D, My Name Is Danita

by Norma Fox Mazer

  “You know, the one with red sneakers. D.T. Goodman. Remember? From the video place.”

  “I thought so! Did he just sit down, or what?”

  “I guess he noticed me and … he just came around and started talking. He’s new here, he comes from California, someplace where Marilyn Monroe lived once.”

  “Who?”

  “Marilyn Monroe!”

  “Oh. So what?”

  “Nothing. It’s just something he told me. I think he’s lonely, Laredo. I guess he doesn’t know anybody but me yet.”

  “He’s cute, he should make friends fast.… How old is he?”

  “Nineteen.”

  “Too old for you, Dani.”

  “Laredo, all I did was talk to the guy.”

  “You watch it.”

  “Watch what?”

  “It. Yourself. You know what I mean.”

  “Laredo, he’s just a friend. I like Jon.”

  “Uh-huh. Listen, Dani, if you asked your father, he’d tell you the same thing. Nineteen is too old.”

  “Laredo, you’re hovering.”

  “I don’t want my girlfriend to do anything foolish.”

  “Have some trust in me!”

  “I do, I do. It’s just that sometimes I feel you’re so innocent and protected.”

  “And you’re worldly-wise and experienced?”

  “All I mean is that your life has been smoother or something than mine. I’m not trying to put anything down on you. I’m not trying to say I know things you don’t … although I do. I have a better sense of things than you—”

  “Laredo, maybe you better hang up and finish your homework.”

  “Did I make you mad?”

  “Ta, my child! Not at all. Not much, anyway. Ta-ta, Laredo. Talk to you tomorrow in school.”

  Chapter 14

  “Dani, how’s school going?” my father said. “Are you keeping up the marks?”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “It’s important. Your school record is being made right now.”

  “I know, Dad.” I matched my strides to his. Tonight had been our night to do the dishes together. We had a tradition of going out for a walk around the block as soon as we were done. It was our time together.

  I knew what was coming. The It’s not too soon to think about what you’re going to do when you graduate college pep talk. It wasn’t that I disagreed with Dad, it was just that I didn’t know what I was going to do. I wished I did. Laredo knew. Medicine. Lizbeth knew. Veterinary medicine. Even D.T. Goodman knew. Marine biology or journalism. He had two choices. I didn’t even have one.

  “Dad, I’ve got years before I even graduate high school. I have lots of time.”

  “It only looks that way now, sweetie. Life goes fast. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I made, letting things slide, letting life happen to you instead of making it happen. Drifting. That’s the way I was until I met your mother.”

  “And then it was love at first sight.”

  “She was my first love, and I was hers. I went to a movie—”

  “And there was Mom ushering—”

  “And all I did was watch her, not the movie.”

  I loved this story; I’d heard it all my life. Was I going to fall in love that way? My thoughts drifted to Jon. If he had to have someone else, Shirley was a good choice. Hypocrite, a little voice in my head said.

  Liking Shirley showed that Jon had good taste.

  Really? She’s so blonde and showy!

  She was beautiful … and smart. It meant Jon was the kind of boy who didn’t have to be superior to the girl.

  Don’t be so reasonable. In a minute you’ll be saying you don’t mind being the lowest of the low backstage.

  I liked being part of a crew—one of the gang.

  I suppose you love being the bottom rung on the ladder, the one everyone puts their foot on?

  “I didn’t say that!”

  “You didn’t say what?” Dad asked.

  Had I been talking out loud? I searched my mind for the last thing he had been saying. Something about Mom and a green scarf on their first date.

  “Dad, is that why you still have a favorite green scarf?”

  “You got it.”

  A man was jogging toward us. Just before he reached us, I recognized D.T. Here? Again? He came abreast of us, flashed a big smile, and went by.

  “I should get back to jogging,” Dad said. He patted his belly.

  I was sort of in shock. What was D.T. doing here? This wasn’t his neighborhood. He was way out of his way! Was it just coincidence or what?

