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We didn't know where we were going.
We meandered through tall grass and trees and dry areas with nothing but dirt. The sliver of an orange sunset peeked through the tall hills in the distance, and I knew it was imminent to fade and leave us in the dark. Dallas told me I didn't have a reason to worry, so I trusted him.
I'd never seen this part of Tulsa, though I wasn't sure if we were even in the same city anymore. I might have dozed off on his shoulder, but sometimes it's hard to tell if I was awake or asleep. I remembered him repeating my name until we jumped out of the boxcar, scampering away before any of the staff could catch us.
My feet were beginning to hurt, but I wasn't about to start complaining. I needed to get away from my room. My house. Hell, even the town was putting me in the dumps anytime I had to walk passed Barnes street and hold my gaze from drifting to the desolate store. I tried not to think about how it would likely be demolished or sold off. I tried not to think about anything.
"Thank you," I said. Dallas barely lifted his gaze from the ground.
"No reason to thank me."
"For being so nice." The only reason I'd ever been afraid of him was because of his mile-long police record, and the rumors that drifted around town about the ruthless Dallas Winston who'd jump a kid for a couple dollars if he had the chance. I knew he was my brother's friend and I knew my brother would never hang around someone terrible enough to steal from a child, so I stayed impartial. Dallas wasn't nice at first, and that was the truth. He wasn't nice to others. But he was nice to me. I wondered briefly if that made me a bad person for liking him.
"You're thanking me for being nice?"
"I guess."
He didn't say anything after that, and I didn't really expect him too. He probably didn't get thanked a lot, let alone for being a nice person.
"Are you sure we aren't about to get lost?" I asked.
"Don't you trust me?"
"I don't see any more roads or trees. I don't even know what city we're in."
Dallas sighed and unzipped his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder. The heat was beating down hard despite the sun almost being down. "Listen, I passed by this place a couple times that I thought you'd like. Cool yourself, I know how to get back and the next train for Tulsa will leave in an hour or two."
I nodded and Dallas wrapped an arm around my shoulder, showing in his own way that his words weren't meant to be hostile. Sometimes he seemed mean without trying because he looked rough.
