Secret (The Outsiders)

Changes

After a week and a half in the hospital, they let me out. My arm was out of the sling and in a some kind of wrapping. Johnny had gone to court for sixty days. They didn't think that he did anything seriously wrong. Ninety days would have been a normal sentence for Johnnycake but the judge heard his side of the story and compared it to the Socs side of the story. Randy and his buddies were getting fined fifty dollars for the incident. "Should be a hundred." Dally told me as we walked home.

I'm still living with the Curtis brothers. Ponyboy has been having more nightmares. He wakes up at least once a week screaming. First time it scared me half to death. I took off running towards their room. He was thrashing as Soda tried to wake him up. He was still half asleep. He was yelling for Johnny to run. When we finally got him awake and he didn't remember it.

~

Two weeks had passed since Johnny had gone to the cooler. I was walking down the street, kicking a can. Steve was walking alongside me. That was when Dally showed up. "Hey Lola. Hey Stephanie." Steve looked offended but laughed. "Steve, he's slurring his words. He's drunk." I pointed out. Steve looked at me and nodded. Dally had things stuffed in his pocket. A heater was in his hand. I snatched it away and shoved it in a bush.

"What's in your pockets, Dallas?" I asked. "Nothing." I reached forward and Dally shoved his hands hard into my chest. I fell backwards. "Dammit Dally!" I yelled, standing up. I went to shove him back but he kneed me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain and knew I should stop there. "You OK, Lila?" Steve asked. I nodded. "Let them arrest his drunk ass." I snapped.

Sure enough, the cops did. He went to jail for the rest of the week. After that, Dally kept getting into trouble with the fuzz. He kept doing it.

I went back to where I hid the heater. I pulled it out and stuffed it in the pocket of my pants. I kept my head low and my eyes wide open. I made sure I looked at every car that passed. I didn't want to get caught with a heater shoved in my pocket. I'd get in a hell of a lot of trouble with the fuzz.

There was some woods behind greaser territory. As I walked, I heard footsteps behind me. I started walking faster. "Hey! Lola! Wait up!" I turned around slowly. Sodapop was heading towards me. I smiled at him. "Where ya heading?" he asked. I shrugged. "I've got to get rid of something." I explained. "Well I'm just getting of work. Want me to come with you?" he asked. I nodded. Soda walked next to me.

"So," he began. "What are you hiding?" Once we were in the woods, I pulled out Dally's heater. Soda jumped back. "What the hell?" he snapped. "Its Dally's. I'm burying back here so he'll never find it and so he won't get into any trouble with it." Soda looked less tense and we kept walking. Eventually I found some soft ground. Soda helped me dig up the ground with our hands. I dumped the bullets out and checked the chamber. I handed Sodapop the bullets and I put the gun in hole.

After covering it up, I dug another hole a few yards away. I buried the bullets as well. I stood up and looked over at Soda. "Why do you care so much about Dally?" he asked. I opened my mouth. "You can't tell anyone. I mean it. You can't tell Darry, Pony, Steve, Two-Bit, even Johnny. Don't even mention it to Dally. Never bring it up. Got it?" I said to him. Soda nodded.

"Dally's my older brother. The reason I've been staying with you guys is because he hit me. That bruise wasn't from getting punched by the Soc. They just threw a bottle at me. Dally hit me." I explained. I told the rest of the story. Soda stood before me, his mouth wide open. "Please don't tell." I begged. Soda suddenly pulled me into a hug. "I won't. Don't worry, I won't tell." I hugged back. "Thanks Soda."

As we walked back, Soda said, "You lied to us at the hospital." I nodded. "I had too. If I tell, Dally will clobber me. I'll ruin his bad ass reputation. He took care of me since. Shepard will get a real laugh out of Dally 'babysitting'." Soda nodded in agreement. "Wanna walk to the Dingo and back?" he asked. I nodded with a smile.