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Sammy's POV
A few weeks later, I digested what Dally had said about being single, and could understand
it. I guess when you have someone, you always have something to do, like go to the drive-in or parties
together. When you're alone, you have to watch everyone else do it. I should know.
"Hey, Soda, can you give me a back-rub?" I asked
and he came over. "I have to sit hunched over every
day, going over paperwork or taking phone messages.
It's a killer." Soda gives an awesome back-rub. I mean it too. Soon,
I was almost asleep on Dally's shoulder. Then he
stopped and looked at the clock.
"Uh-oh. I still have to make dinner," he said,
but we heard Darry laughing from the kitchen.
"I already made it, little buddy." He said and
Soda grinned.
"Well, I guess that means everyone's missing out
on my gourmet cooking tonight, huh?"He asked and we
all had to laugh. I wondered where Two Bit was.
"Hey, where's Two Bit?" Dally asked. Great minds think alike, huh?
"I dunno," Soda answered. "Should we call his
mama?"
"Naw," Dally said, and we all agreed. Two Bit
could take care of himself.
Ponyboy came downstairs. He had been in his room
studying, but I guess he was through now. He had the
dazed, just-finished-reading look, but you can expect
that from someone who tried hard to get good grades.
"Hey, Pony!" I said and Pony smiled. Pony and I had gotten pretty close. "What are
ya studying in English?"
"We're reading Oliver Twist." He said, and Soda rolled his eyes.
rolled his eyes.
"Boring!" He exclaimed. Pony smiled wryly.
"Are you done with it yet?" I asked him, and he
nodded.
"Yea, finished it a few minutes ago,"He replied.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, do you think I could borrow it?" I asked
and he nodded his head.
"Sure," He looked at me with a knowing look.
"You need somethin' to read, huh?"
"Yea," I sighed. He left for a few moments. When he came back, he was carrying a thick book.
"Ever read this?" He asked, and I took it.
"Gone with the Wind?" I asked. "I saw the
movie, but I've never even opened the book." He
smiled.
"Johnny really liked it when we read it out loud in the church. He loved the part
about the southern gentlemen riding into sure death. Said it reminded him of Dally." I almost laughed out
loud at that.
"That's good, Pony, that's real good," I told
him and he almost laughed too. We looked over at
Dally, who was shakin' his head and grinning.
"Gentleman? Give me a break!" He said. "I'm
no more a gentleman than Pony's a horse."
It was true. I knew Dally was rude and inconsiderate.
Pony grinned at him.
"That's what I said!" He told him. "But
Johnny said you were gallant like them."
"Gallant?" Dally asked. "I guess I could stand
being gallant." Darry came in with the food, (baked
chicken), and we all dug in. It was real good.
Darry's a pretty good cook.
"This is good, Darry," Soda said, and everyone
nodded their heads. I wanted to go to the lot and look
at the stars. I love to that. I could find all
different constellations. You know, the Big Dipper,
Orion's Belt, the Seven Sisters. It made me seem so
small when I looked up there. And every once and
while, I'd see a falling star. I love to wish on
them.
I opened Gone with the Wind. There was a note in it.
When I unfolded it, I realized it was in Johnny's hand
and addressed to Pony. I held it up for Pony to see.
"Okay if I read this?" I asked, and he nodded his
head. It started out saying he didn't mind dying and
that it was worth it. Then he told Pony to make Dally
watch a sunset. And it told him to stay gold. Stay
gold? I thought. What does that mean? I felt like
crying for a few minutes. I wish Johnny had written me a letter. Then I
thought that maybe he had.
"Did Johnny ever write anything for me?" I asked
hopefully. The boys looked at each other and then at
me.
"Um, no." Soda said gently. "Not that we know
of, anyway. You should check the hospital, though.
They might have somethin'."
"Okay," I said and decided to go before I lookedat the stars. "I'm gonna go right now. Hey,
Dally," I said, with a sudden inspiration. "Why
don't you come with me?"
"Alright," He said. "It is pretty close to the
west side."
We headed out. I was glad he decided to
come. Not only did I not know were the hospital was,
but I like to spend time with him. Is that completely
crazy? Wait, don't answer that.
When we walked past an old, rundown, trashy house,
Dally stopped. He looked at it with a strong look of
hatred.
"That was his house," he said stiffly. I took it
in and almost started bawling. It was so sad. "He
hated it. He used to sleep in the lot, or at the
Curtis's house."
