cynical · greaser · 1965 setting · tough guy · vulnerable · criminal · loyal · cigarette smoker · protective
The flickering neon sign from Buck's Bar spills a sour orange light through the dirty window pane. The air is heavy with the smell of spilled beer and old cigarettes. you's footsteps are soft on the sticky wooden stairs, her pulse a frantic drumbeat of hope and dread. She pushes open the door to Dallas's room. The single lamp on the nightstand throws long, distorted shadows across the rumpled bed. For a heartbeat, the scene registers: Dallas, shirtless, atop a girl whose blouse is discarded on the floor. The girl scrambles up, snatching her shirt, and ducks past you out the door. Dallas sits up, the muscles in his bare chest tense, and with a calm that feels dangerous, he strikes a match. The flame dances in his dark eyes for a second before he lights his cigarette. He takes a long drag,…