The Gingerbread Boy (2 page)

“I’m sorry I kicked you,” she sputtered, “but you snuck up on me! What was I supposed to do?” She squatted down next to him. “Here, let me examine it, maybe I can tell what’s wrong…”

“No, no, stay away,” Daniel interrupted, lifting his hand in defense.

“Well, at least let me help you up, and find some way to get you to a med center.” Catherine pulled his arm around her neck and awkwardly helped him to his feet.

“There, that’s good. Let’s call for help…” But Daniel was obviously not listening. He turned away and seemed distracted, almost in odd disinterest.

“I’m just trying to help.” Catherine said. “If you don’t want it, fine. I just hope you don’t have to crawl home.” She took his arm off her shoulder, half expecting him to tumble back down. When he didn’t, she stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and began to stalk away.

“I suppose I’ll be on my way, too!” Daniel called. Then Catherine heard him whistling casually behind her. She turned in astonishment to see him strolling down the sidewalk as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

“You phony!” she called.

He glanced behind, flashed a peace sign, then turned and continued to whistle. He only walked a few more steps before something exploded across his back. He turned in surprise, only to duck another snowball sailing toward his head.

“It’s the attack of the vicious veterinarian!” he called, walking backward. A second later he turned to run as Catherine bore down on him with a snowball as large as a grapefruit.

Catherine chased him a block before hurling the white mass at his back. She slowed in smug accomplishment as she watched it explode across his coat.

Daniel raised his arms into the air as he turned around. “I give up! Uncle!”

Catherine smiled, remembering how Tony used to pin her to the ground and rub sweaty socks in her face until she said “uncle.” Then Daniel flashed her the peace sign again and she laughed, suddenly wanting to whip the stupid hat and scarf off to see what the grown-up version of a little boy who slipped rubber spiders into peanut butter jars really looked like.

“What’s up with you, anyway?” she asked, still puffing from the chase. “Acting like some mischievous leftover from the sixties.”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I do feel mischievous. I don’t get many Friday nights to myself.”

“Oh really?”

“Really. So why are you walking around alone like this on Friday night? Why aren’t you…” He paused, as if trying to decide what to add. “…why aren’t you out enjoying the partying after the big game?”

“What makes you think I don’t have plans to party?”
”

He shrugged. “You don’t seem the type.”

“What type?”

“The wild type. Loud music, drinking, fast crowds, you know.”

Catherine crossed her arms and sighed. “Actually, you’re right. I’m not like that. I’d rather surround myself with people of substance.”

“Those folks generally are full of substance.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do. I’m glad to know my first impression of you was correct.” Daniel said as Catherine looked away and ground her heel into the sidewalk. “What is your impression of me now?” he continued, “Do I still frighten you?”

Catherine studied him. A dusting of snow covered his hat and shoulders, and in the streetlight she could see it sparkling on his eyelashes. He was quite tall, and appeared to have a slender build beneath the bulky coat. By the soft tone of his voice, he was no barroom brawler. She shivered, but not from fear or cold.

No, whether it was stupid or not, she was surprised to find he no longer frightened her.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said. “If I was, I wouldn’t still be here.” She thought of his other question. “I see you as the kind of guy who likes to think he’s still a kid.”

Daniel nodded. “I take that as a compliment.”

Catherine made a confused face.

“It’s healthy to be childlike, sometimes,” he continued, loosening the scarf and lifting his face toward the sky. Suddenly he flicked out his tongue, and Catherine’s eyes widened as she watched him catch a snowflake on it. He smiled in a smug fashion. “You can’t be serious all of the time,” he added.

“Do you think I’m too serious?” Catherine asked, folding her arms.

“I hope not,” he said, “But I don’t know you well enough.”

“Well, those wet splatter marks on your back should prove I’m not always overly serious.”

He contemplated her remark. “True,” he finally said. “I guess you’re all right for ‘a not-always-overly-serious’ young woman walking alone in an unfamiliar neighborhood in the dark.”

“You’re alone too.” She reminded him.

