I'm back! And it hasn't even been 3 months!
This chapter starts kind of angsty but doesn't end that way, just a heads up.
And I noticed I said the drag race would be Saturday in the last chapter, but it is suppose to be Sunday.
Also, this chapter has no beta.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders.
Johnny weighed what to do next.
He could go back to his house? Maybe if he went back, his dad would leave Emma alone?
But he really didn't want to.
He really liked living with Emma. He couldn't go back to his old life now.
Johnny sighed heavily and turned his back on the door, making his way down the porch steps and onto the sidewalk. There was a sizeable rock on the pavement and he kicked it all the way to the lot, where he plopped down on the familiar abandoned car seat. The familiarity didn't feel comfortable, only terrible. Johnny felt at least two steps back from where he had started in this whole mess.
He just couldn't go back. Without his mom there to at least be a distraction for his dad, he would be the prime target. And it wasn't like his dad was going to just let him stroll back in there like nothing happened; he would be livid. Thinking about it only made Johnny feel worse. Sure his mom wasn't good to him, especially not these past years, but now he was actually missing her for the first time since her death. He had been so busy since the funeral, his whole life had turned around, that he hadn't had time to really think about her.
But now he really missed her. He knew that if he went back to his father without her presence, life would be way worse without her than it would be with her.
The colors of the sunrise had faded, leaving a bright sun in a cloudless blue sky. It was turning out to be a beautiful Saturday morning. Johnny wished the sun would go away and that it would just rain; at least that way, the sky would be miserable too, instead of mocking him like this.
Plus, if he were to cry, the rain would hide it a lot better than the sun.
He wasn't going to cry though.
He wasn't going to sit out here and cry like a big baby. What would Dallas think?
Johnny rarely cried. He never cried while he was getting hit. But this was the kind of pain that came from the inside. He felt like a fool for thinking anything would ever change in his miserable life, and now he was right, now things were going to be even worse. Pressure started to build behind his eyes, but no tears emerged.
Ponyboy was making his way to the library. For whatever reason, he had woken up bright and early that morning and was able to catch the beautiful sunrise from his front porch. He had decided to get to the library first thing since it closed at noon on Saturdays. Since he didn't have a book in mind, he would need a lot of time to look around; so without waking his brothers, he slipped out of the house.
Daydreaming as he passed by the lot, he was surprised to see someone actually sitting there.
It was Johnny!
Ponyboy rushed over to him, but could instantly tell something wasn't right. Johnny's hunched shoulders and indifference at his presence told him so.
Pony warily sat down beside his best friend. After a few minutes of silence, he gave up on trying to give Johnny space.
"It's nice runnin' into you here," remarked Pony. It wasn't small talk. He really did enjoy seeing Johnny unexpectedly. After he moved in with Emma, Pony didn't think he would see him here in the morning like this.
Johnny mentally responded that he would probably be seeing him more often if he indeed left Emma's house. Maybe he would have to be out here permanently if it was too bad with his dad and Emma had tired of all the trouble he was causing, as he suspected.
"You been out here long?"
Finally, Johnny gave an answer. He shook his head no, but didn't look at Pony.
Pony could usually understand Johnny's silences, but there were too many unanswered questions swimming between them for him to keep quiet. He persisted on with prying more information out of Johnny. Johnny finally explained about the fight with Tim and Emma having guns.
"I think he might really hurt her. And I don't mean like how I been hurt, cause she had that stuff at home too. She wouldn't get more guns when she already got one if she thought he might just slap her or somethin'."
Pony winced at the casual way Johnny talked about his dad slapping someone. He wondered if Johnny's father would really do something that bad.
"Who knows? Who knows what he's like now? He lost his wife and then me, not that he seemed too concerned with either of us before."
Pony winced again.
"I think something bad mighta happened. I don't know what. But… maybe she's seen him since the funeral. Maybe he threatened her and that's why she got the extra guns."
Pony figured Johnny was probably right, but he couldn't think of anything helpful to say.
"I'm really scared he's gonna hurt Emma," Johnny whispered looking down at his lap.
"You should be worried about you too!"
Johnny honestly didn't care about himself and his miserable life, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to Emma. He couldn't take it if someone got hurt because of him. He shrugged.
"Why you out here so early, anyway?"
"I needed to get out. I need to handle the situation with Tim and my dad. I need to figure out somethin'," Johnny said a little louder, then softly added, "And I think Emma might not want me around anymore."
