Tuesday the boys worked with Tess at the farm, moving cattle and clearing manure. By the evening it was time to get ready to help Tess with her pottery class.
Archie opted to stay home again while Danny was eager to tag along in hopes of seeing Lacey. He hadn't seen her in two days and missed her more than he probably should.
Tess invited Charlie as well, something that changed Danny's entire demeanor. She noticed right away.
"How are you doing, Danny?" Tess checked in with him while they prepared the supplies.
Danny just shrugged. If he was honest, he wasn't doing great.
"Can I give you some advice?" She took a seat at her pottery wheel and clasped her hands together.
"I'd like that." Danny was craving some motherly guidance right now.
"You have to be consistent. Let her know you're not going to give up."
"What are you talking about?" Danny squinted at her.
"Do you like her?"
Danny was quiet, mulling over her question while he counted out the sculpting tools.
"I'm not the right person for her." Danny let his poor confidence leak out.
"Don't give up." Tess reiterated, "It's not always going to be easy. The things in life worth having never are."
"Thanks."
Lacey and her mother arrived shortly after. Danny greeted them right away, Lacey smiling before doing a double take when she saw the damage to his face.
"What happened?!" She reached to touch his purplish-green left eye. Danny pulled his face just out of her reach.
"Oh, it's nothing." Danny tried to change the subject.
"What happened to your face, son?" Judy took a turn to examine him before shooting a look at Tess.
"It was my fault, it, was—my fault." Was all Danny could come up with.
"Judyyyy—" Charlie nudged his way into their conversation, his own black eye and split lip now connecting the dots for the Porter women.
Judy hugged him and then pulled away to inspect Charlie's face, "Looks like there's an epidemic."
"That's all you have to say after all this time?" Charlie smiled at her.
"Oh, I have lots to say to you young man." Judy shook her head.
Danny watched Lacey as she studied Charlie's face and then back to his own. She was disappointed. Lacey grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him away from her mother who was busy giving Charlie a year's worth of scolding.
"Please tell me that this had nothing to do with me."
Danny couldn't look her in the eye.
"It was my fault." Danny repeated, "I said some shit." It was basically the truth.
"First of all, if that's true, he shouldn't have lost his temper like that and second—you hit him back?!"
"I'm not just going to take a beating—" Danny objected.
"I don't want this. I'm not doing this."
Lacey turned to walk away but Danny reached for her arm, "It was my fault."
Charlie watched Danny hold her arm and he didn't like that. He excused himself from his conversation with Judy and waited until she found her seat before stepping up beside Danny.
"Get your hand off of her." He said quietly.
Danny released Lacey's arm and she slid in between both of them.
"You hit him?" Lacey asked Charlie, she wasn't playing.
"He disrespected you!" He defended like it made perfect sense.
"That man?" Lacey pointed at Danny, "Would never. Try again." She waited, Danny's heart aching at her blind trust in him.
"Well, he told me all about your birthmark—" Charlie's eyebrows rose in challenge, smirk creeping across his face.
Lacey's face reared back and she looked at Danny in shock. Danny blinked incessantly and eventually looked down.
"Wow." Lacey whispered mostly to herself, walking away from both of them and returning to sit with her mother.
"It's kind of fun to find ways to torture you without going back to jail." Charlie smiled big, "She's mad."
"At both of us."
"Yeah, but all I did was defend her honor. You're the one who was talking about her body." Charlie cringed, "I win."
"Danny!" Jo waved him over, "I am not doing this shit all by myself. Think you and your boyfriend could take a break from mean mugging and help me out?"
"Sorry, Jo. Hey, could I borrow five bucks?"
"Seriously?!" Jo shook her head.
"Please?"
"Only if you pay me back ten."
"Ouch, fine." Danny sighed and took the money from Jo, "I'll be right back."
"Again?"
Danny threw up pray hands and walked over to squat down by Judy.
"Mrs. Porter, can I get you a coffee?"
"No."
"Tea? Anything?" He asked innocently.
Judy looked down at Danny's pleading face, "Young man, you have a lot to work on. We don't want anything from you." She said cryptically.
Danny shot Lacey a glance who ignored him completely and prepped her clay. He wondered how much her mom knew.
"I apologize, Mrs. Porter, I didn't mean to upset either of you."
"Last week, my daughter had a smile on her face. This week, she doesn't. Know anything about that?"
"Yes ma'am, I do." Danny admitted.
"Then I think we're done talking."
Judy stared at him, not threatening, not with scorn or disgust, just with the common knowledge that Danny had fucked up and he was no longer of consequence to her. His heart broke.
