Toto and the Boys III: Dannie

Chapter 4

A piece of the past…

He hid in the shadows, fear slowly creeping in.

The place was not one he frequented. As a matter of fact, it was one he never thought he would see—or even be at. But he chose to do this so he better see it through.

She turned into an alleyway and he waited for a few seconds before he followed.

He never imagined she lived in such neighborhood. His looks attracted a few people he passed by and he hoped none would take interest in him to the point that they would take advantage of him.

Troy lost sight of Dannie but he found her after taking the right turn. She was standing outside a house that did not look livable at all. A man walked up to her. The man was naked except for a pair of tattered basketball shorts and he was talking to Dannie. She said something back and the next thing Troy saw was the man pushing Dannie toward the door with an angry shout.

PRESENT DAY

“We still have a lot of things to do,” Jackie groaned as she forked on her cake without eating. They were outside Calea, waiting for Jordan. She looked at George, who was almost done with her mud pie, with a cringe, saying, “You know the wedding is in a month, right? You don’t want to gain some weight. Our gowns are all ready for the wedding, George.”

“I don’t care,” George answered with her mouth full of chocolate. “There are people who can make adjustments for my gown.”

Jackie shook her head and met Dannie’s gaze before she rolled her eyes. Then they went to Dean sitting beside her and her face turned sour once more. “What are you doing?”

Dean was hunched over his tab, preoccupied with a game.

“This is my last warning, Dean. I am serious,” Jackie told him.

“Just let it go, Jackie,” Dannie said with amusement.

“You did not just say that,” Jackie said with horror. “Do you know how many hours he spends on that stupid game? Ask George.”

Dannie turned her attention to her other friend and the lady was nodding her head. “Jordan spends more time on that game as well.”

“I am almost done, so please stop front-stabbing me,” Dean said as he tapped vigorously on his tab.

Jackie looked as if she finally decided to ignore Dean and went back to their previous topic. “Since Dean here seems not to care about the wedding or Christmas or New Year, let us do the planning.”

“What do you have in mind?” Dannie asked.

“My head’s in a jumble. How about you, George? Any suggestions?”

“I can’t even wrap my head around the wedding as of the moment,” George admitted. “How did the church visit go, Dannie?”

“It’s all set. I’ve arranged the venue. The church wants to know what music is going to be played inside the church beforehand though so you have to give me a list.”

Jackie nodded and wrote on her pad.

“How about the flowers?”

Dannie took out a piece of paper from her bag and handed it to Jackie. “That’s the list brochure with a list of prices.”

“We should have just decided for a wedding planner, you know,” George said with a sigh as she leaned against her chair.

“The wedding has to have a more personal touch,” answered Jackie. “So we just need to choose the set of flowers. Then the music. And there’s food.”