It was the first Friday in March. Christina, Danny, and I were sitting on the terrace holding a powwow.

“This can’t go on, Danny,” I exclaimed. “This was the third time!”

“Really, Danny,” Christina chimed in. “They’ll probably kill you next time.”

Danny was staring holes into the sky, his arms folded. Apart from the greenish shine around his right eye, he had no visible injuries, but they’d nearly broken his wrist this time. It was seriously sprained, and every movement seemed to cause him pain.

Nothing had happened on the days he’d taken Leika with him, but she and I still stayed at my parents’ house during the week, so he went running alone then. And they’d been waiting for him again one morning.

The second time, they’d jumped him late at night, while he was on his way home from work, practically dragging him out of his car and into the bushes. They’d bullied him for a long time that night, twisting his arms around behind his back, calling him a disease, threatening to make his life hell if he didn’t move away.

He looked annoyed. “So what would you two suggest I do?”

“Go to the police,” I said.

Danny scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Christina scooted over beside him and took his uninjured hand in hers. “Please, Danny,” she said, looking at him anxiously. “I’m scared of them. What if Jessica and I come home one night, and they’re here waiting for us? Please, go to the police, for me!”

Danny sighed. “Okay. I’ll go on Monday.”

“Thank you!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his forehead, giving me a triumphant look over the top of his head. I nodded to her in admiration. She knew how to handle Danny and his stubbornness. I was glad she was there.

“I got a job!” she suddenly blurted out. “A real, full-time job!” We blinked at her in surprise. “What? I need to become more independent. I mean, I can’t live at your place forever,” she said, glancing between Danny and me.

At our place? “Tina, this place is yours and Danny’s,” I reminded her. “But that’s great news about the job!”

“That’s fantastic,” Danny cried, hugging her. “I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it. Tell us all about it!”

“I start in September. It’s at a boutique down in the village. Within walking distance, even.” She beamed. “Now nobody will have to drive me to work!”

“Did you already sign a contract and everything? Without saying a word to us?” I asked.

She nodded happily before running into the apartment and returning with a piece of paper—her contract. It offered her a full-time job once she successfully finished a trial period.

“Wow, Tina, this…this is amazing!” I couldn’t hold in my excitement. She’d really done it! She’d gotten away from the streets, away from the drugs, back into a normal life.

“And after I finish the trial period, I’ll be earning enough money to start renting my own place.” She glanced between us expectantly.

“Tina.” Danny furrowed his brow. “My plan is to buy you a condo. I want to know for sure that you’ll be set up.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “You’re nuts!”

“No, I’m totally serious. Just give me a year or two to put some money aside, and then I’ll have enough to get you a two-bedroom place. Call it a congratulations gift, something to motivate you to work hard at your new job.” Danny glanced over at me. “I hope that’s okay with you, Ducky?”

“Of course,” I said. “It’s your money. You can do whatever you want with it.”

“Why would you do that?” Christina shook her head, uncomprehending. “Buy a condo for the two of you.”

Danny pulled her in gently. “Tina…” He hesitated. “You know that me buying a condo for myself wouldn’t make sense. But, someday, when I’m gone, you’ll need a place to go.”

That was the second time Danny had mentioned having to leave us behind someday. My throat began to close up. There it was, the topic we avoided at all costs. Though we never talked about it openly, it was always there. Like a pulsating wound festering away beneath the skin. Sooner or later, it would have to burst open. I felt like stuffing cotton in my ears so I didn’t have to hear him talk about it anymore.

Christina stuck out her lower lip, and her green cat-like eyes filled with tears, seemingly out of nowhere. “I don’t want you to buy me an apartment!” She sounded like a stubborn child. “I don’t want anything from you. I just want you to stay. You can’t leave me!”

The lump in my throat grew, and I blinked away the tears forming in my own eyes. I realized all over again how much I loved Christina and how wrong I’d been about her in the beginning.

