I had kept my head down all day. I avoided the wandering eyes, brushed off anybody who had tried to talk to me as quickly as I could. I was in a hurry to get gone and in a small town like Harlan, so many people could mess that up for me. Carla, a rather large woman in her forties, brushed passed me, knocking my sweater off of my shoulder. As I reached to pull it back up the black and blue flashed at me angrily. Distracted for a moment I remembered how the early morning had gone.
Dale grabbed my arm and squeezed as hard as he could. He threw me back up against the wall. When my head slammed off the flowered design, he merely chuckled as I cried out in pain. "Bitch. What the fuck is wrong with you? Your a stupid piece of white ass. Goddamn!" he yelled at me as I slid to the floor crying. I could smell the alcohol coming off his breath as heavy as if the liquid were pouring onto me. Just behind the liquor I caught the scent of sex and perfume. It wouldn't be the first time, or the second, or even the third. Hell, I didn't even care anymore. I just wanted out of this hellhole. I closed my eyes and held my ears shut to the rage going on above me. Wrapping his fingers around my arm he pulled me up off the floor, "Listen to me when I'm talking to you bitch!" I flinched back as his rancid breath flew out of his mouth at me. "Dale, your drunk again. Just calm down baby, please", I begged him. His mouth opened and his breath floated out onto my face again. I wrinkled my nose and turned away. A pain shot through my stomach as Dale's fist connected with it. I doubled over gasping for breath and felt an elbow slam into my back. I dropped to my knees and was kicked over. Squatting next to me Dale grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled his fist back. I closed my eyes but still felt the pain as everything slowly went black.
I looked around the small market and made sure nobody had seen. I wasn't as strong as Ava Crowder I suppose. Quickly scanning my list once more I mentally checked everything off. As I headed to the checkout counter I looked around nervously. I didn't put it beneath Dale to beat the shit out of me in public. The line went by fast and Lucy the register wasn't as talkative as she usually was. Thank the good lord above. I packed everything into my backpack that I had left outside behind the dumpster. It had enough food to last until I could get to my cousins, plus a little money to spare. I didn't dare call Raylan. Dale had forbidden me too and talking on a pay phone would look sneakingly suspicious. Not to mention that Dale was a Bennett. Raylan had been sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted and it had stirred up trouble with the local drug kings.
After about 2 miles of the hot sun beating down on my back and no cars passing by I was tired and thirsty. I had plenty of water but today, right now, I needed something more. Luckily for me Johnny Crowder's bar wasn't but 10 minutes away. I sighed and kept going. The only good thing about the god-awful bar was the man who owned it. He may have been a good fifteen years older than me but hot damn he was delicious.
The first time I ever had that thought was when I went by the Crowder place before Bo had gone to prison to bring a fruit basket. Bo took me out back with a drink and pointed out Johnny. I had never really paid any mind to any of the Crowder boys especially one so much older than me. I smirked and ignored what Bo was saying about him. Bo was always kind to me but one thing he couldn't stand was my infatuation with that "damn Bennett boy". In his words, "A pretty gal like you should have better sense than to follow around a skinny little stick like Dale, you need a real man, hon!" I smiled but refrained from anything. There was no point in arguing with him. We sat there on the porch for a while, until Ava and Bowman came over. Ava asked me inside to help her cook dinner. I was glad to, having a woman's company could be so nice sometimes. While Ava cooked, I set up. Bo came inside and peeked out the window he said, "Johnny is working pretty hard, hon. Why don't you take some iced tea out to him." I figured why the hell not and let out an exasperated sigh. As I took the glass out of the cupboard I sneaked a peak out to him. He was chopping logs out in the afternoon heat. I walked out with the iced tea to him and waited for him to notice me before I set it down. Seemed like the only polite thing to do. After he had set down the axe I extended it to him but he waved it off. He grabbed the neck on the back of his tank top and began peeling it off. Inch by inch his abs came into my view. His body was perfect. As a young girl still in her teens I couldn't help myself, I bit my lower lip and felt a tightening in my loins. When he glanced at me I quickly averted my eyes to avoid being caught. Reaching out he took the offered glass and gulped some down. While he was busy with that I busied myself with admiring his toned stomach. A cough made me look up as my face flushed red. Luckily Ava's sweet southern voice rang out through the holler," Dinner time!" I turned to leave when a hand grabbed my elbow. Johnny swung me around and pressed his lips roughly to mine. "You'll never know unless you try" his husky voice said into my ear. I felt the pressure release from my arm as Johnny turned around. He hefted the axe up onto his shoulder again and shifted it into swinging position. His back muscles flexed as the metal thunked into the wood. I eyeballed him once more then turned to walk back to the house. I half wanted to run back to him and throw myself upon him, or at least my hormone's did. My brain however told me to keep walking, to push him out of my mind and think only of Dale.
"And look where that got you" I mumbled to myself as I walked up to the bar. I opened the door and slipped in mostly unnoticed. I looked around and saw that Johnny wasn't here much to my dismay. The bartender looked up and smiled, "What can I get for ya, Lila?" Smiling back I ordered a beer and a shot of Knob Creek. A little something to numb the senses. A door opened up towards the back of the bar, I turned and faced Johnny Crowder as he stepped out of the office in back. "Well, well, well what is a sweet little thing like you doin' in here, darlin" the voice that rang out sent a shiver down my spine, a very pleasant shiver. "Well Mr. Crowder, I was just walkin' by and got a mite thirsty so I stopped by" my voice sounded odd to me now in this open space of bar. Being the afternoon hardly anybody was here. I smiled at Johnny as I heard the door bell jingle as somebody walked through. As I turned to see who it was a very unpleasant shiver ran down my spine and made me gulp. Dale Bennett, my husband, had walked through the door. I quickly turned and slid into the only booth the bar had. I looked back to see Dale giving Johnny a dirty look before he began to walk up towards the bar. As his fat, greasy ass plopped down on the bar stool a heavily slurred voice said, "You talkin' to yourself Johnny? People call that crazy." I looked at Johnny and tried to plead with him through my eyes. This was my one chance to get away from Dale and it could be blown so easily at this point. "Can you not see that there is a bartender here you fat asshole" came the reply, "And meanwhile I was just tellin' him how I got some of my pa's business to attend to so I was closin' it on down. If you would kindly haul yourself back outside, I'd be grateful." Dale looked up at Johnny and spun the bar stool around. In his drunken state the spin was to fast. He stumbled off the chair and his eyes landed right on me as he tried to catch himself. Anger flashed in his eyes. My breath hitched as I slowly stood up. "You runnin' bitch? Not anymore, your not" Dale slurred. I shook my head no, he wasn't gonna stop me now. A hand grabbed the back of Dale's plaid shirt and pushed him towards the door. "Ain't nothin' for you here Dale." I looked into Johnny's eyes and looked down just as quickly. The anger in his eyes was more intense than Dale's had ever been. As he pushed Dale towards the door, Dale stumbled forward and relieved himself of Johnny's grip. After tumbling to the floor he rolled over onto his back and before Johnny could sidestep he planted a firm foot into his balls.