  It was hard to believe anything bad about him. I liked his eyes. Brown, soft, gentle. But still … could you tell just by looking at a person what sort of character he had? When a horrible crime happened, when some crazed boy shot twelve people and afterward the reporters went to his neighbors, didn’t they always say things like, Oh, he was such a nice, quiet boy! He had such a sweet smile! I would have trusted him with my life!

  I glanced over my shoulder. D.T. was gone. He was always disappearing … then popping up again, just when I didn’t expect it.

  Chapter 15

  “Dani! Dani, over here.” I put on my glasses to see better. D.T. was standing near a car in front of school.

  “What are you doing here?” I said, going up to him.

  “I came to see you. How about a ride?”

  Don’t ever get into a car with a stranger. I could hear my mother’s voice.

  “Where’d the car come from?” I asked.

  “I rented it for the afternoon. I’m not working today. Don’t you think it’s a great day for a ride?”

  “I’m—I’m just going home. I have a lot of homework.”

  “I bet you’re a good student.” He had that intense way of gazing at me.

  “What were you doing last night?” I said suddenly.

  “Last night? Just watching TV in the Y lounge.”

  “I mean two nights ago,” I corrected myself. “When you were jogging on my street.”

  “Oh, yeah.” He smiled. “I was amazed to see you out walking. What a coincidence! Was that your father with you?”

  I nodded.

  “What do you think the statistical chance of that happening is, Dani? I mean, the two of us meeting like that?”

  “I don’t know. One in a thousand? Maybe one in a million!” Did he get my meaning? I didn’t think it was pure chance he’d been on our street.

  D.T. patted the roof of the car. “I miss having wheels. In California, I drove everywhere. Not having a car to jump into when I want to go somewhere feels like having my legs cut off.” He held the door open for me. “Come on, I’ll drive you home, at least. Dani, what’s the matter? It’ll be my pleasure! You won’t be putting me out of my way.”

  I hesitated for another moment, then I got in. “Just drive me straight home,” I said. “How’d you know I’d be here, anyway? I don’t always come out of school so early.”

  He pulled away from the curb. “I took a chance. You have to take chances in life sometimes if you want something.”

  And he gave me another one of those intense glances. Was he talking about more than parking in front of our school and waiting for me? What kind of chance was that?

  “I sold my good old Mustang before I came east,” he was saying. “I could have driven cross-country, but my mother didn’t want me to. She said she’d worry too much. Now I’m sorry I let her talk me out of it. What do you think, did I do right listening to her?” He put his hand on the back of my neck and gave it a little squeeze.

  Maybe I had been stupid to get into the car! I moved closer to the door and put my hand on the handle. Why had he come to school? Why didn’t he find a girl his own age to give a ride to?

  “Did I tell you I came east with a mission, Dani? I came here to find part of my family.”

  “Which part?” I glanced at the street sign. “Turn here.” If he didn’t do what I said, I’d jump out.


  “Came to find my father. I never met him. He doesn’t even know I’m alive.” He laughed briefly.

  Was that funny? “Why doesn’t he know you’re alive?”

  He glided to a stop for a red light. “He wasn’t around when I was born. He doesn’t even know he has a son.”

  “Why not?”

  “Simple. He and my mother weren’t married, and he wasn’t there when I was born, and she never let him know.”

  “Oh!”

  “Ri-i-i-i-ght,” D.T. said, looking at me with a faint smile. “Now you get it. When my grandparents found out my mother was pregnant, they picked up and moved away with her. Moved as far as they could go, right across the country.… Is this boring you?”

  I shook my head. “Were she and your father in love? Why didn’t they get married?”

  “They were in high school. My grandparents didn’t like him. And they were afraid of the disgrace for my mom. You know how it was back then.”

  “So your grandparents made them break up? That’s sad.”

