Chapter 1

2009

"Sumbitch!" Daryl cursed loudly as the wrench in his hand slipped and hit him in the head. He rolled out from under the truck he was working under and sat up rubbing his forehead.

"Problem Dixon?" asked Mack, his boss. Daryl had been working part-time at the garage for about three weeks. Mack couldn't afford to hire anyone full-time and Daryl was desperate for a job so he took whatever hours Mack could give him.

Mack was a wiry old grease monkey, with his thinning gray hair tied back into a ponytail. He knew everything there was to know about anything that had a motor. Daryl had stumbled upon this rundown garage when he had been out searching for work. His job interview was done under the hood of an old Pontiac Trans Am that wasn't running. Mack simply told him to figure out what was wrong and fix it. Two hours later Daryl had the job.

"Yeah, every fuckin' screw on this piece of shit Ford is rusted. Gonna need a blow torch to get the damn exhaust off," he told him.

Mack looked over at his part-time mechanic," Just don't blow us up," he said in his laid back manner.

"Try not to," Daryl told him. He liked working at Mack's. Neither of them were big talkers, so the quiet suited them both just fine. Mack treated him fairly and also taught him stuff that he didn't know, plus he let him work on his old pickup in his spare time. Now if he could only keep this job.

He got up and walked over to the sink and looked in the dirty mirror. That wretch had hit him good; a knot was already forming on his forehead. Just as he was turning back to give that screw another shot, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pants. Daryl wiped his hands on a rag he had hanging out of his back pocket and checked his phone. It was a text from his brother, Merle.

Found us a place at Lakeview Trailer Park in Riverside. # 14.

Daryl texted back, Better not be a dump like last time. C U after work.

They had been looking for a place to live after getting thrown out of the last apartment they rented. Daryl had been living out of the back of his truck for the last four days and it was getting old…really old. Merle simply couldn't get along with anyone. He either argued and picked fights or sexually harassed the women so they tended to get kicked out a lot. Daryl was so tired of Merle being a dick all the time. If he could just keep his mouth shut once in a while, or act like a normal person, they may stand a chance of staying somewhere more than a few months.

Daryl hated moving around all the time, but he stayed with his brother because he didn't have any other choice. Merle was all he had for family and you didn't turn your back in family, no matter how much of a jackass they were. However, his father was a completely different story. Daryl had left home, or the dump that he had been living in with his old man at sixteen and never looked back. The abuse he had received at the hands of his father was unforgivable. He hoped the drunken bastard was dead.

Now a little over twenty years later, Daryl was still stuck with Merle. His brother had cost him anyone that he ever got friendly with. No one wanted to put up with Merle as he made all their lives miserable. Daryl had no idea why Meryl said the crazy ass shit he did. It made him wonder if Merle was jealous that he other people in his life at times, which was why his behavior would eventually drive everyone away. He turned Daryl into the loner he was.

He grabbed a spray can of lubricant before heading back under the truck he was working on. He was hoping that would help loosen up the rusted screws holding the old exhaust system on. Daryl slid back under the truck and tried again.

Mack looked over towards the pickup that Daryl was working on. His booted feet stuck out the end as he fought to get the exhaust off. Daryl was a good worker. He had seen his fair share over the years, some good, some not so good. Most had stories and pasts that they kept hidden and Daryl was no different, but he liked the guy. He arrived on time for the most part, he knew his way around a car or truck and never caused any problems. Mack was smart enough not to blame Daryl for having a jerk of a brother. He had met Merle a few times when he stopped by the garage, usually to ask Daryl for money. He knew you couldn't choose your family and he didn't hold it against him.

The work day was finally coming to an end. Daryl had changed out that exhaust he was having a problem with, did two oil changes and replaced a starter. He was washing up at the sink when Mack approached him.

"Dixon, wondering if you could help me out with sumthin'?"

"What you need, Mack?"

Mack started to pull a set of keys out of his worn greasy pants pocket. "Gonna go fishin' next week. Need you to run the place for me. Can ya do that?" It wasn't often that he let someone do this, but even after only a few weeks he knew he could trust Daryl.

Daryl was surprised by Mack's request, but he didn't let on. He still figured he was learning the ropes, but he was happy that Mack had asked him. He liked the old guy and he silently vowed to not let him down. "Yeah, sure I can. Open at eight and close at five. I know how to order parts, what about money?"

They went over how Daryl was to handle the payments, plus a few other items that he hadn't thought of. "You good?" asked Mack. Daryl nodded that he was. " 'kay then, here are the keys for the shop. Just make sure its standing when I get back."

The keys and the responsibility that they came with were dropped into Daryl's capable hands. He was surprised how good having this responsibility made him feel. There was no way in hell he was going to let Merle know that Mack was gone for the week. That had disaster written all over it.

