Jackson picked up his half-empty cup of beer and stared down into it. The bar was filled with a melancholy silence, broken only by the clinking of glasses against the wooden tables, and the trivial conversation of a few lonely people trying to drink away their troubles. The dim light and dark wood of the furniture only deepened the heavy gloom of the bar's atmosphere. Jackson smiled bitterly. He already knew better than to try changing the past by getting drunk. In the end, things were only worse. He set the glass back down on the counter, wiping the condensation of water on his pants.

Without warning, a slim girl slid onto the stool next to him. He obliquely studied her. She looked about fifteen or sixteen, and haggard. Her dirt-blonde hair was held back in a long braid, with strands falling into her face. Her skin was pale, and covered in freckles. The dark blue dress she wore had a few stains, and the seams were taut where she had outgrown it. He jacket was a dark brown and was obviously worn. When she ordered her drink, he whistled lowly. She turned to him slowly.

"What?" she demanded, her brown eyes snapping. He shrugged.

"Awful strong for someone like yourself, don't'cha think?" The bartender set her shot of whisky down on the counter. The girl picked it up and downed it without ever taking her eyes off Jackson. He turned back to his own glass sans another word. He had no desire to engage in a fight with a girl off the street, especially one hardly old enough to be on her own. Clearly, she could take care of herself.

After emptying another glass, the girl turned to him. She spit in her hand and held it out to him, speaking with a slight Irish accent.

"Heya. I'm Danni."

Jackson felt curiously interested in Danni. After just half an hour, he already felt he'd known her for a long time. And was comfortable with the affinity. She reminded him of·someone he once knew. They talked about many things: life, the city, and the bar they sat in. Jackson felt more at ease with Danni than he had with anyone in a long time. It was nice to finally have someone to talk with who didn't expect anything in return - now, or sometime later. And in a strange way, he almost felt protective of the adolescent girl. She didn't say much about who she was or where she was from - but then, neither did he. Everyone hanging around in a bar had a story, and most people were more than willing to share theirs with anyone, but Jackson preferred to keep his scarlet past buried right where it was. He'd made up his mind a long time earlier that what had happened, happened, and there was nothing he could do to change that, so there was no point in dwelling on old mistakes and regret. Danni seemed to share his feelings as far as sharing went. Meanwhile, she was easily on her third shot of whiskey, and still going strong.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jackson stopped her. "You'll make yourself sick." Danni snorted.

"I've been drinking longer than you know. Believe me, it'll take more than this to get me sloshed." Jackson nodded as if he agreed.

"Yes," he said, "But what will you do once you are? I don't know where ya live, and ya won't be in any condition to get yourself home." Danni laughed sardonically.

"Easy one there. Ain't got a home, so ya don't need to trouble yourself."

"Oh," Jackson replied, "but I couldn't just leave a lady alone, not if she was drunk." Danni grinned.

"I wouldn't expect you to. But I'm no lady."

"Quiet night," she commented idly. Jackson looked around pensively. Several men sat at tables, drinking. A few bargirls drifted from table to table.

"Not exactly the New York City night model, eh?" he agreed. She nodded.

"Typical of a small town, maybe." Jackson shook his head.

"No, in a small town everyone is cheerful. They all know each other there, have no worries." Danni raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt that very much."

"No, small towns are like that," he insisted.

"Well then, Mr. I-Know-It-All," Danni said, "what is tonight like?" Jackson observed the sparse crowd for a few minutes.

"A city. Not a large city, but still a city. The run-down parts, where the jobs are rare and the pay is low. Where not even all the liquor in the bar could erase the suffering every man-" He glanced back at Danni, "-or woman there has." Danni looked at him silently for awhile. He returned the gaze, wondering what she thought of him. Abruptly he realized she'd broken the stare, and had turned back to the bar counter, starting on yet another shot.

"Danni, I'm serious," he told her. "Enough is enough." She ignored him, continuing about her business as if he hadn't spoken. He grabbed her arm, and she turned to him, fury flashing in her eyes.

"Get your filthy hands off of me," she said dangerously. Jackson matched her glare.

"No more. I mean it." She laughed in his face.

"I can take of myself," she retorted. "Not to mention that what I do is none of your business." Jackson's hand tightened on her arm, and her face grew stonier. "It makes it easier," she said at last, refusing to go down with a fight, but knowing she'd already lost. Jackson's face lost the insistence it'd had, and took on a softer gaze.

