Spoilers: This takes place during Leave it to Beaver
Rated: PG-13
Notes: The title comes from the art movement Dadaism. It can relate to the word 'dada' meaning the way a child would say the word father. Or it can relate to the style of Dada where the art work is irrational and illogical and lives in the moment.
He can't be caught.
The thought races through his brain over and over until his whole body seems to be buzzing with that one truth. He can't be caught.
He's come too far now. He's got too much to give up just because Veronica found something she had no business getting involved in. The car is small and cramped but Aaron hides in the back seat. He's too determined to let her get away.
He images for one terrifying moment what could happen if Veronica exposes the tapes. Even if no one could prove he killed Lily, they would know he had sex with a minor. He'd be ruined. The press would have a field day. The pictures would be on the internet within hours. He'd be the laughing stock of the nation. If he could avoid jail.
No. There is no way that can happen.
Logan would be crushed. Aaron has always done everything in power to make sure Logan never knew of his affair with Lily. It was obvious how much the boy cared for her and Aaron could never bear to see his son hurt. To see the tapes would destroy the poor kid. And wasn't he already having a tough enough year with his mother's death?
He can picture his son's face if he discovered the truth. The eyes slant and lips curl as he slipped into the mask of hate that he wore more and more since Lily's passing. Then Logan's face morphed into his father's face, wrinkled and tired but as clear as if he were in the car. Aaron could see him watching the evening news with a beer in one hand and a remote in the other as an announcement cut through whatever program he was watching. The famous Aaron Echolls had sex with teenage girls! With perfect clarity he can see the old eyes widen even as the flabby lips spread into a knowing grin. As Veronica starts the car Aaron could hear his father whisper that he always knew he'd blow it sooner or later.
Because his father had told him not to go into acting. He'd warned his son not to waste time or money on something like a career in films. For months he'd warned with words and fists that no son of his would be coddled while throwing his life away. If Aaron wanted to disgrace an honest family of hard workers by running off to follow dreams of grandeur, he'd have to do without having any financial aid to fall back on.
Even after he moved to California, even after he began getting jobs, even after he stared in his first role; his father would repeat his warning. It wasn't until Aaron bought his parents a house twice the size of their old one that his father finally stopped warning of his immanent failure. His mother had smiled her tired smile and kissed his cheek lightly and told him she was so proud just soft enough so that his father couldn't hear. His father just took the keys to the house and told him it wouldn't last.
"You'll blow it sooner or later," he'd told Aaron in front of the house. The fresh paint gleamed behind him. "You always do."
And if Aaron blew this now he'd be through. No more chances, he'd be done. His mother would cry for days. His father would nod and say he'd known it would happen all along. Not the specifics, of course, but he knew that his son would somehow ruin the family name.
Veronica's phone rings and the car sways slightly as she tries to steer and answer it at the same time. He sifts with the car until he's sitting straight up on the seat. He watches as she talks and drives.
And he honestly doesn't want to have to do this but he has no choice. He can't be caught. He genuinely likes Veronica, genuinely likes Keith too, but he can't just sit back and wait for the Mars family to destroy him.
Keith will get over the death of a child eventually. And Logan will move on after awhile too. Even though the kid has had a tough year, he'll bounce back. It took him awhile, but he seems to have finally recovered from when Lily forced him to kill her.
Veronica hangs up her phone, checks the rear view mirror and sees him. Aaron sees her eyes lock on this reflection and he knows. This is it. The time is now.
Because he really can't be caught.