  D.T. shrugged. “My mother was only sixteen. Her parents were pretty protective of her. She was their only child.”

  “Sixteen! That’s too young to have a baby.”

  “By the time I was born, she was seventeen, Dani. Anyway, my grandfather says my father took advantage of her.”

  “Took advantage of her?” That was so old-fashioned. “What does your mother say?”

  “She says she was too young for everything. She didn’t know how to exert her own will then.”

  Exert her will … took advantage of her … I wanted to laugh. Was that the way they talked in California?

  “If my grandparents hadn’t been so worried about what people would say, my mother’s whole life might have been different. Mine, too. Once I said that to my grandfather and he blew up.… Hey, good buddy, take it easy.” D.T. honked at a car that had cut in front of him. “My grandfather has a temper. I can see why my mother did what he wanted when she was a girl. He’s sort of a tyrant.”

  “Do you have his temper?”

  “No way! My mother says I have an easygoing personality. She says it’s like my father’s personality.”

  “Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Does your grandfather know you’re here looking for your dad?”

  D.T. shook his head slowly. “He knows I’m gone, but not where or why. He thinks I’m goofing off, bumming around the country. He’s mad at me. He didn’t want me to leave college.”

  “Couldn’t you just tell him the truth?”

  “No way,” he said. “You’d understand if you knew him.” He pulled up in front of my house. “Well, here you are, safe and sound.” He gave me a smile, as if he knew what I’d been thinking.

  I opened the door and got out. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Anybody home?” He looked past me at our house.

  “Probably. My mother only works half day today.”

  “Say, do you think she’d mind if I came in and got a glass of water? I’m really thirsty.”

  “Oh, uh, sure.” I felt a little odd about it, but what else could I say? He followed me up the walk and inside. “Mom?” I called. No answer. “Anybody home? Mom, are you out back?” I went into the kitchen.

  “Nice house.” D.T. said. “Really nice house.”

  He was looking at everything, peeking into the living room, looking up the stairs, and glancing into Dad’s study. It reminded me of the first time Laredo came to our house. In the kitchen, I looked out the window. The yard was empty. Then I saw the note from Mom on the refrigerator. BACK IN TWENTY MINUTES. WENT TO PICK UP LIZBETH FROM BROWNIES.

  I gave D.T. a glass of water. I felt nervous again. If my mother walked in, I didn’t know how I’d explain having a stranger in the house. He started to rinse the glass. “No, no, that’s all right.” I took it from him. “You better go now. I’m not supposed to have people in the house when I’m alone.”

  “Sure. I understand.”

  I watched him through the window. He was outside, and I was in. Good. I noticed how he walked, sort of listing to one side, with one shoulder raised more than the other. It was funny, but just then, watching him walk away made me feel, suddenly, as if I didn’t have any more doubts about him, as if he were someone I could really trust.

  Chapter 16

  “I know you’re feeling punk because of the job—” I began.

  “I’m not,” Laredo denied. We were on the way to her house.

  “Laredo, it’s perfectly normal to feel bad.” Her boss had found out how old she was and fired her.

  “It doesn’t bother me at all, Dani,” she said with one breath. And then with the next, “Darn it, I was doing a good job! What difference does it make to them how old I am?”

  “Look at it this way, they didn’t send you to jail.”

  “Thank you!” she said. “A real plus. I’m very comforted.”

  “And he didn’t tell your mother, Laredo.”

  “Another plus,” she said.

  “And here’s a third one for you. You made money.”

  She smiled when I said that. As soon as we got to her house, the first thing she did was go into her room and open her top bureau drawer. “Look, Dani.” She took out a wad of bills and scattered them over the bed, covering it like a green bedspread.

  “I’ll never have so much money,” I said. The only time my parents let me work is weekends, baby-sitting.

  Laredo scooped up a handful of bills. “What should I buy? Clothes …? Maybe something for my mother. She wants a toaster oven. I want new dishes. Ours are really grotty. Well, one thing I know I’m going to do is ask a boy out to the movies—”

  “You are?”

