Dangerous to Know & Love (38 page)

“Honey, we made a mistake. We’re sorry,” said her mom, a little defensively but still trying to placate her.

Lisanne folded her arms.

“Not good enough, mom. You know, you and dad brought me up to treat people with respect. Well, that seems to have just gone straight out of the window, doesn’t it? Or maybe you just meant people like you, with nice houses, and tidy yards. Maybe it doesn’t count if the person has tattoos and piercings… or if he’s deaf?”

“That’s enough, Lisanne,” said her father.

“No, dad. That’s nothing like enough. I’m ashamed of both of you.”

And then she burst into tears and ran upstairs.

Chapter 16

Several minutes later, Lisanne heard someone tapping on her bedroom door. She guessed it was her mom.

“Honey, can I come in?”

Lisanne didn’t answer, but her mom opened the door anyway.

“What do you want, mom?” she said, her voice cold.

“Just to make sure you’re okay.”

“Oh, sure, I’m just peachy.”

“Sarcasm won’t help.”

“Won’t it, mom? Well, you tell me what
will
help, because I surely don’t know. Daniel has been nothing but polite and respectful, and he’s getting along great with Harry and Pops. It’s you and dad who have the problem.”

Her mom was quiet for a moment. “You’re right, honey. Your dad and I were very wrong to assume that Daniel was involved in that fight at the arcade. All I can say is that we were worried about you and Harry. Now I know that doesn’t excuse our behavior, but that was the reason. We’ve apologized again to Daniel and I believe he’s accepted it. Now I’m apologizing to you.”

“And dad?”

“He’s ashamed of himself – like you said. Just give him a chance to say he’s sorry to you. That’s all I ask.”

She patted her daughter on the shoulder and quietly walked out of the room.

Lisanne sat up, then pulled herself off the bed, a determined look on her face.

She had a party to get ready for.

*     *     *

“Hey, man,” said Daniel, as he strolled into Harry’s room.

He was feeling a lot calmer since he’d spent time with Pops. The old man’s company had stopped him from doing something spectacularly rash, and although they hadn’t talked about anything in particular, just working together on Sirona had taken the heat out of the situation and given him a chance to cool his temper.

Lisanne’s parents had both apologized again. Ernie’s had been rather stiff, but Monica’s had been effusive and heartfelt. She’d begged him to stay for Lisanne’s sake, and Daniel had found himself agreeing, albeit reluctantly.

He pulled off his oil smeared t-shirt and dug around in his messenger bag for something clean to wear for the party. There wasn’t a lot of choice since Lisanne had stolen his gray t-shirt to sleep in.

When he turned around, Harry was staring at him. Or rather, at his nipple rings.

Daniel was amused. They always provoked extreme reactions in people – he couldn’t really see why. After all, it was no different from getting your ears pierced, was it?

“Whoa!” whispered Harry. “Did… did that hurt?”

Yep, always the same question.

“Yeah, some. Not much.”

“Isn’t it… kind of twisted? Ya know, freaky?”

Daniel laughed. At least the kid had the guts to say what most people just thought.

“It’s not everyone’s thing. Whatever, man, I like it. Girls like it.”

Harry blushed.

“What about your tattoos – did they hurt?”

“Some more than others. Tats near bone tend to hurt the most, like the one on my hip,” he said casually.

Harry gulped. “You have one on your hip, too? Man! That’s a lot of tattoos.”

Daniel shrugged. “My brother has more – on both arms. He said the inside of his wrists hurt the most.”

“Is Lisanne going to get a tattoo?”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know. She’s never said she wanted one.”

“Because mom and dad would go nuclear.”

Daniel smiled. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.”

He pulled on his last clean t-shirt and saw that Harry was still staring at him.

“Um, can I ask you something?” said Harry, nervously. “Are you… are you
doing it
with my sister?”

“That’s kind of a personal question,” said Daniel, seriously.

Harry visibly cringed but plowed on.

“It’s just… because you’re kissing and stuff all the time. I’ve never seen her do that with a guy before.”

“Your sister means a lot to me. I care about her.”

Harry screwed up his face in disgust. “That’s pretty mushy.”

Daniel smiled. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Um, so… I was wondering,” continued Harry, anxiously twisting his fingers together. “Can I ask you… about… stuff?”

