"Ay, I'm serious, man. You gotta' ask him for me, alright?" Dallas looked at Two-Bit.
Sodapop cut in, "Dal, if you're looking for a job, I know for sure Mrs. Warner needs a babysitter down the street if—"
"I don't want no babysitting job, alright? I need a real job!" Dallas raised his voice.
Dallas, Sodapop, and Two-Bit were walking down the street, right past Dallas' place. After the news that Cherry had brought to his attention, he knew that he needed to find a way to earn money, and earn it fast. Getting a job was the least that Dallas could do for Cherry.
Two-Bit suddenly asked, "Why not? Shit, I might as well go over there and earn some dough myself! Mrs. Warner's loaded, Dal. You work for her, you probably be gettin' more cash than the both of us." The three of them stopped at an intersection. Dallas lit up a cigarette with a disgusted look on his face. He replied, "I don't like kids. I've never ever liked them. And I'm not..."
Dallas paused as he blew out smoke. Suddenly, he had realized what he was saying. Holy shit, he thought to himself. Dallas hated kids? Well, that's very unfortunate; he'll really be in for a treat in about nine months. Dallas suddenly felt frustrated, and yet slightly sad. It didn't feel right, turning behind Cherry's back to say something like that to his friends. His own friends, Dallas hadn't even told them the news yet; should he have?
Finally, he continued, "I'm not gonna' just sit here and fuckin—I'm just not gonna' do it, alright? Is that okay with you?"
Two-Bit shrugged in confusion, "Yeah, I guess so? Whatever?" The three finally had crossed the street, continuing towards the park.
"Dal," Sodapop hesitantly spoke up, "since when did you actually wanna' earn your money?" Two-Bit had bursted out into laughter at the sound of this. It was true; Dallas had never really wanted to work any sort of job. He often robbed small stores, for it was a habit he had developed back in New York.
"What's so funny?" Dallas smirked towards the two. Two-Bit continued to laugh as Dallas began to punch the side of his shoulder, "I said what's so funny?"
"Nothing, you're just funny, Dal." Two-Bit smiled.
"You think I can't get a job around here?" Dallas jokingly pushed Two-Bit into Sodapop.
Sodapop replied, "Of course you can, Dal. And we're here to help."
"Oh sure thing, sure thing." Two-Bit added, wrapping an arm around Dallas' neck as the three continued walking.
Being with friends had always cheered Dallas up, but today, however, was different. Dallas couldn't shake this one off of his mind, no matter how hard he had tried.
Cherry had been contemplating of whether or not she should tell her parents about what had happened. She could wait; perhaps if the baby did not survive after the first trimester, maybe she could continue life without her parents having even known that she was pregnant in the first place. But what if everything had gone right? What if this baby had maintained a stable, healthy condition throughout the first few months? Then what? she thought. She had to tell them. Or, perhaps she could at least wait until after her first doctor's visit.
Just thinking about this nearly frightened Cherry to death. The thought of what her parents would say…Or even worse, the thought of how her parents would react to the fact that Dallas was the father. Cherry had never spoken a word to her family about Dallas, nor did she ever believe that they would ever approve of her even speaking to him. Her mother and father were very narrow-minded people; there was no question of them even agreeing to a single idea or word that Dallas would have to offer. Someone like Dallas Winston, someone with no visible morals, no respect towards authority; it wouldn't be allowed to step foot into the Valence residence.
Suddenly, Cherry had grown a very awful idea inside of her. However, the more and more she had thought about it, the less frightened she was. No, no it just wouldn't be right, she thought to herself. Still, she could not manage to get rid of it. The idea still remained inside of her; it was the idea that she would lie to her parents, and claim that Bob was the father of her child.
It was the perfect idea, at least in Cherry's thoughts. This would not only completely eliminate the horror of dealing with her parents' reaction to Dallas, but it would also cause Cherry's parents to act more sympathetically versus furiously. Cherry could still be coping with Bob's passing, and Cherry's parents knew that this was a touchy subject, so they would go easier on her. No, Cherry thought, what a rotten thought. Absolutely not.
