It was too much, he realized only in retrospect, to see his uncle-father and Gwen's brother, out there in the cold, windswept cemetery. Too much anger, too much frustration, too much pain. He knew that Clawson was a killer, that Lenny was mentally unstable. He also knew that he didn't have much in the way of fighting abilities, having never gotten past the introductory time period of karate at some guy's house, twenty minutes away in Ephraim. Knowing all of this and the stupidity of his next action, Dane went in swinging anyway.
He cleared the low log fence with an easy jump, landing on a frosty clump of dried-up weeds, and ran toward the two men, his mother standing to one side and only dimly entering into his periphery. Lenny noticed the approach in time to step back, but Clawson was blindsided as Dane crashed into him, a wordless bellow accompanying his tackle. The two fell to the frozen ground, with Clawson's superior strength and mass quickly turning the surprise attack around. Before Dane could land more than a punch or two, Clawson had bucked him off and had pinned him tightly to the ground. Lights burst behind Dane's eyelids as first one and then a second blow rocked his head. He tasted blood. Screams filled the air, and then the crushing pressure on his torso lifted. There was more scuffling and it took a moment for Dane's mind to clear enough to understand what was going on: Lenny had pulled Clawson off of his nephew-son, with Mom hobbling over to put calming hands on Clawson's still straining arms. Rolling onto his side, Dane tried to regain his feet, but a wave of dizziness knocked him down again. "--the hell he's doing?" Clawson's shouts were loud enough to cut through Dane's cotton-stuffed ears. "Stop it, Claw, stop it now!" "He nearly killed you!" "It was an accident!" "He killed your dad!" This last one pulled Dane's attention to the speaker, only to realize that it was actually Clawson shouting at Lenny, who was holding Clawson back but with less than his full effort. The reminder had drained Lenny's face of color, and he stared at Dane with an inexpressible expression. "What the hell was that, son?" demanded Clawson, shrugging off the impeding hands but not lunging forward, either. "I'm not your son," said Dane, staggering to his feet. His still-new injuries throbbed. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and he jolted away in surprise. "It's me," said Harmony, her voice low. "You're insane," snarled Clawson. "Jen, you didn't tell me that your kid was a damn retard." "Clawson!" "He attacked me out of nowhere!" "You're selling this land, is that right?" The comment drew Clawson up, and he shot a nervous glance at first Dane and then Mom. "What if I am?" "Clawson," said Jenny, her voice almost too quiet to hear, though there was a tone of dismay that Dane heard. "You're no Amleth. You don't belong here." Clawson snorted. "You're one to talk. Prissy little snot, too busy reading his books and studying the most useless of all majors--philosophy--and then comes home and starts moping around like a damn woman. You think that we're impressed by you?" Before Dane could engender a retort, Lenny stepped forward. "Why are you here at all?" "I live here." "No, I mean, why are you alive and my father isn't? And my sister? You know how she died, don't you?" The question stalled Dane. He shot a glance at Harmony. "I heard, yeah." He worked his mouth a couple of times, the coppery taste of blood making him choke. "I'm sorry for your loss. I…" He hesitated but only for a moment before saying, "I loved her." Lenny snorted. "You didn't act like it." The comment sliced deeply into Dane's heart. He'd been so wrapped up in his own problems, the drama of his current life, that he realized that he had failed Gwen. She'd been special to him--he really had loved her--but he'd lost sight of that. She'd wanted only to keep the men in her life happy. He thought back to their conversation in the church foyer the day of Papa Dane's funeral. She'd tried to be there for him, but he'd had this moment, this strange miscarriage of thought that had made him think that she'd be better off not hanging around the Amleth family anymore. That she was in danger, as Dane had such dark suspicions to unearth. There wasn't much he could say to Lenny's comment, because Lenny was right: Dane hadn't been a very good friend, and a worse boyfriend. The realization made his heart drop into his stomach and he lowered his gaze. "I should have," Dane