"Which one of you knows Dallas Winston?" Maggie asked as she sat numbly in the booth. Her eyes scanned each one of the boys quickly, looking from one to the other. She needed to know which one it was. She didn't want to hear from anyone in Tulsa again. The pain was too much. She knew that cutting herself off from her past was probably hurting her more, but she didn't care. She just wanted to go on and have a normal life. She wanted to live in Brooklyn without any worries. She wanted to live her life. She wanted to stop being so sad. She wanted to stop remembering the past.
There was so much she wanted, and she knew that she wouldn't get any of it. She was going to have to go back to her past sooner or later. She just hoped it would be later.
"Which one?" she snapped, banging her fist on the table angrily. The plates and glasses on the table clinked together and jumped a bit. She watched as everyone at the table put up a finger and pointed at Val. Val glared at his friends, his eyes piercing and cold.
"How'd you know I knew Dallas Winston?" she asked, her voice cold. Her eyes were stinging, but she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to move. She just wanted to get rid of all the pain.
"You said his name last night in your sleep. I pieced it all together and realized that's where you had come from. Tulsa, Oklahoma. I just needed to know if they wanted you back was all. Honest Mags." he told her. His eyes were full of pity. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at his. She didn't want his pity!
"Don't...ever call them again!" she snapped at him, opening her eyes. Val just nodded and swung an arm around her.
"Don't worry about it little one." he told her, hugging her close to his chest. It all felt kind of weird to Maggie. She was now in the hands of a bunch of guys that she didn't know too well, but they were still treating her like she was their long lost little sister. They reminded her so much of the old gang it hurt her constantly.
"Let's eat." she said as she gave them a half smile and dug in to her food.
"Tonights poker night." Val said as they all left the restaurant together.
"What's poker night?" Maggie asked him as she cocked an eyebrow. She quickly lowered it again, thoughts of Two Bit threatening to show themselves.
"The Tigers get together with the Bulls and the Eagles and have a party." Pete said, shrugging with a smile.
"Bulls and Eagles?" Maggie asked. This place was full of gangs!
"The Bulls are from the Bronx and the Eagles are from Manhattan." Saul explained to her.
"Yeah, and we're all friends. We protect each other's territory and shit." Bennie told her as he started to light up a weed.
"I don't know if this is the right time to drop it on you guys, but I kind of need some more clothes." she told them, looking up at each of them. Their height would have been intimidating if she didn't know them. Val nodded his head, his brow creasing in thought.
"Here." he told her as he stuck a hundred dollar bill in her hand."
"This is way too much-" she started to protest, but was cut off.
"Then don't spend it all. Spend half and then you can save the rest. Now, which one of you wants to take her shopping?" Val asked as he looked at the other 2 boys. They both looked at each other before Pete finally raised his hand, smirking at Maggie.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Bennie stated as he looked at Pete's smirk. "If we let Mags go with Pete she might come back looking like our regular slut or somethin'." he stated. Val nodded his head and stepped closer to Pete.
"Nothin' revealing. We don't want any problems with fellas and our little sister here." he told Pete. Pete grumbled to himself, but nodded anyway.
"Come on." Pete said as she dragged Maggie away. Maggie waved at Bennie and Val and before she knew it they were out of sight. She looked at her surroundings, wondering where Pete was taking her.
"Where are we going?" she asked him as she looked around some more.
"To a little store a few blocks down. Its got everything you'll need." he told her, smiling a little as he lead the way.
10 minutes later Pete and Maggie were indeed entering a little corner shop that was a few blocks away from where they had been. It was jammed packed with girls clothing and jewelry. Anything you could think of. Maggie couldn't remember the last time she had gone shopping. She didn't even know if she had ever gone shopping by herself. Her mother or her sister has always done it for her and Maggie didn't have to worry about a thing. Either that or Maggie didn't have the money to go shopping.
"Where'd Val get this money?" she asked Pete as she picked up a few pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts to try on. Pete glared at her sternly, giving her that protective older brother look.
