Brian. He was sitting on the couch, his hands periodically running through his hair and massaging his forehead. Dal found himself unable to walk away.
"You okay, sir? You look a little sick?" He stood there, barely able to control his fidgeting. It wasn't everyday that Dallas Winston asked how another person was doing. In fact, had there ever been a day? Dal didn't know.
"No, I'm just tired," Brian wearily rubbed his eyes. "I'm just worried about my job."
Dallas moved and sat down on the chair across from the couch. "Why? You get fired?"
Brian chuckled. "No, I didn't lose my job."
The hood found this hard to believe. In his experience the only time a person should be concerned about a job is if he didn't have one. If a person had a job, especially one as well-paying as this man had, there was no reason to worry. He rolled his eyes as he thought of how spoiled these socs were.
"I mean, this year has just been too hard on us, on my family. I'm gone so often. I hardly get home at all now. And before it was so much easier, you know? I went to the hospital and worked, but I had time off. Now, it's seems I have no time at home."
"Well, you had the day off today and you let yourself get sucked back into the hospital. Why didn't you just say no?"
"Dallas, it's not that simple. I try to come home and have some time off, but every time the hospital calls me and they need me. And how can I when there are people out there who need my help? How can I refuse when I know people need me?"
Dallas didn't let him off the hook with the excuse. "Well, when you go to sleep aren't there still people out there who need you help?" Not waiting for a reply he continued, "So why don't you stay up all night and work then?"
Brian smiled reluctantly. "Because I need my rest if I want to be in any condition to help others." He said it as if it was a familiar phrase to him.
"See? You can't just keep working, or you'll end up working yourself to death." Dallas made a mental note talk Darry. Darry did the same thing; he worked nonstop. And besides wearing himself out, his workaholic attitude also hurt his brothers. Dallas had always seen the tension between Ponyboy and Darry. No, Dar's working wasn't the whole reason, but it was a good portion of it.
"And besides, your family should come first. Not somebody you don't even know." Dal laughed at the irony; he was telling the man who helped save his life to disregard strangers just like himself. Life was strange.
Brian looked up. "Why do you say that? Has anybody said anything?"
Winston shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He knew he was on dangerous ground; Lisa wouldn't want this to reach her husband's ears. "Well, Lisa did seem kind of annoyed at you."
"And?" Brian wouldn't let it go.
"And, she told me never to marry a doctor."
Brian leaned back. "I should have realized. Lisa never complains; she's always supportive. I should have realized she felt that way."
Dal waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm sure she didn't mean that. She was just a little frustrated."
"Yeah, she's frustrated all right. How many times have I done that to her? I always plan a vacation, and at the last minute I have an emergency to attend to." Brian rolled his eyes in self disgust.
"Well, from now on when you plan a vacation just go on a vacation." It was such an easy solution Dallas couldn't believe this smart man hadn't thought of it.
Brian laughed. "I guess you're right Dallas. It's so simple, yet so hard. I guess I'll just have to try harder. And I'm going to try harder. I won't have my wife feeling as if she should never have married a doctor." His voice grew confident as he said the next words, "From now on, when I get a day off, I'm keeping it a day off.
"You know, Dallas, you're a pretty easy person to talk to. I suppose it's sometimes easier to just talk to a stranger than to your family. Pretty strange, but it worked. Thanks, Winston." Brian held out his hand, finally a big grin spreading across his face. Dallas returned the handshake, then got up to leave.
"Hope you get a good night's sleep, sir."
"Oh, I will. I just hope your going to sleep as good as I am from now on." Brian jumped excitedly from the couch and headed off to his bedroom, a bounce in his step now that he had that weight lifted off his shoulders.
Dallas shook his head in amusement. Socs could sure complicate things. But then again, Darry did the exact same thing. Funny how a brilliant doctor soc, and a poor brick-layer greaser could have so much in common. Maybe being a soc life wasn't as perfect as he'd thought.
