Scottish Gold (An Outsiders Fic)

Chapter 37: Letters to Lost Friends

Vikki's POV

Two-Bit had gotten his act together quickly after I yelled at him. It seemed that my words really got through to him and he was completely sober the next time Gracie and I arrived at the Curtis' house. I even pulled him aside after he reconciled with Gracie to apologize and tell him how proud I was for his efforts to be there for Gracie, and he responded with, "you're my girls. I'll always be there."

Her absence was felt through the whole gang, and gained popularity throughout the town, along with Pony and Johnny. There were members from the community who came by the house with casseroles, offering our condolences. They were mostly Greaser families, but they were very kind. If they didn't find me at my house, they found me at the Curtis house when they would go to talk to Darry. I admired how the community came together in the tragic events of the past few days.

I missed Johnny almost as much as I missed my sister. He was the person in the gang that I could always talk to when I needed somebody, and I really needed him now. Soda's good too and all, but boyfriends are different from close friends. Boyfriends agree with you even when you are in the wrong, close friends tell you when you fuck up. I really needed Johnny to tell me if I was fucking up right now by keeping where they were a secret. Knowing Johnny though, he probably would agree with Dally. Dally was his idol after all.

Two-Bit had soon taken over caring for Gracie whenever we came to the Curtis house. I think it was the only way for him to avoid drinking and getting depressed like before. Being in her presence reminded him why he had to stay sober.

I spent most of my time trying to keep Soda together when he seemed to fall apart. I wasn't going to let myself fall apart about Cookie, but Ponyboy was only a fourteen year old kid. Pony is book smart, but not too street smart. Soda was terrified that Ponyboy would do something stupid and get hurt, and I feared he was right.

Three days of them being gone slowly slid into four, when Dally called me again while I was getting ready to go to the Curtis' house again with Gracie.

"Hello?" I asked into the receiver.

"Hey. It's Dally. Ya busy?"

"Nah, just getting ready to dander over tae the Curtis house. Why?" I asked.

"I'll meet you there." He said hanging up the phone quickly. Dally does not like to hold a conversation over the phone because he's convinced the lines are bugged or something and if we say anything that might lead to Cookie and the boys, the fuzz would be all over it.

I set the receiver back down before turning back to Gracie who only had one arm in her jacket. She looked up at me with her crystal blue eyes and tilted her head, blinking slowly in confusion.

"It's just Dally." I said, before helping her pull on her other sleeve, "ye ready tae go see Two-Bit?" I asked her and she nodded excitedly. She had been loving spending so much time with him since Cookie disappeared, I think it took her mind off the fact that her mum was gone.

Once Gracie was fully dressed, we headed out the door to walk over to the Curtis house since Clint had the car. Karen wasn't home when we left, I think she was trying to get more information from the cops. She is searching harder to find them than the cops are. It made me wonder why she is a stay-at-home-mom than a detective.

Dally was already there when we arrived. He immediately pulled me out the back door once Two got a hold of Gracie.

"Yer gonna pull mah arm out of mah socket," I complained once he closed the back door.

"I'm going to see the kids." He said in a low voice and flapped his jacket open and snuck his hand into the inside pocket. The sky was a dark yale shade of blue as the sun had already disappeared behind the horizon. It wasn't quite dark enough for the stars to come out, but it was still warm.

"Yer going?" I asked, "when?"

"Tomorrow."

"Ah'm going with ye."

"We already talked about this," he groaned as he rolled his eyes and pulled out a white sheet of paper and a black pen, "ya can write Cookie a note. I already mentioned to Soda that I was leaving town and he is making me give this to Pony. Figured ya would want to too."

"Thanks," I said, taking the paper and gesturing to Dally to spin around. He groaned, but did what I asked and I used his bony back as a make-shift table. When I finished, I folded it up and gave it back to Dally, where it disappeared back into his jacket.

I asked, "Soda knows?"

"Hell no," he chuckled, "and he ain't gonna know. But he assumes that I am a part of it, and he ain't the only one. The fuzz pulled me in earlier this week."

"Ah ken, " I said, with the execrable memory of begging Two-Bit not to drive intoxicated to Texas, "why did ye say Texas?"

"To get the fuzz off their scent, not like they woulda figured it out anyways, but I thought I oughta be safe when it comes to those three." He said, pulling out a cigarette. He offered me one which I refused, "damn, yer tight."

"Am not."

"Please," he laughed and blew smoke into the darkening sky, "if I stuck a lump of coal up your ass, in two weeks I'd have a fucking diamond."

I glared at him, offended by his language. "Ah need tae be, someone needs tae be a good influence in this fucking gang of misfits."

It was his turn to glare, then as he took a long puff from his cigarette. He said, "I don't understand how a square like you comes over day after day."

I rolled my eyes at his tough guy act and sighed, "Ah come because Ah've grown tae love ye lads, a family away from mah real family. Ah ken yer not actually a bad lad, Dallas. Ah just donnae understand why ye act like it. Are ye that afraid of letting people close tae ye?"

He clenched his teeth and I saw his temple pulse lightly. I couldn't tell if he was angry with me, or if he was upset with himself.

"Gettin' close to people gets you fucked over, broad." Dally grumbled, "you'd do best to learn that." Then he shoved by me and walked back into the house.

This felt like a giant step backwards in my friendship with him. I felt like we were finally getting close, and I pushed my luck and made him mad. I gave him a few second head start before groaning at myself into the sky before I headed inside too. As I entered the door, I saw Soda slide a piece of paper into his hand before coming to me.

"Hiya, Vik." Soda said, giving me a hug and peck on the lips as he rubbed my back, "how ya doin'?" He always asked this, like he was waiting for the moment when I would break down into panic.

"Fine," I said pleasantly, "how 'bout ye?"

"I'm real worried." Soda said, "but I think I'll be fine after Dally gets that letter to Pony."

"How do ye ken he's visiting them?" I asked, pretending I had no idea.

"I know he is. Dally never leaves town."

"Oh." I said with a smile.

Soda invited me to have a soda with him in the kitchen, and impressed me with a dessert of a soda poured over vanilla ice cream. Despite his best efforts to distract me, I couldn't help but think of Cookie and the boys. I just hoped they would all come home safe, so I can give them a piece of my mind.