In The Closet

Chapter 16

Danny sits at the witness stand and he looks at Taylor. He gives him a smile letting Danny know everything's okay. Peter stands in front of Danny. "Daniel, could you please explain your relationship with your mother?" He asked. Danny took a deep breath.

"Well she was right to a certain degree, it definitely wasn't easy, it was far from it, it was awful."

"Why do you say that?" Peter asked.

"Well.. She always blamed me for my father leaving her.. Thought I was a terrible kid.. She never showed any love towards me like a mother should..".

"And when did that start? Or was it always like that?" Peter asked.

Danny sighed. "It has been like that for as long as I can remember.. She always says I'm a delinquent but that started in middle school when I joined the football team."

"What about when you were younger? Tell us what it was like being an innocent child."

Its 7:00 in the morning and it was the first day of kindergarten. Danny woke up and crawled out of his bed and ran into the kitchen. "Mommy Mommy Its my first day of school!" He smiled and hugged her leg.

"Okay Okay yes I know let go of my leg" She pulled his hands off her and went into the kitchen and finished making her food. He crawls into the kitchen chair and sits down.

"I'm hungry".

"You know where snacks are".

"You ran out of cereal a few days ago.. You said you'd buy more".

"Hey watch your tone". She spoke sternly.

"But.. You said you'd buy more.. And I'm hungry..".

"You're a big boy, find something". She spoke sternly. Danny looked down and crawled out of his chair and went into the closet and couldn't find anything. He sighed and looked over at his mother, he didn't say anything about it. He went into his bedroom and changed into some clothes and grabbed his backpack. It wasn't even a backpack, just a bag that she had from the grocery store.

"Are you going to come with me to school?" He asked.

"You're taking the bus".

"But.. I wont know anyone.. Cant you come with me..?" He asked.

"Do you see that I'm eating? And I gotta go to work which you clearly don't understand, just go outside and wait for the bus, you're driving me crazy". Danny had tears in his eyes and walked out of the house and sat on the curb by his house waiting for the bus to come. Once he saw it coming down the road he wiped his tears away and got on the bus by himself.

"Daniel?" Peter asked. Danny had tears in his eyes.

"I had to take care of myself, it was basically like I had no parents." His voice was shaky, he was trying not to break down.

"Tell us about the day in question."

Danny took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. He didn't know how far he wanted to admit things, he decided he needed to speak about it all, he needed to. "I was making out with my boyfriend.. She didn't like that I was gay.. She.. She saw us kissing and made him leave and then.. She.. She hit me more than once and kicked me out.." Danny was choking on his words, it felt like someone was standing on his chest.

"Was that the first time she ever hit you?" Peter asked.

"That was the worst she ever hit me yes.. Other times it was just shoving and things around that..".

"Why do you think your mother said you ran away?" Peter asked.

"Because she wants to seem like a perfect parent.. A perfect Christian.. But.." He hesitated and looked at his mother and she looked at him. "She's not.." He finished his sentence and then looked away from her. Tears went down his face and he quickly wiped them away.

"Thank you Daniel" Peter sat back down at his seat and Dean stood up and walked over and stood in front of Danny.

"So your mother didn't take care of you as a young child, as you said correct?" Dean asked.

"Well.. To a certain extent I guess.. She had a roof over my head and let me go to school and all that but other than that.. No not really.."

"I think she took care of you, if she didn't you wouldn't be alive."

"I.. I learned how to fend for myself at a young age.. You figure things out depending on your situation.."

"Not unless your taught."

Danny took a deep breath trying to not have a break down.

"Lets talk about that day, she says you ran away and you say you were kicked out correct?" Dean asked.

"Yeah.. That's correct."

"And she kicked you out for being gay? Did you try talking to her about your sexual orientation?" Dean asked.

"Well no.. I.. I was still figuring it out myself.. And then.. Then she caught me kissing a guy.."

"So you never talked about this with her? Maybe she was shocked, like any parent would be and you took it to heart and ran away?" Dean asked.

"No, No that's not what happened, she was furious and hit me."

"Or maybe she was furious that you were in your bedroom making out with someone she didn't know."

"No that's not--"

"So then you came up with this story for attention so you wouldn't get in trouble for getting into a fight right?"

"No I never got into a fight, she was the one--".

"You did get into a fight though at school, as your lawyer showed us."

"It was one fight.."

"Oh so you did get into a fight when you said you didn't".

"Well I did but that had nothing to do with her.."

"Or maybe it did so then you got a bruise and blamed her for it correct?"

"No that bruise was from her.."

"No more questions your honor" Dean sat down back on his chair. Danny had tears in his eyes that continued to go down his face.

"You may take your seat". The judge informed Danny. He slowly stood up from the witness stand and made his way back to his seat, tears continued to go down his face. Taylor wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Rose held his hand and lightly stroked it.

"You did amazing" Taylor whispered.

"I told the truth.. But who knows if they'll believe me.." Danny shakily told them as more tears went down his face.

"They will." Taylor continued to hug him. Rose put her arm around him as well.

"They will believe you, her story doesn't add up, the truth is out and you're the one who told it."