Danny pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. As she nestled against him, her low-cut top slipped down even further, exposing her bare breasts. But it had stopped bothering me long ago. “Tina, honey.” Danny pressed her tear-streaked cheek against his neck. “I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to be with you for many years. By the time I die, you’ll be married with kids, and you won’t need me anymore.”

“Then what’s the apartment for?” she snapped.

“Because that’s how I want to do it!” Danny insisted. “You’re my family. Someday, I want what belongs to me to go to you.” Then he glanced over at me and added, “I’ll think of something for you, too. You should have a place in life after my death.”

I shook my head.

“I’ll always need you, Danny,” Tina sobbed.

He brushed her tears away with his thumb. “You’ll get along without me just fine, but there’s enough time before all that.” He pushed her off his lap with a friendly but firm motion. “Go on, ladies, get ready. We’re going out for dinner, and then we have to do something to celebrate Tina’s big news.”

Enough time. A phrase I would often recall later on—when it had become clear that we would never have enough time.

 

As we left the restaurant, we decided to just go out for a quick cup of coffee and skip the partying. Christina hardly drank anyway, and I could certainly understand Danny’s aversion to it by that point.

Christina ordered herself a latte, and Danny and I got cappuccinos.

“Should we go to Cannstatt on Saturday?” Danny asked abruptly. “The spring festival’s starting.”

“Ooh, yes!” I cooed, and Christina clapped her hands in excitement.

“That’s where you two met,” she remarked.

I nodded. More than a year and a half ago, on an October night that seemed like it had been in another epoch.

“How romantic. But I’m not coming with you.”

“Of course you are, Tina,” Danny said, suppressing a smile. “Our first meeting wasn’t all that romantic.”

“Nope. Not happening.” Suddenly, she straightened in her chair.

Danny noticed immediately. “What’s up?”

“Shh,” she whispered. “You guys hear that?” Then her expression hardened, and her face turned pale. She stole a glance at two older women sitting nearby. “They’re talking about us.”

Danny and I listened as well, holding our breath.

“Absolutely scandalous! I can hardly believe something like that lives here!”

“It’s not safe anywhere anymore.”

The older of the two, a white-haired lady with a perm and glasses, peered in our direction. “They ought to deport him before he spreads the gay plague all over the place!”

The other woman, a chubby lady in a hideous flowered blouse, hissed back, “Is he gay? Well, he obviously sleeps with women, too.”

I swallowed hard. Didn’t they notice that we could hear them?

“I heard he’s a junkie.” Miss Perm actually pointed at us. “Junkies, all of them. They’re probably all infected with it.”

The other woman looked over and realized we were all three staring at them open-mouthed. Hastily, she turned her back to us and continued the conversation more quietly.

“Let’s go,” Danny murmured.

“No, I’m gonna go kick their asses!” Christina snapped, but Danny pulled her back. I was still speechless.

Danny paid our bill and herded us out to the car. We followed in sullen silence. I was so furious, I thought I was about to explode. Danny started the car.

“I’m going back in there for a minute!” I suddenly decided.

“Ducky, there’s no point. Just forget it.”

I jumped out before he could drive off.

“I’m coming with you,” Christina called, leaping out of the car as well. Danny shut off the engine again, muttering something that sounded like “Damn women.” I was fairly sure he didn’t mean the grannies in the cafe.

Without really knowing what I was going to say, I headed straight for the older women’s table, pulled up a chair, and straddled it. Christina followed my lead.

“So we ought to be deported, hm?” I asked in a biting tone.

The two old ladies stared at me in astonishment.

“Because we’re diseased, hm?” Christina added in the same tone.

“Not you two,” Miss Perm said, trying to appease us. “The young man who was sitting with you. He’s a junkie.”

“That’s not true at all.” Christina gave them an affectionate smile. “I’m the junkie.”

The women seemed confused, and then began glancing around for help from the cafe staff.

Christina leaned in, fixing her piercing green eyes on the woman in the flowered blouse. “I wonder what it’s like to be a guy who knows he’s going to die, and instead of sympathy and understanding, all he gets is stupid comments from stupid old women.”

“Let’s go,” Miss Perm said to her friend.

