Fasten your seatbelts - of course anything that could go wrong with company present can and will. As always, I do not own any of TWD characters. Enjoy!
Supper 2
Poor Coach Miller, poor stupid, dumbass Coach Miller. He'd heard about the boy's Uncle Merle and how dangerous a man he could be if provoked. Hell, he'd heard about what an asshole Jacob's Daddy could be when someone crossed him. But, this dumb son of a bitch hadn't heard about Jacob's Momma - little ole Beth Greene Dixon.
Oh, he'd seen Beth Dixon from the sidelines at the games, decked out in the school colors and cheering all of the players on. And he'd seen Beth Dixon waiting in the parking lot to pick up Jacob after practice, sporting a messy bun and looking all matter of an older sister rather than somebody's momma. Coach Miller had even seen Beth Dixon serving the entire team a "night before a big game team building meal", exhibiting true southern charm and treating every boy as if they were her own. She was a looker for sure and a hell of a cook. Coach Miller had often wondered what the hell Beth Dixon saw in that old scruffy husband of hers. He may, a time or two, envisioned that little lady waiting for him after a ballgame with a congratulatory kiss or a sympathetic hug, whatever the occasion called for. HOWEVER, Coach Dan Miller had never seen Beth Dixon up close and in person - especially at the end of an incredibly trying day that was destined to take a turn for the worse.
Dan Miller had arrived on the doorstep of the Dixon home right on time. Mrs. Dixon had told him earlier in the day that they would eat supper around seven or so - once "everybody got in from evening chores and got cleaned up". She'd asked him to come on out around 5:30 though to relax and enjoy some appetizers. So, here he was, on the front door step of a wrap around porch of an impressive farmhouse. Sturdy furniture, porch swings, ceiling fans, and hanging plants of purple flowers adorned the space and he could tell that a lot of attention had been paid to every single detail. He hadn't failed to notice the man at the end of the driveway weed eating around the fence. Coach Miller was certain that it must be a hired hand because the man in question looked rough even by Dixon standards. Hell, looked like he might be on work release but he wasn't wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Coach Miller went to ring the bell again just as Beth opened the front door causing the middle aged man to swallow the ball of cotton that seemed to be lodged in his throat. The mother of his best player was even prettier in her own element, wearing a pair of navy polka dot shorts, a white sleeveless tank top, and flip flops that showcased her navy toe nail polish. Mrs. Dixon's arms were well bronzed and muscled, probably from completing farm chores or working in the garden he'd noticed to the left side of the fence.
"Hey there Coach Miller" Beth greeted him. She carried a bottle in her left hand - it was wrapped in a cozy that appeared to be from some beach. "Come on in - it's just us right now. They're all wrappin up a few loose ends 'fore they come in. Shouldn't be much longer."
Coach Miller stood there like the idiot he was with the flowers he'd bought at the Kroger on his way out of town. He did have enough sense about him to know not to show up empty handed at someone's house that had invited you to supper - his Granny had taught him that many years ago. "Danny" she's rasped with her cigarette voice "don't never go empty handed to somebody's place iffn you been invited to take a meal with 'em. Take a dessert, or some shine, or flowers for the lady of the house." Well, Dan didn't happen to have any shine on hand, nor could the man cook - so flowers it was.
Noticing that the man was still standing in the same spot and not making an effort to move, Beth figured she may need to prompt him again. "Are those for me?" Beth asked with a genuine smile and pinking up of the cheeks. "I absolutely LOVE fresh cut flowers!" Beth grabbed the flowers with her free hand and used them to show Coach Miller the way into the foyer. "Thank you so much! Come on in" she said again. "Can I get ya a beer? I"m having one myself - it's been a hell of a day."
"You're welcome" the man finally found some words as he followed the blond (player's mother he kept reminding himself, married woman he repeated in his head) into the kitchen. "You have a beautiful home" he continued "actually, the whole place is something else."
Beth opened up the cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out a vase. After looking in it to make sure there weren't any creepy crawlies, she filled the vase with water for the flowers. "Thank you - we love our home" Beth told him. "I grew up in this house, was my family home and farm - the Greene property butted up next to the Dixon farm. So, when Daryl and I married we combined, incorporated and never looked back. We have a good life here - we work hard, but we play hard too."
She smiled at Jacob's coach and he smiled back. "We have a pretty broad assortment of beer - we have so many different tastes around here. Just step into the pantry around the corner - there's a fridge we keep just for drinks and stuff - grab what ya want" Beth instructed.
"Okay, I think I will" Coach Miller answered. Dan stepped around the corner Beth had pointed out and was forced to make a decision - two doors opening into two different utilitarian spaces. After peering into the door on the right, he realized that must be the laundry room, so he hooked a left and yep, walked into a very organized pantry that housed what looked like a huge collection of small appliances, home canned goods, two older looking refrigerators, a deep freeze, and what appeared to be all the good china (the kind you use three times a year - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter). The first fridge he came to was not the drink fridge. Apparently, it was just for extra stuff. There was butter, cream, milk, eggs, cheeses, sandwich meats, single serve snacks - Coach Miller's own fridge had never looked that full and this was a surplus fridge. Damn, he thought, these people are serious 'bout their eatin, that's for sure. After being nosy, he checked the other fridge where he did indeed find quite the selection of beer and wine. Water, sports drinks and soft drinks were also crammed in every nook and cranny.
