Dallas Winston and his Introduction into the Gang
Some story head canons on how Dallas found himself in the Curtis gang.
After Dallas left NYC, (for reasons he’s never brought up to anyone) he was staying in a town near Tulsa.
He was sleeping in alleys and abandoned lots, (because he was a 15 year old kid with only enough money for the bus ticket out of New York) he spent most days in bars around the area or other public places that nobody would kick him out.
That’s when he met Buck Merril.
Buck was making a drop off to a guy he knew.
This also happened to be the bar Dallas was spending the day in.
That’s when he got a good look at Dallas. A young shifty-eyed kid who looked beat up and tired.
“Aren’t you too young to be in a bar this early kid?”
“Aren’t you too old to be out of the nursing home this time of day?” Dallas retorted quickly while Buck only smiled and shifted the chew in his lip.
Then he got to talking to his friend who was the owner of the bar. This guy explained that Dallas came around during the day and often slept out back. Judging by the limp he was walking with, the black eye, and cut up face he suspected that the kid might be homeless or running from someone.
Buck, thinking of his days running from his home, offered Dallas a place to stay in exchange to watch the bar some nights. He did know how to bartend, right?
Dallas took it and rode back to Tulsa with Buck.
So that's how it went for a couple months. Dallas stayed in a trashy room above Bucks bar, running it most nights and not quite trusting Buck at all.
Buck could tell that Dallas was still jumpy and was hiding whatever happened in his past. He never pushed, not really caring all that much, he’d done all that he could for this kid.
Then a kid with gleaming eyes and rusty sideburns made a stop at the bar one night.
Two-Bit Mathews was alone, looking for booze, a blonde, or even a fight.
So he sat at the bar and after throwing down a couple drinks, he went over to a big guy and started wisecracking. Pissing the guy off to the point where he wanted to take it outside. Two-Bit was a laughing drunken 16 year old, barely dodging the punch this guy threw. It caught him on the side of the head.
He hit him again, but before this guy could do anything else, Dallas Winston stepped in. Shooting the bigger guy a couple hooks and jabs, enough to knock him to the ground. The wisecracker, who hadn’t managed to spill too much of his drink, jumped to his feet.
“Shoot man, that guy was twice your size and you dropped him. You can’t be more than a kid, huh?”
Dallas grinned coldly. “And you can’t be more than a stumbling drunk.”
“I’ve got some friends racing in some sort of drag race tonight. Things might get out of hand, you wanna come?” Dallas found himself nodding.
The drag race was where he watched two crazy greasers nearly kill themselves over a $15 bet.
Following the race, a fight broke out and he helped Two-Bit and his gang.
On the way back he officially met those two crazy greasers. Sodapop Curtis and Steve Randle. Soda was happy, golden, and filled with an excited electricity that Dallas had never seen before. Steve was pissed that his hair had gotten messed up in the scuffle, he was attempting to gel it back in place. He was also introduced to the fearsome Darrel Curtis. (who had his back in the fight without even knowing his name)
Later in the year, after a couple more drag races and making trouble at the Nightly Double with this crew, they said he was a part of the gang.
Dallas nearly found himself trying to explain that this wasn’t a gang. A gang had rank, position, and fearsome discipline, but he didn’t bother. He figured being a part of a gang was different across different states.
He definitely liked Oaklahomas version of a gang better than New York’s. This gang felt like a family. One he could stick with.
