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Dallas walked past the railway ticket check. He scoffed, tugging his duffel bag higher up on his shoulder. It was dark and cold, he noticed, as he tugged his leather jacket tighter over his shoulders.
His hand habitually went up to adjust the chain around his neck but came up empty. He sighed. He forgot he gave it to Ponyboy after the fire.
Dally walked down the path of the railway station and stood at his pillar. He looked at his ticket, counted his change, and smoked another Kool as he waited.
It felt weird to be in this station again. The last time he was here, he was twelve, angry, poorer than dirt, and a begger.
Now he's almost twenty, numb, and scraping by. The only reason he's back is because his old gang back up in New York had found him and contacted him. Dallas missed them so he figured he'd travel back. That and to maybe get a good memory of the place he grew up.
Suddenly, Dallas saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. Darrel. He groaned. He did not want to deal with a whole conversation while waiting for the railway station to get its head out of its ass.
Darry came up anyway. He nodded at Dally.
“Hey, man,” Darry sighed.
Dally raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. Darry raises his hands as if to say ‘I mean no harm.’
Darry's hand crept into his jacket pocket and tugged out a glint of metal that immediately caught Dally's eye. Dally wouldn't say he's particularly obsessive over jewelry but man, he loves wearing that stuff.
Darry hands the chain over. A silver Saint Christopher medallion hangs off a thin chain. Ridiculously similar to the one Dally arrived with. The one Dallas didn't have anymore.
Darry dropped it into Dallas’s open hand and told him, “I know your old one is with Ponyboy now. But I want you to remember the first journey you made here and now why you're goin' back to the big city.”
Dallas’s adam apple bobbed as his fist closed around the chain. The original one he had was from his cousin. Dally stubs his cigarette out, clasps the necklace around his neck, and tucks it under his shirt.
“Thanks.”
Darry just nodded. “Wherever you're going, you be safe, man. Call and write us sometime, alright?”
Dally nodded, slightly choked with the pleading tone in Darry's voice. The floor of the railway station rumbled as the subway came up. Darry and Dallas looked at each other for a moment.
“Be safe, man. See you later,” Darry rumbled. Dally nodded and walked up to the subway.
He sat down and threw his duffel bag on the seat beside him. He dug through his pockets for a box of cigs. His hand found a slip of paper. A check from Darrel Curtis for twenty-five bucks.
Dallas cussed Darrel out under his breath. While the money was appreciated, both of them knew damn well that this type of money is not the type that could just be handed around. Dally tucked it into a fold of his clothes and cussed again. The homeless lady in front of him cackled like a maniac.
Dally couldn't wait to go home and see the gang again.