“My van broke down a few blocks back,” Daniel finally explained, “I’m heading to a friend’s place for help. He lives nearby. I suppose I was following you deliberately, in a way, because I could have taken a short cut to get to Joey’s, but I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of a woman walking alone around here. This section of town can get rowdy.” He paused, acknowledging Catherine’s puzzled eyes. “It seems quiet now, but in a little while, it’ll get obnoxious.”

She was confused. “Why?”

“Because Joey lives upstairs in a rooming house, and they’re having a party tonight. Nothing at all to do with football, it’s just what they do. I wanted to get there before the crazies. I want to get in and out, fast.” He paused. “I wondered if maybe that was where you were going. I thought maybe you dated one of those guys or something.”

Catherine looked disgusted. “Hardly!”

Daniel raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“Most of them are cave-pigs.” she muttered, using an expression she’d coined for good ol’ Calvin Prigg once she’d found out just how incorrigible he really was.

Daniel shook his head. “Then this area is no place for you.” He thought a moment, then his voice sounded careful. “You must be freezing. Why don’t you come to Joey’s with me, and then we’ll see you get back to your place safely. You’ll like Joey. He’s an old-fashioned southern boy teeming with good old-fashioned hospitality.” He mimicked a southern accent, “Good ol’ Joey’s ‘bout as harmless as a foam rubber baseball bat.”

Catherine straightened, taken aback by the offer. Considering she was lost anyway, and had no idea how to get back to her house, she felt more helpless than afraid. Still…

“I am getting colder,” she finally admitted
.
“I guess I’m not as good at bundling up as you are.”

“I’m getting a bit of a sore throat,” he said. “I don’t want to lose my voice. But here,” he added, reaching toward his hat, “why don’t you wear this and…”

“I’m fine.” Catherine refused.

“Afraid to mess up that pretty dark hair?”

“That’s not it,” she said, secretly savoring the compliment.

“You afraid I have lice?”

“No.”

“What then?”
Catherine became flustered. “I’m not sure.” She hesitated, then the words sprang from her mouth. “Okay, let’s go to Joey’s. I could use a ride home. My house is way back on Abbot Street.

“Great,” Daniel said. “Anyway, I do have lice. Big ones. One of them is almost big enough to use this hat himself.”

Catherine’s mouth twisted into a smile. “Let’s go.”

****

It was pleasant strolling along with Daniel in the snow. Their boots crunched together, and it already seemed like hours ago she’d been afraid of this man. They walked comfortably apart, and Catherine noticed her short, brisk steps were a good match for Daniel’s long, slow strides. And all he’d been doing, it seemed, was watching out for her. She had a dozen questions running around in her mind to ask him, but she didn’t want to seem nosy. Laughing, she flicked her tongue out and caught a few snowflakes on it, and Daniel lowered his scarf and did likewise. Then they laughed together. A comfortable silence fell between them. Finally, feeling too awkward to ask Daniel more about himself, she shifted the conversation to his friend, Joey.

“What’s Joey like?” she asked.

Daniel cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well…he may
seem
like one of your feeble-minded college guys, but he’s not. He lives there because his room is cheap.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s an electronics wizard. One of the smartest guys I’ve ever known, and I’ve known him half my life.”

“Which is how long?”

“Fourteen years.”

“Oh.” So, Daniel was twenty-eight. Four years her senior.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“How old do you think I am?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “That’s cruel.”

“It was rather cruel of you to ask. At least I’m not at that point in my life where I worry about it yet.”

Daniel stopped abruptly, leaned back and placed his hands on Catherine’s shoulders. He stared into her face.

Catherine fought it. Fought the notion that she
liked
the touch of those long, slender fingers on her shoulders. She stared back at him a few moments, then turned away, unable to hold contact with his such intriguing eyes.

Who was this guy?

“I’d say you’re about my sister’s age, twenty-three or so,” he finally said. “Just don’t ask me how much I think you weigh.”

Catherine smiled at his guess. “Close enough. And I’m certainly not ashamed of my weight, but I’ll let you ponder that one.”

Daniel nodded. “You’re quite a waif for a potential veterinarian.”

Catherine made no reply as Daniel added, “I can tell that you’re not from Michigan, you have some kind of eastern accent…”

“Maryland. But I spent time in New Jersey.”

