“Well,” I said rather sheepishly, “it might be because I slept with his ex-girlfriend a couple of months ago. At least I thought they were broken up at the time. But I might have been mistaken. I didn’t really ask.”
He scoffed and shook his head before turning his attention back to the papers in the folder. “Any witnesses. The cops haven’t finished their investigation.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It was really fast, and I don’t know if anyone saw Jimmy start anything. They may have just seen me finishing things.”
Again, he nodded, then let out a long breath. “Okay, they’ll take you before the judge for your arraignment in an hour or so. You are to say two words and two words only. ‘Not Guilty.’ No smirks, no smiles, no attitude. Do you understand? Judges just love it when young punks give them attitude. They get to pound their gavel. Do you get me?”
I swallowed hard, “Yes, Sir.”
True to his word, one hour later I was standing before a crotchety old judge who looked like he’d learned at the feet of Moses himself. The old man looked up from the file in front of him and looked at me like I was a bug in his soup.
At the next table was the assistant district attorney with a dozen files in front of her. She looked like someone’s mom juggling a dozen different projects. She glanced over with a cold stare that could freeze boiling water in half a second.
There was a bunch of mumbo jumbo about my case number and the charges. Basically, assault and the fact that I was eighteen, and would be facing big boy jail.
“How do you plead?” the judge asked.
“Not Guilty,” I answered without smirking or smiling. Not the slightest bit of attitude.
“Your Honor …” my lawyer started as if he knew what he was doing.
The Judge frowned, “Mr. Dunham, this is a little beneath you I would think.”
My lawyer shrugged his shoulders, “A friend of the family.”
The judge nodded, accepting the explanation as to why this expensive lawyer would be dealing with a low-life like me.
“Your Honor,” Mr. Dunham began again. “This is an obvious self-defense case. Once we have the witnesses and security tapes, I believe the case will be dismissed. My client is a lifelong resident of Everson. His family owns a local business. In addition, my client cannot afford to miss school. He is only a few months away from graduating and the next month is critical.”
“Your Honor,” the other lawyer said with obvious exasperation. “He put two men in the hospital.”
“Irrelevant,” my lawyer said, “if it was self-defense, it was justified. Both appropriate and proportionate as is obvious by the injuries my client received.” He pointed to my face.
The judge studied me then looked back down at the papers in front of him. “You asking for own recog?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“You going to vouch for him?”
My gut tightened as Mr. Dunham gave me a strange look. I could see it in his eyes. He hated the idea of putting his reputation on the line for some punk he didn’t even know. But if he said no, the Judge would set my bail so high it would rival the national debt and I’d be spending my time waiting for trial in a small cell.
“Yes, Sir,” he answered. “If by some miscarriage of justice this goes to trial, I will make sure he is there.”
The judge paused for a second then struck his gavel. “Released on own recognizance. We will let the police finish their work and then set a date. Is that all right with you, Ms. Thompson?”
The assistant DA sighed, obviously disappointed. But then, reluctantly said, “Yes, Your Honor.”
The judge put the folder aside, then grabbed another one off the pile in front of him. Mr. Dunham put some papers into his expensive briefcase. then turned to me. “You are free to go. Go back with the guards, you’ll be processed out. Call my office tomorrow.”
And with that, it was over. The security people were moving the next low-life in and waiting for us to vacate the area.
Suddenly, I realized I was free. God, I owed Jess big time.
Chapter Three
Jess
Three days later and my stomach continued to churn as I thought about watching Danny be led out in cuffs. Some images can’t be ignored. I was so messed up I couldn’t even pay attention to my best friends Katie and Bella argue about prom dresses. Both of them were going. Two of the nerd pack had mustered the courage and asked them.
Me? It seemed I didn’t register on anyone’s radar.
I was zoning out when my world slammed to a full halt. There are few things more disturbing than Danny Parsons plopping down across from you at lunch in a cafeteria filled with curious students. Terrifying might be a better word.
I could feel a hundred eyes boring into me. Each one wondering how this was even possible. Their second thoughts were around trying to remember the girl’s name. At least half of them thought it might start with a J.
“Hey Jess,” he said with that cocky smile of his. The one that made my knees wobble.
All I could do was force my jaw shut as I stared at him. It had been three days since the ‘Incident’ as I thought of it, and Danny hadn’t been at school. I know because I’d been on the lookout. Somehow, the story hadn’t gotten out. I hadn’t told anyone what I had witnessed, not even Katie or Bella.
It was as if I was more worried about Danny’s feelings than my friends. I know, major friend fail. But it was what it was. Both of them were staring at Danny, then at me. I didn’t have to look to know that each of them was shellshocked. I didn’t talk to boys. Especially not boys like Danny Parsons.
And what was even more pertinent. Boys did not talk to me. Again, especially not boys like Danny Parsons.
The swelling around his eye had gone down and the bruise had turned over to the yellow and purple stage. Still, on Danny Parsons, it looked like it worked. It was his lips that held my attention. The splits had healed, making them perfectly kissable.
My god, I realized as he smirked at me. Could he read my thoughts? No, please no.
