An Unlikely Allie

Chapter 48

Phaedra's POV

"Ok," Bryon sat down, "let's go through the story once more."  I repeated to story again.  Bryon smiled with approval, "it's good Phae.  I really think he'll believe it."

Pony stood behind me.  His only story was that he wanted to make sure that I didn't get hurt.  He didn't need to memorize that.

Darry sat next to Douglas, "I still don't think this is a good idea.  Too many things could go wrong."

Ponyboy and I both rolled our eyes and exchanged exasperated looks, "c'mon Dare.  We got this!  'Sides we have lawyer and immunity on our side!"

Darry shook his head, "that only means you're safe from being prosecuted!"

I poured, "don't you trust us?"

"Yeah, Dare," Pony chimed in, "when have me or Phae ever gotten in trouble?"

Soda busted out laughing, "you sure you wanna go down that road." I shot him a withering look, "I'm just saying."

Brody Paulson, Darry's friend, came in the house.       His dad was the lawyer that promised us immunity and would be the prosecuting attorney, if all goes as plans.  He sat down next to Darry, "are they running today?"

Douglas shook his head, "Nope, just gonna talk to him about being a runner.  Phaedra's got her story down."  He turned to me and Pony, "I'm heading to catch up with Wallace and Miller.  Gimme an hour and then meet me down at Charlie's Bar."  Pony and I nodded.  "Hey, you guys got this."

An hour later, Dally dropped us off near the Tigers turf. Pony was a nervous wreck. My stomach was in knots, but I held my head up high. The last thing I wanted to do was screw this up. Pony opened the door and we walked in. This was our first time in Charlie's Bar. It was dingy, dirty, and smelled like a sewer.

I spotted Bryon in a back booth. I nudged Pony and we both headed toward them. Wallace and Miller, each had a beer in front of them.  My heart leapt in my throat.  I started to shake a bit. I pulled out a cigarette, trying to settle my nerves, c'mon, Phae, you got this.  Stick to the plan.  Get this asshole out of Tulsa. 

"Douglas, Miller, Wallace," I said in a calm tone.

Wallace's head shot up, "well if it ain't the Curtis twins."

Miller jumped to his feet.  He was tweakin' something awful, "who the fuck said you could come in to my bar?" he demanded, jabbing a boney finger in my chest.

"Easy there, Frankie," I sneered angrily.  I turned my attention to Wallace, "word on the street is that you need runners." I've never been one to beat around the bush.

Wallace scratched his beard...well, if you could call it that, it was more like random patches of hair, "you know you'd be workin' for me?" He smirked evilly.

"Wasn't born yesterday." I grumbled, earning myself a punch in the arm by Pony. I sighed, "look, we need the money."

"You need fast money?" Douglas jumped in. He was playing his part, segueing the conversation toward the story.

"I ain't getting all the way into it, but we're lookin' at getting evicted from our house. Apparently, medical bills are expensive." I motioned to Pony and me, "we don't have the luxury of getting an honest job. You need runners, we need the money."

Wallace glared at Pony, "why are you here?"

Pony laughed, "you really don't get the whole twin thing, do ya? I don't trust any of ya to watch her back like I do."

I crossed my arms over my chests, "it's both of us or neither of us." When Wallace didn't say anything, I turned around to walk out the door, "hey Pone, you goin' to that party tonight? The one at the Plaza?" The Plaza is what is greasers call a gated community that a lot of Socs lived in. I knew Wallace would take the bait.  He wanted to distribute his "product" there.

"Now hold on," Wallace jumped up, "I didn't say no. Tomorrow, meet us at the strip. 9pm. Don't be late AND don't bring no one."

Pony and I just nodded. We walked out of the bar. We crossed from the tigers turf into Shepard's. Dally and Darry were waiting for us at Tim's. We hadn't even got into the car when Darry started firing questions.

"Dare, chill. We're meeting them at the strip. 9pm tomorrow."

"For what?"

Pony shrugged, "don't know, but he told us to come alone."

"The hell you are," Darry grumbled as Dal drove away.

I rested my head against the window...what the fuck did we just get ourselves into?