"I Hated Sunsets"

Chapter Seventeen

"Where's old Johnny! Ya' didn't smother him in this mess of us did ya'?" Two Bit said in a joking manner while moving some of the boys around with his usual big grin on his face. Steve backed up away from us and let Dallas and I out of the group hug.

"That's the thing." Dallas said angrily, looking down at the carpeted ground. I touched his leather jacket covered shoulder so lightly he may have not even felt it.

"He's in the hospital, he's not doing to well." I said looking around the small room at the boys, their faces slowly getting ever so darker.

"What are we waiting for, Lets go get him!" Soda Pop yelled out swinging some car keys around while pumping his fist in the air. All at once every single one of the boys rushed out the small whitish brownish wood framed front door to their car. I stayed behind at the empty house for a minute. They were going to need alone time with Johnny.

I looked around the boys house, they had no real music for their radio, absolutely no good record at all, so I decided to go down to the old record store. It was only about a thirty five minute walk from where the boys lived. I knew the directions by heart, Curly an Tim would always take me down to the store every Sunday, and we'd always sneak away with a new shiny record.

The road was swarmed with Socs and their mustangs slowly driving by all of the greasers. I scoffed, they thought they were all that with their whistles and shouts and Madras.

When i walked into the record store i noticed that the record store had no customers, only a middle aged cashier with brown hair wearing a red sweater. He kept trying to speak to me to try and tick me off more than I was already ticked off, but I ignored him completely . I couldn't believe Johnny was dying and I didn't even want to see him one last time. I was a horrible person.

I shuffled through some of the record categories, there were the Beatles and Elvis Presley records everywhere. I didn't really know who either of them were, we never really listened to those mainstream musicians all that much. Tim always liked the little garage bands like 'Red Tide' or 'The Zippers.' They both always sounded equally ridiculous to me though.

Then I heard the welcome bell that was really a cow bell hanging above the door ring thorough out the big empty store.

Dallas was walking in in a haze, not drunken or angry, but something was giving me a really weird vibe from him. I would have gone over and said 'hi' or something but I was to busy watching him and all the weird ways he was moving around.

Opening his mouth Dallas took a random magazine and spontaneously tore it down the middle. The cashier obviously heard it, he had been watching Dallas ever since he had come in here like I had.

"Hey! You're gonna have to pay for that!" The cashier said loudly, not even in a shout.

Dallas started fast walking over to him, but I saw the look in his deep brown eyes. It was something sinister, perhaps more than normal, he was in a dangerous mood.

I started walking after him, and then I saw Dallas grab a black heater out of his leather jacket and hold it to the mans face.

"Money. Give me all the money." Dallas said quietly, his voice shaking, but not because he was afraid of robbing the store, it was something else, something different. I stood a good foot away from him while the man gave Dallas some money before Dallas bolted out the door, and I ran after him.

"Dally!" I screamed running after him in the direction i saw that he was going. Dallas didn't slow his pace so I speeded up.

"Dallas, give me the gun." I said once I got close to him. Almost automatically it was shoved into my hand, the heater no longer as cool as it would normally been from Dallas's warm hand.

Suddenly there were police sirens.

"C'mon Baby, keep your head down." Dallas said running even faster towards the empty intersection. The police almost hit Dallas as he ran into the road. We both ended up bumping into the white sheriffs car and shoving it angrily before running off again.

I heard the police sirens get louder. More and more, closer and closer.

We were trapped, I knew it. Rain started coming down onto us, making the cool night even colder.

"Run away." I heard Dallas say to me, turning around in the middle of the empty road. I didn't move, just looked at him. Looked at his face full of sorrow, if Dallas could cry he would have by now. To bad he had forgotten how at a young age.

"GO! GET OUTTA' HERE!" Dallas yelled at me pointing angrily towards the houses where the road didn't reach. I Physically couldn't leave him though, I wasn't able to move away from him without knowing completely that he would be alright.

It was to late to move, we were surrounded by the fuzz . I felt Dallas pull at where I was keeping the gun in my jacket.

"No!" I yelled at him, I knew Dallas's plan, he wanted to die young and violent along with Johnny. I knew Johnny was dead, that would be the only reason he would look so incredibly devastated.

The police were screaming at us as the rain poured down. Even if I tried I wouldn't be able to concentrate on them between the way Dallas's look pleaded for me to give him the heater and my tight grip on it.

I didn't want to die, but holding onto a gun with the fuzz around was a sure death wish. We both knew that.

"Don't shoot!" I heard one of the boys in the gang yell as Dallas put up his hands only slightly before falling to the hard, wet road.