Daryl got into his ancient blue Ford F-250 pickup, lit up a cigarette and headed to find the trailer park and Merle. He thought he had seen it off of East Winston Street so he headed in that direction. Sure enough a couple miles down he saw the sign for the trailer park and turned in. "Sign looked decent," he thought.

The trailer park was set back off the road and it surprised Daryl that it really looked nice. "How the fuck did Merle get us a trailer here?" he wondered. He had only given him five hundred dollars and he had no idea how much if any money Merle had. How the hell could they afford this? The trailers were all in good conditions, garbage was not all over the place, and it actually looked like people wanted to live there.

Daryl finally found number fourteen and knew it was the right one as Merle's motorcycle was parked outside of it. He was still highly suspicious. He parked the pickup and got out. Merle met him at the door.

" 'bout time you got here little brother. C'mon in and check out our luxurious accommodations," Merle told him with a smirk.

Daryl walked inside and slowly took everything in. It surprised him. It was a really nice completely furnished trailer. It was the best place they lived in years, maybe ever and there was no way they could afford this.

"What did you do?" accused Daryl.

"What do you mean? This is legit," Merle told him.

"There ain't no way you got this with the five bills I gave you. Deposit and first month, must be triple that…easy. So, what did…you…do?" Daryl asked again.

Merle just gave him that big grin of his. "You need to trust me more little brother." Daryl just stared at Merle. "Okay, I got myself a job."

Daryl laughed. "Good one. Try again."

"It hurts that you don't trust me. Have I ever lied to you?"

"Every chance you get," Daryl told him. "For the last time, how the fuck did you afford this?"

Merle sat down on the sofa and crossed his feet on the coffee table. "I told you I got a job. Right here in fact. You are looking at the new maintenance man for Riverside Trailer Park."

"You don't fix shit and you know it. I do and I already got myself a job." Daryl sat down across from Merle. His brother did nothing but complicate his life. Was this job for real? "What's this job that you are supposed to be doing?"

"Fix broken shit, keep it clean…you know shit like that. In return we get half off on rent and no security. This place will cost us only four hundred a month. How about that?" Merle knew the deal was a good one and since Daryl was good at fixing most anything, he figured he would luck out with not having to do much. Daryl only worked part-time at that garage anyway. He crossed his hands behind his head and grinned at Daryl.

If Merle was telling the truth with the job and the rent, it was a really good deal. Even if he did have to help out some a nice place like this for four hundred a month was cheap. "How did you get this job?"

"Met a broad at The Roadhouse and after I showed her a real good time the other night in her trailer here she mentioned that they were looking for a new guy to do maintenance. She put in a good word and here we are." Merle watched Daryl as his eyes looked around the place. "So where's my thank you?"

"In the bed of my truck where I've been sleeping the last four nights because of you." Daryl got up to explore the trailer. First thing he noticed was how clean everything was, but since Merle was a slob, he knew that wasn't going last long. There was the living room that Merle was reclined in, a decent size kitchen for a trailer, but neither of them really cooked and then he headed down the hall. There he found a bathroom and two bedrooms. Merle had his stuff all over the bigger of the two rooms, so Daryl knew by default he had the smaller one. He didn't mind. Having a room to himself was good enough, he didn't care how big it was. Daryl walked back to the living room. "Let's try to keep this nice for a change, and where's the rest of my money?"

"What money?" Merle asked knowing exactly what Daryl meant.

"I gave you five hundred and rent was four, where's the other hundred I gave you?"

"Went to turning on the cable, food and beer," Merle told him.

Daryl walked over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. He saw plenty of beer, but no food. "Where's the food, I'm hungry?"

Merle tried to look innocent. "Guess I ate it all before you got here."

"Figures. I'll be back." Daryl left the trailer pissed. Merle did good with the trailer, he'd give him that, but he blew his hard earned hundred bucks on beer and god knows what else. He made a vow not to give him any extra money…again.

"Pick me up sumthin', " Merle called out.

Daryl's only response was "Fuck you." He climbed into his truck, backed out and started back towards town to find food. On his way out of the trailer park, he passed an older model black Honda Civic coming in. The woman driving the car looked like the typical perfect girl next door type, and when their eyes met and she smiled at him, he about crashed the truck into a tree. She had his heart racing and he felt like he had been shocked.

When he got to the stop sign at the main road, he stopped the truck and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. "What the hell happened?" he said to himself. He had never reacted to a woman that way before. Did she live there or was she just visiting? Should he turn around and look for her or would she tell him to fuck off? But she smiled at him, right? That was good, wasn't it? Utterly confused on what to do, Daryl took the safe way and kept heading into town for dinner. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that he was wrong. Girls like her, never smiled at guys like him.

Never.