Lose Your Mind-A Dallas Winston Fanfiction

Bad Blood

I don't set out to shock or offend, but I also don't do anything to avoid it.-Sarah Silverman

Everyone came back into the room barely over an hour later, but they had been stealing looks a lot sooner than that. I kept seeing their heads pop out from the staircase, checking to see what was going on.

"How's he doing?" Darry asked, leaning against the doorway.

I could tell from his stance that he was stressed. He had his arms crossed over his chest, muscles tight against his solid black t-shirt. I knew he didn't always care for Dally or the trouble that he brought with him, but he was family. 

"He'll be hurting like hell for a couple weeks, but he'll be okay. We just need to watch for infection."

"I can't believe they got the drop on him. Nobody ever surprises Dally." Two-Bit shook his head from side to side like he was trying to shake the thought.

Soda must have noticed how worn out I was looking because he spoke up, "Want to go for a walk, Ice?"

I looked at him with grateful eyes and nodded. Ponyboy stood up to walk with us too. I didn't complain, or even mind. I liked the kid. I was wrong about him when I first met him. He wasn't trouble at all.

"So you and Dal, huh?" Sodapop kicked the dirt into the air as we walked.

I shrugged, trying to keep things cool. 

"You don't have to lie about it. Anyone can tell you two have the hots for each other." Soda grinned at me.

I realized then how good of sport Sodapop was. He had feelings for me, but he was still happy for Dallas and I. If there was even anything to be happy about.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I teased back.

"Is that what you're going to say to Dal when he finds out you're dealing?" Ponyboy asked, emerald eyes on me.

The question was like a slap in the face. I was so stunned by the question that I didn't even answer him for a second.

"Don't worry about it Ice, I ain't gonna tell." Pony shrugged his shoulders up and down.

I looked at Soda, expecting him to look disgusted or shocked but he just shrugged too. He had known the whole time.

"How did you find out?" I asked back nervously.

"You ought to pay more attention to who your brother is friends with. You woulda' known he was best buddies with Pony then." 

I couldn't believe that I hadn't known that. I couldn't believe that Mark hadn't told me. Actually, I could. I've always known Mark wasn't honest, I just wasn't thinking. This whole time he had been telling me not to tell the gang while some of them already knew

"You ain't gonna tell anybody, are you?" I started walking again.

Soda shook his head, "You ain't got to worry about us. But, you know Dally ain't going to take lightly to you dealing."

"He'll hate you."

I knew they were telling me the truth. They weren't telling me it to scare me. They were just being honest, and it ain't fair to get mad at someone for telling the truth. It just ain't.

I didn't feel like being around people much anymore after that so I headed home. Dallas wasn't going to be awake for a while anyways. When I was walking towards home I started thinking about how Mark and I were just living on our own. We didn't  even have a family to claim. I thought about it an awful lot, but it didn't bother me.

I kept thinking about that as I walked into the living room, which was where I nearly had a heart attack. Mark was sitting on the couch with blood dripping off his hands. For a second, I thought he had gotten himself in trouble but I realized pretty quick it wasn't his own.

"What the hell did you do?" I grabbed a cloth from the kitchen and started wiping the crimson blood off him.

"I ran into my brother."

Now that confused me mighty when he said that. He didn't have a brother. He was an only child, unless you counted me.

"You ain't got a brother."

"I used to. Well, not a real one but I lived with him after the accident."

I never talked to him much about his parents, but I knew enough. His parents had killed each other in a drunken fight after his dad found out Mark's mom had been having an affair. As it turned out, Mark wasn't even his dad's son. He was some man's who had come through town during the rodeo. That would have bothered anyone else, but Mark didn't care.

"So you decided to beat the life out of him?"

"It had been a while." He shrugged, "He was the reason I was locked up. I hadn't seen him since he called the cops on me. God, I hate that kid."

"Is he, you know?" I couldn't bring myself to ask the full question.

Sure, I tried to stay out of Mark's business most of the time and most of the time I couldn't care less what he was up to, but I didn't want him killing anybody.

"Golly, no. I couldn't stand getting locked up again. I wish he was."

I wondered then if Mark wasn't completely there upstairs. He didn't act like other people. He wasn't fazed by anything. I had always thought he was just tough, but that day I wondered something else.

"Don't play like that."

Mark met my sapphire eyes with his golden ones, "I ain't playing."

It was then that I saw him in the same light that Dallas did. He was standing there with fresh blood on his hands, sprayed over his shirt and face. I knew he was going to get me into trouble. He was just a ticking time bob. But, he was my brother and I loved him. He was the only family I cared about, and you just don't give up on family.