The Winston sister

12

Skye's POV

Pony, Johnny, and I stepped outside for a cancer stick after Dal and Brooke left for the night. Steve, Two-Bit, Johnny, I planned on staying the night.

Pony lit up a smoke, "you and Brooke getting along better?"

"I guess." I exhaled a puff of smoke, "she's not as bad as I thought."

"She's real nice," Johnny said, "she and Dal are complete opposites, ya know. She don't even smoke. Doesn't seem as hard either."

"She's pretty, real pretty," Pony whispered.

I cocked my eyebrow, a trick I picked from Two-Bit, "what about Cherry?"

"Cherry's pretty too, but I can't really trust her. She does a lotta talkin' from both sides of her mouth. It ain't just cause she's a soc, ya know?"

"Dal always said we need to stick to our own kind," Johnny said flicking his cigarette away.

We headed back inside.  Johnny and I sat back at the table to play poker.  I could hear Darry lecturing Pony on getting his homework done even though it's a Friday.  Pony was arguing back that he would get it done before Monday.  They were getting louder and louder.  Soda caught my eye and gave me a reassuring nod. He knew I hated listening to them fight as much as he did.

Finally, Pony stormed off to his room, which meant Darry won the argument.  I set my cards down and stood up.  I headed toward his room, "Skye," Darry spoke harshly, "Ponyboy needs to study.  Leave him alone." 

I slid back in my chair, my stomach uneasy, "yes, Sir," I mumbled, not making eye contact with anyone. I stayed silent the rest of the evening.

BRRRING, BRRRRING! The phone jolted me awake. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Two and Steve were still sleeping, so I grabbed the phone, "hello?"

"Yeah, lemme me talk to Darrel?"

"Dally?" I glanced at the clock, "it's 2:30 in the morning!"

"Skye, get Darry, now!"

I set the phone on the table and crept into Darry's room, "Darry?"  He didn't say anything, "Darry?" I said louder, hating that my voice shook, "Darry!  Dally's on the phone!"  I spoke a little louder.

He grumbled, but followed me to the living room, "Dallas? It better be good," he grumbled into the phone.  After a few minutes, Darry said, "you an Tim gotta figure your shit out.  I ain't comin' down this time."  He hung up the phone, muttered about something about Dally and Tim Shepard getting arrested.

"Darry?" My voice came out in a barely a whisper.  I think that surprised him.  I don't talk to him much, "what about Brooke?"  At least when Two-Bit gets arrested, I still had mom and the guys.

Darry looked at me with an expression I had never seen before, "she'll have to stay here with us."

I curled back up on the armchair, "she's gonna be devastated."

The next day, Darry told everyone about Dally. Nobody said much, not even my brother, who always had something to say. It's always hard when one of the gang gets arrested. I bawled like a baby when Two-Bit got hauled in.

Brooke threw the door open, "you guys seen Dally?" She demanded. Darry was the one to fill her in. She leaned against the wall and slid down it. I knew that look all too well, it was a look of horror, devastation, and plan sadness. She didn't say anything as she was trying to hold back tears.

I slowly got off the couch and sat next to her. I didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. Dally got arrested, he slashed some tires. She obviously wasn't ok. We sat in silence. Eventually, I reached over and took her hand, "Darry said you could stay here. You could always stay at my house too," I said just so her and I could hear. "We take care of our own."

She looked at me, surprised, "our own?"

I shrugged, "yeah, we gotta watch out for each other. It's what the gang does."

Two-Bit finally stood up, "ok...sittin' around moping ain't gonna help nothin'. Let's eat some cake, drink some beers, and get on with the day!" Two-Bit pointed at us, "don't you two have a movie to see tonight?"

Brooke visibly brightened, "yeah, we do!"

Steve and Soda left for work. Darry was still hassling Pony about homework. Brooke was still wrestling with the idea of Dally being in jail so we just hung out at the Curtis's until it was time to go to the movies.

The nightly double was a huge drive in. Both Greasers and Socs alike hung out there. Brooke and I crawled under the hole in the fence so we didn't have to pay. We sat down on the benches to wait for Pony and Johnny. My brother was potentially meeting us, unless he got soused and found a blonde.

Brooke leaned over to me, "there's Cherry! Are she and Ponyboy a thing?"

"He says no, but she wants him and then she doesn't and then she does...I dunno. She's just a dumb soc cheerleader if ya ask me."

Brooke just nodded and sat back, clearly uneasy. I didn't think much of it. If she wanted to tell me something, she would...maybe?