I like this chapter. It was fun to write. Enjoy and please review! I need more feedback! :)
June 20, 1925
Zora peeked out her bathroom door and stole a glance at the clock. It was almost 4:00, and Zora realized she had been getting ready for almost 45 minutes, much longer than she thought. It was the day she was supposed to drive out to Daryl's to pick up her first order of moonshine, and she had taken extra care and effort to perfect her appearance. She realized such an effort was silly; Daryl was a simple man who probably wouldn't notice or care that her lipstick had been perfectly painted on or that her cheeks displayed a delicate flush from her rouge. But part of her wanted Daryl to think she was beautiful, and she couldn't explain why.
Shaking her head at herself, Zora put down her powder brush and went to put on her shoes. She wore a simple but flattering navy blue drop-waist dress that fell just above her knees, and she chose a pair of low cream heels to go with it. She buckled the straps on the heels and grabbed her purse, making sure the money for the order was inside, before exiting her apartment and bounding down the stairs to her car out back.
As she began driving, she couldn't fight the small bubble of excitement in her belly. Daryl was one of the most unlikely men she would typically be interested in, but his simple life and rough-around-the-edges manner intrigued her. She told herself that she needed to keep the relationship professional, despite her attraction to him. It was hard enough being a woman in her position, and if she made her attraction known, he could easily lose his respect for her. It was a ridiculous attraction anyway, and she felt like a silly old bird for even acknowledging it.
The forty minutes to Daryl's house were soon past, and she pulled into his driveway behind his truck. As she climbed out of the car, she saw him chopping wood for the wood stove out back. She made her way over to him, and he looked up and threw her a wave when he saw her.
"Was wonderin' when you'd show up," he commented as she approached him.
"I wasn't sure what you usually do during the day, so I thought later would be best. I can come earlier next time if that's more convenient for you."
"Whenever's fine with me," he grunted, wedging the ax into a large piece of wood. "C'mon. Let's get you loaded up."
Zora followed him to the shed where several crates of moonshine awaited her. She noticed that he was already brewing another batch in the still. She grabbed a crate, grunting a little at its weight, and followed Daryl out to the car, a crate in his arms as well. They began loading up the backseat.
"George wants to know if you'd be willing to make a little more shine for my next order, so he can sell some in Walton's, too," Zora said as they carried more crates to the car. "Would you be willing to do that?"
Daryl shrugged and bent down to pick up another crate. "Sure."
Zora grinned and stepped aside so Daryl could place the last crate in the backseat. She threw a blanket over the crates to disguise them and reached for her purse. She handed Daryl a stack of bills. As he had done last time, he didn't count the money, just shoved it unceremoniously into his pocket. He looked toward the sun that was now getting low on the horizon and squinted.
"Looks to be gettin' close to dinner time," he observed. "You wanna stay for dinner? I mean, since you drove all the way out here and all . . ."
"That would be swell," Zora agreed quickly. Zora wondered if she had accepted too quickly. She cleared her throat. "Thank you."
Daryl nodded once and jerked his head toward the house. He wasn't sure what had prompted him to invite her to stay for dinner, but he found that he was relieved that she had accepted. Zora followed him in through the back door and into the kitchen, where she saw a few quail on the kitchen counter.
"Got 'em earlier today," Daryl said. "We can roast 'em up with some carrots and potatoes."
"Sounds delicious," Zora said with a smile. "How can I help? Anything but gutting those birds, though," she added, and Daryl chuckled.
"You can go out to the garden to grab some vegetables and get started on those, if you want. Potatoes are in a sack in this cupboard. I go through too many of 'em to grow 'em all myself."
Zora nodded and made her way back outside. Daryl's garden was quite large and had a large variety of fruit and vegetables growing in it. Growing up in the city, and always in an apartment, Zora had never had a garden, and she was almost envious of it. She pulled a few carrots and also grabbed some kale before making her way back inside.
The two of them were awkwardly silent as they prepared the meal together. Zora didn't want to fill the air with meaningless static, but she wasn't sure what to say to start a decent conversation either. It was very uncharacteristic of her, as she was usually quite a chatterbox. It wasn't until all the ingredients were cooking on the stove that Daryl opened one of his lower cabinets and pulled out a jar of moonshine. He held it up to her with arched eyebrows, and Zora nodded. The alcohol would help to loosen her tongue.
Daryl poured her a glass and slid it toward her on the counter. She took a sip and exhaled as the liquid burned down her throat and warmed her belly. Daryl poured a glass for himself as well and leaned against the counter, seeming to be studying her as he often did. Zora took a few more quick sips and already felt more at ease.