Ponyboy didn't think that was true, but he didn't know Emma all that well either. Pony gave his usual offer of staying at his place when things got bad, but that didn't make Johnny feel any better, at all. Quite on the contrary, it made him feel like a charity case again and only reminded him of what it would be like if he had to leave Emma's. Ponyboy involuntarily felt a bit rejected that Johnny didn't want to come stay with him. He honestly felt a little jealous of Emma sometimes.
The pair sat in silence for a while before Pony asked if Johnny wanted to come to the library with him, even though he knew Johnny didn't like reading.
"Nah, don't think they'll have a book to solve my problems in there."
"I guess not," Pony said, as a small laugh escaped. Johnny smirked a little too, though his eyes looked just as weary as before.
"Maybe you should try to handle the easier problem first. Tim you could probably handle by just talkin' to him or somethin'."
Johnny agreed. "I need to confront Tim."
Pony all of a sudden didn't like how that sounded, but the way Johnny said it made clear that he wasn't wavering on it.
Ponyboy kicked himself as he was saying it but mentioned that there was going to be drag race tomorrow. He had overheard Soda talking to Steve about it, much to Darry's displeasure. He bet that Tim would be there since his gang usually was. They decided going by his house would probably not be best since he was rarely at his family's house and his downtown apartment was full of his gang and not full of any witnesses if things got out of hand.
"I'm going to the drag race," said Johnny firmly.
"I'll go with ya," added Pony.
"No, I 'preciate it but I gotta do this on my own. Can't have more people gettin' hurt cause a me."
Pony tried to argue, but Johnny insisted. He also insisted Pony get to library before it closed, but not before asking Pony to not tell anyone that he had been at the lot, at least not until he had time to handle his problems alone. Ponyboy promised and got up to head to the library, but turned around after a few steps to look back at his best friend. Johnny was sitting with his legs crossed and his mouth resting on his laced together fingers. He looked deep in thought and pretty miserable. Pony gave him some parting words.
"You should go back to Emma's. I'm sure she don't hate you and you'll never know anyway sittin' out here."
Johnny didn't respond but he did get up and start walking in the direction of downtown. Pony smiled meekly at his back and headed towards the library again in the opposite direction.
Emma couldn't take it anymore. The silence was drilling a hole in her head. She hated silence. Half of her wanted to go out looking all over town for her cousin; the other half couldn't even bear to move off the couch because she wanted to wallow in self-pity. Johnny hated her; she just knew it. She had lied to him, she had let him down and she was weak, just like their parents were weak, succumbing to all their flaws and insecurities.
Emma had laid in the same position on the couch for so long that she suspected her body was becoming one with the cushions. That was, until the phone rang and her body mysteriously was able to fly off the couch in surprise. Picking herself clumsily up from the floor, she ran straight for the kitchen phone.
"Hello?" she yelled in exasperation.
"Hey Emma, it's Darry."
As guilty as she felt, she couldn't stop the dread and disappointment that washed over her. She had hoped it would be Johnny. And she couldn't tell Darry that Johnny was gone or ask him if he knew where he was.
"Oh, hey Darry…"
Darry felt a little rejected at her tone, but figured she was just having a rough time after last night.
"How's Johnny doin'?"
Emma nearly drew blood from her lip and her tear ducts just about burst as she tried to restrain them. "…Fine Darry, he's fine," Emma mustered through a very strained voice.
Was she mad at him? Darry wondered.
"Oh… that's good," Darry stated, scratching his head, at a loss for what to say next.
"Well, I'm gonna be at the house all day today since I'm off, but I gotta work tomorrow. Maybe you wanna come by?"
Maybe he could make up for whatever he had done that was making her so short with him.
"No…I can't today."
"Oh," replied Darry as his hopes deflated.
"I gotta go Darry…" Emma said, hanging up the phone before he could even say "bye."
She felt even worse now, knowing that Johnny wasn't at the Curtis house.
A few minutes later the phone rang and again she leapt at it, wanting so bad for it be Johnny.
It wasn't.
It was Bill. He said one of the waitresses called in and they needed someone to come prep for lunch and stay through the day shift. Emma obliged, as she couldn't stand to be in the silent house any longer.
Dally's lips had eased into a small smile. It wasn't even a smirk. It was a genuine, soft smile that hardly anyone had seen before.
But it faded as sunlight streamed in over him. Scrunching his face into an ugly expression, he readjusted himself so that the pillow was on top of his head.
It didn't do much.
