For some reason Zach always had viewed Danny as the man in the marching show. When Zach listened to the story over and over again, listening to every detail to the story behind it. He realized the more it did sound like Danny, the misunderstood, the abuse from the townsman, and the regret. Zach only noticed it when Danny came over to Zach's house. When the old rusty truck that had seemed better days, pulled up to the house. Charlie barked like there was an intruder as he looked out of the window in Zach's room. Zach was sitting in his desk chair working on his favorite hobby besides band, modeling. He was putting together the T50 Su57 jet, when Charlie started to bark. Now Charlie was not the puppy size anymore he was a little bigger than a bulldog. But as Zach got up Charlie stopped barking and went over to Zach's side. Zach then looked out the window to see Danny going over to the door. Zach and Charlie then preceded out of the room to go meet Danny at the door. Zach's mother wasn't home and neither was his dad. When the doorbell rung Charlie went to the door and barked at it. When Zach ushered the dog out of the way and put him on the top step. Zach then opened the door to see Danny with a bag and a pillow. "Hi Zach! I'm not too early am I?" Zach shook his head, but even he knew that it was early as well he just didn't bother to tell Danny that. "No, not at all, come in dude it's hot out there for a Saturday." he said as he shut the door with Danny already inside.
Danny looked around the house, the first thing he had saw was Charlie sitting on the ground beneath. Danny pointed at the dog and looked over with wide eyes. "You have a dog?!" he said as he started to pet Charlie. Zach nodded "Danny, this is Charlie." There was no need for an introduction. As Charlie nearly knocked Danny to the floor. The boy laughed as the dog jumped all over the place because he saw a new human. Zach went into the kitchen and grabbed an apple. "Do you have any dogs?" He asked Danny, He shook his head as he stood up to meet Zach at the counter. "No, I've only have had a rabbit named Hopps." He said thinking back to it. Zach interrupted the train of thought, by asking what his reaction was to Ms. Yuri. Danny looked down at his shoes and said. "I knew that something was wrong, but I've never expected that she is a demon, she's way too kind, I thought they were terrible horrific beings." Zach nodded. "I honestly thought she was a succubus." Zach said sighing, Danny however burst into laughter.
"A succubus? I would have never guessed that, besides she doesn't trust anyone."
"Yeah true, although she told me not to compare her to them ever."
"You told her?!"
"Uh... I was curious?"
Danny then burst into laughter once again. He fell onto the floor as Charlie begin to lick him to death. "Charlie go outside?" Zach said as the dog perked his ears up and made his way to the back door. When Danny recollected himself and stood up and followed Zach to the back. " I still wouldn't have asked her." He said as the two both walked outside. Danny looked around the yard. It was big and spacious, with a shed in the back corner. The deck was a brown wood color while there was only three steps to get down to the yard the boys just jumped down. While they walked the yard with Charlie, Danny began to hold his left arm closer to his chest. Zach however paid no mind to it, though what happened later that evening changed almost everything that Zach had viewed Danny.
While they sat in Zach's bedroom, Danny began to breathe heavily, that is when Zach noticed. "Are you ok?" Danny looked over suddenly and turned pale. "N-Nothin, do you have bandages by any chances?" Zach looked at him in surprise. "Yeah in the bathroom...You alright?" Danny smiled "I am fine..." Something in Zach's brain was telling him that the way Danny said it was not it's meaning. Zach followed Danny to the bathroom and showed him, that is when Danny sat on the toilet lid cover and folded the sleeve up to show bruises and deep cut wounds. Zach stood in disbelief of the sight he saw. "How did this happen?" Zach asked getting into the cabinet. Danny looked down. "I-I fell." He lied, Zach raised an eyebrow "Danny, I would like to believe that, but this 'fall' wouldn't cause deep cut wounds." Danny began to tear up "I'm being honest Zach." The boy lied again. Zach gave Danny the bandage, as Danny applied he noticed how much Danny knew how to wrap, it was almost like he did it multiple times. "So do you fall down the stairs often?" Danny paused as sweat ran down his face. "Please tell me you won't tell anyone?" Zach sat on the ground in the bathroom. "I won't, I keep my word on that." Danny began wrapping the wound again. "You saw my dad right?" Zach nodded as he recalled him cussing Danny out. "He wasn't always like that y'know, it all started when my mom died." Danny paused again but this time tears were streaming down his face. Zach looked down "I'm sorry to hear that, I really am."
