Nature of the Beast - boy X boy -

Two - Pressure and Release

Danny sat at the large dining room table; he was watching his father make breakfast. The tension was palpable and caused Danny to develop a nervous twitch in his right leg. With every jerky movement, the plastic ring around his right ankle clattered against the metal chair leg.

“Can you please quit doing that?” His father asked in annoyance as he slid a final slice of bacon into a sandwich. “I don’t want to be responsible for the cost of replacing that thing.”

“Thanks Dad, it is so nice to be valued.” Danny said not looking up from the greasy smudge on the table.

“You got yourself into this mess. Now you have to deal with the consequences.” Brian slipped the plate down noisily on the table and then took up the seat next to his son. “At least we will now know exactly what you get up to when you wander off, play truant or lie to us.”

“Why don’t you ever trust me?” Danny gave his father a pained look. “What did I ever do that was so terrible before all of this shit?”

“You disobey your mother at every turn, she forbids you to hang around with that Matt what's-his-name.” Brian took a large bite out of his sandwich. “But we have people that have seen you together and even watched you go into his house.”

“You want to know why I disobey her on that regard. It is because she has yet to give me a genuine reason as to why she forbids me to go there.” Danny snapped.

“She must have her reasons.”

“He is studying the same course; he gets similar high marks as do I. If he was a drop-out, nuisance or distraction then I would understand.” He cut across his father.

“But that is not going to be an issue now.” He dropped his sandwich. “I can now track you during the day and you are legally required to be at home from 7pm to 8am.”

“Is my life really that interesting? I understand the police, they are after all trying to pin me for murder. But you, what the hell do you really need to know about my life?” Danny yelled and stood up knocking the chair backwards.

“I need the truth right now.” Brian indicated for his son to sit back down. “Getting angry with me only makes me more suspicious. They have all of this evidence Danny, and Robert is struggling to find any other suspects. Have you any idea how hard it was to get bail for you?”

Danny picked up the chair and sat on it breathing heavily. “I know how it looks, and I also know what the inside of a cell looks like in the dark.” He turned to face his father. “I didn’t murder her; what will it take for you to believe me?”

“I need proof, that’s what everyone is looking for, real physical evidence.” Brian went back to his sandwich.

“I was here all night and I don’t have any proof because no one here watches over me while I sleep.” Danny fixed his stare on the ceiling rose covered in a silver grey coating of dust. “The only proof I have is that I stopped my data analysis at around 9:30pm shut down the computer and went to bed. I was just going off to sleep when the dog at number twelve started barking at the fighting cats, it was about 10pm. The next thing I remember was being woken up by Richard's car alarm going off at 2am.”

“Then I believe that you were here most of the night, but neither you nor I can prove anything that happened between 10pm and 2am. Four hours is more than enough time to murder someone.” His father stood up and carried his plate into the kitchen.

“Nothing I can say or do will change anything will it?” Danny said in desperation.

“You haven't seen some of the crime scene photos.” His father slammed the dishwasher closed. “Whoever did that to that poor girl was a monster. I don’t want to believe it was you, I know that I raised you differently.”