"My father wants to meet you," she said suddenly. She noticed that Daryl's expression turned a bit uncomfortable, and she couldn't blame him. "He just wants to meet the man I'm doing business with. It isn't like you're in trouble or anything."
Daryl nodded once, still looking uncomfortable. "Guess that's reasonable," he grunted. "When?"
"He's going to keep bugging me about it until he meets you," Zora sighed. "So sooner rather than later."
Daryl took a large sip of moonshine. "How 'bout I deliver the next order to you in the city, then?" he suggested. "Then I can meet your father."
Zora nodded. "That would be jake. But I have to warn you, it's dangerous smuggling hooch into Five Points. The KKK are still out there trying to put a stop to bootlegging, and they're serious about it."
"I'll be fine," Daryl shrugged. "It ain't unusual to have a bunch of cargo in the bed of a pick up truck."
"I guess so," Zora nodded. "Just be careful."
Daryl nodded. "So I'll come into Atlanta next Saturday then?"
"Works for me," Zora smiled.
Daryl went to the stove and checked on the food. It seemed to be ready, so he grabbed a few plates and dished out the food onto them. He handed a plate to Zora and followed her to the table and sat down. Zora raised her glass of moonshine to him.
"Cheers," she said. "To this unlikely, but swell, partnership."
Daryl gave her a one-sided grin and raised his glass, clinking it to hers. The both took a sip and dug into the food. Zora didn't bother with being ladylike. It was too good to take small, delicate bites, and Daryl watched her with amusement in his eyes.
"Compliments to the chef," she said.
He shrugged and smiled at her. She downed a few more bites, followed by more sips of moonshine, and examined the shadowed kitchen. The sun was setting and the house was growing dark. Daryl seemed to take note of the lighting and stood from the table to light a few lanterns.
"What was it like growing up out here?" Zora asked. "In the country, I mean."
Zora noticed Daryl stiffen, and when he sat back down at the table, his mouth had pressed into a thin line. He gave half a shrug and didn't answer the question.
"Like what did you do for fun? When you were a kid?"
He snorted, as if the idea of having fun as a kid was ludicrous. Zora frowned, confused by his reaction.
"I dunno, same shit I do now," he grunted. "Huntin', fishin', whatever."
Zora sensed he was uncomfortable talking about his childhood, and she remembered what her father had told her about Daryl's father's record. She wondered if that had anything to do with it. Whatever his childhood had been like, Daryl didn't seem keen on sharing about it.
"Those are the only things you do for fun?" she teased, deciding to bring the conversation back to the present.
"Yeah," Daryl shrugged. "I read a little, too."
The truth was that Daryl hadn't finished high school. He'd dropped out after ninth grade, and reading was still difficult for him. He was a slow reader, and he often didn't know the meaning of many of the words on the page. But without Merle around to tease him about having a book in his lap, Daryl had begun trying to teach himself to be a better reader. After the sun went down, he'd read by light of a lantern until his eyes ached. He could tell Zora had been well-educated, however, and he didn't want to admit that reading was a struggle for him.
"What do you do for fun in the city that's so exciting then?" he asked her, wanting to draw the attention away from himself. Zora finished the last bite of food on her plate and pushed it away from her. She took another sip of moonshine.
"There's a lot to entertain in the city," Zora said. "Like going dancing, or seeing a live jazz band, or just driving around. Or I stay in with friends and we drink and play games, like charades or poker or blackjack."
Daryl finished his own plate and leaned back in his chair. "It's been a while since I've played cards," he mused. "Got a deck in the livin' room, but no one to play with."
Zora's eyes brightened. "Let's play then!" she exclaimed. "I challenge you to a game of poker."
Daryl eyed her, a grin snaking its way across his face. "What are the stakes?"
Zora resisted the urge to suggest strip poker, despite her inexplicable desire to see Daryl without a shirt on. She hummed in thought before an idea struck her.
"Let's turn it into a drinking game," she suggested. "For each hand, if I win, you drink. If you win, I drink."
Daryl smirked at her. "You're 'bout to get half seas over."
Zora's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Dixon. I'm pretty good at poker."
Daryl grinned at her and stood from the table. He cleared the plates and put them in the sink before going into the living room and grabbing the long-unused deck of cards from a side table drawer. He made his way back to the kitchen table and sat down across from Zora, shuffling the cards with ease.
