Veiled Amor by V. Theia
THIRTEEN
“A soul worth saving.” – Danny Murphy
It’s been quite some time since Danny Murphy had seen a man so broken.
Self-destruction was an easy button to press when a person thought so little of themselves.
It was in front of the pastor as he leaned into the vehicle to make sure Arson was breathing. Air and alcohol fumes wafted over his hand, and Danny felt only relief. It would have been a terrible start to the early spring day to find a dead body on his property.
The slumped biker on the passenger side of a black Tahoe stirred.
Unfocused eyes flickered open.
If Arson had driven to the church grounds, it was obviously to see Danny.
Why hadn’t the other man come inside?
How long had he been parked here?
It wasn’t yet six a.m. If not for Danny leaving his bed early to go for a run, he wouldn’t have seen the truck at all.
Over the past few months, he’d like to think they’d grown close, but with any addiction, it didn’t allow you to put anything else above it. The addiction was a jealous creature. When Danny thought he was making progress with helping the man, Arson disappeared and came back worse. Using his fake smiles and swaggering disposition to insist he was fine.
All Danny could do was hope Arson reached rock bottom to want help. They’d gotten as far as to take Arson to an AA meeting, but he’d walked out halfway.
He knew more than most how people had to reach their rock bottom, whatever that was, on their own. For Danny, it had taken being on the brink of death for him to ask for help.
Addiction came with success and failure stories. Danny hoped Arson would be the former.
Months ago, at a low point when Arson passed out in his house, Danny recalled the pain he heard as the man muttered, “I couldn’t save her. It should have been me. Couldn’t save her.” He was fighting demons he’d never win. All he could try to do was change lanes and accept what was.
“Hey, buddy. Let’s get you inside.”
“Danny? What you doing here?” Arson blinked.
Danny smiled. “You’re parked outside my house. Do you know how long you’ve been here?”
“Fuck.” He scrubbed down his face, then looked around as if realizing where he was. “What time is it?”
“A little after 6 a.m.”
“Fuck. I was meant to go to Tag’s last night. They invited me over for dinner.”
“You didn’t make it?”
Another string of cursing, Arson fished into his jeans pocket to bring out his phone. Danny could see a long row of missed calls. “I guess not. Sorry for turning up here, holy man. Don’t even remember it.”
“I told you already, you’re welcome. Do you want to come in to get cleaned up and have some breakfast?”
Sitting in the front seat of his SUV, looking off into the distance, Arson was mentally miles away.
“Do you know Tag has two kids now?”
Danny did.
“They call me Uncle Jase.” He cracked a sad half-smile.
The world being so small, plus fate had a hand in their lives. His Aoife had come across the pond to nanny another child, ended up running away with that kid to save her life. Now Danny and Aoife were Misha’s parents. Never did he think two of Misha’s half-siblings would live in the same city, being raised by a biker Danny knew. Recently, the four adults got together to discuss it. Now the kids had regular playdates.
“Why didn’t you go to Tag’s?”
Arson swung his head around. He didn’t answer, but the guilt was in his eyes. He rubbed his face. “I should get going.”
“Sure? There’s hot food inside, and I can give you a ride home.”
Arson smirked. “I’m betting your Mrs is sick of seeing my face.”
Danny chuckled. “My Aoife is a spitfire and always speaks her mind. If she were, you’d already know it.”
“Why are you helping me? I’m no one.”
“You’re always someone, Arson. But my word doesn’t matter. It’s what you think about yourself that counts.”
Arson flashed a half-grin. “Don’t waste your time on me, Holy man. There’s much better out there to help. I’m good, I promise.”
Danny knew Arson believed his lies. He’d swallowed his own once upon a time before someone stepped in and helped.
“Breakfast?”
“Sure. I never pass up free grub. Any of those muffins she made before?”
Danny chuckled as Arson stepped out of the truck, looking slightly better than he did five minutes ago. “There might be. She was baking last night.”
Thank God for his wife’s beautiful heart.
She always understood when Danny was moved to help. It wasn’t the only part of his job. It wouldn’t be the first morning she came down to breakfast to see an unfamiliar face at their table. He got Arson set up with a shower, and Danny put a pot on for the tea and tossed sausages into a pan. A good hearty Irish breakfast was called for today. A few minutes later, he heard. “Dada!” he turned to see a grinning Misha in Arson’s arms. “Hope you don’t mind, holy man. She was attempting to climb over the gate at the top of the stairs.”