"No it doesn't," he said gently. "We both know it doesn't. Nothing erases it, except maybe time·and even then, it still hurts. A little alcohol takes your mind off things for a little while, but things are always worse in the morning·if not before."

Danni sighed heavily.

"I know," she replied. "Believe me Jackson, I know. But I'm so tired·I'm tired of the wounds, of the secrets and lies·of the running. I can't escape it no matter what I do. It's always right behind; I'm only a few steps ahead. It's going to haunt me for the rest of my life." Jackson hesitated. Danni was walking a razor's edge. On one side was the safety of the careless conversation they had exchanged all evening. On the other was the past, and all that he avoided thinking about. He toyed with his glass uncertainly. Danni nodded to herself as if his lack of response was disappointing but not unusual. He watched her as she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. She slowly finished her drink and casually dropped her money on the counter, as if she put off leaving as long as she could. Finally she turned to him and smiled unenthusiastically.

"I guess I'm going now." She started to walk away, but then turned back to him with an odd expression on her face. "I don't suppose we'll see each other again," she commented wistfully. Jackson nodded.

"You're probably right."

"I'm going to New Jersey," she told him, "maybe Philly after that." Jackson looked at her and half-smiled.

"I'm glad I met ya Danni. Your somethin' special." She smiled back at him, and then thought for a minute.

"Jackson," she said, "why don't you come with me?" Jackson's eyes widened. A plea for companionship from the solitary, yet strong-willed girl was not even close to anything he'd expected.

"Danni, I-" he started, but she refused to let him continue.

"I know we just met," she told him, "But I like you. There's no one else in the world that could care less what happens to me, and you won't even let me get drunk. Things can't be all that terrific in your life or you wouldn't be hanging around a bar at eleven o'clock at night. C'mon. It'd be nice to have a friend for awhile. Is there anything keeping you here?" Jackson looked at her, and thought about exactly why he wasn't at home at the moment.

"No," he replied, "There's nothing keeping me here. Nothing real."

"Then come with me," Danni responded.

"No," he told her. "I'm not skipping town and running off with a girl who's easily six years younger than myself..." Danni looked at him consideringly for awhile. Then she abruptly shrugged to herself, and sat back down. Jackson raised an eyebrow.

"I ain't got much of a need to be going anywhere," she said. "I think I'll hang around here for awhile."

"Ain't much of bar, is it?" Danni said, looking around for the first time. Jackson took a good look around. They sat at the bar itself, which was near the doors. On the other end of the room was a small stage that the manager sometimes hired women to sing on. The floorboards of it were worn and warped from age. Battered stage lights hazily lit the dais. The rest of the room was crowded with tables and chairs. Tarnished green glass lampshades dimly shone down the tables. Less than half the tables were occupied and most of the customers remaining were old men who spent all their evenings in the lonely tavern. A few bargirls lounged in a corner, having no one left to wait on. Their scanty dresses were torn and stained but Jackson knew they would never do anything to change that. He looked back at Danni.

"No, it isn't," he replied. "But then, the people that come here ain't lookin' for the Waldorf Astoria." Danni nodded in agreement. After ordering another drink and tasting it, she set the glass down forcefully.

"This isn't what I want," she told Jackson, upset.

"I can get you a new drink," Jackson replied. "It's okay."

"No, no, that's not what I meant," she said, stopping Jackson from signaling the bartender. "Being here. Finding myself in a run-down bar in the middle of the night in a bad part of the city." Jackson didn't reply for a long time.

"I know what you mean," he finally said quietly.

"Do you?" Danni asked, looking at him hard. "I never wanted to be here-" Jackson laughed sourly.

"None of us do, Danni. You think I planned my life around hanging around in a bar?" Danni ignored his question.

"I had dreams, Jackson. I was going to do something with my life. I was going to make something of myself and I was going to be happy." Jackson looked at her fixedly. He couldn't believe he was going to tell her this.

"Do you know why I'm not at home tonight?" he asked her, point-blank. She shook her head slowly. "I do have a home," he informed her. "Or at least I did."

"What happened?" she asked quietly. Jackson ran his fingers through his hair.

"I met this girl, several years ago," he began. "She moved into our neighborhood my last year of school. We were young fools, and we thought we were in love. After awhile we decided to get married. At first it was fun," he said, looking directly at Danni. "But it was like I said, we were fools; we never had a clue. I got a job at a factory and she worked as an assistant housekeeper for one of the better-off families in city."

