For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 20
Feeling Small
It didn't take much after evidence was shown before Dan was hauled up onto his feet, handcuffs shackling his hands behind his back roughly. Unfortunately, Abigail was still asked down to the station for further questioning of her story and written statement, another reason why Darry was called down to the station as well along with everyone else.
T
"Abigail?" Darry called, walking into the station as he pushed the door open, his eyes shifting around the place.
In response, I turned my head, a faint smile on my face when I saw him.
"Darry…" I whispered, slowly standing up, only to be encompassed by his arms a moment later as he rushed over to me.
"Are you alright?" he asked, pulling back a bit and looking me over to make sure that I hadn't been hurt in any way.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him, taking his hands in mine.
"Are you sure, you're not hurt?" he asked, leaning down slightly so that he was more at my level.
"Darrel, I'm fine," I told him, leaning forward and kissing his cheek.
This seemed to settle him enough to where he believed me, nodding his head reluctantly as he sat down with me on the bench, allowing me to lay my tired head on his shoulder. I could only imagine how bent up he was when he got the call, especially, finding out that his brothers were down here as well. The last thing Darry wanted was to have his kid brothers down in a police station of all places.
I had been adamant that I wouldn't be saying much until he arrived and now that he was here, there was nothing stopping them from getting answers. The only thing that I had to do was try my hardest to keep my composure and not break down into tears.
T
"So, you're telling me that Dan Allester jumped you, along with the other three men that we brought in?" the officer inquired, folding his hands together on his desk.
"Yes Sir," I nodded, feeling Darry give my hand a light squeeze.
"And you're sure that it was him, not someone else?" the man asked.
"Yes Sir," I repeating, speaking a bit more firmly this time.
"What about eyewitnesses?" he inquired making a slight hand gesture.
This made me sigh and bite my lip in irritation. It was like he was trying to knock me right back down, trying to play it off as someone else. No one else, but Dan and his little buddies attacked me. I know what I saw, I know what I felt, and there was no changing that.
"Well, the only eyewitness that I can think of is one Dallas Winston, whom you guys happened to throw in the slammer," I told him, doing my best to bite my tongue as I thought back on it.
"You mean that piece of trash that's always causin' trouble?" he asked skeptically, a joking tone in his voice as though he didn't believe me at all.
I had to count to five in my head and close my eyes. I never was good with sitting back when someone bad mouthed someone else, especially when they were one of my friends. Granted, I wasn't always the nicest person to Dally before this happened, but he wasn't all that bad. Deep down, he was a good guy, but they didn't know or care.
"That piece of trash as you call him, is the one that saved me from being raped," I told him, my voice raising a bit.
That caught me a few looks. At the same time, I could feel Darry's hand curling around mine more firmly, telling me to calm down and that things would be okay. Even with that though, it still made me mad, the fact that they were calling Dallas Winston trash. The very guy that might have very well saved my life along with the last bit of my sanity.
"I'd say that he'd be more likely to do it than those boys we hauled in," his partner commented.
That was it, that was the thing that set me over off of the edge because a moment later, I shot out of my seat and my hands slammed against the desk. At the same time, Two-Bit's jacket nearly fell from my shoulders, and everyone in the station had their eyes trained on me.
"Now you listen here, Dallas Winston is many things, but abusing a woman in any way is not one of them!" I yelled, tears in my eyes as I did this.
Never and I mean never, would Dally raise his hand at a woman, no matter how mad he got. He never even got drunk enough to do such a thing either. True, he may be rude and disrespectful at times or make snide comments, but a violation like that was not one of them. It just set my temper flying when they accused him of even possibly doing such a thing.
"She's right," Darry said, standing up and pulling me back a bit. "Dally would never attempt such a thing. After all, he has morals, even if all of them aren't exactly pin straight," Darry defended.
The officers still looked skeptical as we stood there, debating what to do next.
"I'll swear it in front of a judge if I have to," I added, determined to defend Dally. "Besides, who's to say that Dallas Winston even threw the first punch? For all you know, Dan could have started it when he went to straighten things out," I pointed out, even though I knew that Dally was the one that went after Dan full throttle.
Both men gave me a hard look though, but didn't really say much about it. That's what I hated, men that didn't want to hear what a woman had to say.
"If he's good, he'll be out in a month," the man said, scratching at the back of his head for a moment.
To be honest, he looked like he didn't even want to be here and he looked rather young, around my age.
"Mike, would you sit down and stop fidgeting," his partner scolded, after pointing to a chair and telling him to sit down.
The young man obeyed and sat down, fiddling with the thin gold band on his finger, a wedding band no doubt. He likely had someone waiting for him at home and that was likely the reason for his fidgeting.
"Look, can we wrap this up, I'd really like to get home," I said, seeing Darry nod in agreement.
"Yes, my brothers need to be getting home," Darry said, looking over at the other side of the station where Soda was seated beside Ponyboy.
"Not until we get this straightened out," the head officer said.
"What's there to straighten out, I told you everything," I exclaimed.
"And yet, I still have yet to understand why he would go after someone like you," he said, a certain something edging on his voice.
"If you really want to know, the man was drunk, or do I have to repeat it for the fourth time tonight?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.
At that, Darry pulled me back onto the bench before the officer could say something, earning Darry a nod in return. I nearly rolled my eyes at that, but held back.
"Those boys have too much pride and when I went and turned their buddy Paul Holden down, they didn't take it too well," I said, remembering one of the first encounters after it had happened. "Why else do you think that they carved trash into my stomach?" I asked cynically.
"I can probably think of a few reasons," he mumbled, but I still heard it, same as Darry.
