Dangerous to Know & Love

by Jane Harvey-Berrick

  “I’ll never see you!”

  He stood up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “We’ll work it out – if you want to.”

  “Of course I want to! Why wouldn’t I?” She kissed him quickly. “Idiot.”

  He smiled down at her.

  “I don’t know, Lis, I come all this way, and you abuse my body the second I walk through the door, and now you’re name-calling?”

  She pinched his ass, making him jump.

  “Get used to it – you’re mine for the holidays.”

  Five minutes later, Lisanne’s parents found them sitting innocently at the kitchen table while Lisanne taped pieces of gauze to Daniel’s head.

  “Hello, Daniel,” said Monica warmly. “How are you, dear? Oh, you look so much better than last week,” and she kissed him on the cheek, making him duck his head and grin.

  He stood up to shake hands with Lisanne’s father, which earned him an angry reproach from Lisanne as her fingers skittered over his wound, causing him to wince.

  “Sit still,” she said, swatting his back to make her point.

  “Lisanne!” hissed her mother.

  “Well, he can’t hear me, mom, so I have to,” said Lisanne, petulantly. “It’s the only way I can make him pay attention.” She pulled on Daniel’s arm so he looked at her. “My mom thinks I’m being too rough with you.”

  Daniel laughed. “Yeah, you’re pretty scary.”

  “See, mom,” said Lisanne. “He’s fine.”

  “Well, still… may I offer you a drink, Daniel? Some iced tea or a coffee perhaps?”

  But Ernie had already reached into the refrigerator and pulled a can of beer from a six-pack. “Or one of these?”

  “Yeah, great. Thanks, Mr. Maclaine.”

  “I’ll have a beer, too, dad,” said Lisanne.

  “You certainly won’t!” snapped her mother.

  “Why not? Daniel is only a few months older than me!”

  “Lisanne!” said her mother in a warning voice.

  Lisanne pouted and Daniel winked at her.

  “Honestly! I think you like Daniel more than me!”

  Ernie rolled his eyes. He taught hormonal teenagers for a living. Having them at home, as well – that was wearing, to say the least.

  “I’m going to watch some TV,” he announced to no one in particular. “There’s a Bruce Willis film on in a minute.”

  Monica shook her head.

  “I don’t know what plans you two have this evening, but I’m beat. I can order pizza if you’re hungry.”

  Daniel looked worriedly at Lisanne, who was nodding happily.

  “Um, Lis,” he said, quietly, “I don’t have any money on me. I’ll, ah, have to go to the ATM tomorrow to pay for it.”

  Monica laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “Nonsense,” she said. “You’re here as our guest. We won’t hear of it.”

  Harry interrupted them by slouching in through the back door and slamming it behind him.

  “Hey, Dan! Whoa, wicked scar! That’s awesome. It must really hurt.”

  Lisanne pushed her brother, but he shoved her back, making her stumble.

  “For goodness sake!” yelled Monica. “Can you two at least pretend you’re housebroken!”

  “Sorry, mom,” said Harry cheerfully. “She started it.”

  Daniel had only caught part of the conversation, but he guessed the rest.

  “How you doin’, man,” he said to Harry. “You want to see where they took my brain out?”

  “Yeah!” said Harry, peering at Daniel’s half covered scar. “They really took your brain out?”

  “Sure,” said Daniel, “but I think they put it back the wrong way around.”

  “I can’t tell the difference,” said Lisanne.

  Daniel grinned as Monica gave her a hard stare.

  “Lisanne, finish up with Daniel’s dressing and tell me what pizza you both want.”

  Harry wandered away after extracting a promise from Daniel that they’d hit the arcade at least once during the holidays, and Lisanne placed the last bit of tape on Daniel’s wound.

  He pulled his beanie back on, covering her work.

  “Are you going to wear that inside as well?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, so?”

  “I just think it looks weird wearing a hat indoors.”

  “As opposed to a six inch fucking hole in my head,” he snapped.

