“Oh, Daniel.” Overwhelmed with emotion—fear, relief, guilt, a big burning sun of feeling—Jennie Marston could think of nothing else to say. Breathless, she slipped out of the car and flew into her boyfriend’s arms, shivering and holding him so tightly that she squeezed a soft, steady hiss from his narrow chest.
Chapter 10
They got into the T-bird and she pressed her head against his neck as Daniel carefully surveyed the parking lot and the road nearby.
Jennie was thinking how difficult the past month had been, forging a relationship through email, rare phone calls and fantasy, never seeing her lover in person.
Still, she knew that it was so much better to build love this way—from a distance. It was like the women on the home front during a war, the way her mother would talk about her father in Vietnam. That was all a lie, of course, she’d later learned, but it didn’t take away the larger truth: that love should be first about two souls and only later about sex. What she felt for Daniel Pell was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
Exhilarating.
Frightening too.
She felt the tears start. No, no, stop it. Don’t cry. He won’t like it if you cry. Men get mad when that happens.
But he asked gently, “What’s the matter, lovely?”
“I’m just so happy.”
“Come on, tell me.”
Well, he didn’t sound mad. She debated, then said, “Well, I was wondering. There were some women. At the grocery store. Then I put the news on. I heard…somebody got burned real bad. A policeman. And then two people were killed, stabbed.” Daniel had said he just wanted the knife to threaten the guards. He wasn’t going to hurt anybody.
“What?” he snapped. His blue eyes grew hard.
No, no, what’re you doing? Jennie asked herself. You made him mad! Why did you ask him that? Now you’ve fucked everything up! Her heart fluttered.
“They did it again. They always do it! When I left, nobody was hurt. I was so careful! I got out the fire door just like we’d planned and slammed it shut….” Then he nodded. “I know…sure. There were other prisoners in a cell near mine. They wanted me to let them out too, but I wouldn’t. I’ll bet they started to riot and when the guards went to stop them, that’s when those two got killed. Some of them had shivs, I’ll bet. You know what that is?”
“A knife, right?”