As we board our bus I stare out the window watching Dallas chainsmoke cigarette after cigarette in my peripheral. He was irritated and in pain, I could tell, but I didn't want to say something and give him a reason to snap at me. So I keep staring out the window trying not to choke on the cigarette smoke filling the bus.
xXxXx
August 3rd, 1962, 10:37 PM
I didn't get much sleep on the bus the next night. Between Dallas's nervous fidgeting and everyone on the bus smoking so much, it's hard to do anything besides stare at the seat and think about everything that happened. Suddenly Dallas slams his hand down on the window seal. He'd gone to reach for a new cigarette only to find that he had smoked the entire pack. A few people around us wake up and throw angry glares. At most other times, New Yorkers would yell at him, but it was three in the morning and none of these people were getting much sleep. I turn to him in an attempt to calm him.
"Dallas, why don't ya lay ya head down on my shoulder and try to get some sleep." He gives me an angry glare. "You need to calm down man, just try to go to sleep." I take off one layer of sweater that I'm wearing and ball it up, putting it on my shoulder as his head falls against it. There you go man.
I'd always been jealous of the way Dallas could fall asleep so quickly. It took him a little longer this time, but he did it. Unlike me.
xXxXx
August 4th, 1962, 5:00 AMA little over 20 hours later we made it. Nearly 5:00 AM the next day and we'd made it to Nashville. I hadn't really slept at all on account of Dallas, the smoke on the bus, and the events of the previous day. Upon stumbling out of the bus we found a small bodega that was open. I know that we both desperately needed to eat something and get ready for the next 18 hour bus ride to Dallas. I got a coke bottle and an onion bagel. Dallas got four more packs of cigarettes.
"Come on man, you're gonna outsmoke a chimney on the Upper East Side." He gives me a glare.
"Since when do you care about it princess?"
"I'm just sayin."
"Well don't just say." We were standing arguing by the doorway when the clerk turned to look at us.
"I've been in this game long enough to know that that two juveniles like you in't actually arguing." We both looked at him quizzically. He really thought we were going to steal something? "Get out of my gas station." Gas station?
"Man, you listen here-" Dallas started before I grabbed his arm.
"Come on, this isn't the place." As soon as we got out the door he pushed me off of him and lit up a cigarette.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked me after one puff on his cancer stick.
"Calm down Dallas, I didn't want him to take our stuff away." I paused for a moment. "Besides, we're gonna miss our bus anyway." He lets the smoke blow out through his nose irritably. I roll my eyes and find a bench to sit down and start in on my bagel. I didn't understand why Dallas got to be in a bad mood, I was the one who had killed a mob boss and his buddies a day ago. Dallas uses the ember of his dying cigarette to light another one, successfully starting in on his incessant chain smoking once again. I let out a sigh, but I don't say anything, I didn't want to start another fight. Then I get up, figuring I should call my sister and let her know that I'm gonna have to stay with her. I find a payphone half a block down from the bench. Dallas smokes his cigarette and picks at his nails, pretending not to notice that I had gotten up. I pull out the card from my dress pocket and dial the number. I chew on my nails as I wait for the payphone operator to connect me to the right house. Then the phone is ringing.
"Hello?" A feminine voice rings out.
"Hi." I say suddenly nervous. "Is Michelle Adler there?"
"Yes, this is Michelle." Her slight Texan accent makes me smile
"Hi, this is Judith. I-"
"Oh my god! I'm actually talking to my sister on the phone!" I was not expecting this reaction at all. "How are you? What's going on? I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."
"You're doing fine." I assure her, I want her to think that I'm tough… or at least a good sister. "I don't know what to say either, I'm fine, I'm just so happy to talk to you"
"To-walk." She says repeating the word talk in my native New Yorker accent. "I just love the way you talk." She says softly.
"I love the way you talk too." I say in a bad mock southern accent, trying to match her energy. She laughs.
"I'm so happy that you called. We have so much to talk about." This is when I smile.
"Would it be better if we talked in person?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I left.." Suddenly Dallas is behind me, smoking a new cigarette.
