"HEY, Dally! What are you doing?"
Denise eyed Two-Bit critically. Almost unconsciously Two-Bit puffed out his chest, determined to pass her inspection.
"Two-Bit! I don't think I've ever been so glad to see you!" Two-Bit turned to see Dally grinning at him. The grin was most definitely not something Two-Bit wanted to see.
"Hey Dal. Sorry 'bout your tires, if Shepard's boys don't back down pretty soon we're gonna have trouble on our hands." Two-Bit said casually.
Dally frowned, remembering his tires. "How'd you hear about that anyway? I only just told Steve!"
"Bill saw Tim do it, Bill told Hank, Hank told Alice, Alice told Kim, Samantha overheard Alice telling Kim and told Mike and Mike told me!" Two-Bit shrugged like it was nothing but it was impossible to miss the gleam in his eye. He was quite proud of his network of information; around their neighborhood information was practically currency.
Dallas rolled his eyes, "Whatever. I need your help." He stated. Two-Bit looked over at Denise, plainly following Dallas' line of thought.
Through all of this Denise had remained silent, watching the exchange. This new guy, Two-Bit, seemed like a lotta' fun, maybe even more fun than Steve.
"Dally," she asked, "can we go to the park?" Two-Bit raised his eyebrows; this girl seemed almost comfortable with Dallas. Which was ridiculous. Little girls weren't comfortable around Dallas Winston, hell; grown men weren't comfortable around Dallas Winston!
"No kid, shut up, I'm talking to Two-Bit, here!" Dally snapped without thinking. He realized he may have been too harsh when he heard Two-Bit let out a backwards whistle and elbow him in the side.
"Oh, uh, that's not what I meant." Dally looked at Denise, who he expected to be close to tears, but instead the girl just glared at him before huffing and turning away, "Oh, dammit, kid—" Dally began but stopped when the waitress appeared to take their order.
They quickly ordered and Dally turned back to Denise who stared resolutely at point somewhere beyond his left shoulder. It most certainly did not bother him that she was upset. At least, that was what he told himself. "Kid, what I meant to say was that I can't take you to the park. But, with you and I being the lucky people we are, Two-Bit here has shown up just in time and he's gonna take you to the park!"
"What? No!" Two-Bit said tuning back into the conversation, "Dally I can't, I gotta head out to Buck's! Where'd you even get the girl anyway?"
Dally rolled his eyes, annoyed at being interrupted. "Two-Bit! Keep up!" Two-Bit refrained from pointing out that because he had never seen this girl in his life there was nothing for him to keep up with. Not even his secret network had informed him that Dallas was out about town and dragging a 6 year old along with him. Good thing Dally hadn't gotten pulled over by any cops, Two-Bit thought, they'd for sure think he kidnapped the girl! "Soda found it and gave it to Steve and Steve promised to take care of my car if I watched it for an hour or two!"
"It!? Who you callin' it, buddy?" The girl snapped.
Two-Bit started laughing so hard his face hurt, "You've only had her for an hour and you're rubbin' off on her Dally!"
"My names Denise," said the girl pointedly as she offered Two-Bit her hand.
Two-Bit shook her hand and with all the flourish of a stage performer offered the girl a roguish grin, "Hello there, little lady! My name is Keith Matthews, but the neighborhood calls me Two-Bit, pleasure to meet you darlin'!"
Denise giggled and Dally rolled his eyes and smacked Two-Bit on the back of his head. This made Denise laugh harder and Two-Bit lean in secretively and whispered, "He's just upset 'cause you like me more!"
Dally rolled his eyes again, "I ain't upset. And she don't like you more Two-Bit. She's just surprised at how someone like me could be friends with someone as stupid as you."
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, a trick the entire gang had picked up from him, "Stupid, am I? Because I swear I remember that you were just about to ask me a favor, weren't you Dal? Doesn't matter, I can't take her to the park; I gotta go to Buck's. I just worked up that twenty bucks I owe Jimmy, ya' know, the one from the bet between that old greaser and the New Yorker that came around here? Anyways he's gettin' restless."
"Aw, come on, Two-Bit! You owe me after that rumble! And" Dallas said searching his pockets for the napkin with the hostess' number on it, "I got'cha the number of that pretty blonde up there," Dallas said attempting to tempt Two-Bit with the one thing that was sure to make him lose sight of his goal.
Two-Bit eyed the hostess, who was one of the few blondes in Tulsa he'd yet to be introduced to, "She sure is a pretty blonde," he murmured.
Denise frowned. Why was it that all her babysitters were obsessed with whores? "I'm a pretty blonde," she said, matter-of-factly.
Two-Bit burst out laughing, which Denise did not appreciate, "Yeah, kid, well, call me when you're sixteen!"
Without missing a beat Dally leaned over and smacked him across the back of the head, "Better make that eighteen," Two-Bit muttered, this time earning himself a hard punch in the arm from Dallas, who surprisingly, found that he didn't like the idea of naïve, innocent Denise surrounded by greaser boys like them.
Two-Bit leaned back. On the one hand, he was hesitant to leave the poor girl alone with Dallas Winston for any more time than was absolutely necessary, but on the other, he really needed to get Jimmy his money. The guy wasn't one you wanted to have a grudge against you.
"I'll tell you what," Two-Bit began, "Y'all can come with me. I got my car we can head out to the Dingo! You can even play a few hands of poker; work up what you need to replace those tires, Dal, eh? It's a win, win!"
Dally nodded at Two-Bit's plan, it sounded good to him except for one part, "If you're off paying your debt and I'm playing poker, who's gonna watch Denise?"
Two-Bit shrugged, already out of the booth and pulling on his jacket, "What? Oh yeah. Well, we can leave her in the car. It's only 65 outside!"
Denise frowned as she slid out of the booth beside Dallas, "I ain't waitin' in no car!" she snapped, this was supposed to be a fun day! Soda promised!
The three of them argued all the way out to Two-Bit's car, except at the doors where Two-Bit stopped to wink at the waitress. He looked like he might've stuck around for a while until Denise, slightly fed up with Mr. We-can-leave-her-in-the-car rammed her elbow into his thigh. Two-Bit grimaced and wrapped it up with the waitress.
"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" He snapped and Denise grinned at him. Two-Bit paused, some of his annoyance fading away. It was just so hard to be mad at a face like that!
If anyone thought it was odd to see two legendary greasers open the door to their car and buckle a 6 year old in, well, they didn't say anything about it. After all, stranger things had happened, right?