Reunited | Dally's Little Sister

forty four

Ch 44

Sage P.O.V.

Turns out everyone in town seemed to know the Winston name and in probably the worst way possible. Finding a job was next to impossible when my brother had damn near stolen from every place. At least Two-bit tried to be sneaky about snatching things while my brother didn't give two shits if they saw him walk out with whatever he wanted.

I gave up my search after this guy at the record store threw a pen at me to get out. Clearly Dallas did a number on him.

I found myself sitting at Buck's bar drinking a coke trying to figure out where to go next. It was the middle of the day, and the bar was nearly empty besides a few people here and there. Dally was with Tim doing lord knows what and everyone else was either at work or school.

"Why are you here, Sage?" Buck was leaning against the other side of the bar, cleaning glasses, staring at me with his usual bored expression.

"Dallas made it impossible for me to find a job. No one wants to have a Winston in their payroll."

Buck nodded his head and looked around the bar. "I could use help around here on the weekends. I can't pay much, but the tips are yours."

I nearly knocked over my drink when he said that. "Are you serious?"

He nodded his head again, "When can you start?" A smile spread across my face when I told him I could start tonight. "Be here no later than 7. Shift ends at 2." I thanked him and nearly ran down to the DX to tell Soda and Steve about finally getting a job.

It was busy as usual with the girls trying to get a piece of Soda's attention and Steve working as fast as possible to get these cars out at a decent time. I figured my best chance of a conversation is sitting next to a car Steve was working on, trapping him.

I was nearly in the garage when Soda's voice stopped me. "Hey pretty lady. Whatcha doing in our neck of the woods?"

I turned to see a smiling Sodapop and a crowd of pissed off broads. "Got a job. I'm a working lady now."

This caught Steve's attention and he rolled out from under the car. "Who was brave enough to hire a Winston?"

I gave him a lovely hand gesture and turned my attention back to Soda. "Buck needed some help on the weekends. It was either that or sell my body to whoever wants it."

Steve knew I was joking as I heard him chuckle behind me, but the look on the middle Curtis's face made me add, "Kidding. Glory Soda, you think I would actually do that?"

He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck and looked down, "No. it just caught me off guard, that's all."

I hummed in response and sat down on the work bench besides Steve. "Your brother is going to kill you when he finds out you're working at a bar."

I rolled my eyes, "Well I would have more options if he wasn't such an ass to these people. Some guy threw a pen at me when he heard my last name. Couldn't get out of there fast enough."

I looked over to Soda and saw him surrounded by the desperate upper-class girls and felt a bit of hurt. Hurt that I wasn't able to keep his attention like I used to.

"Give him some time. He doesn't know it yet, but you're the one for him." I didn't hear Steve come out from the car, but now he was wiping his hands on a rag and looking over to his best friend.

"I messed it up. I shouldn't be wanting anything." I sighed and hopped off the bench. "I need to go get some sleep before tonight. I know Dal is going to show up and Tim won't be too far behind. And as of right now, I don't have the energy to deal with their sassiness."

Steve cracked a smile and told me he might show up a bit later. "For support or whatever" were his words.

Soda didn't look away from the girl who had her hand on his arm, so I left without another word. Wouldn't help either of us if I started getting in the way of what he wanted.

I had made it all of two hours into the shift before I heard the words, "What the fuck are you doing?"

I handed this guy a beer and then strolled over to my brother. "You need something?"

He scoffed and shook his head, "The fuck do you mean 'Do I need something?' I need you to tell me what the fuck you think you're doing behind that bar."

I saw Tim walk up near the bar to get within hearing distance and forced my eyes to not roll at the pair of them. "Well, Dallas. Seeming that you steal from damn near shop in this town or have harassed enough waitresses, my options for work were pretty much nothing."

I watched him shake his head and waited for whatever BS he was about to give me.

"Why do you need a job anyway? I would've figured something out if you needed some cash."

That statement stopped me for a minute. I didn't think he felt the need to provide for me or would take offence if I tried to start earning for myself.

"Look Dal, I'm doing nothing with my life. Going nowhere. I was told to get my shit together and this was the first step. I need to start doing something that matters and if that means giving people a drink, then so be it. I have to start growing up at some point."

As the words sunk into Dally's head, I glanced over to Tim. While his face remained stone cold as usual, he gave me a small head nod in approval. He knew what Angela had put in that letter which is why he knew I needed this.

"Would you rather her be somewhere we couldn't keep an eye on her?" Dally threw a look to Tim at that statement and shook his head. "Whatever man." And stormed off. I gave Tim a small smile in thanks and got back to work.

The night kept me busy, and the tips weren't too bad. Two and Steve came in near midnight and tried to get free drinks off me, which Buck shut down immediately. Even though I had eyes on me all night, I finally felt like I was doing something for myself. But what I wasn't expecting was the amount of gossip I would hear or the things I would see.

Like Ponyboy walking in soaked to the bone with a pale looking Johnny trailing behind.