Page 24 of Caged
"It's my friend, Rani." He quickly opened the door.
Danny swallowed hard, ignoring the game as he watched a tall, black man walk into the house. He smiled and gave Marshall a half hug before stepping back. "If I keep spending my nights off here with you, I might as well move in."
For a moment he wondered if this was Marshall's boyfriend, but wouldn't he have told him that? He'd mentioned Rani when they'd gone shopping the night before and only called him his best friend. He never mentioned anything more.
"I've told you I've got the room." Marshall shut the door and turned to the living room where Danny was still sitting on the floor. "Come in and meet Danny."
Rani stepped to the couch and grinned. "Hi."
Nervously, Danny got up and faced him. "Hi."
"Don't tell me he's got you playing video games already." Rani glanced at the TV. "That's all they do at work. Marshall claims he's on the computers all day, but the truth is, he is with the others playing games half the time. The guy is addicted."
Marshall shoved Rani playfully. "Don't act like you don't join in."
Danny just stared, unsure what to say and feeling as if he should leave. He was an outsider.
"At times, but I don't put in the time you do." Rani ran his hand over his bald head. "Don't worry. You'll be better than Marshall in no time. He sucks at these games. He's always losing to the others."
Danny wondered who the others were. "We both suck at this one," he finally answered.
"Well, do you mind if I give it a try?" Rani took a seat on the couch.
"Go for it." Danny moved aside after gesturing to the controller.
"Don't go far. I'll show you how it's done then you can kick his ass when you two play." Rani reached for the control.
"Beer?" Marshall asked.
"Yeah, sounds good." Rani was already restarting the game.
"You want anything, Danny?"
Danny turned and looked at Marshal, frozen for a minute at how casual this all felt. It was strange to have Rani walk in and just sit down as if it was the most natural thing in the world. What would it be like to have friends like that? To be able to walk into another person's house and be that comfortable? "Another bottle of water, if you don't mind."
"Not at all." Marshall turned for the kitchen.
"So, sit down and tell me how horrible staying with Marshall is. Has he got you painting in the basement yet?" Rani asked with a teasing smile.
"No, but he mentioned it." Danny sat, but at the end of the couch, leaving a lot of distance between him and Rani. "I don't mind. I owe him for all he's done for me."
"I'm sure he'd argue that point. He doesn't help anyone unless he wants to. He's been trying to get me to help him paint since he moved into the place, but I work too much."
"He said you're a doctor?"
"I am in Oman, but my license isn't valid here in America. I'm working on that, but it means putting in a lot of work." Rani worked his way through the game, making it look easy. "It will be worth it when it's done, but right now, I'm exhausted."
He had no clue where Oman was. He'd never heard of the place. Then again, other than Mexico and Canada, he couldn't have told you where any place was. Larry didn't allow him books with maps or anything like that. Hell, he could hardly name all the places in the United States. He took a deep breath, again thinking about how much he'd missed out on learning.
"Here ya go." Marshall handed him a water before setting a beer down on the table in front of Rani. "Would you look at that. He's already gotten farther than we did and he's been at it five minutes. I swear the man's brain is enormous."
"No, just my ego." Rani grinned. "Seriously, it's not hard. You follow the clues." He continued playing. "So tell me what you two have been up to? I have to hear about your life since I don't have one."
Marshall sat down in a chair beside the couch. "Not much of anything. We did a little shopping, a little cooking, and a little relaxing. Tomorrow we go in for the official sit-down interview with the police, then Danny has a doctor's appointment."
Rani paused the game and turned. "Everything okay? If I can help—"
Marshall held up a hand. "He's fine. Just a follow-up to some tests they ran at the hospital and to do a few routine things like check he's up to date on immunizations and such.
