The Past II Part 2

The Past II
Part 2

The sound of shattering glass woke Dan from a sound sleep. As he blinked his eyes and tried to place the noise, something upstairs crashed to the floor. The sound reverberated across the ceiling. Someone was in the church, and they weren’t praying.

“Dan?” Tessa asked from the doorway of the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

“Luke,” Dan told her grimly. “He does know we’re here.”

“But not where. Right?” Tessa moved closer to him. “And he can’t get in, right?”

“Right.” Dan took her hand and they crept up the stairs. The crashing and banging continued, interspersed with muffled shouts. Dan knew that it was Luke, calling for him. His heart beat faster as the shouts got louder.

“Come out, come out wherever you are!” Luke’s voice, angry, yet sing-song, sounded very close indeed. “I know you’re here, Danny-Manny. Come on out, before I get mad.”

Tessa’s eyes were wide, and she gripped Dan’s hand hard enough to make him wince, but she stayed silent. They both sat huddled on the stairs, barely breathing, waiting.

Another voice called out, and suddenly everything upstairs went quiet once more. Then the sirens could be heard, first in the distance and then right outside. For the next hour, Dan and Tessa listened as the police walked about the church. They couldn’t make out what was being said, but they were relieved when the church once again fell into silence.

Dan crept out of the apartment to survey the damage. It was extensive. Three stained glass windows had been shattered. All fourteen wall-plaques showing the Stations of the Cross had been ripped from the walls and smashed on the floor. The confessional doors had been broken and some of the kneeler cushions had been slashed with a knife blade. Cabinets had been overturned, and one wall of the narthex had been spray painted with the words, GETYOUMANNY.

Dan’s blood turned to ice. Luke had ordered this sacrilegious vandalism just to get at him. Tessa was right. Leaving was their only option, and the sooner the better.

Father Paul barely got through his evening prayers before he fell into his bed, exhausted. He had been awakened at two, when the police had arrived at the church. He had viewed the destruction inside with a deep sense of violation and a feeling of nausea. He had returned home to rally his energy and some helpful parishioners. They had been hard at work restoring St. Cecilia’s to her previous glory, since six that morning. It was nearly eight in the evening now, but most things had been put to order, and he desperately needed some sleep. Maybe the presence he had felt in the church had been responsible for the vandalism. But he had searched the building from top to bottom: No one had been there.

Suddenly, his eyes flew open. The basement apartment! That was the one place he had forgotten to search. It was accessible only from the kitchen supply closet, and it had been years since he or anyone else had been down there. Or so he thought. What if he had been wrong? He pulled himself wearily from his bed and began to get dressed. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he knew for sure.

Dan had certainly been disturbed by what he had seen upstairs. Tessa didn’t ask him for details, as it was obvious to her that he wasn’t in a talking mood. She let him brood while she packed both duffel bags with their belongings, and a knapsack with food. She looked at her watch. It was almost 7:30, and they needed to be at the bus station by nine. It hadn’t helped that a work party had shown up to repair and clean the church. Tessa and Dan had been trapped downstairs by all the activity. Sighing, Tessa neatly folded the blankets and towels the two had used the past week. She hated to leave dirty things behind, but there hadn’t been time or opportunity to do laundry at the corner Laundromat. Oh well, she told herself. I can only do what I can do.

She set the dirty towels on the bathroom counter, Dan’s blankets on the couch, and her own on the bed, just in case they needed to come back. Surveying her work, she noted that everything looked pretty much as it had when they had arrived. It was time to leave.

Dan looked a little less broody as he picked up the duffel bags. Tessa threw the knapsack over her shoulder, and they slipped up and out one last time.

As they started out the side door, a sneering voice asked, “Going on a trip?”

Dan turned to see Luke sitting on the roof ledge above the door. Both of Luke’s eyes were blackened. Turning back, he saw more gang members stepping out of the shadows. Luke slid to the ground. “Not trying to leave without saying goodbye, were you, Danny-Manny?”

Dan thought quickly, but spoke slowly. “No. We were just moving to a better location. This one has too much vandalism.”

Luke’s face flushed, and then he laughed. “So I heard. Not that I’d know anything about that. But I heard someone might have left you a message.”

“Funny,” Dan said, “I heard that, too.”

“I told you I wanted you to come back to the gang. I still haven’t heard your answer.” Luke signaled, and three gang members suddenly surrounded Tessa. Dan watched as she quietly assessed them and the threat they presented.

“I was just on my way to give you my answer,” Dan said, dropping his duffel to the ground and unzipping it. “I figure you’re right. I couldn’t join while my mom was alive; it would have been disrespectful when she was so against it. But there isn’t anything stopping me now, is there?” He gently pulled out his leather jacket and slipped it on over his windbreaker. “See? I’m ready, but only if you leave her alone.”

“All right.” Luke looked at Dan somewhat suspiciously. “But she stays with the boys until you’ve finished initiation. They won’t touch her,” he stated, halting Dan’s protest. “As long as you follow through.” He smiled with feigned sadness. “It’s just that I really can’t trust you, Danny-Manny. Neither of you.”

“Fine. But what’s this about an initiation? I’m not some newbie, Luke. I was with you at the start.”