Dally groaned loudly and berated himself for not moving the bed like he had planned forever ago. He hated those mornings (afternoons), where sleeping became impossible due to all the sun's rays penetrating his eyes. He kicked the blanket off his body in angry defeat.
After pulling himself together in a haze, he remembered why he was so mad yesterday. He remembered it a lot clearer when he felt how raw and painful his knuckles were after punching that wall.
He hated waking up.
He hated the sunlight that always waking him up. Buck's house was on a hill and his room always took a direct hit. If for some reason, he woke up on his own, without the rude sunlight, he always enjoyed those few minutes where his mind hadn't adjusted itself into reality yet.
But it could never last.
That sleepy confusion eased off his face and was replaced by his usual hardened mask. If he wasn't going to handle Tim until the drag race, he would at least make it his mission to find out what the hell happened.
He bullied Buck out of his car keys and set off in search of Johnny.
Much to Dallas' displeasure, no one was at Emma's, nor was Johnny at the Curtis'. Two-Bit said Johnny wasn't at his house. And Steve and Soda hadn't seen him either. Darry was no help because he was mad that Ponyboy had been absent for hours without telling anyone where he was going. And Ponyboy was too moody to answer any questions once he got home and Darry forced him to explain himself.
It was late afternoon, when Dally lit up his cigarette, while driving with one hand. Blowing smoke out the window, he cruised around wondering where Johnny could have gotten off to.
A girl turned the corner as he stopped at a red light. She was looking at her feet and he couldn't see her face, but he would have liked to see more of that body. She was cute, she reminded him of someone too, but he couldn't think of whom.
The late afternoon sun was bringing out gold in her tan skin and dark brown hair. He called to her from the car and he didn't say anything nice or polite either.
She looked up startled, before blushing and running off. Dallas laughed, but his laughed died as it clicked who she reminded him of.
When the light turned green, he flicked his half-finished cigarette out the window and sped off. She looked a lot like Emma Leah, only with a different hair color, especially that nervous look she had given him before running off. He remembered many nervous looks from Emma when she was trying to buy guns.
Approaching the next light, he made a sharp left in the direction of downtown. He knew at least one place he would be likely to find Emma, and she, if anyone, should have some answers about where Johnny was.
There was a decent amount of people out since it was a Saturday night. He had to park a couple blocks away from Emma's work.
After making his way up to the bar, he told the bartender he was looking for Emma.
The bartender called to her and Emma came out from the back looking like she was going to make a run for it when she saw him. He wasn't going to let her though and he grabbed her by the arm.
"Hey! Where's Johnny? He wasn't at your place."
Emma bit into her sore lip. She didn't know what to say. If she said she didn't know where he was, he would be mad; if she lied, and he found out, he would be mad too. "He's…"
"You don't fucking know do you." It wasn't a question.
"I…"
Dally let go of her arm like he was disgusted with her.
"Figures. What you do? Run him off? Or your charity for your dear cousin ran out?"
Emma looked like he had punched a hole in her face, but quickly got defensive. She was just about to start yelling at him, but he strode out of there before she could get a word out.
Dallas leaned back against a brick wall across the street from the restaurant, lighting up a new cigarette. He didn't feel like being in that car again, just yet.
When his cigarette finished, he saw someone coming down the street across from him. Dally's eyes narrowed when he registered who it was.
Jim Cade was about to barge into Emma's job.
Dallas' body stiffened, but he didn't move. She wanted to play hero to some greaser kid, she had to deal with the realities of greaser life. She better get used to it too, if she wanted to stick around, because that was the way things were in Tulsa. He figured there probably weren't greasers and Socs in Vegas, cause it wasn't that simple in New York either, but this wasn't either of those places. Maybe Jim would teach her a lesson for him; he sure wanted to teach her one for not even knowing where her family was after he had just been jumped.
Dallas started to look for another cigarette, figuring he would stick around and catch the show.
He was out of cigarettes. "Shit…"
Aggravation set in, and was shortly replaced by restlessness. When he heard some yelling from inside the restaurant, he figured he might as well go in there before things got too out of hand.
Inside, a security guard, the bartender from earlier and another man were restraining Jim. Jim was kind of a big guy. Dally groaned as he imagined Johnny having to go up against someone it was taking three grown men to restrain.
His thoughts were interrupted though when a waitress came running over, announcing that the police were on their way.
Dallas Winston did not stay around for the fuzz. He noticed Emma reaching for her purse behind the bar and grabbed her arm roughly, dragging her outside.
