"I Hated Sunsets"

Chapter Nineteen

"It's driving me insane you know, just staying here not doing anything." I said on the old brown couch in the front room of the Curtis house.

Darry nodded his head while looking at the weekly newspaper. "Well, every time ya' go out ya' become a danger to yourself." Darry tilted his glasses down and looked me up and down. "Look at yourself kid, your what sixteen? You've got scars all over the place."

I sighed loudly and plopped back down in a laying position on the couch, taking in a big breath of the smoke filled air. Almost every time I took in a breath of ash I was reminded of the one night, that night, in New York.

Dallas once told me that people weren't worth helping out and that it never did any good for anyone. If there was no point, why did Dally help me that one night. Why did he become a cushion for me against the first impact, he ended up protecting me from a lot of fire and broken wood and glass. Why did he bother getting me to the hospital when he still had Johnny to care about?

I couldn't figure out Dallas and his strange ways even if I tried.

For the past three month Soda, Steve and Darry have been compulsively working at their jobs. Two bit's been out who know where partying, Dallas has been in the slammer and Pony's been typing non-stop on a type writer in his room.

I've been here, in the Curtis house watching everyone's life because Darry still says that I'm not ready to leave yet. All of my scars have healed over, which I'm thankful for, but my stomach has been feeling worse everyday.

It feels like there's something inside there fighting and kicking at my stomach, keeping me awake all night. Thats ridiculous though, right?

If it was a baby, it would be Curly's, and I really didn't want that to be true. Really I hope that anyone else could be the dad if I was pregnant, but I don't think that would be possible. There wasn't a recent time I could remember doing anything with anyone else...

Oh boy. The roof, was it possible that me and Dallas could have? Dallas drank so much that night though that he wouldn't remember it at all though, would he believe me? I guess only time will tell.

"I'll be going now." Darry said standing up from his broken recliner. Darry really needed a new chair if he was gonna do roofing or one day his back will just give out. Sometimes Soda will give Darry a back rub which always end up putting him to sleep, but its not enough. Darry's acting to old for his age.

"Please try and take it easy." I said standing up too and giving him a hug. Im starting to warm up to hugs, Two Bit and Steve say I'm going soft though. They've got it right I guess, I've been hanging around them to long I guess.

Darry always said he would, and I always believed him. The screen door was lightly closed and I could hear Darry's work boots clamper down the wooden porch and stair in the front of the house.

"Pony." I said, knocking on Soda and Pony's bedroom door. He really had been in there for a while, I only had seen him out so far today to have a sand which, and it was already afternoon.

After waiting for a minute and not hearing a response I started turning the handle and opening the wooden door. Pony was at his desk with a giant stack of type writer papers in his hands.

"Baby!" Pony said smiling up at me. "Could you please tell me if the stuff I put in about you is right?" and handed me a few of the papers. The page numbers were three, fifty seven and one hundred and forty one.

"Sure, sure." I skimmed through the words, this was basically my story so far with the greasers.

"Pony, why are you writing this?" I said giving him the papers back. The writing was great for a child his age but it made no sense to why he was typing it down.

"It's a... class assignment." Pony trailed off looking at his feet which were trapped between his dark brown desk and his padded and worn out wooden chair.

"You're free to type it, ya' know nothing's wrong with that." I said sitting on his bed and looking out of his bedroom window.

"Is Johnny in the story?"

Pony turned away from the papers and slung his arm onto the back of his chair. "Ya', no one can forget about Johnny Cakes." he said smiling, but I know that it hurt to say anything about Johnny.

"Yeah" I said quietly, still looking out the window. I could see the street where a hood would walk by with their hands in their pockets or with a weed in their hand every few minutes. I could see houses painted thirty years ago with dirt caking it in a thin dust.

"Dallas is getting out tomorrow, are you worried?" Pony said after a few minutes.

"Why would I be?" I said sitting up and turning to face him.

"Well, he's gonna be thinking that ya' cheated on him." Pony said. I wasn't Dallas's girl so I couldn't cheat on him, and even if I was I've barely seen a boy besides one in the gang!

"What!"

"Yeah, we all see the whole tummy thing you've got going on right now." Pony said standing up and patting his stomach.

"Now that was just-" was all I was able to say before I heard a female in high heels walk in the door.

"DALLY, IM HOME!" Sylvia yelled "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME FOREVER."

"What's she doing here, never mind!" I said to Pony before I stomped out of his room and into the living room with the Sylvia.

"Oh, it's you." I heard her say as I was walking in, venom dripping out of her words.

"Ya'. You need to leave, now." I said and started motioning towards the door.

"No." she said slapping at my hand.

My muscles tensed up and I starred into her ugly brown eyes that had a huge rim of black eye shadow surrounding them.

"What chu' gonna do about it." she said leaning down to my level smacking on her gum, her long black hair becoming and annoyance onto my face.

Today was not a good day for her to mess with me. I sprinted over to where the kitchen was and pulled out a pair of long black scissors.

"Ready for a haircut greaser!"