Chapter 4

A fight broke out at the diner one summer day, it was a few greasers against these socs who were on their side of town. Nobody really knew each other, it was just a common reaction to team up against the socs. They didn't belong there, they couldn't have all the stops and then come on over to the east side just for kicks.

The fuzz got called before anyone had time to make a break for it. Most of the kids got off with a phone call home or a warning. All except for two boys, both greasers. They were always on the cop's radar, they were going to be taken in for anything they did. Everyone just wanted them off the streets.

"Dallas Winston and Tim Shepard in the same holding cell?" The guards would all chuckle as they walked passed the two of them. Dallas and Tim didn't know much about each other, just what they've heard from others. And that was that they were exactly alike.

"Where ya from?" Tim asked Dally. Born and raised in Tulsa, Tim didn't recognize that accent. It's kind of hard to get out of Tulsa once you're in it.

"New York City, man. Where the real gangs are," Dally smirked. He'd heard about the Shepard gang, and to him it didn't seem like they were tough. He was used to the robberies, the killings, the drugs; all the things that had turned him so cold.

"Sure don't seem like it. How's the Curtis outfit representin' you?" Tim scoffed. The Shepard gang was exactly that, a gang. They were tougher and meaner than the boys Dallas hung around. They were much more of a brotherhood, something Dally wasn't used to. Maybe in a way Tim made him miss New York City, but he'd never say.

"Fuck off," Dallas rolled his eyes, not wanting to be confused as someone soft. The two ignored each other, standing on either side of the wall. They hated each other, but they constantly were striving to one up the other. Tim was the leader of his gang, and part of Dallas wished he could be.

"Shut up!" The two yelled at the same time. A young kid in the cell next to them wouldn't quit crying. First timer, it was obvious. Dallas and Tim had each had their fair share of prison life, it was just another weekend to them. Dallas and Tim knew they'd be seeing one another again.

Tim Shepard was tough, but not passed feeling anything. He wasn't like Dallas, not quite as mean. He surely wasn't like anyone else in the Curtis outfit, though. He was his own person, he often wondered if he was anything like his father, he hoped not.

No one really knows what happened to Mr. Shepard, anyone who does doesn't say anything about him. He wasn't worth mentioning according to Tim, not that his step-dad was any better. In the beginning it was fine, family dinners weren't too unbearable, the guy wasn't so bad. As time passed, Tim's mother and step-dad grew apart, they were constantly fighting. The fights started to get worse, objects were flung at each other. At times the three Shepard children would join in just to get them to stop, or purely out of anger.

"Don't know why you don't just divorce him already," Tim would mumble as he helped his mother clean up a shattered picture frame. He knew she couldn't though, his job was the only reason they could afford a three bedroom house, no matter how run-down it was.

His gang was his escape. He stopped hanging around the house and started hanging around the streets. He found that the tougher he was, the meaner he was, the more of a following he got. It was obvious that Tim would be the leader, he was organized and all business.

"I don't know how many goddamn times I have to tell you to keep your side of the fuckin' room clean," Tim had said to his younger brother, Curly on numerous occasions. If it were Curly's choice, he'd be perfectly content with living in a barn. Tim would just give in eventually and clean it for him, Curly knew this and used it to his advantage. His sister, Angela would stand in the doorway watching him with a huge smirk, she and Curly loved to get to Tim. Tim would just throw something at her and slam the door.

Curly Shepard was just like Tim, with the same catlike features and smooth talking charm. Curly always wanted to be like Tim, and he strived for his acceptance. When he was at an adequate age, Tim started to bring him around the gang and let him take care of some small "business matters". Tim was smart, since he was a greaser many doubted this fact but he knew far more than he let on. Prior to falling in with the wrong crowd Tim actually did pay attention in class. Curly didn't have half a brain most of the time, so it was up to Tim to not let him get taken advantage of. If it were up to the rest of the gang they'd be making Curly do all the dirty work, keep themselves out of trouble. Tim was his protector, though, and he wouldn't let that happen.

Angela was Tim's little sister, and boy was she ever beautiful. She had long dark hair that had all the boys her age, and older, swooning. Tim made a strict rule to everyone in the gang that Angela was off limits. Anyone that disobeyed this rule would personally get their ass kicked by Tim and Curly. Angela wished her brothers wouldn't get hauled off to jail so often because she did miss them, but it only boosted her street cred. She liked having tough brothers, and in turn it made her tough. She could handle her own unlike most girls she hung around with. Tim was always keeping Angela in check, though, it was okay if Curly got hauled off but definitely not her.

