Maggie sat at the end of the bar on the last stool leaning against the stations weight bearing pillar, languidly pulling on her cigarette, blowing out plumes of smoke from between her plump pink lips, staring out the screen door onto the porch.
She could hear the gunshots in the distance, the whole town was listening for them. She closed her eyes with ever bang of a pistol, wondering where that bullet would find it's home. A raven swooped down and landed on the railing of the porch. It stared at her, through her, with his beady black as night eyes. He cocked his head to the side and Maggie remembered what her mother would say about the ravens, They are the bringers of truth. If you are quiet enough they'll tell you what they know. She already knew why the raven was there, what he was trying to tell her.
Them Bondurant boys, The sheriff had said when she came to town looking for work, They ain't nothing but trouble, a woman like you don't belong in the same county as them, let alone at the station. He tipped his hat, Whatchu want around these parts anyway?
Silence, she had told him. Well, Forrest sure has that in spades. He whistled pointing her in the direction of Blackwater Station. Maggie was pulled from her memories by that damn crow squawking out there, she looked up to see it staring at her. "I know what you came here for." Maggie said to the crow, extinguishing her cigarette in the saucer on the bar. She picked up the small pistol, next to the saucer, that Forrest had left for her and sauntered to the door. "You came here for me. Didn't you?" The door creaked as she pushed it open, she pointed the gun at the raven's small chest, the raven didn't move, he just blinked his eyes at her, standing his ground. "I already know the truth." She pulled the trigger and the bird fell unceremoniously to the ground. The sound of her gun ringing in the air chorusing the last shot of the night.
The sun had been asleep for hours before Howard schlepped his aching body up the steps of the station. Maggie didn't turn around from her seat at the bar to greet him, instead she picked at the small piece of pie she had on a plate in font of her. Maggie stood and walked around the counter, placing a piece of pie on a plate for Howard, she took a mason jar full of white lightening and put them down in front of him as he sat next to the seat Maggie had just occupied.
Howard looked at the pie then back at Maggie, "Magpie," She answered his silent question handing him a fork. He nodded his thanks and devoured the pie, only pausing to take large swallows from the mason jar.
They were silent until Howard finished his food, he looked up at Maggie expectantly, waiting for her to say something, she pulled his plate away from him and dropped it in the sink filled with soapy water. Putting her hands on either side of the sink she braced herself. "Howard?" She breathed his name, not able to voice what she really wanted.
Howard already knew her question. "At the hospital. Jack was shot once, and Forrest..." He trailed off, noticing the tension flow down Maggie's back at the mention of his brother's name. "He's alright, got a few more than Jack, but he'll be okay."
Maggie let the breath go that she was holding all day and nodded. "Will you lock up?" She asked not waiting for a reply as she took her coat off the rack by the door and headed to her car.
The passenger seat was still stained with Forrest's blood, she would have to get knew seats, the blood too far stained to ever be completely clean. She tried starting the car three times before it finally turned over, and made her way to the hospital in Rocky Mount.
Her cream colored heels clicked and clacked along the tile of the hospital floor. She stopped at the nurses station by the door. "Forrest Bondurant?" She asked, the doctor in the office behind the station leaned back in his chair to get a better look at her through the open door.
"Are you family?" The nurse asked, paging through the room ledger in front of her. "Visiting hours are over now, you know." She mentioned, her country accent bouncing off the white walls.
"Yes," Maggie replied, staring at the doctor in the back. He was the one that stitched up Forrest's neck, the one that promised he wouldn't tell a soul she had driven him there. What should I tell him? He asked as they watched Forrest sleep that night. Tell him he walked. She never said another word to the doctor.
"And what's your relation?" The nurse asked.
"She's family." The doctor interjected stepping out of the office. "She already told you." He scolded the nurse, who bowed her dark head, "He's in room 24, Miss Beaufort. Down the hall to the right." He pointed.
Maggie nodded and pushed away from the nurses station.
As she made her way closer, she could see that his door was slightly ajar, another doctor quietly padding his way out of the room looking at the folder in front of him. "He asleep?" She whispered as she got closer.
The doctor looked up from his paper work, "Ah, no, he refuses. We gave him medicine for the pain, he may be a little lucid. If he rests he could be home in less than a week."
"Thank you," Maggie said putting a hand on the doctor's shoulder before she pushed the door open and silently shut it behind her.
"It's late." Forrest croaked when the door finally shut.
"And you should be sleeping." Maggie countered. If she hadn't been watching him, she would have missed the faint shake of his head. "Why's that?" Forrest watched as she trailed her hand along the railing at the foot of the bed, to the blankets up by his side, stopping mere inches from his hand. "You've had a long day."