"Don't ask questions. Just take what you're given." he told her as he threw a little red tank top at her.
"No way!" she yelled as she threw it back at him, temporarily forgetting about the money thing.
"Yes way!" Pete mocked, throwing it back at her.
"Val said no revealing clothing." Maggie retorted throwing it back again.
"Its not that revealing." he said, finally giving up and putting it back on the shelf.
"You really suck at the older brother role you know that?" Maggie asked him with a smirk.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, fake hurt in his voice.
"Never mind just wait out here while I try these clothes on." she told him as she laughed at him a little. She slipped into a dressing room and tried on all the clothes in her big pile. She ended up buying half of it and the other half she didn't like. Before she knew it she was back in Saul's apartment getting ready for poker night that they held at a local bar around the corner.
She didn't know whether to be nervous or to be happy that she was finally meeting more people. A small voice in the back of her head nagged at her to get some girl friends but she pushed it away. She had lived with guys for about 2 years now. She didn't need any girl friends.
'What about boyfriends?' half of her said. She ignored that part too, trying to remember the last time she had tried the boyfriend thing. She moved slowly as she pulled on a tight black shirt and a pair of dark jeans. She pulled on her same black converse and the ends of the jeans spilled over her shoes, leaving the ends to drag on the ground. She hated being short. She moved over to the mirror and pulled her hair up in a pony tail. She need a hair cut. She fixed her bangs so they were tucked behind her ears instead of in the pony tail and continued to brush her teeth and putting on a bit of foundation and lip gloss. She looked in herself in the mirror. There was something missing she knew, but every time she looked at herself she got a deep pang of hurt in the pit of her stomach.
She couldn't get over that feeling that told her she was running away from her problems. She knew if she kept doing that she wouldn't get anywhere in life, but what else could she do? Stay in Tulsa and watch herself die a little more each day? She had never really realized how much she had needed Dallas until that day when he was shot. She had never thought about the hurt and agony she would have felt if she lost him and now she knew. She knew how much it hurt, and she knew it wouldn't go away. It would never go away and running away from her problems wasn't making it any better. But it had been the only option open.
"Maggie!" Pete whined as she knocked on the door. "I gotta piss! Plus we gotta go!" he said pushing on the locked door a bit. Maggie laughed a bit as she unlocked the door and watched as Pete stumbled into the small bathroom.
"You look hot!" he said out of the blue as he straitened himself up. Maggie smiled a bit and walked out the door, closing it behind her and shaking her head. She smiled and greeted the 3 (Val, Bennie, Saul) other guys as she walked into the living room and sat on one end of the couch. By the time Pete ever got out of the bathroom it was already 9:00 and they were supposed to be at the bar at 9:30. All five of them walked out of the apartment together, making sure to fend off all the homeless people that came begging for money.
"Put this on." Saul told her as he threw his Tiger's jacket at her.
"What for? Its not that cold." she asked as she pushed the jacket onto her arms and shoulders. It was twice as big as her but still made her look hot.
"So everyone knows who you are." Bennie answered for Saul. Maggie nodded slowly, figuring it was just the way things were done in New York.
"How'd you get so much money?" Maggie asked Val finally. She had been itching to figure out the answer to her question but no one had been kind enough to answer it. Val gave her a sharp glare. One of those that said 'as long as you have some don't ask questions'.
"Look, I was just wonderin' ok? I've never seen someone have that much money in their pocket at one time." she said with a shrug. Val continued to glare at her for a few more seconds before looking away. Pete slung a protective arm around her and attempted to cheer her up by skipping and singing 'Were Off To See the Wizard. It cheered her up for a little while until she looked back and realized that Val was suddenly in a bad mood. She hadn't know him for that long, she realized, so maybe she just needed to know what pushed his buttons and what didn't.
She walked in to the tiny bar on the corner as Saul held the door open for her. She looked around, it wasn't that different from the Dingo. The air was full of smoke and there was some booths in one corner, a bar in another, and some pool and poker tables in the back. Pete pointed his finger in the direction they were going and she walked strait back to the back. There she was answered with a whole lot of cat calls and jeers. She blushed slightly, and turned around to look at Pete for comfort. But as soon as she turned around the whole room went silent. She turned back around and stared at all the unfamiliar men and wondered what had made them all shut up.
