Chapter Two:
'you want a medal or sumthin?'
It was summer of '98, the sun blistering as it sat in the cloudless skies; beating down on the pavement like a drum. The humidity so thick that not even a bowie knife could cut through it. The neighborhood remained lively despite the heat, the streets littered with children running, jumping, playing and more. Fits of giggles, roughhousing and thumps from jump ropes hitting the asphalt played well into the night. Even the local animals enjoyed the weather; cats shied away from the heat finding refuge under trees or inside the air conditioned homes, dogs jumped and rolled around in the cool water from the opened fire hydrants or lakes, even the snakes enjoyed a sunbathe on exposed logs. Summer was a time of enjoyment, freedom, no school or rules. The dog days were upon them and it made it a damn good time to be alive.
"It's hot as Satan's asshole out 'ere" a crass 14-year-old Shane blurted out loudly as he stepped off of the front door's threshold. He walked along the pave way before stopping and placing his hands on his hips as he looked towards the neighboring house
"Yeah" Rick drew out as he wiped away the sweat already forming from his brow before closing the front door and trudging down the small grassy hill to meet Shane at the bottom of the steps before they headed towards Lufkin Park.
"Looks like you got some new neighbors…" Shane pointed out before continuing "hope they got a fine ass daughter or two" he chuckled out cheekily as he nudged the other 14-year-old. Rick nudged him back with a slight chuckle before looking towards the two large moving trucks with boxes filled to its brim, even more boxes littered the front yard as several movers entered and exited the house quickly. Rick looked to Shane who started banging on about neighboring girls, he winced as he tore his gaze away from Shane and his rants; the feeling of someone watching came over him. His eyes roamed the yard until he noticed the brightest, most beautiful brown eyes staring back at him from the second story window. His breathing hitched as he continued to lock eyes with the mystery person, he couldn't make out their features but those orbs of burnt Amber would forever be etched into his mind.
"RICK!"
He quickly diverted his attention to Shane as he looked suspiciously at him. "What in the hell you looking at, man?" He questioned as he looked over to where Rick's gaze previously was
"Ain't nothing…just that I saw sumthin'" he responded coyly as he squinted his eyes and looked towards his best friend. Shane cut his eyes at Rick before quickly changing subjects.
"Wanna' go swimming or play ball?" he questioned
"Don't matter to me" Rick responded dryly as his gaze drifted back towards the window that was now empty, he sighed as he turned back towards Shane.
"Aight…ball is it. Prepared to get your ass handed to you brother" he shouted excitedly as he wrapped his arm around Rick's neck and roughly tossed his curls with his fist
"Motherfucker" Rick chuckled out as he pushed Shane off of him; he ran his hands through his hair to put it back in place before attempting to kick a running Shane in the ass, his best friend laughed loudly as Rick chased behind him down the street.
"Good game man…" Shane gushed as he sat on the grassy mound in front of the wooden bench his best friend settled on; he savagely chopped down on the cherry shaved ice they got from candy store after their game, he licked his arm clean of the sweet, sticky, substance that cascaded down it.
"Want some?" he questioned as he pointed the cup towards Rick.
"Naw…I'm good" he responded melancholy as he picked at the cup of butter pecan ice cream he got for himself. Shane nodded lightly as he retreated his arm, his eyes lingering on his best friend. He knew that the past few months had been pretty hard on Rick, it was like one blow after another and it was coming down on him hard. He saw his best friend retreating into a shell of himself, he barely talked, rarely ate or even smiled, he was down in the dirt. It hurt him to see Rick this tore up but the thing that hurt him the most was that it was nothing that he could do about it. Shane sighed heavily as he looked towards the sky, his eyes roaming the endless sea of blue. A sudden realization snapped his attention back to the present
"Rick…What time is it?" he asked, his voice suddenly filled with dread
"Quarter past '5…" Rick almost jumped out of his skin at how quickly Shane jumped up; sending his shaved ice straight to the ground. Rick not sure what was going on, jumped up from off the bench as well, he wasn't sure if Shane spotted a cottonmouth or bear but he wasn't too keen on sitting around waiting for whatever it was to pounce," What's wrong?" he questioned as his eyes darted around the park, looking for impeding danger.