"So what happened?" Danni interrupted. "That doesn't sound all that bad. What changed?" Jackson stared off into space, remembering the exact day as if it had been yesterday.

"I came home from work early one day. I walked into our apartment and found her sitting at the kitchen table·sobbing." Danni raised an eyebrow. "I asked her what was wrong," Jackson continued. He looked down at his glass and played with it a little. "She told me that she was pregnant," he said soberly. He looked over to Danni and then back to the counter. He didn't say anything else for a long time.

"And you left?" Danni asked hesitantly. Jackson shook his head.

"No," he finally said. "I didn't leave her. I still thought I loved her. I was scared to death, but she was too. I couldn't leave her." He swallowed a large mouthful of whiskey. "The pregnancy went fine. Nine months later I had a son." He laughed acridly. "I had a son, and I was just a kid myself.

"Well, I stuck it out for three years. But things just got·they just got too hard." He looked at Danni, agony and shame twisting his face. "I told her I was leaving. We'd had so many fights by then; I had threatened to leave for years. And finally one day I did. I walked out of the apartment and never went back." He downed the rest of his drink and rubbed his face with his hands. "I just left her there. She didn't want to have a child either, but she didn't run out on him." Jackson rested his forehead on the palms of his hands and didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he looked over at Danni who was watching him with a troubled expression. "So, you see, I know all about things not going the way you want them to."

Danni looked at him soberly.

"How old is your son?"

"Six," Jackson replied. "Today."

"You should go see him," Danni said. Jackson snorted.

"Yeah, that would go over well. 'Hey son, remember me? I'm your jerk of a father that ran out on you and your mother because I was too immature to handle the responsibility of a family. How're ya doing?' Oh yeah, great idea."

"You never know," Danni told him. "Maybe your wife wants you to come back."

"Not likely," Jackson retorted. "If I was her I would slam the door in my face."

"How do you know?" Danni persisted. "Have you seen her since you left?" Jackson shook his head.

"No, I've avoided Manhattan since I skipped out on her. I haven't seen anyone from either of our families either."

"So try it," Danni insisted.

"Would you lay off?!" Jackson hissed angrily. "If I wanted to be with them, I would be. If I wanted to be with them, I would have never left. But I don't, so I'm not."

"Okay, okay," Danni backed off. "Sorry. I just thought·"

"I know what you thought," Jackson snapped. "But it isn't happening. She won't want me back, and there ain't any way that I can face her now. It's over."

"It's a real shame," Danni said quietly.

"Ya know, yer right," Jackson replied angrily. "It's a shame that I ran out on my wife; it's a shame that I can't make myself leave town and just forget about my son and at the same time I can't go back to him. It's a shame that I'm sitting in a bar in the middle of the night with some girl that can't get it into her head that I'm not the only with problems. Or," he said, eyes flashing, "Is there a perfectly logical and natural explanation for your presence here tonight?" Danni shut her mouth and stared back at him. Then she looked away and muttered, "Things were real bad at home."

"Oh?" Jackson said. "That's funny. That sounds not unlike my own situation."

"Shut up," Danni whispered. She swallowed hard and rubbed tears from her eyes furiously. Jackson turned back to the bar and his drink. Neither said anything for a long time.

Danni finally looked back at Jackson.

"I guess you're right," she said. "I'm sorry." Jackson waved a hand at her.

"Forget it," he told her. "It doesn't matter. What's done is done, what's said is said. Nothing can be changed now."

"Jackson," Danni said, "do you think people pay for the mistakes they make, and the bad things they do?"

"Eventually," he replied, "I would assume everyone gets what he or she deserves."

"Doesn't that scare you?" she asked him. "Think about all the things you can do wrong in just one lifetime." Jackson half-smiled at her.

"Danni," he said to her, "I think you worry too much."

"Jackson," she said back to him, "I think you condemn too many things as hopeless causes." He laughed.

"Maybe so." He studied his glass for a few minutes, then looked back up. "So you're headed to New Jersey?" What's there?" Danni shrugged and laughed.

"Nothing, I imagine. I'm just going. It sounded good at the time; when I bought the train ticket," she explained. Jackson nodded.

"So when's the train leave?" he asked her.

"About twenty minutes ago," she told him. Jackson stared at her.

"You missed your train so you could hang around an old bar and talk to me?" Danni shrugged and grinned at him.

"I don't always make the brightest choices, I guess," she said. Jackson started to laugh.

