"There's just someone I have to meet." He answers, then turns to leave. "Bye Danny,"
"Wait," he calls out to him. "I'm coming with you." he followed him.
"You really don't need to do that." he tells the young man.
"I didn't need to buy you dinner either, but I did." He continues to follow the brunette. He tries to protest but before he could Danny insists. "Listen Mac, there is no way I'm letting you walk in the early morning in a city you've only been in for half a day. It ain't safe."
"You really think anyone's out there dumb enough to attack a marine?" he asked rhetorically.
"All I know is anything can happen to anyone at anytime anywhere." He tells him. The older man doesn't reply and just continues to walk away from him, but he only follows. "I know you can take care of yourself, but I would never be able to forgive myself if I let something bad happen to you… let me at least walk you there." He pleads. He grabs his arm and moves the green-eyed man to look at him. "Let me walk you there."
He looks at the pair of aquamarine eyes critically, looking for any sign of insincerity. He couldn't find any. He was serious. He was even more impressed and a little annoyed by this. This was a really good kid who only had his heart in the right place.
"Ok." He finally agrees "What about your car?"
"I'm pretty tired. I've just had a couple of drinks and before this I nearly ran you over. You really think it's a good idea for me to drive right now?" he asked rhetorically. "I'll just pick it up tomorrow. I've left it here before. Joey can take care of it." He added not waiting for him to answer.
They start to walk until they reach the end of the street.
"Where are we going anyway?" the New Yorker asked.
"Not yet sure," he answers looking at the street signs. He takes out a piece of paper from his pocket. "323 Edmund street."
"Edmund street? That's pretty nearby. It just a couple of blocks from here." He informed him.
"You mind showing me the way?" he asked politely.
"Sure, no problem." He answers and turns to their left "Lets go."
They walked silently together. Side-by-side, Danny just a couple of steps further leading the way, while Mac followed closely behind. He looks at the young man he's following and wonders why he's doing this. He couldn't even fully understand the meal, let alone this new offer of more help.
It was quiet. It didn't feel like an awkward kind of silence. It just felt fine. He's so grateful that things didn't turn out for the worst. After the fight with his brother he wouldn't be able to handle anything more. There was something he couldn't fully understand. He nearly kills this guy and he's treated him better than some of his family members. Maybe he was just trying to be polite like he's been trying to make amends. It wasn't the same, but it felt good having someone treating him with respect. It just felt better.
He looked at him and thinks about what he's just learned about him. He's a young man who's, most probably, had a rough childhood. He has tried running away from it all and be a baseball player, but was not able to when he got injured trying to do the right thing. He sacrificed his dream; more like it was taken away from him, for the safety and well being of others. In the usual standards you would be able to regard him as a good young man, clearly someone who always had their heart in the right place. He normally wouldn't be so trusting on a stranger, but slowly this New Yorker wasn't a stranger to him anymore.
"It wasn't anything negative you know." The civilian breaks his silence, but didn't turn to look at his companion.
"What wasn't negative?" he asked, startled by the declaration.
"The way I reacted when you told me you were going to be a cop." He explained. "I just thought it was kind of weird."
"Me wanting to be a cop?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah," he answers honestly and crosses the street. "On account that I've been thinking of being one too." He admitted.
"You want to be a cop?" he asked, crossing the street along with him. "Since when?"
"Ever since I couldn't be a baseball player" he answered. "I never wanted to be anything else but be one of the Mets, but after what happened I just couldn't be that anymore."
"So from baseball to criminology?" he stated it as less of a question.
"Well yeah, I mean no… That night at Carmine's I got to do something. I got to do something right for a change, and it was something right for someone else. It just felt good. I just thought that maybe my dream of becoming a pitcher was just replaced to becoming a cop." He explained. His face couldn't be seen but the passion was thick in his voice.
"Why not go into the Academy?" the other man suggested. "You're still young. You'd make a good cop."
"Yeah, be a cop." He repeated sarcastically. "If only it were that easy."
"What's stopping you?" he asked.
"Its because becoming a cop is like a personal request to be disowned in my family. It'll only get me into more trouble." He explained, then turned the corner.
"Why is that?" he asked, then turned to follow him.
"My family isn't exactly the most justly of people." He informed the officer. He heard the other man stop. He turned to look why he did and was greeted by an expression that asked curiously. 'What do you mean by that?' he takes a step closer to the older man and said, "We're connected."
"What, like the mob?" he asked jokingly.
"Kind of." He answered matter-a-factly. He turned and continued to walk down the sidewalk. "They haven't gotten me into trouble… yet"
He walks a little more briskly to catch up with him. "But they can?" he asked.
"Yeah." He answered with a bit of worry. "Even more so if I become a cop."
"But you want to be?" he asked. "A cop I mean?"
"Yes." He exclaimed as he stopped dead on his tracks.
"Then be a cop." He told him. This caused the blue-eyed young man to turn to him. His face a little wrinkled with a brow up, an expression begging the question 'Are you crazy?' Mac places his hand on the other man's shoulder and said. "I don't know what to tell you Dan, but do what you want to do, be what you want to be as long as you can live with the consequences."
The man in uniform continues to walk down the street, but just a couple of steps. When he finally notices that his tour guide didn't move, he turned and asked him "What is it?"
"We're here." He tells him. This again makes the officer give him a questioning look. Then his guide pointed to the building he was standing in front of. "This is 323 Edmund Street."