Dallas

Chapter ten

The woman that approached the door didn't fit the picture I had in my mind of the red headed stubborn Cherry Valance. She had long brown hair and appeared very approachable.

"Hi." I said as she stepped out into the porch.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a sweet tone.

"Yeah, this may seem strange I know, but can you tell me about Dallas Winston?"

She was taken by surprise at my request. She was silent and then she shut the door behind her.

"You want some breakfast honey?" She asked and with that I noticed I completely skipped breakfast and even dinner last night.

I nodded and she smiled at me. "Come on." She motioned me to her car and I followed.

We arrived a small coffee shop that served breakfast a few minutes away. We sat down at a table by the window and ordered our food. I got pancakes and coffee and she got an omelet and coffee as well.

"So, your father named you after the wild Dallas Winston huh?" She asked while the waitress walked away with our orders.

"Yeah. I mean, he never told me that. He said my mom was born in Dallas Texas, but my mom was born here. So that's when I found out who Dallas Winston was." I answered and she nodded along.

"Your dad was a real nice guy. I didn't know him, I knew Ponyboy alright but I knew of Darrel. He was a good man." I smiled and nodded. She was right. He was.

"Ponyboy told me that you once said you could fall in love with Dallas. Why?" I asked trying to get the answers I came here for.

"Dallas wasn't a very liked man. Now, that is except your uncles and father and their buddies. Now they all loved him. Nobody really loved Dallas Winston as much as Johnny Cafe did. But that was something that made me love him. The way Johnny, this scared young boy, looked at him like he was a hero. And he was. He was so fearlessly himself. It was mesmerizing. He knew he was. And he wasn't afraid of anything." She spoke of Dallas Winston like she had been wanting to say this for years. I could hear in the way she talked that to her he wasn't a juvenile delinquent. And I knew in that moment, that when Bob Sheldon died Cherry Valance cried. But I knew even more that when Dally died, a piece of her died too.

The waitress came with our food right after that. They were unbelievably quick. "Thank you." Cherry and I both said quietly while the waitress handed us our food and coffee.

We both started eating. "Sounds like he wasn't near as bad as everyone else thinks." I broke the silence.

"He was too alive for this world. They didn't know how to handle him." She answered. I liked that. That was a unique way of thinking of it.

"Yeah I guess." I agreed.

"I feel bad for Sylvia." She said.

"The girl who cheated on him? Why would you feel bad for her?"

"Well apparently a few weeks after Dally died, she found out she was pregnant."

My eyes widened. "Did she know who's baby it was?"

"She dropped off the side of the earth. Nobody ever heard rather it was Dally's baby or not." She took a sip of her coffee.

I couldn't imagine what Sylvia felt not knowing who the father was. I took another bite of my pancakes and Cherry set her drink down.

"Last I heard she left the baby with a friend. Or maybe it was a friend of the father I'm not really sure. But she skipped town right after that."

"She didn't keep the baby?" I questioned. I could never imagine not keeping my baby.

"Sadly no."

I finished my breakfast and sat there thinking. "Thank you." I said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more."

"You helped. Can I ask you something though?"

"Of course."

"Why didn't you ever date Dallas Winston if you loved him so much?"

"I was afraid of him. And the way he made me feel. He was terrifyingly intense. And overwhelmingly attractive." We laughed for a second before she finished. "I was the biggest soc in town and he was the scariest greaser. We would have never been compatible." I nodded because I understood. She didn't seem like the type that would be able to handle Dallas Winston if he was half the wild creature everyone says he was.

"Let's take you back sweety." She said and with that we left.