Red River Blue

Chapter 75

When they entered the house, Harley heard raised voices coming from further inside. Ron sighed, but the sound of his parents fighting didn't deter him from heading into the house to get what he came for. If he waited until they weren't fighting to get them, his drums would probably remain in his basement for all eternity.

Ron paused in the doorway of the dining room. His dad had his mom backed into the corner. He was grabbing her arms, squeezing them as he hollered into her face. His drunken complaint of the day seemed to be that she was a cheater that was staring too long at the new town constable. Ron sighed. He already walked into the house with a heavy tread, hoping his dad would hear him and knock it off. But clearly the man was too far into his tirade to notice his presence. Harley shouldered up next to Ron and cleared her throat. Then she cleared it again. Louder.

Pete glanced over his shoulder. He was not expecting to see a small group of teenagers staring at him as he shook his wife. Just the shock of their sudden appearance was enough to make him release his hold on the woman.

"Whatreya doin' in here?," he asked. Ron sighed.

"I live here," Ron informed his father. "We came to get my drums out of the basement." Not waiting for a response, Ron headed through the room, gesturing for Beth and Harley to follow him. Harley paused for a moment before she followed Ron out of the room, casting a concerned glance back at the boy's mother. The woman was no longer being grabbed but Harley didn't like what she saw. Her parents did their fair share of fighting. And her mother got hurt more than a few times. But the violence in her house happened when her dad went batshit and started breaking shit. Her mother would get in his way and try to calm him down or stop him. Then she would end up getting hit with something. Harley never saw her dad corner her mother or grab her like that. Her mother was never the target of his rage. River's injuries were always collateral damage.

"Is he like that all the time?," Harley asked, keeping her voice low as she hoisted one of the drums off the floor. Ron shrugged and nodded. His dad wasn't that bad all the time. But it was getting more and more frequent. And Ron was sick of it. Beth turned and rubbed her hand over Ron's back. He was not totally shocked that she offered him some comfort. Beth seemed like a kind and gentle person. But he was surprised when Harley spoke up. "If it gets too bad we have an air mattress we can blow up for you and yer brother. Y'all can stay at our house anytime."

"Thanks," Ron said, trying to keep the emotion from his voice. He had a feeling the offer wasn't made casually and not something the girl would extend to just anyone.

"It's okay," Harley assured him, "That up there wasn't shit. My parents used to fight like fuckin' crazy. My mom divorced my dad twice." Ron snorted out a laugh. His mom never divorced his dad. But she probably should have. A lot more times than twice.

"If you want… I mean… Uh," Beth stammered, her hand still fluttering around on Ron's shoulder. "Is it okay if I give you a hug?" Ron nodded, quickly wrapping his arms around the petite girl when she snuggled into him and rested her head on his chest. He was surprised how much better the hug made him feel. Her hair smelled like lemons and sweet vanilla. Before she pulled back, Beth pressed a quick kiss onto his cheek. It was so brief Ron didn't have time to react. But his skin still tingled where her lips brushed against it while he carried his drum and high hat up the stairs.

Tobin decided how they ought to set up all the equipment in the garage. And since he seemed to know what he was doing, the teens deferred to him and moved their things where he suggested. A short while later they were all laughing at their attempt to play a song together.

"Are you starting a band?"

Harley looked up from her guitar at the owner of the voice, immediately scowling harder than usual. She didn't hate Aiden. But he wasn't her favorite person either. And he had terrible taste in music.

"I have a theremin!," Aiden announced. When that didn't immediately earn him an invite into the garage, he pointed to the keyboard. "I can play the piano."

"So can Beth," Harley retorted, pointing down the street in the direction she thought he ought to walk. "...so beat it techno." Ron smiled as he tried to hold in his laughter. Aiden walked around town like he was king shit because his mommy ran the place. So Ron was getting no small amusement out of the fact that he had easily gained entrance to the group while Adien was being told to beat it.

"Come on," Aiden whined. He glanced at Beth, the person he thought most likely to take up his side. But she was sitting close to Ron with an open music book balanced on her lap. And she did not look ready to invite Aiden to join them. Ron had a big shiteating grin on his face too. Aiden narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. He would not be happy if he got the girl he set his sights on snatched from under him by someone that was barely old enough to shave.

"I have pot," Aiden finally offered, making a last ditch effort at scoring an invite. Harley glanced at Tobin, giving the man a questioning look. He nodded his head.

"Okay," Harley agreed. "Go get the pot and that other thing you said. Then come back. But that doesn't mean you can stay. We're only giving you an audition." Ron snorted and Beth laughed as she watched Aiden haul ass down the street before Harley could change her mind.

Aiden returned a short time later with Spencer in tow, hoping that would make his ejection from the group less likely. Tobin pulled the garage door down, shutting them inside with only the dim bulb of the overhead light on. Everyone else seemed eager, but Beth wasn't so sure about the pot smoking. After her first drinking experience, she was hesitant to try another mood altering drug. She took a puff when the small glass pipe was passed to her and was relieved when she didn't feel weird or drunk right away. The pipe went around the small circle a few more times before Beth noticed she was feeling more relaxed.