  Lisanne bit her tongue as an angry reply surged forward. For once, she took the hint from his irritated expression. It was obviously a sensitive subject in more ways than one.

  “Sorry,” she said, softly. “Sorry.”

  She placed a gentle kiss on his short hair as he rested his head against her body, and let his arms wrap around her waist.

  Monica suddenly felt like an outsider in her own kitchen, as she witnessed their private moment. She was proud of her daughter for dealing with Daniel’s disability with pragmatism and directness, but at the same time she was terrified by the depth of feeling she saw between the two of them. He was Lisanne’s first boyfriend, the first boy she’d ever shown the slightest bit of interest in, and it was obvious to Monica that her daughter was head over heels in love. Daniel was less demonstrative in his affections but his actions spoke louder than his few words. Monica was in awe that he’d elected to have a surgical procedure because he wanted to hear Lisanne sing.

  And the physical nature of their relationship, that was a concern, too. Especially since Monica had cleaned Lisanne’s room after their Thanksgiving visit and found a number of used condoms in the wastebasket. That particular fact of life she’d omitted to mention to her husband.

  She’d tried to have ‘the talk’ with Lisanne but, stubborn as ever, her daughter had insisted that she knew what she was doing and that it was none of her mother’s business. It had been a short conversation.

  “Why don’t you two go on through to the TV room and I’ll order the pizza. Hawaiian, honey? And what would Daniel like?”

  Lisanne ran through the menu from memory and Daniel settled on the Meat Feast, winking at Lisanne as he did so.

  Monica didn’t miss the look on her daughter’s face as Daniel made his choice, but she very much wished she had.

  Lisanne led him into the TV room to await the arrival of the food.

  “Dad, can we have the subtitles on, please?”

  “Oh, right,” said Ernie. “Of course.”

  For ten minutes, they watched Bruce take down a helicopter with a car and generally save everyone from the bad guys, when the doorbell rang. As Monica got up to answer it, Harry looked at Daniel.

  “How do you answer your door?” he said, suddenly curious.

  “He stands up and opens it, moron,” muttered Lisanne.

  “No, really,” persisted Harry.

  Daniel had missed Harry’s question, but he’d seen Lisanne’s reaction.

  “What, baby?” he said, frowning. He really hated it when people answered for him.

  She sighed.

  “Harry wants to know how you answer the door,” she said, scowling at her brother.

  Daniel stiffened slightly but replied easily. “My dad fixed up a light linked to the bell. Someone rang the doorbell and the light would flash in the living room.”

  He didn’t bother to mention that it had been broken over a year ago.

  “What if you were in the kitchen, or in your bedroom?”

  Daniel lifted one shoulder. “Someone else would have to answer.”

  “But what if there wasn’t someone around?”

  “Harry,” said his dad, “that’s enough.”

  Daniel flicked his eyes to Ernie before replying. “If friends are visiting, they text me first. Otherwise I’d hope they’d leave a note.”

  Harry looked down.

  “It’s okay,” Daniel said, quietly. “You’re wondering how it works – I get that.”

  “Yeah,” said Harry, sounding subdued. “Sorry.”

  Daniel shrugged.
“I can still kick your ass at Ridge Racer.”

  Harry raised his eyebrows. “You think?”

  “Sure. Bring it on.”

  Lisanne smiled to herself and rubbed Daniel’s thigh softly. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. Lisanne found herself suddenly breathless, then she remembered where they were and that her dad was watching them out of the corner of his eye.

  Monica returned carrying the pizzas, and everyone dug in. Lisanne was just chewing on a slice of her Hawaiian, and smacking Daniel’s hands away when he tried to steal pieces of pineapple, when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

  She glanced at the text but didn’t comment.

  “Who was that?” said Monica. “One of your college friends?”

  “No,” said Lisanne, shaking her head and hoping her mom would take the hint.

  “Who was it then?”

  “Mom!”

  “Well, I’m just asking. It’s not a state secret, is it?”

  Daniel winked at Lisanne, amused by her scowl.

