18 Weeks of Twoey - 29. Week Five Monday September 29, 2014: Riddles

We need to stay together as a gang.

Ten o’clock, we gathered at Nels's house. Finally there were some leads. Sam had friends who knew one of the responding EMTs. He said the boy who was alive had a bullet wound in his neck, lost tons of blood and isn't expected to live. He said bullet wounds of the neck are almost always fatal. The dead boy was shot in the head and the man was also shot in the head, but his looked like a suicide.

We spent most of the next few hours trying to come up with scenarios which fit the meager facts we were now privy to. There were several possibilities, but nothing really made much sense, except Twoey's life was hanging by a narrow thread. I know he's gonna die. Every one of us knows it too.

According to Nels, Lanni is totally freaked. I hope Deena sees her through this. Poor girl, only one friend and never a boyfriend and now this happens as soon as she gets one. I’ll bet she becomes gun-shy of boys for a while.

We decided to all attend school tomorrow. The funeral for Danny and his father is set for Thursday morning. We obviously won't go to school Thursday. I'm sure there’ll be lots more who will ditch to attend the funeral. It'll be a sad Homecoming Game on Friday and an even sadder Homecoming Dance on Saturday!

I feel the need to attend both. In fact, I’m certain of it! If you stay in grief-paralysis too long, you never move on.

Nels’s mom brought us food for lunch. I couldn’t eat. The thought of food makes me nauseous. I was only able to take a few bites of an apple. I guess this agonizing heartbreak didn’t bother the appetite of the other three though. They munched away and each drank a bottle of soda. At least Nels’s mom knew to bring me a bottle of water. She’s a very nice mom.

It seems I drew the short straw when it came to moms.

As we were leaving Nels’s at about 3, Sam asked me to come over to his house for a few minutes because he found the book I was looking for. I knew it was code for ‘I want to tell you something in private.’ After walking over to his house, we sat on his bed.

I begged him not to get food for me. He shrugged and agreed, I guess. Instead, as is usual ...he offered me a doobie. And as is usual ...I turned him down.

Sam chuckled and said, “One day it’ll happen. Then you’ll curse yourself for all the good times you missed.”

“Please don’t tell me you got me over here for this. You must have something else to tell me.”

“Yeah there is. There's one other bit of information you should know, David. This might come out later or it might not, but you should know.” I couldn’t even guess.

“When the EMTs arrived , Mr. McCane’s body was in full uniform, even with white gloves.” I still had no idea where he was going with it.

“Danny and Twoey though, well they didn't have anything on.”

I didn't quite understand. “What do you mean?”

“David, they were naked. They were both naked!” It finally hit me.

“OMG, you mean...”

“Well I don't want it to mean anything. Those are simply the facts of the situation. But it might better explain whatever Danny's father did. You know how he was.”

“But would he shoot his own son?? I can't believe it Sam, I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, it sorta bothers me too. We don't really know what happened, but I wanted you to be ready if this becomes public.”

“Sam, why me?”

He looked at me, right into my eyes, like he could read my mind. “C'mon David, I'm not stupid.”

I was too bewildered to think! I thanked Sam for the info and wandered home like a zombie. Maybe my lack of sleep was catching up with me. My mind stopped processing everything. In fact, I did crash and sleep right through till morning.

Twoey

We were deeply lost in each other's eyes. Every so often we'd share a gentle kiss, or even a soft hug. I said, “I've never been in love before. This is almost too much for me.” A tear drifted down my cheek, a happy tear.

Danny brushed it away and kissed me again. “Me either, Twoey. At first when I felt it grabbing-stabbing at me I tried to stay away from you, hoping the feeling would go away. But it only got stronger. Now I've abandoned all resistance. I am forever yours.”

We kissed again and he caressed my arms as we lay on the simple bed with a bright white sheet. Danny placed his hands on my cheeks and gave me a stronger kiss which we held for ...it seemed like an eternity.

“Don't ever forget me, green eyes.” He kissed each eye. “You'll have another true love, but you'll have to fight to win him. If you’re strong, and do it right, you’ll spend the rest of your life with him.”

He got very serious. “But it hasn’t been written yet!”

Brushing my cheek, he continued. “It won’t happen if you don’t battle to make it happen! I’m afraid you have a lot of work ahead for you. But never forget me, your first, who will always love only you.”

Those words didn't make sense to me. I couldn’t quite grasp their meaning and was about to ask Danny, when I saw him slowly dissolve right before my eyes and then fade into nothing.

I was left alone on the bed with the bright white sheet.