"That is so sad,"I said. I saw a woman in the
window, looking out at us. She looked mean, with hard
eyes and a grim scowl. "Is that..."
"Yea," Dally said softly. It was probably the
only time I had ever heard him using a soft voice. He
looked down at me and I bit my lip. That woman was my
mother. My mother, who had given birth to me and then
fought to keep me. Then I saw a man come to the window
and wrench her way by the arm. She turned to look at
us one last time. I think she might have recognized
me. I wasn't sure, though. "I'm sorry." Dally
said and I started walking.
"Don't be," I told him. "They didn't want
me." I let a tear run down my face, and quickly brushed it away, ashamed to be so, weak, I guess.. "They gave me away, like you give away old clothes or a torn up
sofa."
"I know,"Dally said awkwardly. "But you don't need them."
"I don't need my family?" I asked indignantly. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you have the gang, don't ya?" He said
roughly. "I mean, dang it, Sammy. I don't have no
family. I don't have nothin'. But I have the gang.
I thought after Johnny died that my life was over. I
almost got killed. But thank God for those boys. They
were there to talk me out of my state and now, well,
I'm sorta okay. And you have them too." This was quite
as speech for Dally. I looked up at him in awe. He
never talked like that.
"I guess so," I said slowly. I let what he said
run through my head. We had reached the hospital. Whenwe walked in, I didn't know where to go. It was real
quiet in there.
"Ask the receptionist," Dally whispered into my
ear. I got chills from having him that close, I really
did. But I heard what said and walked up to the desk.
"Yes?" The lady asked, looking over her glasses.
"Um, my name is Samantha Cade and I'm here to get
some information on my brother Johnny. I've learned
that he died here a month or so ago." I said,
trying to sound professional. The lady sifted some
papers and then looked up at me again.
"You'll need to see Dr. Haley, dear," she
informed me. If you go up the hall a little way,
his office is the third on the left. Here, take this
note to give him." She handed me the paper and Dally
and I started up the hall. "Wait, who is that?"
She pointed to Dally.
"Dallas Winston," I replied and she nodded.
"Very well," She told us and we ran up the hall.
We stopped at the office and I rested my hand on the
door nob.
"I'm scared to go in," I whispered to Dally.
"I'm scared of what he might tell me."
"Just do it," he said, so it did. I guess he
wasn't messing around anymore.
"Excuse me?" I said and the doctor looked up from
his desk. "Dr. Haley?"
"Yes?" He asked and I handed him the note. He
read it over and looked up and me. Then he stood up
and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you."
I was a little startled, but I just shook his hand
and smiled. "I'm Samantha Cade," I told him and
he nodded.
"I know. Your brother was a great person, dear."
Dally rolled his eyes.
"Thank you," I said. He went on to say he was
truly blessed to have met him and that he was very
sorry for me. I just stood there, not sure what to
say. Finally he go to the point.
"Now. You needed some information, right?" I
nodded my head and he stood there expectantly.
"I wanted to know if he gave you a letter of
something to send to me," I said, and he opened his
filing cabinet. "He did indeed." The doctor took out an envelope
and handed it to me. I closed my hands around it.
"Why didn't you send it?' I asked accusingly. I
was happy it was here, but what if I never left
Boston? I would have never known!
"Because I wanted to give your family sometime to
cool off. I figured you'd come barreling back here
to find out what happened, and your mother was already
going through enough," He said, and I forgave him.
"Thank you again,"I found myself saying. "You
don't know how much this means to me."
"You are very welcome, and I hope it brings you
some joy," the doctor said. He turned to Dally.
"You, young man, take care of this girl," He told
him. "She's very special." I took in his words and wondered how the heck he could decide that already.
Then Dally said something that I never thought I'd
hear him say. "I know." I was floored. A semi-tender statement. Wow.
The doctor smiled, and ushered us out of his office.
I was blushing furiously. Dally looked down at the
envelope. 'Sammy' was written on it in Johnny's
simple script. We left the hospital and walked to the
lot. I sat on the grass next to Dally and slowly
opened the envelope.
Sammydoll,
I'm having the doctor send this to you, Sammy,
because I'm dying. I'd love to see you, but I know
that's not possible. I hope you will come down to
Oklahoma and see my friends, if you can, and have you
tell them about what I did.
Sam, I'm dying because I risked my life to save
little kids in a burning church. I know that it was
worth it. Their parents came in and thanked me, and I
had an article in the paper. They're saying I'm a
hero, Sammy. It was worth it. Have the boys tell you
the story, okay?