"My mouth feels dry," she said, smacking her lips together. "Is that normal?"

The small group erupted into peals of laughter. Beth wasn't sure why. She didn't think her question was that funny. But before she could stop herself, she was laughing along with everyone else. Harley picked her guitar back up and started strumming it. But Spencer was much more intent on coaxing her into his lap than he was in listening to her play. After shoving him off a few times, Harley decided to give him exactly what he wanted. She rose from her chair and flopped down hard on his lap. Their combined weight along with the force of her movements was too much for the flimsy folding chair Spencer was sitting in. The chair gave a loud creak of protest before the supports bent backwards and both of them went crashing down onto the garage floor. Beth gripped her sides and clenched her thighs together, unable to control the laughter that had completely overtaken her body. Harley and Spencer were both laughing so hard they couldn't even get themselves up off the floor. Tobin got up and tried to help Harley to her feet. Her guitar swung sideways on its strap and thwacked Spencer right in the head. The sound that echoed through the garage when the instrument made contact with his forehead was the funniest thing Beth ever heard in her life. Even when the door that led into the house swung open and Beth saw Daryl standing there staring at them, she still couldn't contain her laughter.

"I smell pot out 'ere," he announced. And from the looks of the people inside the garage, it was good pot.

"Who has pot?," River asked, peeking into the garage from behind Daryl. Aiden couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer so he just raised his hand. Daryl leaned back into the house and hollered at Wren, telling her to watch the other kids. Then he reached behind him and got a firm grip on Carol's sleeve, pulling her down into the garage with him. River and Tyreese filed in behind them. Aiden collected himself long enough to hand Daryl the baggie of pot and his pipe.

Daryl shoved the items at Tyreese. Carol didn't look impressed with the day's activities. And Daryl didn't want to offer her an opportunity to escape back inside the house. Tyreese packed up the pipe and used Daryl's lighter to get a small flame going. He took a deep inhale and passed the pipe to River. She took a few drags before she pushed the pipe towards Carol. Carol shook her head, waving the item away from her and insisting she didn't smoke.

River handed the pipe to Daryl instead, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the expression on his face. He did exactly what she expected him to do. He took one long drag for himself, exhaled it, and then sucked in another one. Then he grabbed Carol. Unlike River, Carol had no idea what Daryl meant to do. And before she could consider making her escape from his grasp he had her by the back of her neck and his open mouth was pressed down on hers. He blew hard and fast into her mouth, forcing her to either breathe in the smoke or be completely suffocated. Carol sucked in as she tried to push him off. His tongue swirled around hers. And then Daryl released her from his grip. Carol turned towards River as she coughed out the smoke that was forced into her lungs. She thought River ought to be objecting to the way she was just manhandled. But instead, River was laughing her ass off, cheering Daryl on and hollering some nonsense about a shotgun.

"Do me next!," River suggested. Daryl took a step back and wrinkled up his face like he smelled something bad.

"Hell no," he said, "I know where your mouth has been!"

The statement brought on another chorus of laughter from the teenagers in the garage. Tyresse handed her the pipe and River displayed it for everyone to see, announcing with obvious innuendo that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Even Carol laughed at that. Daryl took the pipe from River, motioning with his other hand for Carol to come closer to him. She flipped her middle finger up at him.

"Come on," he encouraged. "I'll be nice about it this time." Carol raised her eyebrows at Daryl and thought about stomping off into the house. But she didn't like the way Tobin was looking at Daryl. His face was full of concern and he was staring at Daryl like he was nervous the man might actually hurt Carol. She knew it might look that way. But Daryl would never lay a finger on her. Not like that. He was just being obnoxious. So when Daryl grabbed Carol and pulled her against him a second time, she made no move to resist. River offered her a tip, telling her to exhale before Daryl leaned in. Carol wrapped her arms around his neck and let him press his lips to hers, finding that sucking the actual breath out of his body while they kissed was much sexier when it wasn't being forced upon her with no notice. Little tendrils of smoke were escaping from between their lips. And Carol could hear Harley and Beth whooping it up and whistling at them. Carol finally shoved him off, blowing out the rest of the smoke with another cough.

"Alright, the show is over," she joked, before she turned and headed inside the house for a drink of water. Carol made it to the steps that led up inside the house when the overhead door of the garage was suddenly lifted up with no warning. A wispy cloud of smoke and the strong smell of marijuana wafted out. Daryl reached for his knife but quickly released his grip on the handle and started to laugh. His brother and Rick were standing in the driveway. Rick was moving back, fanning the air in front of his face. While Merle just stood with his arms crossed, staring with irritation at the laughing mass of people inside his garage.

"Oh no!," River hollered, following her words with a stream of high pitched girly laughter. "IT'S THE COPS!"