Hey, you know I seriously intended this to be up last Friday! Then, it just worked its way over to Wednesday. But, like a friend said, better a late chapter than no chapter at all!
Malara- Thanks for all your reviews! I agree, do you even want to know? Hey, I understand how hard it is to update (as you can tell from how slow this one came). Yes, he's just worried about his family, but he doesn't want to automatically condemn Dallas. A rare and unique trait. Hey, it's good to be nice, don't let me stop you! Have a nice day, too! )
nighttime writer- I do that too, just travel through all these sites and nothing has been updated. And then I find myself going through the exact same site two or three times, as if they will suddenly be updated! Thanks for the review!
Joker is Poker with a J- Yep, sometimes endings just kill you. And I have a feeling we are not the only ones who talk to books or movies. So don't feel weird! Sorry about the long stretch between updates. Forgive me?
ERMonkey, Burner of Cookies- Well, I'm flattered that my updating could be compared with a school holiday! That's one pretty big compliment. But aren't you just so sad that you will be missing a day full of learning and more learning? ) Glad I could help your holiday be more fun!
CinderBrat- Wow, you must be telepathic! Is that the right one? Psychic? Oh, well, something along the lines of that! I'm glad you didn't think that telling Jason everything wasn't that bad. Well, I can't really do something about the update pauses. I try to update every week, sometimes I don't like this update, but I try to be consistent. But you're right, the pause did hamper the climactic feel of the chapter. I've read some stories like that where they leave you on this big, juicy cliff hangar for weeks, and when they finally update you have to go back to the previous chapter to even remember the cliff! Sequel, still up in the air. Lori and Dally? Interesting conclusion, but whatever happens happens, right?
MissLKid- Boy, you almost gave me a heart attack! I read the first part of you review, and I was thinking, "Oh no, what did I put in the story that was so messed up?" And then I read on, oh shoo, it was just about school! ) Yes, I was in the wrong. School and slip by should never be used in the same sentence, unless you use them as total opposites! Sorry!
Beth- I hope this chapter had enough Brian in it. He'll be in some more chapters, I promise! And always feel free to critique me when you feel I'm doing something wrong, or could do something better. It always helps me, and I always appreciate critiques! I won't make you change; you go right on and keep eight as your favorite chapter!
Tensleep- Thank you very much! Impressed, wow! Well, I'm glad you think Jason was fair. And yeah, I think any normal person would want to know if they had a criminal in their house! Well, thank you again. And I'll see you in the funny papers! Kidding, that's your phrase. I won't steal your phrase, don't worry!
CiCi- That's what everybody does. We all love to rub our hands together and think up something to do to Dallas. It's the only way we get fun in life!
crimson cutie- Well, glad you don't think Lori is annoying. Yep, I think the family doesn't trust him alone either! Well, isn't that what happens in the news? You just put what convenient for a story, and forget all the other stuff. This is news, freedom of the press! ) Well, let's see if I can explain this. Johnny might just be a greaser, but did that make any difference to a soc? Did you treat a greaser any different than a hood? They were just something to be stepped on and ridiculed, and what had they done? They were just poor kids. Yes, there are definitely hoods that do crimes and those crimes make them criminals. But that doesn't necessarily mean every hood is a criminal. Do you see what I mean? A little confusing, but hopefully it's understandable. Thanks for the review!
Jaws- Well, I'm pretty much all better, thank you for your thoughts. Thank you, I'm glad Dal is still in character most of the time. That's the biggest problem, you have Dallas in this different setting and you don't know exactly how he would actually react. You just have to try your best to get it right. I'm glad you think I'm doing okay!
DaNNi BaBezZz- Hmm, I don't think Dallas joined any rodeo races. He went to sit with the Mathews to keep his low profile, not hang out with a bunch of hoods. Is that what you were referring to? Anyway, thanks for the review!
Okay, back at the bottom of my chapter. Can anyone guess what I'm going to say? You're right: review please! And have a great day!