Best Times Of Our Lives
Chapter Three
Disclaimer- I do not own the Outsiders.
The next morning when I went into the kitchen, my mom was already there, cooking eggs. I sat at the table and yawned.
"G'mornin'," I sighed, hoping my mother had cooled off since last night.
"I have nothing to say to you," I guess not.
"C'mon, mom," I groaned. "You don't even know him."
"I've heard about that boy. That Dallas Winston," she said his name with such disgust that it made me really mad.
"Mom, you can't always believe everything you hear," I shouted. "He is nothing like that. I can promise you that anything you've heard about him is not true!"
Okay, so maybe it was true, but my mom didn't need to know that. And Dallas may have done some bad stuff in his life, but he still didn't deserve the reputation he got. I knew he was kind of proud of it, but he still didn't deserve it.
"Maybe," she sighed.
"So I can see him than?" I questioned hopefully.
"No," she said sternly.
"What?! Why?" I was so confused right now. She had just agreed that Dally wasn't what his reputation said he was.
"Well, first off, I told you not to see him, and you did anyway," okay, so I could almost understand that. "And besides, the boys in this neighbourhood cannot be trusted."
I felt my jaw drop. "Mom," I reasoned. "Andy is one of the 'boys in this neighbourhood'."
"It's different for him," she told me.
"No it's not," I replied. "And, besides, who would you rather me date?"
"What about one of those nice boys from the west side?" she questioned.
"You mean the Socs?" I gave her an incredulous look. "Mom, they are the ones that hurt me that day! They are the ones that Dallas saved me from!"
She looked like she didn't know what I was talking about. "Wait a minute, what's a Soc?" she asked.
"The rich kids from the west side are Socs," I told her.
"Than, what are you?" she wanted to know.
"They call us greasers," I replied. "We get a bad reputation 'cause we don't have as much money and we live in a worse neighbourhood. But the Socs are the real bad ones. Kids over here do illegal things to get by. Kids over there do illegal things for fun."
"So, everyone is breaking the law?" she looked shocked.
"No, not everyone," I answered. "Me and Andy and the gang are good people. That's why we need to stick together. If you tell me that I can't see Dallas anymore, than I won't be able to hang around with the gang anymore 'cause Dally's been friends with them for years. And if I can't see the gang anymore than I'll just end up with a worse bunch of kids and get myself killed!"
Okay, so that was a little harsh, but I wanted my mom to see the reality in it. I mean, theoretically that could happen. I've said it before, everyone in the gang needs each other.
My mother seemed to consider this for a moment before responding. "You can hang around with him," she said slowly, as if she was choosing her words carefully. "But I don't want you dating him."