Don't Get Caught

Chapter 5 - Ariel

I sat down beside Danny on the bench. "If you're hoping to get a train back to Bristol at this time of night you'll be lucky."

No response.

"Hey, are you OK?" I bumped my shoulder into his.

He lifted his head up. At first, I thought it was the light the street lamp was casting over his face, but as I looked at him properly it was clear his eye was swollen, as if he'd been punched in the face.

"You don't look OK," I added, as I made to touch his face.

He caught my fingers in mid-air and I dropped my arm. I tried to meet his gaze, but he didn't look like he was focussing correctly, as if he was blind drunk.

"Can I do anything?" I asked. "You want me to get you some food? Call you a taxi?"

He let out a long sigh.

"You want me to just leave you alone?" I added.

He dropped his head in a half nod, so I took a deep breath and got up.

"Ariel," he called after me as I walked away.

"What is it?"

"Maybe some company would be good," he suggested, his words slurring.

How had he gotten in such a mess? It was only 11 p.m. I wanted to leave him there, but I couldn't.

"Company here on the bench?" I clarified as I returned to sit with him again.

"Company ... at my house," he corrected.

I let out a laugh. "So you are up for a repeat of the other week?"

"That was fun, but I'm probably not in a fit state for that tonight," he admitted. "I don't normally drink ..."

Ah yes, the man who doesn't drink yet hangs around outside nightclubs, has whiskey in his drinks cabinet and is drunk on a bench by 11 p.m. He slid sideways and I hauled him back up. "OK, let me get us an Uber. You can tell me all about it on the way to yours."

He returned to his position of head in hands while I sorted out our lift, wondering what had happened between the races and now that led him to get drunk and then into a fight. What had happened to Violet? No information was forthcoming so we settled into silence as we waited for our car.

When our lift arrived, I loaded Danny into the back.

Our driver did not seem impressed with us. "If you make a mess, you'll be fined."

"We're fine," I assured him. "Just get us home ASAP."

We pulled up at Danny's house after a twenty-five minute drive in which I'd tried to engage him in conversation about the night's events. All I'd managed to ascertain was that Violet was a heavy drinker and he'd unsuccessfully tried to keep up – to secure the business deal, of course. And the punch? He'd attempted to defend her against some unwanted male attention.

So to sum up, Danny seemed to be a bit pathetic. A real disappointment.

Back at his house, I helped him with his key before stumbling over the threshold; the hallway not quite as intimidating as the first time but still cold and hollow.

"In here," he said, barging into a room on the left which turned out to be a living room.

He dropped onto the leather sofa and I removed his shoes. I left him for a moment to get us some water and, by the time I returned, he was asleep, sprawled out across the length of it. I set the water down on the glass coffee table and sat myself in the small space left available by his feet. I wasn't tired so I reached for the TV remote and began to search for something to watch, glancing at Danny every now and then to see if he was all right.