“It’s his own fault,” the other woman said defensively, evading Christina’s accusing gaze. “People shouldn’t live like that!”

Christina’s expression changed from one moment to the next. If I hadn’t known her, I might have thought the look on her face was genuine. She glanced around the table, eyes wide. “I was raped as a child,” she suddenly cried, actually managing to squeeze out a couple of tears.

“W-What? You were… what?” The granny in the hideous blouse clapped her hand to her mouth. “My God. That’s horrible!”

I played along. “We can only pray the guy didn’t have the gay plague, too. Otherwise, you’ll die!”

“I think he had it.” Her lips trembled. “I’m diseased! I’ll have to be deported!”

I grasped her hand theatrically. “We’d better leave the country immediately, before it spreads all over the place! It’s not safe anywhere anymore!”

Christina slumped over the table and burst into tears. Wow, she was good.

“We didn’t mean it like that,” Miss Perm said, as the other woman desperately waved the waiter over. “We were just saying—”

I got up and pulled the “sobbing” Christina to her feet as well. “Let’s go. We’re bothering them, I think. We’ll just go find another cafe where nobody will pick on us.”

“Your situation is totally different!” Miss Perm was standing now, hands on her hips in indignation.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked cynically. “Is it? How sure are you about that?” Without another word, I put an arm around Christina’s hunched shoulders and walked off, leaving the old women standing there in confusion. If they thought about what we’d said for even a minute, that was already a success.

When we got outside, Christina straightened and raised her hand, laughing. I grinned and gave her a high-five.

Danny started the engine again when he saw us, and we got in, still giggling. “Better now?” he asked.

“Totally!” we exclaimed in unison.

 

***

 

Danny and I really did end up going to the spring festival without Christina—there was no convincing her to join us. Despite everything we said to the contrary, she thought there was something romantic about the trip, and that she had no business being there.

We got back home just before midnight. The house next to the apartment building was all lit up, with paper lanterns hung everywhere and loud music blaring into the street. Normally, we had no problem finding space for even our two large cars, but tonight, the entire street was packed.

“I’ll park in the lot outside the cemetery, and we can walk,” Danny said. It was a very warm night—we were both in T-shirts—and the walk sounded more fun than inconvenient.

Danny shut off the car, and we strolled along, hand in hand, down the quiet, narrow street leading past the cemetery.

“We’ve got company,” Danny suddenly murmured to me.

I looked around in confusion. I didn’t see anything for a long time, but then I twisted around and spotted two shadowy figures behind us, off to one side. Another two shadows were moving to our left; the high cemetery wall was on our right. Anxiously, I tugged on Danny’s arm, but he kept walking calmly, without picking up the pace in the slightest.

Within seconds, they had us surrounded. “Hello, you two!” A large, dark-haired Mediterranean-looking guy stepped in front of us.

“Do you all really have nothing better to do than stalk me half the night?” There wasn’t a trace of nervousness in Danny’s voice. He just sounded irritated.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” the dark-haired guy said. I put him in his mid-twenties, maybe a little older. “Since you’ve parked so far away, we thought you might like some company.”

“Thanks, but we’re fine on our own,” Danny growled. “You guys are really starting to get on my nerves.” He tried to walk past them, but three of them moved in to block our path, and the other three stepped in behind us. They were all about the same age, all dressed in black, and I noticed that every one of them was wearing black gloves.

Cowards! I thought furiously. If they were brave enough to beat Danny up, they ought to brave enough to at least take the risk of coming into contact with his blood.

The Mediterranean turned to me, smiling. “Angelo,” he said politely. “Who are you?”

“Go to hell,” I snapped.

He took a step closer to me. Danny tried to move in front of me, but two of the guys standing behind us grabbed him, one for each arm.

“Wow,” he said admiringly, glancing around. “Six against one again. Respect.”

Angelo casually motioned for one of the guys behind us to come forward. “Pete,” he said, “why don’t you explain to our friend here one more time what we want. He seems a little slow on the uptake.”

