God Love Her II

"I don't want you seeing that boy anymore." Beth rolled her eyes as she flipped through the bible on the table, looking for the passage she was supposed to memorize for the sermon her daddy was giving in a few days. "He's nothing but trouble."

She snapped the book shut irritation and anger pulling at her emotions. "I don't care what you think daddy. I'm nineteen and I like him."

"He's no good, Beth."

"You don't even know him," she shouted. She knew she was about to say something she would regret later, but she was so angry. "You've got your head so far up God's ass you don't even see what's going on 'round here anymore." He stared at her, his mouth hanging open, no idea how to respond to that. "Maggie drinks every night, did you know that? You don't know Daryl like I do, and I'm done doin' what you tell me." She grabbed her sweater from the back of the chair and walked out, slamming the screen door hard enough to break it off one of its hinges.

Thunder rolled in the distance as she walked down the dirt driveway that soon turned into a dirt road. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care when the rain started to fall from the sky and soak her clothes. She was so angry she hardly felt it. Her daddy hated anything that didn't fit into his plan, and ever since her brother had died he'd gone off the deepened. That's why Maggie drank. Beth didn't have an escape from her father's reign, at least, not until she met Daryl.

When she was on the back of his motorcycle, holding onto him tight as he kicked up a cloud of dust behind them, she wasn't aware of her family problems, she wasn't aware of anything but the warmth of his back and the wind blowing her hair into wild tangles behind her. The rain came down harder as she continued to walk, her feet getting muddy in her sandals, her clothes and hair sticking to her. She didn't hear the motor of the truck or the tires on the wet gravel as he pulled up beside her. "Beth," he called over the roar of the rain.

She turned and looked at him, soaking wet. "Daryl?"

He got out of the truck and grabbed her face. "What the hell do ya think you're doin' girl?" She just shook her head as he helped her into his truck. When the door closed around them she felt the chill that had settled into her bones and started to shake. He turned on the heat and aimed all the vents on her. They didn't say anything as he drove back to his place. He got her inside and nodded towards the bathroom. "Go take a hot shower." Beth nodded and didn't say anything as she walked back to the bathroom. Now she was pissed off and embarrassed.

She heard the door open as she scrubbed her hair with his shampoo, covering herself in his scent. "I'm leavin' a shirt," he called out.

"Thanks," she called back, rinsing the suds out of her hair. She sighed and washed her body off, making sure to get all of the mud from her feet. She wanted to run away. They had talked about it, joked really, on more than one occasion, but she really wanted to go now. She hated the way her daddy thought he could run her life. She was nineteen and if he kept trying to control her he was going to lose her forever, but he didn't see that.

Shutting off the water she climbed out and dried off, running his comb through her tangles. She pulled his shirt on and just held it to her nose for a minute, inhaling him. She really did love him. She walked out, braiding her hair over her shoulder and found him on the couch. He held up a ponytail holder for her as she finished the braid. She tied it off and sat beside him on the couch. "You fight with your daddy again?" he asked looking at her as she curled into his side.

"Yeah," she admitted. "Daryl, I want to run away." She looked up at him and she knew her eyes were shiny with tears. "Right now, tonight."

He looked at her; she almost thought he was going to tell her no. "We'll wait a little bit, let your daddy go to bed, you're gonna need clothes and shit if we're really gonna do this." She smiled and nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. If he cared that her wet hair was soaking his shirt he never said anything. "Where you wanna go?"

She thought about it for a long time. "California." She looked up at him. "Somewhere away from the cities, near the desert." He nodded his head, playing with the end of her braid. They sat there in silence for hours until they were sure her daddy was asleep. The rain had stopped as they made their way to his truck and he drove back to her house. He cut the engine at the end of the driveway and she quickly jumped out, running to the house.

She was quiet as a mouse as she crept inside and packed a bag, throwing in everything she could need and ran back outside and down the driveway. He started the truck when he saw her coming in the headlights. She climbed back into his truck and they were gone. They stopped at a truck stop just outside of Tucson Arizona and she called her daddy.