The Past II Part 1

The Past II
Part 1

February 13, 1982

Exhaustion overtook both Dan and Tess, and they slept late into the day. When Tessa woke from sleep she was, at first, disoriented. As the events of the previous evening came back to her, she padded into the living room to check on Dan. He was still sleeping, but he was restless and flushed. Tessa worried that he might be feverish, or even have an infection. There had been so many bloody cuts, and if those or the burn blisters became infected, she was afraid of what might happen.

Quietly, she cut up some fruit and cheese and toasted some bread for a breakfast-slash-lunch. A low moan, quickly suppressed, alerted her to the fact that Dan had awakened. She carried the plate to the table and went to kneel beside him.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” she teased softly. “How are you doing today?”

“Okay.” Dan’s voice was tight and raspy. He reached his hand out to touch her shoulder, stopping short as Tessa flinched. “Did he do that to you?”

Tess looked at the bite and surrounding bruise showing above the neckband of her nightshirt. “Yeah,” she admitted. “There are a few of them, and I’ve got some bruises from where he grabbed me. They hurt a little, but it could have been so much worse.” She met his eyes straight on and said, “You saved me last night, Danny. He hurt you so badly, and you still came for me. You rescued me, and you brought me back when I was slipping into the dark place. You’re my hero, now and forever. I won’t ever forget it.”

Dan sat up with a wince. “I’m not a hero, Tess. I just couldn’t let him do... that. No one would. It’s just wrong.” He got to his feet unsteadily, his head spinning. Tessa reached out and steadied him.

“Well, you’re still my hero.” She looked at him with concern. “You don’t look so good, Danny. What can I do to help you?”

“I’m a little dizzy. Would you mind helping me to the bathroom?”

“Sure. Then I want you to eat before I change your bandages.”

“I want a shower very badly. Everything hurts.”

“I don’t know.” Tessa chewed on her lip, as Dan leaned heavily against her. “Won’t the water hurt? I’ve seen your back, Danny; it’s all torn up. Besides, you said you were dizzy. What if you fall or something?”

Dan sighed. “I wish you weren’t so dang smart all the time. How about I get to shower after we eat, if I’m not dizzy?”

“Okay. It’s probably best to get everything clean before I bandage you up again,” Tess agreed, as Dan reached out and grabbed on to the bathroom wall. “I’m going to make some salt water so you can soak your feet. Mama always said that the sea cures everything, so I’ll make you some. After that, I think you should rest. You really do look sick, Danny.”

“I really feel sick, Tess. But I’m tough. I appreciate you fussing over me, but I’ll be okay.” He closed the door to the bathroom, leaving her shaking her head and muttering, “Boys.”

Dan slept for the better part of the next two days. He was feverish, but his temperature responded well to Tessa’s diligent administration of water, aspirin and Tylenol.

Saturday was fairly quiet, but on Sunday the ceiling echoed with the muffled noise of parishioners coming and going, and rang with the tones of the piano and choir. Tessa sat on the floor, her head resting on the couch next to Dan’s, listening to the hustle and bustle of the Valentine’s Day Social going on almost directly above them. He whispered, “I’m sorry. We should be in Indiana by now.”

“Shhh,” Tessa responded. “It doesn’t matter. We’re alive and we’re together. That’s the important thing. Right?”

Dan wiped a tear from her cheek. “We’ll get there someday. I promise.”

“I know.” Tessa made no effort to stop the tears. “I just want...I want my Daddy, and my Mama. I want to go home.”

“I know. Me, too.” Dan blinked back his own tears. “I just don’t know where home is anymore.” He draped his arm over her, and held her while she cried.

By Monday, Dan had moved into the uncomfortable healing stage. The swelling was subsiding, the cuts and scrapes had begun to scab, and the itching was driving him nuts. Tessa faithfully applied cool, wet compresses to his rainbow-colored back and legs, and tended to his blistered feet. He was grumpy and fretful, but she ignored his complaining. After they ate ham sandwiches and chicken soup for dinner, Tessa told Dan to close his eyes. He did, and she returned bearing a Twinkie adorned with a single white candle.

“Happy birthday to you,” she sang. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Danny, happy birthday to you.” She set the Twinkie in his hands and lit the match. “Make a wish and blow out the candle.”

Dan looked at the girl standing before him, and then at the flaming snack cake in his hands. Despite the situation, despite the desperation, despite the bleak outlook, he closed his eyes and wished for forever, smiling as he blew out the flame.

Thursday, March 11

For almost four weeks they hid out in the basement apartment under St. Cecilia’s. Dan was back to nearly normal, and both of them were going stir crazy.

“I need to get out of here,” Tessa said as she held on to the table and swung her leg from position to position. “I swear, Dan. I need to breathe real air again.”

“I know.” Dan paced across the floor. “We need to get more food, maybe some books and stuff, a map so we can plan our next move.”

“Are we ready?” Tessa stopped her stretching, her eyes wide. “Are you ready to get out of New York?”

“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” Dan told her. “Eventually we have to see the sun again, right?”

“When?”

“How about now?” Dan asked. “Or as soon as you’re ready.”

“What if somebody sees us?”

“No one will. That much I can promise,” Dan assured her. “I know how to get in and out without any one knowing. Trust me.”

“Always.” Tessa’s smile lit up the whole room. “Let me get my shoes.”

She followed him as they stealthily slipped out of the church. The day was cold and crisp, but the sun was shining and the fresh air felt incredible after more than three weeks underground. Hand and hand they walked the streets, enjoying their freedom. Dan bought hot dogs from a corner cart and they ate them in a tiny strip of a park while discussing what to do next.