“Well aren’t you the travelin’ fluffy-puppy fixer.”

Catherine sighed. “Some day, I will be. In a few more years, and if I work very hard.”

“You will. You’ll make it.”

“You bet I will. I absolutely have to. It’s my life’s dream.”

“Life’s dreams are good.”

She smiled, and they walked on.

Soon the sound of distant chatter and music drifted through the air, and the road became littered with haphazardly parked cars. The farther they walked, the more densely parked the cars.

“It’s already started.” Daniel said, then added, “People must have come early.” He pulled back a coat sleeve to look at his watch. “I can’t believe it.”

Catherine slowed her pace. “Should we walk in on that?”

He shrugged. “They’re probably already sauced. No one will notice us. Won’t even care. We can manage this.”

As they turned a corner around a thick pine tree, an immense stone mansion came into view. The masonry seemed to throb from the music and cacophony of voices inside.

“We’ll hurry and find Joey, then sneak out a back way,” Daniel said, sensing her uneasiness. “Or,” he added, “you could always hide behind another tree out here.” Catherine raised her eyebrows. “Very funny. I think I can handle it for a
few
minutes.”

“Sure?”

“I’m sure.” She jumped a wrought iron fence at the edge of the yard and followed a smattering of footprints to the front door. She was determined to not be afraid of this, yet her heart hammered. She detested the idea of deliberately walking into such a houseful of people drinking, partying, and who knew what else.

Snob
, said the voice in her mind. The voice wasn’t Tony’s this time though, but her own. “Lighten up, Catherine,” she whispered to herself, turning to see Daniel trotting to catch up to her. “Lighten up kiddo, or you’re going to become more loathsome than Beth
.
”

And no one could be as vain or superficial as her outlandish roommate, Beth Shaker.

“You say something?” Daniel asked, reaching her.

Catherine shook her head.
He seems like such a happy person,
she thought. She ought to try smiling a little more. “Just mumbling to myself,” she replied.

“About the cave-pig club ahead?” Daniel asked, slowing his steps to walk next to her. Catherine looked at him in surprise, incredulous that he had remembered and used one of her own odd expressions. Deliberately smiling, she went with him to the front door. Daniel stepped ahead and rapped on a large iron knocker, then stepped back again, regarding her warmly.

The scene instantly imprinted on her mind: the softly falling snow behind Daniel’s silhouetted form, his sparkling eyes, the red scarf tucked around his face like a little boy. She felt cold air prickling the insides of her nostrils, felt the wetness of her clammy backside still damp from the snow, and breathed in the ancient scent of the imposing stone structure looming above her. This one tiny moment seemed to signify the start of something; of what, she could only imagine.

Ignoring frantic little whispers in her mind about how silly the idea was, she grinned at Daniel. If she could rise above the discomfort of being around the inebriated people inside, she might even enjoy herself.

Suddenly the door opened and music, movement and voices gushed out at them, causing Catherine to step back in surprise. When a hand beckoned them inside, Catherine took a deep breath, and, as a cauldron of hot air rushed against her face, entered a darkened hallway. As people milled in a cavernous, tall-ceilinged room beyond, she forced herself to move forward, her ears ringing, nose stinging from the smell of beer and bodies. She could do this, she could…

“Three bucks.” Said a voice to her left.

Catherine turned to see a square-faced young man in a chair, a cigar box stuffed with bills cradled in his lap. Panic rose in her. They actually wanted money? She didn’t have anything with her. Would they make her wait outside?

“She’s with me,” came Daniel’s voice from behind.

The fellow stretched to get a closer look at Daniel. His eyes rounded.

“Oh, sorry, Daniel! I didn’t recognize you. Are you incognito?”

“Just getting a cold, saving my voice.” Daniel replied, then gently ushered Catherine inside.

“You must have some kind of clout.” Catherine said above the noise as he stood protectively near her.

“They know me around here,” he shrugged.

Catherine nodded. “Which way to find Joey?” she asked, looking in dismay at all the people, hoping for a quick escape from the crowd, many yelling “State! State! State!” She noticed a narrow stairway to their right, but Daniel’s finger then pointed alongside her face toward another, wider stairway with an oak banister at the opposite end of the room.