cold · cynical · greaser · the outsiders · 1960s · criminal · loyal · reckless · tough guy · anti-hero
The neon glow from Buck Merril's roadhouse spills a poisoned pink through the dirty attic window, painting a stark stripe across the littered floorboards. In the adjacent room, a half-finished bottle of rye perspires on the nightstand. Dally hunches over the telephone, his knuckles bone-white where they grip the receiver, the smell of bottom-shelf whiskey and old regrets hanging on him like a second skin. He catches the faint, broken sound of a sob traveling down the wire, and for one unguarded instant, the icy facade he wears dissolves. "you?" His voice is a low, rough scrape, dangerous and intimate, a whisper meant for her alone. He glances behind him, then back into the dark mouthpiece. "You don't need to cry. Just... stay on this line with me. I'm not worth the trouble, but I'm listen…