"What are you doing?" she complained, trying to pull back her arm.
Dallas let go and turned around to face her, "Getting us the hell outta there. You wanna stick around for the fuzz?"
"Let's go!" he shouted before she could protest.
He didn't force her this time. He turned his back to her and ran off in the direction of his car, as he heard the sirens.
"Wait!" she called after him.
"Hold up a second!" she yelled once they had turned a corner.
He turned around, not hearing footsteps anymore. She was stopped at the corner and was messing with her heels. He went back for her.
"Just take 'em off then," he grumbled annoyed.
Emma looked up at him and he thought she was going to start complaining again. But she just smiled and slipped off her heels and then her tights. Dallas was surprised to see her bare legs all of a sudden.
Noticing this, Emma said, "well, if we're runnin' I don't wanna get holes in 'em."
She smirked and Dallas was suddenly intrigued. He hadn't seen this side of her previously, the side that had probably had to run away without tights and shoes on before, the side that had spent those years in Las Vegas.
Once the tights were off, they ran all the way to Dally's car. She didn't ask any more questions till they were inside.
"Where're we goin'?"
"Buck's I guess."
She wrinkled her nose.
"What you too good for Buck's?"
"Well it ain't my favorite," she said to the window, as she folded her arms and leaned up against it.
Dallas rolled his eyes. "If you'd rather get questioned by the fuzz and explain to them all the mess with Johnny and you not even knowin' where he is, even though you tryna be his guardian and all, instead of the folks back there just saying he was some drunk who was harassing one of their staff, then I'll take you right back, dollface."
"Fine," she said, looking down. The gravity of what had just happened must have hit her now that they were riding silently in the car. Dally noticed she was tense and fidgeting out of the corner of his eye.
When they were in sight of Buck's, Dally said, "I had to bring Buck his car back. He gotta make a run before people start really partyin'."
Emma followed Dally into Buck's. It was a little different this time. It wasn't any cleaner looking, but there were more people. The crowd seemed to range from high school to 20s. There was terrible country music playing, but the crowd seemed indifferent. They were already drinking. Dally went up the bar and gave the keys to the guy she assumed was Buck. He left and the other guy behind the bar took Dally's order, a beer.
Emma wasn't a heavy drinker. She didn't want to be like those drunks she grew up with. But she would be lying if she said she didn't drink in social situations from time to time, or after something had happened and she needed to get out of it for a minute. She just tried not to drink in pain alone, that's how she bet her parents got started, and she wasn't going to be like them. Buck's was crowded enough for her technically to not be alone, and she had Dallas here too.
"3 shots of tequila, please" she told the bartender.
Dally cocked one eyebrow in her direction, as did the bartender, but he poured them anyway.
She threw one back, and then a second, then a third one all without skipping a beat.
Dally chugged his own beer and got 3 shots of vodka. Emma cracked a smile, but tried to hide it behind her hand. Dallas wasn't one to look weak sipping on a beer, while she was throwing back shots like they were water. And she reasoned he wouldn't be pleased if he knew she had caught that.
Dallas threw all three of his back, then turned to her in a challenging manner, "must drink pretty often, I didn't take you for a boozer though."
"It's just been a rough night!" Emma replied irritated. She wasn't her mom, after all.
She had been trying to busy herself behind the bar, helping Ethan, to take her mind off of what Dallas had said to her. She hadn't even seen him come in, but out of nowhere, Jim reached across the bar and grabbed her by her hair. She was sure he had pulled some of her hair out too, now that she thought about it.
Emma's hand rubbed the back of her head, while he eyes stayed lost in thought. They were only refocused when she noticed there was actually some blood on her fingers.
Dally noticed too.
"Hey you alright? Wanna napkin?" The bartender asked walking back towards them.
Emma snapped out of her thoughts and tried to compose herself. She smiled at him, "No, it's nothin', thanks though."
The bartender just shrugged and walked over to a group of drunken girls. One of them was dangling over the bar trying to wave down another drink.
"He hit you in the head?" Dallas asked coolly, not looking at her.
"No, he just pulled my hair. He musta ripped some skin off with the hair, that's all," Emma replied, rubbing her head absentmindedly.
"What you mean 'that's all'?" questioned Dallas aggressively.
Sure, Dallas firmly believed that if you got tough then nothing could hurt you. But he didn't like how Emma had said it was nothing. Johnny did that shit too. He would act like the beatings his dad gave him were nothing. He acted used to it.
