RICK'S BLACK EYE
It was a bright sunny day in the Alexandria Safe Zone. Rosita and Tara thought it was a great time to go grocery shopping at the pantry. As they were going through the isles picking out what they needed, they were gossiping about the latest couples in the family.
"You know, I really think Daryl and Sasha are on the down low," Rosita said.
"Nooo, you're kidding!" Tara responded.
"Yeah, they've been going 'hunting' a lot TOGETHER..," Rosita giggled, raising her fingers to put 'hunting' in quotes. "...and she looks at Daryl a whole lot more now"
"But what about Carol? I thought her and Daryl were together?
"Hey, I'm just saying…"
"You think Carol and Sasha will fight over Daryl?" Both girls looked at each other and broke out laughing.
"Carol would stab Sasha and Sasha would shoot Carol!" Rosita said giggling.
"And Daryl wouldn't say a word!" Tara laughed.
"Talk about fighting, did you notice how Jesse Anderson always runs to Rick and touches him whenever she sees him?" Rosita asked.
"Rick? Rick Grimes? Our Rick Grimes? How did she get close enough to touch him? He lets her get THAT close to him?" Tara was shocked! "Where the hell am I when all this is going on?"
"Yeah girl, she alway tries to get next to him and rubs on his arms whenever she sees him."
Tara's eyes got bigger. "But what about Michonne? It'd be funny if Michonne would go after Jesse! She'd take her sword and chop her head off!"
"Yeah, Jesse wouldn't stand a chance, but RICK'S still alive so I guess Michonn doesn't know about that! I wouldn't want her to be angry at me with her sword. HE better watch out though." Rosita said snickering as they put the different canned goods in their bags.
Tara looked at Rosita and then looked around for privacy and said, "Well something happened. Did you see that Rick's got a black eye? Maybe Michonne did find out about Jesse! You think she hit him?"
"A black eye? Oh shit! Michonne don't take nothin' off nobody. She probably knocked his ass out! I bet he's scared of her!" They stopped in the isle giggling. "You've seen her fight. The girl is a beast. I'm scared of her too!"
Girl, you are terrible!" Tara cackled.
Both girls were laughing as they went through the check out with Jesse. Unfortunately, neither girl saw Jesse Anderson eavesdropping on them. She quietly scurried up front to check them out when she saw they were ready to leave.
…
Jesse was flabbergasted! She never would have guessed that Rick Grimes, apocalypse king, was a battered man! And he was being beat up by Michonne! She had to think of something to help him! She just knew that he would be better off with her, someone who could bring calmness and serenity to his life. She was what he needed, not some out of control, sword wielding, man beating hot head like Michonne!
…
Michonne, Rick, Carl and Judith were in their backyard enjoying the beautiful day. Michonne was sitting on a blanket playing with Judy and her dolls while Rick and Carl tossed a baseball back and forth.
"Be careful Carl. Don't hit your father with the ball and give him another black eye!" Michonne teased.
Carl snickered and looked at his father. "I'm really sorry Dad, I didn't aim that ball at you, I promise."
"Yeah," Rick deadpanned, "You didn't."
Michonne and Carl looked at each other and burst out laughing. Rick turned to Michonne looking at her teasingly with narrowed eyes.
"Oooh, is my half panda bear in a bad mood?" Michonne's singsonged. She got up, picked up Judith and walked over to Rick. She put her hand on his cheek and tiptoed up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry, you're MY little one black eyed panda bear," she teased and kissed him again.
"Don't get too close, he might scare Judy!" Carl teased and they all laughed. Then they all turned and looked at the house as the sound of the front door doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Michonne said handing Judith to her brother..
…
Michonne opened the door to four of Alexandria's senior citizen women and Jesse Anderson. This was a definitely unexpected.
"May I help you?" she asked them.
Jesse stepped forward. "Hi Michonne, is Rick home? We all came to see him," she swept her hands toward the women and gave a tight smile.
Michonne didn't know what was going on with the women, or Jesse, but she invited them into the living room to be seated and excused herself to go get Rick. When she told him who was waiting for him he was really surprised. He couldn't think of a reason they wanted to see him. Since neither he nor Michonne knew what was going on, Michonne sent Carl upstairs with Judith while she stayed close in the kitchen in case Rick needed her. She could also hear what was going on from there.
When he entered the room all the women rose from their seats and gasped at his eye, mumbling to each other, shaking their heads.
"Hello ladies, what can I do for you?" Rick asked, looking at all the women.
Jesse quickly went to him and slipped her arms around his waist to give him a hug. Then she stood next to him, rubbing his forearm. Rick backed away slightly trying to avoid Jesse's hands.
"What's going on? What is this?" Rick wanted to know, looking at the women and Jesse.
"We know Rick," Jesse said, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Know what?". Rick asked, furrowing his brow as he looked at her.
"That you're baeing beat up!" Martha Waters, the youngest of the women, at age 72 stated.
"You don't have to be ashamed. We're here to help you!" Cynthia Thomas added.
"What are you talking about 'I'm being beat up?" Rick asked incredulously.
77 year old Bertha Waters, Martha's sister, who was the oldest of the women, went to Rick, patted his hand and said, "We know Michonne is beating you and we're here to help you!"
Rick's eyes bucked wide!
"What?!" Michonne yelled out in disbelief. "You think I BEAT HIM?!" Michonne came running out from the kitchen pointing to Rick. "You think I hit Rick?!"
"Stand straight ladies!" Bertha said loudly. All of the women (except Jesse) ran to stand in a line separating Rick from Michonne. Michonne stopped dead in her tracks, stunned. Rick couldn't believe his eyes!