Dallas deserved better, didn't he? Or would he not mind? Perhaps Dallas would rather have Cherry lie, especially if it had meant dodging her parents. Cherry stopped thinking, only to realize that she was creating an entire mess for herself.
Five days later, Dallas knocked on Cherry's door. It was about eleven-thirty at night. Cherry answered her door, she had previously given the message to Dallas that her parents would not be home that night.
"Hey," Cherry spoke softly, "come on in."
Dallas walked inside, closed the door behind him, and kissed Cherry on her lips.
"How you feeling?" Dallas asked, with a hand rested behind her neck.
"Could be better, could be worse" she answered.
"Yeah?" Dallas ruffled his hand through her hair. "I'm gettin' a job, you know that?"
Cherry had her arms folded, "No, I didn't. Maybe if you had called me at least once before last night, I might have known."
"I was busy lookin' for a job." Dallas replied.
"So, where'd you get a job?"
"I don't know, I didn't get one yet." Dallas pulled away.
Cherry was confused, "You just said you're getting a job."
"I am, I just don't have one yet. Look, will you just relax?" he asked, annoyed.
Dallas realized that Cherry might have had the right to be worried. After all, Dallas would never understand the position she was in. But, it was who he was. Dallas never liked being hassled by anyone.
Realizing this, he immediately grabbed her hands and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here, sit down." He guided her to her living room couch, as they both sat down side by side. Dallas wrapped an arm around her waist, rubbing her arm slowly. Cherry forgave him, as she leaned in to rest her head just below Dallas' chin.
"I missed you," Dallas lowered his voice. Cherry lightly dabbed Dallas' neck with her lips and said, "I missed you, too." She had an arm wrapped around the front of Dallas' chest, like a hug, with her other hand wrapped in his. Cherry could feel Dallas' heartbeat through her arm, pressed against his chest, while feeling the vibrations of his voice every time he spoke.
"You still feeling sick?" Dallas asked. Cherry looked up at him, only to see that he was looking right back into her eyes. Cherry suddenly had felt happy again. For what felt like the longest time, she had felt so afraid and worried; she had almost forgotten what it had felt like to feel in love. Right now, however, she was reminded exactly of what that felt like. All it took was one look into Dallas' eyes; eyes so in control, but caring. Eyes so wild, but tame. He was beautiful, and Cherry had always known that.
She finally responded, "No, well, not as much."
"Have you told your parents?" he asked. Cherry shook her head no.
"Have you told- anyone?" he continued. Cherry, once again, shook her head.
Dallas nodded in an understanding manner.
There was a suddenly odd sense of tension held within the room. Cherry had wanted to tell Dallas about the idea that she had come up with previously, however she had no clue whatsoever of whether Dallas would feel upset or neutral when hearing of it. She had to risk it; it was for the better, for both of them.
She looked up at Dallas, who was now leaning his face inwards towards her neck. She took a moment to process her words, and then finally spoke, "Dally?"
"Hm?" he muttered.
" I've been thinking a lot, about my parents. I mean, they're going to go crazy about this." Cherry then paused to wait for Dallas' reaction. He then nodded, "So you're really thinkin' of telling 'em, huh?"
Cherry's eyes widened, "Well, yes? I have to. What am I supposed to do, walk around the house with some huge stomach, not saying a single explanation about it?"
"I don't know. I -I don't know." Dallas suddenly revealed a slight worried expression upon his face. After a short pause, he continued, "Guess I should probably be there when you do tell 'em then?"
Uh-oh. Not a good sign. Was Dallas actually fine with her bringing him into a mess like this? Was he really willing to talk to her insane and soon-to-be furious mother and father? Cherry hesitantly began proposing her idea.