"You're not going out tonight, Angel," Tim said as he and Curly were shrugging on their jackets to go out on the town. Tensions had been high lately and it wasn't safe for the greaser girls to go out late without a man, even if they were in a group.

"Two dollars says I am," Angela rolled her eyes and went down the hallway to fetch her shoes. She was a spit fire, and even the big bad Tim Shepard couldn't boss her around that easily.

"You're staying home," Tim yelled at her, right on her heels. "It's fucking dangerous and you're not going, that's it."

"Fine," Angela flopped on her bed. "Didn't want to go out anyway, I was just trying to get a rise out of you. Looks like I did a pretty good job." Angela would never let Tim know that he'd beat her, she'd never give him the satisfaction. She knew that he was just trying to protect her, but she resented how he was always on her tail about something. She sided more with Curly because of that.

Dallas followed Tim home one night to find out where he lived, it was all a part of his newest scheme. When the two were on decent terms of their on-again-off-again relationship Dallas would sometimes stop by to annoy Tim. In that aspect his relationship with Tim was much like his relationship with Sylvia.

Curly hated Dallas, in more ways than one. Curly was constantly wanting to please Tim and earn his respect, he hated that Dally had won it so easily. Dally thought of Curly as a tag along, much like how Steve thought of Ponyboy. They tolerated each other, though.

Dally had seen Angela one time at the diner, it not even occurring to him that this was Tim's sister. All he saw was a beautiful girl, one that he was hoping he could get lucky with. That's where most girls went wrong. They thought Dallas loved women, but in reality he just loved using women for whatever he needed them for.

"Hey, baby," Dallas cooed in Angela's ear, then dropping a dirty line that he'd often used. He expected her to blush or something that his other interests did, but she simply just whirled around.

"I'm Tim's sister, dumbass," she spat. She only knew of Dallas from what her brothers said, which was mostly to stay away from him. A few of her friends had hooked up with him, and she remembers putting an arm around her teary-eyed friends, telling them to "screw him".

"He doesn't have to know," Dallas leaned in, twirling a piece of her dark hair around his finger. He loved his girls fiery.

"We'll see about that," Angela pushed her chair back, purposely bumping shoulders with him as she exited the diner. She went straight home and told Tim about the encounter. On any other day Tim wouldn't have cared, he knew Angela wouldn't go for Dallas anyway. She didn't want to date any of her brothers' friends, she didn't want them in her business. Tim had just got stood up, though, and he needed to blow off some steam.

Tim drove right over to Buck's, banging impatiently on the door. He got a nice hook to Dally's jaw when he opened the door, much to Dally's surprise. He quickly recovered and the two had it out on Buck's porch.

"Are you two crazy?" Buck came outside, pulling the two off of each other. "I don't need the cops poking their heads around here, ya dig? I don't care if y'all fight, but you're not doing it here." With that the two parted ways, they were no longer angry at each other. Dally knew he had what was coming to him, so he wasn't mad. They fought and that was it, they'd have each other's back if they needed it the next day.

Dally and Angela actually got along pretty well after that, they developed a sort of brother/sister relationship. They were constantly bickering, but it was all in good nature. Tim wasn't too fond of it, but as long as Dally didn't try anything he didn't mind too much. One time Angela and her boyfriend got into a fight and he said some real nasty things to her, maybe even put his hands on her. She wouldn't say. It was the first time Dally ever saw her cry, and it was the first time in a long time her brothers had seen her. It was enough to make them all see red. Dally, Curly, and Tim all went on over to where he last was. He was no match, they broke his arm and left a cut running from his ear to his chin. He never spoke a word to or about Angela again.

Angela was really outgoing, she had friends from all different walks of life. Sometimes she'd hang out with the makeup clad, cussing greaser girls. Then, sometimes she'd hang out with the softer spoken middle class girls. It all depended on her mood and who she felt like keeping company with.

Dally had some beef to settle with Tim, and much to his dismay, he couldn't find him anywhere. He'd checked the drive-in, the diner, even his house. No sign of him. He was just about to give up when he caught sight of a familiar person.

"Hey, Angel!" Dally shouted, jogging up the sidewalk to catch up with her. "Have you seen-" Angela and the girl she had been walking with turned around, Dallas meeting eyes with the other girl.

She was quite the looker, but in an innocent kind of way. She had little kitten heels on with some red nail polish. He'd never seen her before. She had blonde hair that flowed over her shoulders in little ringlets. The way she looked down, a blush covering her cheeks, when he looked her over got him going. He wanted her, and Dallas Winston always got what he wanted.