I sighed. "No going out alone, no going to Buck's, and no hanging out with the Shepards," I rolled my eyes. "Things have changed Dallas. You've been away a long time. I have my own rules now."
Tim stepped forward to grab my arm, but Dally pushed him backwards. "Well I'm home now. And you ain't going anywhere." That said he walked towards the car, knowing that I would follow him. I looked over at Tim, but it didn't seem that he was planning on sticking up for me. Not even he would defy Dal.
I headed to the car, arms crossed. About halfway there I turned around and called out to Tim. Making sure Dally wasn't looking, I tossed him the bag he had given to me earlier. "Tomorrows," I mouthed to him and he nodded. Dally cleared his throat and I climbed into the car.
By the time we got home, Dally still hadn't cooled off. He took me in the house and then into my room, slamming the door behind him. "So this is what happens when I leave, huh?" he demanded. "You skip school, you smoke, and you hang out with Tim Shepard?"
"Guess so," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
"Well, it's going to end. Right now," he assured me. "From now on, I drive you to school, watch you enter the building, pick you up after school, drive you to the Curtis' and Darry will help you with your homework."
"Why do you care so much?" I asked, glaring at him.
He walked to the door, but stopped and turned around once he'd reached it. "Because I won't let you turn out like me. I just won't." That said, he left me alone with my thoughts.
The next morning I was woken up by someone shaking my shoulder violently. "Get up!" instructed an impatient voice. Upon opening my eyes, I realized that it was Dally.
I attempted to go back to sleep, but the shaking failed to cease. Groaning, I got out of bed and stumbled into the shower. Within fifteen minutes I was ready to go and sat silently in the passenger seat as Dally drove me to school.
I entered the building, and watched as his car pulled away. As soon as he was out of sight, I exited the school and ran all the way over to Tim's. He opened the door after the first ring. "I was wondering if you were going to show up today," he replied, stepping aside to let me in.
"Let's do it," I ordered as we sat down on the couch.
He got the bag and poured some onto the table. A half hour later we had finished five lines of cocaine between the two of us. We were on our way upstairs to Tim's room when the doorbell rang. "Be right back," he promised as he backtracked his steps all the way to the front door. He opened the door revealing a very angry-looking Dally.
"I called the school. She's not there. Where is she?" he demanded, pushing past Tim. It had all happened so fast that I hadn't had time to react. As soon as Dallas entered the room, he caught sight of me on the stairs. As he neared me, I realized that I still had the bag of cocaine in my hand.
"Uh oh."
"What the fuck is that?" he demanded, ripping it from my hands. "Where did you get that?" When I didn't answer him, he took his hand back and slapped me. I stood there, too shocked to move or even speak. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to control his anger this time, Dally turned it on Tim. "You. This is your fault," he cried, rushing at him. Within seconds Tim was pinned on the floor, Dallas's fists pounding into his face.
By the time I snapped out of the trance I was in, Dally had gotten off of Tim and was coming back towards me. Grabbing my wrist, he dragged me to the car and threw me in. Then he sped off to the Curtis' house.
Opening the front door, he pushed me inside. The side of my face was still red and there were tear stains on my cheek. "What the hell…?" Soda's question was left unfinished when he saw Dally.
"What's going on here?" Darry asked, coming out of the kitchen. "Brooke…why aren't you in school?"
Dally answered him harshly. "Because she was over at Shepard's snorting lines of coke!" he yelled, pushing me down onto the couch. Soda, who had rushed into the kitchen when I entered, emerged with a cold washcloth.
"Here," he instructed. "Hold that on your cheek. It'll keep it from swelling."
"I can't deal with her anymore Dar," Dally said, his voice sounding resigned. "Can she stay here awhile?"
"Yeah, I'll keep her for a few weeks," Darry agreed. Upon hearing that, Dallas left the house. That's when Darry turned to address me. "If you're staying under my roof, there are a few things you need to know. There will be no drugs. I don't want any of that shit near Ponyboy, ya hear? You will go to school everyday, and come home every afternoon. If you want to go out your homework must be done first. Your curfew is ten o'clock on school nights and eleven-thirty on weekends. You will not hang out with Tim Shepard. You will not smoke more that half a pack a day and you will not drink. Are we clear?" I looked at him in shock. He had to be kidding me. "Are we clear?" he asked again, this time his voice louder. "Dally isn't going to let you stay at home. You can't stay at Tim's because he has a girlfriend. Buck will charge you to stay with him. This is you're only shot. Now, I'll ask one more time. Are we clear?"
I sighed. Darry was right. I had nowhere else to go. "Yes. We're clear."