cruel summer; dallas winston

THREE

CHAPTER THREE: DRAG RACIN'

"So how's your case going?" Darcey asked her father during dinner time that evening. She truly was curious, he hadn't said much. Which was rare, he usually talked to his daughter all about them, knowing how she loved to know. He shrugged,

"Begrudging and irreverent." he sighed, Darcey nodded.

"What's he doing hon?" her mother asked. Her father shrugged,

"He keeps cutting our meetings short, usually by yelling that he doesn't need me." he told. Darcey nodded, knowing how frustrating the people her father worked with. Seeing as they were usually 17-20 year old men who'd never been disciplined and did as they pleased.

"Maybe you should talk to him." Darcey glanced up from her salad to her father, who was in fact talking to her.

"Hmm?" she asked confused, arching an eyebrow.

"You should talk to the boy, he listened to you more at dinner the other day more than he's ever listens to me." he said. Darceys mother giggled and then smirked,

"Course he would listen to her, she's a pretty girl." Mrs.Picket said. Darcey rolled her eyes smiling,

"I doubt it was that, it was probably because I didn't treat him like he was dumb." Darcey said as she finished her food and got up, plate in hand. Darcey was right, her father had a tendency to be a bit condescending when he was talking to the kids he worked with.

***

Darcey stared down at the note Sodapop had given her while in her bedroom, listening to her Beach Boys album. It's been a day since she'd received it. She still hadn't called.

"Might as well," she muttered, after debating it in her mind, getting up from her bed and taking the receipt with her. She made her way to the phone in the hallway and dialed the number carefully, making sure to get every digit on the page correct.

Ring one,

ring two,

"Hello?" said the other line.

"Hi this is Darcey, is Sodapop there?" she heard a muffle from the other end and a shout that she couldn't quite make out. She heard the phone shift from one person to the next,

"Darcey?" she could tell it was Sodapop. She grinned,

"Hey! So," she leaned against her hallway wall causally, twisting the phone cord in her hands.

"You were right, Valerie Anne can get a bit...talkative." she was lying, she actually quite enjoyed Valerie Anne's company. But, when a cute boy gives you their number, you call.

"So I was wondering if you could take her place as the welcoming committee." she heard Sodapop chuckle from the other end.

"Yeah, hey," he paused, as if thinking about it. "Tonight me and my buddy and his girl are goin' to this drag race on a bridge. We're gonna go watch, how 'bout you come with?" he asked. Darcey grinned,

"Sounds like fun."

The two then talked some more and decided on Sodapop, his friend, and his girl would come and pick Darcey up at 8 that night. After she hung up the phone, with a polite goodbye she raced to her incredibly versatile closet.

"What do I wear?" she muttered with a sigh.

***

Darcey smiled at herself in her full body mirror. She had chosen, what she had decided, was the perfect outfit for the outing of the night. A red, bandana style tube top, white denim boot cut pants, and black slight-heeled boots. She then touched her face, she was quite proud of her makeup. A red lip, twiggy eyeliner, and white, glimmering eyeshadow.  Then from outside, she heard a car horn honk and grinned. She descended the steps of her home and found her mother in the living room.