Chapter 9
No one can blame you
For walking away
~*/*\*~
Winter faded into the early part of spring. Life seemed ever the same to Dani. She would go to school, survive her classes, avoid Jessica and Drew, disappear into her secret room in the library during lunch or free hours, pick up Eddie at the end of the day, walk to work, talk to Sarah about life, walk back to her aunt and uncle's house, avoid her aunt if she was home or take over the chores while her aunt was out, do homework, read a chapter of Mossflower to Eddie before he went to bed, and then hole herself up in her room with either the playbook for Labyrinth or her anthology of Shakespearean plays until she fell asleep on top of her books.
The only peculiar happenings would be the random 'accidents' that happened to Jessica at school or at home. Sometimes Peter would find strange things in his bed or one of his favorite games would go missing. Veronica's hair straightener burned her hair and another time, the shower would only spew ice cold water. Blame normally went to Dani - but eventually no one could come up with a good enough reason for why these things were happening.
Not only were random 'accidents' occurring in the Pruit house, but random acts of kindness. Once, a package came addressed to Dani. Within it was a track phone with prepaid minutes on it. No explanation or card. A new soccer ball for Eddie was the next anonymous gift. Gift cards addressed to Dani were slipped into her school locker. She was able to go out and buy clothes that fit and were more her style.
The strangest kind act that Dani could not explain happened whenever she fell asleep on the floor or on top of her books on her bed. She would wake up the next morning tucked under the covers with one of the stuffed toys that once belonged to Sarah. More often than not, it was the little fox terrier named Sir Didymus tucked in with her.
Dani could only assume she had slept walked or something.
Work got a little better too. One afternoon while Dani was stocking shelves, Marcel came into the shop. The two bumped into each other and started talking about books. The pair struck up a timid friendship that they kept within the shop. Dani was a little disappointed that Marcel didn't go out of her way to talk to Dani at school - other than in the library the few times Dani sat out in the open - but she understood that Marcel liked her solitary way of life.
However, Dani's disappointment grew when she failed to see Jared as often as she once had. She would go to the park as often as she could most weekdays, but on weekends she almost always visited the park. The young woman would sit for hours on the stone bench - or climb up into the tree's branches - and wait for him to come by. He never did. She tried to explain to herself that he must be busy. After all, he worked with kids in some capacity. Kids could be a handful.
Spring approached. Dani couldn't help but wonder if the New Year would bring something different or better. How wrong she was.
~*/*\*~
Tonight was one of those nights. Dani already decided she wanted Veronica's phone to blow up or something. Dani was currently stuck in the kitchen washing dishes - which wasn't fun or easy because the food had crusted to the dishes. She wondered if Jessica purposefully let dishes sit and get grody in order to make Dani's life miserable. She still had homework to do too.
Yelling could be heard from the living room. Veronica was making Peter angry - something about the television.
Eddie looked up from his place at the kitchen table with a worried expression on his face. Dani felt sorry for him. He hated the fighting as much if not more than Dani. Drying her hands, she gave Eddie a wry smile before making her way toward the living room. Maybe she could curtail the death threats.
"Give me the remote!" Veronica shouted.
"You had it all afternoon!" Peter retorted.
Dani eyed the pair who were ignorant of their audience. Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, she belted, "SHUT UP!"
The pair looked at her with a mixture of irritability and astonishment.
"Now that I have your attention," Dani said as she winced at the sore throat she now had, "might I remind you that you both probably have homework and neither one of you has done it." The pair scoffed or moaned. "If neither one of you are going to work on it, then I suggest shutting up so those of us who do care about stuff like grades can study."
"Whatever, Little-Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes." Veronica huffed as she snatched the remote from Peter's grip. "Some of us have more important things to do."
"Yeah, like wasting brain cells," Dani muttered under her breath.
Peter looked ready to pounce on his sister but refrained. Her stormed over to a seat and threw himself on it and snatched up his Nintendo DS.