I considered telling them Danny was a black belt in karate and a second-degree black belt in kickboxing, but decided against it. They wouldn’t have believed it, and even if they had, it would have only made them even more eager to fight him.

There was an older man walking his beagle on the other side of the cemetery. When he spotted the group of men in black, he turned right around and hurried off in the other direction before I could even take a breath to call out to him.

Pete stepped forward. He was half a head shorter than Angelo, with an ugly, crooked nose that looked like it had been broken several times. He pushed back his black wool cap before grabbing Danny’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing Danny to look him in the face. “We want you to get your sick faggot ass out of here. Pack your shit and fuck off.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“You sassing me again?” Pete stared at him threateningly. Danny stared right back.

Goddammit, Danny, you really are an idiot, I muttered in my head. Don’t make them any angrier than they already are. Look at the ground or something. At least act like you’re afraid. Give them what they want. Maybe then they’ll leave us alone.

“Fuck you.” Danny never took his eyes off the other man.

Pete lost the staredown and took a step back—and then suddenly wound up and punched Danny in the face.

I closed my eyes. Did I really have to watch this?

When I dared to open my eyes again, Danny’s nose was bleeding heavily. He squinted one eye shut for a moment, blocking out the pain, before hocking the blood up and spitting it on Pete’s leg.

Pete leapt back in disgust. “He fucking contaminated me! Don’t do that again, you nasty little dicksucker!” He moved in again, this time ramming his fist into Danny’s stomach.

Danny probably wasn’t impressed—he was able to tense his abdominal muscles up enough that he probably barely felt the blow. But they weren’t done with him, not by a long shot. Danny still had one guy holding each of his arms, so he was rooted to the spot. I noticed the one on the left had a sinfully expensive leather jacket with a skull embroidered on the back. Maybe that would make it easier to identify him later.

Two of the guys had positioned themselves a few feet away to keep watch, but there wasn’t a soul around to come to our aid anyway. Suddenly, I was glad Christina hadn’t come with us. This would have been absolutely horrifying for her.

Angelo stepped over to Danny, taking his chin in hand the same way Pete had done. Abruptly, he barked out a laugh. “Check it out,” he called jovially. “I never noticed this before.” He traced the faint scar on Danny’s face with one gloved finger. Then he wrenched Danny’s head around so the others could see his left cheek as well. “Someone got to him before we did.” Angelo kept running his fingers over Danny’s face, inspecting the other side as well. “A real shame,” he said. “Spoiling such a pretty little face like that. Tsk, tsk. That wasn’t very nice at all. Go on, tell us, who was it?”

“None of your fucking business!”

The two other guys yanked Danny’s arms back farther, causing him to inhale sharply. One of them had probably hit his injured wrist.

Angelo moved in even closer. “Who was it? I asked you a question.”

“Go to hell!”

Angelo smashed him in the chin with the back of his hand and then rammed his elbow into Danny’s ribs. “Don’t get lippy, now,” he chided, raising his index finger. Then a smile spread over his face. “I know!” he cried. “I bet it was your parents. Just after you were born, when they saw that ugly mug…”

Damn, I thought. How did he hit the nail on the head like that? I hoped it was enough to provoke Danny into fighting back. He was breathing hard, seemingly struggling to keep himself under control. Why in the name of God is he controlling himself at all?

“…because they didn’t want you even then,” Angelo added.

“Jesus, Danny!” I called to him. “Kick him in the damn face already!”

For a moment, it looked like he was about to do just that. He flexed the muscles in his arms, shifting his weight to his right leg. But just at that moment, Angelo laid his hand on Danny’s collarbone, sliding his hand slowly and provocatively over Danny’s chest and stomach. Then he ran his fingertips back to Danny’s shoulder.

“You wouldn’t do something like that, would you, sweetheart?” Angelo lisped affectionately.

Danny tensed up under Angelo’s touch, closing his eyes to quell his rising panic, and I knew they would be able to do whatever they wanted with him now—he wouldn’t even try to defend himself. All those fights where I’d seen him take his opponents down without batting an eye, and now he was just standing there as though rooted to the spot, letting a few thugs beat him to a pulp. Again.

