Chapter 6
At eight in the morning the next day, Roger awoke to hear the sounds of chords being picked out on his guitar, coming from the main room of the loft. He got out of bed, pulled on a shirt, and stuck his head out the door.
Danielle was sitting on the dilapidated couch with her hair in a tousled mess around her head and Roger's guitar in her lap. Her hands looked so graceful as she changed chords swiftly, progressing from G to D to A7 with ease. The tune that issued from the instrument was deep and melancholy and it nearly brought a tear to Roger's eye to see his daughter this way. He waited until she brought the melody to a close and then cleared his throat.
"I didn't know you could play guitar." He commented.
"Just one more thing that makes me like you." Danielle mumbled and didn't look up. "Lucky me."
Roger sighed. "You know what Danni?" he began. "I'm tired of fighting with you about everything. If you want to hate me then you can. I understand." He turned to leave.
"Dad I don't hate you, alright?" Danni replied quickly.
Roger came out of his room and joined her on the couch. "Really, because it sure seems like you do sometimes."
Now it was Danielle's turn to sigh. "Fuck it Dad! I'm angry! My mother is dead, my aunt is dead, you're fucking dying, and now so is my little sister. All the people I thought I could count on are dropping like flies. Don't expect me to just grin and bear it."
"No one expects that of you." Roger assured her. "It's just that you are always so hostile and I was worried. You have every right be angry, but you shouldn't let your anger consume you. It's unhealthy to have that much anger at your age, trust me."
Danielle considered this. "I'm trying." She admitted after a minute. "But things just keep happening to make me angry."
"I've got news for you kid, that's how life is. Sometimes it's going to fucking screw you over but you can't let it make you crazy. You've got to channel it into something else. That's why Mark films, why Collins teaches, why Angel cares so much, why Maureen performs, and why-"
"You play music." Danni finished for him.
"You got it kid." Roger told her. He got up to leave but Danielle put her hand on his arm to stop him.
"Can I talk to you about something Dad?" she asked him.
"Yeah." Roger said, a little surprised. "What's up?"
"Um, remember when Tobias from the Life was here yesterday?" Danni asked. Roger nodded. "Well he was here because we kind of have a date later today."
"You kind of have a date?"
"I mean we do have a date later today and he was here yesterday because we were getting to know each other better beforehand. I was going to tell you about it earlier yesterday but then all the shit with Lizette happened and I thought it would be bad to bring it up."
"Oookay." Roger said slowly. "I'm going to attempt to handle all these issues right now. First, stop cussing. Over the course of this conversation you've said fuck or some version of it twice and shit once. You're sixteen; give it a couple of years before you become a bad ass. Second, you can go out with this Tobias kid, but I want to talk to him before you do. Sound good?"
Danni was speechless so she just nodded. Roger got to his feet again and began to head back into his room.
"Dad?" Danielle stopped him again. "I can talk to Lizette if you want me to. I could try to explain it to her."
"No," her father said. "This is something that I have to do. She needs to hear it from me." He continued into his room, but stuck his head out again. "But it means a lot that you offered." Roger closed his door with a smile.
Neither Roger nor Danni had noticed that Mark's door was open and he was standing in his doorway watching them. Once Roger was gone the filmmaker stepped out. "That was very decent of you." He commented.
"I don't want him to think I hate him." Danielle replied. "Because I don't."
Mark smiled slightly and came to sit next to the girl. "He knows that. Roger sometimes tends to take the burden of the world on his shoulders and then blames himself when things go wrong. That's just how he is."
"Mark? Do you think Lizette's going to be okay? Shouldn't she be in the hospital?" Danni asked.
Mark sighed. "We haven't had too much luck with that hospital or its doctors. But I am worried that her being here with no one but us looking after her is probably a bad idea."
"Is there anything we can do? Would Dad listen to us if we said something?"
"Probably not. He hates the hospital more than anything. Especially that one. We've lost so many friends to that place." Mark sighed again. "I think we're just going to have to accept this and try to help your dad as much as possible."