"Arialice." My Uncle called for me as he knocked on my door. "If ya wanna go with me up to Jess's cabin you gotta get ya ass up."
"Alice?" He asked again knocking.
"I'm up. I'm up." I call to him. "Give me a few minutes to get dress." I waited a few minutes for the foot to fade away before I decide to get out of my bed.
It was really early. The sun wasn't even up yet but I still pulled myself to get out of bed and get dress. I grabbed my favorite black and white stripped sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans and I slipped on a pair of my old warn out low heeled boots.
I open my bedroom door and make my way down the hall of the trailer me and Uncle Daryl. I walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Once done, I brush my hair straight and pull it back with a head band. Once done, I set out to find where my uncle had gone. I went out the front door to find my Uncle sitting on the porch smoking a cigarette.
"Ya good?" He asked, while flicking his cigarette.
"Yeah." I say sitting down next to him on the bench. "I'm sleeping on the way up." I say as I lay down and putting my head on his lap.
"Ya ain't sleepin' now. We leavin'." He said patting my head and pushing me up. He grabbed his keys and locked the door to the trailer. I followed Uncle Daryl down the stairs and to his worn out white truck. He opens the door for me and I slide into the passenger seat.
I rest my head on the door. My Uncle gets in and grab a blanket from behind the seat and drapes it over me. I mutter 'thanks'. He grunts in response. He always does that.
I fell in the truck. My head resting on the door, using my arms as a pillow. I cuddled the blanket tightly around my body. When I was younger me and my Dad used to do this all the time. We used to get up early to go on hunting trips. I never liked hunting but I loved watching the wildlife and Daddy always kept an eye on me. On the way home, I also fell asleep on the way home and dad would have to carry me into out trailer and put me to bed. God, I miss my daddy.
I awake to the radio playing country music and I decided to finally wake up. I am far from a morning person, but I sleep a while anyways.
"Ya sleep?" My Uncle asks, not taking his eyes off the road.
"Yeah." I say with a yawn. "I'm so fuckin' tired." I mutter without thinking.
"Ya better watch that mouth." He warned. He wasn't mean about it, but his voice held warning. I don't get how he and daddy can swear but I can't. I wouldn't dare question though, I know I'd get a lecture from them about mindin'.
"Sorry Uncky." I apologized. I use that nickname I gave him when I was nearly a toddler. I use that name on occasion when I'm in trouble and Uncle Daryl is mad at me. Most of the time it don't work. But he never stays mad at me.
"Ain't nothin' to be sorry for. Just watch that mouth of yours." He ruffles my hair and sends me a little smile.
With my dad being locked up in jail, my Uncle is the only one who can take care of me, besides my wrench of a mother, but I would rather be with my grandfather then her and that's pretty bad. I don't like bring up my daddy because it makes me sad that he isn't here with me. But I'm very lucky to my uncle.
"So, I have a question." I say, breaking the silence.
"Spill." He spats.
"What did daddy go to jail for this time?" I asked looking at him with puppy eyes.
He snorts "Merle in his natural habitat." He looks at me and shakes his head. "Ya daddy got busted for drugs again."
"Oh." Is all I could say. I don't know what else to say. My daddy is always getting busted for some shit. I'm not supposed to use that words but oh well. But he is always there for me. Even when he gets locked up, he stills calls and writes to me. Uncle Daryl takes me down to visit him when he has a day off of work.
But when I lived with the wrench in Mexico, I only saw my daddy during the summer. But I used to call him up all the time, crying on the phone. My daddy would talk to me for hours telling me not to cry and telling me he is doing everything he can to get me full time. One time I took a flight home, I was about seven at the time and I got bite by a snake of some kind while working in the field. I told my mother but she didn't want to be bothered. And told me to suck it up and stop being a baby. I was scheduled to go see my Daddy and Uncle Daryl's, and I wasn't feeling well. I thought it was the flight in.
I told my daddy I was tired and I went to bed early that night. A few hours later I woke up in pain and sweat. I tried to walk out of the door to find either Daryl or daddy but I felt dizzy, I fell and hit my head on the wall. My Daddies room is right next to mine, so when I hit the wall he felt it. He came running into my room and turned on the light.
"You're sweating. Ya sick?" I remember him asking me.
I don't remember answering him but I remember him touching my wrist to help me up and I screamed in agony. He looked at my wrist and saw it was swollen and as I though, snake teeth marks were present on the skin.
"Daryl! Get in here now!" Daryl came rushing into the room and daddy told him everything. Uncky and Daddy rushed me to the hospital to get it drained. The doctor told daddy he was lucky when he bought me in when he did. She said I could have die if he waited another day. Daddy was furious.
As soon as we got home, daddy called the wrench up screaming at her for neglecting her child or something like that. Then after he got off the phone with her, he carried me to my room. I was still in pain but it wasn't bad, but mostly drowsy from the meds.
He had to help me get undressed because he didn't want me sleeping in my wet pajamas from sweating so much, before and on the way to the hospital. As he took off my shirt, he stopped and started tracing something on my back. It was one line then a few more. He muttered something but didn't understand fully what he said.
"Daddy?" I question.
"Alice. Be honest with me. Where did you get these scars on your back?"
I bit my lip and shook my head.