They decided to go to the library first, to do some research, then to shop for supplies. Dan, having spent time in the area, knew where to go and where not to go. He carefully steered Tessa away from places he might find members of the gang, sticking to more highly populated, family-oriented areas. By nightfall, they were ready to return to their hideaway. As they slipped back towards the church, neither noticed the figure following in the shadows.

Luke Clevik leaned against a street lamp and lit another cigarette. The ground beneath his boots was littered with the stubs of the cigarettes he had smoked in the two hours he’d been watching St. Cecilia’s. Ever since Kerm had returned to the lair three days before with a tale of seeing Dan Mangan and his little girlfriend, Luke had been intent on finding his former comrade.

Luke didn’t like to lose. Having Dan as his lackey had given him a lot of prestige, especially given the younger boy’s gift for lifting cars. Luke had made Dan two offers to officially join the gang--the new, improved gang--and had been rebuffed both times. That rubbed. So did the thought that Dan might strike out on his own, dealing with the highest bidder. That would not do at all. Luke intended to give Dan one final chance to come back to him. One last chance. He was waiting for his opportunity, waiting for the right leverage. Leverage. Luke liked the sound of that particular word.

His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of Dan and Tessa slipping around the side of the old church. He dropped his cigarette and ground it out with his heel. “Soon Danny-Manny,” he muttered. “Soon.”

Father Paul Mazzeo knew that there was something strange going on in his church. He could sense it, the odd feeling that he was not the only breathing being in the building. He didn’t feel threatened at all, just crowded. A lean man in his early forties, Father Paul, as he was known by his parishioners, was both intelligent and compassionate. It was a combination that had moved him through the church hierarchy with relative ease and speed. Now the pastor of St. Cecilia’s, he was dedicated to the spiritual and physical well-being of the mishmash of humanity that made up his parish, and something was definitely not right.

He carefully searched the church from bell tower to broom closet, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Closing the door tightly behind him, he headed for his apartment in the rectory across the street. The nagging feeling that he was missing something wouldn’t go away, but he shrugged it off: Sooner or later, he would figure it out.

Dan knew better than to let down his guard. But as the weather turned more spring-like, and no one seemed to be after them, staying on guard all the time became more and more difficult. So it was with relative ease that Luke was able to surprise them late one afternoon, as Dan and Tessa were walking back from the park.

Stepping out from an alley, Luke grabbed Tessa, wrenching her away from Dan and wrapping his arm around her throat. “Hey Dan,” he said with mock sweetness. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Let her go, Luke!” Dan spat the words as forcefully as he could manage with a dry mouth. “She’s nothing to you.”

“No,” Luke agreed. “But she is something to you, ain’t she?” He tightened his hold on Tessa.

“This gets old really fast,” Tessa said, meeting Dan’s eyes with her own. “Why does everyone who wants something from you, feel the need to grab me?”

“Shut up!” Luke commanded, shaking her a little before turning back to Dan. “Now you listen up, Mangan. I want you back with the Cowhands, all official this time. I know where the two of you are hiding, and I know how to get to you. Come back, and the girl stays pretty.”

“Luke,” Dan said quietly. “Let her go and we’ll talk.”

“We’ll talk now.” Luke shifted slightly, and Tessa, sensing an opportunity, reacted. She stomped down hard on his foot--at the same time sinking her teeth into his arm, right through the leather sleeve. When he howled and tried to shake her loose, she let go of his arm and snapped her head back, hitting him squarely in the nose. Instantly, Luke dropped to his knees, hands over his spurting nose.

Tessa sprinted towards Dan, who was open-mouthed with shock. Turning to look at Luke, Tessa said, “I hate being grabbed by people I don’t like.” Taking Dan’s hand, she pulled him down the street at a trot.

Both were panting by the time they reached the church. After checking to see if the coast was clear, they slipped down to their hideaway and collapsed on the couch.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Dan asked.

“I’m not some fragile flower, you know,” Tessa told him. “I’ve been dancing since I was two. I grew up with a brother who took karate and a father who taught me to defend myself. Luke was dumb enough to give me an opening. I took it.” She shrugged and smiled. “Of course, now I have a little bit of a headache and I need to wash Luke the Puke’s blood out of my hair.”

“He’ll come back, you know,” Dan brooded. “He’s not going to give up.”

“I don’t think he really knows where we are.”

“I think he knows we’re here, at the church,” Dan admitted. “But I don’t think he knows where in the church we are.”

“Can he get down here?”

“No. Not if we lock the bolts on this side. But he can wait for us until we go out and ambush us then.” Dan sighed. “Maybe I should just do what he wants.”

“No!” Tessa was adamant. “You said yourself that the gang was bad news. Why would you even think about joining?”

“To protect you.” Dan raised his hand to stop her protest. “I know you can protect yourself. I get it. But Luke knows that now, too. He won’t try anything alone again. Next time he’ll bring reinforcements, more than enough to take both of us. Then I end up in the gang anyway, and you end up...” His voice faded, and he shook his head. “I won’t let that happen.”

“Then we’ll leave.” Tessa took Dan’s hand. “We’re both able to travel now, and we still have money enough to go. We have enough food and things to stay in for the next couple of days. We’ll plan it out and then we’ll go. Once we’re gone, Luke won’t be able to find you. Think about it. I’m going to shower.”

Dan thought about Tessa’s words while she was in the shower. He toasted some cheese sandwiches, and heated up some vegetable soup. When she joined him at the table, he said, “I think you’re right. It’s time to go.”

She raised her water and toasted, “To the next adventure. Together.” They bumped cups, and began to eat.

Collision 2
Index
II Past 2
Main