{"id":124,"date":"2007-08-12T22:00:01","date_gmt":"2007-08-13T02:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/?p=124"},"modified":"2007-08-12T22:05:21","modified_gmt":"2007-08-13T02:05:21","slug":"pete-and-daphne-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"pete and daphne (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here's the second deleted scene with Pete and Daphne. It takes place the following morning, day of the funeral.<\/I><\/p>\n

I awoke confused and disoriented. Someone was screaming in frustration, though the sound was strangely muffled. As I gradually came to my senses in the dim apartment, I realized it had to be starling. I lurched up out of bed and across the room, bumping hard into the edge of the table as I went.<\/p>\n

She seemed to be stuck inside of the sleeping bag. No part of her was visible, and she was thrashing from side to side, trying to free herself. I said her name, but she didn't react. I put my hand on some part of her, but she began to struggle even harder. I started to think she'd rip right out through the fabric.<\/p>\n

In the movies, the next step would have been to slap her, but I couldn't have done that, and besides it would have been hard to tell what to slap. I threw myself over her, trying to pin her down, and said her name again. Her struggles lessened and I suddenly remembered that she always slept with a gun in the sleeping bag with her. I wished I'd remembered that earlier, or not at all.
\n<\/p>\n

She was quiet by then, so I felt around until I located the zipper and started to pull it open. As she came into view, I touched her cheek and said her name. She looked up, her expression blank. Then various things flickered across her face, as if she'd forgotten everything she knew while she was asleep and was now gradually relearning it from some internal information bank.<\/p>\n

\"It's like when I fell off the train,\" she said, her eyes looking at me but obviously seeing something else. \"I was so badly hurt, and you took care of me . . .\"<\/p>\n

I could see something awful start to come into her eyes then, and I grabbed her bare shoulders. \"It's not like that,\" I said firmly, having no idea what I was talking about. \"It's me, Pete!\"<\/p>\n

I'd barely got my name out when she attacked me. She shoved me away from her with hard hands to my shoulders, and I fell over on my back, cracking my head against the rung of one of the chairs. She swarmed out of the sleeping bag and landed on top of me. For a second, as she was freeing herself from the quilted fabric, I tried to remember if I'd ever been attacked by a naked woman before. The, as she landed on top of me and her bony knee connected with my groin, I was too busy bellowing in pain to think about anything at all.<\/p>\n

I don't know what she would have done next, and I didn't much care at that moment, but she didn't get a chance in any case. I was only vaguely aware of it at the time, but the bedroom door slammed open and Daphne charged out, crashing into starling and knocking her off of me. Then she crouched between us, growling deep in her throat.<\/p>\n

We stayed like that for a few moments as I gradually recovered enough to sit up. starling met my eyes and moved toward me, a desperate sadness in her face, but Daphne crouched lower and growled again. She was obviously not about to let starling anywhere near me.<\/p>\n

So, we stayed like that for a while, then starling stood up and went over to the sleeping bag. She picked it up and folded it slowly, not looking at me. Daphne sat back on her haunches, still watching starling carefully. Then starling started to get dressed.<\/p>\n

She always folded her clothes carefully when she went to bed, placing them at the foot of the sleeping bag. With all of her struggling to free herself, though, they'd got scattered and she had to walk around and pick them up. Then, after a few minutes, she was dressed and armed, sunglasses on, and she looked very much as she had when I'd first met her. Her expression was completely blank. She slung her battered airline bag over her shoulder and left.<\/p>\n

Daphne relaxed completely then. She turned toward me, her face concerned, and she sat down on the floor. I was feeling somewhat better by then, so I struggled to my feet and went to my bed, where I started to get dressed. I reflected that I could have learned something from starling. When I get undressed, it's like an explosion. Clothing can end up anywhere in the room.<\/p>\n

I pulled on my pants and heard something right behind me. I turned and looked down to see Daphne peering up at me with evident concern. She barked a small, worried bark.<\/p>\n