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Melonie Bates wagged her finger in front of Michonne's face. "Look at what you did to him!" She pointed to Rick's eye.
"I've never hit Rick in my life! Where did you get this from?" Michonne looked at Rick exasperated. "Tell them Rick!"
Jesse kept trying to hold Rick's arm but he kept pushing her hands away.
"Stop!" Rick yelled at Jesse.
"Don't worry Rick...," Bertha stated, standing in line with her back to Rick, "...we'll protect you!" She looked Michonne up and down then narrowed her eyes and said directly to her, "I ain't scared of you!"
"You heard him, he told you to stop! He don't wanna be hit no more!" Melonie pointed at her and stepped closer to Michonne. "I have a taser and I know how to use it!"
Michonne's mouth dropped open and she stepped back.
Cynthia whispered to Melonie, "Is that thing charged? You said it wasn't charged."
"Hush up Cynthia," Melonie said, still looking pointedly at Michonne.
"Ladies, stop this!" Rick said, going around the women to get to Michonne. "I am NOT being beaten! Michonne has never laid a hand on me. Where did you get this stupid information from?" He stood by Michonne with his hand around her waist.
"Baby, you don't have to say that. We'll protect you. You can be honest with us. We won't tell nobody." Bertha said, looking Rick in the eyes then turning back and narrowing her eyes at Michonne.
Martha spoke up. "Jesse told us about your situation," she said, rolling her eyes at Michonne.
"Jesse!" Rick and Michonne blurted out at the same time!
"Jesse why are you lying?!"
Everyone looked at Jesse..
"Your eye! She had to have hit you. Your own people said it! I heard them. You haven't been outside the gates. You haven't been in a fight with anyone. How else you gonna get a black eye? Everybody in Alexandria is too scared of you to fight you Rick! It has to be her!" Jesse said. She went to stand in front of Rick. "You want me, I know it. You kissed me at your group's welcome party. The way you look at me and smile at me. You want me like I want you! She's beating you. It's the only way you're staying with her instead of being with me. But Rick, we have help. We can be together!"
Everyone turned to look at Rick.
"Jesse," Rick looked down at her, "I am so sorry for anything I did for you to think this, but I DON'T WANT YOU! I was drunk at the party. Plus, I wasn't thinking straight. Being here messed me up at first. Coming from out there, outside the gates, to this place where it's like it was before the world went to shit screwed with my mind. You reminded me of how life was with my dead wife, but that place and time is over and done with. I'm not the man I was when I was with her. That man is long, long gone. I'm with Michonne. Along with my kids she's my life, my heart. I breathe because of her." He and Michonne looked over the women's shoulders into each other's eyes, smiling. "We love one another and would never ever be violent with each other."
"But your eye!" Jesse said softly.
Rick looked at Jesse. "Carl threw a baseball that ricocheted off the house and hit me in the eye. It was an accident!
They all stared back at Jesse.
Bertha walked toward her and said through clenched teeth, "You had us come over here and disturb this man and his family because you WANT him?"
"Girl, you're married!" Cynthia said snidely, following Bertha to stand in front of Jesse.
"And stupid!" Bertha quipped.
"Dumb and stupid!" Cynthia followed.
"We stopped our Bid Whist game for you! For THIS!" Martha choked out pointing around the room.
"And me and Martha we're winning, too!". Melonie pouted.
"No you weren't," Cynthia said looking at Melonie.
"Yes we were," Melonie said.
"In your dreams," Cynthia remarked smirking.
"Anyway," Melonie rolled her eyes and held her palm up to Cynthia's face. "Anyway, Rick, Michonne, we're sorry. We were brought here under false pretenses. Booty call false pretenses," Melonie apologized as she glared at Jesse.
Bertha turned and stood in front of Rick and Michonne. "Rick, Michonne, especially you Michonne. Please forgive us old women for following that THIRSTY heifer over there," she pointed to Jesse. "We are very sorry to have interrupted your day with a bunch of trash."
Rick and Michonne nodded toward Bertha.
"Well ladies it's time to go," Cynthia said. All the women started toward the door with Rick opening the door for them and Michonne bringing up the rear.
When they were all outside, Martha turned back to Rick and Michonne. "Thank you for accepting our apology." She then turned and leaned in to Melonie. "Try your taser out on Jesse. Those charges last for years with some of them. Go ahead, try it!". She nudged Melonie. "Go on!"
Melonie got her taser out from her pocket book and walked toward Jesse. Jesse almost tripped trying to go down the porch steps to get away.
"Stay away from me!" Jesse yelled, walking quickly backward on the walkway. "Get away from me!"
"Right!" Bertha said. "Stay away from THEM!" She pointed to Rick and Michonne. "You heard it! He doesn't want you!". She pointed to Jesse. "Got us here 'cause you want that man…!" The women walked down the walkway grumbling to each other how they made fools of themselves and interrupted a perfectly good card game because of Jesse's was horny.
…...
Rick closed the front door. Michonne turned and hit him on his arm, smiling. "What was that for?" Rick asked, rubbing his arm pretending it hurt.
"Just remember, I now have four people supporting me. So you have to give me anything I want or I'll call 'em," she said giggling.
"You get everything you want from me now!" Rick laughed.
"And it better stay that way!" Michonne said smiling as she wrapped her arms around Rick's neck and stroked his hair.
Rick slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "Don't worry, it will."
"And no more Jesse around you, PERIOD!" she said sternly.
"Never, EVER!," he said before he lowered his head and claimed her lips.
END