Winstons |The Outsiders|

10. Monday Blues

Hannah learned that night who the girl standing on the porch was.

Unfortunately, the girl ended up being Sylvia, Dallas's girlfriend.

She certainly wasn't mad at him anymore.

The world was dark, even the bar below her was silent. Hannah laid awake in her bed as she fiddled with the edge of her t-shirt. On the other side of her wall, Dallas and Sylvia were definitely not sleeping. As Dallas's bed shook, it shook the wall that separated their two rooms, which in turn, shook Hannah's bed.

She groaned and covered her face with a pillow while Sylvia said something on the other side of the wall.

Go to sleep, you horny pricks.

Finally, out of pure exhaustion, she knocked her fist on the wall three times.

"Get off her, you horny bastard!" 

Dallas and Sylvia cursed, someone bumped into a nightstand on their side of the wall. Dallas was the first voice she heard. "Shit."

Sylvia started to laugh and Dallas tried to hush her. That made her giggle more. "Go to sleep Hannah," he yelled.

"What do you think I've been tryna do?"

Even in the dark, and separated, she knew Dallas was fighting back a smile. "You think I'm enjoying this," she called again.

"For the love of fuck! Go to sleep!"

Well done brother, now you've woken up Buck.

Dallas made no attempt to shush Sylvia now. Hannah was positive she could even hear her brother chuckle. "These walls are really thin, aren't they, Dally?"

"Yes they fuckin' are," Buck shouted from his bedroom. "Go to bed before I beat all your asses."

Now Hannah began to laugh, for a minute, it sounded like Buck was too.

"Jeez, and Charlie said I was a whore," she teased.

"Fuck you, Hannah," came her brother's reply.

"Shouldn't you be saying that to your girlfriend?"

By the grace of God, Dallas and Sylvia stopped and allowed Hannah to fall asleep.

A loud banging on her door woke Hannah. Still half asleep, she slashed her knife through the air before opening her eyes. Relief came quickly.

Your door's locked, Hannah. Cool it.

The banging continued as she pushed away from the blanket and touched her bare feet to the carpeted floor. The morning must have been early, barely any sun peeked through the blinds, and the bedroom was cool. Hannah fumbled as she unlocked the door before swinging it open. Dallas stood on the other side, his fist raised to knock again. "If you're not ready in ten minutes, I'm heading to the Curtis house without you."

Hannah nodded, still tired, and tried to close the door. She failed, however, when Dallas pushed it open, blue eyes staring at her. "Is that my shirt?"

The shirt in question was a raggedy piece of fabric. Once upon a time, it used to be white with a figure of some sort in the middle. Now, it was an ugly yellow colour, stained all over with smoke, booze, and bad memories. If money hadn't been so tight, there may have been a time Hannah actually burned the shirt on the streets, or maybe the roof of her building. Then again, she had too many memories of her brother tied to the filthy rag, too many memories she wasn't ready to abandon.