"Actually, I don't even know if you'd want to do that. You don't understand, Dally. My parents...they'd-I mean they would
kill you. And it's nothing personal-well, actually, it kind of is-but that's just how they think. They're shallow people, Dal. And they will hurt you, and me. "
Dallas looked Cherry in the eyes as he watched her sit up straight, backing away from him.
He replied, "Yeah, so what then? You gonna tell them I'm the father, they'll come find me anyway. Might as well just get it over with and come with you."
"I know but I don't want to risk them keeping us apart. Dally, I had this idea. It's not the greatest idea in the book, but it would help, a lot."
Dallas continued listening. Cherry had suddenly felt a huge throb in her stomach. She could not tell if it was her feeling sick once again, or if she was just scared of how Dallas was about to react. She then continued, "They wouldn't go after you, if they didn't know that you were the father. I'm just going to tell them that it's Bob's baby, and it'll all be over. Just like that."
Dallas lowered his eyebrows; he was disgusted by what Cherry had said. There was no way, absolutely no way, that Dallas would have let a guy like Bob, a Soc, 'replace' him with Cherry. Even though Dallas didn't want to be a father, he wanted to at least be a supporting role in Cherry's life; he didn't want to have his title ripped away from beneath him.
"Okay, slow down. Lemme' get this straight. You're gonna sit there and pretend that Bob is the father, of our baby?"
Cherry wanted to cry, and yet smile at the same time when Dallas had spoken this. It was the way he said it, our baby. He had actually sounded genuinely concerned, and this was certainly not like him. However, Cherry had feared this moment in her planned-out scenarios. She was not aware that Dallas would be so emotional about something like this. She looked back at him, only to see Dallas swallowing a lump in his throat. The two just stared at each other, waiting for each other's moves.
"Dallas, no Dallas it's not like that at all. I'm just..." Cherry began to allow her tears to stream down her face, "I'm numb. I love you, and I don't know why but I've never loved anyone like I loved you, and I don't want to lose you. If I let them get between us, it's done. It's over." She began to cry harder, just the thought alone was making her frustrated and worried.
Dallas began to hold her once again, but his stomach felt sick. Stroking her back lightly, he allowed her to sob into his chest. He hated Bob more than anything, but it killed him to see Cherry so afraid. And what Dallas was about to do, was going to defy his rules completely; that rule being rule number three: Never put anybody else's feelings before your own.
Dallas finally replied with a lowered voice, "You really think that would help you? Help us?"
The sound of Dallas' calm, gentle tone of voice had made her feel loved, and somewhat guilty. She could tell that what Dallas was clearly making a sacrifice, and Dallas Winston making sacrifices is practically defying the impossible.
Dallas wiped a tear off of Cherry's cheek and mumbled, "Hey quit cryin', alright? You know that makes me sad." He then kissed her once again, on her forehead, "You do what you gotta' do, you hear me? When things are settled with the family, call me. Then you can gimme' a time and date for when I can finally exist in your life again."
Cherry could tell that Dallas had meant to imply a smart and sarcastic tone when saying this. He was hurt, and there was nothing else that he could do about it. And this was quite strange of a mood for a boy like Dallas Winston; for he had never allowed anyone to get close enough to hurt him. Usually, he had beaten others to the punch by hurting them, first.
"Dallas, please!" Cherry raised her voice as she watched Dallas stand up and walk towards her door. As he looked back at her, she continued, "This isn't about Bob, this isn't about any Soc's, or greasers, or anyone. I'm doing this because I want us. Please, will you please understand that?"
Dallas knew that Cherry had good reason for hiding the fact that she was carrying the child of a greaser, but he just couldn't shake off the mood he was in. You're an idiot to even think she'd tell anyone else the truth, dumbass, he thought to himself. Whether he understood or not, he felt hurt. Something hurt. Even he couldn't answer for what it was that was exactly hurting him. All he knew was this: No matter how hard a greaser can fight, he's still going to end up at the bottom.