2015-03-29 - 11:06 p.m.
DANNY:
“So, Danny – tell me.”
Danny looked at the curly-haired, stocky woman sitting in front of him.
“Tell you what?” he challenged. The woman just stared back calmly, ready to take notes out of his statement.
“Tell me about November 2014.”
Danny sighed. He knew this was coming. Every time dr.Anna Nolan came, she always asked that question. Danny always gave her the same answer. He had to protect Della. His twin sister needed her.
“I’ve told you what I know,” he said, gritting his teeth. “It was late at night. I forgot which date. He came into Della’s room, obviously drunk. Then he started dragging her outside, pulling her by the hair. She was kicking, screaming, and crying.”
“Do you remember what time it was?”
“Around midnight, I think.” Danny frowned, his headache acting out again. “I woke up to hear Della crying, so I stormed outside. I was running after him under the rain. They were at the cornfield when I...I...”
“What did you see, Danny?”
Danny closed his eyes and shook his head.
“What is it, Danny?” dr.Nolan asked carefully, but her tone was flat – almost robot-like. “Are you alright?”
“It was dark,” Danny persisted. “We couldn’t see who shot him.” He looked at dr.Nolan and pleaded, “Please, it wasn’t Della’s fault.”
--- // ---
DELLA:
“So, Della – tell me.”
Della looked at dr.Nolan timidly. She was shivering, although the room wasn’t really cold.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Tell me about what happened in November 2014.”
Della’s lips twitched. She didn’t like the way dr.Nolan looked at her and asked that question. She didn’t want them to accuse Danny. Her twin brother had always protected her.
“Della?”
Della sighed. “Okay,” she finally said. “If I tell you this, will you promise me not to do anything to Danny? He’s always been there for me.”
“Why?”
“Just promise me, okay?!” cried Della. Tears started in her eyes. “We didn’t see anything. It was dark.”
“What happened that night, Della?”
With tears welling up in her eyes now, Della said, “Daddy was drunk when he came into my room. He pulled me by the hair. He was drunk. I was screaming for Danny, but Daddy kept dragging me outside – right at the cornfield. He was drunk.”
“And then?”
Della tried to keep herself composed.
“Somebody shot him and I collapsed. Everything went darker after that...”
--- // ---
DR.ANNA NOLAN:
“So, how was it?”
Dr.Anna Nolan looked into the window of that room, before turning to her colleague dr. Yorn and Detective Edwards.
“What had happened that night – in November 2014?” she asked. “Why did Mr.Lawrence disappear and how? Did he really die?”
“Did he really kill him?” Detective Edwards demanded. “The boy? Did he hide the body someplace?”
Dr.Nolan shifted her gaze again into the room. She sighed.
“We don’t know that yet,” she said. “We still need to figure them out. They’re protecting each other.”
“’They’?” Detective Edwards peeked into the room through the same window. Then he glared at dr.Nolan. “Is this some kind of a joke?”
“I’m afraid not, Detective,” dr.Nolan replied, looking at the tall, long-haired guy sitting alone in that room. He was looking down, his face covered by his hair strands. “Danny...and Della. We still need to figure out which character is more dominant. Then we might be able to figure out what had happened to David Lawrence that night.”
R.
(Jakarta, 26/3/2015 – from The Couchsurfing Writers’ Club Writing Challenge @Djakarta Cafe, 8:00 pm. The topic: his/her story.)