I another mood, I'd have really appreciated what I was seeing. Her short-cropped, dyed-blond hair was mussed, and her body was trim and athletic. She cocked her head to one side, still looking up at me.<\/p>\n

I ruffled her hair and squeezed her shoulder for a second. \"Go get dressed, \"I said. \"I'll make some coffee.\"<\/p>\n

Faced with the prospect of making coffee, I decided it was more than I could deal with. I decided just to boil some water and make tea. Then, as I came to this decision, I found I was making coffee by force of habit.<\/p>\n

I was sitting at the table and watching the coffee drip when Daphne trotted out of the bedroom again, fully dressed. She went across to her bowl, looked in, then turned and barked.<\/p>\n

\"It's still dripping,\" I said. She sighed and then padded over to the table and climbed up on the chair next to mine. She looked at me for a moment, and then she put her feet down on the floor, folded her arms and said, \"Pete, I'm worried.\"<\/p>\n

It was unnerving when she did that, like having some tricky special effect from a movie happen in your living room. \"Worried about what?\" I asked.<\/p>\n

\"About you,\" she said.<\/p>\n

I smiled ruefully. \"Well, I wasn't really planning on fathering any children anyway.\"<\/p>\n

That got a smile out of her. \"Not that, you goof,\" she said. Then she frowned. \"Is . . .\" she coughed.<\/p>\n

\"I'm sure I'll be fine, or at least as fine as I was before.\"<\/p>\n

\"You want me to lick it and make it better?\" she asked, rolling her eyes.<\/p>\n

I got up to pour the coffee. \"Thanks, but no. I would like to know why you're worried about me, though.\"<\/p>\n

She waited until I brought the two mugs of coffee back and put them on the table. As I sat down, she jerked a thumb at the door to the hall. \"You know, Pete, it's only a matter of time.\"<\/p>\n

\"Before what?\" I asked, blowing on my coffee.<\/p>\n

\"Before this morning goes one step further and you end up dead. You and maybe me, too.\"<\/p>\n

\"She's–\"<\/p>\n

\"Oh, come on, she's coming back.\" She looked me in the eye. \"Do you really think she's gone for good?\"<\/p>\n

I hesitated, then I shook my head. \"No, she'll be back,\" I said.<\/p>\n

She nodded. \"Exactly. You know what I think? I think she'll be back tomorrow. She doesn't want to go to the funeral tonight, she doesn't even want to think about going to a funeral. Her going to a funeral would be like a priest going to a black mass, or a vampire dancing around a may pole on a sunny afternoon. She'd probably just explode. So, she'll go off and cause her mayhem somewhere else for a day, then we'll see her again tomorrow.\"<\/p>\n

I shrugged. \"Maybe,\" I said, though I knew she was probably right. \"And you think it's just a matter of time before she plugs me, huh?\"<\/p>\n

She sipped her coffee. \"Hey,\" she said, \"always listen to your dog. We can smell things.\" She tapped the side of her nose. \"And I smell trouble. I don't know if it's deliberate or not, but being around you is dragging her somewhere she doesn't want to be. She'll resist as long as she can, but eventually the pressure will get to be too much and she'll crack. And you know what that leads to.\"<\/p>\n

We drank our coffee in silence for a few moments. Then she finished hers and put her mug down on the table, carefully lining it up with a ring from some previous mug, glass or bottle.<\/p>\n

\"Pete?\" she asked after a moment, still making minute adjustments to the position of the mug.<\/p>\n

\"Yes?\"<\/p>\n

\"Can I come to the funeral with you? I mean, would it be okay if we went together?\"<\/p>\n

\"Sure,\" I said. \"I was assuming we would. The Q's going to be open in the early evening. I thought we could go there, have a glass of wine and drink a toast to Carl. Then we could go on to the funeral together.\"<\/p>\n

She smiled. I was glad she hadn't detected that I'd made that up on the spot. \"That's good,\" she said. \"I just . . .\" She sighed, then after a moment she climbed down from the chair and padded on all fours over to her water bowl where she started to drink.<\/p>\n