"The blood'll dry," added Emma, ordering two more shots.
Dallas ordered another beer and took a long gulp of it while he processed. Her answer was probably bothering him because she looked so much like Johnny, even if he hadn't noticed it before. Johnny rarely smiled and Emma smiled most of the time, so their faces initially seemed different, but the family resemblance was strong.
"Jim been messin' with you?" Dallas tried to ask nonchalantly.
"No, I hadn't seen him in a while actually."
"He'll get locked up tonight, but now he knows where you work…"
Emma ordered another shot and threw it back before responding, not wanting to think about what that meant. She was already missing Johnny; she couldn't deal with Jim stalking her once he got out too. The only thing she felt thankful for at the moment was that at least Jim hadn't gotten to Johnny, where ever he was, yet. She shuddered.
"I have it under control," she stated frantically.
"You ain't look like you had it under control when I got in there," Dally jabbed at her, reaching behind the bar for a half-empty cigarette pack and lighting one up.
"I was fine," insisted Emma angrily, knowing it was a lie.
"You wouldn't have been fine if those other guys hadn't been there," said Dally, blowing one of those annoying smoke clouds directly into Emma's face. "And you ain't even had the sense to leave when they said the pigs were comin'," he added.
That elfish face was so irritating sometimes. He wasn't strong like he thought he was. Darry was strong, Dally wasn't strong enough to even let anybody in; he always had that rude, hard guard up, Emma thought to herself.
She sprang up from her barstool, fists clenched.
"Sit back down," demanded Dallas while rolling his eyes and forcing her back into the seat by her shoulder.
"Let go of me!"
Dallas rolled his eyes, but dropped his hand. "2 tequila and 2 vodka shots," he called at the bartender.
When the bartender walked over again, Dallas turned to a fuming Emma, who had her arms folded across her chest.
He tried to remind himself that he was doing all of this for Johnny. "Why can't ya just admit you need help? You already admitted it once anyway."
"I did not!"
"You asked me for guns," Dally stated, blowing smoke into her face again.
"That was a business transaction."
Dally snorted into the shot he was about to take. He actually laughed out loud, much to Emma's displeasure.
"You're a piece of work, I tell ya," said Dally, taking both his shots and placing the other two in front of her. She threw them back.
"I'll handle it," stated Dally firmly, squishing his cigarette butt into the bar and flicking it at another patron.
Emma didn't like what that implied. Having to shoot someone in self-defense was one thing, but what he said sounded premeditated. She had to admit (though she wouldn't aloud) that she actually needed the help.
Not wanting to imagine any more scenes of what Dally's "help" would look like, she changed the subject after ordering 3 shots of tequila.
"So you used to live in New York?"
Dallas looked surprised for a minute.
"Johnny mentioned it," Emma added, taking her shots.
Dallas got another 3 shots of vodka and threw them back before responding, "for a few years."
"How did you end up there?"
Dallas shrugged, finishing off his nearly forgotten beer. "I wasn't tryna move out there. I was supposed to be in New Jersey."
"New Jersey?" She questioned, actually interested now.
Dallas couldn't think of a way to summarize his experience on the East Coast without giving away a bunch of personal information or without just avoiding talking about it like he often did. Maybe it was the drinks that were easing him up.
"It was shit with my old man after my mom split; so I was gonna stay with my cousin, Jeremy, and his folks up in Newark."
"Then, my aunt and uncle thought I was too much trouble, that I was a bad influence on their son. Said I was a hood and wanted me to leave. So Jeremy and me said fuck 'em and went to stay with his brother in New York," Dallas answered to the question he knew was coming next.
"Why did they think you were a bad influence?" Emma added cautiously, not wanting him to reinforce his walls again.
"Well, shit, dollface, look at me," said Dallas, smirking and catching her eye.
"You look like that back then too?" Emma laughed slightly.
"I had too," said Dallas more seriously.
Emma couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
"Jeremy was real babied. His brother had ran off to New York and his folks kept him on a short leash after that. Jeremy wanted to feel cool or dangerous or some shit." Dally laughed darkly before continuing, "we got arrested cause Jeremy don't know shit about discretion. So then it was off to New York."
They were both silent for a moment.
"So you were there for a few years? How was it?" Emma asked. "Four more shots please?" she added to the bartender.
He put 2 of the shots in front of each of them, remembering their preferences, and they threw them back together.