Chuckling, Danny took his daughter's outstretched arms, and she curled into his neck, warm from her sleep. “This one looks like an angel, but don’t let the sweet face deceive you, Arson. Little rascal, just like her mum. Haven’t we talked about this, Misha Murphy? We don’t climb over the gate.”
Being his daughter, and exactly like the love of his life, Misha didn’t take a bit of notice. Instead, knowing she had Danny around her little finger, she flashed him a wide gummy grin with her two teeth in the front. He kissed her mutiny of messy tufts of hair and plonked her butt in a high chair.
Speaking of the devil.
“What’s all this? You’re having a party and didn’t invite me? Shame on your house, Daniel Murphy.” Chuckling, Danny waited for his mouthy wife to come to him as she always did. They pecked lips. He couldn’t linger, but wanted to. “Love, it’s your house too.”
“Oh. Aye, so it is. I take it back then. Now, who’s to be having tea? Arson, do you want to give Earl Grey a try today?”
Danny smiled to himself as she fussed over Arson, not giving him any choice in the matter when she herded him like a sheep to sit at the table.
“And you’ll be testing out the brownies I made last night.”
“Brownies?” Arson asked, interested.
“And shortbread.”
Danny guessed Arson knew now he was welcome to stay for breakfast. He kissed the top of Aoife’s head and palmed her belly with the barely there bump.
Later, Arson was sitting in the passenger side of his truck when Danny climbed in to drive him home. Arson was looking down at his ringing phone.
“Not answering it?”
“It’s Capone.”
“Have you fallen out?”
“Nah, he’s a good guy, he’s checking up on me, they all do it. I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m sure something will come to you.”
“I’ll call him back. Need to talk to Tag first. Say sorry. Again. His old lady already hates my guts.”
Danny cut a glance sideways to see Arson staring out of the window. “What can you do to change that?” Eyes turned to him, Arson half-grinned. “Not gonna assure me she doesn’t?”
“If you think she hates you, there’s some basis there. Do you know how many apologies I had to say to my family when I was in recovery? Fucking hundreds. I still say them to this day. It’s my actions they believe better when I back those apologies up with meaning. I was full of shite back then, said what anyone wanted to hear.”
“I can’t imagine you as anything other than who you are now, holy man.”
“It’s good to be me now. But the darkness can get to us all. I ran toward mine, and it took me a long time to find my way out. Rock bottom is downright terrifying. But the optimistic lining is, there’s only up to go.”
The rest of the drive was silent.
Danny walked up the path with Arson. “You gonna be okay from here?”
“Yeah.”
Danny knew it had to come from him.
It was as Danny turned to take a walk home, he heard. “Hey, holy man… Danny?”
“Yeah?”
In front of him was a man, broken and resigned.
Give him strength, Lord. Let him take the ultimate step.
Arson inhaled and let it go in a staggered puff, stuffing his shaking hands down in the front pockets of his stonewash denim. “I need help. Will you help me?”
“Of course I will.” He walked back and clapped him briefly on the arm. “Did you give that Utah place a thought?”
“If I go inside now, I’ll pretend there’s nothing wrong. I’ll go all day and not drink. I’ll lie to myself. I’ll only have a few tonight for fun, to get in the mood. If I go inside, holy man, it won’t change.”
The first step, Danny knew, the fucking hardest.
“Then you won’t have to go inside. I can make the calls to see if they can take you today.”
“You don’t have to…”
“Do you want this?”
“Yeah. I need it.”
“What are favors for if not to call in for a friend. They’re doing me no good sitting unused.”
“Thanks,” Arson said. “I mean it, thanks.”
While Arson waited in his truck, talking to Tag, Danny made the calls to a few friends who could help. Not even ten minutes later, there was a roar of a motorbike coming along the street. Tag stepped down off his Harley, jutted his chin to Danny, but his focus was on his friend.
Arson didn’t believe he deserved help.
But what he’d learn in the hard, grueling months ahead.
People turned up when you asked for help.