  “—plus, pay for him.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, whoever pays is in charge.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s just the way it is. Basic law of the world. That’s why boys are always paying for girls. So they can be in charge and snap their fingers and get the girls to do—”

  “What?” I said. “What?”

  “Whatever. But if I pay, I’m the one to snap my fingers!”

  “Laredo, that’s so cynical. You’re saying whoever pays for the other person gets to snap their fingers and do—”

  “—whatever. Right.”

  “And whoever gets paid for gets fingers snapped at and has done to them—”

  “—whatever.… Right again,” she said.

  “But suppose he pays, and you don’t want him to … whatever, because you don’t like him that much?”

  “Then why am I at the movies with him?”

  “You made a mistake. He turned out to be gross and stupid, with dragon breath.”

  “My bad luck,” Laredo said.

  “You mean you would still have to—”

  “Right. Because he paid.”

  “That’s disgusting! That’s not free will. I’m never going to … whatever we’re talking about, just because someone paid for a dumb movie for me.”

  “Then you better pay for your own dumb movies.”

  “Believe me, I will, Laredo.”

  “Who are you going with?”

  “I’m not going with anyone, Laredo. You’re the one who’s going. What boy are you going to ask?”

  “I haven’t made up my mind yet. Any suggestions?”

  “Just do not ask Ronnie or Davis Buck, or I might never speak to you again.”

  “Oh, them,” she snickered. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t. That was pure desperation that day I let them hang around me in the gym.”

  “Why don’t you ask Geo?”

  “No, Dani, he’s my phone friend.”

  “So?”

  “It wouldn’t work, because whoever I choose—I’ve got it all planned out—I go up to him, tap him on the shoulder, and say, ‘You’re invited to a movie, paid for by me!’”

  “So tap Geo on the shoulder.”

  “Dani, how do I tap him on the shoulder over the phone?”
<
br />   “Give me two minutes and I’ll figure it out,” I said.

  Laredo laughed and shuffled her money together like a pack of cards. “Let’s get something to eat.” We went into the kitchen and made fruit-and-ice cream shakes. “Why don’t we double date?” she said. “You ask someone to the movies, too.”

  “No. I can’t do that.”

  “Yes, you can. I want you to have a date. You’re so cute, I can’t understand why the guys aren’t flocking to your door—”

  “Maybe they don’t know my address.”

  “Dani, be serious. It’s about time you had your first date. I bet even your father wouldn’t mind.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” I said, tipping up my glass. But what I was thinking was that nobody was calling me. Nobody was asking me to go to a movie. Nobody was asking me to go anywhere.

  But I didn’t take Laredo and her plans into account.

  Chapter 17

  “Dani, hi. Laredo here. What are you doing?”

  “Not much. Reading. How about you?”

  “Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see what I’ve been up to. Where are you, Dani, in the kitchen?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who else is there?”

  “No one. My parents went out. Lizbeth’s watching TV.”

  “Excellent. Sit down, I have something to tell you. I did something for you.”

  “Why do I have to sit down?”

  “Take the phone and sit down, Dani, so you don’t fall down. I called Jon.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. I called Jon Haberle and invited him to a movie.”

  “You want to tell me that again?”

  “I. Called. Jon. And. I invited. Him. To. A. Movie.”

  “Why?”

  “I did it for you.”

  “Am I missing something here, Laredo? I thought you said you invited him to a movie. How is that supposed to benefit me?”

  “Open your ears. Listen. And you will understand. I called Jon, and this is what I said. ‘Hi, is this Jon?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said. ‘Hi-i-i-i! This is Dani Merritt.’”

  “You didn’t say that.”

  “I did.”

  “Laredo, you didn’t say it.”

  “I did.”

  “Laredo, tell me you didn’t say, ‘This is Dani Merritt.’”