"Was alright. I wasn't tryna go there in the first place. I just ended up there." Dallas mumbled, rubbing his St. Christopher pendant, as his mind wandered to another time.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn't supposed to go to Vegas either. I guess I had wanted to go to Tulsa originally to get away from my parents and back to some family I actually liked. But this girl I met, talked me into goin' to Los Angeles. She made it sound like a place where dreams came true. But we ended up in Vegas for years. I never made it to California."
"You liked Vegas?" Dallas asked without looking at her.
Emma paused before answering, she seemed to be choosing her words carefully, "I did at one point. It was good for a while. But then it wasn't. All the lights grew dull, I guess."
"Four more shots and a beer," Dallas said to the bartender. Yeah, he knew exactly what she meant about lights growing dull. "New York was the same," he stated gruffly as he took two of the shots.
Emma steadied herself as she took her shots. They were hitting her now. She braced herself against the bar, closing her eyes for a moment.
"Hey, if you gonna puke cause you claim you don't drink, don't do it on me," stated Dally harshly, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a faint smirk. His eyes were glazed over like hers must have been too.
"Hey, I'm not gonna puke!" laughed Emma, throwing her head back.
Dallas hid his smile in his beer bottle. She was kind of growing on him. She smiled a lot like a little kid. From what he could put together, she didn't have a lot of time to be a kid either, but she sure seemed to want it. It was different from how he acted. He hadn't gotten to be a kid. Getting arrested at age ten does that to a person. But he had toughened up to cope.
She was probably asking all this stuff to change the topic, but he didn't let anything go that easy. "So, Johnny said you already had a gun."
Her smile faded instantly and she fidgeted in her seat. "Yeah, a small one," she told her lap.
"Why? Not a lotta broads carry around heaters."
Emma rolled her eyes. "A friend gave it to me."
"Why did they think you needed it?"
Emma rolled her shoulders awkwardly. "I don't know. I guess I wanted it cause I wanted to feel like I could protect myself if something happened, for once."
"Yeah, I saw you with those heaters I got you. You looked like a real pro."
Emma didn't look over at him and she didn't smile.
"You ever had to use it? Besides at the funeral?"
"The one I have? No. Well, I pulled it on Jim the last time I saw him in a bar. One time though, the place I worked at in Vegas got robbed and I was there by myself. My gun was in my bag in the back and I couldn't get to it in time. I had to use a shotgun under the register."
Dallas raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been expecting all that.
"4 more shots please," called Dallas to the bartender again. He set them up for the two of them and they threw them back immediately.
"So you shot somebody?" Dallas asked chasing his last shot down with beer.
Emma's shoulders rolled awkwardly again. "Wasn't nothin' else I could do. I only hit em in the leg though, and I had a huge bruise from the kick back."
"Bet you left him with more than a bruise."
Dallas looked almost impressed. Emma looked devastated.
"I'm gonna get some air," she mumbled, standing up.
Only a foot or two into the crowd on the dance floor, she realized she was actually really drunk. She wobbled and stumbled and it was really hot all of a sudden.
"Watch it!" a man yelled at her for bumping into his dance partner.
"Sorry," or something that sounded like it, she slurred at him while trying to escape all the people.
Finally, she made it to the other side of the crowd and ran for the nearest exit. A gust of cold air greeted her and she plopped down on the back steps.
Emma pressed the back of her hand onto her cheek. Her skin was on fire, despite the cool temperature outside. She mashed her face down into her knees.
A car engine roared closer and closer before cutting off somewhere nearby. The sound seemed to vibrate all around her, making her feel dizzy.
Voices were speaking nearby but she couldn't make them out. Her brain was too tired.
"Watch it, babe," said a man's voice.
Emma looked up and her glance met a tall man with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.
"You gonna move or what?"
"Sorry," she mumbled, registering that he was carrying heavy boxes and trying to get through the door behind her. The man shook his head and stomped roughly passed.
"Aw, don't mind him," came another man's voice. When Emma turned around she recognized Buck, seeing that his car was the one she had heard pull up.
As soon as Buck passed her carrying his own set of boxes, the other man came back. When he made his second trip up the steps, her he gave her a hard look.
Emma pressed herself against the railing, trying to take up as little space as possible. She didn't trust her legs to cooperate if she stood up.
Buck and the other man made several more trips with their boxes and each time the other man gave her a hard look.
