Northbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway
31 AUG 2025
12:49 hours local
"You still got Dad's Chevelle?" Danny inquired.
"My baby? Sure do" Joe proudly replied.
"Surprised you brought your daily driver down here. Would have been a good time to give that beauty a good run" Danny opined.
"I thought about it, but now that she's over 50 years old and officially an antique, I only take her out to car shows, parades, and the occasional night out with Angie" Joe grinned.
"Yeah, and to think that I was conceived in the back seat of that car" Danny grunted.
"That's one memory of her that I don't need bro" Joe fired back.
"You can remember it the next time you're making out in the back seat with Angie" Danny chuckled.
"Seriously Danny?" a frustrated Joe asked.
"Good to see that I can still get under your skin after all these years" Danny noted.
Joe brought the conversation back on track. "You are going to have to face him at some point".
"Maybe, maybe not" Danny replied.
"Danny, he was just a little kid, if anything, your issues don't lie with him. He's as much a victim in this as you are" Joe countered.
"He had his part in it and he knew what he was doing" Danny responded.
"Come on, I was his age and it didn't bother you when I pissed you off or got you in trouble" Joe replied.
"If memory serves, it was usually me getting you into trouble" Danny corrected.
"True dat bro, but on those rare occasions that it was my fault, you never reacted the same way to me" Joe stated.
"It was different with you, the way our parents acted if it was you compared with him" Danny informed his younger brother.
"So, blame it on them as I'm sure you have, but not on Jamie. You've ignored him for 35 years, you don't think that you've punished, no, strike that, hurt him enough?" Joe pointedly inquired.
Joe noticed the far away look in Danny's eyes as he stared straight ahead, lost in thought, and knew that he had drilled his point home.
8070 Harborview Terrace
Brooklyn, NY
4 FEB 1983
16:46 hours local
Mary Reagan looked over at her husband and smiled. "That was the last load" She stated as the moving truck began to drive away.
"We are finally in our new house" Frank exclaimed before kissing his wife, not knowing that his two elder children were watching.
"Gross, can you save the PDA for later?" Danny inquired.
"Awww, that was so sweet Dad" Erin stated.
"The differences between sons and daughters" Mary chuckled.
At that moment, the quiet of the new house was broken by the whine of four-month Jamison.
"I'll take care of the baby, Danny, go help your father set up his room" Mary ordered.
"But Mom, I haven't even finished unpacking my own stuff" Danny complained.
Mary picked up a large wooden spoon from the counter. "Don't argue with me Daniel or you'll be spending your first night under this roof with a sore behind."
"Yes Ma'am" Danny said as he sulked away towards Jamie's room.
Erin giggled as she headed off to her room to unpack.
"Mary, did you have to threaten him?" Frank inquired.
"The only two things that get through his thick Irish head are being grounded or turned over my knee and quite honestly Frank, I find it a lot easier lately getting the latter over with than having to spend my time enforcing the former, now get upstairs and help him or I'll be using this spoon on your behind later tonight" She mischievously grinned.
"Danny, wait up son" Frank called out as he mockingly ran towards the stairs.
Northbound Baltimore-Washington Parkway
31 AUG 2025
12:54 hours local
"That was the first of hundreds of times that I had to sacrifice what I had planned in order to serve his Royal Highness" Danny stated.
"And when you objected, Mom punished you, I know, and she was wrong. It was her job and Dad's, not yours, Erin's or mine" Joe replied. "But put the blame where it belongs Danny, on Mom and Dad, not on Jamie".
"Oh come on Joe, you've always stood up for him, even when he did something that cost you a licking" Danny angrily retorted.
"Sure, but with me, it's because I made a bad choice in the activities I involved him in. Until I was 15 or so, I never had to be responsible for him and if I had something important planned, they'd get a sitter to watch him or Erin would come over or take him home with her" Joe replied.
"Yeah, but not back then, no, it was always me. He wasn't feeling well so I had to cancel my plans so that I could stay home and babysit Little Lord Fauntleroy, or how many times did I have to back out of going out with my friends because he would do something to piss me off knowing that I'd be grounded and he'd have me stuck at home to play with, or how many of my things did he break or hide and when I finally did something about it because Mom wouldn't dare discipline her precious prince, did my ass pay the price" Danny responded.
"He has a name Danny" Joe noted.
"That would be FUBAR" Danny grunted in reply.
"Huh?" Joe inquired.
"It's a military acronym for 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'" Danny smirked.
"That's neither funny nor constructive" Joe admonished.
Danny quickly caught on. "Is this going to be a four hour shrink session because if it is, you can drop me off at the next bus or train depot and I'll catch a southbound back to D.C."
Joe took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "How about you view this as an opportunity to finally get whatever anger you have out of your system so that you can begin the rest of your life in a good place because your days of taking your anger out on Marines like the Staff Sergeant are over brother, and if you don't learn to properly manage your feelings, you will either have a stroke, a heart attack, or will wind up dead or in prison from an act that you won't be able to walk away from".
Danny chewed on this for the next 5 miles before he nodded.
"Maybe you're right Joe. Maybe the problem here is that I have known for a long time that Jamie wasn't the real problem, that it was Mom" Danny stated.
"Then why take it out on Jamie?" Joe asked.
"Because by the time I came to that realization 15 years ago, Mom was dead, and too much time had gone by for me to reconcile with Jamie. I had lost my chance to vent my anger on the person most responsible for not only hurting me, but for irrevocably damaging my relationship with my youngest sibling, and I was ashamed for letting her do that to me, and for how I responded". Danny confessed.
"Still want to catch that southbound to D.C.? Joe asked.
"Shut up private and drive" Danny growled.
"Yes Sir" Joe grinned.
"And don't "Sir" me, I work for a living" Danny snapped back.
"You mean that you worked for a living" Joe corrected. "As of an hour ago, you Sergeant Major are an unemployed bum" Joe laughed.
Danny nodded and laughed with him.
Maybe Joe's idea of a drive back home would turn out for the best.
Danny leaned his seat back and closed his eyes. "So this is what a mobile shrink couch feels like" He quipped before he finally understood.
He darted up to a sitting position and stared directly at Joe. "You little shit, you didn't leave the Chevelle home because it's an antique, you wanted me to get all comfy in these leather seats so that I would talk" he accused.
"And where would you like to start Sergeant Major?" Joe inquired in his best clinician's voice, the trace of a smile on his face.
After a moment of giving Joe the stink eye, Danny turned rested his head and closed his eyes. "Just wanted you to know that you still can't pull one over on me" Danny stated.
"So noted" Joe nodded.
"Perhaps it would be best for me to start at the end and work my way back to the beginning" Danny responded.
Joe looked at the car's clock. "We have three hours remaining in your appointment, so where to begin is up to you".
"I was born a poor black child" Danny began.
"Hey asshole, I'm being serious here" Joe snapped.
"Marine Humor, sorry" Danny laughed knowing that he had gotten one over on Joe.
"Remember the day that I left? He asked Joe, who affirmatively nodded.
"Mom and Dad never spoke about it with us and come to think of it, neither have you."
"Then today's the day" Danny stated as he slowly exhaled. "Here's what happened" he began.