"Told you everyone would know who you are." Saul said in a teasing voice as he passed her and shook hands with one guy after the other, a wide smile on his face.
"Who's the broad, Val? And why is she wearing one of our jackets? And are we gonna get in trouble for having her here?" a tall guy asked. He looked to be about 19 and had short light blond hair. He, too, was wearing a Tiger jacket and it came to her that he had to be either Dwain or Carson.
"Her name's Maggie." Val answered as he came to her side and slung an arm over her shoulders. "I found her and no we ain't gonna get in trouble." Val answered with a smirk. "She's been staying with us for a couple of days, you just haven't been around to meet her yet. Where's Carson?" Val asked, scanning the crowd for Carson.
"Ahem!" Maggie cleared her throat, hoping Val would introduce her to the Dwain, she hadn't yet met. Val turned around and looked at her.
"Oh!" he said, chuckling a little. "Maggie, Dwain. Dwain, Maggie." he said finally. Maggie smiled at Dwain hesitantly and nodded in his direction.
"There he is." Val muttered. Maggie turned to look at who he was staring at and her mouth fell open. A boy who reminded her a LOT of Johnny was walking there way.
"Carson." Val greeted as he finally got there. Carson was short and kind of shy looking. His dark black hair hung over his eyes a little in wisps. He looked to be about 16.
"Carson this is Maggie. Maggie this is Carson." Maggie nodded to Carson, a small smile gracing her lips. She could tell already that she was probably going to like Carson just by the way he acted .
"Come on, Maggie, I'll get you a drink." Carson said, a wide smile on his face. Maggie nodded and grabbed his out-stretched hand, letting him pull her along.
"So, Maggie, what brings you to Brooklyn?" Carson asked as she grabbed two cokes out of a bucket of ice in the corner.
"Just some problems in Tulsa." she answered with a shrug, hoping he would leave it at that.
"What kind of problems?" he pressed, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Just some family problems." she said hurriedly. "Can we just not talk about?" she added, hoping he wouldn't take offense.
"Don't worry about it I understand. My old man's a drunk and my mom's a whore. So I guess I know what your going through." You have no idea, Maggie thought as she nodded and smiled at him.
"Yeah, I guess no one's families perfect." she said with a sigh. Her eyes got that glazed over far way look as she remembered back to Tulsa. She didn't know whether she missed the gang or she just missed having somewhere she belonged.
Besides, isn't wasn't like any of them had come to her rescue when she was in the orphanage. Shut up, half of her brain told her harshly. Then again they hadn't visited her that much when she had kidney failure. It seemed like in her time of need they all just up and decided to leave. She really had needed them, too. All she needed then was someone to talk to, someone to cry on, besides the lifeless body of Dallas Winston that had been laying beside her. Tim was the only one who had really visited her, and that visit hadn't even felt like it was right. It was just awkward.
The rest of the night Maggie spent getting to know more about Dwain and Carson and meeting a few other guys from Brooklyn that belong to gangs that were alliances with the Tigers. Maggie also spent the rest of the night trying to find out where Val had come up with so much money at. For some reason, it just striked her odd that he had so much.
She sighed when she finally got back to Saul's apartment. It was a little after 12:30 and she was so tired she was about to fall over. She moved to her luggage in the corner of the living room, not paying attention to any of the guys. All of them were staying at Saul's apartment claiming they had no where else to go (yeah right!). So that left Saul and Val with the back bedrooms, Maggie on the couch, and Pete, Dwain, and Carson on the floor.
Maggie grabbed her clothes out of her bag and quickly changed into them in the bathroom. She walked out wearing a pair of short shorts (Pete's idea) and a wife beater. She fixed the couch up and straitened her covers out before crawling under all of them and laying her head softly on the pillow. She sighed heavily and turned over on her side as she waited for the deep dark pits of sleep to take her. She closed her eyes, letting the heaviness of her eyes take her over. Within a few minutes she was sleeping fitfully.
