Playin' the Missus
Chapter 4
Merle walked through the trailer after Beth left, lookin' at everything that was now gone.
He opened the door to Cody's room to see the only things that remained in there were his bed, dresser and the toy box Merle had built him. Everything else was gone.
Merle felt his heart break at knowin' his son, the only person in world who looked up to him, wouldn't be comin' home.
He pulled out his wallet and sat down on the bed. He looked at the picture he kept in there of Beth and Cody.
It had been a long time since he had seen Beth look at him the way she did in that picture. She was the only one who thought he had hung the moon.
Merle ran his thumb over the picture before throwing it to the floor and walkin' out of the room.
He grabbed a full bottle of whiskey off the kitchen counter and what was left of a thirty pack and sat down on the couch.
The picture Beth had thrown down was still on the floor. He reached down and picked it up.
A few beers and a fifth of whiskey later, Merle was yellin' at no one and was knockin' the pictures off the walls and breaking' whatever was in his way.
He had a few more drinks before he found himself in his truck and heading towards the Greene farm.
It was four in the morning when Beth and everyone else in the house was startled awake by the sound of a car horn.
She looked out of her window to see Merle and her daddy with a shotgun.
Beth rushed outside and asked her daddy to give her a minute alone with Merle.
Merle staggered towards her and hit his knees. His hand we on her waist.
"Baby, I'm sorry. Come home," he slurred and looked up at her.
She shook her head crossed her arms.
"I gave you too many chances Merle. You don't get anymore."
Merle mumbled something then buried his face in her stomach and his arms wrapped around her.
Beth could feel his tears through her shirt.
She didn't know what to think or believe.
Merle Dixon was on his knees, begging her to come back to him. As many times as she had left him over the years, he'd never done that before. He never begged, he never cried, never even said he was sorry like he was doin' now.
She uncrossed her arms and let her hands rest on his head.
"I love ya, baby," Merle slurred again, "I love Cody. Jus' want y'all ta come home. I'll fuckin' change."
Beth fought back her tears. She needed to be stronger. Maybe if she didn't have Cody, she'd go back but she can't now. She has to put him before anyone else and she was more than willing to do that.
She reached behind her and pried Merle's hands off her shirt and backed away.
"I'm sorry, Merle. I can't. I'm filing for a divorce."
Merle stared at her in shock while she turned around and went back inside.
He stumbled to his feet and towards the house, barely able to walk and fallin' several times.
When he made it up to the front door, he hit it with his fists and was beggin' her to come talk to him and not to file for a divorce.
Hershel opened the door with his shotgun aimed at Merle again.
Merle fell to his knees right there.
"Jus' fuckin' do it," he told Hershel, "done lost my wife an' kid. Ain't got no reason ta live no more."
Hershel took pity on him and lowered his gun.
"C'mon son. We're going to get you home."
Hershel helped Merle into the passenger seat of his truck and he got in the drivers seat.
Annette followed them in their car.
Three days later, Beth was getting ready to leave and head back to Tennessee when Daryl pulled up.
Cody ran to him and hugged his legs. Beth watched as Daryl lifted him and threw him into the air, Cody was laughin when Daryl caught him.
"I need ta talk ta yer mama," Daryl told him.
Cody ran off and Beth and Daryl started walkin' down the driveway.
"Ya gon' tell me what's goin' on?"
"Mama and daddy are gonna help me pay for the divorce and I'm...I'm gonna ask for sole custody of Cody. Are you gonna tell me why I found you with a needle in your arm?"
Daryl shrugged and looked down.
"Daryl, you have never done anythin' like that. What changed?"
"Merle changed. After ya left, he got worse. Kept callin' me a fuckin' pussy an' shit."
They continued to talk until they made it back to the house. Daryl hugged Cody and then Beth.
"I'll be up for his birthday," he told Beth before they left.
Back in Tennessee, Beth enrolled for fall classes and took extra hours at work.
All the months they had spent there before goin' back to Georgia three months ago were somewhat depressing for her.
She had missed her family and friends, missed the farm and the small town, she missed Merle more than she cared to admit.
But now that she was back, she had a new sense of freedom. She didn't feel like Beth Greene or Beth Dixon. She felt like Beth, someone she hadn't been able to find until now.