The Outsiders: Before My Time Part III

The Night After

September, 1965
Goldie's POV

My leg bounced up and down uncontrollably, the cheap black plastic chair squeaking under my weight with every restless shift. On the outside, I was trying to keep it together. Candy kept anxiously tugging at her sleeve, and Red was slumped sideways, his heavy head resting on her lap. Sitting right next to me was Dally. His hand was shaking as he held a cigarette, and he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke in the hospital waiting room. His arms were heavily wrapped in clean white bandages.

Across the room, Dad and Darry were talking to some reporters who had swarmed the hospital lobby with bulky, clicking cameras, alongside a couple of local cops.

Uh-oh.

Mom, Dally, Johnny, and Ponyboy had all been found a few hours away in Windrixville, hiding out in an old abandoned church. Dally had kept them hidden, but the place had gone up in flames. For the most part, they were safe, but they weren't entirely unscathed.

Darry was allowed to go in and sit with Mom for a bit since he told the doctors that he was her legal guardian. The rest of us were stuck in the waiting room, but Darry had given us the rundown. Mom's foot was smashed, her collar bone was bruised, and between the smoke inhalation and minor skin burns, the doctors said she shouldn't be talking for a bit. She had been dozing on and off. She was probably so exhausted. She also suffered minor burns to her skin. Ponyboy had also suffered minor burns and a bruised back. It twisted a sharp, painful knot in my heart to think of them hurting.

While we were waiting, Dad was all over the place. He was running around the lobby, completely mocking the police officers trying to conduct interviews. He literally swiped a cop's hat, put it on backwards, and started playfully interviewing the blushing nurses to make everyone laugh. He even pretended to slip a cop's gun right out of his belt, making the officers chuckle despite themselves. The kid had a magnetic, effortless charisma. I could see exactly where I got my charm from, but watching him, I could also see the desperate edge underneath it. He was trying too hard to keep everyone else smiling.

Mom and Uncle Pony thought it was a great idea to see a fire and run right in it. The church they were hiding in went up in flames the day Dally went over to check in on them, and they found out that six children were trapped inside. They saved every single one of them from being burned to a crisp, which was exactly why the press was losing their minds. They were heroes.

I later learned from Ponyboy and Johnny that Mom almost didn't make it out of that church alive. I never knew that Mom was in a fire. She never talked about it, and now I understand why. She must have been so scared. She'd been trapped under a collapsing piece of the roof. Dally was the one who went back into the smoke and dragged her out. He hadn't even mentioned it—he just sat there smoking like it was a regular day. Looking at him, I felt a profound wave of gratitude. If it wasn't for Dallas Winston, my mother wouldn't have survived. My siblings and I wouldn't even exist. I literally owed this dangerous, reckless guy my entire life.

Luckily, after a thorough check-up and some IV fluids, the cops let Dally and Johnny go. Johnny looked pale and completely dehydrated from a week of living on the run, and we were terrified they'd throw him in a cell for the whole Bob Sheldon situation. But Darry vouched for him, and the cops agreed not to issue a warrant as long as he didn't leave town before the court date.

I was surprised that Dally was still here and hadn't slit the second he got discharged. Sitting in a sterile hospital surrounded by nagging cops and reporters was his literal nightmare. He looked completely out of place under the bright fluorescent lights, but he was stubborn as hell, just sitting there and smoking like he owned the joint. I knew he was only sticking around to make sure Mom was truly going to be okay, even if he would rather take a beating than admit it out loud. He was putting up a front, acting like he didn't care, but his quiet presence spoke volumes.