Coach Miller came back out into the main area of the kitchen. Beth was spreading the flowers out in the vase and then placing the vase in the middle of the farmhouse style table. Dan noticed the rows and rows of canned tomatoes on the counter. "I didn't know people still canned" he told Beth. "I remember watching my Granny slave away in a hot kitchen all day putting up the garden." Beth smiled and nodded back at the man. "She raised me" for some reason Dan felt the need to throw that in there.
"Well, we still can around here" Beth confirmed and then excitedly added, "feel them - they're still warm". Coach Miller touched the jars and sure enough they were still holding some heat."I love it. It is a lot of work, but there's nothin like a fixin supper for your family during the winter with food that you raised and preserved yourself - kinda my way of honoring my Momma and Grandmomma." Beth smiled and Coach thought she might have gone a little misty eyed at the sentiment. "I froze corn today too - lots and lots of corn. It seems to go the quickest." Beth cleared her throat and jerked her head towards the kitchen door. "Let's go on out back - we're eating out there tonight."
Coach Miller followed Beth and was impressed yet again at the outdoor family area. "Wow" Dan said. "This is incredible Mrs. Dixon."
"Thank you and call me Beth please" she requested. "This was all my idea - Daryl nearly shit when he figured out what we had really spent on it, but hey, he got over it." Then she giggled. There was a country music station on the big screen TV and the music was coming through perfectly placed speakers surrounding the area. From a refrigerator out there, Beth pulled a tray of fruit, cheeses, rolled meats and the tuna dip. Crackers, pretzel sticks, and bagel chips were ready for the dipping. "Help yourself" she told the coach. "It'll be a little while "fore we eat."
They had not been seated for more than ten minutes discussing school starting earlier and earlier each year it seemed and the academic classes he taught, what grades he taught, that kind of thing when they both heard some shouting - angry shouting. It seemed to be coming from the front yard.
"What in the world?" Coach Miller said to no one in particular. Beth on the other hand recognized the voices. It was Thomas and Axel. Oh shit Beth thought to herself and closed her eyes, hoping they would go away. Why couldn't these morons settle their problems at their own homes? The screaming only got louder. "Ya think we should call the sheriff? What's going on?" Coach Miller enquired again.
"Nope - not callin the law - not lettin them off that easy". Beth jumped from the sofa she'd been seated on. Storming back through the kitchen long enough to grab a shotgun from behind a door. Coach Miller was right behind her as they made their way out to the front yard. He wasn't sure what was taking place but Mrs. Dixon didn't seem the least bit afraid so neither was he - at least he didn't want to admit it anyway.
As soon as they got to the front porch, Beth yelled at the two men to stop their fighting and screaming. It appeared that the man who'd been weedeating earlier had the upper hand at the moment as he had a squirrely looking guy in some kind of sleeper hold. "Thomas" Beth hollered. "Let him go!"
"Can't do it Ms. Dixon" Thomas snorted back and tightened his hold causing the smaller guy to gasp and turn a little bit blue. "He came at me with a knife - tell him to drop the knife!"
There was no reasoning with these people when they got like this and Beth had a dinner guest for God's sake. Wasting not another moment, she fired the shotgun up into the air. "I'm gonna blast ya both to hell if ya don't take this shit back to your own places - get your Maury Povich bullshit off my front lawn." They both stared wide eyed at their boss's wife. "You got 'bout three seconds to do it or I'm firin the both of you and then I'm gonna kick you and your family's out of your houses, and putin ya off my land!" And just to make her point, she fired at the fence right behind the both of them - hitting the fence post, splintering it into a million pieces- just as she intended.
Coach Miller could tell by the looks on both of the men's faces that they knew she meant business. They quickly separated and made their way to their own beat up farm trucks and took off down the driveway, both of them swerving, blowing their horns, and cussing each other - each occasionally shaking their fist out the window at the other. It kind of reminded Dan of something one might see in some kind of cartoon, but nope, this was really happening.
Beth and the football coach just stood on the front porch for a few seconds. The coach could not ever recall being in such a situation and therefore didn't really know what to say. Beth wished the ground would open up right then and there to just swallow her whole. Finally, Beth spoke, "I am so sorry Coach Miller." Beth took a deep breath before she continued. "I wish I could say that kind of thing never happens here, but, well, when you have lots of different large personalities working and living so closely together, well, things happen."
"You okay?" Coach Miller finally asked her.
Beth didn't respond immediately, but finally answered the man. "Yeh, I'm fine - people are nuts, ya know?"
"Yeh" he agreed, looking around. Just as they turned to go back into the house and return to the calm of the outdoor dining area, they heard the Gator buzzing by. By the looks of the four Dixons on board, they'd gotten caught up in a little something between the house and the watering troughs. All four of them were covered in cow shit and what could most likely be some kind of bovine body fluids.