Pt. 12: The Unexpected
As David stepped out of his BMW and locked it, he glanced to make sure that the garage door was closed before heading on inside.
After finishing the awkward meal at Pizza Prince, it was with great relief that David had woven his way home.
Granted he hadn't spent a whole lot of time at his parents place in the Crewe Neck until recently, but it was the closest thing to home that he had at the moment.
However as he made his way through the hallways towards his room, he heard a voice coming from the study he hadn't expected at all.
"…I don't care what that pencil dicked bastard thinks, the price of Gold isn't going to go up anytime soon short of a war starting."
David turned and knocked on the door, and discovered that it was slightly ajar.
Sitting at his desk was Benjamin Bentley, balding head and all.
"Listen we'll talk later." Benjamin said to what David assumed was an employee before hanging up.
"David, I was hoping to see you, how's my boy doing?"
David for his part recovered quickly and answered, "I'm doing pretty good Dad, now that I'm out of that hellhole."
Benjamin sighed, "I wish things had worked out better for you than they did, but my offer to put you in Fielding still stands."
David couldn't suppress a wince at the thought, especially with the image of Sue Bee's snarling face in his mind's eye.
"I'll take a pass on that," David replied, still standing at attention, "I don't feel like dealing with Sue Bee again."
That name caused his father's demeanor to darken and Benjamin said very carefully, "I wouldn't worry too much about her, since I personally am in control of her trust fund, a transfer to a different school for the chit is perfectly within my power."
David managed to keep from visibly swallowing.
"Thanks Dad, but I'm happy where I am, for now."
He added the last to try and mollify his father, which seemed to work as Benjamin brightened.
But David couldn't resist asking, "Uh, why are you in the States? I thought you'd be in Thailand for a while longer."
"Some stuff came up that required me being in the continental United States, nothing major but I'll be bouncing around the eastern seaboard for a bit." Benjamin answered.
"And what about Mom?"
Benjamin grimaced, "She checked herself back into the Betty Ford Clinic."
At this point Regina Bentley's alcoholism was something of a running theme in David's life.
He was past pity, so he joked, "Don't they ban you if you use the revolving door too much?"
That earned him a chuckle from his Dad.
"You'd think," Benjamin answered, "But it is what it is."
David nodded and caught the vibe his father was giving off and left without another word spoken between them.
But as he stepped into his bedroom, David hoped that whatever had his father away from his Thai whores wouldn't result in him getting into trouble.
"Much less that Sue tried to contact me." David thought with a shudder.
He suspected, but had never gotten up the nerve to ask, that whatever had gone wrong between Uncle Tripp and his Dad had been transferred completely
onto Sue.
The last thing he needed was to be in the middle of that sort of conflict.
It was with that thought that David changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and crawled into bed.
Sleep took a long time to claim him.
The next day at school saw that the other three people in their group had decided to pretend that last night hadn't happened.
This suited David just fine, since there was a whole new wave of stupidity to mock.
Even before Ms. Li made the announcement about the dance being a 60's themed affair, complete with the requirement that everyone dress to the era, the Fashion Club was already boasting about having been three steps ahead of everyone else.
As the four airheads preened about getting Insider Information since, 'They were so popular'.
David turned to the others and said, "Is there any point in bursting the bubble?"
"Nope." Daria said flatly.
Jane yawned, "Nah, besides our mockery would just fly over their heads."
Graham however smirked and added, "Are you just saying that because it's the morning and your coffee hasn't kicked in?"
"You are catching on quick, Mister Alexander." Jane answered with a proud nod.
However after they endured the torture of O'Neill's excuse for a Language Arts/English/Etc. Class, Mr. O'Neill asked them to stay after class.
"This can't be good." Daria muttered.
She was right.
Since O'Neill informed them happily that the Dance Committee would be putting together the dance on the Friday after school in the gym so everything would be ready for Saturday.
"Oh and might I ask who you are going with?" He said to Daria and Jane with his 'I'm Worried' face.
Daria just raised an eyebrow and replied, "I already have a date lined up, not that it's your business."
"Same here." Jane added with a significant look at David, who for his part nodded and mimed being 'manly'.
"Oh that's great!" O'Neill said cheerfully, "I was worried that you would have difficulties due to… well…"
As O'Neill struggled to think of a way to say what he wanted without being insulting, everyone took advantage of the distraction and walked out of the room.
It took until his next class started filtering in for O'Neill to realize what had happened.
At lunch, they acquired two guests in the form of Jodie Landon and her boyfriend, a fellow African-American named Michael 'Mack' Mackenzie.