I cursed under my breath.

“Did you say something, baby?” Pete had moved in next to me.

“Oh, shut up,” I hissed.

“How about we bring her home with us tonight?” Pete called to Angelo. “I can think of a few things she’d be good for.” He made a vulgar motion with his fist at his mouth.

“Stay away from her!” Danny snarled.

Angelo glanced between the two of them in amusement, clapping his hands almost euphorically. “Bingo!” he exclaimed. “We finally found his weakness. Looks like we’re going to have a whole lot of fun tonight.”

Realizing his mistake, Danny bit down on his lower lip.

Angelo sidled in beside me. “Okay, kitten, off we go.”

“You stay away from her.” Danny’s tone had changed. He wasn’t just annoyed anymore—this was a threat. The two men holding him noticed the change as well. The shorter of the two had gentle, pale-blue eyes, and I wondered what the hell he was doing with the rest of them. Although both men whooped and cat-called along with the others now, they immediately tightened their grips on Danny and broadened their stances so they could dodge any kicks. A broad-shouldered, unshaven guy who had been standing guard came back to provide reinforcements, posting himself a few feet behind Danny with his arms crossed.

I suspected I knew what would happen now. They’d provoke him until he snapped, presumably because it was a lot more fun when the victim was desperately attempting to defend himself. And if they had to use me to make it happen, that was what they’d do.

Angelo pressed himself up against me. He smelled like cigarette smoke and cheap aftershave, and practically radiated dominance. My heart sped up. “Or what?” he asked Danny in a belligerent tone. “If we decide we’re gonna have a little fun with her, what are you going to do about it?”

I saw Danny shift his weight again, almost imperceptibly, this time to the back. At the same time, he swept his gaze around the scene, seemingly listening for movement behind him, mentally gauging the distance between himself and each of the others. I was secretly relieved—this wasn’t going to take much longer after all. Danny had reached his boiling point. When it came to me, he never hesitated long.

“I’m not warning you again. Get away from her. Now.” Danny had clearly made up his mind to fight. The comment wasn’t a real warning so much as a method of distraction.

Angelo let out a loud laugh, putting an arm around my shoulders and groping my breast.

Danny freed himself with a single jerk of his arms. The two guys gripping him lost their balance and stumbled forward, and Danny ducked back and away from their grasping hands. The unshaven guy behind him took a step forward, and Danny launched his leg up, twisted around in the air 180 degrees, and smashed the back of his foot into the guy’s face. There was a loud cracking sound, and the guy collapsed in a heap.

Pete and the two guys who had been holding Danny, having recovered their footing, all rushed in to grab him again. One of them clamped down on his arm, but Danny gripped the guy’s wrist and flipped him over his back, sending him crashing to the ground. It was the one with the kind blue eyes. He immediately stood up again with a groan, but didn’t dare attack again.

Pete grabbed Danny in a bear hug from behind, and the guy in the expensive leather jacket made the mistake of approaching from the side. Danny launched a couple of side kicks at him, hitting him in the stomach, and rammed his elbow into Pete’s face at the same time. Pete let go to cover his face with one hand—and try to stop the bleeding.

The sixth guy, who had been standing guard, ran off without a word.

Angelo, watching the scene from a safe distance, suddenly gripped my arm tightly and pulled me in front of him, using me as a kind of human shield. “If you take one more step,” he shouted at Danny, “I’ll break her—”

Without hesitating, Danny smashed into Angelo’s side with full force, missing me by a hair’s breadth. He hadn’t been listening—any interest he’d had in talking things out was long gone. Angelo flew back several feet, landing on his back with a scream. Before the Italian could get to his feet, Danny pulled him up by the collar and punched him twice in the face.

Blood spurted from Angelo’s nose. “Have you lost your mind?” he wheezed.

Danny stopped short for a moment, then put his hand around Angelo’s throat. “Touch my girlfriend one more time, and you die. I promise you that.” He gave Angelo a penetrating stare. Then he pushed Angelo’s head down to about hip height and jerked his knee up into the other man’s ribs. The sound of crunching bones mingled with Angelo’s tortured screams.

