L ater that day, Liam and Dakota left school as
soon as the bell rang. They wanted to avoid Brad
and his friends at all costs. The last confrontation had
ended in a week's worth of detentions.
"I'll drive you to Davie Street, but can we stop
and get something to eat?"
"Sure, I parked near Hamburger Mary's. I had a
great burger there last night."
"I wonder if they have milk shakes?" Dakota
asked, getting in her car. "Hurry up; I'm starving."
"You're always starving," Liam laughed. "I'll
share a milkshake and burger with you."
"And fries. We need fries," she laughed.
It didn't take long to find Liam's car and stash his
school bag. He and Dakota walked the half a block to
Hamburger Mary's, both of them thrilled to be
walking on the colorful street.
"Here it is," Liam pulled open the door of the
diner and held it for Dakota.
Magical Moonlight
48 "Come on in kids and have a seat. I'll be with you
in a minute," Tanya called from the rear of the diner
where she was busy filling sugar containers.
Dakota and Liam sat at the counter near Tanya.
"We know what we want," Liam said. "Take your
time."
"Oh, this isn't rocket science kids, but it needs to
be done before the dinner rush. I'm Tanya by the
way."
"I'm Liam, and this is my friend Dakota."
"I love your costumes," Tanya grinned.
"They aren't costumes," Dakota giggled. She was
trying to decide if Tanya was male or female. "We
just got out of school, and we're starving to death."
The server was dressed for success in a 1950s style
waitress dress, complete with perky hat, white nurse's
shoes, and white nylon stockings.
"Well then, I'd better feed you," Tanya grinned.
"You look like a bacon cheeseburger and fries kind of
girl."
"And a strawberry shake," Dakota grinned.
"We're sharing." She cocked her head, "Where do you
get white nylons these days?"
"Sweetie, down here you can buy pretty much
anything you want," Tanya laughed and twirled
around. "These ones are seamless, but I have ones
with seams too. I get them off eBay actually, but I
think there's a store two blocks over that sells them,
probably from their original stock. The owner is about
a thousand years old."
ER Bryant
49
"Sharing is good," Tanya said, writing up their
order. "I'll have the burger cut in two. You'll need lots
of room for our fries. They're real potatoes, not those
frozen things."
"Hey, where's Ma?" Daniel breezed in the door,
interrupting Tanya and ignoring the kids at the
counter.
"Hi, Daniel. She stepped out to get her nails
done," Tanya called as she headed for the kitchen.
"Have a seat; I'll get your usual."
"If it isn't Danny, Aiden's bestest friend in the
whole world," Liam drawled, turning around on his
stool.
"Don't call me Danny." Daniel glared, sitting in
the back booth. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Slumming?" Liam asked.
"Asshole," Daniel mumbled, reaching for a
discarded newspaper, hoping to ignore Liam.
"Who is that?" Dakota whispered.
"He's Aiden's friend. He has a thing for Aiden; I
can tell. He was sure pissed that we were together last
night. All night." The last he said in a voice loud
enough to make sure Daniel heard it.
"Don't flatter yourself kid; you're only a fuck to
Aiden. He does this all the time." Daniel pretended
interest in the paper he'd grabbed.
"But Liam, Aiden—" Dakota was going to ask
about Aiden coming to the school earlier.
"Dak, he wouldn't want anyone to know that,"
Liam whispered to his friend. "It's between us." He
Magical Moonlight
50
looked up as Tanya delivered their food. "Thanks
Tanya. It looks good."
"I brought two glasses for the milkshake," Tanya
said, placing the burger and fries between them as
well as giving each one a side plate and silverware.
"Enjoy."
"Thank you, Tanya," Dakota said as she reached
for a fry."
Liam and Dakota ate their after school snack,
talking in the code that two friends develop over a
long relationship and giggling over nothing. Every
now and then, Tanya would join them. All of them
ignored Daniel's glares from the corner.
Finally finished, Liam paid the bill while Dakota
leaned over the counter. "Tanya, your eyelashes are
amazing," she whispered, having finally decided that
Tanya was a man dressed as a woman.