  “It was Rodney.”

  Her answer wiped the smile from Daniel’s face. “Who’s he?”

  Lisanne threw an irritated look at her mom, and Monica had the grace to look slightly abashed.

  “A friend from high school.”

  Daniel continued to look at her.

  “He was in the orchestra, okay.”

  “Yeah, and he had a crush on Lis for like forever!” snickered Harry. “He was always asking her out.”

  His mother gave him a look and Harry suddenly found his ham and mushroom pizza of great interest.

  “Well, tell Rodney we said ‘hi’, and that I hope Reverend Dubois has gotten over his strep throat.”

  “Okay,” Lisanne said quietly.

  Daniel was silent, apparently lost in thought, and ate his pizza without asking anything further.

  She saw him wince as he chewed.

  “Are you okay?” She touched his arm so he’d look at her. “Are you okay?” she repeated.

  He gave her a lopsided smile. “Yeah, I’m good.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Only when I laugh.”

  “I’m serious!”

  “I’m fine, Lis. I’ve just been living on instant soup for a few days. This is giving my jaw a work out – that’s all.”

  Monica looked appalled and glanced at her husband. He gave a slight shake of his head and carried on watching the film.

  “Didn’t… didn’t Zef help you at all?”

  Daniel frowned and said quietly, “Drop it, Lis.”

  “But he should have helped you!”

  Daniel didn’t reply, but picked up his beer and took a long drink.

  Lisanne’s phone beeped again but she ignored it.

  “You got another message, Lis,” said Harry, helpfully.

  Lisanne was about ready to strangle her little brother, and from the innocent look on his face, he knew it, too.

  Daniel looked at her quizzically, so she pulled out her phone and checked the message.

  “It’s from Rodney,” she said, answering his unspoken question. “He wants to meet up tonight. I’ll tell him I’m busy.”

  “You should see your friends, Lis,” said Daniel.

  His look was challenging and Lisanne felt like screaming with irritation. If Daniel wanted a pissing contest with Rodney, well, who was she to stop his fun? Although she wasn’t sure how much fun it would be for Rodney. But she did want to see him.

  “Fine! Fine! I’ll tell him we’ll be there in an hour.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows then took another sip of beer.

  Lisanne sent the text, and stomped upstairs to change, leaving Daniel with her parents. As far as she was concerned that was his punishment for… when she thought about it she wasn’t exactly sure why she was mad at him. She just knew she was.

  She decided to channel her inner Kirsty and resurrect the denim miniskirt that had led to some very steamy car sex with Daniel. Well, to be fair, all the sex she’d had with Daniel was steamy. That boy just exuded heat. No wonder all the girls at college wanted him. She sighed. He’d written in his letter that he loved her but he’d never said it to her face – he’d never even come close to saying it.

  The precious letter was kept between the pages of her favorite violin score, Jules Massenet’s Meditation. She unfolded it thoughtfully and read it again. Yes, there it was in black and white – I love you. So why couldn’t he say it out loud?

  She sighed, tucking the letter away carefully. When she was old and grey and wrinkled and sagging, she’d pull it out and say to herself, ‘I, too, was once adored’ – because it sure looked like she wasn’t going to hear it anytime soon.

  She ransacked her makeup bag, glad that the contents had increased in both quality and quantity under Kirsty’s vocal encouragement, but when she looked at the overall effect five minutes later, she suspected she might have overdone it – just a little.

  Although she felt a slight sense of unease, she also felt irritated and rebellious. So she found her tightest t-shirt and pulled on the same pumps that she’d worn to her cousin’s wedding, and Sonia Brandt’s eventful party, even though she knew they were little short of foot coffins.

  Daniel’s backpack had been removed to the guest room, and when Lisanne came downstairs, the only change he’d made was to throw a plaid shirt over his t-shirt – unbuttoned, of course.

  His eyes widened with surprise when he saw her but he was also smart enough not to say anything. Her mom, on the other hand, saw no need to hold back.

  “You’re not going out dressed like that!”

