It was a warm spring day as Tara and Emily were unloading groceries.
"75 plants? Seriously? What the hell , Mom...?"
Both boys stared at the trays of tomato seedlings in the back of her minivan.
"Yep, I got seventy five plants, and I want em in the ground by tomorrow! " She wasn't in the mood for negotiation." ...and watch your mouth!" she warned Abel with a glare, gathering the grocery bags.
" It's going to rain Sunday, so I want em planted by then."
With that final command, Tara slammed the mudroom door behind her.
" She only got forty last year...what the fuk?" Thomas wondered.
His brother roughly shoved him aside. " Dude, shut the hell up..! An don't cry about drawing your stupid comics cause you're gonna help or I'll beat your ass!"
Abel concluded a few years back that his mother's obsession with food preservation wasn't going to fade, so he accepted it quietly. The whole family seemed to get
involved , usually under some kind of threat from Mom, or worse, Dad.
Unfortunately, last summer, without the watching eye of Jax, the brothers sampled some new weed from Skeeter Fitz, and later spent the rest of the afternoon involved in a tomato fight, instead of harvesting. The result was Tara's decision to increase the number of plants, much to the boys dismay.
Abel yanked the drivers door open , shaking his head.
" Are you gonna grow any thing this year?" Tommy climbed slid into the passenger seat.
" I got some already started, over at Skeeters place..." Abel backed the van towards the garden, and scattered gravel.
"I hate this piece of shit!" He muttered, trying to keep the vehicle from veering into the burn barrel, then rolled to a stop.
" You know the Donnellys are still saying it was us that shot out her windows last month. I still think Dad believes her. I don't wanna be grounded because Skeeter is an fuk wit."
" She doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, it was slingshots not a gun. An it wasn't me with Skeeter, it was Logan, and that twat waffle, Shane."
" So why can't you tell Dad an get him off our backs?" Tommy was frustrated. Since this latest accusation of vandalism, their Mom and Dad seemed bent on knowing exactly where and what their sons were doing every second of the day.
" Jesus, I'm not some kinda snitch. And you better hadn't be either, Skeeter's an asshole, and he'll pop some charges on his own. He doesn't need any help"
Some time later, they had over half of the plants in the ground. Abel dug the small holes, as Tommy slipped small handfuls of Earth and seedlings in, then watered and covered them.
" Hey can you gimme a ride to Skillets? Zenith gets off in an hour."
Abel shrugged. He wondered if his brother had done anything yet. All they seemed to be interested in was drawing their " graphic " novel.
"Sure..." He was in need of a break himself.
Tommy hated his brothers car. It was loud, obnoxious sounding, and while he had to admit it was fast, it was ugly as hell.
"When are you gonna paint this all one color, it looks like shit!" One door was red, the other was primer gray, the front was part red and black, and the rest was green.
" Gimme some cash, flash, and I'll make it any color you want!" Abel grinned, yanking the wheel. He watched his brother slam against the door as they rounded a curve.
Suddenly the car slid backwards into a ditch.
"Dude, you need t learn how to drive" Tommy grunted as he climbed out his window.
"You need to wear your seat belt, dumbass!" Abel was already wondering how to get his car on level ground.
"We'll have to get Dad's truck with the winch."
Both boys suddenly realized whose house they were near, and it wasn't long before Wanda Donnellys voice shrieked across her front yard.
"Abel Teller, you better get that piece of crap off my property, or I'll have It done for you.!"
"Crap!" Tommy muttered
"It's all good, Mrs D, I'm gonna pull it out with my dad's truck. No worries!" Abel forcedly grinned. " Keep goin, this bitch is crazy" he half whispered to his brother.
"You know the sheriff knows about your little games going on, right?" Mrs Donnelly yelled back. She sounded a little hysterical.
" Is she tweaked already?" Tommy asked in a low voice.
It was rumored their neighbors had substance abuse issues.
" Shut up! " Abel hissed back.
" What are you talking about?" He called back.
The short blond woman walked quickly towards them. She seemed out of breath, and her face was red.
"I'm talking about..." She pointed backwards to her house, " I'm talking about that!" She caught up to the boys.
" To what?"
" Don't play innocent with me mother fuker, you KNOW WHAT I'm talking about !"
Tommy pulled out his phone. This is gonna be the shit , he grinned to himself.
" Don't be calling me names, lady, what the hell are you talking about?" Abel didn't like where this was going.
" I'm TALKING about ," she snarled back, pointing her finger just short of Abel's chest , " YOU, Skeeter Fitz , and Logans little stunt when I wasn't here yesterday. There's another one of my windows broken!"
"Hey, I wasn't anywhere near here, lady!"
" I know it was you cause EVERYONE else you did this to said -"
Abel had enough. " You're fulla shit, you dumb bitch"
" Oh yeah, I'm fulla shit, huh? Well -"
"You wanna fukin come check my house? You wanna go look in my fuking car? You don't know what you're talking about you stupid cunt!"
"Listen , you little piece of shit, we all know about you and your family's history, and I know you have a record! You don't even have a damn job!"
"You're fulla shit you tweaked out whore, I HAVE a fuking job, I have my own fuking car, and I'm stuck with babysitting my stupid brother and my flytrap little sister, so I'm not gonna go breaking out your windows or whatever stupid shit your crackhead brain thinks I have-"
Mrs Donnelly yelled till her voice cracked.
" DO YOU HAVE A RECORD?!" Her face was inches from Abels.
"I don't have a record...!" He responded, suddenly calm.
"Your whole family has a record!" She grinned insanely.
Tommy was growing nervous. The whole debate was getting stupid, and the woman seemed to be growing more agitated. If she hit his brother, was it right to help defend him? Was it ok to hit a female , a batshit crazy one?
"You're fulla shit!" Abel laughed back, but wondered why that seemed important to her. Was that true?
" I KNOW it was you because the two other families said the same thing, and I'm gonna laugh when they lock your delinquent ass up!"
"It wasn't my brother, you crack whore, Abel's been taking care of me n Emily , so go fuk yourself!" Tommy couldn't help himself there.
"No, you go fuk YOURSELF!" she screamed back.
"FUK YOOOUUU" Tommy bellowed , and as she tried to respond, he yelled over her voice again.
"FUUUK YOOOOOOUUUU!"
"Dude let's get the hell outta here, she's tweaked all to hell, and I wanna get my fuking car out!"
"You get this car out or I'll have it junked!" Their neighbor shrilled out.
"You touch my fuking car and you'll be one sorry doped up cunt!" Abel yelled back, watching her door slam.
Both boys started for their house. Neither one could keep a straight face.
"I hope she don't say anything to Mom n Dad..!" Tommy worried.
"She won't...if she does, Mom won't believe her anyway, she said so last week!"
"What , she knows?"
"Mom and Dad both said she's a whack job!"
"Wonder if anyone else heard us?"
"Wonder if I give a shit?" Abel grinned back.
"Dude, you called her all kinds a shit!"
"Dude, she won't remember shit!" Abel mimicked his little brother.
With that, both boys broke into laughter.