"Who are you talking to?" He asks but I ignore him.
"Sorry about that. As I was saying, I just left New York to come visit Dallas. Would you mind if I stayed with you?" I know there were a lot of details that I was leaving out but we couldn't afford for her to say no.
"I would love to have you over!" She exclaims happily. "When do you arrive?"
"I'm currently in Nashville, I'll be in Dallas at around 11:00 PM the day after tomorrow. Would you mind coming to pick me up?"
"Yes of course! You're my sister after all!" She said repeating the words from her letter.
"Perfect! Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yes! We have so much to talk about!"
"Yes we do." I say feeling a little guilty, I couldn't afford for her to refuse me on the account of the greasy hood chain smoking cigarettes behind me. I knew that Giovanni's departure, the ordeal with Ransom, and the fact that I'd killed a couple of gangsters was still on his mind. I'm sure it didn't help that he was feeling the shock of actually leaving New York and his dad. I knew exactly how he felt. After all, I had just gone through the same thing. I left New York without ever knowing if I'd see my mother again. As much as you try, you can't hate them, in some sick way you still want them to love you and be proud of you. Even though they could care less.
"I'll see you tomorrow, travel safe!" Michelle says.
"See you tomorrow!" I say and set the payphone back down on the receiver and turn to Dallas.
"What did you just do?" He asked.
"I got a place to stay."
xXxXx
August 5th, 1962, 11:12 PMWe stumbled out from the bus again. I can feel the grit grind underneath my teeth and my throat is dry from all of the second hand smoke and no water. Dallas doesn't say anything, instead lighting up another cigarette and stumbling towards a bench that nobody has taken yet. Everyone was getting into cars or stumbling down the street. We were the only ones that sat right back down after an 18 hour bus ride. After our fight in the bodega, Dallas had given me the cold shoulder the whole drive. It's not like I was trying to talk to him either.
I know we'll talk eventually, I'm just sure we're both high strung from the events of previous days. We're both worried about Giovanni and anyone seeing me kill Ransom and leaking it back to the Revilers. We are both nervous and exhausted, two things that shorten tempers.
"Here…" He says putting the cigarette back in his mouth and balling up his jacket. "I know yous didn't get any sleep on that bus drive with all my smoking." He puts the balled up jacket on his lap and pats it. "Lay down and go to sleep for a bit. I'll make sure ya sister finds us, alright? I'm sure she looks like you." I smirk and cock my head to the side, I'd made him cave first.
"I mean… I was smoking harder than a chimney on the Upper East Side." I give him a small smile as I lay down on the jacket in his lap. It still smells like our life in New York. Like cigarettes, the air on the roof, cheap gangster cologne, and dirty water dogs. Closing my eyes, Dallas's arm goes around my back, I fall asleep the easiest I have had in weeks.
xXxXx August 6th, 1962, 5:58 AMI'm being shaken awake by Dallas as he blows his cigarette smoke into my face. I cough and push him away, nearly falling off the bench as my heart pounds in my chest.
"Judith! Are you okay?" A feminine voice asks.
"Oh my god." I say, exasperated. I can feel the blood roar in my ears as I struggle to my feet.
I look over at Dallas, his smirk is cocky.
"Ya sister here is like a nicer version of you." Dallas says taking a drag.
"I'm glad yous too already got acquainted." I grumble as Michelle laughs softly.
"Yeah, you should've told me you had a boyfriend." I glance again at Dallas whose mouth is still pulled into a grin as my eyebrows go up.
"Yeah, I don't know… I just…"
"It's okay." She says, saving me from explaining that one. "I don't care, I'm just glad you're here. Now let's get out of here." She pulls me into a quick hug and leads us over to her car. It's a fading red beater that I'm sure she got for cheap.
"What time is it?" The sun is starting to come up, the air resuming its hot sticky presence.
