She shook her head. “Dad knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That we were… last night!”
Daniel frowned. “You sure?”
“Yes! He told me I wasn’t to be alone in my room with you.”
“You going to do what he says, baby doll?”
Which was the crux of Lisanne’s problem. Was she?
Daniel stood up and stretched, exposing a tanned sliver of skin above the waistband of his jeans.
“Let me know,” he said, sounding irritated.
Lisanne grabbed hold of his hand, and he looked down.
“Don’t be mad at me. This… it’s all new. Please…”
Daniel sighed. “I know, I get it. But, fuck! I just want you all the time, baby doll. At school you share a room, and my place is… and now it’s the holidays and you’re just across the hall. It’s driving me crazy. You drive me crazy.”
Lisanne tingled with pleasure at his words. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to hear that enough.
“Do you want to go to a party tonight?” she said, temporarily changing the subject. “It’s a girl I went to high school with – my mom is a friend of her mom’s. I don’t know – would you like to?”
He shrugged and looked back toward the kitchen. “Sure, why not? A party I can do.”
At that moment Harry came strolling back out with a can of soda, and plopped down on the porch.
“So, are we going or what?”
Lisanne frowned. “‘We’? Who’s ‘we’? Going where?”
Harry ignored her. “They’ve got Virtua Racing, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, Mario Karts, Pacman, Metal Slug – you know: the classics.”
“Cool,” said Daniel.
“What?” snorted Lisanne.
“Harry’s going to take me to the local arcade,” said Daniel, winking at her. “You said you wanted me to see the sights.”
Lisanne groaned. Spending the morning watching her boyfriend play stupid video games with her little brother was not her idea of fun at all. She’d imagined finding somewhere to go and lie under the trees again, make-out and enjoy some quality time alone. Certainly not with Harry tagging along! But it seemed that while she was being lectured by her dad, her boyfriend and her brother had been making other plans.
Just great.
Lisanne had no choice but to agree. At least they’d be away from her parents for a while.
At the arcade, she sat listening to Kate Vigo on her iPod, and texting Rodney who was visiting family in Tuscaloosa, while Daniel and Harry played something that involved cartoon characters beating the shit out of each other. Fun times.
Lisanne noticed that the arcade was getting a lot busier. That was probably because it was the Thanksgiving holidays, and people were taking time off from school and work. Tomorrow would be the big family day.
Daniel walked over and draped a casual arm around her shoulder.
“We should get out of here,” he whispered, while placing a warm kiss on her cheek.
“Really? I thought you wanted to go and do that racing game thingy – not that I’m arguing…”
He gave her a tight smile. “It’s going to kick off in here any minute, Lis. We should get your brother out.”
“What?” she said, staring around her. “How do you know?”
All she could see were groups of guys playing on the games.
“Trust me,” he said. Then to Harry, “Come on, man, we’re going to get some burgers and shakes.”
Harry bitched a bit, but a lot less than normal. Clearly he didn’t want to argue with Daniel. He was hanging on his every word, and was rather resentful of his sister’s presence.
They found a café where they could sit outside. Harry ordered his banana milkshake, Lisanne had a chocolate one, and Daniel ordered his usual black coffee – although he then proceeded to ‘taste’ nearly half of Lisanne’s drink. She ended up having to defend it from him before their burgers arrived, and was amused to see Harry wrinkle his nose when Daniel kissed her again.
Suddenly, police sirens pierced the afternoon air. Lisanne and Harry both looked in the direction of the arcade.
“Police,” she whispered to Daniel.
He nodded his head.
“How did you know something was going to happen?” she asked, puzzled.
Harry’s eyes toggled between the two of them.
Daniel shrugged. “Been in enough fights to know,” he said.
Hero worship glowed in Harry’s eyes.
Lisanne had a feeling it was going to be hard to get Daniel to herself while Harry was around.
They finished their lunch, and were wandering through the open air mall, when both Harry’s and Lisanne’s cellphones started ringing.
Lisanne answered hers first.
“Mom? What? No, we’re fine. We’re fine! Okay, we’re on our way.”
From the look on Harry’s face, his call from their dad was similar.
“What was that about?” he said.
Lisanne shook her head. “I have no idea, but I guess we’re going home.”
Ten minutes later, Lisanne pulled up on the drive. Both her parents were waiting out front. Ernie looked furious. He wrenched Daniel’s door open and pushed him against the car as he tried to climb out.
“What did you do?” he yelled in Daniel’s face.
“Get the fuck off me!” snarled Daniel, pushing back, making Ernie stumble.
“Dad!” shrieked Lisanne. “What are you doing?”
“We heard there was a fight at the arcade – police were called and everything. Several teenagers were taken to hospital. We thought… we thought… we were worried,” Monica finished lamely.
Daniel’s face was full of contempt as he stared at Lisanne’s parents, but it was Lisanne who spoke, her voice scathing.
“And you just automatically assumed Daniel had something to do with it. Well, that’s just great. Thanks for your support. For your information it was Daniel who got us out of there. He guessed something was going down and we left before anything started.” She paused, fury burning through her making her voice shake. “What happened to giving people the benefit of the doubt, mom? What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’, dad? If Daniel was one of your high school students you wouldn’t be giving him this hard a time.”