"All right then, Miss Brown," he said with a cocky tone. "We're about to find out just how good you are."
The kitchen was spinning, and Zora was laughing almost uncontrollably. Trouble was, she couldn't even remember what she was laughing at. Daryl was watching her from across the table with a very amused expression on his face. Zora finally caught her breath and looked up at him.
"I don't even know what's funny," she proclaimed, sending her into another fit of giggles.
"You're screwy," Daryl teased with a playful grin. Zora finally managed to calm herself and tried to focus on her hand in front of her. The cards seemed to blur together and she swayed a little in her chair.
"I fold," she sighed. "I can't even see my cards anymore."
Daryl smirked at her, clearly proud of how well he had played. It turned out that Zora was quite good at poker, but Daryl had been better. He had won most hands in the past hour or two, but he hadn't let her do all the drinking. He'd nursed his own glass of moonshine and felt that he had quite an edge, but he was nowhere near as fried as Zora.
"You're staying here tonight," he declared. "Ain't no way you're drivin' home like this."
"Fine, twist my arm," Zora agreed. She tossed her cards on the table and leaned back in her chair. Daryl gathered up the cards and put them back in the box. He stood from the table and went to the sink, filling two glasses of water and sliding one across the table to her. She accepted it graciously and tried to drink as much of it as she could. She knew she would feel like hell in the morning, but the water should help a bit.
"You're fun," Daryl said suddenly. Zora cocked her head at him and grinned.
"I know. But if you think this is fun, you have no idea how much fun can be had in the city. You gotta let me take you out on the town when you come up next week."
Daryl sighed. "I dunno 'bout that. City life ain't really my thing."
"How would you know?" she quipped. "You've lived out here your whole life, so you don't know how much fun the city can be."
"Guess that's true," Daryl said. "Okay, I'll let you show me what you get up to in the city. But I ain't promisin' that I'll like it."
"Well, I promise that you will," Zora declared with a triumphant grin.
The evening had turned out to be a lot of fun, and the kind of fun Daryl hadn't experienced in a long while. Living out in the country alone suited him just fine, but he didn't have much human interaction. Zora was something else. She was a bearcat, a fireball, a wild woman who was showing him just how different females were in this day and age. She spoke her mind, seemed to have little regard for traditional gender roles or propriety, and was all about having fun. He knew women had changed in recent years, but Zora was showing him first-hand just how far they had come.
Daryl studied Zora as she leaned back contentedly in the kitchen chair. Her cheeks were flushed from the moonshine, and her eyelids looked heavy. He knew she was just bent from the moonshine, but the way she was looking at him from under her lashes was almost seductive. The soft lighting from the lanterns didn't help, either. He cleared his throat and realized he had been staring at her in silence for several moments.
"Do you get lonely out here?" she asked suddenly.
Daryl was taken aback by her question. "Yes," he answered honestly, and he immediately regretted revealing the vulnerability. He blamed the moonshine.
She nodded as if she understood, but said nothing. After a few moments, she sat up a little straighter and sighed.
"You're a good person," she said. "I'm glad I met you."
Daryl gave her a partial smile. "I think you've had too much to drink," he said. "We should get to bed."
Zora nodded and made to stand from her chair, but she wobbled and almost toppled over. Daryl reached out and caught her, holding her upright. She stumbled into him and steadied herself against him. Daryl released his hold on her, but she didn't withdraw from him. She was still pressed against his chest, and Daryl looked down and met her eyes. They were green, he realized, and they darted from his own blue eyes down to his lips. He suddenly felt very anxious, and Zora seemed to sense it. She blinked a few times before stepping away from him.
"Yeah, bed sounds nice," she agreed. She turned and began to shuffle her way toward the stairs.
Daryl let loose a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He quickly blew out the lanterns in the kitchen and grabbed one to light their way up the stairs. He followed behind Zora and made sure she made it up and into Merle's room safely.
"G'night," he muttered, and she hummed in response. He watched her literally collapse onto Merle's bed and almost immediately pass out. He moved to stand in Merle's doorway, the lantern casting a golden glow throughout the room. He realized that Zora's dress had ridden up when she had fallen onto the bed, and he swallowed hard at the sight of her exposed bare thighs. He realized he was staring and quickly closed the door to Merle's room, feeling like a dirty old man.
He cursed himself silently as he made his way into his own room. Zora had only come into his life a few weeks ago, and already she was messing with his head. He closed his own bedroom door and fell onto his bed, trying unsuccessfully to push the indecent thoughts of Zora out of his mind.
