Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
This Can't Happen
"What?" cried Dan.
He felt like he'd just been kicked in the stomach. He grabbed the arms on the chair for support. For a moment, the room swirled around him. He shook his head to clear it and sucked in a breath. His felt a cat trapped behind a garbage can by marauding dogs. He looked back and forth between the two men in the room, both of whom stared intently back. The three sat in a little triangle in the middle of the bishop's office, the rest of the room still in disarray from the priest’s quorum meeting.
"It just went on the market. How can it sell so fast?" stammered Dan.
"That's what we need to talk about, Dan," said the bishop gently. "I got a call from the executor yesterday. I think you met him at the funeral. He's the lawyer your mother set up to take care of her estate. Do you remember him?"
"Vaguely."
"Well, he called me to tell me he received a satisfactory offer. On behalf of the estate, he accepted."
"How can he just, you know, just sell the house out from under me?"
"Dan," said Bishop Parker. " I've been very uncomfortable about your living there alone."
"I've been fine," protested Dan. "Peter's mom looks in on me."
"I know. But that's not the issue here. We went through all this before."
Dan looked down at the floor. His voice was sullen. "So what am I supposed to do? Just go live under some freeway bridge?"
"Dan, we need to talk about next steps," said the bishop.
"You want me to move in with my father, don't you."
"Dan, you've told me about your father, but I thought you had a good visit with him at Christmas."
"We had some fun with some music, but otherwise it was really uncomfortable. And, anyway, it was Mike who was doing all the music stuff, not my dad."
"Dan, we need to make some decisions pretty quickly. The closing on the house is in six weeks and then the new owners want occupancy. So that would put it," he consulted his calendar, "around the first week of March."
"I don't want to live with my father."
"Dan," said the bishop, with just a hint of exasperation, "I don't know that we have much of a choice. You're sixteen, not eighteen. You have another year and a half of high school. You have to live somewhere."
"I—don’t—want—to—live—with—my—father! " repeated Dan.
"Ok, Dan, tell me why," said the bishop.
"You know already!" Dan exploded. "He doesn't know me. He's gay. He lives with his gay partner. This is not exactly a good home for a kid who's trying to be a good Mormon, you know. I mean, I don't trust them! Like, how do I know they won't, you know, like..."
The bishop cut him off. "Dan, we have absolutely no reason to believe you would be in any danger. We can work out ground rules with your father about his behavior with Mike when you're around. Look, your father says that..."
"You've already talked with him!" shouted Dan. "You've been setting this up behind my back!"
"Dan," started Brother Sam, but Dan cut him off.
"This is ridiculous! Why aren't you helping me? I need a place to live where I can be around people who believe like I do or at least tolerate it! Where I feel safe!"
Bishop Parker looked down at the ground, searching for words. He pursed his lips and scratched his elbow.
"So what do you want me to do, Dan?" he asked at last. "Your dad's made it clear he wants you to be active in the church. He stands for some things that none of us like. But he is your father, after all."
"No. I won't live with my father."
"Dan, he's threatening legal action."
"He promised he wouldn't try to force me! So let him sue me. I'll run away."
"Dan, he's threatening to sue the church and the Fawkes both for something about harboring you and keeping you from him. And the law doesn't care a whit about whether he's homosexual or not. The authorities just want to know if he can be a good parent, and by the law's standard, he's just fine. And, by rights, he has legal custody."
Dan fidgeted with his brace and massaged his knee.
"Look, can I stay in the house until it closes? It'll give me a few weeks to look for other options," he replied at last.
Bishop Parker smiled. "That's what I thought you would want. I asked Ed to please hold off for a while until we can sort this whole thing out. He says it's been over a month since the funeral and he'd like some resolution. He doesn't want to pressure you directly about moving in with him, but he's concerned about you living alone."
"Yeah, right."
"So am I, Dan."
"Why?" It was Dan’s turn to be exasperated.