“Listen you were great the other day. Thanks,” he said with that killer smirk again.
Katie gasped, obviously jumping to the wrong conclusion. Danny laughed. My cheeks flamed with embarrassment as I realized I was going to have to get new friends.
“I owe you big time,” he added and I actually believed he meant it.
“It wasn’t that big a deal,” I was able to say as I looked down at my salad, terrified he’d see the truth in my eyes. I had the biggest crush on him. A fact that I’d been able to hide for seven years. But if he saw the truth, I would die a long slow death.
“Yes, it was a big deal,” he said. “How fast it … Never mind. Anything. Whatever I can do to make your life better, let me know. Please.”
I shrugged and waved my hand, dismissing his offer.
“No, I’m serious.”
I looked up at him and my mouth began to say things before I could stop myself. “You could take me to the prom.”
My heart stopped. Had I said that aloud?
Katie gasped. Bella’s eyes grew as big as silver dollars and I swore she’d faint right there. But it was Danny I focused on. How could I be so stupid? How had I let myself say something so idiotic? Me, Danny going to the prom had to be the most ridiculous idea ever.
A thousand emotions flashed through me. Mortifying fear being at the top of the list. How had I let myself do this? It was as if my mouth had a mind of its own. It had decided to express years of wishful thinking without giving me a chance to filter it out.
“Hear me out,” I added before he could laugh in my face. Desperately I fought to figure out some excuse. Something that might explain my irrational behavior. “It won’t be for real.”
His surprised disbelief expression turned over to confused bewilderment.
Slowly an idea began to work its way to the front of my brain. A chance to hide the truth and maybe save the last shred of any self-respect I had left.
“I need to breakthrough,” I told him. Both Katie and Bella frowned but I ignored them. The boy across from me was the one I needed to convince before he discovered the real reason. “I’m tired of being invisible. You taking me to the Prom will set me up for next year. Guys will see me differently.”
Again, both Katie and Bella looked at me like I’d grown a second head. I was definitely not the Jessica Dunham they knew and loved. Then slowly the truth of the situation began to seep into their tiny brains and they both jumped in to help.
“Hey, it makes sense,” Katie said nodding approval at my excuse.
“And girls will ask her to parties in the hopes she brings you,” Bella added.
Okay, my friends were the best after all. But I could see it behind their eyes. That hint of doubt. No way had I planned this all out. They knew me too well. I was scrambling on my feet to stay alive and it was blatantly obvious to them.
Danny frowned and slowly shook his head. “So, let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to take you to the prom. But only to get you more dates in the future. So basically, I’m a sacrificial lamb you want to display in hope of baiting a new catch.
I swallowed hard. When he said it like that, it sort of changed everything. But again, I couldn’t really tell him the truth now could I. How could I ever explain that I had laid in bed at night imagining walking into the prom on his arm. I had fallen asleep thinking about the looks of envy on every girl’s face. But most of all, I had imagined what it would be like to be held in his arms as we danced the night away.
And yes, I do know I was being ridiculous and stupid. But a girl’s dreams can get out of control. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be dreams.
Holding my breath, I watched him weigh and evaluate things. I could see it in his eyes as he looked for traps and problems. Suddenly a wave of despair washed over me.
“Never mind,” I said as I waved my hand. “It’s not that big a deal. Just an idea.”
Danny continued to study me. Both Katie and Bella were holding their breaths. Me, I had already given up as my stomach began to shrivel up into nothing.
I quickly looked down at my food, too terrified to look into his eyes. The thought of seeing disdain, or worse pity, in his eyes made my body want to shake with shame. What had I been thinking? A girl like me did not ask a boy like Danny Parsons to the prom. It just wasn’t done.
In the long history of boys and girls. No one had ever been so stupid.
“Sure,” he said, forcing me to look up at him. Sure, it was not a big deal and could be forgotten? Or. Sure, I’d love to take you to the Prom?
He smiled at me, making my heart skip several beats. “If that’s what you want. Then, the Prom it is. And hey, being used as bait will be different.”
My heart stopped. Katie squealed. Bella shook her head in disbelief. He had said yes. How was this possible?
A new fear filled me. I was going to the prom with Danny Parsons. It would have frightened any sensible girl. What if he hated every minute? What if he despised me for making him go through with this fiasco of an idea?
I had basically forced him into it. Oh, how could I be so stupid? There are worse things that a long-distance crush where the guy doesn’t know you exist. What happens when he discovers you and finds out he doesn’t like what he found?
My heart squeezed shut as I tried to remember how to breathe. This was so unfair to him. How could I be so mean?
“If you ask me, it doesn’t begin to pay you back,” he said as if he knew my concerns. Was I that bad at hiding my thoughts? Or was it just him? Could he read me better than anyone else in this world? And if so, why?
“I will get the tickets,” I told him, hoping to alleviate some of the burden.
He scoffed and shook his head. “No way. If we are doing this, we are doing it right. And I won’t have my date being the only girl in the school who buys Prom tickets. Besides, your dad would kill me.”