“Daniel didn’t do anything!” shouted Harry, angrily.
Monica looked appalled, standing with her hand over her mouth, and her eyes darting between Daniel and her eldest child.
“I’m so sorry, Daniel,” she said.
But with her fingers covering her lips, Daniel didn’t know what she’d said.
“I’m getting the fuck out of here, Lis,” he growled.
“I’ll go with you.”
He yanked his bike keys out of his pants’ pocket and swung a leg over Sirona. Lisanne mounted behind him without even waiting to pull the helmets out of the saddlebags.
Ernie stood up straight. “Daniel, I apologize. I jumped to a conclusion without knowing the facts. I’m sorry.” He looked at his wife. “We’re both sorry.”
“Sure,” said Daniel, bitterly. “Until the next time. I’ll never be good enough for you, will I?”
Ernie grabbed his arm. “Really, I am sorry – don’t go off like this. Lisanne, please stay.”
“No, dad. You’ve said enough.”
She nodded at Daniel and he leaned down to turn on the gas, then kick-start the bike.
Pops came out of the house, where he’d been standing with Grandma Olsen, both having overheard the whole heated exchange.
“Now then,” he said, looking Daniel in the eye. “I hope you’re not going to tell me that you’re taking my granddaughter on that motorcycle with bare legs and no helmet?”
Daniel glanced over his shoulder at Lisanne.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Everybody just calm the heck down,” said Pops. “Ernie, you sure made a mess of this one, son. Monica, you go on in wit
h the kids. Me and Daniel are going to have some quality time with Sirona, here.” He tapped Lisanne on the arm. “You go on in with your mom and dad now.”
Reluctantly, still furious with her parents, Lisanne climbed off. Despite the fact her whole family was watching, she wrapped her arms around Daniel’s neck and ghosted her lips across his mouth.
He sighed and leaned into her, resting his head on her shoulder.
Lisanne cupped his cheeks with her hands and made him look at her. “Don’t leave without me. Promise?”
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly.
She kissed him again and turned to follow her parents inside.
She watched through the window as Pops said something, pointing at the trunk of his car, and Daniel followed him. A moment later, Daniel was carrying a heavy looking toolbox, and Pops was bending over Sirona.
It didn’t look like Daniel was going anywhere soon, so Lisanne turned to her parents.
“Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad,” she said, enunciating every syllable icily. “You’ve really made Daniel feel welcome. Is there anything else you want to accuse him of while we’re here? Maybe that graffiti I saw in the mall, or what about that carjacking that happened last week? You want to blame that on him, too?”
“Honey, we made a mistake. We’re sorry,” said her mom, a little defensively but still trying to placate her.
Lisanne folded her arms.
“Not good enough, mom. You know, you and dad brought me up to treat people with respect. Well, that seems to have just gone straight out of the window, doesn’t it? Or maybe you just meant people like you, with nice houses, and tidy yards. Maybe it doesn’t count if the person has tattoos and piercings… or if he’s deaf?”
“That’s enough, Lisanne,” said her father.
“No, dad. That’s nothing like enough. I’m ashamed of both of you.”
And then she burst into tears and ran upstairs.
Chapter 16
Several minutes later, Lisanne heard someone tapping on her bedroom door. She guessed it was her mom.
“Honey, can I come in?”
Lisanne didn’t answer, but her mom opened the door anyway.
“What do you want, mom?” she said, her voice cold.
“Just to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, sure, I’m just peachy.”
“Sarcasm won’t help.”
“Won’t it, mom? Well, you tell me what will help, because I surely don’t know. Daniel has been nothing but polite and respectful, and he’s getting along great with Harry and Pops. It’s you and dad who have the problem.”
Her mom was quiet for a moment. “You’re right, honey. Your dad and I were very wrong to assume that Daniel was involved in that fight at the arcade. All I can say is that we were worried about you and Harry. Now I know that doesn’t excuse our behavior, but that was the reason. We’ve apologized again to Daniel and I believe he’s accepted it. Now I’m apologizing to you.”
“And dad?”
“He’s ashamed of himself – like you said. Just give him a chance to say he’s sorry to you. That’s all I ask.”
She patted her daughter on the shoulder and quietly walked out of the room.
Lisanne sat up, then pulled herself off the bed, a determined look on her face.
She had a party to get ready for.
* * *
“Hey, man,” said Daniel, as he strolled into Harry’s room.
He was feeling a lot calmer since he’d spent time with Pops. The old man’s company had stopped him from doing something spectacularly rash, and although they hadn’t talked about anything in particular, just working together on Sirona had taken the heat out of the situation and given him a chance to cool his temper.
Lisanne’s parents had both apologized again. Ernie’s had been rather stiff, but Monica’s had been effusive and heartfelt. She’d begged him to stay for Lisanne’s sake, and Daniel had found himself agreeing, albeit reluctantly.
He pulled off his oil smeared t-shirt and dug around in his messenger bag for something clean to wear for the party. There wasn’t a lot of choice since Lisanne had stolen his gray t-shirt to sleep in.
