"I thought mama was picking me up today?" Danny questioned as she clicked her seatbelt.
"She was going to but she didn't get home until late last night, so she was tired." Her father repositioned the rearview mirror. "How was school?" Danny began recounting the events of her day, going into to too much detail for her father to care. Still, he listened because he loved the way her eyes twinkled with joy as she spoke. Also, she was wearing bright colors, so she was hard to miss in the mirror.
"How was your day, Papa?" Danny strained her neck to see his face in the mirror.
"It was good. A good day," He hated the way that his teeth ground when he remembered the argument he had with Isebel. He and his daughter fell into a comfortable silence. At some point, he had turned the radio on and Danny was humming the tune. He spared a glance at her and frowned when he noticed that she was tugging at her hair-tie. "Stop pulling the elastic, Danny. You know that it will break."
"Ok, Papa, but which one?"
"The one in your hair," he responded quickly and ignored the way her eyes lit up with questions. Danny stopped tugging at her hair-tie and watched the people interact.
She saw a couple holding hands and laughing. She saw a dog sitting on the curb with its leash in a little boy's hand. She saw her little house coming into view.
"OK, Danny. Don't bother mom," he remembered her angered face. Danny nodded and skipped to the front door. When she and her father walked into the house, they were met by the echoes of their footsteps.
Silence.
Danny didn't notice the quiet and ran to her room to play with her dolls. She was brushing their hair and telling them about her day. Her father walked passed her room, scaring her.
Hours after her father put her to bed (though she wondered why her mother hadn't), she raced to his door. She wondered why he was in the same clothes and why he reminded her of a starfish on the bed. Danny climbed on the bed and stood above her father's still frame. He wasn't sleeping for eyes were open, furrowed brows and all.
"What are you doing?" Her father said softly. "You should be asleep." Danny did her version of a shrug, putting her palms facing upward next to her shoulders. Her father would laugh if he didn't realize that it was nearing midnight.
"I'm not tired."
"It's almost midnight."
"I'm not tired."
"You have school tomorrow."
"I'm not tired." Her father sighed, making sure to blow directly in Danny's face. Causing another fit of giggles, her father laughed and picked her up. He carried her to her room and wrapped her tightly in her blankets.
"Lay here and count to one billion."
"Why?"
"Because I bet that you can't do it." Her father looked down at her. Danny squinted at him and smiled.
"I'll do it. I'll show you that I can." Her father closed her door and Danny started to count in her head. Around one hundred she heard the front door slam shut. She fell asleep around one hundred twenty-five.