Dad! Of course, that was why he had said yes. My father was keeping him out of jail. Now, everything made sense. Danny had agreed because to not do so might cost him a couple of years in jail. Even Danny Parsons couldn’t take that risk.
My insides settled as I realized the truth and grew to accept it. He was repaying a favor. That was all this was. As long as I kept reminding myself that then I could get through this without a broken heart.
“What’s your number?” he asked as he pulled out his phone.
Again, a surrealistic event. Danny Parsons was asking me for my phone number. Another bucket list item checked off. Swallowing hard, I gave it to him and watched him enter it into his phone. I knew this was all unreal. But somehow, I couldn’t completely dismiss it.
The bell range reminding me that there was a real world still out there.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said as he stood up. “Thanks again, you are an angel.”
He gave me a quick smile then turned and walked out of my life. Of course, I couldn’t stop myself from staring at his wide shoulders and those jeans. God the man was perfect.
Katie grabbed my arm in a velociraptor grasp and pulled me back around. “Give,” she demanded. “Who are you and what did you do with Jessica?”
I ignored her when my phone vibrated in my hand. My heart jumped. A simple text message from Danny. “Thanks, Angel. Here is my number. Call me any time, I still owe you.”
My insides turned in on themselves. Oh, how I wished he had asked me because of me. Not some debt. Not some fear of losing my father’s services. Me. Just me. That was how that was supposed to go.
Katie and Bella both continued to frown at me, silently asking me to explain.
I shrugged. “How else was I going to get him to take me to the prom?”
Both of them stared at me with open mouths. All I could do was shoot them a small smile and leave them there in their confusion. I’d explain later. But it would do them good to wonder. Besides, I was enjoying their envious looks. And those were but the first. There were going to be so many more when I walked into the prom on Danny’s arm.
Chapter Four
Danny
Okay, that was unexpected, I thought to myself as I made my way to class. Even in a week of unexpected surprises. Everything from a slugfest of a fight, a day in a cramped jail cell, a black eye that looked like an Easter egg left in the sun all summer. Even with all that, Jessica Dunham asking me to take her to the prom had to top them all.
As I sat in Mr. Turnbuckle’s Economics class, I let his droning lecture wash over me as I tried to understand what had happened.
I mean the girl was as cute as a newborn kitten. She must have had a dozen guys chasing after her. Especially this last year. She’d come into her own. She’d gotten all … shapely was the best word I could think of. Jess had always been cute. Shy, but cute. But now, she made a guy think of things. Constantly.
Like every other guy in school, I just naturally kept a tab on every pretty girl. It seemed like they would register on my radar and I’d file them away for future interest. Who they were seeing, did they show any interest? Big brothers or Biker dads to worry about. All the facts and figures added to the file. I know, not cool, but hey, I’m a guy. That was the way we worked. But Jess was different. I don’t know why, but I’d always thought of her as out of bounds. As if I wasn’t allowed to interact with her because she wasn’t allowed to get hurt.
Again, I know I didn’t treat other girls that way. But like I said, Jess was different.
For the rest of the school day, my head was in a cloudy whirl as I tried to figure out what had happened. This whole sacrificial lamb aspect sort of made sense. I knew how things worked in the female world. The competition and social climbing were super important. And I guess me taking her might help. I didn’t think she needed it. She was smart, pretty, kind, she could have fit in anywhere. But if it helped Jess, then I was in.
I couldn’t figure it out but had to put it all aside when I got home and found my grandfather coughing up a
lung. The house smelled of that old man smell and Vic’s. The vapor rub was useless for fourth stage lung cancer, but he swore it helped.
“Did you take your medicine? Did the nurse stop by?” I asked as I gently rubbed his back while he leaned over the garbage can. God, he was nothing but skin and bones I thought to myself as that all too familiar fear filled me. What was I going to do when he died? He was all I had in this world. There wasn’t anyone else left.
What about him? I thought to myself. What happens if I end up in jail? Who cares for him while I rot in a cell? The idea made my insides quiver with terror. No way did I want his last thought in this life to be about his only grandson wasting his life in prison.
“How about the lunch I left you?” I asked as I tried to get a grip on the fear rushing through me.
He pointed to the TV tray with a bony finger as he continued to cough. Half a sandwich and a bit of soup, that was all he’d eaten.
“Do I need to take you in for a treatment?” I asked.
He shook his head and tried to take a deep breath from his oxygen mask. I kneeled down to look him directly in the eye. It was the only way I could tell when he was being all macho and refusing help. But this time I was able to relax. He was telling me the truth.
“Call Davidson,” he gasped as he pulled the mask away for a second. “At the Yard. I want a report.”
I laughed to myself. The man was going to be dead in the next three months and he was still worried about the lumber yard. But then, it was all he had to show for a lifetime of hard work.
“Okay, Papa,” I told him as I gathered up the dirty dishes. “Let me get settled and I’ll give him a quick call. But I’m sure things will be fine.”
He scoffed as he shook his head. In my grandfather’s world, things were never fine. Not unless he was personally involved and did it himself.
Rebel of my Dreams Page 2