Maggie was ran though the dark fog trying to pick her way through what she thought was Tulsa, Oklahoma, but it was so dark she couldn't tell. Her lungs were burning and her feet were getting heavier with every step she took. She didn't know how much longer she could keep running. She didn't even know what she was running for, only that she was running and not stopping. She weaved her way around a trash can that was over turned in the middle of the street and got herself back on her path. A few minutes later when she could barely lift her feet anymore, she stopped. It was the lot. Her heart beat increased even more as she slowly walked onto the soft grass and looked around. She watched as the fog dissipated and revealed two forms. One was on its knees and the other was standing above it. She walked closer and squinted her eyes to get a better look.
"Dallas!" she tried to scream but nothing came out. She ran ahead despite the pain she felt, but the two forms just seemed to get far away. She finally stopped again and collapsed with tiredness, her lungs burning even more. She watched helplessly as something metal glinted in the darkness and was raised to Dally's head. She whimpered, but still nothing came out. Everything was silent as she watched the second form cock the gun and pull the trigger. She watched as Dally fell to the ground on his back almost immediately, but still no sound came from the gun. She got to her feet, ignoring the pain once more. This time she was able to run to Dally's side.
"It's all your fault!" he yelled up at her before his eyes caved in to darkness, this time she could actually hear it. She looked up at the other form to see someone she didn't recognize.
"Burn in hell." the guy said before cocking the gun again and pulling the trigger.
Maggie screamed as she shot up on the couch, nearly falling off. She was panting heavily and her lungs hurt like she had actually been running for large amounts of time without stopping. Her face was covered in a cold sweat and tears. Her lips were dry as she finally cut her own scream off and closed her mouth, looking around her frantically. She was in the apartment, but something still didn't feel right.
"Maggie?" she heard Pete ask. She closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously, trying to get the words out of her head. This is all your fault, this is all your fault.
"Maggie!" Pete said again. Maggie shot her eyes open and whipped her tears away as she looked up at Pete. She knew her hair was sticking to her forehead and her face was blotchy. Pete just looked down at her with and pity and sat on the couch next to her, pulling her to him in a comforting hug. She fell into him gladly, soaking as much comfort up as she could. It was all her fault! She knew it now. If she would have just stayed with her sister to begin with none of this would have happened. Or if she just would have let herself live on the streets during the winter she would have died and still none of this would have happened.
She broke down into complete sobs as she thought more about what pain she had caused to everyone, including herself. Everything was always her fault no matter how hard she tried to make things right, it never happened. She balled Pete's white tee shirt up in her fist as she sobbed uncontrollably, letting everything out at once. Pete made comforting shushing noises into her ear as he rocked her back and forth. She knew he was probably wondering what had brought this on but she couldn't bring herself to stop crying and tell him. She needed it all to go away, she wanted it all to just go away! She knew it would never happen though, but she didn't know how to face it all either.
She sat like that for 15 minutes strait, sobbing into Pete's shoulder, oblivious to the fact that the rest of the guys were huddled around her caressing her back to try and calm her down. When she had finally stopped crying and whipped her tears the boys didn't press her to tell them what she had dreamed. Pete just pulled her with him to the floor and wrapped his arms comfortingly around her like a blanket. She laid down on the pillow beside him facing him. She whipped her eyes again and looked at him.
"Thanks." she said hoarsely. Her voice was starting to go from all the sobbing but she didn't care. She needed to thank him some how.
The Tigers
Val Fields- Leader of the Tigers
Saul England- Smart, big brother of the group. Like Darry in his own way
Pete Alford- The Sodapop of the group. He's drop dead gorgeous, a bad boy, and he's really smart
Bennie Fields- The cocky 'i'm good lookin' guy. Half brother of Val.
Dwain Olsen- Serious, worry of the group. He always has to make sure things are in order
Carson Foley- Like Johnny in his own way.Has that shy look about him but really he's not thatshy.