It was starting to creep Emma out. She couldn't read the intent behind his looks. As Buck passed the other man, making his way towards Emma again, the other man said, "Hey Buck. It's that girl from the paper."
Buck, now already on the steps, gave her a confused look, "What paper?"
Emma could have asked the same thing herself and reflected Buck's look back at him.
"You know, man, the flyer with the singer on it."
Buck and Emma both looked at the man like he was speaking Japanese.
"Ugh." The man opened up Buck's back car door and pulled out some newspapers and colored papers. He rifled through them, throwing everything on the ground till he found what he was looking for.
He handed Buck a crumpled up bright blue paper. Buck looked from her to the paper and then back to her, "Well, I'll be damned it is her."
The other man looked very pleased with himself.
"Dal's always ropin' in them good lookin' broads, that's for sure," Buck added to the man, like Emma wasn't sitting right in front of them.
"She with Dallas? Shit, good thing you told me, I was about to…"
What the other man was about to do flew right over Emma's head, as another round of dizziness caught her. She thought she would save herself from this situation and will her body back inside, but her legs wobbled too much and she plopped back down in defeat.
"…saw her in here once lookin' for 'em. Musta got her mad though if she out here by her lonesome."
"No kiddin…He musta got her all boozed up like that too…I ain't know Sylvia was fair game 'gain."
"She always fair game ain't she? That's why they always breakin' up. Done been wit' half the town by now, huh?"
"Yeah, you know where she ain't been though, huh Buck?"
Buck gave the other man a shove, dropping the blue paper on steps in the process. Emma reached for it while the two men pushed each other around.
At the top of the flyer was the name of the restaurant she worked at, underneath it were two pictures – one of the band that played on her off days and one of her.
Emma groaned and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things; then groaned louder when the image didn't change. Bill had mentioned the idea of putting up some flyers to advertise after she was hired, but he never said he had actually done it.
The exact days and times she worked were listed on the flyer too. She could bet that these were all over downtown – a place Uncle Jim was probably no stranger to. She had to show Dallas.
An adrenaline rush washed over Emma, but only resulted in her slamming her head hard into the railing as she sprang up. Tears welled in her eyes and her vision blurred.
"Aw shit…" she heard a man's voice say, but couldn't distinguish whose. She could only grit her teeth in agony, while both her palms pressed into her head. She just knew a huge knot was on its way and her drunken mind thought maybe she could just push it back in.
More scuffling sounded and Dallas had somehow appeared in front of her holding another beer. Words wouldn't form and she shoved the flyer at him, before pressing both hands to her knot again.
A quick glance at the flyer and she knew he understood exactly what it meant, despite his very red and very glazed eyes.
Dally gave a look to the other men and they made their way inside, but not before the other man winked at her suggestively.
"What's wrong with your head?" inquired Dallas.
"I hit the rail…hsss…was tryna find you…show you the flyer…ahhh" she mustered through waves of stinging pain atop her head.
Dallas swatted her hands away and replaced them with his beer.
"Dallas!" she whined, but she didn't pull away, as the beer was ice cold.
Dallas chuckled.
" 'S not funny!" she slurred in a high-pitched voice.
Dallas buckled over in laughter, bracing his free hand on his knee.
She couldn't take him laughing in her face any longer; she raised herself up and punched him in the arm.
It had comically little affect on him, but caused her to fall over.
If Dallas wasn't laughing before, he was sure going to have sore abs in the morning now.
Dallas would have been wiping tears from his eyes if he ever cried and he wondered when was the last time he had laughed this hard. At least it was taking his mind off of stupid, two-timing Sylvia, whom he had the displeasure of running into while Emma was gone.
"Whyyy…" Emma garbled, while rolling around on the steps. "I just want…night to be over…just want to sleep…just want bed…"
Dallas attempted to re-compose himself by taking another swig of beer. He tried to put it back on Emma's head, but missed and rammed it right into her eye.
"Dallas!"
Dallas snorted and finished off his beer before discarding it on the ground. "Hate to break it to ya but looks like you stayin' here tonight. Ain't like either of us can drive. 'Less you want your new friend to escort ya home," suggested Dallas, with one eyebrow cocked.
Emma gave Dallas a face of pure agony with her mouth agape and all.
Dallas could barely contain himself as he helped her up. Left with no other choices, she grudgingly followed him inside.
Emma parted through the crowd, which had doubled in size, on her way back to the bar. After at least five minutes and with considerable difficulty she finally counted out enough money for the bartender. The bartender found the spectacle amusing. Dallas, who never paid for drinks at Buck's, had caught sight of Sylvia again. His whole body tensed as he remembered her sneaking up on him after Emma's departure.