When he turned around, Harry was staring at him. Or rather, at his nipple rings.
Daniel was amused. They always provoked extreme reactions in people – he couldn’t really see why. After all, it was no different from getting your ears pierced, was it?
“Whoa!” whispered Harry. “Did… did that hurt?”
Yep, always the same question.
“Yeah, some. Not much.”
“Isn’t it… kind of twisted? Ya know, freaky?”
Daniel laughed. At least the kid had the guts to say what most people just thought.
“It’s not everyone’s thing. Whatever, man, I like it. Girls like it.”
Harry blushed.
“What about your tattoos – did they hurt?”
“Some more than others. Tats near bone tend to hurt the most, like the one on my hip,” he said casually.
Harry gulped. “You have one on your hip, too? Man! That’s a lot of tattoos.”
Daniel shrugged. “My brother has more – on both arms. He said the inside of his wrists hurt the most.”
“Is Lisanne going to get a tattoo?”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know. She’s never said she wanted one.”
“Because mom and dad would go nuclear.”
Daniel smiled. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.”
He pulled on his last clean t-shirt and saw that Harry was still staring at him.
“Um, can I ask you something?” said Harry, nervously. “Are you… are you doing it with my sister?”
“That’s kind of a personal question,” said Daniel, seriously.
Harry visibly cringed but plowed on.
“It’s just… because you’re kissing and stuff all the time. I’ve never seen her do that with a guy before.”
“Your sister means a lot to me. I care about her.”
Harry screwed up his face in disgust. “That’s pretty mushy.”
Daniel smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Um, so… I was wondering,” continued Harry, anxiously twisting his fingers together. “Can I ask you… about… stuff?”
Daniel paused, then sat down on the cot bed.
“Shoot.”
Harry dropped his head and stared at his hands with a look of abject horror and embarrassment on his face.
“Um… um…” he mumbled.
Daniel held back a sigh and waited patiently. He was beginning to get an idea about what Harry wanted to ask him.
“What is it, man?” he said, gently.
Harry’s face glowed red.
“Um… when you were my age, did you… um… did you… you know… um…”
“Whack off?” Daniel supplied helpfully.
“Yeah,” croaked Harry, risking a quick glance upwards.
“Sure,” replied Daniel easily, glancing at the Megan Fox poster on Harry’s wall. “All guys do.”
“Oh, okay.” Harry paused, then continued his mumble. It wasn’t easy for Daniel to work out what the kid was saying, but the gist of the conversation was all too clear. “How did you know what I was going to ask?” Harry choked out.
Daniel shrugged. “I’m a good guesser.” He wondered if that was the end of the conversation.
It wasn’t.
“Um, is it true that if you do it… a lot… you can go blind or something?”
“Jeez, man!” said Daniel. “Who’s been telling you this shit? The answer’s no. Why didn’t you just Google it?”
“Dad put a parent block on the computer,” Harry said with a grimace. “And you can’t look at school either.”
“At a friend’s house?” Daniel offered.
“My friend Jerry had some porn,” Harry said.
“Cool,” said Daniel, hiding a smile.
“Yeah?”
“Sure. Most guys watch porn. Some gi
rls, too.”
Harry’s eyes were huge. “Girls watch porn?”
“Some, yeah.”
“Does… does Lis watch porn?”
Daniel smiled. “Not my secret to tell, man.”
“Oh wow!” Harry’s face showed surprise and nascent respect for his sister. “Um, so, is it weird to get a boner watching porn when there’s another guy around?”
Daniel couldn’t help a small smile escaping.
“Embarrassing, isn’t it?”
Harry gave a relieved laugh. “Yeah!”
“Look, porn is supposed to make you feel horny. That’s kinda the point of it. It’s generally not a group activity unless you’re like, having a party with beer or whatever. Mostly guys watch it by themselves and jerk off. It’s normal. Girls do it, too.”
“Girls? H-how?”
Jeez, now he was giving a biology lesson?
“Girls have pussies, right?” Harry seemed to have frozen, as Daniel continued to explain. “Yeah, so their pussies have clits – like a little nub at the front?”
Harry looked shocked, although by which sentence, Daniel couldn’t tell.
“You rub the clit – or they do it themselves – they come.”
“Come?”
“You know – orgasm – man milk.”
“Is it… like guys, um…”
“Not exactly, but fuck, it feels good if you’re around when it happens. Like I said – it’s normal. Girls do it, guys do it.”
Harry looked relieved. “I had to do it twice when I came home,” he admitted. “After watching the porn movie.”
“Nah, that’s nothing, man. Lots of guys your age jack off the whole freakin’ day. I dunno how any of us ever manage to go to school.”
Harry gave a small chuckle and then pulled a face.
“And in my sleep,” he groaned.
“Yeah, that happens. Doing the laundry is a nightmare,” Daniel agreed sympathetically. “Especially when your mom wants to know why you’ve changed the sheets when she did it yesterday.”
“Yeah!”
“Look, kid. Guys jerk off. A lot. I don’t know about by the time a guy gets really old, like 30 or something, but yeah. It’s like putting your pants on in the morning – just part of the routine. Know what I’m saying?”