The Outsiders spanking

Eatin' Soap

Not much could make Dallas Winston feel guilty. He would scream at little kids, slash tires, beat on Socs and think nothing of it. He went through life without a second thought for most people. No shame. Anger, sure, but never shame.

But then there was Johnny.

Johnny was his weakness. His kid brother. If anything could send him into a spiral, it was hurting Johnny. So when Dally heard Johnny say that word in front of Darry, and saw Darry snatch Johnny up by the ear and drag him toward the kitchen, his first reaction was guilt. Well, guilt mixed with anger and a need to protect.

"Now you sit back down," Darry commanded when Dally jumped up to confront him, "Johnny knows as well as the rest of y'all that I don't take that kind of language in my house."

And for once, Dally did what he was told. He knew what was gonna happen next. He'd seen Darry do it to Pony and Soda, even Two-Bit once. Straight from Mrs. Curtis' playbook, Darry was gonna make Johnny eat soap. That word was pretty much at the top of Darry's do-not-say list. But it was no secret to any of them, including Darry, that Dallas would flaunt that rule as soon as Darry was out of earshot. Dally knew that Johnny could have only picked up that habit from him. And man, did that make him feel like shit. Dally would never let anyone wash his mouth out. But it was different for Johnny. He still had a chance. He could grow up into a good man, one who didn't get into fights or talk badly about women. Be a man like Darry. Dally wanted more than anything for Johnny not to end up like him, so for the most part he let Darry take the kid to task. Hell, he'd even handed Johnny over to Darry once.

In attempt to ignore his brother's punishment, Dally kept his eyes fixed on the TV alongside the others. None of the other guys were particularly phased. With six rowdy greasers to look after, it seemed like Darry was always coming down on someone. There was some immediate grumbling, sure. It was Johnny after all. Nobody liked it when Johnny got punished, but they all settled down pretty quickly and went back to the TV.

Dally, on the other hand, couldn't keep his mind off of it. He could hear Darry in the kitchen unwrapping a new bar of soap and lathering it up under the tap. Everything Darry did seemed so unbelievably loud that Dally couldn't focus on anything else. Once he heard Darry's heavy footsteps and the word "open," Dally couldn't resist anymore, he had to turn his head and look toward the kitchen. There sat up on the kitchen counter, legs dangling, a forlorn looking Johnny, almost in tears already. After a moments hesitation, the kid reluctantly opened his mouth to allow Darry to put in the bar of Ivory soap, scrunching up his face in disgust as the soap scraped his teeth. Dally wanted to pound on Darry.

No, he realized, that wasn't true. Dally wanted to pound on himself.

"I don't ever want to hear that word come out of your mouth again," Darry started to lecture, "You're too fine of a young man to be talking about women that way. You hear me, Johnny Cade?"

Johnny gave a little nod, obviously trying not to move the bar too much and worsen the taste. Darry looked at the wall clock and sighed, "Five minutes, kiddo."

Dally too looked at that clock. Five minutes. Johnny could do this. For the first minute of Johnny's sentence, his eyes flickered back and forth from Johnny's face to the clock. Dally didn't know how either of them were gonna make it through those next few minutes. He didn't understand how he could survive a childhood with his old man and a stint in juvie but watching his kid brother get his mouth washed out was torture.

'It's because it's your fault,' Dally thought to himself, 'He picked up that word from you. It's you who should be eating soap.' Dallas shook his head quickly as if to clear the thought out of his mind. Dallas Winston was tuff. And hard. He would never let someone wash his mouth out like some grade schooler. But then again, he'd heard Steve and Sodapop talking a couple days before about how a whupping from Darry could knock the guilt right out of you. Make you feel lighter, somehow. And Dally had to admit it was true. He'd been feeling pretty shitty about what he did that led Darry to whip him last time, but he did feel better after Darry lit his ass up. Maybe it would work for soap too? At least it would make things more even between him and Johnny.