"Nearly 6:00, I have work in an hour, but I thought I'd pick you up first." I rub my eyes and take in my sister. She looks like me, she's got dark hair that's straight in contrast to my black curls. We're about the same height and build, though she has bright blue eyes where mine are black. She's pretty, her work uniform telling me that she works at a diner of some sort. Dallas sits in the back seat with out luggage as she peels out of the parking lot. She's stealing glances at me, the same as I'm doing to her.
"So… how is everything going?" I ask and she smiles big with straight teeth and dimples. Things she did not get from our shared father.
"Well better now that I've finally met you and your boyfriend." I laugh a little as Dallas rolls down the window a crack to knock the ashes off of his cigarette.
"He actually isn't my boyfriend."
"Yeah. Dallas pipes up. "Judith is more of an annoying little sister than anything else." I laugh, which gives Michelle permission to laugh as well.
"Sorry, I didn't know-."
"It's fine." I tell her as the car falls silent. This feels almost awkward. Like when you have so much to say that it's impossible to get the next words out of your mouth.
"I was sorry to hear about your mom." I say quietly, not really knowing how to fill the silence.
"It's okay, she'd been sick for a long time. It was gettin' real hard on the both of us." She talked slowly because of her southern drawl, in high contrast to how fast New Yorkers could talk when you got us going. "When was the last time you saw our Daddy?" I looked up at her when she said that.
"Never, I guess. My Ma never even bothered to tell me anything about him."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." I waved her off.
"Don't be, from everything I've heard, he was a bum."
"Not always," Michelle said, sighing. "There were good parts, before my mom got sick he used to come by every week or so and take me out for dinner. I knew he cared about me." I felt myself getting a little jealous. Then mentally smacking myself. Of course he would have been loyal to the child he had with the woman he'd married versus the bastard child that was just a mistake on a business trip. It didn't change the fact that I hated it and him. So I didn't even acknowledge Michelles earlier statement.
"Well at least we met each other." Was what I went with. I hated myself for being unable to comment on her earlier statements but I couldn't think too hard about it.
xXxXx
We chatted for a little while longer about this and that. Mostly just small talk stuff that we should know about each other. I did like Michelle. She was smart and funny and would probably be in college if she wasn't so poor and her father actually cared about her. She was also interested in my life in New York. She wanted to know about the reason for an abrupt move and how Dallas and I met. Which made sense. Why wouldn't she? I was careful with the details. Telling her how I was done with the city and how Dallas I were childhood friends. She seemed to accept that. I was grateful to Dallas for answering her questions and not snapping at her. Even though I hardly knew when the last time he got a decent amount of sleep was.
She dropped us off at the house, giving us a tour and leaving for work. She had left us some breakfast and an old mattress in the living room. Dallas didn't bother eating, just laying down on the mattress and putting out his cigarette.
"Ya sister seems nice." I nod, picking at a piece of bread on the plate.
"Yeah, she is." I chew and swallow the bread slowly, my hands still shaking with the knowledge that I had killed a mob-crew. "Dallas? You think we're far enough away?" I ask. He sits straight up with a hard look on his face.
"Why? Did you see someone? Do you think they followed us all the way out here?"
"No, no, no, I think I'm just worried." I fill up two cups of water, bringing one out to Dallas.
"Me too." He says quietly, taking the cup. "But I think we got them all. I think you got them all." I give him a nervous laugh. "Besides, Enzo and Tony are going to do their best to take care of it from their end. Things should be quiet for a bit here." I take a deep breath and nod, that's when Dallas punches my shoulder, laughing a bit. "I still can't believe you killed Ransom man. That's just unbelievable."
"Shut up." I roll my eyes and hit his shoulder. Suddenly I go serious. "We'll be okay though, right?" His eyes light up wildly, a cocky smile making its way onto his lips.
"When have we not been?"
xXxXx
Hope that's not a terrible way to end things. Maybe? Maybe not? I can't tell.
Wow, this has been a wild ride, I'm kind of sad it's over, I really did enjoy writing this story.
I already have ideas for a part two where after the Bob incident, Dallas sends Johnny and Ponyboy to Judith's instead of Windrixville. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading and sticking with this story. The comments you guys left always make my day.