Bad Reputation||Brooklyn Winston

Chapter 11

Dallas didn't come to get me that night.

I didn't tell Darry and Sodapop about the call from my social worker. They had enough to worry about. I couldn't vent to Ponyboy about it. Two-Bit and Steve didn't really get it. I felt like I was alone.

I stayed the night at the Curtis house. Darry and Soda were up all night, waiting for the phone to ring. I managed to fall asleep around two in the morning. I felt kind of guilty about it. I felt like I wasn't worried enough if I could fall asleep.

Early the next morning, Dallas came to get me.

Two-Bit and Steve were already over, so when Dallas said that he told the police that Johnny and Ponyboy were heading for Texas, Two-Bit jumped up. "Let's go find them."

"Relax." Dallas said. "I don't really know where they are. I'm as clueless about this as you guys are. Anyway, I've been up all night, so I'm gonna go home and get some sleep. Come on, Brooklyn."

As we were walking home, I carefully said, "Dally, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"There was a call yesterday. It was my caseworker. She said there was something wrong with your birth date that you gave. I think they know that you were lying. I think that they're going to take me away." I tried not to cry as I said the last part. I had come to like my life in Tulsa. I didn't want to leave.

Dallas turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye. "Don't worry." He told me. "I'm not going to let that happen. We'll figure something out. We'll run if we have to."

I smiled. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course. You're my little sister. We're sticking together."

I grinned to myself the rest of the way home.

When we got home, Dallas asked, "So does your caseworker have a number we can call her at?"

I gave him the number and asked, "Do you have a plan?"

He nodded, dialing the number. He waited for Mrs. Gratt to pick up. When she did, he said, "Hi, this is Dallas Winston. Brooklyn's brother. Brooklyn told me there was a problem with the birth date I gave you."

I put my head close to his, so I could hear what Mrs. Gratt was saying.

She said, "Yes, when we ran your social security number through the system, it came back saying that your birth year was 1947, not 1943. That would make you seventeen years old, and unfit to adopt Brooklyn."

"Oh, I don't know why that would happen. There must be some mistake. I can send you a photograph of my I.D. and my birth certificate, if that would help clear things up."

"Yes, I suppose that would clear things up." Mrs. Gratt gave Dallas the address to send the photos to and said, "Now, Mr. Winston, I hope you aren't trying to pull anything on us. We will find out, and the consequences will be severe. We are part of the government after all, and this would be considered fraud."

"Yes ma'am. I understand." Dallas said before hanging up.

"Dally, your birth certificate says you were born in 1947." I pointed out.

"Yeah, but Tim knows a guy. It's the same guy that gave me my fake I.D."

"People make fake birth certificates?" I asked.

Dallas laughed. "You have a lot to learn about life."

"I guess." I muttered. Maybe I really was naive after all.

On Monday, even though Dallas said I could stay home from school, I went to school anyway. I didn't want to get caught skipping school by my caseworker. We were in enough trouble. I met Two-Bit and Steve in front of the school. Socs were shouting things at us as they passed by. They weren't particularly kind things. In fact, they were even worse than the usual insults.