The Little Winston

Chapter 5- I Get Bailed Out By The Hot Older Brother

It was actually freezing in the cell, and I felt myself start to shiver.

I listened in on Dallas' conversation, which seemed to be pretty intense from what I was gathering. He was talking quieter than usual, so I tried my hardest not to make it seem like I was listening. "Come on, man, you don't have to get me out, just come get Nic. She ain't gonna make it in the cooler." It was funny to me, how he didn't realize how many nights I spent in one of the toughest jails in the country. He didn't quite know everything about me anymore, and that intrigued me. I saw him look over at me out of the corner of my eye and bite his lip, a nervous tell he had adapted since he was a kid.

"Thanks man." I listened to his feet scuffle against the floor, then the screeching of the door opening. He sat down in front of me, sighing. "I got someone coming to bail us out, kid."

"Nice." I looked at him as he looked around, casually nodding to a few of the convicts across from us. "You in here a lot?"

"The fuzz just can't keep their hands off me." I giggled a little, which made him smile.

"I think it's the Winston flair."

"You ever been in the slammer before?" His eyes flickered to mine for a second, and I saw the brotherly concern wash over them before he was able to mask it.

"Yeah, but it was never that big of a deal." I tried to calm the situation down before he got concerned, because that was the last thing I needed, at least now. Last year, hell, even last month, that concern would have been appreciated. But now, it didn't really matter as much.

"How long was the longest?"

"A month. I got out on good behaviour." He looked at me with a small smile, knowing my "good behaviour" was all an act. I had only gotten out because I could be a soft spoken little girl instead of a fierce and biting woman when I wanted to be. Me and Dallas both knew that. "How about you?"

"Year and a half. Good behaviour doesn't really work with me, man." I knew that before he even made the comment. He had always been somewhat biting to authority figures, and I didn't blame him. If being nice didn't benefit me, I was the same way. The difference was Dallas didn't care if it would benefit him or not, he wasn't going to change anything about him. I loved that about him.

We made small talk for a little while, mostly consisting of me catching him up on the things that had happened since he had left. He asked about his gang brothers, and I told him everything I had known. I didn't know very many of them, as Dallas had tried to keep me away from them as much as he could. He never told me that specifically, but I knew. He asked about our father, although there wasn't very much to tell. Before I realized, Lopez got up and unlocked the cell door.

"Come on kids, someone's here to get you out." He motioned to the front desk of the station, casually pushing us out of the cell. I smiled and thanked him, earning a small but noticeable smile and nod.

"See you next week, man." Dallas called over his shoulder as we walked past him, Lopez nodding disapprovingly but still smiling, knowing that Dallas was correct. A few people stared at me as I passed, but I pretended not to notice, although I felt my back become a little rigid.

Sodapop and a man I assumed to be Darry Curtis were standing at the counter, both wearing completely contrasting expressions. Sodapop looked relieved, and even somewhat surprised. Darry looked stormy and fuming, his eyebrows furrowed darkly with his arms crossed across his broad chest.

As we neared, Dallas was the first to speak after he cleared his throat. "Thanks man." Darry refused to acknowledge him and walked away, his arms still crossed. I felt bad for making Darry come get us, after all I had never met him and he had just had to put up bail for me.