Forrest grunted, staring at her hand, his fingers twitching involuntarily toward hers.
"The doctor says you should rest." She took a seat in the chair nearest his bedside, never letting her hand leave the spot it first stopped. "He said you could come home in less than a week if you do."
Forrest turned his soft blue eyes up to hers, "Thought you'd be long gone by now." The pain medicine they had given him diluted his resolve, the hard shell he wore on the outside, cracking. She could see the agony and guilt he had felt, he really thought she had left.
Maggie nodded, looking down to the lone hand in her lap, playing with the hem of her skirt. "I thought so too." She felt one of her fingers being lifted. Forrest, slowly wedging his in between hers.
He studied her bare ring finger on her left hand. "Mm," he mused. "'M gonna have to fix that." He thought out loud.
"Oh," Maggie pulled her hand away and brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ears. "Are you now?" She teased.
Forrest grunted nodding his head. "As soon as I am able." He promised.
Maggie smiled tightly. "Alright, Forrest," She nodded. "I'll pack a bag for you and Jack, so that you have something clean to wear home." She pulled on the blanket gently to even out the wrinkles.
"Got clothes here," Forrest stilled her hand with his, pulling it to his chest and holding it there.
Maggie shook her head, "No you don't." She pulled her hand from his chest and folded it in her lap with the other one. "You will not wear clothes riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood. I'll burn them myself if I have to."
Forrest let a small curl form on the corners of his mouth. "Alright."
Maggie stood brushing down the wrinkles in her skirt. "Alright, Forrest," She leaned over the bed, and kissed his forehead, "I'll be back in the morning to check on you."
Forrest lifted his heavy hand and placed it on her cheek, his eyes searching hers, "Maggie," he croaked through chapped lips as if it were a prayer. He brushed his calloused thumb against her silken pale skin, pulling her to his lips, all the words he wouldn't say, left on her lips as she walked out the door.
It had been three days since Maggie visited Forrest in the hospital, instead she busied her self around the station, keeping Howard relatively sober or at least fed. Her mother's voice ringing in her ears, It's useless for a woman to claimer around places where she ain't no help. Concern yourself with what you can. Maggie was no doctor, she would tend to Forrest when he got home.
"I'm gonna go and fetch Forrest." Howard said from the middle of the station.
"Can I come too?" Jack asked from one of the vacant tables by the window. He had come home a week earlier than Forrest and would sit by the window watching the road. Waiting, watching for someone, Maggie thought Bertha, to come down the road.
Howard shuffled the ground in front of him, finally pushing the door open, "Well, come on then."
"Alright," Maggie took a drag of her cigarette from her usual spot behind the counter. "Don't forget that bag," She pointed to the suitcase at the bottom of the stairs. Jack grabbed the suitcase and rushed out the door. "I'll get dinner ready for when you boys get back." Howard tipped hat and took his leave.
Maggie made work of pulling the chicken out of the ice box, she cut it up into four servings and threw them on the grill.
She knew Howard and Jack wouldn't be gone long, but that didn't stop her from looking up every time she heard the wind howl or leaves blowing across the gravel road. She would sigh disappointed every single time Howard's car didn't come into view. It hasn't even been ten fucking minutes. She chastised herself. She refused to let herself look anymore.
While the chicken was grilling she pulled the large tub of peeled potatoes off the floor and lugged it onto the counter. She pulled out a pot, filling it with water and placing it on the stove. She cut up five potatoes and placed them gently in the simmering water.
She busied her hands, waiting for the water to boil and the potatoes to soften, by setting one of the tables. She had her back to the door when she heard someone knock. "We're closed." Maggie answered.
"It's just a social call," Sheriff Hodges voice came to her ears. Maggie turned to look at him, her hand resting on one of the stake knives she had placed on the table. The sheriff held his hands up in surrender as he entered the station. He took his hat off and held it in between his hands. "I just came by to see how Jack and Forrest were faring."
"Howard should be back with them any minute." Maggie made her way back to the stove, watching Sheriff Hodge in the mirror. "I'll tell them you stopped by." She suggested taking a toke of her cigarette.
"I'd like to wait if you don't mind." The sheriff placed his hat down on the bar, taking a seat.
Maggie strained the water out of the pot of potatoes, putting milk and butter in the pot and began to stir. "I do, actually." She brushed a piece of hair out of her face with the back of her hand. She looked up to the sheriff who was visibly taken a back by her answer. "Those boys don't need you here on their first night home." She took the chicken off the grill. "I'll tell them you sent your regards and you can come back in a couple of days, but no sooner than that."
