A TRAVEL BACK IN TIME
"This is the last box, I'm pretty sure Dally". I heard Darry say to me and the rest of the gang as he dumped the box on the floor.
"It's got some old school stuff in it, if my memory serves me".
The gang and I had been cleaning all day and we were sick of it. As we searched through the box we found old essays and yearbooks. We couldn't believe how strange we looked, Soda with his dorky hair cut and Steve with his out of control eyebrows.
Finally right at the back of the year book, we came across me, Dallas Winston. The toughest, meanest and hottest guy at East Side High School. About half an hour after we started seraching we were down to the last paper. It was an autobiography assignment. Johnny pulled it out and showed it to us. There was a big A+ marked on the front in red pen but there was no name.
"What do I do?" Johnny asked.
"There's no name?"
"Read the comment on the back", Darry answered.
"They always put your name in them."
Johnny turned the paper over and read aloud.
"Great story, I hope to see more work like this from you…Dally?
"You're joking", we heard Steve say. 'Yeah, I never got an A in my life!"
"Nope, that's what it says here", Pony said as he peered over Johnny's shoulder to get a better look. Suddenly Soda grabbed it out of Johnny's hands.
"Let's see what our accomplished writer wrote to get such a high mark".
Before he could start reading, I tackled him to the ground and tore it out of his hands.
"Jeesh, Dal!" We were just messing around", Steve said. "Yeah!" Come on Dal, read it for us", Johnny nagged. He continued to nag me for ten minutes. I couldn't take much more, so I gave in.
"Fine", I said. "I'll read it to you, only if you don't tell any-one about it when you leave this room". "We swear", they said together.
"Yeah! That's satisfied me", I said and began to read aloud. "My Family and How I Met Them – an Autobiography" by Dallas Winston, Year Ten, Home-Room One.
'………From the start, I knew my life wasn't perfect. My Mum had died giving birth to me. My Dad was a piece of trash and our neighborhood was one of the toughest to get around in. I live in the East side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, where all us boys are classified as 'greasers', as 'hoodlums' and a disgrace to society. It's not an ideal neighborhood, but it's what I call home.
I remember one night I was in my room, playing with the switch blade that I had stolen from the school storage room, when my Dad stormed through the door. "I want you out of this house, tonight, you good-for-nothing-boy, that I call son". I could tell he was drunk again. The smell was sickening. He'd done this before and usually after about half an hour of yelling, he'd pass out cold on the floor and have no memory of it in the morning.
This time I could tell it was different. As usual, I stood up and started to walk out the door, but before I could make it, I felt something hard hit the back of my head. Then pain you couldn't imagine. I felt the back of my head and then looked at my hand. It was red with blood. I turned around and looked at my father. He was holding a piece of wood and had a sly grin on his face, like he'd accomplished a great task. As he smiled, he said. "Now get out". If he thought I was going to leave being beaten by him, he had another thing coming. "Fat chance", I said and went to slash him.
But he was too fast. He grabbed my hand and twisted it around my back. I felt the blade fall from my grasp and land on the floor. I tried to get loose, kicking at him with every chance I got, but he was too strong. With a quick move, he had me on the floor, kicking and punching me, left, right and centre. I swear I heard a cracking noise as he kicked my ribs. They just kept coming, then there was a final blow to my head and I lost consciousness. It was welcomed.
"Hey man, are you okay", I heard someone say. From what I could gather, I was in a gutter near the old playground. The old man must have dumped me after he beat me. "What? Who are you?" I said, looking around. There were about six of them. "He's alright We're gunna help. We're 'Greasers'". At least they weren't 'Socs', I thought.
As one of them knelt down and touched my stomach, I grimaced with pain. "We'd betta take him back to the house. He don't look too tuff", one of them said.
"No, I'm fine", I said, and tried to sit up. The pain seeped through my body. Every-thing was dizzy. Then I blacked out as I felt somebody lifting me from the ground.
I woke up in unfamiliar territory. I was lying on a couch in a small house. I had an ice pack and a bandage around my head, and a sling wrapped around my stomach.
"So our sleeping beauty awakes", I heard someone say. I turned around and saw a young guy around seventeen. He had dark brown eyes and sort of dark gold hair, which he had combed back. "My name's Soda Pop. Soda for short", he said, and held out a hand. I shook it and said,
"My name's Dallas Winston. Dally for short. What happened?"
"Well, we found you in the gutters near the playground, all beat up", said another guy walking out from the kitchen with a piece of chocolate cake and a Pepsi."
"My name's Darry, and this little guy over here's my brother, Soda."
"Yeah, we've met", I said to him.
"Have you met Pony?" Darry asked me. "He's our little brother".
"No", I said.
"Well maybe it's time you did", Soda said, calling for Pony. A couple of minutes later, a small boy with long black hair that was squared off at the back, walked in. "Pony, this is Dallas Winston. The boy we picked up last night", Soda said.
"Dally's fine, really", I said.
"Are you feeling better", Pony asked me. "You weren't looking too flash when we found you in the gutter. The 'Socs' must have got you good, huh?"
"The Socs"? I said. "You think they did this to me".
"Well they did, didn't they"? Soda asked.
"No, my father did", I replied.
"What"? Darry said, standing up from this seat to put his plates in the sink. "That's stupid".
"Yeah! Well, it's the truth", I said. "What about your parents. Are they nice?" I asked, turning to Soda. He had a sad sort of look on his face.
"Our parents died in an auto-wreck", he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ……", I started to say, but was cut off by Darry. "It's okay, we understand".
Just then three more guys walked through the door. They had the same appearance as the others. Long hair, greased back, jeans and a T-shirt. "Hey guys!",Soda said, as he went over to greet them. "This is Dally, the guy we found last night near the playground. Apparently his Dad and he had a bit of brawl."
"Dally, this is Steve, Two-Bit and Johnny".
"Hi", Two-Bit said, sitting down in front of the television. "How are you feeling"? he asked.
"I've been better", I replied, sitting up.
"So", Steve said. "What was the fight about?"
"My Dad came home drunk and just went off", I said.
"Hey,a bit like Johnny here. Hey Steve?" Two-Bit said.
"What?" I said, as I looked around at Johnny.
"Well", Pony started to say. "Johnny's parents beat him too", he said, looking towards him.
"You'll get used to it after a while", Johnny said.
"You don't think I'm going to go back there do you"? I said looking around the room.
"But where else are you going to go"? Steve said.
"Well, I have a friend called Buck, so I should be able to crash with him". I replied.
"Well, our door's always open if you need anything", Darry said as I pulled on my singlet.
"Thanks",
I said as I headed for the door.
"Hey, wait", Soda said.
"Do you want to go get something to eat at the Dingo"?
"Yeah!" I said, as every-one barged through the door and started walking down the street, asking me questions about myself and doing acrobatics.
So that's how I met my 'family', and I love them to death. …'
"Oh! It brings a tear to my eye", Soda said in a mocking voice. "Yeah! whatever, I said, stuffing the paper into my shirt pocket. "I wrote that ages ago. Anyways, I'm going to go for a walk. You guys coming"?
"No, Steve and I've got work", Soda said. "And we're gonna be late if we don't hurry", he said running out the door with Steve right behind him.
"Seeya".
"Ok ! Well… Pony, wanna come?",
I asked him.
"No, I'm going to go to the movies later",
he replied.
"Well fine, I'll see you guys later then",
I said.
I walked out, not knowing what was to come in the future.