Daniel had turned down to his road. It was a little bit of the drive from the city, but it was so worth it. He loved the location. Not too far away and not too close. It was absolutely perfect. Well almost perfect.
When he turned down to his street, he had to be careful of the joggers and health nuts that like to walk around at the time of night.
As he was driving down, just three houses away from his, he saw her. The girl with the frizzy blonde hair, the one was no fear, the one that could stare you down. He thought he had seen a ghost.
He stopped the car. “Violet?” he asked.
She ignored him and kept on walking. She looked anger, as if she was going to explode.
“Where are you going?”
She kept walking without another word. That’s when he stopped the car altogether, and jumped out. She was walking so fast.
“Violet, are you okay? What’s the matter?” he asked trying to keep up with her.
“You’re a damn liar.”
She didn’t even turn around to speak to him. Her face, her face was red. Even in dim light, he could still see all of that. “What? Violet, what are you talking about?”
He tried to keep up with her. He got in front of her, but she kept trying to push him out of the way. “Liar.”
“Violet, please stop. Talk to me, what’s wrong?”
“You promised,” she barley whispered.
“What?”
She finally looked up to him. Her eyes were read. He could see the blood vessels. She looked so angry, but he didn’t know what to do for her. “You are a damn mother fucking liar!” She pointed her fingers at him. “You promised me! You promised me!”
Daniel looked around. There were a few people staring from a distances. “Violet, please get in the car, and we can talk at the house.”
“No, I don’t want to!”
She started to stomp away. “Violet, please . . . just get in the car.”
She stopped, and crossed her arms. “I’ll meet you at the house.”
“Violet-“
“I said I will meet you at the house!” she shouted.
He gave a long sigh, threw his hands up, and got back into the car. He drove just the little way to his house, and parked the car.
When he got out, he waited by his car, watching Violet walking back to the house, walking like a little child. When she finally arrived, and walked passed him and into the house.
“Violet,” Daniel started. She tried to slam the front door in his face, but he stopped it. “Violet! Hey! Stop it right now! You are a damn adult, now act like one. What the hell is the matter with you? God’s sake, just talk to me. That’s what adults do. They talk.”
She sat on the stairs as he yelled at her front the front door. He finally closed the door, and they both stared each other down.
“Are you going to talk?”
“You promised you would be here by 5.”
He almost laughed. “Wait, that’s what you’re mad about?”
“You broke your promise,” she said, making him realize she was completely serious.
“Violet, I didn’t promise anything. I said I would be here by 5.”
“It’s 6: 30 now.”
Daniel sighed. “I was an hour and a half off from what I said this morning. But that’s no excuse to just stomp around like a child.”
“But you broke your promise!” she yelled standing up.
“Oh for the love of God . . . Grown the hell up!” he shouted back.
They stared each other down; it usually is there apparently they. She was always good intimidating. For being such a skinny little girl, she had such a tough and serious face.
But Daniel, something about the way he looked at her, it took her down. After a while her look gave out and the tears started to slow down.
She started to shake, and cry, and she didn’t understand why. She just kept crying. Then she couldn’t breathe, she felt like she was choking and she was about to die.
It was the first time in years she had done that. She thought she was dead on the inside, but that said otherwise. She sat back down, and buried her head into her knees, trying to breathe.
Daniel let go of the anger. It would be like kicking a puppy at this point if he went on yelling. “Hey . . . Violet,” he said. He sat down next to her.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said between breaths.
“I didn’t . . .I’m sorry. I lost track of time. I didn’t realize . . .”
“I thought you abandoned me.”
Daniel tried his hardest not to laugh. “Violet, that’s silly.”
She didn’t take it lighten. When she brought her head up, and looked at him with her face wet face, she asked, “Do you know what’s it like to be abandoned? I don’t mean someone not showing up on a date, or bailed last second to do something else . . .I mean, do you know what’s it like to be forgotten and no one caring?”
Daniel stared at her for the longest time. He stared to put an arm around her, but she flinched. Slowly, like approaching a hurt animal, he took slow steps. He put his arm around her, and embraced her without answering her question.
She didn’t like being touch.
She didn’t like the feeling of another person’s skin.
It always burned.
But not his. His skin was different. He wasn’t just touching her, not that way; he was trying to help her. He was actually hugging her to help her. She didn’t hug back, but she didn’t move away.
“I’m sorry, Violet. I didn’t realize how important it was for you to know what time I was going to get back. I will always come back.”
Her breathing was slowing down, she was starting to breathe normally again. Her chest was losing up, and she could feel herself coming back to Earth.
“Really?” she asked.
“Well yea . . . It’s kind of my house,” he joked.
Violet gave a little laugh, the one where you make a little sound with your nose. But it was enough for Daniel. “I’m sorry, Daniel.”
“Wait, for having a panic attack? Don’t be silly, those things are hard to control.”
“What’s . . . what’s a panic attack?” she asked.
He realized how much she didn’t know. As an RN he thought everyone knew about stuff like that, but he guessed since she’s been on the streets, she didn’t know that much. “Well . . . that was a panic attack. It’s when stress and other stuff just pile on top of you til you can’t take it anymore. Then, it just happens. Do you get those often?”
“I thought . . . I thought something was just wrong with me.”
He tried not to laugh. “Violet, who told you that?”
“A lot of people,” she mumbled.
He tried to not ask. “Violet, it’s okay. You are entitled to any feelings you have.”
“I just got . . . scared.”
“Why?”
“Because . . . well, I don’t know. Stupid reasons.”
“Hard question?”
She looked to the floor and slowly nodded. “Hard question.”
Daniel thought that might have been a hard question to ask. But he let it go. Both their stomachs started to growl, and they looked to each other. “Do you want to go grocery shopping?”
Violet’s eyes looked like it had just seen Disneyland. “Really?”
“Yeah, pick up some cheap dinner on the way.”
“That would be nice.”
“Bit of a celebration I guess,” Daniel laughed as he stood up.
“For what?” she asked.
“Oh, you got a job by the way, at my brother’s place. The café we went to, you’re going to work there,” he said as he walked upstairs, but stopped and turned around. “Is that alright?”
“Are you kidding me! That’s amazing!” Violet said jumping up. “My first job!”
Daniel smiled, and knew she was going to be alright. “And Violet?”
“Yes, Doc?”
“With those panic attacks, there are breathing exercises I can show you. Things to help you get them under control.”
She smiled that sweet one, the girlish one, “That would be nice, Daniel.”
They got ready to go back to the city. Daniel had to change into normal clothes and wiped his face and hands as best as he could. Violet just washed her face a bit to get the red under control around her eyes.
When Daniel looked up in the mirror, he looked at himself hard. What did he get himself into?
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