Daniel paused, then sat down on the cot bed.

“Shoot.”

Harry dropped his head and stared at his hands with a look of abject horror and embarrassment on his face.

“Um… um…” he mumbled.

Daniel held back a sigh and waited patiently. He was beginning to get an idea about what Harry wanted to ask him.

“What is it, man?” he said, gently.

Harry’s face glowed red.

“Um… when you were my age, did you… um… did you… you know… um…”

“Whack off?” Daniel supplied helpfully.

“Yeah,” croaked Harry, risking a quick glance upwards.

“Sure,” replied Daniel easily, glancing at the Megan Fox poster on Harry’s wall. “All guys do.”

“Oh, okay.” Harry paused, then continued his mumble. It wasn’t easy for Daniel to work out what the kid was saying, but the gist of the conversation was all too clear. “How did you know what I was going to ask?” Harry choked out.

Daniel shrugged. “I’m a good guesser.” He wondered if that was the end of the conversation.

It wasn’t.

“Um, is it true that if you do it… a lot… you can go blind or something?”

“Jeez, man!” said Daniel. “Who’s been telling you this shit? The answer’s no. Why didn’t you just Google it?”

“Dad put a parent block on the computer,” Harry said with a grimace. “And you can’t look at school either.”

“At a friend’s house?” Daniel offered.

“My friend Jerry had some porn,” Harry said.

“Cool,” said Daniel, hiding a smile.

“Yeah?”

“Sure. Most guys watch porn. Some girls, too.”

Harry’s eyes were huge. “Girls watch porn?”

“Some, yeah.”

“Does… does Lis watch porn?”

Daniel smiled. “Not my secret to tell, man.”

“Oh wow!” Harry’s face showed surprise and nascent respect for his sister. “Um, so, is it weird to get a boner watching porn when there’s another guy around?”

Daniel couldn’t help a small smile escaping.

“Embarrassing, isn’t it?”

Harry gave a relieved laugh. “Yeah!”

“Look, porn is supposed to make you feel horny. That’s kinda the point of it. It’s generally not a group activity unless you’re like, having a party with beer or whatever. Mostly guys watch it by themselves and jerk off. It’s normal. Girls do it, too.”

“Girls? H-how?”

Jeez, now he was giving a biology lesson?

“Girls have pussies, right?” Harry seemed to have frozen, as Daniel continued to explain. “Yeah, so their pussies have clits – like a little nub at the front?”

Harry looked shocked, although by which sentence, Daniel couldn’t tell.

“You rub the clit – or they do it themselves – they come.”

“Come?”

“You know – orgasm – man milk.”

“Is it… like guys, um…”

“Not exactly, but fuck, it feels good if you’re around when it happens. Like I said – it’s normal. Girls do it, guys do it.”

Harry looked relieved. “I had to do it twice when I came home,” he admitted. “After watching the porn movie.”

“Nah, that’s nothing, man. Lots of guys your age jack off the whole freakin’ day. I dunno how any of us ever manage to go to school.”

Harry gave a small chuckle and then pulled a face.

“And in my sleep,” he groaned.

“Yeah, that happens. Doing the laundry is a nightmare,” Daniel agreed sympathetically. “Especially when your mom wants to know why you’ve changed the sheets when she did it yesterday.”

“Yeah!”

“Look, kid. Guys jerk off. A lot. I don’t know about by the time a guy gets really old, like 30 or something, but yeah. It’s like putting your pants on in the morning – just part of the routine. Know what I’m saying?”

“So, it’s
normal
?”

“Yep. Fun and free and nobody gets pregnant – what’s not to like?”

Harry laughed nervously.

Daniel remembered when he’d had a similar conversation with Zef. He’d been eleven, although possibly not as clueless as Harry, since he’d discovered Zef’s porn stash and examined it thoroughly before being caught. Plus, he then lost his virginity to one of his brother’s female friends when he was just slightly older than Harry was now.

It must suck not having an older brother.

He leaned over to reach into his jacket pocket, then tossed Harry a packet of condoms.

“You might want to practice with these, so when the time comes, you know what you’re doing. You don’t want to be getting that fucker inside out when you’ve got your woman all hot and heavy for you.”

Harry’s mouth popped open but no words came out.

