Five Minute Window

Chapter 11

Andrea walked into the apartment building that RickyJo had told her she lived in. The kitchen was on the first floor to the left and that was where they had planned to meet. Michonne was walking along behind Andrea, not quite as pissed off looking now that she had her sword strapped to her back again. When she said she was going over to have dinner with RickyJo, Andrea expected Michonne to fight her on it. Like she had been fighting her on everything since they got here. But Michonne only nodded and followed her out the door.

Michonne saw everything in clear cut shades of black and white. There was no in between. RickyJo had helped her get her sword back. So RickyJo had now been placed into the category of people that Michonne felt might be worthy of her trust.

The smell of food cooking got stronger as she walked, so Andrea was confident she was heading in the right direction. She could also hear some music playing, along with the mingled sounds of laughter. Laughter. It had been so long since she heard the sound of it. So long since she laughed herself. Andrea knew Michonne was hesitant to stay here, but they needed this. They needed a break. Or at the very least she needed one. It was hard to say, maybe Michonne liked being out there.

There was an open doorway on the right, and inside, Andrea was happy to see she found RickyJo. The woman was in the kitchen talking with a black kid, who looked like he was about the same age as Carl the last time she saw him. The kid had a lopsided ratty looking afro and a pair of bright red Air Jordan sneakers on. RickyJo was laughing at something the boy was telling her while she chopped up a big head of cauliflower on a wooden cutting board.

Andrea knocked on the door frame to alert the other woman of her presence. RickyJo turned, giving her a big smile. She set down her knife and headed over to wrap her arms around Andrea and give her a kiss on the cheek. Since Michonne didn't seem overly keen on conact of the human variety, RickyJo just gave her a nod and told her hello and welcome.

Once Andrea was inside, she saw the room was much bigger than it looked. It was clearly a communal space, probably used by most of the people in this building. The large fluffy dog Andrea had seen earlier was lying under a table. Chips opened his eyes when he heard the women come in, but then promptly shut them again. RickyJo opened the fridge and pulled out a large bottle of wine. She was already working on her first glass, but she got two more glasses down and filled them for Andrea and Michonne. Then she introduced them to the boy who was washing a bowl of lettuce in the sink.

"This is Toby," she said, putting her hand on the boy's shoulder and giving him a smile. She opened her mouth to tell Toby who the women were, but he spoke up first.

"That one is Andrea," he announced with certainty, pointing at the blonde woman.

"How do you know that?," Andrea asked the boy. He gave her a wicked smile and held his hands up in front of his chest like he was grabbing imaginary breasts.

"Cause my Uncle Merle told me that Andrea was the bitch with the killer rack," Toby announced. Andrea stood there a minute like she couldn't believe what was just said to her. Then she started laughing.

"TOBY!," RickyJo scolded the boy. Her mouth was hanging open and she was really trying not to laugh. "That is not appropriate conversation."

"Well yell at Merle then, he's the motherfucker that said it," Toby suggested to her. RickyJo took a deep breath.

"That don't mean it bears repeatin'," she informed him, trying her best to sound like she meant business. How many times had she told Merle to stop saying shit like that to Toby, and how many times had she told Toby to stop repeating the crap that Merle said to him. The two of them were impossible.

"Why don't you go find Merle and tell him to come home for dinner?," RickyJo suggested to the boy. Toby didn't need to be told twice. Hanging around with Merle was better than being in the kitchen with a bunch of stupid girls. Even if one of them did have a nice rack. Toby whistled for Chips and the two of them took off down the hall like a tornado of destruction.

Andrea set her wine down and started washing the salad greens Toby had been sorting out in the sink. Michonne had been forced out of the doorway when the kid and dog barrelled through. She came in and sat down on the counter near where RickyJo was chopping up vegetables. She looked uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as she had when she had been eating breakfast with Milton and the Governor.

"I was going to make veggie curry," RickyJo told them, "I hope that's ok with you both." Andrea said it sounded wonderful and Michonne simply nodded. Something about the way Michonne was looking at her made RickyJo nervous. She had a feeling the woman was getting ready to start asking her questions. Questions that she wasn't going to be able to answer. To her relief, Andrea was the one that started talking. Her questions were easy to answer.

"So what's with the ring?," she asked, reaching over to grab the ring RickyJo had hanging from the thin gold chain around her neck. It was gold with a big ass gaudy diamond on it. An engagement ring. And Andrea knew RickyJo didn't have anything like that the last time she saw her. So it must be new.

"Oh we got married," RickyJo said, keeping her tone casual. Andrea could see the little half smile on her face.

"Who got married? You and Merle?," she asked. Last she knew RickyJo was gay as the day was long. So this was blowing her mind.

