Chapter 13: Questions and Answers

After that night of sleeping in the lot, Louis decided to be with Johnny as usual. But if Johnny couldn't be found, he decided to be with Two-Bit. Johnny knew why. It was because they carried around knives and Drake hated them. Johnny really doubts it was Drake. But it left Louis real scared. Kinda like how when the socs jumped Johnny, it left him scared.

Meanwhile, Steve, Soda and Dally decided to keep what they heard between themselves. If they told Darry, he would get too serious. Ponyboy might forget and let the thought slip, and Two-Bit…well go figure. Dallas had left the DX later on. When it was closing time and Steve was giving Sodapop a ride home. They were still talking about Louis.

"Do we know anything else about him?" asked Steve.

"Let me see….Oh! I remember he had a long cut on his leg the night Darry found him."

"A long cut?"

"Yup. He says he got it from running through the woods, but I'm beginning to think he got it from a fight."

"What else do you know?"

"Um. He doesn't know how to read and that's all I can think of right now."

The two drove home talking about the kid. Dallas said he would start hanging around him. He probably would know something by later on tonight.

Also at the school, Ponyboy was finished with his test. He had a lot of time left, so he decided to think about Louis. Who was this guy? He had never really got to know him. Darry was making him study all the time. The last time he talked to him was when he was teaching him to read. That was a daily chore. Pony didn't mind it. It just seemed like Darry was demanding him to teach him to read.

'So what else is new', thought Ponyboy. Darry was treating Louis like an actual brother. It's like a twisted Cinderella story. Ponyboy hated that thought. He still had Soda, so everything wasn't that bad. It was kinda good Louis came along. He was a good friend to Johnny. Everyone in the gang was talking about it. Especially Dally.

Ponyboy sometimes thought Dally was Johnny's brother. He wasn't sure, but sometimes, he saw Dally being like one to Johnny.

Speaking of Johnny. He was with Louis at the Curtis house. It took a while for both of them to go to sleep last night. They had both woken up around noon and wanted to just lounge around the house. Soon, Dally came in.

"Hey Dally," greeted Louis. Johnny did the same.

"What's up kids. Why are y'all just lounging around?"

"Just tired," answered Johnny.

"About last night?"

"Yeah."

Dally had a lot questions for them, but he didn't want to ask them that at the wrong time. He wanted to keep what he heard a secret. He decided to think about the questions to ask them. He didn't want to get suspicious.

"I'm going to the kitchen. You kids want any water. Beer?"

Louis head shot up when he heard the word beer.

"No!" he said with an almost loud voice. "I'll um. Just take water."

Johnny said he wasn't thirsty and Dally went to the refrigerator. 'What was that about?' he thought. Was Louis scared of beer or something? That's another clue. He was deeply worried about Louis. He hoped that whatever his past was, doesn't harm him now. He seemed to not like it.

Dally thought how it was back in New York. Running around with big gangs, getting into feuds and having rumbles. He'd even seen people shot right in front of his face. It didn't bother him that much. He remembered when he first moved down to Tulsa and met Johnny.

He instantly felt sorry for the kid. Dally had never felt like that before. He hoped he wasn't becoming soft. It was almost the same way with Louis.

Dally closed the refrigerator and went back into the living room.

"So why were you screaming last night?" asked Dally with his attention turned to Louis.

"I just had a bad dream," answered Louis.

"What was it about?"

'What's up with Dally' thought Johnny. Since when was he interested in people's dreams? He never cared when Ponyboy had his nightmares. Louis answered Dally.

"Oh. Just about something stupid. It's not important."

Dally nodded. He stayed around for a minute, but finally left. He realized he was getting no where. As soon as he closed the door, Louis asked,

"Do you think he knows?"

"I'm not sure."

Meanwhile while Dally was walking off the porch, he saw Steve's car pull up. Dally walked up to the window.

"About time you two got here. I know what time you guys get off work."

"We went by Sandy's house," started Soda. He was smiling. "Evie was over there too. We would have been over there all day, but Sandy's dad came home early. Me and Steve had to escape through the window."

Dally rolled his eyes. Sod then asked,

"Find out any new stuff on Louis?"

"Yeah. He doesn't like beer."

"Oh that helps!" said Steve sarcastically. Dally gave him one of his looks and continued.

"What I mean is that when I offered him some, he acted like it would kill him."

"Well, that could come in handy somewhere."

Dally strolled off and saw Ponyboy walking down the street from school.

"Hey Dally," he said walking towards his house.

Dally said hi back and kept walking. He and Ponyboy didn't know eachother that well. When Pony entered his house, he said hi to Johnny and Louis and asked where Soda was.

"He's taking a shower," answered Louis.

Ponyboy nodded and said, "I'll get to the reading lesson after I finish my homework, ok?"

Louis nodded and he and Johnny decided to keep watching television.