The hot Texas air. It blew her red, fiery hair across her aged face. Her eyes searched the parking lot for anything to hold. The Warden had been it jail for, what seemed like, forever. As she walked out of the jail, free, she felt so alone in the whole world. All she had ever known was the old town of Green Lake, where her grand-daddy made her dig and dig. She didn't care for it now; all she wanted was her timeworn, light blue convertible Chrysler.
The Warden looked down at a plastic bag that held the contents of her life now. She reached in and pulled out her dusty sunglasses. She wiped the dust off with her checkered blouse and then tucked it back into her jeans. She placed her sunglasses on her nose; where they should be. She looked back down at the bag and read the letters written in permanent marker, Louann Walker. She hadn't been called that in a very long time. The boys had always called her "The Warden" and same with the staff, even thought there was only 3 including her.
Louann bit her bottom lip and stepped off the sidewalk. Just as her foot hit the pavement, a drunk and his noisy pick-up truck flew past, almost running her over. He immediately stopped and, with a sloppy laugh and deep belch, backed up. Louann meet face to face with the disgusting man.
"Hey, baby," the man asked, trying to be smooth, "You just get out? I bet you haven't had any fun in a while? How about I fix that."
"What an idiot," she thought to herself, "If only I had my rattlesnake nail polish."
Ms. Walker didn't say anything, but gave a suggestive smile. The drunk actually thought it had worked. He seemed overjoyed and from Louann's angle, she knew why. As he reached out for her hand, she grabbed his, but then took her other hand and slugged him right in the face. She pulled her hand back and saw she had gotten to him good. She couldn't be put back in jail again; she had to get out. Louann knew she had to wait for the bus to take her to her car, but she couldn't wait here.
The warden took her stuff under her arm and started to run towards the alley away from the jail. Her steel-toed cowboy boot clacked as they hit the pavement. When she reached the shaded alley, she quickly ducked behind an overflowing dumpster.