"What's wrong baby? Always chasin' the girls away?"
When Emma was finally done, Dallas took her hand in his and led her upstairs in one swift movement, but not before locking eyes with Sylvia.
Emma was not his date for the evening and he didn't necessarily have intentions of sleeping with her, but he wouldn't mind it if Sylvia thought so. Though it was kind of sexy when she was pulling off her stockings earlier…
Once inside the room, Emma didn't even care that it was sparsely furnished and a little musty. She kicked her shoes off (a little dramatically, as they hit the wall) and lost balance once more. Steading herself by bracing one hand against the wall, she closed her eyes for a moment.
"Hey! What did I say about gettin' sick?"
Ignoring Dallas, Emma dropped her purse onto the floor and stumbled over to the bed, then flopping on it.
"And just what do you think you're doin'?" questioned Dallas as he hovered over her.
"Told you…I want today to be over…" replied Emma, not bothering to open her eyes.
"This is my bed."
Emma giggled like a child, her eyes still closed.
When she didn't respond Dallas added, "So that's it? You just gonna go to sleep?"
Emma didn't indicate she had even heard him.
Dallas rolled his eyes and walked around to the other side of the bed. Sitting down, he pulled off his shoes and jacket. The flyer fell out of his jacket pocket as he did so. Picking it up, he smiled slightly. She looked real good in that picture. Her make up and hair were all done just like they were tonight. The picture had been taken while she was singing on stage; her face was full of passion.
Dallas glanced over at her sleeping form next to him. Her make up was smeared and her hair looked wild as it flowed in every direction over his pillow. She still looked pretty good though; a wild side can be real intriguing, he thought to himself. He liked the wild girls; they weren't all uptight and scared of him.
In a low voice, he asked, "You really don't know where Johnny is?"
Her face was still turned away from him, but she responded quietly, "Not a clue…was there when I went to sleep, but gone in the mornin' when I went to check on 'em…just know he wasn't at Darry's or with Jim."
Dallas didn't fight her about it this time.
"…Promise we can make a plan 'morrow…just wanna sleep now…"
"We? Who is we? Thought you ain't want any help? Thought it was a business transaction?"
Emma gave Dallas' back a sloppy kick and he took note of the way her dress rode up in doing so.
He tried to lie down next to her, but there was hardly any space to begin with and she was now was sprawled out all over the whole thing. He elbowed her shoulder, trying to get her to move, and she attempted to push him away by his face before he smacked her hand away.
Finally, Dallas positioned himself next to her with his chest pressed into her back. The warm feeling of his body against hers didn't go unnoticed by Emma. The slightest attraction towards him built inside her, but she pushed those thoughts away as soon as they came. Dally might be kind of annoying, but we do have a lot in common, said one voice in her head. But while Dally is everything I am, Darry is everything I want to be, said another voice.
"Ahhh…" Emma moaned as pain pulsated through the top of her head.
"Move over. I don't have any pillow," demanded Dallas, his finger pressing into the knot on her head.
She turned over towards him, not realizing how close he was, and their faces met only inches apart.
Their eyes darted between the other's eyes and lips, before a single idea passed between the both of them.
At the exact same moment, both of their hands clenched around the blanket and they each tried to pull it to their respective side, while getting as much of their body under it as possible.
"God damn it!" exclaimed Dallas as the alcohol was starting to win over his body again. He ceased the tug-of-war, but not before winning most of the blanket and losing most of the pillow.
Dallas turned his back to Emma, resting his head on the sliver of pillow he was spared; while Emma compensated for her loss by draping one leg over his hip with her butt pressed into his back.
It was a good thing the alcohol would have them out cold in a minute, they both thought.
Before finally falling asleep, Dallas recalled all the chicks he had been tangled up with in this bed. Most of them he didn't let spend the night, so there was no need to find comfortable sleeping positions. Sylvia almost always slept over though. Their bodies would mesh together seamlessly when things were good between them. Clearly, that was not going to happen with Emma. In fact, all that shoving and fighting they had been doing all night felt more like something people did with their siblings.
Dallas didn't have any siblings, but his final thought, before falling into a deep sleep, was whether siblings had to be born from the same parents or if siblings could be born from the same circumstances, and that he needed to cut back on the drinking because he was starting to sound as crazy as Ponyboy.