Danny stood and walked back over to the supply cart, handing Jo her five dollars back.
"Here, I don't need it."
"When do I get the other half?" Jo yanked the five dollar bill from Danny's hand.
"I didn't end up needing it—"
"Oh no, Danny, the deal was I let you borrow the five dollars and you pay me back ten. I don't give a shit what you did or didn't use it for."
"Fine. I owe you five dollars." Danny grit out, even the small shit happening today fucking sucked.
The class got underway, the patrons happily buzzing while they worked to create the next teacup in the series. Danny watched Lacey try to concentrate on her art and have a fun night with her mother. He realize that he was making it hard for her and he didn't know how to fix it.
Out of sight out of mind Danny hoped as he made his way over to Tess to ask a very important question.
"Tess, can I please leave and walk back?"
"Now?" Tess looked at her watch.
"If I leave now I'll be there well before nine."
"What happened to not giving up?"
"She's distracted by me, her mother is not happy. It would be better for everyone if I just go. Please?"
Tess kept her pottery wheel spinning as she pondered his request, "I don't think so, Danny."
"I just want to think, I need this time to myself."
"Don't make me regret this." Tess shooed Danny away, the sight of his black eye making her wince.
"Thanks." Danny gave her a small smile and ripped his apron off.
Lacey and Charlie both watched from different vantage points as Danny seemingly fled the studio. He didn't acknowledge anyone as he headed straight for the exit.
The slightly cooled summer air was still heavy with humidity. Danny appreciated it nonetheless. His mind ran through the last couple of days without his consent. He really did make stupid decisions. Impulsive, selfish ones. His confidence tanked, self-loathing now at one hundred.
Before his mind could get into counting up the meager community service hours he'd completed so far, Danny was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a very loud vehicle coming up beside him.
"Danny! Hey asshole!"
It was Scott Ogden hanging out the passenger window of what Danny could only assume was some single mother's shitty minivan. Awesome.
Whoever was driving slowed down so they could keep pace with Danny.
"We were just talking about you." Scott laughed, "Word is you've been running your mouth about Lacey and by the status of your face right now I'm guessing it's true. Pull over—" Scott said quietly to the driver.
Danny looked around, he was too far away from town and too far away from the Masterson's house to run either way and have it make a difference. There were no cars around, only giant fields. Danny knew this was going to be bad.
Scott and his much shorter friend hopped out of the van and walked in opposite circles around Danny. Danny tried to keep walking but Scott pressed his hand into Danny's chest to stop him.
"Whoa, what's the rush? It's not polite to walk away from someone when they're about to kick your ass." Scott giggled in his high pitched douche-jock frequency.
"I don't want to fight you." Danny said calmly, his insides pumping with adrenaline and fear.
"Who says you're going to be able to fight back?" Scott smirked and flicked his chin up at his friend who promptly came up behind Danny and held him back.
Danny squirmed, testing the strength of the man behind him. Danny managed to hold onto the arms that were around him and lever this asshole over his back and flipped him to the ground with a thud.
Scott nodded and helped his friend to his feet, "Okay, I get you, I should have introduced you first. Danny this is my buddy Cole, Cole this is the scumbag that's been telling everyone he raped Lacey."
"Fuck you." Danny spat on the ground in front of Scott sending Scott and Cole into action.
Scott held Danny this time, able to get his arm around his neck and into a proper chokehold so Cole could take a few revenge shots at Danny's face. He connected with his good eye and then again with his already very sore black eye.
"Now they'll match!" Cole smiled.
Danny managed to elbow Scott in the ribs, making him release his hold. Cole was ready and immediately dropped Danny to the ground and began punching and kicking him.
Danny grabbed Cole's foot before it could connect with his ribs for what felt like the hundredth time and twisted it enough to drop him. Where was Scott?
Danny scrambled to his feet and looked around, spotting Scott walking from around the back of the minivan with a baseball bat.
"Do you like baseball, Danny?"
"Scott—" Cole was not on board with this.
Danny helped Cole to his feet, something that Cole recognized as a peace offering. Danny hadn't actually hit either of them, he had only used moves to free himself up.
"I would never disrespect Lacey." Danny said, spitting away the blood that was now trickling down into his mouth, "And I have never raped anyone, although I could always start with you—"
Danny's words caught everyone off guard.
"Excuse me?"
"Aww, don't act all shy." Danny smiled, his teeth now pink from the blood still pouring down his face, "I bet that asshole is so tight!" He winked at him.
"Wow, you're a fucking psychopath." Scott said before winding up and taking a swing.
