Chapter 6: What!
Danny rushed to the window and opened it. What the heck was going on? Alex was here!
"Alex! What are you doing here?" he almost shouted.
"I'll tell you when you let me in. It's cold out here."
Danny backed up a little so Alex could climb in. Alex fell right onto Houston's bed and Danny shut the window.
"Answer the question," said Danny.
"What?" said Alex lifting his eyebrow. "You're not happy to see me on your birthday?"
"Yeah, I'm just a little surprised. You came all this way?"
"Well…"
Danny knew something was up. Alex always said he hated traveling. Why would he come all the way to Tulsa for just his birthday.
"Did something happen?" asked Danny with all seriousness in him.
Alex sighed,
"Tay is after me."
"Tay!" yelled Danny. He could remember Tay. The night his mother told him he was coming over here, he was with him for a drug deal. He thought he would have been jailed since we took his escalade.
Danny didn't realize it, but he yelled Tay's name loud enough for everyone up front to hear him. They all came running to the room.
"What are you yelling about? And who is he!" shouted Rachel pointing at Alex.
"This is my best friend from Atlanta, Alex."
"He came all the way over here?" said Jack with his mouth dropping.
"What for?" asked Maria.
"He was just about to tell me," said Danny turning his head back to Alex.
Alex sighed again and told his story,
"After Danny had left, things were pretty much quiet. His old girlfriend pretty much went on around dating right away. Tay had been caught by the cops and sent to jail. So I was pretty much free to do what I wanted to do. This happened for a long time. About two or three weeks ago, there was a rumor that Tay had broken out of jail. I didn't believe it though. But one night when I was walking home, a car was tailing me. When I turned around the car looked familiar. Then I remembered. It was Tay's escalade. Me and Danny ditched it the night he was arrested. I saw someone stick their head out of the window and I knew what that meant. Before the guy could pull out the gun I dived into an alley. He let off some shots and the car zoomed off. As they passed under a streetlight, I saw the guy's face. It was Tay. Right that moment I knew I had to get out of there. I got my secret money stash and had enough to travel over here, but I wasn't as close. I knew you lived with your uncle and I remembered his name from the book. I looked it up in the phone book and called this house. Someone here gave me your phone number but when I called the call the wouldn't go through. Something was wrong with the phone and I all I heard was static. I had to hitchhike over here."
Danny thought for a moment. All of this happened? Alex was never in any kind of trouble. He was loyal to anyone.
"You're the one that called?" asked Houston.
"Yup."
Danny then remembered. Alex must have been the mysterious caller.
"Is there anywhere I can rest?" asked Alex. "I didn't want to risk falling asleep in some stranger's car."
"You can sleep on my bed," offered Jack. He still shared a room with Houston. "It's right here."
"Thanks," said Alex lying down on the bed.
Everyone left the room and Danny turned back to Alex,
" Night man. We'll talk more tomorrow."
"Aiight. G'night."
Danny turned off the lights and joined everyone in the living room. He sat down on the couch and said,
"What are we going to do?"
"He can't stay here," said Rachel. "Most likely the adults will come back into the house for something and see him."
"But do they know who he is?" asked Keith.
"Yeah. I brought pictures of us when I got here. All the adults saw him and my mom remembers him."
Everyone thought. Where could Alex stay?
"I got it!" said Jack putting his finger up.
"We're listenin'" said Danny looking at him.
"Tim and Curly Shepard took over Buck Merril's old place. It has plenty of room and Alex can rest there. He'll be in protective hands also."
"Perfect!" said Danny smiling. "We'll take him tomorrow morning."
"Great," said Rachel sighing. "Now that that's over. Can we please finish the movie!"
Danny put his arm around his girlfriend. She looked a little depressed though.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Rachel looked at him.
"I'm not mad or anything. I'm just worried about your friend. It sounds like he's in real trouble."
"Don't worry. He'll be fine."
Danny wished that. Deep down, he was worried as heck.