"Yeah, we got married," RickyJo said. She could feel her cheeks getting hot. No one in Woodbury knew about her past. So no one made a big deal or asked her questions about sex with a man and why she would want to have it. They were just accepted as a couple. "He got me this really nice ring, but it doesn't fit so I keep it on this chain instead..." RickyJo knew she was rambling. She unbuttoned her jeans and pulled down one side of her pants to reveal the star tattoo she had on her hip. Above it was a name written in cursive. Andrea leaned down to get a better look.

"We got each other's names tattooed," RickyJo told her, "Just don't ask ta see Merle's tattoo unless ya wanna be scarred for life." That set Andrea off laughing, and even Michonne smilled a little. But Andrea was not going to be distracted by a tattoo from what she really wanted to know.

"Um, what happened to being a lesbian?," Andrea asked. Michonne snorted, almost inhaling wine into her nose. She gagged and coughed into her glass. That information was rather shocking. She had a hard time imagining why any woman would want to be married to a brute like Merle, and why a gay woman would want to was even more baffling to her.

"I just needed a good hard fuckin' to straighten me out," RickyJo told her, lowering her voice in an obvious imitation of Merle's. Andrea and her really laughed it up over that. If RickyJo had a nickle for everytime she had heard that since she slept with Merle, she'd have a lot of nickles.

"Really this time, what the hell is the deal?," Andrea asked. She took the clean lettuce out and RickyJo handed her the salad spinner so she could dry it off. Before she answered, RickyJo got the bottle of wine out and refilled her glass. She took a few healthy gulps of wine and put the cut veggies in the pan to start them cooking as she thought about the answer to that particular question. It was a hard thing to explain without getting into parts of her past that she would rather not talk about.

"When he lost his hand," she finally said, "He almost died..." RickyJo paused a moment, not wanting to get overwhelmed with the sudden rush of emotion. "I don't know. I guess when stuff like that happens, it makes you realize how much people mean to you." She felt Andrea's arms circle her waist and she turned to hug the other woman back. She knew they had not known each other that long before her and Merle got separated from the group, but it was still nice to have someone around that she considered a friend.

Andrea drank some wine, and told RickyJo a little about what happened with Shane. This involved a lot more laughter. Then she asked where the bathroom was. Andrea headed down the hall, leaving RickyJo and Michonne alone in the kitchen. RickyJo felt it again. The pregnant silence that had been there between them before Andrea started asking questions about Merle and her love life. Michonne was not one to waste words.

"Thank you for earlier," she said, fingering the sheath of her sword. She paused and RickyJo hoped she was done talking. But of course she had a question.

"What did he do to you?," Michonne asked.

"What do you mean?," RickyJo said, trying to sound like she had no idea what the other woman was talking about. She was not a very good actress. Still feeling shaken up over what happened wasn't helping either. She had been holding in how she really felt about Phillip for such a long time. The keys to the armored trucks were burning hot in her pocket. RickyJo had yet to find a good place to hide them. She had to find a way to make Merle understand that they had to get out of here. A way that wasn't going to make him go psycho crazy and try to kill the governor himself. The urge to confide in someone was almost overpowering.

"You know what I mean," Michonne said. She had turned in time to see the look on RickyJo's face when that man had grabbed her by the arm before he shut the door. The Governor. The look on RIckyJo's face had been one of complete terror. And Michonne had a funny feeling that this woman didn't scare easy. It sent a chill right up Michonne's spine. In that moment she knew what she suspected about the man was true. He was a monster.

"The questions you have... I just can't answer," RickyJo told her, refusing to look up from the food she was robotically stirring around in the pan. "I can give you a piece of advice if you give me your word that you won't repeat it to anyone," RickyJo said. Her voice was so low it was barely above a whisper.

Michonne lifted herself down from the counter and moved closer to the other woman. She placed her hand gently on RickyJo's arm, feeling a strange jolt pass through her body when her skin came into contact with the other woman's. Andrea was coming back from the bathroom. Michonne heard the door slap shut. If she was going to hear what this woman was thinking about telling her, she needed to hear it now. RickyJo swallowed hard. Then she leaned close. The tip of her nose bumped into one of Michonne's twisted dreads. Then she hissed under her breath. She gripped Michonne's arm like a drowning man holding on for dear life.

"The first chance you get, you leave this place," RickyJo told her, "Run away and don't ever come back. When you run be ready. Because he will send men after you."

As quickly as they had moved into each other's space, both women jumped back. Michonne picked up her wine and RickyJo went back to mixing curry paste into the vegetables. When Andrea walked back into the room a few seconds later, it was like nothing ever happened at all.