"Hey guys," Jodie said in way of greeting, "How are things?"
Everyone gave various generic answers relating to the word 'Fine'.
Jodie then turned to Jane and said, "I kind of needed to ask you for some advice."
Jane blinked "Really?"
Jodie shook her head with a laugh, "Yes, really. With the dance being a 60's costume party Mack and myself need to look the part but I can already see the costume shop being raided after school, so…"
"You want to know if there are less obvious places to gain Hippie garb." Graham finished for her.
It was Jodie's turn to blink in surprise, before nodding an affirmative.
Jane went, "Ah, then might I recommend hitting the shops on Dega Street? Trust me you'll find something…"
She then added the aside, "Daria certainly did."
Daria just glared at her, but before Daria could stop her, Jane told them all about Daria's outfit that would be serving as her costume.
Complete with go-go boots.
Mack and Jodie breathed a collective, "…Whoa!"
If Daria's glare could kill, Jane would have died a thousand horrible deaths by then.
"That's really brave of you Daria." Jodie admitted with a tone of being very impressed.
Mack agreed, then when he thought no one else was looking, caught Graham's gaze and gave the kid a big wink.
Having gotten the information she needed and then some, Jodie then made a little more small talk before saying her goodbyes and leaving with Mack in tow.
Once they were gone Daria turned to Jane and asked, "Why do you do this to me?"
"Oh shush Morgendorffer," Jane answered, "You know you love it."
David couldn't resist a laugh, which earned him the Daria death gaze.
Graham on the other hand was thinking, "I have to admit that Mack is a nice guy, for anyone."
It was such a nice change of pace, not having to deal with the usual BS that came from most Jock types.
There was a lot wrong with Lawndale High, but Graham decided that he could put up with it in exchange for not being bullied.
"Or being a bully." His inner voice whispered nastily to him.
Graham started to feel the usual guilt at the reminder of his past behavior, but then he caught sight of Daria and for some reason it went away.
After their government mandated eight hour torture session came to a close, they decided to hang out at Daria's place.
On the basis that it was the nearest place with a working TV in the living room.
"We really should fix our set," Jane thought to herself before adding, "Nah, it'd cost too much and besides, my TV works fine and Trent doesn't like television, too many bright colors."
She then relaxed in the seat of David's car as he drove the relatively short distance to 'Casa Morgendorffer'.
But as he pulled up, Daria caught sight of something that had her go, "Whoa!"
Graham shook his head, wondering if he had actually just heard Daria go 'Whoa!'
Jane looked in the driveway and saw the red SUV and thought aloud, "Your Mom is home at this hour… I hope nothing happened."
Daria sighed and replied, "Let's see what's up, as long as there isn't a dead body involved. I think we can survive it."
With that, the three of them followed Daria out of the car and into the Morgendorffer residence.
A few steps in revealed a handsome woman in her early forties in a red power suit.
She was sprawled out on the couch, looking quite exhausted.
She looked up and said, "Oh hello Daria."
Then her sleepy mind caught up to her eyes and it registered that there were two more people than usual at Daria's side.
"Who are these young boys Daria?" she asked politely.
Daria sighed, hoping to get out of this quickly, "Mom, these two are Graham and David, new friends of ours. David, Graham, meet my mother, Helen."
"Hello Misses Morgendorffer."
"Hi ma'am."
Helen nodded kindly, but Daria then asked what had her home so early from work.
She said very carefully, "Oh… Eric had a minor 'episode' a little while ago and is now going to take about four weeks off to recuperate."
Daria smirked and said, "So those methamphetamine donuts got to him and he's in detox again, right?"
Helen exclaimed, "Daria!"
Daria just stared her down and after a minute Helen Morgendorffer relented and admitted that yes, it was indeed the case.
Helen's eyes then narrowed a bit and she said something that caused Daria's soul to fill with dread.
"So now that I've got the next couple of weeks at a less backbreaking pace, I'll be around the house more… So why don't all of you get comfortable since I'd like to get to know your new gentleman callers a bit better."
David and Graham both gulped at the sight of the Tigress that had suddenly taken over the room.
As Daria couldn't think of a way out of the situation, she conceded defeat and sat down, hoping that the damage wouldn't be too severe.
"Yeah, right." A voice snarked in her thoughts.
Jane was already thinking of ways to help the group decompress afterward, and settled on pizza at her place along with a glut of TV for a good start.
"It's what friends are for." Jane thought as David and Graham entered the lion's den, unarmed and unprepared.
Neither of them stood a chance.
