I Could Use Somebody

I watched Dallas until he was completely out of sight. I went back up to Johnny's room and luckily Pony was still standing there. I put my arm around his shoulders and walked him out of the room. We walked back out to Buck's car in silence. It wasn't until we were half way home when Pony finally asked the question I was waiting to hear. "Where'd Dal go?" I took a deep breath and forced myself to tell him the truth. "He's gone, Pone. I'm sorry." He rested his head on the window. "He finally cracked, huh?" I nodded my head but didn't say anything. "I'm real sorry." I messed up his hair with my right hand while my left hand was on the wheel. "Don't be."

We got out of the car and walked into the Curtis's house. All of the guys were sitting in the living room. "Thank God you're home, Nicole. I got this huge cut on my face and it ain't gonna heal itself." Steve chuckled. I ignored him and walked into the kitchen and sat down. I could hear the guys talking in the living room. "Ponyboy, what's wrong?" I could hear Darry get up out of the chair he was sitting in. "Johnny's dead." I walked back out into the living room. Darry turned to me. "Where's Dallas?" I broke down. I couldn't stop myself from crying. "He's gone. He's gonna blow." I managed to choke out between sobs. I felt an arm around my shoulders as Darry pulled me into him. "I'm sorry." The phone started ringing. No one wanted to answer it but Steve got up anyway. "Hello…no, it's Steve…yeah, hold on." Steve took the phone away from his ear. "Darry, it's Dallas." My eyes shot open. Maybe he backed out! He wasn't dead yet. I listened closely to the conversation Darry was having with him. "Yeah we know…in the lot? We'll be there soon…yeah, she's here…okay, see you soon." Darry hung up the phone. "That was Dallas. He just knocked off a store and the police are after him. We have to meet him in the lot." My knees buckled under me. If it wasn't for Two Bit grabbing my arm I would have fallen. I knew this was it. This was his plan.

All of the guys raced out the front door and starting sprinting down towards the lot. I was walking slowly behind all of them until I saw Dallas under the street lights. I ran as fast as I could down the hill. I thought that maybe I would have another chance to save him. I had just caught up to them when I heard the gunshots. First one, then two, then three. All of the guys started screaming but I couldn't hear a thing. All I could see was Dallas's lifeless body laying on the ground. I felt someone push me behind them and that's when my hearing started to come back. "You stupid freaks!" It took me a few seconds to realize that it was Soda who pushed me behind him. I took a step to the left and saw Ponyboy laying on the ground. For a second I thought that maybe they shot Pony too but I could see that he was still breathing. I made the mistake of looking at Dallas again. My legs gave out on me and before I knew it, I was on the ground next to Pony. I crawled my way over to Dallas's body. Looking at him made me angry. "You fucking idiot!" I started screaming. "I could've fixed you! You would've gotten over this! Fucking idiot." I put my head on his stomach and started crying. I could still hear Darry yelling at the cops in the background. I could hear Soda's voice behind me. "Come on, let's go." He pulled me up and away from Dallas. "Don't look anymore." I put my head on Soda's shoulder as he walked me back to the house. "I really loved him, Soda." I could hear him sniffling so I figured that he was crying. "Yeah, I know you did." He walked me back into the house and got my a clean t-shirt and pair of shorts since my clothes had Dallas's blood on them. "What happened to Pony?" Soda closed his drawer and turned around. "He fainted after…he just fainted, that's all." I got changed then walked back out into the living room.

Two Bit was there sitting on the couch. He got up and wrapped his arms around me. "You want a beer, kid?" " "I'd prefer a handle of Vodka." He smiled. "You got it." He went into the kitchen and I sat down on the couch. After a few minutes Steve came in the front door carrying Ponyboy. "Soda, come help me with your brother." Soda came running out of his room and Steve handed Pony off to him. "Darry's still down at the lot talkin' to the cops. I can't believe all this happened tonight." Steve sat down on the couch next to me. "Me either. I feel like I'm dreaming." Two Bit came out of the kitchen with a bottle of Captain Morgan. "There was no vodka, sorry." I smiled. "Rum will work." Two Bit and I passed the bottle back and forth for a while. Once the alcohol began kicking in, so did the tears. I've never seen Two Bit cry before that night. Eventually, Soda came back out into the living room. "Pony's alright. He's all cleaned up and in bed." He sat down on the floor across from the couch. "I know this sucks, but do you think Dally or Johnny would want us sitting around here moping and drinking an entire bottle of rum?" Soda wiped his eyes and then Two Bit chimed in. "Hell, Dally would pull a knife on me if he knew I was cryin' over him." We all laughed. "Hey." Soda looked over at me. "You never really talked about how you and Dally met before." I pointed at myself. "Me?" Two Bit laughed. "Naw, everyone wants to hear about how mine and Dally's first date went." I laughed. "I mean, you could just ask Two Bit. He set the two of us up." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're not blonde. Not my type anyway." I elbowed him. "I mean, do you guys really wanna hear me talk about Dally?" Soda nodded his head. "Sure. It might make you feel better. We can talk about Johnny too. I just think we should try to stay positive, that's all. Ain't gonna do anyone any good if we all sit around here and cry for a week. I mean, it's alright to cry but we can try to remember the good things about Johnny and Dal." I took a sip of rum then wiped my eyes again. "Alright, if ya really wanna hear it. It all started when Two Bit tried to get me to go out with him…"