When I got home from work that night, I found myself hoping starling would be there waiting. I opened the apartment door and looked inside. Nobody was there. I went in and checked the bathroom and Carl's room. I was alone. I went to the kitchen table and sat down. Sitting by myself in that cold and dusty apartment, I realized for the first time exactly how much things had changed in just a few days.<\/p>\n

After a while, I started to think seriously about getting out, moving on, leaving u-town. After all, with Carl dead the band was over. And with the band over and Jenny dead, Henshaw might very well leave, too. He might even go back to his wife and kids. And, in addition to all that, there was the huge V-shaped aircraft I'd seen sliding across the sky the night before. Did I really want to stick around long enough to find out what that was leading up to?<\/p>\n

All that would have made sense except for one thing. starling was coming back, I was sure of that, and she'd need my help to find Deirdre Hammersmith (or whatever it was she was really looking for). I'd already promised to help her, so I couldn't very well take it back now. And leaving u-town with her would only have put her in that much more danger.<\/p>\n

Plus, there were things I really wanted to know, especially the details of Carl's death, and the only way I was going to satisfy my curiosity about that was to stick around.<\/p>\n

So, that was that. I'd stay, she'd come back, and we'd get back to work. It was nice to have that settled. Then I started to think about dinner. The funeral might turn out to be a real drunken bash and that was nothing I wanted to face on an empty stomach.<\/p>\n

There was a familiar scratching at the door and I went to open it. Daphne sat there proudly, a plastic bag in front of her. Inside the plastic bag was a paper grocery bag stapled closed at the top.<\/p>\n

I could smell the spices as soon as I opened the door. I leaned over and picked up the bag. \"And some people are satisfied with dogs who bring home a bone now and again,\" I said as she followed me in. She barked and made a face at the idea. Well, I thought to myself as I unpacked the bag on the table, a bone would have been a pretty poor substitute for really good Indian food.<\/p>\n

Donna was rather surprised when I ordered two glasses of wine, so I had to explain that Daphne and I were going to drink a toast to Carl. For a horrible moment it seemed as if Donna intended to join us, but I think some of my reaction showed in my face and she didn't finish suggesting it.<\/p>\n

The place was pretty crowded already and Frances was in constant motion, moving around the room, serving drinks and explaining why the club was closing early. She seemed rather tense. She was wearing a floor-length black dress made out of some stiff, quilted material, with a high neck and a long slit up one side. Her hair was newly cut short and dyed as black as her dress. Her face was painted bone white, with a single red tear drawn under her right eye. This was for Carl, I knew, not Jenny.<\/p>\n

Donna, on the other hand, had her hair brushed out, and her bangs were trimmed so you could actually see her eyes. She was wearing a bright red mini-dress and high black boots. I knew that both Frances and Donna had their hair done by The Amazing Frankie, and I wondered how many other people had got a special 'do for tonight's event.<\/p>\n

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Chet indicated Donna and murmured, \"I wonder if anybody made it clear to her that this is a funeral she's going to later.\"<\/p>\n

I laughed as he sat down. \"Oh, come on,\" I said. \"Remember whose funeral this is. Would Carl have wanted a big, weepy spectacle? Hell, no, he'd have wanted it loud, fast and showing a lot of leg.\"<\/p>\n

Daphne barked as Chet laughed and nodded, and he turned to her. \"Give me your paw, dear,\" he said, extending his hand. She put her hand in it and he kissed it. She emitted a small howl of delight and he smiled. \"So, you've inherited Carl's dog?\" he asked me. \"She's a fine looking animal.\"<\/p>\n

Daphne was panting by this time.<\/p>\n

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Here’s the second deleted scene with Pete and Daphne. It takes place the following morning, day of the funeral. I awoke confused and disoriented. Someone was screaming in frustration, though the sound was strangely muffled. As I gradually came to my senses in the dim apartment, I realized it had to be starling. I lurched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-deleted-scenes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u-town.com\/collins\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}