"One Cheeseburger, no onion and fries." The waitress set the plates on the table. "One hot ham and swiss on rye, extra kraut."
"Thanks, Lucy."
"You boys enjoy. Holla if you need anything." The waitress turned and greeted a quartet of teenagers walking in.
They sat in silence, enjoying their food.
"So who was Lucas Parsons?" Mac asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"He lived a couple houses down the block." Danny smiled at Lucy as she took away the plates. The young woman blushed.
"You two were close?"
"Best friends, pretty much from birth." Danny paused, nervously clearing his throat. "Lucas wasn't anything special. Short little guy, scrawny, all skin and bones. Not all that smart, not stupid, but he wasn't on the honor roll every term."
"Like you?" Mac grinned.
"Yeah, yeah. So I got cursed with the brains to make straight As if I wanted to do the work."
"And the wanting."
"That was my old man. Always talking about how proud he was of me being so smart. How I was gonna do something spectacular." Danny smiled at the thought. "He used to pin my report card up on the dash and brag to all his fares. It was embarrassing." Danny laughed for a moment then suddenly turned grim. "Not like Lucas old man. He was one of those cold types. Lucas wasn't all that smart, wasn't good at any sports. Total average. Nothing for his old man to be proud of. Then we were about 10, his mother was killed by a hit and run driver. Lucas old man lost it. Started drinking and got mean. Real mean."
Danny spotted Lucy with a pot of coffee and waved her over. He waited until she left before he continued.
"Between his old man and the kids at school picking on him, Lucas was a nervous wreck before he hit puberty."
"No one did anything?"
"Hell no. Tanglewood's like Vegas. What happens in a man's home was no one's business. Still for some weird reason, I liked Lucas. He was alright. And my parents were cool. Lucas was like another son almost. He would sneak over when his old man was hot drunk and sleep on the floor in my room. In the mornings, my mother would just put another plate on the table like it was nothing."
"So what happened?"
"Michael Sassone."