"Miss Beaufort?" He cocked his head at her.
Maggie looked up from what she was doing, her eyes bore into his skull with the same glare that Forrest had perfected over the years. "I'll walk you out, Sheriff."
Maggie wiped her hands on a dish towel, walking around the counter, held the screen door open for him. Sheriff Hodge hesitated at the bar, clearly still caught off guard.
"I said good night, Sheriff Hodge." Maggie repeated herself.
The sheriff readjusted his hat on his head, "Alright Miss." He tipped his hat as he passed her, started for his car as Howard pulled down the street.
"Shit." Maggie swore. She could see Howard throw the car in park violently and he clawed himself out of the car.
"You gotta a whole lot of fucking balls, Pete." Howard said as he marched himself toward the sheriff.
"Howard." Maggie called, locking eyes with Forrest as he got out of the car too. "He was just leaving."
Howard looked back at Forrest, who nodded, and spit in the direction of Sheriff Hodge, and started toward the station, pushing past Maggie and into the house. "I'm glad to see your well Forrest, Jack." The sheriff tipped his hat again, got into his car, and drove away.
Maggie wrung the towel between her hands as she watched Jack and Forrest make their way slowly to the steps. "Hi Maggie," Jack croaked, wrapping an arm around her waist for a small hug.
"Hey there Jacky," She put a hand on his cheek and kissed his other one. "Dinner's on the table." He nodded his thanks and stepped into the station.
Forrest stood at the base of the stairs watching her. "You hungry?" She asked stepping down one of the steps.
He stepped up one of the steps so he was only a breath away. "You didn't have to do that." She knew he meant what she did with the sheriff, but she wasn't going to let on.
"Can't let you boys starve now can I?" She put her hands on her hips, daring him to say something.
"Mm hm." Forrest grunted, "Alright." Maggie stepped back and allowed Forrest to lead her into the station.
"Thanks again, Maggie." Jack waved his hand over his head as he walked up the stairs to go to bed.
"Night Jack." Maggie called. She pushed her chair out, standing and started clearing the table, when Forrest put his hand out to stop her. He looked back down at the chair and she took her seat again. Howard had not been there when they came into the station, his plate gone, but he was no where to be seen, so Forrest and Maggie were now alone in the dimly lite dining room of the station. Maggie looked up at Forrest expectantly.
"Now," Forrest started, "I want you to know, that I am sorry for what I have put you through," He met her eyes with a fierceness that she had never seen directed at her, "but that does not in any way mean that I regret what I've done."
"Okay," She whispered, not sure what else she could say.
Forrest stared out the screen door, as if seeing something she could not. "We all care for you very much, so if you don't wish to stay, we would understand. We just want you to be happy."
"Forrest," Maggie almost wanted to laugh. "'We'?"
Forrest remained impassive, only grunting in response, not taking his eyes off the door.
"Forrest," She pushed. "Look at me." When he still did not move she repeated herself with more force. "Look at me."
His eyes turned before his head as if anticipating some sort of blow, she watched as his whole body tensed with the movement.
She closed her hand over one of his fist, turning it over and working the fingers to open until his hand was laying palm up. She covered it with her own, drawing lazy circles on his palm, tracing his fingers. "'We'?" She asked again, softer this time.
Forrest stared at there hands. "I want you to be happy." He practically whispered.
Maggie dipped her head to see his eyes, "What makes you think I'm not?"
"You said you'd leave." Forrest pulled his gaze up to her, challenging her.
Maggie leaned back in her chair, shrugging. "I was afraid for you. I would have said anything to make you stay." Maggie leaned forward again, pulling Forrest's hand to her lips. "I care about you very much, Forrest." A single tear slid down her face. "I would just really hate to loose you."
Forrest nodded, catching her tear on his knuckles. "I asked the preacher man to come by, should be around anytime now." Forrest looked expectantly down the drive.
"Oh yeah?" Maggie raised her eyebrows, "What for?"
"I told you I'd marry you." Forrest reminded her. "I intend to make good on that."
Maggie leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, a smirk coloring her lips. "Don't I get any say in this?"
Forrest raised his eyebrows clearly saying that now is the time to voice any opinion.
Maggie's smiled widened, she stepped out of her chair and stood behind Forrest wrapping her arms around his neck, whispering "Yes, Forrest Bondurant, I will marry you, thank you so much for asking." She left a wet kiss on his cheek before she finished her job by taking the dirty dishes to the sink.
Hey guys, thanks so much for reading! This is my first Lawless fic, please let me know what you think!