"Excuse me?" Darry said, catching the man's attention quickly.
If it weren't a police officer, I can guarantee you that Darry would have had a heck of a lot more to say.
"Darry, it's not worth it," I said quietly, just loud enough for him to hear.
"Oh, nothing," the man assured him, but his partner Mike didn't seem to agree with his words and stood up.
"Perhaps you all should go home?" Mike suggested, giving his partner a disapproving look that earned him a glare in return. "I'll get back with you within the week," he said, not wanting to sit around any longer and listen to his partner down a woman.
"Thank you," Darry said, standing up and pulling me with him. "Time to go guys," he called, walking toward the front.
"Well boys, it's been swell, but gotta go," I heard Two-Bit laugh. "Come on you two," he said to Soda and Ponyboy, Steve easily following us out.
Once we were outside, everyone piled into Darry's truck. Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit where in the back, while Ponyboy and me sat up front with Darry.
T
The ride home was pretty much quiet, save for the banter between the three boys in the back.
"So, now what?" Steve asked as he stood by the door, his right foot pressed against the frame.
"You, sit down," I said, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him to the couch.
Both Soda and Two-Bit laughed, watching their friend being pulled around.
"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to get back up, but I pushed him back down.
"Just shut up before I change my mind," I said quietly, gently moving my hand under the top of his shirt at the neck.
"Aw, what, you givin' him the special too now?" Two-Bit whined, referring to the massage that I was getting ready to do.
"Oh hush," I breathed, pressing against the muscles in Steve's shoulders.
Steve grunted for a moment, but that was about it, leaning back a bit into my hands.
"Yep, the special treatment," Two-Bit chuckled, earning a slightly annoyed look from Steve.
"Just leave him alone Two-Bit," I sighed, trying my best to work out the knot current in the lower side of Steve's neck.
He groaned a moment later when I pressed in a certain spot, letting me know I got where I needed to. From there, I kept putting pressure on his neck with the bottom of my palm, kneading at it in circles. After a few more minutes, it was obvious that he was enjoying it, looking as though he'd fall asleep.
"I don't know about you guys, but I call dibs when Steve is done," Soda grinned, earning a small chuckle and shake of the head from Darry.
"Hey, no fair, she's mine," Two-Bit protested.
"I'm no one's property," I said, rolling my eyes for a moment.
He knew that fact just as well as the rest of the gang. Darry was the only exception and even then I didn't actually belong to him per say. It's just like I told Paul countless time, I belong to no one. I'm my own person and that's how it's going to stay.
"Yeah, but you're still my girl," he grinned, making me raise an eyebrow as he howled with laughter a moment later.
"You're somethin' else, you know that?" I asked, even though it was more of a statement than an actual question.
"Really? You really think so?" he asked, a look of happiness on his face.
That was it, I couldn't help, but to let out a small laugh.
"There we go, it's what I've been waiting for all day long," he grinned.
"Oh, come off it Two-Bit," I said, getting slightly embarrassed.
I then looked down at Steve, finding him half way asleep already, his head lain back against the couch with his eyes closed.
"Man, you put him right to sleep," Soda chuckled, pulling his shirt off at the same time. "Now, it's my turn he grinned, making me look over at Darry.
Darry merely chuckled and walked into the kitchen, leaving me standing there with Soda staring at me expectantly.
"Fine," I sighed, shaking my head slightly as I walked over to him, sitting down beside him as he turned his back to me.
He merely grinned, pulling his legs up onto the couch so that he could rest his arms and head on his knees as he leaned forward.
"I swear, you guys are somethin'," I muttered, shaking my head.
"Yeah, but ya still love us," Soda chuckled.
"Don't push your luck kid," I said, giving him a small smile.
"Aw, come on Abby," he whined playful.
"Hey Soda, shouldn't you and Pony be gettin' to bed," Darry asked casually as he walked back into the room.
Soda's face fell upon hearing.
"But Darry," he whined.
"Hey, you got work in the mornin' and Pony's got school," Darry pointed out. "That means you too Two-Bit," he announced.
"Yeah, I'll be goin' then. See ya guys later," he chuckled, jacket over his shoulder as he walked out.
"Hey," Darry called, nudging Steve's foot with his own.
The boy groaned, cracking his eyes open for a moment.
"Go home kid and get some rest," Darry told him.
T
Within 15 minutes, everyone was where they should be, leaving me and Darry to ourselves.
"So…" Darry started, pealing his shirt from his torso.
I looked up at him as I sat there on the bed, one of his old shirts covering my front, along with a pair of shorts.
"What exactly happened earlier?" he asked carefully, tossing his soiled shirt into the wastebasket.
I sat there silently, merely playing with the bottom of the shirt that I was wearing.
"Abigail?" Darry sat down next to me, carefully placing a hand on my arm.
I flinched slightly as he did this, pinching my eyes closed.
"What happened?" he asked slowly. "Abigail?"
"Joe found out," I whispered. "He…he saw everything. The mark…my stomach," I choked out, leaning forward as a pulled at my hair.
I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into his chest as I cried. I hated crying in front of him and yet here I was doing it again. It just didn't seem to want to stop. I felt so small.
"He came in and I…I just froze," I cried. "The tray fell from my hands…everything broke…I…"
"Shh…it's alright," he whispered, holding me close as he rubbed my back. "It's over now," he said.
YAY! Finally, chapter 20 is out. I really do hope that everyone liked it? The only reason that I was able to finish writing this chapter finally is because of a dream that I had the other night. XD Anyway, please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, feelings, and opinions on this story. Thanks everyone!