Danny then went back to re-bandaging his arm. "After that he began to drink more and more, and then he turned angry and I always end up getting in the way at the wrong times." Zach looked at Danny wide eyed. "He beats you?" Danny nodded "He abuses me in anyway he can." Zach looked down then back up. "Even sexually?" It took Danny a second then he nodded. "It happened once, twice, maybe a few times." He said sticking the clamp on the ace bandage. "That's why I know how to do almost anything to help myself survive there." Zach put his fist on his cheek as if he were contemplating. "Why do you always end up in his way at the wrong time can't you tell when he's drunk?" Danny shook his head as the two stood up. "It's really hard to tell, I use to be able to, not anymore now." He said as he pulled down his sleeve. The two boys exited the bathroom and went back into Zach's room to find Charlie sleeping on the bed. "He's drunk all the time? Was he drunk when he came to pick you up from that rehearsal?" He shook his head. "That was the first time that he picked me up, usually it's his friend, Emily." Zach sat back down in the chair and faced Danny. "Does she hurt you?" Danny smiled and shook his head. "She's way too nice for that, I wish she could take me away from him." Zach then took the magnified glass and began to work on the model again. "Why hasn't she?" He asked, Danny shrugged and said "she said she would, but my father is still alive and I'm under his jurisdiction, therefor without his permission or death, she can't adopt me." Zach looked back over at Danny, who was looking down at Charlie. "I know it's not right, but sometimes I wish he was dead, then all the bruises would disappear and he would be happier wherever he ends up at, I don't think it's his fault, really I don't, if mom didn't have cancer everything would've been ok." Danny said as he stroked the dog.
Just then a door had opened. "Zach are you here?" A female voice shouted up the stairs. Charlie shot up and went downstairs. It wasn't long after the other two had followed the dog. Before they went Zach stopped Danny and looked over at him. "Just so you know, you are always safe here Danny, you can come anytime you want." Danny smiled. "Thank you Zach" As the two walked downstairs they saw Zach's mom putting away groceries. "Hi mom this is Danny, Danny this is my mom" Danny and Zach's mom both waved at each other. "Hi Danny I'm Evie" Danny didn't say anything he just smiled and waved. His mother then made eye contact with Zach. "Zach, your father had to go back to the base again." She said as she opened the fridge. "Apparently, after his blow up to the secretary, they made him pull extra shifts." Zach nodded. "I was there for that part, the blow up I mean." Danny tilted his head. "Is your dad in the army?" Danny asked. Zach nodded "yeah he's a combat medic." Danny looked amused. "That is really cool!" He said. Zach's mother looked over at Zach "did you take Charlie for a walk dear?" Zach shook his head. "Dad told me not to until you were home." His mother nodded "well it's four o'clock already, can you please take him around the block?" She said as she got out the cutting board to make dinner. Zach nodded "By then" She said looking at the clock on the wall in the living room. "I will have dinner ready." The two nodded and began to walk to the front door to grab the leash. "What are we having?" Zach asked. His mother looked over at the two "lasagna with salads" Danny eyes lit up about the salad part. As he had loved salad because of the different combination he could have with it. Zach finally got Charlie on the leash and the two walked outside.
