Little Sissy

Chapter 2

"My brother, Dallas, he left us when I was six. He was only ten then. He ran away for no reason. Then, the following year, my father died during a blastdown at our local grocery store. Two years after that, my mother left me saying I was a rebel and worthless. After that, I've been here alone, working non-stop. Going to school can be hard. Especially when I have to stay up late and do taxes and pay bills. Six years of this." I told them the story as I finish with Spade.

"I'm sorry." Johnny said. I looked at him. Most people would consider me worthless like my mother had. Very few people pitied me. But he was the only one sincere about it. This shocked me a bit.

"Huh?" I said. I was just stunned by him.

"I said that I was sorry." He repeated. I blinked.

"You are the first person to ever say that you were sorry not just because of pity. Most people would consider me worthless like my mother had. Few people pitied me but you. You're something else." I said. smiling at him. He smiled back.

"Your brother, Dallas, he sounds a lot like a man named Dallas that we know way back home. What's your last name?" Ponyboy says. I thought It was a funny question but I answered anyway.

"Winston. Why?" Ponyboy elbowed Johnny and whispered something to him.

"You mean, you're Dallas Winston's sister?" Johnny asks in excitement. I nodded, confused about why he was getting worked up about this. Ponyboy stood on the tips of his toes and whispered something into my ear.

"Johnny idolizes Dally. He tries to follow in his footsteps all the time." He whispered. I smiled, knowing my brother was looked up to.

"Wait, so you know what my brother's up to?" I ask. They both nodded. I smiled and inwardly squealed.

"I haven't seen him in nine years. What's he like?" I say, helping Spade up.

"He's a Greaser, like us." Ponyboy replies. I thought for a moment.

"What's a Greaser?" I ask and start leading Spade back the the stables, Johnny and Ponyboy following me.

"It's like a gang." Johnny replied. I sighed in my brain.

"I knew he was gonna be like this. Ever since his first hunting knife, he would buy a switchblade and show it to me. Always throwin' it. Always gettin' into trouble." I said. As we walked to the stalls, they told me more about what a greaser was and about the socs. We reached the stalls and and I lead Spade into the stall house to rest. I checked in the field to see how far Lucky and Babe were. They were stuck halfway there in a mud pool. I sighed.

"You two know horseback?" I ask them. They were obviously confused. I sighed.

"Stay here." I instructed and ran out to stall a hopped onto my horse, Amnesia. She was a gypsy horse. Beautiful and strong. We raced over to the sprinkler and helped them out of the mud. It was eight o'clock and dark out when it was in place, we all raced back to Ponyboy and Johnny. I jumped off of her right before she stopped. I was all muddy. I slightly giggled, embarrassed.

"Come inside and make yourself at home." I told them as they followed my into my house. It was a small house but it was comfortable. I walked into my room and picked up a clean blue plaid shirt, a grey tank top, and a pair of dark jorts. I went into the bathroom and closed the door, and listened.

"Pony, do you think we can trust her?" Johnny asked, my heart fell a little, disappointed that they didn't fully trust me.

"I don't know Johnny." I sighed and got ready for the shower. Right before I got in, I heard a screech of pain. I quickly grabbed a towel and shut the water off, grasping onto my towel and running straight for the direction the screech was coming from. Of course, Oleander was part of the scene. I didn't have my blaster with me so I was practically useless. On the ground next to him were Ponyboy and Johnny. I clenched onto my towel and my dignity. I crouched next to Johnny and took his jean jacket and put it on, covering my top half. It was really big on me. Both boys were knocked out.

"Oleander, you are fighting a half naked girl. You are sick." I punched him. He aimed at me and I dodged to the side and heard a screech. My eyes went wide as I recognized who it came from. I kicked the blaster out of Oleanders hand and took it, shooting him in the back. I wrapped the towel back on me and ran to the owner of the screech, my brother.

"D-Dallis?" I stutter. He looked at me with cold eyes. I sigh and turn away. I held onto Johnny's hand and started to gently drag him while I was holding onto my towel. I quickly got dressed and came out to my horse, Jacks Eye, and got back to the place Ponyboy and Dallis were. I picked up Ponyboy quickly and gently and got him on the horse. I helped Dallis up and onto Jacks Eye to secure Ponyboy and make sure he wouldn't fall off. We stopped at the stalls and I held onto Ponyboy with one hand and helped Dallas with the other. I didn't try to conversate. It would have been a waste of time.

I guided Jacks Eye into his stall and helped Dallas off. He then took Ponyboy and followed me to the house. I resumed my earlier task of taking a shower and put my clothes back on before I came out with the first aid kit. I had a lot of bandages and I mean a lot of them. Since, I'm used to Oleander trying to kill me and my horses off. I inspected Dally first. Shot right in the stomach. I cleaned out the wound and patched it up. Next I looked over Johnny and Ponyboy. Bruises all over, a few cuts here and then and Ponyboy had a bullet in his foot.

I cleaned and patched all of the open wounds. I knew that I had killed Oleander and would be found sooner or later. If I was tried, it would be by defense.

"What happened?" He asked sternly. I sighed. Does he even remember me? I looked away.

"What happened?" He asked again. I didn't look at him.

"A neighbor." Is all I say. I don't like talking about Oleander. I was in front of him but now moved to go into the kitchen. Dally caught my wrist. I looked at him with sad eyes. He stood up and hugged me. I weakly smiled.

"I missed you." I whispered. The boys were still asleep. He let go and I lead him to the couch and sat him on it, the other two were on the pull out loveseat. Going into the kitchen, I took out what flour I had, a little salt, vinegar, two eggs, and what little baking soda I had. I got out some other things and got set on making cookies. I don't usually make cookies but when I do, the market goes crazy for them. I was in the middle of making sugar cookies when I heard a police siren outside my house. I calmly got done what I needed and proceeded to the next step before I heard a knock at the door. I was mixing batter so I took the whole thing with me to the door. I opened it just enough for him to see just me.

"Yes?" I said. The police man looked at me for a second. I had a faint smile on my face along with flour and some other miscellaneous ingredients spread around my face and body. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"Do you know this boy?" He shows me a photo of Oleander. The local police know I live by myself and usually open the door like this. I nodded.

"That's Oleander Hillsbee." I answered. He nodded.

"He was found dead in front of your driveway. Do you have any idea how this could have happened?" He asked. I shook my head.

"He was planning to kill me and my horses. I have visitors and he tried to kill them too. My brother came and found us. Oleander shot him in the stomach. I got hold of his blaster and shot him before he could do anything more. My brother, he was going to call the police after I had stitched him up because you know, I have no phone here." I explained in the most innocent of voices I had managed. The man nodded.

"I see. The little trouble maker had learned his lesson. Well, we are going to take this to trial as stated by the law of state. See you on Thursday two weeks from now." He said. Everyone agreed that Oleander was a trouble maker. Even his own parents. But they were gonna be angry and depressed to know that their son had died because of something illegal he had tried to do. I continued to stir the batter in the bowl as the man left. He turned back to me.

"Good to see you making cookies. Looking forward in seeing them at the market tomorrow." He said and we nodded to each other before he drove off.

"What was that about?" Dally asked once I got back into the living room.

"Police wanted to know how Oleander died. We've gotta go to court on Thursday in two weeks." I answered. He sighed.

"I know. I know. But it's for the sake of the law." I said and went back into the kitchen to continue making my cookies.