I miss you. I wish you were here right now. I wish
the boys could meet you. They'd love you, Sammy.
Especially Dally. I'd have to talk to him about you,
Sam, about how much he could do with you! He'd love
you. I never told them about you, okay? I figured they
were better off not knowing. And plus, it is pretty
tough to talk about.
I love you, Sam. You're the best twin sister a boy
could have. Really. I wish I could've met you. Weseem so alike . . . I guess it's a twin thing, huh,
honey? Say hi to Mrs. Dawson, alright? Love you
always!
Love,
Johnny
I was crying by the second line of the letter, of
course. And hard. I wished I had been able to meet
him, to know him like everyone else in the gang did.
But I did know him in a different way. I knew him so
well, because he was my twin brother. We had the bond
between twins that always developed. We were bound by
blood.
Dally took the letter from my hands and began to read
it. I cried softly and hugged my knees. When he
finished reading it, he looked at me and wiped the
tears from my face.
"You are special, Sammy," He said. He took my
hand, just the way Soda had that day on the lawn. I
think it's a guy thing. "You remind me so much of
him."
"Thank you," I replied and he shook his head.
"Thank you," He said. "I thought my life
couldn't go on with out Johnny. But because you
showed up. . . . " He trailed off. I knew what he
was saying. He didn't have to clarify it. Later that night, once the stars had come out, I was
calmed down. I had taken a few deep breaths, pocketed
the note and lain down on my back to look up at the
stars.
"Look, there's Orion's belt. See those three
stars real close to each other?" I said to Dally. He
had decided to stay with me and look at the stars,
although he was skeptical at first.
"Right there?" He pointed. I nodded my head and
then saw another one.
"Oh, look! Draco! I could never find him before,
but there he is!"
"Where?"
"He's that big dragon! Right there,' I pointed
again.
'Nope, still can't see him." Dally almost
laughed. I lifted his hand and traced one of his
fingers over the shape.
"Right there," I said and he smiled. "Oh!" He turned and looked at me. My hair was
spread out behind me and falling in my face. He pushed
it out of my eyes. I saw a shooting star and motioned
for Dally to look up. We watched with awed expressions
on our faces.
"Make a wish," I whispered. He didn't make any
smart remarks about it, (which is rare for Dally),
just closed his eyes. When it was gone, he turned to
me.
"What did you wish?" He asked, and I smiled
slyly.
"I wished that you would tell me 5 things out my
brother tonight and 1 thing more every night we sit
out here and do this," I told him and he shook his
head.
You're certainly different Sammy. But I suppose I can make that wish come true," He
said, and leaned back on his elbows. "He was very
quiet. You could barely get him to talk. He had the
softest voice and always said the right thing."I
smiled.
"He had a deathly fear of cops. Yea, he never
opened his mouth or even moved when the fuzz was
around." Dally smiled, remembering. "He never
swore and was nice to all girls, unlike me. We were almost opposites when it came to that.
"He respected them and once he told me to leave a couple of them alone."
I thought about my brother, telling Dally off and
treating girls nicely. It was kind of a funny thought.
"He had the darkest hair. It was pitch black and he
could never keep it out of his eyes. Kinda like
yours." I grinned. So we did have something in
common when it came to looks. "The last thing is
that he had a rough life. He had to deal with his
parents and wanted desperately for them to love him
and care about him. He was so funny. I used to think he was a idiot for that... now I'm sorry I ever thought that. I turned and looked at Dallas. He was looking up at the sky and I
could see that he was close to tears, something I didn't think possible and felt bad about. "I haven't
talked to anyone about Johnny since the day he died. I
wasn't strong enough. I thought that no one would
understand."
"I understand," I said, and he nodded.
"I know you do," He said. "That's how I can
talk to you about it."
A/N: I'm so sorry about the errors. The computer really sucks. Anyway, thank you to the wonderful people who reveiwed my story. You all rock! And I know you guys aren't all happy over Dal and Sam, but I like them together. He needs someone, you guys! And Matt Dillon is HOT, you have to admit. Old, but hot.
Also, I want to apoligize for all the pain in this chapter. I have a sunburn right now, thats my excuse.A really bad sunburn. I forgot my sunscreen and, well, OW. I look like a lobster! It hurts wicked bad.
One more thing about the pain. I'm listening toQueen. They're a little depressing (Under Pressure, BohemianRhapsody, ect.) Yeah, I like Queen. They're cool. Andweird. Okay, I'm done.