Danny caught the bat and pushed it toward Scott as hard as he could, sending Scott backward and onto his ass. He flipped the bat so the handle was now in his hands, winding up quickly before Scott could get to his feet. Danny surprised him and turned away, swinging at the minivan and taking out the tail lights on the passenger side.
"Come on, man! This is my mother's van! She's going to kill me!" Cole screamed and walked over to assess the damage.
"Maybe don't pull over to ambush someone next time?" Danny suggested.
Scott lunged at Danny while he was speaking to Cole and pinned him against the side of the van. Cole yanked the bat from Danny's hands, both Danny and Cole relieved that at least it wasn't Scott that got it.
Scott kneed Danny in the balls hard, sending him stumbling forward and out of breath. Scott took advantage of Danny's forward momentum and shoved him in the ass with his foot sending Danny face first into the ground.
Scott turned and wrestled the bat from Cole.
"Scott, let's go." Cole tried to shut this down, "C'mon man—"
Scott swung the bat over his head and came down hard on Danny's back, further knocking the wind out of him. He couldn't get back up, he couldn't roll over.
"Stop." Danny gasped.
"Scott, knock it off—" Cole didn't like the eerie calm that Danny exuded and worried he would die if Scott kept going.
"Not done, pussy. You'll fucking take it—"
Scott swung again and connected with his shoulder blade before kicking him in the side a few more times. He squatted down, using the bat to turn Danny's head toward him, his eyes almost swollen shut.
"Although I would love to take the credit for the way you look right now, if anyone finds out who beat your ass tonight, I promise you that things won't go down the way you think they will….and if I hear about you opening your mouth about Lacey again, you're dead." Scott promised, "I will kill you."
"How did it feel?" Danny wheezed.
"Beating your ass?"
"No, having Charlie suck your dick for this favor?" Danny giggled, "He's got nice hair, I get it—"
Scott stood up and swallowed his rage, tapping the bat against Danny's cheek in an effort to show him how close he was to getting his skull smashed in.
The van sped away and Danny lay there and cried. It hurt. Everything hurt. He could feel his pulse every place that had trauma, which was his entire body. He was thankful for that because at least it meant that he was still alive.
Once he could breathe again he rolled over onto his back and looked up at the stars. He made a few wishes, what else did he have to lose?
Danny eventually sat up and assessed his injuries, gingerly progressing to standing up on his feet. He could barely see.
"How did those two pieces of shit manage not to break anything?" He asked himself as he felt around his rib cage.
The assault had significantly slowed Danny's progress walking home. He found that the faster he tried to walk, the faster the blood would gush from his nose. Eventually he stopped and stood there to pinch it for a while in an attempt to get it under control.
It was almost two hours later when Tess' truck rumbled up behind Danny en route to the farm. Danny was scared by the headlights at first, thinking that Cole and Scott were retuning. Once he heard the distinct sound of the truck's engine he relaxed every muscle he had.
"Danny?" Jo popped out of the truck, "We thought you'd be home by now—"
Danny turned around, his face on display in the headlights.
"Oh my god! Danny!" Jo pulled her flannel shirt off and wiped his face.
"Ah—careful, careful." Danny's swollen lips begged her.
Tess also ran over to help and wadded up Jo's shirt and pinched his nose with it.
"Who did this, Danny?" Tess asked softly.
Danny shook his head no, "I just fell. I tripped and fell down." He shot a look at Charlie who waved from the truck.
"Let's go, c'mon."
Tess guided an essentially blind Danny toward the truck and had Charlie and Jo hop in the back together. Danny slid himself into the seat, thankful at least his ass wasn't super painful.
"Talk to me Danny. What happened?" Tess tried again now that it was just the two of them.
"I told you, I fell—"
"Okay, does the ground's face look similar to yours right now?" She tried to use his analogy to assess how much trouble he was in.
"No."
"Better or worse?"
"They're fine. I didn't hurt anyone."
"They? This was more than one person?!"
"I'm not here to cause problems, I'm here to complete this community service and go back home. I just fell. I fell down."
Danny squinted at the clock in the truck: 9:15 his eyebrows rose slightly.
"Am I in trouble?"
"Since you had hours to walk home, I didn't tell Kyle that the plans had changed. He still thinks you're with me and it's the truth."
"How am I going to explain this to him?"
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."
Danny stayed quiet, not wanting to continue lying about it to the one person who seemed to believe in him the most.
They pulled up the driveway and Jo and Charlie headed inside. Tess helped Danny out of the truck and guided him up the steps and into the kitchen.
