“Hey Daniel,” Violet started while they were driving their way back home.
“Yeah?”
“I just want to say thank you.”
He was confused. “For what?”
“I don’t know. You and your brother have been so nice to me. It’s just nice to have a chance at life. You guys are really good people.” Violet felt cheesy saying all of that, and she might have gone overboard since she always told Daniel thank you and how sweet he was, but Daniel always smiled and just nodded.
“He’s a good one. You’ll get your first check this Friday.”
“I get a check?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“How much will it be?”
“Count up the hours and times it by how much you make an hour.”
“How much do I make an hour?”
Daniel gave a good laugh. “You’ve been working there for two weeks, how do you not know?”
She shrugged. “No one ever told me.”
“Ten dollars an hour, does that sound okay?”
“That sounds alright to me,” Violet laughed. “Wait, don’t people have those time card things? Why don’t I have one?”
Daniel stumbled his words. “Well . . . I don’t know, Karl writes it down I guess. I’ll ask him soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
They sat in the car for a while, no words between them. The silence was okay, but not when Violet’s mind was going a hundred miles per hour, wondering and thinking away. “Hey Doc, you haven’t ask me a hard question in a while.”
“I suppose I haven’t.”
“Why did you stop?”
He shrugged. “Hard questions usually bring strong emotions, and you seem so happy I just didn’t want to bring up past memories.”
She looked to her hands. “Do you know I have bad memories?”
“Everyone has bad memories.”
She nodded. “I suppose. Do you have bad memories?”
He kept his eyes on the road. “I’m a middle age man. Of course I have bad memories.”
“Does Karl?”
“Same answer for him.”
“Oh,” she said, looking out the window. “Is Jane a bad memory?”
Daniel almost ran off the road. They both gasped as they almost hit an upcoming car, and he pulled over to the shoulder in a swift. The noise of the gravel and tires screeching filled their ears. They were both breathing hard, panicked and scared. He was trying to collect his thoughts. “Who . . . who . . . where . . .Jane?”
She was still holding on tight to her seat belt.
He went on. “Who . . .who the hell told you about Jane? Did Karl say something? How do you know?”
The way he was raising his voice made Violet feel ten times smaller. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Where the hell did you hear about Jane?” Daniel raised his voice.
Violet felt scared. “Daniel, you’re-“
“I want to know right now! Who talked about her!”
She slapped him across the face as he got closer. Daniel got even angrier but when he saw the look of fear in her eyes, he pulled himself back. She was starting to cry.
“Don’t you ever talk to me like that again!” Violet screamed.
“Violet, I’m-“
She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door and started to run. Daniel followed got out and ran after her. It was just about to turn dark, the roads were dangerous, and traffic was heavy. They were outside the city limits, and Violet wasn’t heading that way.
Daniel didn’t run often. He was more of a walk fast type guy. But he ran after her, and when he caught up, Violet stopped. Tears were flowing, but she kept her head forward, trying to push him away. After a while of fighting him, she let him win as he gently embraced her in his arms.
“Don’t . . . don’t yell at me . . .like that, Doc,” Violet sobbed on his scrubs. “Please . . . please don’t be angry with me. Karl didn’t say anything. I found a box looking for paper and . . .. and she was there and. . . I’m sorry.”
“Shhh, Violet, please, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for getting so upset.”
Violet cried even harder. There was something more. It wasn’t the yelling that unsettled her, it was something deeper. And Daniel knew that.
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