Daniel stood up and headed for the door.

“Thank me in a few years,” he called over his shoulder.

Feeling like the day hadn’t been a complete disaster after all, he went looking for Lisanne, and banged on her bedroom door.

“Baby doll, it’s me.”

The door opened and Daniel’s jaw met the floor.

His eyes ran down long, bare legs and the
very
short denim skirt; took in the vixen with long, dark lashes, red lipstick and styled hair; and came to rest on tits that were looking very proud of themselves, enticingly covered in a pale blue tank top with spaghetti straps, that clung in all the right places.

Daniel licked his lips. It took a moment before he realized Lisanne was speaking to him.

“Do I look okay?” she repeated, made anxious by his silence.

“Fuck, yeah!” he breathed. “You look incredible, baby doll!”

Lisanne smiled nervously. “I cut up my old denim skirt and it came out a bit shorter than I wanted it.”

She tugged at the hem, but it still only just skirted the top of her thighs.

Daniel pulled her toward him and cupped her ass, his fingers lingering under the edge of the cut off skirt.

“You look so fucking hot,” he whispered.

“So, you think I look alright?”

Daniel smiled at her, his head cocked to one side. “You just don’t get it, do you? I only have to look at you to get hard. Fuck, I want you so bad right now.”

Lisanne’s face was glowing.

“Um, okay then. I’ll see you downstairs in a minute.”

Daniel winked at her as she closed the door again. He leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Being in the Maclaines’ house was a giant mind-fuck, but goddamn it, she was worth it.

Harry walked past on his way to the TV den.

“Hey, man,” said Daniel. “If you hear me getting up in the night, I’m going to see my girl. You cool with that?”

Harry looked away.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Daniel smiled to himself.

“But…”

“Yeah, man?”

“If dad catches you, I was asleep and didn’t know anything about it, okay?”

Daniel held back a smile. “Deal.”

*     *     *

To say Lisanne’s parents were shocked when they saw her would have been a giant redwood sized understatement.

Ernie’s eyes bulged in disbelief, and Monica’s mouth opened and closed several times without managing to speak.

“Don’t wait up,” said Lisanne, hurrying out before viable language skills returned.

Daniel was waiting in the front yard, leaning on Sirona, enjoying a peaceful cigarette. He grinned when he saw her, and stubbed out his smoke.

“Baby doll’s ready to party,” he murmured into her neck. “You look beautiful, baby.”

To Lisanne’s hungry eyes, he looked pretty damned appetizing himself.

His jeans were hooked over his hipbones, and his black t-shirt clung to his chest. She could see the tail of his dragon tattoo coiling around his right bicep, just above his elbow. The small silver ring was back in his eyebrow, and his black hair was standing in short spikes.

He opened the car door for her in an old-fashioned gesture that made her giggle, but there was nothing
old-fashioned
about the way he leaned across and ran his tongue along her bare thigh, when he climbed in beside her.

“I want to have you in this car, baby.”

Lisanne swallowed.

“Um,” she said, unable to frame a reply.

He gave her a wicked grin. “Are you going to start the engine, baby, or are you hoping wishful thinking will get us to the party?”

She shook her head, trying to clear the fog of lust that had descended.
Was it hot in this car?

With sweating palms, Lisanne managed to turn the ignition key, ignoring Daniel’s amused smirk.

They made one stop on the way to Sonia Brandt’s house. At Daniel’s insistence, Lisanne parked outside a liquor store. She slid down low in the driver’s seat, hoping that no one who knew her mom’s car would see them. Daniel came out carrying a six-pack and a bottle Jack Daniels.

Lisanne was surprised. She’d never seen him drink anything other than beer, and was annoyed by the little twist of apprehension she felt in her stomach.

When they arrived at the party, Lisanne had to park several hundred yards from the Brandt house, as cars lined the street outside.

The Brandts lived on a wide, tree-lined avenue, with a large mansion style house set back from the road, and a curving driveway leading up to the front door.

People were streaming toward the building, most carrying liquor of some description. Lisanne’s apprehension expanded like a balloon in her belly, but Daniel seemed to have cheered up considerably. Whether his relaxed state grew commensurately with the distance from the Maclaines’ house, the bottle of Jack that he’d already started drinking, or the prospect of a party, who knew?