  “What’s wrong with it, mom?” snapped Lisanne, her eyes blazing.

  “You look… you look…”

  “What do I look like?” she spat out, her hands on her hips.

  “I think you should put something over that t-shirt,” said her mom, backtracking several long steps. “You’ll catch your death.”

  “It’s fifty nine degrees outside!”

  “At least take a jacket – so you can cover up.”

  “Don’t tell me what to wear! I’m nearly 19, mom!”

  Ernie slid further down in his chair as Monica sucked in a deep breath, and opened her mouth as a preliminary to blasting her daughter.

  But Daniel’s reaction was faster. He wrapped his arm around Lisanne’s shoulders, and steered her out of the room. “Come on, baby doll. You can have my shirt if you get cold,” and he gently walked her away.

  As soon as they were out of the living room, she shrugged off his arm and stamped out of the house.

  Daniel watched her thoughtfully before climbing into Monica’s car without speaking, and Lisanne started the engine. But then Daniel switched on the inside light, and she turned to look at him.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing,” she snarled.

  “Lis, for fuck’s sake! What is it?!”

  “Why wouldn’t you touch me after Thanksgiving?”

  He frowned, wishing he knew what the hell had turned her into a rabid ball crusher during the last sixty minutes, although he could make an educated guess.

  “Well?”

  “It didn’t feel right.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Because I hadn’t told you about this.” He gestured toward his head.

  “What difference does that make?” she yelled.

  He didn’t understand her anger, but then the meaning of her words sank in. She didn’t care. She really didn’t care that he was deaf. Daniel couldn’t help but grin at her – which drove Lisanne into a complete rage.

  “Why are you smiling!” she shrieked.

  He leaned over and pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. She resisted for a fraction of a second, then scrambled onto his lap and began to grind against his jeans.

  They were both lost in the moment when Lisanne heard her phone beep with yet another message. It brought her to her senses, and she remembered that they were still sitting
in her mom’s car, with the interior light showcasing their every move – on her parent’s drive.

  She clambered inelegantly from Daniel’s knee, too intent on pulling her phone out of her purse to see that he had to adjust himself.

  “Rodney wants to meet at a coffee shop instead,” she said, shortly.

  She was rather relieved. She knew that Reverend Dubois and his wife would be shocked by Daniel – his tattoos, his pierced eyebrow, and certainly by his swearing, which he almost never managed to curb entirely, no matter how hard he tried.

  “Don’t want to be late for Rodney,” Daniel said, snidely.

  “You don’t have to come,” she snapped.

  Daniel stared at her in disbelief.

  Consequently, the drive to the coffee shop continued in stony silence although, to be fair, Daniel couldn’t have seen anything Lisanne said anyway, firstly, because it was dark inside the car, and secondly, because with only seeing her profile it was virtually impossible to read what she was saying. He didn’t have to worry – Lisanne was berating herself for agreeing to meet Rodney and therefore getting them all into what she was sure to be a highly uncomfortable confrontation.

  She parked outside the coffee shop and hoped to speak to Daniel before they entered. But he was already holding open the café door by the time she’d picked up her purse and climbed out of the car. All she had time to say was, “Be nice!”

  He raised his eyebrows and suppressed a smirk. Almost.

  Rodney was sitting at a table near the back, staring moodily into a cup of foaming cappuccino. He was nice looking in a blond, preppy sort of way – he looked safe. It was the opposite of how people looked at Daniel.

  Rodney started to smile when he saw Lisanne and then his eyes bugged out as he swept his gaze up and down her, taking in the micro mini, heels, and heavy makeup. When he saw Daniel, his mouth dropped open in a silent pop.

  Lisanne hugged him tightly – because Rodney was her friend, her one true friend from high school – and also because she hoped it would make Daniel insanely jealous. She couldn’t help questioning the wisdom of making her highly volatile boyfriend even more incendiary, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself either.

  “Look at you! College must agree with you, hot stuff!” said Rodney, kissing her cheek.