Heart Breaker

Chapter 27

Dally was arguing with one of the nurses when we came in. He grinned at us. "Man, am I glad to see you! These--- hospital people won't let me smoke, and I want out!:

We sat down, grinning at eachother. Dally was his usual mean, ornery self. He was okay.

"Shepard came by to see me a while ago." Dally said.

"That's what Johnny said. What'd he want?" I said.

"Said he saw my picture in the paper and couldn't believe it didn't have 'Wanted Dead or Alive' under it. He mostly came to rub it in about the rumble. Man, I hate not bein' in that."

Dally was grinning at Ponyboy. "Kid, you scared the devi outa me the other day. I thought I'd killed you."

"Me?" Pony said, puzzled. "Why?"

"When you jumped out of the church. I meant to hit you just hard enough to knock down and put out the fire, but when you dropped like a ton of lead I thought I'd aimed too high and broke your neck." Dally though for a minute. "I'm glad I didn't, though."

"I bet," Pony said with a grin.

Dally looked out the window. "Uh..." ---he sounded very casual--- "how's the kid?"

"We just left him," Two-Bit said, and I could tell he was debating whether to tell Dally the truth or not. "I don't know about stuff like this... but... well, he seemed pretty bad to me. He passed out cold before we left him."

Dally's jaw went white as he swore between clenched teeth.

"Two-Bit, you still got that fancy black-handled switch?" Dally asked.

"Yeah." Two-Bit said.

"Give it here." Dally said.

Two-Bit reached into his back pockey for his prize possession. It was a jet handled switchblade, ten inches long, That would flash open at a mere breath. It was the reward of two hours of walking aimlessly around a hardware store to divert suspicion. He kept it razor sharp. As far as I knew. he had never pulled it on anyone; he used his plain pocketknife when he needed a blade. But it was his showpiece, his price and joy--- every time he ran into a new hood he pulled it out and showed off with it. Dally knew how much that knife meant to Two-Bit, and if he needed a blade bad enough to ask for it, well, he needed a blade. That was all there was to it. Two-Bit handed it over to Dally without a moment's hesitation.

"We gotta win that fight tonight," Dally said. His voice was hard. "We gotta get even with the Socs. For Johnny."

He put the switch under his pillow and lay back, staring at the ceiling. Two-Bit and Pony stepped outside. They knew better that to talk to Dally when his eyes were blazing and he was in a mood like that.