"Arialice!" He spook sternly. "Where did you get these?" he yelled that part and it scared me. I hate it when he yells.
"Mama." I whispered. I felt my daddy go tense.
"Alice, does she beat you?" I nod.
He sighed but didn't say anything after that. He pulled my shirt over my head and I pulled my arms through. He tucked me into bed and kissed my forehead. I asked him if he was mad at me. I remember him saying never.
The following morning I woke up to hear my Uncle and Daddy Talking outside. I leave my window open at night because it can get really hot in my room even with the fan.
"Ya think she did it?" Uncle Daryl asked.
"My child don't lie! That woman ain't right!" My dad's yelling
"What are ya gonna do, Merle?"
"What do you mean 'what am I gonna do?' Get custody of my kid! That's what I'm gonna do."
"We gotta take this to court. Get a lawyer."
"Yeah, no shit. Listen baby brother, we gotta protect her. Farrah ain't right in the head."
"You hooked up with her."
"Yeah. But I got one hell of a kid out of it. The only good thing. Arialice is the best child I could ever ask for. I wouldn't have it any other way. And I don't want her going through what we went through as kids."
"Yeah I know."
"I always have you're back. I'm the only man you could ever count."
"Yeah I know."
"Well that girl in there, she counting on us to protect her. And that's what I'm gonna do."
After about a year of fighting. My Daddy and Uncle Daryl gained full custody of me. I never been so happy to be out of Mexico and back in Deerwood. Anyways since the move, I haven't even spoke to the wrench, won't even call her my mom, because she ain't.
The memory was cut short when we arrived at Jess's cabin. I am very happy to see Jesse, it's been a while.
"Uncle Jesse!" I screamed jumping out of the truck. I ran and gave Jesse a hug. He hugged me back of course. We talked for about ten minutes before Uncky cut us off from talking.
"Hey Jess. Where's the old man?" Daryl ask.
"He left about an hour ago. Didn't wanna wait." Jess said.
"Not surprised. Alice, go inside and wait for me to come back." I didn't like the idea of being alone. I mean, I'm a big girl, I can look after myself for a little while. Daddy says I am not a big girl till I turn 12. I am 2 years shy of it, so close enough. I don't argue and go inside.
Once inside, I go into the other room and go sit on the couch. I close my eyes for a minute when I heard a gunshot. I figured they must have shot a buck or a deer, but then I heard several more. Things went quiet for a few before one more shot rang out.
I was about to run out the door, but Jesse and Daryl came rushing into the cabin. Daryl doesn't say a word to me, just goes into the back room, I was just in and shut the door. I turn to Jesse and... Did he always have a bit on his arm?
"Jesse? What happened?" he didn't say anything to me. Only started grabbing things and stuffing them into the bag. Uncle Daryl came out the other room, and Jesse asked me to go into the other rooms he could talk to my Uncle alone.
I go into the other room and push my ear up to the door, trying to listen to what they're saying. Uncle Daryl always yells at me listening in on other peoples conversation. He says it's rude and it doesn't involve me.
"Daryl, we need to work up a plan." Jess says.
"Have ya ever seen anything like that?" MY uncle asks. I really wanna ask what they saw but keep listening instead.
Jess says something like if my uncle told him, he'd call him a liar. Daryl suggest to kill every last one, whatever that means. But jess says something about a lot of them outside. He tells Daryl to grab some gas cans.
"I'll grab Alice and meet you at the truck." I back away from the door and rush to the couch like the good little girl I am.
"Alice, come on we need to go." Jesse grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the cabin. As soon as I got outside, I was grabbed by what seemed to be a man or what used to be a man. I screamed. Then jess shot that thing in the head. Jess picked me up and practically threw me into the truck.
"Alice. Ya alright?" I look at him. I nod then shake my head.
"Jesse, what was that thing?" I ask him. He shakes his head.
"I don't know. But it killed your grandfather." He says lowering his head.
"Is my Uncle okay?" I asked.
"Daryl's tough. He can handle himself. Don't you worry, alright?" I nodded my head.
As I played the scenario in my head. My uncle jumped into the truck and Jesse pulled away.
"Heard you scream. Ya alright?" He asked pulling me into a hug.
"Yeah. Jesse saved me." I said, placing my head on his shoulder.
Jesse and Daryl both agreed to take the back roads. Better chance to gather supplies that way. Daryl takes the blanket I was using earlier and drapes it over me wrapping me tightly in it. Jess and Daryl don't say anything for a long while. Then Jess started to fiddle with the radio.
"Not a damn thing, and my phone ain't workin' either." He sighs. "Hey, about your dad, I don't know what to say about that."
He pulled me closer. "Then don't! Leave it be." He sighs and looks down at me. "We gotta tell merle what happened." I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I suppose we do. But we oughta warn people first." Jess states.
"What! Go to the cops? Please! We got to get merle."
"Merle he... well he's just not right." I lifted my head from my Uncles chest and opened my mouth to speak, but Uncky spoke first.
"What'd you say to me old Man!? Merle's ten times the man you are!" Daryl yelled.
"Alright alright... it just seems you boys turn hay to shit when you're together."
"I'll agree with that statement." I mutter placing my head back on my uncle's chest. He started stroking my head and a petting motion. I slowly drifted off, hoping that all of this, is just a really bad nightmare.