Opposites attract - Dally Winston

Chapter 22:

I was sitting waiting in a separate cell isolated from the other inmates when officer Derche walked in, interrupting the silence, and my thoughts of how the gang would react.

He doesn't say anything, he just stands there. I get up and walk over to him and he holds the door open for me, and odd gesture to do considering we didn't get off to a great start.

I found myself in the waiting room of the police station and I was greeted with not just Darry's concerned/angry face, but the entire gang concerned/angry face. 

I walked over to Darry expecting him to yell at me even more, or to even hit me, but instead he wrapped me into a tight hug. At first I don't hug back due to the surprise, but after maybe two seconds after I hug him back.

When he let's go he looks me dead in the eye "we'll talk about this when we get back to the house" he says in a dad tone, and not an angry tone I thought he was going to use.

I nodded my head yes and he turned away to head out the door, I was then wrapped into a bunch of hugs except for Dally who flicked me on my forehead "that's for being caught stupid" he says with a smile before walking out the door behind Darry.

After Dally didn't hold back with his flick, I got my own personal beating from each member of the gang. Steve pinched me, Soda flicked me, Pony pinched me, Two just gave me a big hug till I couldn't breath and I thought my ribs were gonna break, and Johnny... well Johnny didn't hurt me, he just hugged me, not trying to kill me like Two was.

On the walk back to the Curtis place the gang didn't say anything about me being in jail, I knew that was coming for when we got there, and I was not looking forward to it. 

Once we finally arrived at the Curtis house everyone sat down and looked at me all with different looks in their eyes. As soon as I took a seat on the couch beside Two is when Darry started talking.

"You better have a damn good reason" he says with a stern voice. I take a deep breath "I do" I say I looked over at Dallas and he gave me a soft smile. "So first off, I went to go eat at the Dingo, and didn't have money, so I just ran-" I was cut off by Darry "then why were you holding a loaded heater up to someone?" he asked, "woah, Gracie you pointed a heater at someone?" Two looked at me shocked. I just nodded my head yes, "if you will let me tell you why" I say looking around at everyone who now looked more curios than ever.

"When I was at one of Buck's parties I lost a lot of money to this girl named Reid, I said I would give her her money in a few days, but the truth is I didn't have any money to give her. Then one day she and her gang of friends paid me a visit while I was out on a walk and pulled a heater on me, she wanted her money right then and there, but again, I didn't have it. I ran to Buck's to see Dally and I got shot-" I was caught off by Darry "you got shot!" he said with concern all over his face, "well just skimmed," I say holding up my shirt and peeling back my bandage.

They all gasped "well at least you can say you've been shot" Steve says "yeah. I guess I can. No one would want to mess with me" I say with a smile, "anyways after Dally helped patch me up I went back to my house and got into an argument with my grandpa, and he kicked me out. I stayed at your house and when you guys came back I thought Darry would be mad at me and he would kick me out so I just left." I say. When I looked over at Darry he looked hurt.

"So that's why I was at the Dingo with no money. I ran, and I didn't know where I was going and I didn't know where I was. I didn't want the cops to find me. But then Reid was there and she pointed the heater at me again, and since she already shot me once I knew she wouldn't hesitate to do it again so I took the heater from her and aimed it at her. I wasn't going to shoot, I could never. I just wanted to protect myself. Then the police came and Reid started acting like I was about to kill her, and before I knew it I was in jail." I say finishing my story.

"Well I guess that's as good as any of a reason" Soda says looking at Darry "so it was self- defence?" Darry asked. I looked up at him "yeah" I answer truthfully. "ok, but that doesn't explain why you've been acting so deferent lately," Darry says. "Well theres no excuse for behaving the way I was behaving the past few weeks, but... I could tell you everything that's been going on," I say looking back down at my fingers.

"That would be nice" Darry says with a smile. I look at Dally again for comfort and he once again gives me a reassuring smile. "Ok, well. First thing's first. I don't live with my mom and dad."

***

I told them everything. It was hard not to break down and cry, I wanted to, and there were times where I felt like I was going to, but I didn't let a single tear shed not one. No one said a thing till after I was done. They all listened intently.

"Gracie why didn't you tell us any of this?" Soda says looking up at me with sad eyes "because I didn't want to be that girl who had a messed up past. I didn't want to be broken. I wanted to be someone else, I wanted to start over. Then I couldn't stop," I say playing with my fingers to try and distract myself. 

"Gracie. We love you, you have all of us. Don't you ever forget that. You don't have to hide yourself from us," Two says giving me a big hug as he speaks, "and Gracie. I get that times are tough for you right now, but you can't go running off doing whatever you want, endangering yourself, and ruining your future. You have us to talk to," Darry says looking up at me with forgiving eyes. 

I felt one tear begin to fall. Darry got up from his recliner chair and walked over to me opening his arms for a hug. I get up and wrap my tiny arms around him as he wraps his muscular arms around me "we have a spare room you can stay in for as long as you need," Darry says letting go of me and giving me a smile, "thanks Dare," I say not letting any more tears fall.

Me crying over my past is over.