"Damn it! I forgot to take the chicken out for Mama…she's going to whoop the dirt off me if 'ion get it out before she gets home. I-I gotta go…I'll try to be back for too late, if 'ion show…just know I love you man" Shane huffed out as he began running in the direction of home; fear of the impeding ass whooping awaiting was far more superior than his best friend's response
"Yeah alright" Rick yelled after him before sighing deeply and plopping back down onto the wooden bench; the feeling of being alone crept over him like the shadow of death, gnawing and clawing at him along the way. He pulled his tee shirt over his face as refuge, trying to hide the impending tears that were forming. Words couldn't explain the way he felt, how entirely lost without her he was. They always speak about a mother's love being so endless but it didn't feel that way for him it was as if hers died that spring morning along with her.
"Hey kid!"
An unfamiliar voice called out to him, he pulled the collar of his shirt from over his head, only revealing his piercing blue eyes. He looked to see a young girl around the same age has him standing in front of him with her hands on her hips wearing a white tank top with denim shorts and white chuck taylor's. He took in her radiant deep chocolate skin that ran for miles…. he had no clue where it ended or began, her lips full and pillowy as a small smirk tugged at the corners of them, a handful of loc's sat in a ponytail at the top of her head while the remainder ever so softly grazed her shoulder blade as slender as she was her curvaceous hips told another story…a story of newly embarking on the journey of womanhood, as beautiful as she was. It was her eyes that held familiarity in them, it felt as if he had been looking into those eyes all of his life as if he had fallen asleep a thousand times in them. He tilted his head to the side, remembering the deep gaze he held with the brown beauty's hours prior, how helpless he felt under them but he couldn't look away. He couldn't help himself from getting lost in them.
"Your ice cream's melting" she pointed out as she raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously
Hearing her honey covered voice broke his gaze, he immediately looked down to the half softened treat beginning to drip off the side of the cup and onto the bench. He quickly wiped his eyes before pulling down his shirt to reveal his full face to the mystery girl.
"Shit!" He bit out annoyed as he scrambled to find napkins to clean up the mess. He stood up as he cleaned off the bench before heading towards the trash can. He walked back towards the girl, her eyes locked on him the whole time.
"Thanks… I ain't even notice it" he responded as he looked towards her with squinted eyes
She lightly nodded as she studied him, "So what's your name kid?"
"Ritchie but everybody calls me Rick" he responded, his eyes locked on her
"Nice! I'm Michonne"
His cheeks suddenly felt red at the sound of her name, Michonne he said to himself, enjoying the way it felt on his tongue.
"You new around here?"
"Duh…you didn't see all of those moving trucks in front of that house back there"
"Look I'm just asking a question…no need to be a smart ass" he winced, his temper starting to build
"What the hell are you going to do if I don't?" she counted as she rolled her neck slightly
"My daddy's the sheriff in this town and-"
"So-you want a medal or sumthin?" she snapped as she placed her hands on her hips defiantly
"I ain't got time for this shit" he huffed out, his annoyance with her attitude finally boiling over. He began to walk away before the situation escalated even further.
"Your mama ain't ever tell you to be nice to strangers… that you never know when your entertaining an angel" Michonne winced out as she rolled her eyes at his abrupt departure.
Rick stopped mid step, he titled his head slightly as he turned back around to face her. "Well sorry for my rudeness but my mama's dead…guess she didn't have much time to teach me that one "he said coldly, biting his lip to stop himself from saying something he may regret later on, "Welcome to the neighborhood…Michonne" he winced out almost mockingly before stuffing his hands into the pocket of his shorts and heading home.
Michonne bit the inside of her cheek as she watched him walk away. Most of the time she thought before she spoke but something about Rick caused her to forget all of the manners her mother taught her. Yes, he was kind of a dickhead but she saw something more than that…more to him and she thought maybe it was something worth exploring even though hurting his feelings wasn't a part of the plan. If this was a warning sign of how making friends in King's County would go moving forward she was sure her life in this shitty little town would be just that.
"Fuck" she huffed as she began to walk out of the park heading towards home.
-SD