Chapter 19

Danny walked out of the theater, deep in thought. Val walked beside him in amazement. She’d actually been able to watch the whole movie, without having to fend him off. She wished more guys were like him. Then she realized that was just part of what made him unique and intriguing.

“Was that an action adventure or a comedy?” Danny asked.

“I think it was both,” Val answered.

“That’s an interesting concept. I think I liked it,” Danny said.

Val said, “I enjoyed it. It was nice to suspend my belief in reality for a little bit.”

“Yes, it was.”

“So what now?” Val asked hoping that Danny would start taking charge of the date.

“My Dad suggested that we go over to one of the restaurants here in the mall, and get a nice plate of appetizers or desserts. What do you think?”

“That would great,” Val said. She was thinking that she owed his father a nice thank you note.

“I’ve never been to this mall. Where’s a good place?”

“There’s a Rockets over near the food court. They have burgers, fries, shakes, and desserts.”

“That sounds good,” Danny said. “Show me the way.”

Deciding that he’d never take the initiative, she grabbed his hand and said, “It’s this way.”

Danny followed along beside her. The mall was crowded with the high school crowd of mall rats. A lot of people noticed that Danny and Val were walking hand in hand through the mall. The news that they were an item would be all over school before classes started Monday morning. More than one photograph was taken of them walking together, and was messaged to a large network of kids. Cell phones were wonderful inventions for fueling a rumor mill. Danny was oblivious to the attention.

Val suddenly came to a stop. Danny looked around wondering if he had missed Rockets, but didn’t see it anywhere. He wondered if she had been heading in the wrong direction. He looked over at her and found that she looked terror stricken.

“What’s the matter?”

“That guy walking towards us is Carl. He’s trouble.”

Danny looked at the guy. He was muscle bound to the point where he couldn’t walk with his arms at his sides. His thighs looked like tree-trunks. He was lumbering from side to side since his legs couldn’t move naturally.

“Why?” Danny asked.

“I think he’s using Steroids. He thinks that I’m going to be his girlfriend.”

“I take it that you aren’t interested in being his girlfriend,” Danny said.

If she hadn’t been so scared of the guy, she would have turned and stared at Danny in shock. Instead, she said, “I’m not interested in any way, shape, or form.”

“Well, let’s just go to Rockets. He’s nothing.”

“He’s a mountain,” Val said. “He’s going to make a scene.”

“I’m not worried about that. He’s got so much muscle that he can’t move fast. Let’s just head on to Rockets. If he bothers us, I’ll take care of him.”

Val turned and stared at Danny. She couldn’t believe that he was so unconcerned about this guy. She looked around trying to find some place for them to hide, but Danny was just watching Carl walking towards them.

“Hello, Val. Let’s you and I go somewhere a little more private.”

“Never,” she said taking a step backward.

“You know you want me. No woman can resist these muscles.”

Carl then adopted a body builder pose that was intended to impress. Considering that he was in a mall, blocking half of the hallway, and surrounded by a bunch of teenagers, he looked totally ridiculous. Danny wasn’t impressed. Val was terrified that Carl was going to beat up Danny, and then come after her. There was no way she could stop a guy that size.

Stepping between Carl and Val, Danny said, “Tony Gwynn, in talking about steroids said, ‘Steroids do not guarantee you’re going to have success. I think a lot of people think that they will, but they don’t.’ You might want to rethink your whole body building approach. It’s not good for you.”

“Get lost, shrimp. She’s going home with me.”

“No, she’s not. You’re bothering Val, and I won’t stand for that,” Danny said. “Please leave before there’s a problem. I’d hate for you to get hurt.”

Val scrambled through her purse looking for her cell phone. She found it, and quickly was dialing 911. She couldn’t help thinking that Danny was a good boyfriend for as long as he lasted. She promised herself that she’d visit him in the hospital, if he survived.

“You? Don’t make me laugh. I’ll rip off your head and shit down your neck.”

“I think you might want to stop the steroids. They’ve already turned you stupid. Next thing that’ll happen, is for your dick to fall off,” Danny said.

It probably would have been wiser not to say that, but the words were out before Danny could stop them. His comment had the predictable effect. The entire crowd of people watching stepped back. A dozen more cell phones came out to record the disaster. This was the kind of video that promised to go viral.

Carl roared and charged at Danny. Danny grabbed his hand and then spun just a little. Carl was redirected towards a wall. He hit it face first, with a loud crunch. He staggered back from the wall with blood running from his nose.

Danny said, “You might want to stop, now. I’d hate to hurt you.”

Everyone in the mall was staring at Danny. He was calmly watching Carl. Getting even angrier, Carl charged Danny again. This time he was redirected to a store front window. It cracked, but didn’t break. Carl staggered back still on his feet. It was pretty clear by the way he was swaying that he’d taken a good hit to the brain.

