Black Tears

ten The End

1974

Eight and a half years later

Dallas and I were married on a Sunday. The sun was out and I wore a a wedding gown the Curtis's gave me that happened to be their mothers. My parents did not attend considering they did not receive and invitation. I never saw them after the day I left for the last time.

Jennifer was my maid of honor. She wore a blue dress and she looked very pretty. So pretty that Darry couldn't take his eyes of her. That night, he and Jennifer really hit it off. As of two months ago, they had their first baby. They got married three years after they met. They had a baby girl and they named her Lilly. Original.

Sodapop married a girl named Haley. They had twin boys. Their names are Patrick and Michael. Sodapop still lives in Tulsa but in the house next to Darry and Jennifer who live in the Curtis house still. Sodapop owns the DX now and Haley is a school teacher.

Ponyboy moved to New York City and six weeks ago tomorrow he became New York Times best selling author. He isn't married but he's been dating a girl named Aria for two months.

Steve married Evie and still lives in his same house. She's pregnant with their second child. Steve quite working at the DX and became an electrician. Evie is a waitress at The Dingo.

Two-Bit is still Two-Bit. He travels a lot. He hitch hikes and goes to see Ponyboy quite a bit. He doesn't get to come here to see us as much. But he makes it work. I worry about him because he never has a stable job but he manages. He's content. Like I said, he's still Two-Bit.

Johnny moved to Alabama when he got a scholarship to go to college. He met a pretty blonde named Jade. They got married in October of 1970, but a year later they found out Jade couldn't have kids. Instead, they foster kids so orphans don't end up in abusive homes. Johnny is the hero he and I didn't have when we were kids.

Dally and I currently live in Hawaii with our four kids. Our first baby was a boy. His name is Jonathan (Johnny) Darrel Winston. Johnny just turned 7 and loves the knew band Queen and wearing black high top converse. He started playing pee wee football and he's great at it. He adores sports. Our second child was another boy. His name is Dallas Wren Winston and he looks identical to Dally. He is 5 and shy and quiet like his mother. Our third child was also a boy. Jacob Dawson Winston was born a year and half later. At three years old he's decided to like strawberry ice cream and the Beatles. He is definitely a mommas boy. And lastly we have Hayden Mercury who was just born six months ago. Jonathan got to pick the middle name as a birthday present. His obsession with Queen led to the unique name of Hayden Mercury. She's a daddy's girl and has my eyes.

And that's my life.

I started in a club. With abusive parents and no voice. Charlie kept me alive and until Dally came and drug me into the light. Literally.

Seven boys.

Seven boys. Seven reasons to keep going. That's what I used to tell myself. And now here I am, 8 years after my last dance and I'm happier than ever. I found myself by finding pieces of myself in seven broken boys. We put each other back together. We made it work. We were misfits and somehow that made us fit in. That's just who we were, who we are, and who we were meant to be.

We're The Outsiders.

And I'm eternally grateful for being an outsider.

It got me here.