A little winston

Part 1

A little Winston
The outsiders fanfic
S.P. Arkle

"Slow down Pony!" Soda says.

He knows as well as any of us that I have a Pepsi problem.

"Oh geez, Soda" I say. "I only had two."

"Don't you want to continue being a great runner during track Ponyboy?" Darry chimes in.

I nod.

"Then watch how much Pepsi you drink, okay?"

" Sorry, Darry, " I say sheepishly.

Soda finishes his drink too and we all go out the door of the DX, headed home. It's a chilly night, I'm sure glad I brought a sweater.

"Hey, Soda, Darry?" I say.

"Yes Pony?" Darry answers.

"I'll race you home!" I challenge as we pass the vacant lot.

"You're on Pony!" Soda calls and starts in a sprint, followed by Darry and me.

Darry ends up winning, just to prove a point, I guess. "See, Pony, that's why you watch how much Pepsi you drink," he says.

"Aww Darry, I just let you win..." I played it off real cool.

Darry and Soda just roll their eyes.

When we went inside, we saw ol' Dally sitting on the couch, he had a crumpled up letter in his grasp. He looked real worried about something.

"What's up Dal?" Darry asks him.

"I don't know, man." Dally responds hastily.

"Something real big must be up," Soda said.

"I just got a letter, my little sister just got released from the girls reformatory in New York." He says.

Who woulda known that Dallas Winston, the lone wolf from the wild side of New York, had a little sister?

"You have a sister?" Soda asked, shocked.

"Yeah," Dally said. " She's about Pony's age, I think. I haven't seen her in eight years, I think. She got herself stuck in a reformatory not long after I did, I got out much quicker and got the hell out. I came here but I forgot all about her." Dally finished.

"You said you haven't seen her in eight years?" Darry asked.

Dally nodded, he must be real nervous, he was sweating.

"So she was six when you get locked away?" Darry asked.

"Yeah," Dally said, not very pleased with himself.

"So, you left a six year old girl alone on the wild side of New York?" Darry asked, his voice was getting real angry.

"I had no other choice!" Dally snapped at Darry. "The letter says that they contacted the police here and they've linked me as legal guardian to her, they said that she'll be on the noon Thursday train in." Dallas concluded, he rested his head in his hands.

Two-Bit burst through the door with his usual wise cracks, but he got serious real quick when he saw Dally with his head in his hands.

"What's up with Dal?" Two-Bit asked quietly.

"Dal's sister is coming to live here." Soda says.

"Dal has a sister!" Two-bit exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Soda, "But Dal hasn't seen since she was six, she got put in a reformatory after him and he forgot all about her until today, they just sent a letter saying she got out and she's now gonna live with Dally 'cause he's her legal guardian." Soda told Two-Bit.

Darry handed Dallas a glass of water, which he chugged.

"What the hell kind of role model am I? I can't take care of a kid!" He said.

Darry tells him that it will be fine and the gang will all help out.

Two-Bit walked over to the fridge and cut two big slices of chocolate cake. He sauntered back into the living room and handed one to Dally before devouring his own. Dally picked at his cake.

"I couldn't parent to save my life," Dallas exclaimed "How do you do it, Darry?" Dallas asked.

Darry turned to me. "Pony, time for bed. We need to have an adult conversation."

"Awe, come on Darry!" I said. "I'm fourteen, I've been fourteen for a few months!"

"Pony," said Darry, in a real serious voice. "It's late, and we need to have an adult conversation." He said that with a firm tone.

"Golly!" I said, "Fine, night Dal."

He nodded tensely.

"Night Two-Bit, night Soda, night Darry." I say.

Soda walked over and gave me a hug.

"Goodnight, Pony," they all say.

I walk into the bathroom. I check my face for a beard, or any stubble, really. There is none. While I was brushing my teeth I eavesdropped the adult conversation.

"Dal, teenagers are really hard to parent." Darry said.

I got a little mad. I am not that bad, I thought to myself.

"Now I haven't the slightest idea of how to parent a girl, but this is what I do with Pony..." Darry said.

Darry was sure right, I didn't want to hear this, I bolted upstairs to me and Soda's room the minute I heard the word puberty. I changed and I hopped into bed.

'Oh boy...' I thought. 'I woulda never even thought that ol' Dallas woulda had a sister. I wonder what she's like? Is she like Dallas?' I wondered as I fell asleep.