said, his voice low. "I'm sorry. I mean it." Lenny stared, clearly unmoved. Clawson watched, his face still crumbled in fury. Jenny watched her son, one hand on Clawson's arm--in part to steady herself, in part, no doubt, because she looked to him for comfort now--and the other hand over her mouth. With a quiet nod, he turned from the group and headed toward the street and, up the road a ways, the car that he and Harmony had taken up there together. Harmony fell in step with him, as she always did, and he couldn't help but notice her presence. As he climbed over the fence, he asked her, "Why do you stay with me? Why are you still my friend?" Harmony sighed as she swung one jean-clad leg over the fence and then the other. "You know why, Dane." "I don't think I do. I do stupid stuff like--" and he gestured behind him "--that all of the time. I'm lucky to be alive, what with the fact that I'm living with a murderer. You've put your life on the line for me multiple times." Harmony gave him a strange look, one that he couldn't quite place until she spoke. As the sunlight bled out of the sky and the rapid-dark of a winter night began its conquest of the day, she said, "Because we're friends, Dane. It's what friends are for." He chewed on that thought as they progressed to the car. As they clambered in and Harmony gently backed the car into the road, her head turned to look over her shoulder, Dane noticed the gentle pulse of her heartbeat visible on her neck. Strands of black hair poured from beneath her beanie, framing her beautiful face. Dane had never really noticed before how pretty she was--at least, not normally. He knew she was cute, in the same way that a kid might recognize that same reality about his cousin--true, perhaps, but not noticeable. This wasn't really a surprise; he'd always had eyes only for Gwen. Then he'd screwed that up. Dane shook his head and looked away with a sigh. "What's that mean?" asked Harmony as she settled in the seat and dropped the car into gear. "What's what mean?" "That sigh. There's matter in these sighs." He shook his head. "I guess." "So?" Dane looked out the window, then rolled his gaze over to Harmony just as they passed the graveyard. It was empty now, with Mom, Clawson, and Lenny gone already. "You know, Harmony, that place is special." "What, the cemetery?" "Yeah." She chuckled as she fiddled with the heater. "I gathered as much by the way you tackled your funcle because of the idea that he was selling it off." "No, I mean…special people belong there. After they die, of course." She laughed. "Yeah, I would assume as much. I hope that you don't keep your cemetery for special living people." "No, but…" Dane wasn't sure what he was saying, so he trailed off and watched the death-yellow foliage streak past his window. "But what?" "Don't take this the wrong way, Harmony," he said, knowing what the words were going to be before they made it out, unable to stop them, "but if it were up to me, I'd want you there, too." Harmony considered the road for a second before glancing over at him. "What, like--" "You're part of my family. More than Clawson ever could hope to be." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you." Harmony didn't answer, but he saw a distinct blush rush up from her neck and cover her cheeks. "Dane, I--" "Want to watch a movie?" he asked, desperate to change the subject. Why had he done that? What was that supposed to mean? It was a joke, wasn't it? His mind wasn't on track; it had been acting strangely, thinking strangely for far too long. It was strain…a hope to express his appreciation to her without speaking. That was it. That was all it was. "Um…" "Just something normal, you know? Like two millennials should do on a weekend night." "Oh…okay," said Harmony, her voice small and her fingers tight on the steering wheel. They drove on for a few minutes in silence, until at last Dane said, "I'm sorry for not asking first. I didn't mean…" "No, that wasn't the problem. I just…I'm going to have to figure out what that means." "I--" She shook her head as she pulled into the Lodge's lengthy driveway. "Don't say anything, Dane. Just…give me a bit to think, yeah?" "So…the movie?" He asked more because he didn't want Harmony to go than because there was anything that he really wanted to watch. He was surprised at how happy it made him when she nodded her head. "Yeah. That'd be nice." She clicked off the car and together they walked through the icy wind and into the empty Lodge. |