Chapter Summary:

Daryl tells Carol his story as they go on a walk.

Carol followed Daryl along the fence line of Hershel's property. She was not sure where they were wandering off to, but Sophia was asleep, and wouldn't wake for at least four hours to be fed. Safe in the knowledge that her daughter would be looked after by the Greenes, she followed him through a gap in the fence and through a freshly cut field. It was then that Daryl started to speak.

"First thing ya gotta know about me and Merle is that even though we were abused, it weren't always that way. Our mama . . . . she was a real southern belle. That was her name too. Belle Adams. She grew up going to all the right schools. Even went off to some fancy boarding school at one point. Her family had money and made sure she was treated well. Her parents were her only family, and they died together in a car accident when my mama was 19. She inherited their money which was nothin' to sneeze at. She sold the family home in Virginia and moved down here to Georgia to start over in life. What she found was Will Dixon."

Carol didn't think Daryl even realized that he had flinched when saying his father's name. She put a hand on his arm in silent encouragement. He allowed it, but then started walking faster, getting a step or two ahead of her as he continued talking.

"Will Dixon never did anybody any favors in life until he met mama. He straightened his act up enough to get her to agree to run off and get married. He didn't have no family either except for his brother Buck, so it was just the two of them. Buck was off in California. I remember Merle told me once he remembers ma saying that it was her and pa against the world. I was too young to remember those days, but Merle does. When I was born, there was a problem or something. Mama needed an emergency c-section. Back then they didn't test for a lot of things in blood that they do now. Mama ended up with Hepatitis from the blood transfusion. They knew it would eventually kill her. Guess she figured she was gonna die anyway, so decided to 'live it up' while she could. Started getting high, drinkin' a lot. Will had done that before he met her, and it didn't take long for him to get back into those habits."

"And you and Merle were . . . "

"Right there for it all. We had a decent house until Will lost his job and insurance. Doctors bills, drugs, booze and cigarettes took what was left of ma's money."

"All of it?"

"Yep. That's when Buck came back to Georgia. He showed up at the house and ma and pa were drunk and high off their asses. Merle was takin' care of me best he could. I weren't no more than two or three. Buck took us outta there. He bought a piece of property and put a trailer home on it and we lived with him. A few months later, ma and pa came by and convinced Buck that they were clean. They wanted us back. Buck agreed as long as they put a trailer next to his on his land. If he saw we weren't cared for, he was takin' us back."

Here Daryl stopped talking for a moment. He seemed like he was gathering his courage for what came next.

"They weren't clean. Nothin' had changed, 'cept maybe the fact that ma had started spouting off about getting' a divorce and gettin' us boys away from Pa whenever she was high. They went on that way for close to five years. They managed to keep their booze and drugs to night time hours where Buck wouldn't see. But one thing did change when I was eight and Merle was seventeen. That is when Pa started in with the beatings. He would take his belt and lay into me and Merle somethin' fierce. Didn't matter that Merle was a big dude either – Pa still had that power over even him. Threatened us that he would kill Buck if we ever told him what was going on. He kept it to where the marks were covered by clothes, but I am pretty sure Buck suspected. Right around that time, he was questioning Merle big time on what was going on at home. But Merle was still scared of pa and kept quiet. It was me that told."

"You told Buck?"

"Yep. It weren't no slip either. I wanted to live with him again, so I told him one day before school. Then I got on the bus. When Merle and I got home that day, the trailer was on fire. Buck and pa were not there, and I remember thinking that was good – that nobody was home. Didn't know my ma was in there."

Carol shuddered at the image of a young Daryl coming home to that.

"Buck pulls up in the driveway about the same time as the fire trucks. Starts goin' all ape shit – trying to get inside. He thought pa was in there too. But he wasn't. He showed up about an hour later saying he had been hunting. After ma was buried, pa and us boys moved into Buck's trailer. Merle and I missed our ma, even though she was a shitty ma – we still loved her. But then the beatings started again one day a couple weeks later. Buck was visiting friends in California for two weeks. Pa beat Merle and I so bad that he knew there was no way he would be able to hide the marks from Buck when he got home. So, Pa decided to take the coward's way out, but not before he had the chance to tell his brother off. He waited for Buck to get home and started yelling at him that it was his fault ma was gonna leave him. That it was Buck's fault for convincing mama to get the hell away from our pa, get clean and be a better ma for us."

"Did he? Did Buck really convince her to leave before she died?"

"I think so. Merle and I came in from the back bedroom just in time to hear the end of the conversation. We heard Buck try to calm pa down. But then Pa pulls out his pistol. Says that nobody leaves Will Dixon. Not his wife, and not his kids. Said he set the fire that killed our ma to keep her from takin' us. Was about to kill us too. But Buck got between us. Gun went off. Buck got a head shot – dead instantly. Then Pa turned the gun on himself – right after telling us that the two of us alone, on our own was the hell we deserved."

"Oh, Daryl. I am so sorry."

"No need for you to be sorry Carol. I promised I would tell ya the story, so now ya know. We came here to live with Hershel the same evening. He and Annette were registered as foster parents. Social worker saw how well we were getting on and let us stay until we aged out. It was Hershel that founded the group shortly after we came to the farm. He gave us a home. Has been more of a father to us than our pa ever was. So ya see, I know what it is like not to have the guts to stand up to your abuser. And I wanted you to know my story so you could understand just why I was so impressed with you talkin' to your mom like you did. You stood up for yourself Carol. Something I never got the guts or the chance to do."

As he was ending his story, they were walking up a field stone pathway that led to a log cabin style house. Ivy and flowers were wrapping delicately around the edges of the front porch. The yard was neatly maintained, and a motorcycle was parked off to the side.

"What is this place Daryl?"

"This is the house I had built. This is the first home I've had other than the one Hershel offers me. How bout it woman, want a tour?"

Next up:

Daryl shows Carol his home.