"Thanks sweetie; I do try my best." Tanya looked
at Dakota. "I love the uniform."
Dakota giggled. "It's kind of cool. Doesn't Liam
look hot in his?"
"Not bad, but you look pretty hot in yours as
well." Tanya winked, making Dakota giggle again.
"Come on, Dakota, stop flirting with Tanya. It's
time to go," Liam called from the front door.
"Wait," Tanya called. "I want to ask you a favor."
"Sure." Liam turned back, intrigued.
Tanya pulled out her large purse from behind the
counter. "I bought this the other day. You are the
Liam Taylor who wrote and drew it, aren't you?" She
pulled out a plastic-wrapped comic. "It's the first issue
ER Bryant
51
from the first printing. Would you autograph it for
me?"
"You want my autograph?" Liam was pleased.
"This was just a school project for extra credit."
"I bet you got an A," Tanya said. "I love this
story line, and I love the character Fury. He reminds
me of someone. Someone from around here who does
things for the community and for individuals but who
never lets anyone tell that he helped." Tanya looked
into Liam's eyes, telling him that she suspected Fury
was Aiden.
"You could be right," Liam said and actually
flushed, though he hated when this betrayal by his
body happened. He picked up Tanya's plastic-
wrapped book. "Do you have a pen? My book bag is
in my car."
"Are you doing another issue?" Tanya asked.
"Because Liam, honey, this is just what the
community needs: a superhero for us."
"I wasn't planning on it when I first had it
published. But my publisher has issued two more
reprints. He said it's been picked up all over the
country. So I'm going to do another issue. In fact, I'm
working on it now."
"I sure hope you continue with this." Tanya
smiled as she looked at Liam's autograph.
"Oh, how sweet?" she blushed at the words he'd
written. "You come back here anytime."
"Oh, I'll be back," Liam said. "How can I resist?"
He winked at Daniel, who was listening intently to
everything that they said.
Magical Moonlight
52 Daniel couldn't believe that the twink had done
what he'd always wanted to do: write a comic—a
comic that was catching on and could become famous.
Liam had been gone for an hour when Lisa came
into the diner. "Hi, Daniel," she said, bending to kiss
him on the forehead. His mother worked occasionally
at Hamburger Mary's, but she was there almost every
day for one reason or another. There were a lot of lost
boys and girls on the streets of Davie and Denman,
and Lisa was a surrogate mom to a good many of
them.
"Ma, you're late."
"Honey, I stopped punching a clock a few years
ago," she laughed. "Tanya, you can take off now if
you'd like," she called out.
"Lisa, take your time. I'll bring you a coffee.
Daniel, do you want another soda?" Tanya asked as
she bustled around.
"Thank you, Tanya, don't mind if I do." Lisa sat
back in the booth, put her feet on the seat opposite,
and relaxed. She pulled out a comic book from her
rainbow-colored bag. "Did you see this Daniel? The
whole beauty parlor is talking about it."
"Put it away; I know about it."
"Oh, you bought Fury. I have one too." Tanya
looked at the one in Lisa's hand. "You have a second
printing one. I have a first issue, and—you'll never
guess—I met the boy who wrote it and did all of the
illustrations. He autographed mine for me."
"He's just a fucking trick of Aiden's. No one
special." Daniel muttered.
ER Bryant
53
"He's a fucking brilliant artist," Tanya snapped
back. "Aiden Mac Ruaidhri better be nice to him."
"Holy shit, what's going on?" Lisa asked, looking
from Daniel to Tanya. "It's just a fucking comic
book."
"It's that twink. He somehow makes everyone he
meets like him. Like he puts a spell on them or
something."
Lisa looked at Daniel. "He didn't put a spell on
you." She shook her head. "I think you're just jealous.
Snap the fuck out of it." She drained her coffee and
stood up, but not before punctuating her statement
with a snap to her son's ear. "Go home, Tanya; I'll
take over."
Daniel grabbed the comic book his mother had
left on the table and began to leaf through it. He hated
the fact that it was Liam who was responsible for what
he'd always wanted to do. But he loved the story and
the drawings were amazing.