"What is lasagna?" Danny asked. Zach stood eyes widened "you don't know what lasagna is?" Danny shrugged "I didn't really get out that much or have the ability to get internet." Zach though for a second "it's like spaghetti, except with bigger noodle and ricotta cheese." He said as they started to walk on the sidewalk. As they walked to a passed the stop sign Danny stopped. "Your mom's a nurse right?" Zach looked back and stopped. Charlie also stopped and sat down waiting for the rest of the walk to continue. "Yeah, over at the hospital on Benderly street, May I ask why?" Danny started to walk again. "I think it is crazy, but, you remember how that one teacher went missing?" Zach had forgotten all about the chemistry teacher. "Yeah she was my chemistry teacher, what about her?" Danny started to walk quickly. "I think something more than just her going Zach tilted his head. "Oh really? do tell" He said tilting his head. Danny then slowed down to meet back up with Zach. "TI don't know everyone kept talking about it at school, something doesn't add up Zach, it just doesn't." He said quietly. Zach then turned back around to walk back as they hit a block. "Why do you say that< do you think that there is some type of foreplay?" Danny nodded. "Yes, I do" they said as they crossed the street to get to the house. "between you and me, I have feeling that it has something to do with my dad."
'Why do you say that?"
"Because he was talking about hitting on a chemistry teacher"
"Your bastard of father? I don't think I could see him doing that. Unless it was to get back at something"
"Yeah, true, but why would it be so oddly specific?"
"I don't know, I don't know much of your father's life, besides of what he was doing to you anyways."
As they approached the door, they both agreed they would talk about it later. As they walked in the smell had changed from smelling like febreeze, his mother put in the air earlier that day, to the smell of pasta. "Smells good Mrs. Wyatt" Danny said as he shut the door behind him. Zach's mother peeked outside the kitchen and smiled. "I hope it tastes good as well" She said as she placed the lasagna dish on the dining room table. "Danny, are you a trombone player." Danny smiled with glee and nodded. "Yes ma'am I am!" He said as he sat down at the table. Zach also did the same after he put the dog leash up. Zach's mom dished out serving and Danny had took a bite and his eyes lit up. "WHAT HAVE I'VE BEEN MISSING ON!" He yelled as he shoveled more into his mouth. Zach laughed as his mom began to question. "You never had lasagna before?" Zach shook his head. "He doesn't get out much." As they ate they began talking about the marching show. "I wonder, who's gonna be the man walking the river?" Danny said as he finished his plate and put it in the sink. "It will most likely be the color guard boy if he's up to it, but if not it will be one of the drum majors." Zach's mom chimed in, "When we had to find someone to play certain character we had to steal a drama club kid." She said as she did the dishes.
Danny and Zach looked amazed. "You were in marching band?" Danny asked. She nodded "I was a bass clarinet for the longest time. boy, I miss it." She said as she loaded the dishes into the racks in the dishwasher. "Though our band director pushed all of us to the limit, you could almost say he was the devil the way he did it if you were a bystander, oh but we loved it." His mom said recalling the memory. "Mom, did you go to Elken?" She shook her head. "No, I went Marean, back when the band there was more active and alive, it was ashamed that he had died, poor Mr. Smith, all he wanted was to see his band succeed and make it to the top in that show on that festival day." Danny and Zach both moved in closer. "What happened Mrs. Wyatt?" He asked in a sad tone. She looked over at the two, the sad expression she gave almost made it out that it was best not to know, but she had continued anyway. "I almost remember it like it was yesterday, we were moving to our last dot and blasted with a big hit then out of nowhere everyone had stopped playing half way through the whole note, we noticed a bunch of people running to where our director was, He was lying on the ground with blood coming out of his mouth, when we moved off the field everyone was put back on the busses, after then we waited for about an hour or two, until the assistant band director came on each bus and told us the demise, we later found out what he was hiding, he had pancreatic cancer, and it had finally reached its point." She said as she closed the dish washer. "We only found that part out when we came back from the school, a year before he had died he said that if he were to die, he wanted all of us at his funeral." Danny looked down. "That is really sad Mrs. Wyatt." Zach stood there not knowing that his mother had to witness the most saddest thing that any band kid had to go through, losing a director was like losing a parent of your big family.