Looking at the cracked window, Danny said, “Oops. I didn’t mean to do that. I hope I don’t have to pay for it.”

Carl shook his head several times to clear it. Still seeing double, he screamed in rage and charged a third time. Danny grabbed his reaching hand again, and while spinning he twisted the hand, pressed down on the arm, and let go. Once again Carl was redirected towards a wall, except this time he fell. He slid across the floor and into wall hitting the top of his head. Then he just lay there.

Struggling to get his cell phone out of his pants pocket, Danny said, “I’ll bet that hurt. We probably ought to call an ambulance.”

Videos were already being uploaded to YouTube. People came boiling out of the nearby stores. The whole crowd was talking excitedly about what they had seen. Mall security was running towards the scene of the fight.

Danny noticed that Val was already on the telephone talking to 911. He said, “Oh, good. Let them know that they should bring a neck and back brace. He may have hurt his neck with that last hit against the wall.”

Numbly, Val relayed the suggestion. After a few more exchanges, she hung up the phone. She returned her cell phone to her purse. He put his cell phone back into his pocket.

Amazed by what she had seen, she looked at Danny. He looked like he didn’t have a scratch on him. It seemed impossible to her. Carl was a monster and Danny was ... well, he wasn’t a monster.

Concerned, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Never better. I think we’ll be delayed getting over to Rockets, though. I’m sorry about that,” Danny said.

“I called the police. They should be here any minute now.”

Thinking about having the police present, Danny said, “I’d better call my father. It’s not good to deal with authorities without an adult on your side being there.”

“Good thinking,” Val said. She looked over at Carl and asked, “Is he dead?”

“No. He’s just out cold,” Danny said. “He’s going to have a hell of a headache when he wakes up.”

When one of the mall security guards went to check Carl, Danny said, “Don’t touch him until an ambulance arrives. If his neck is injured and you move him, you could paralyze him for life.”

The security guard backed off while mumbling, “Thanks.”

Danny fished out his phone and called his father. His father said that he was on his way to the mall and not to say anything to the police until he was there. Danny put away his cell phone.

“I didn’t know you knew how to do that,” Val said.

“That’s why I don’t play basketball,” Danny said.

“What’s this got to do with that?”

“Can you imagine if I were to react to a hit on the basketball court like that?”

“I get it now. It’s probably better that you don’t play basketball,” Val said. She glanced over at Carl still unable to believe how things turned out. She said, “That was incredible.”

“It isn’t that incredible. I’ve had years of training. He was just big and slow,” Danny said.

One of the kids in the crowd shouted, “I’ve got ten thousand hits on the video, already.”

“Man! I only got seventeen and one of them is me checking it out.”

“It’s all in the name. I called my video, David and Goliath.”

“That does sound a bit more interesting than Scrawny Kid Kicks Ass.”

Now that it was all over, and she wasn’t distracted with calling the police, the whole situation came crashing down on her. She had never been that close to violence. She had never been that scared.

Val said, “I was really scared. I was afraid that he was going to kill you, and then drag me off somewhere and rape me.”

“You’re safe. You’ll always be safe with me around,” Danny said. “You know. You practice something like that hundreds of times. No matter how many times you’ve practiced it, you wonder if you’ll remember what to do when the need for it arises. That was just so automatic that it was kind of frightening.”

“I’m just ... It was ... I’m a little freaked out,” Val said.

He put an arm around her protectively. He noticed that she was really shaking. Worried that she might be going into shock, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m shaking,” Val said.

“We’d better call your parents,” Danny said.

Val was shaking too much to get her phone out of her purse. One handed, Danny grabbed the phone and went to her contacts. Her home number was right there at the top. He pressed the little green phone on the screen that would dial the number and waited.

When her father answered, he said, “Mr. Mueller, this is Danny ... your daughter’s date.”

“Is she okay?”

“I’m not sure. I’m worried about her. I think you better get over to the mall.”

Danny glanced over at Val’s face. Her face was pale and her skin was beginning to feel cold and clammy. She was starting to hyperventilate.

“Hold on a second. I’ve got to lay her down. I think she’s going into shock.”

Danny managed to get Val on the floor. He took her purse and put it under her feet to elevate her legs. He took off his coat and laid it on top of her. There wasn’t too much else for him to do. The police, and hopefully an ambulance, were already on the way.

Her father could hear Danny reassuring Val that she was going to be okay. That her father was going to come to the mall and take care of her. She mumbled weakly that she was okay.

Danny said, “I’m back. I’ve got her on floor with her legs elevated and covered with my coat.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re in front of the Shack,” Danny said looking around and giving the name of the first store sign he spotted.

“What happened?”

“Some guy named Carl thought he was irresistible to women. He boasted he’d take her off somewhere, and I had to stop him.”