After the fight at

McDonalds

the bigger picture disappeared. Blayne kept Danny and the other guy moving as fast as they could while looking casual on the night streets. They had to walk to the corner, and then south across the bridge, and then east on the woods' trail. The entire time they had to blend in with the night. Just three guys heading back to the dorms after having dinner. Danny kept his fists in his pockets to hide the blood. Whenever they passed someone Blayne would try not to look too far down or away while avoiding eye contact.

Everybody else seemed to not notice. Their conversations continued as they walked by people. Talk of where to get beer or whether a certain Donna or James would be at the party; stories of how high a Danny - another Danny - got the night before.

It would be a while before the cops would scan the streets. They wouldn't see the scene at McDonalds and immediately begin a search. They would examine the scene for a bit before radio'ing it in. Blayne, Danny, and the other guy might make it to the woods' trail by then. Once they were on the trail, Blayne was pretty sure they could make it back to 5 west Holmes without running into cops.

After turning the corner of Bogue and Baker Ave, he could see the trees that marked the entrance into the trail. All they needed to do was walk calmly. Just make it to the trail. The bigger picture of what they would do for the rest of the night was unclear. But the next step was. The three walked in silence. Blayne was leading them now. Danny and the other guy behind them.

The other guy wasn't even supposed to be there. He barely knew Blayne and had never met Danny before. He just happened to be around, friend of another guy on the floor. They were smoking bongs and the three of them began discussing how nice a large pack of fries from McDonalds would be just now. Nobody else agreed. So it was just them three.

How the fight broke out at Mcdonalds, Blayne couldn't piece together. It felt random and out of the blue except for one thing. Danny. None of Blayne's friend's at

Holmes Hall

knew this history of Danny, To them he was just a suave dude who liked to have a good time. But Blayne knew about the fights in high school. He couldn't even really call them fights. He was never present. Only heard the kids talking about it on Monday. The beatings took place over the weekend late nights. Parties Blayne was never invited to or even knew about. Hours later than Blayne's bed time.

Some kid would cross some sort of line. Danny would show up and pummel him. Nobody would intervene because they'd find it justified in some manner. Although they'd always whisper later that maybe the level of beating wasn't justified.

Danny had a violent bone inside of him. blayne never talked about it to anyone. Never really thought about it either. He figured that the university was a different environment. Wouldn't bring the bone out in Danny. But that night he learned he was wrong.