Zach's mother than shook her head. "Alright, Danny would you like to take some lasagna with you when you go back?" Danny nodded and smiled. "Yes ma'am" As she packed it she looked over at the time. "Oh my" she said "After this I'm gonna have to go to bed, I have to work tomorrow, boys don't stay up too late." She said as she made her way up the stairs. The boys both nodded as they both went and took Charlie outside one final time before they went to bed. Danny crossed his arms and looked over at Zach. "I-I can't believe that happened to your mom, from the looks you were giving, you didn't know that either." Zach nodded. "I didn't even know that she was in marching band! Now I see why she never talks about it, that would scar someone for life." Danny agreed. "I wonder if that year he told them about the funeral thing he knew he had it." Zach shrugged as he called for Charlie, the bouncing puppy went up the deck stairs to meet Zach at the door. "That would make sense after his death." He said as he opened the sliding glass for both Danny and Charlie. Then they turned off the lights downstairs and went up to Zach's room. Danny was going to sleep on the floor while Zach slept in his bed. When they sat on the bed and talked for awhile, Danny rolled up his sleeve to see what the wound looked like now. He undid the bandage to see the deep wound became much better than what it was earlier. "Thank god I'm studying wound treatments." Danny said as he wrapped it back up. Zach looked up at Danny. "What do you want to do when grow up?" He asked, Danny smiled. "I want to be a EMT" He said as unrolled his sleeve back into the position it was earlier. "I think you would be mighty good at it." Zach said as he pet Charlie, who was curled up between the two.
Danny smiled "My mom taught me before she left, she was a EMT too!" Zach realized that he wanted to be just like his mom. He also could see why he wouldn't want to be anything like his dad. "What did your dad do for a living?" Danny looked down at the sleep Charlie. "He was a labor worker who worked on the river." Zach looked back up at Danny as they both made eye contact. "I never knew your dad worked at the docks down at the river!" He said as he yawned, Danny then moved to the floor where his pillow and a blanket was. Zach turned off the light. "See you tomorrow." It was quiet before Danny said something.
"Zach"
"Hmm?"
"Just so you know I regret a lot of things...But I don't regret being friends."
Zach felt a warm feeling come from his heart. "And I don't regret not taking you under my wing, good night Danny." There was no response from Danny so he assumed that he had fallen asleep. Zach then too fell asleep, his dreams were black with nothing, while Danny's were still there, he had dreamed his was standing on a piece of floating flat land with a bench with a woman in a white whispy dressed that blew in the wind. Her hair was dark brown and her eyes were hazel, Danny walked over to her and sat on the bench. She was wearing a flower crown of roses and blue berry like strands. Danny looked at her as she looked back at him. She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer to her. "Long time no see kiddo, I see you made a friend." She said as the wind was blowing her hair to the other side that wasn't facing Danny. "I wish you could meet him, he's so nice I bet you'd like him." Danny said as he looked at the ocean view. She smiled "I bet I would have." Danny looked up at the woman. Her face was ever so bright, strands of her hair fell down. "Why did you have to leave?" He said hugging her tighter. She stood up breaking his grasped and knelt down in front of the bench. "I know, I didn't expect to leave either." She said gently. She then put her hands up to Danny's face and cradled it. "But listen, you have to be brave for me Danny, promise me you will." Danny nodded as she stood up. White feathered wings sprouted gracefully from her back.
The wind began to blow again as the woman reached out for Danny's hand, when he grabbed it she walked him behind the bench and let go of his hand. Danny then hugged her "Please don't go, not again, please stay with me!" He said as tears rolled down his cheek. The woman knelt down as her wings stood up blowing in the wind, she wiped the tears that had already fallen down his face. "I can't Danny you know why, I see what your father has become, I want you to stay around your friend as much as possible and Emily." She then stood up and walked further away from Danny this time he didn't follow her. She turned around and spread the white feathery wings. "Be brave my son." She walked a little farther and flew away.
In the real world you could see Danny lying on the floor, if you looked closely at him in his sleep, a tear rolled down his face, one that had always came in his sleep. Ever since the woman and white had left this earth. She had always visited him, always asked how life was. But little did Danny know, he might not be able to see her visibly. But she was always right there by his side, like a mother should.