"Danni, that wasn't just a 'not bright choice', that was stupid. You should've gone, you don't know. Maybe something really good could have happened to you if you'd gone."

"Something good already did happen to me," she told him. Jackson smiled.

"Most people wouldn't consider a person like me 'something good'." Danni shrugged.

"I'm not most people."

The few people left were being ushered out of the bar by the bartender. The bargirls were cleaning up the last remaining tables and lights were being turned off. Jackson dug into his pocket and left some crumbled bills on the counter.

"C'mon," he said to Danni. "We can walk around for awhile."

They left the tavern as the remaining lights were turned off and everyone went home. Jackson laughed after they had walked for some time.

"Danni, what are you going to do now? I don't know how much money you have, but it can't be enough to buy another ticket to anywhere and still have enough to live on." Danni shrugged carelessly.

"I'll figure something out," she said offhandly. "What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"Ohh," Jackson said, "I don't really know. There isn't much in this city to stay for, but I can't quite convince myself to leave either."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Danni asked him.

"No," he replied. "I already know what you think, and I don't want to listen to it again."

"Well, I'm right," she informed him.

"You can't go changing the past," he countered her.

"No," she conceded, "but you can make the future into whatever you want." Jackson ignored her comment. He looked up at the building in front of them.

"Jackson," Danni asked him, "why did you bring me here? You told me you weren't ever going back to Manhattan."

"I said I hadn't been back to Manhattan," Jackson corrected her. "I didn't say I never would again."

"Well," Danni said, "why are we here now?"

"This is Grand Central Station," he told her, still gazing at the building.

"I know that," she retorted.

"I'm sending you to New Jersey," he said, finally turning and looked at her. Danni's jaw dropped.

"You don't have to do that," she told him. "I don't have any reason to go there, I just picked it."

"Okay," Jackson said easily. "Pick somewhere else, and I'll send you there."

"No," she told him, "I'm not going to let you do this."

"Danni," Jackson said testily. "I didn't come here for my health. Where do you want to go?"

"New Orleans," she finally said, quietly. Jackson smiled at her.

"See? That wasn't so hard." Danni rolled her eyes. Jackson dug into his pocket and shoved a wad of cash into her hands. Danni stared at him.

"Jackson, tickets don't cost this much."

"Keep it," he told her. "You'll need it later." She looked at him with an odd expression. "What?" he asked her.

"I don't supposed you'd reconsider coming with me?" Jackson shook his head. "I didn't think so," she said. They looked at each other for a few minutes longer. "I guess this is goodbye," Danni said. Jackson nodded.

"Yeah, I need to get going. It was nice knowing ya."

"Yeah," Danni said. "G'bye." He turned and began walking away when she called his name.

"Jackson!" He turned around and looked at her.

"Yeah, Danni?"

"Thanks for everything," she told him. "I don't care what you've done, you're the best thing that ever happened to me." Jackson smiled at her.

"I could say the same about you."

Jackson walked for several more hours after he left Danni at the train station. She had made him think about things he had avoided for the past three years. She was right, just as he was. You couldn't do anything about the past, but the future had innumerable possibilities. He was lucky to have run into her at the bar.

As the night drew on, he returned to his apartment. He slept for a few hours, and got up just as the sun was rising. He changed his clothes and shaved, attempting to make himself look as presentable as possible. Then he set out towards Manhattan.

The closer he came, the more he doubted what he was doing. He turned down a street lined with apartment buildings. He passed the first six. He stopped and stared up at the seventh. His stomach twisted inside him.

He opened the door and steadily walked up several flights of stairs. His knees shook. He finally stopped at a dark brown door with a brass "15" nailed to it. The door was scraped in places on the edges, and the brass was dull. He carefully knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in!" called a tired woman's voice from inside. He hesitated. He could still back out; he could still leave. Instead, he grasped the doorknob and turned it. He opened the door and saw a young woman kneeling on the floor, attempting to put a jacket on a squirming little boy. She turned to apologize to her visitor, but stopped dead when she saw him. The little boy wiggled free and ran into another room. Her face was a mixture of anger, confusion, and shock. Jackson quickly shut the door and crouched near her.

"Hang on," he said as she opened her mouth to say something. "I know I have no excuse for everything I've done. I realize that, and I'm not expecting you to take me back or anything. I came to see you·you and him. I wanted to know if you were alright. And·" he hesitated. "And I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."