Danny let him drop to the ground before looking around again. About ten feet away, Leather Jacket was struggling to get to his feet again. Pete was hunched over, hands propped against his thighs, spitting blood onto the ground. There was no sign of the others.

I stepped over to Danny. “Well, then.” I couldn’t help the grin growing on my face. “Not bad.”

“He put his hands on you.” Danny sounded frustrated.

“Don’t worry. Nothing happened. Everything’s okay.”

“What do we do with him now?” Danny nudged the toe of his sneaker into Angelo’s side. The other man whimpered softly. I shrugged, and Danny squatted down beside him. “Great friends you’ve got there,” he remarked dryly. “They just ran away.”

Angelo groaned as Danny reached for him and pulled him into a half-sitting position. “You broke my ribs!” he moaned.

“I know,” Danny said. “Unfortunately, you’ll live.”

“You little shit stain. Nobody breaks my ribs and gets away with it. You’ll pay for this, you goddamn faggot!”

Danny let go of him abruptly, and Angelo again curled up into a ball on the ground.

“He’s okay,” Danny told me. “If his ribs had punctured his lungs, he wouldn’t be able to bitch that loudly.” He wiped away the blood still trickling from his nose with the back of his hand. I pulled a tissue out of my purse and handed it to him. He cleaned his nose and did what he could about the blood on his hands. Inspecting them briefly, he decided it was dry enough that it was no longer dangerous. Most of it probably wasn’t his anyway. I took the blood-smeared hand he extended to me, and we started for home.

“That was good,” I told him. “They won’t try that again.”

“Don’t kid yourself. Now they’re more pissed off than ever. They’re just getting warmed up.”

After Danny’s performance, I could hardly believe they’d keep going after him. “You think so?”

“I’m positive. Guys like that are all alike.” He thought for a moment. “If they come near us again,” he added, “they’ll regret it.”

“Yes, Danny!” I patted gently him on the chest. “That’s exactly the right attitude.”

 

***

 

“There’s someone at the door for you, Danny.” Christina looked confused. Danny had just returned from running, I was still in bed, and Christina was making breakfast. By the time we’d gotten home the night before, she’d already been asleep, so she hadn’t heard about our ordeal yet.

Danny came to the door, still wearing his sweaty running clothes. The woman waiting there for him didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. “You broke two of my son’s ribs last night!” she screeched.

He ran a hand through his hair a little sheepishly. “I… Yeah… Sorry.”

“Don’t think I haven’t heard,” the woman hissed in her shrill voice, gesticulating wildly. “I know all about you. You’re a dirty drug dealer, and now you’ve committed assault! Two broken ribs, two teeth knocked out, and I don’t even know what else! I’m reporting you!”

“I’m truly sorry,” Danny said again, apparently unperturbed with her threat of police.

She began panting even more heavily. She probably thought Danny was laughing at her.

I pushed my way up to the door and shoved him aside. “I’m not sorry,” I hissed at the woman. Now that I was look her in the face, I could clearly see it was Angelo’s mother. The resemblance was uncanny. “Your darling little boy and his friends have already assaulted my boyfriend three times now! Six against one. And they threatened me and groped me, too. Anything that happened to your boy was in self-defense.” I began shutting the door.

“I’ll have you arrested!” she shouted hysterically into the closing door.

I opened it up a crack again. “Oh, please. Go right ahead. Have a wonderful Sunday!”

“What the hell was that?” Christina took a bite of her eggs, her eyes wide.

“Have you completely lost your mind?” I snapped at Danny. “Did you actually just apologize to her?”

He shrugged. “I dunno…” He hesitated. “Maybe I overdid it a little last night. I didn’t have to break his ribs.”

“You did nothing wrong! Let her go to the police. No judge in the world will think we started it.”

“When he sees the results, he might.”

“Hello?” Christina broke in, chewing. “Are you going to fill me in or what?”

“Our dear Danny finally saw reason,” I announced proudly.