"I don't see why you even bother," Veronica countered as she stared at the television screen and flipped channels. "You're not going to get anything higher than a C anyway. All the teachers hate you."
Crossing her arms in front of her as a sign of discomfort and defiance, Dani questioned, "And whose fault is that?"
"I don't know, pyromaniac murderer." Veronica sing-songed.
Dani's eyes grew hard. "Veronica -"
"Or maybe boyfriend-stealing-bitch should be your new title," Veronica mused as she glared evilly at Dani.
"Not my fault your sex-craved meat-head of a boyfriend can't take a well meant hint." Dani snapped.
Veronica threw the remote to the floor and stood up. "Like he would have anything to do with you unless you were selling yourself!"
"Oh, we all know whose selling herself, Veronica!" Dani threw back.
"Stop it!" Eddie's plea caused all eyes to focus on the little boy. "Just stop." He plead. "We're family, remember? Families don't fight!"
"Oh, grow up, Edward!" Veronica growled. "If you were any part of this family, you would hate Danica too!"
Dani's eyes narrowed at the other girl. A warning tone returned to her voice, "Veronica!"
"I'd rather be part of Dani's family than this one!" Eddie's voice quivered as he glared up at his older sister. "She's nice! A lot nicer than you!"
"Well, you may as well be a part of her family you bastard!" Veronica shouted.
"Veronica!" Dani gasped in shock.
But Veronica wasn't listening. "You know what? That's what you are! You're not a part of this family. You were a mistake! Something that never should have happened. You're a -"
Veronica never finished what she was about to say. The next minute, she was sprawled out on the floor with a welt growing on her chin. Dani stood over her cousin with a sore fist, but a murderous glint to her mismatched eyes.
Time seemed to hold still.
Realization dawned on Dani what felt like a century later. Her eyes widened. What had she just done?
"Danica!" A shrill voice brought everyone back to reality.
Eddie was crying, but not as loud as Veronica. Peter was shouting random words hysterically. Jessica stood in the doorway, swaying and supported by one of her friends.
Dani couldn't even stutter an excuse or explanation. Jessica pushed herself off of her friend and stumbled toward the stunned teenage girl. A slap across the face caused Dani to stagger backwards, but she remained standing in a daze. Dani's hand covered the angry red mark with still more shock.
"I want you out of this house. Now!" Jessica shouted over the din. "Get out of here before I kill you!"
No comforting voice rose in her mind. No snide remarks. Nothing. Dani only felt fear and the need to run. To leave.
Dani brushed past Jessica and shoved the other woman standing at the door out of the way. She ran. She ran down the street without shoes. Her socks became soaked in the spring-rain puddles. She skidded and slipped over grass covered lawns. Her feet hurt from slapping against gravel and pavement. Still - she ran. Without a look or thought for the nightmare she was leaving behind. Dani ran.
Once her lungs began to burn from exertion, only until she felt like she was about to collapse, did Dani stop. She fell to her knees and felt her sweatpants tear at the knee. Pain jumped up and down her leg. Rolling until she was sitting, Dani lifted shaking hands to her now bleeding knees. She hissed at the sting her wavering touch elicited.
Looking around, Dani took in her surroundings. It was dark. No one was around. She was - somewhere. Shivering from spent adrenaline, Dani ran a hand through her hair. What to do? What to do?
Standing unsteadily, Dani began to stumble toward the only safe place she could think of. The park.
She reached her little hideaway over the bridges and under the great, big oak tree. She collapsed on the bench. Unable to move another step, unable to think. Dani curled up and brought her legs up to her chest to conserve some heat.
The shivering didn't stop as she felt her jumbled thoughts and recollection of the events wash over her.
Homeless. She was homeless.
Tears rolled down her pale cheeks as she felt truly alone.
Lost and utterly alone.
Author's Note: I am SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO sorry for not posting sooner! I was having loads of computer troubles this summer. :( I wasn't able to access the internet and getting my computer fixed took longer than expected. This is the result of my guilt. I don't know how often I'll be posting this year, but I'll do my best!