"Hey guys, how was class—what the hell happened?!" Kyle looked at everyone, no one had new injuries except for Danny.
Kyle's eyes went straight to Charlie who held his hands up in surrender, "I didn't do it." He said and shrugged.
Tess sat Danny down at the kitchen table and got two bags of frozen peas out of the freezer. She peeled Jo's blood soaked shirt away from Danny's nose and inspected his face, the bleeding had stopped.
"Here Danny, keep your head back and hold these against your face for a minute while I get the first aid kit.
Archie thumped down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Hey fam." Archie looked over at Danny, "What's up, D?"
"Nothing man, just clumsy." Danny muffled from behind the frozen vegetables.
"Clumsy?" Kyle knew where this was going, his nostrils flared.
"I fell."
"You didn't fall, Danny. You think I'm an idiot? You got your ass beat. Who did this?" Kyle tried.
"Me. I did this. I just fell." Danny stuck to his guns.
"Alright, let's clean out the cuts." Tess returned and pulled up a chair next to Danny. She pulled the pea bags away from his face and began to gently disinfect him.
"Holy shit dude—what the fuck happened?!" Archie was pissed, he looked at Charlie then too, Charlie standing there innocently with a smirk that didn't match his body language, "You know what happened!" Archie crowded toward Charlie, furious.
"I'm stopping you right there. Everyone head to bed, now." Kyle demanded.
"Let me know if you need anything." Jo offered Danny and shuffled off to the office.
"'Night!" Charlie took the stairs two at a time.
"You too, Arch." Kyle pointed to the stairs.
"I want to know who did this! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Nobody did anything. I fell."
"Now, Archie." Kyle pushed his nephew toward the stairs.
"Ah—" Danny flinched.
"Hold still, hold still."
Tess bandaged Danny up the best she could and then returned the bags of peas to his very swollen eyes.
"I want details." Kyle demanded and sat across from him at the kitchen table.
"Well, I was walking and then I tripped and I fell on my face—"
Kyle smashed his fist into the table and made Tess and Danny both jump.
"That's bullshit! Did Charlie do this?!"
"No, sir."
"Tess? Any input here?!"
"He said he fell, Kyle."
"This looks like a fall to you?!"
"Please—please don't fight about this. Tess didn't see me fall, she found me after."
"How is that possible when you were at the studio together?"
Danny swallowed hard, "I left early to walk home. I tripped and fell on my walk back, landed on my face."
"That's what happened?" Kyle nodded.
"Yes, sir."
"Stand up."
Danny put the peas down and stood slowly, the trauma his body was trying hard to fix now making everything swell.
Kyle walked over and pulled up Danny's shirt, gently lifting it up and over his head.
"Oh my god, Danny." Tess covered her mouth in shock.
Danny's whole body was covered with deep purple marks. Kyle walked around behind Danny and viewed the worst one at his shoulder. Kyle had seen plenty of beating victims in his twenty years as an officer, he knew exactly what happened to Danny.
"Maybe you fell, but that doesn't explain how you beat yourself with a baseball bat."
Danny's heart rate sped up.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"DAMNIT, DANNY! Who did this?!" Kyle shouted.
"Kyle, give him a break. Let him get some sleep—" Tess said, "I'll feed the animals tomorrow." She said to Danny.
"No. Danny can do it." Kyle insisted, "You just fell, right? You landed on your face?"
"Yes, sir." Danny said grimly, understanding that he would now be paying for this beating twice.
"Then you should have no problem doing the job you asked for." Kyle fully expected him to crack.
He didn't.
"It's no problem, Chief."
"Kyle, he can't even see."
"He's got the peas, he'll be fine." Kyle dug his heels into this just as deeply as Danny had behind his excuse.
"May I go to bed now?"
"I want pictures. Put your hands at your sides." Kyle took a couple shots with his cellphone, "Turn around." And a few more of Danny's back.
"Take this with you—" Tess handed Danny some water and a bottle of Tylenol.
"Thank you. Good night." Danny stuffed the bags of peas under his arm and climbed the stairs like a ninety year old man.
Once inside his room he set his alarm for the morning, laid down gently, positioned the peas on his face and cried again, the red translucent trails running down his temples and pooling in his ears.
Archie and Charlie heard Danny settle in and both of them got up to use the bathroom at the same time. Archie's face was grim, threatening.
"If I find out this was you, you'll look worse." Archie promised as they reached the top of the stairs.
"You sure about that?" Charlie smiled, "I'd watch your mouth. I'm back now and this is my hometown."