“Yeah, you were,” Luke agreed. “But things have changed, and you haven’t exactly been around during the changes, have you? So you have to do the initiation. Them’s the rules.”

Dan shrugged, his heart sinking into his stomach. “Okay. Let’s get it done.”

“Not here.” Luke gestured to the three boys standing around Tessa. “Derek and Georgie, take little girlfriend here into the church. Keep her safe and quiet until you hear from me.” They nodded and each grabbed an arm. Tessa started to struggle, and Luke snapped, “Settle down, sister. I still owe you one, remember?” He pointed to his bruised eyes, and allowed a vicious chuckle to escape through his lips. “Watch her, boys. She looks like a china doll, but she’s a mean one. The rest of us are going to take a little walk down by the river.” He grabbed Dan’s arm and started walking. The rest of the gang fell into step.

Derek and Georgie escorted Tessa into the nave, and forced her into a pew. She sat perfectly still, torn between silent, fuming anger at her current situation, and fear for the unknown dangers that Dan faced. The shorter of the two gang boys watched her carefully, while the taller one paced, his spiky blond hair vibrating with each measured step. The main door shut with a bang, and both boys dived for the floor, pushing Tessa down with them. Derek, the taller of the two, slammed his hand over her mouth and hissed a warning in her ear. They stayed prone on the floor as footsteps echoed in the vestibule.

Father Paul Mazzeo paused in the narthex. Something was not right, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He peeked through the double doors, and everything seemed to be in order. He moved on down to the storage room and opened the door to the basement. It opened easily. Perhaps he had been wrong about someone using the space. He flipped on the light and headed downstairs. At first glance, everything seemed fine. Then Father Paul noticed a stack of blankets on the couch. Further investigation revealed towels neatly folded in the bathroom, and a second stack of blankets on the bed. There had definitely been people living there, but they’d been tidy. It still didn’t explain the vandalism upstairs. Frustrated, Father Paul plopped down on the couch. “Who was here?” he wondered. “Why were they here, and where are they now?”

Luke didn’t stop until they reached an old warehouse deep in the Bowery district. Pushing open the boarded-over door, he shoved Dan inside and flipped on the lights. “Initiation time, Manny.” Luke was grinning as he took his place on the metal step. The rest of the gang formed a circle around Dan.

“Now, most of the time,” Luke said. “You have to pay your dues. You’ve already done that. That ‘Vette you scored paid you up in full -- for a while. But there’s still the loyalty test.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. “See this?” he asked. Dan looked. In Luke’s hand were six shiny pennies.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “Six cents. What of it?”

“Well, Danny-Manny,” Luke sneered. “I’m going to toss these pennies on the floor there, and you’re gonna pick ‘em all up. In six minutes.”

“That’s it?” Dan was incredulous. “Pick up the pennies. That’s all?”

“Yep.” Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Oh. Did I forget to mention that the boys here are gonna whomp on ya until time is up?”

Dan swallowed hard, and sneered. “Bring it on.”

Luke looked at the dozen or so gang members encircling Dan. “Ready boys?” he asked. Luke opened his fist and the pennies hit the floor. Dan went after them, and the gang went after Dan. Luke leaned back to watch with a smile on his face.

The pennies rolled and slid across the concrete floor. Dan managed to grab two before various fists and feet began raining blows all over his body. It was quite the dilemma. He could try and fight back, but he’d lose the pennies he had already retrieved. If he concentrated on the pennies, he’d likely get the stuffing beat out of him, but it might be over sooner. Dan decided to concentrate on the pennies. He dived and rolled across the floor, grabbing at pennies with his right hand and securing them in his left. Three, four--a fist caught him in the kidney, another in the ribs. Five--his face slammed into a knee, splitting his lip against his teeth. Spitting out blood, Dan spotted the sixth penny leaning up against the step. He dove for it, grasping for it, just as Luke’s high-heeled cowboy boot came slamming down on Dan’s forearm.

“Time!” Luke shouted, and the gang members retreated back to their places in the circle. Luke removed his foot from Dan’s arm and asked, “How many did you get?”

Dan staggered to his feet and held out his left hand. Five pennies stuck to his moist palm.

Luke shook his head sadly and scraped the coins off Dan’s hand. “Not enough, Danny. Guess we’ll have to start again.”

Dan shook his head and dropped the sixth penny, still clutched in his right hand, into Luke’s. “Guess we won’t,” he said.

A roar of approval rose from the rest of the Cowhands as they ran forward to hug Dan and congratulate him on passing.

Luke signaled for their attention, and shouted, “Now we party!”

Dan’s jacket was taken from him, as he was hurled into the middle of the celebration. His body ached, and he wanted to get back to Tessa, but in a strange way, he felt like celebrating. Despite the fact that he hadn’t wanted to join the gang, he had survived the challenge, passed the test. A part of him felt proud. He felt like he was a part of something, finally, after weeks and months of near solitude. He reluctantly took the bottle Luke handed to him and drank, choking as the alcohol burned his bleeding lips and scorched his throat. As the warmth spread through his stomach, he made a decision: He would be responsible later. Right now he was going to celebrate survival.

II Past 1
Index
II Past 3
Main