The rest of car ride was in near silence as all three grappled with their own thoughts. When they entered Green Grove, Jo spoke up "We still have a couple of hours until we have to go meet my dad. What do you want to do?"
"Why don't we go see a movie?" Danny posited. "Isn't that horror flick 'Fear the Night' playing?"
Both Jo and Lacey immediately vetoed that in favor of the latest Pixar hit 'Flicken Chicken'.
At the theater, Danny led the way towards what he considered perfect seats, 2/3rds of the way from the front, equidistant from each side. He looked back at the girls, and made a sweeping gesture with his arm, to allow Lacey and then Jo to walk past him and get settled into their seats before moving into the row after them. Lacey observed that this allowed him to sit next to Jo, but not her. She felt her rib cage constrict around her heart as she tried to breathe through the anguish that kept threatening to bubble up through her mental walls. She berated herself for still being enamored with the boy when he had clearly moved on. Danny tossed his jacket onto the seat behind him in the half empty theater and leaned back in his seat, resting his legs up on the seat-back in front of them.
Jo babbled on about the new digital technology being utilized in the film. "Its similar to anime" she remarked. Then the lights dimmed and the noise level in the theater died down as people ceased their conversations.
"I'll be right back…" Danny said as the previews started "…getting popcorn." He marched down the aisle at a rapid pace, avoiding the snack stand in favor of the exit, and headed straight to Lacey's car. He had swiped the keys from Jo when she was buying her favorite movie snack, Goobers. Picking pockets was yet another useful skill picked up in juvie. He idly wondered if the authorities would ever figure out that kids actually learned how to be more effective criminals in places like that. He put on a pair of thin black gloves that were in his pocket, got in the car, and drove the short distance to Scott Hudgen's house. Danny was aware that soccer practice had just ended. He checked to make sure no one was at home, then waited crouched behind the fence where he wouldn't be seen.
A couple of minutes later, Scott's car pulled into the driveway. Danny congratulated himself on the perfect timing, but then was surprised to spot another occupant in the passenger seat. This could ruin things. But the person, Erik from the team, thanked Scott for the ride, and trotted off towards his own house down the street. Danny expelled the breath he had been holding and waited until Erik was well out of earshot before stealthily walking up behind Scott, who was trying to heave all his soccer gear out of the car's trunk.
"Boo" he said in a loud stage whisper. Danny had the pleasure of hearing Scott yelp as he jumped from being startled. "Hi Scott" he said with a mocking smile.
Before Scott could say a word, Danny had bent his arm far behind his back and was frog marching him towards the back yard. Once out of sight of any neighbors, Danny asked casually "How're you doing Scott?"
Again, Danny didn't give him a chance to answer; he simply swung a fist straight at his solar plexus. Scott groaned and staggered backwards. "What the fuck" Scott grunted, bent over, holding his belly. "What the hell is this about?"
Danny swung again, this time scoring a direct hit to the jaw, causing Scott to tumble over to the ground before replying "Its about a little interaction you had with Lacey on Friday." Danny observed Scott's eyes opening wider with realization.
"I didn't do anything to Lacey I swear" Scott pleaded, doubled over from pain.
Danny kicked him in the ribs, eliciting a scream from Scott. "That one's for lying" remarked Danny genially. He grabbed Scott 's shirt and half lifted him off the ground, only to deliver several punches in a row to his face. He stopped when he heard a cracking sound - he had broken Scott's nose. His lip was torn and bloody and it looked like there might be a loose tooth in his mouth. Danny let go of Scott's shirt, allowing his body to fall back to the ground with a thud. Scott lay in a daze, his eyes pleading with Danny to stop.
Danny stood up and brushed his hands across each other in a gesture of wiping them clean. "Now, before I go, I need you to say 'I will never ever touch Lacey Porter again because she is an angel and I should worship the ground she walks on.'' Scott tied to get the words out but his mouth wasn't working correctly. "Say it Scott" Danny was having no mercy, his rage at Scott for hurting Lacey still not abated. Scott tried to say the words again and again, tears falling down his face to mingle with the blood dribbling from his nose and mouth, until Danny was satisfied. "Now say 'I am nothing but the fecal matter in my own anus who will never sexually assault another girl'." Scott was openly weeping at this point, blubbering out words that only half made sense. Once he got the gist of it right, Danny stood up.
"You won' geg 'way wib dis" Scott lisped out, half crying still.
Danny bent down close to Scott's ear and whispered "Of course I will Scott. Because if you ever tell anyone it was me who beat you up, next time I will send my juvie buddies after you and this, what I did today, will look like child's play compared to the torture they'll put you through. And you will never be able to tell on them. Would you like to guess why?"
Scott let out a whimpered "no".
"Because" said Danny with a wide smile "their victims don't actually make it out alive. Got it?" Danny waited until Scott, now looking even more alarmed, if that was even possible, nodded his head before getting back up. "Besides, I was never here. I've been watching a movie with my two best friends this entire time." Danny whistled happily as he walked purposefully back to the car without a second glance at a damaged Scott curled up on the lawn, his body bloody and bruised, with a possible broken rib. Scott, terrified of Danny's threat, there and then made a decision to tell people he had gotten mugged by a gang unknown of assailants wearing masks.
Danny arrived back at the movie theater only 17 minutes after he had left the girls. Hurriedly purchasing a bag of popcorn, he dumped half in the garbage, then entered the theater, and took a seat in the row behind Jo and Lacey. He tapped Jo on the shoulder and offered her the bag of popcorn. Jo looked back at him "Why aren't you sitting with us?" she whispered.
"I didn't want to interrupt your viewing pleasure" Danny said with a smirk.
"You already ate half of it" Jo complained, peering into the bag. She grabbed a handful, then passed it over to Lacey. Danny settled back into his seat, content that Jo believed he had been sitting behind her, quietly munching popcorn all this time. He made a mental note to watch the part of the film he missed online just in case he ever needed details for his alibi. But he was pretty sure Scott would never say a word.