Chapter 12: What's Going On?

They had been there for about three days now. Danny still wondered what everyone was doing now. He was even wondering what Tay would be doing. He hoped he would get up and Alex would be safe.

Speaking of Alex, he was running around a lot. Danny barely even saw him. Whenever he asked him where he was he just said exploring. Alex is one lazy dude. This doesn't sound like him at all. Had Alex changed after Danny left to Tulsa? Was there something he wasn't telling him?

Danny just shook it off. It was late at night and Danny was lying on the bed looking at the ceiling. He had that song stuck in his head. He didn't cry though. He was a lot tougher than that.

Danny heard the door close and looked towards it. Alex finally came in.

"Man. You've been out too much. I was trying to stay up waiting for you."

"Sorry man."

"It's cool. I just want to make sure you're okay. You do have someone after you remember?"
"Yeah."

"Alex. What was my ex girl doing after I left?"

"She just went around dating other guys. Being the usual freak."

Danny laughed and they talked so more. Later on that night Danny was still awake. It usually would have been because of Alex's snoring. But something was urging him to do something. He decided to do it. Danny got up and picked up some spare change. He went outside into the cool night. There was a good breeze so Danny went back inside to get his sweater.

Danny threw on his hoodie and walked out to the pay phone. He inserted the right amount of coins and called a number. He called Houston's cell phone.

Danny hoped he would pick up. He wanted to desperately talk to one of his family members. He knew if he called Rachel, she would yell at him. Jack and Keith would be emotional. Houston was a straight guy and knew he would have a little bit of calmness in him.

After about two rings,

"Hello."

"Houston."

"…May I ask who's calling?"

Danny sighed.

"It's Danny."

"Danny!"

"Man don't tell the whole world!"

"Sorry. I'm just surprised to hear from you. When are you coming back?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm with Alex. I'm gonna protect him from Tay."

"That could take forever!"

"Houston, if I wanted to argue. I would have called your sister."

"…Sorry. What did you want to know."

Houston was always a reliable kid. Danny didn't think he wold snitch if he had to. Houston actually never did. He was loyal.

"What's the everyone else doing?"

"They were searching for you earlier. They're all asleep now. Your dad is over our house asleep on the couch. They called Uncle Darry and he has friends searching around for you. Where are you."

"Not telling. Um…How's Maria."

Maria was probably the only person he cared about right now.

"She's taking this real hard. She didn't talk to anyone at school. She misses you a lot."

Danny looked at the dog tags around his neck. The ones Maria gave him for his birthday. He wore them everyday. He liked them a lot.

"Houston. I'm gonna go now. Don't tell anyone I called you."

"…But-."

"No buts cuz. Just do what I say."

Houston sighed.

"Fine," he said quietly.

"I might call you another time. Bye."

"Bye."

Danny hung up the phone and looked down. He saw Alex's small book. He was turned to a certain page. Danny picked it up and saw a familiar number. It was Tay's. He remembered how they used to call him to get jobs. They did get some good money off of the jobs. But Tay was one serious guy. Danny walked back into his room and put the book down next to Alex.

The only light that shown was coming through the window. It gave the room a shady look. Danny felt like he was on Turner Classic Movies. He'd only watched that channel once and that was when they were showing "King Kong."

Danny got a pretty good laugh out of that fake movie. He lied down on the bed and thought of his song. He was out like a light.